[X] My Assistant

[The Dark Knight]

Name: Travis Lapzuli
Age: 12
Hometown: Kumquat Island

Appearance:

Travis stands at a height of 5’ 2”. Travis wears a black shirt and blue jeans. He also sports a blue cap with the insignia of Kumquat Island in the center of it. Travis carries a blue pack around his shoulder and keeps his belongings tucked away inside it. Other than that, Travis covers his feet with blue sneakers and white ankle socks. His longish black hair covers his ears most of the time, even while hidden underneath his hat.

Personality: Travis is a soft, sweet lad. Throughout his childhood he was over-protected greatly by his mother and doesn’t really know how to defend himself. Travis is clearly a pacifist, but is very intense in pokemon battles. For example, he doesn’t like to get into fights in real life, but would prefer to have his pokemon to protect him like in battles. Even though Travis is a bright lad, he is the farthest thing from street smart. Like his mother is to he, Travis is very protective of his pokemon especially over any Pikachu’s he happens to find.

Travis didn’t have many friends growing up. Most people that stayed on Kumquat Island only stayed for a little while. The Kumquat hotel was always full of kids Travis could play with, but they only lasted so long. Soon, those children’s parents would check out of the popular hotel and would be gone. Every time this happened to Travis, he was heartbroken. Instead of pouting about his losses, he would always try to find a new friend. The process would then repeat itself. It is one of Travis’ main goals to find a real, long-lasting friend in Furoh.

Travis laughs a lot, maybe even too much. He bursts out chuckling if it is something very serious or not meant to be funny. As one might guess, Travis is a very naïve person who does not understand half of the things he hears. Otherwise he is very proud of his heritage in the Orange Archipelago and hopes that he can be as successful as his mother.


Biography: Travis spent his entire childhood in the Orange Archipelago. It was there he learned everything he knows, as it was the only world he knew. His mother Luana was extremely protective of her only child and kept him away from most things boys his age like to do; playing in the mud, getting into scuffles but most importantly going on adventures. Travis had to wait an extra two years before finally convincing his mother to let him go. Travis spent most of his time in the world-renowned Kumquat Gymwhich his mother owned. Luckily for Travis, the gym doubled as a luxury hotel, in which he tried in vain to make friends of his own age. It was here that Travis always watched his mother partake in endless double battles with challengers from all over the globe. Travis is one of those people that learn a lot just by observing, and because he watched her battle so much, he is a very talented double battler.

After spending an extra two years cooped up from the outside world, Travis wanted to see the globe, just like all of his ‘friends’ had. After much begging and persuading from the other Orange League gym leaders, of which Travis was very friendly with, Luana finally agreed to let him go. For the trip, Luana’s gift to her son was a dark blue Pokégear, with which Travis could call her every night. She knew that she would worry dreadfully for her little sonny, and wait eagerly for his return. To make sure he would be comfortable, Luana also packed Travis with 10,000 Poké for anything else he would need. Ten pairs of clothes and five pre-packaged dinners later, Travis was ready for his adventure, except he was missing one thing: a pokemon.

Luckily enough, family friend and gym leader Rudy of Trovita Island was willing to offer Travis one of his pokemon’s offspring. He had so many that he didn’t know what to do with them; giving one to a beginning trainer seemed like a great idea. Rudy offered Travis a Pikachu, which he gladly took. So off set Travis and Pikachu on their adventure.

Travis departed from Kumquat Island from a ferry that took him to Pallet Town. Eager to truly start his adventure, Travis didn’t stop in Pallet Town and began his journey to Viridian City. Soon after beginning the trek up Route 1 it began to get dark very quickly. Travis immediately realized it was stupid to not have stayed in Pallet for the night, but question of going back to the town or not was inconsequential--he’d just have to walk up all this way again if he did. Luckily, Pikachu who didn’t like to stay inside his ball spotted a fire and a nearby campground close to the travelers. The two went over to it and found a man warming his hands by the fire. He was much older than Travis, perhaps in his forties. He wore dirty clothes and his stench was repulsive. And yet he seemed friendly as he asked the trainer if he needed some food. Travis greedily accepted even though he had food in his bag. The meal was delicious and soon Travis found himself putting out the fire and sleeping in his sleeping bag near the older man. Travis placed the electric mouse’s pokeball next to him. Pikachu slept on top of Travis of course; they were both scared of the horrors of night.

Travis woke up the next morning to a shocking scene. Pikachu was nowhere to be found! Not just Pikachu, but everything was gone! Pikachu’s pokeball and Pikachu, his bag and the man! ”That thief!” Travis thought. Travis ran around frantically trying to find his things but was unsuccessful. He had lost everything. His money. Clothes. Pokégear. Pokégear! Travis reached into his pocket and found his dark blue Pokégear was still in his possession. Luckily for Travis he had put it into his pocket the night before. He immediately called the police and told them his situation.

While the furious Officer Jenny quickly responded to his call, there was nothing she could do. “Not again!” the officer shouted, “There’s a thief that preys on beginning trainers around this area. This is the third recorded case of burglary yet!” While the furious Jenny quickly responded to his call, there was nothing she could do. Jenny concluded that the thief had left last night, and could be anywhere by now. She offered Travis a ride, which he accepted.

