SALZWEDEL, tsubasa
Jul 3, 2014 20:36:18 GMT -5
Post by Tsubasa Salzwedel on Jul 3, 2014 20:36:18 GMT -5
tsubasa salzwedel
[attr="class","scrolly"]
► NICKNAMES ► tsu-chan, mutt
► GENDER ► male
► AGE ► twenty-two years
► SEXUALITY ► demisexual
► ALLIANCE ► rocket
► OCCUPATION ► tech
► ROLEPLAYER ► makoto
► GENDER ► male
► AGE ► twenty-two years
► SEXUALITY ► demisexual
► ALLIANCE ► rocket
► OCCUPATION ► tech
► ROLEPLAYER ► makoto
ON THE OUTSIDE
► FACE CLAIM ► diabolik lovers & sakamaki subaru
► HEIGHT ► 6'0"
► WEIGHT ► 160lbs
► WEAPONS ► a pocket knife, always carries around one of his small robots that had been weaponized not long after joining team rocket (though, the one he usually carries around is more of a bb gun)
► NORMAL ITEMS ► rocket badge, rocket id card, iphone, ipod, satchel, sketchbook, various pencils, pens, & crayons, wallet, his uncle's scrapbook, a small digital camera
► POKEMON ITEMS ► Pokeball x5, Potion x3, Full Heal x2
► OVERALL APPEARANCE ► tsubasa is a tall man, though he definitely isn't the tallest around. he was a late bloomer, too, not getting his growth spurt in until he was nineteen. the man has a lean, well-toned frame covered in pale skin that refuses to tan, only burn. after all, he is an albino: white hair, pale skin, red eyes. his choice in clothing usually covers up as much of his skin as he possibly can regardless of the weather: long sleeves, long pants, hoodies, etc. he has even been known to wear sunglasses even on cloudy days. it is during the night that he isn't afraid to show more skin. there is only one very prominent mark on his body: a large scar from a knife on his back that extends from his right shoulder blade and toward his left hip.
► HEIGHT ► 6'0