“How could I have been so naïve?” Travis thought, “I trusted someone I didn’t know, and he stole everything! ”. Travis arrived at the Viridian Pokemon Center, thanked Jenny, and entered the center.

Travis was immediately approached by Nurse Joy, who strangely enough asked for his name. He informed her of it and suddenly he was presented with a curiously familiar package. His bag! Travis asked her where she found it, and the Nurse replied that it was left outside the center very early this morning. Travis immediately snatched the bag from the lady, sat down, and rummaged through it. The first thing Travis spotted in his blue bag was a note:

Dear young adventurer,
Out of pure pity for your pathetic case, I have decided to return part of what you lost. Or so speak, what is mine.

Thanks for an easy job,

L.

The letter bothered Travis very much. “An easy job? Is that all I am, an easy job?” he thought. Travis through the letter down in a rage and continued looking through the bag. He found 3,000 Poké, one set of clothes, and nothing else. No Pikachu. Pikachu was gone. What would he say to his mom, to Rudy?

After much contemplation Travis concluded that he was stuck without his mom, and he needed her now. He called Luana on his Pokégear and she immediately answered. Travis’ mother was so excited to hear from her son, but she didn’t know what the purpose of the call was. Travis told her everything, from his departure to the call with vivid detail. When the story was finished there was a long silence. “You were on speaker, honey. I am at an Orange Archipelago meeting,” was all she said. Not only did every gym leader hear him, but now Travis was the laughing stock of the Orange League! Things couldn’t get much worse!

Travis heard muttering and whispering on the other end of the line before his mother got on the phone again. “Travis. You do know that what you did wasn’t wrong, you were just the victim of unfortunate circumstance, being at the wrong place at the wrong time, right?” Travis replied affirmatively, and told Rudy that he was sorry about Pikachu. “I hope you also realize that this is all my fault Travis. I protected you to much, shielded you from the outside world for too long. You simply didn’t know any better, and you assumed that everyone in the world would be as nice as the guests at the hotel.”

“Now, I don’t want you to beat yourself up about this any longer. Cissy and Danny have both kindly offered offspring of two of their own pokemon; Cissy’s Squirtle and Danny’s Nidoran. How does that sound?” Travis nearly dropped the Pokégear as he jumped up and down, cheering exuberantly. Travis graciously thanked them on speakerphone as his mother told him that the pokemon’s pokeballs would arrive the next day. He hung up the phone and asked the Nurse Joy if he could spend the next night. Joy was indeed weirded out from his excessive and unprovoked shouts of happiness.

Travis was being given a second chance. And he knew that he wouldn’t screw up this time, he just knew it.

Squirtle and Nidoran turned out to be better than Travis could have ever expected. The tiny turtle pokemon and the purple poison point pokemon had already received basic training from their previous trainers. Squirtle was a cheery and funny pokemon while Nidoran was more serious and focused, almost ying and yang in perspective. Travis trained hard with his already talented team, leading them to a victory over Flint of the Pewter City Gym. Further along in the trio’s journey, Travis was surprised to find out he was victorious over Lily of the Cerulean Gym by forfeit. After a tough match proved successful over Lt. Surge of Vermillon City’s Gym, Travis found a poster on the wall of the local Pokemon Center.

Dear Trainers,

You wanna battle? The SS Anne from the Kanto Region is making a stop here in Furoh, and this year, they're featuring a new theme: Pokemon and Me. It's going to be a lot of cool stuff: and most importantly, battling! So, what're you waiting for? The price is 800 Poke a ticket; you can get one at a local PokeMart. Pikachu, Riolu, and I are waiting! We'll see you there!

Signed,

Kono Rusivr

PS: I'll be staying in Room 69, so if you need me, you know where to go!

After much thought, Travis concluded that it might be a good idea to go to a new region and meet newer and tougher pokemon. Plus, Travis would have the chance of making a new friend; this guy named Kono. Travis had been so lonely lately that he even forgot about the kidnapping of Pikachu, and was willing to put his faith in anyone. And this poster sure seemed legitimate, so what the heck. Travis snatched the poster off of the wall and headed out to the Pokemart. It was there that he showed the clerk poster, and immediately the man understood. Travis paid 800 poké and in return the clerk gave Travis a ticket labeled: “S.S. ANNE RM. 69. Putting all of his faith into this Kono boy Travis gathered his things from the center and set off for the ocean liner the S.S. ANNE, where adventure waits around every corner!

Pokemon:

@ lv. 12

@ lv. 13

@ lv. 13

Items:
x1 Dark Blue Pokégear
x1 S.S. ANNE Ticket
x1 Blue Bag
x1 Pokeballs
A picture of Travis’ departure from Kumquat Island with his beloved Pikachu.
2,200 Poké

Other Notes:
- Travis is a very fast swimmer
- Travis enjoys sunny days on the beach
- Travis is extremely fastidious
- Travis is a talented whistler
- Travis loves vanilla ice cream

This post has been edited by The Dark Knight: Mar 26 2009, 09:43 PM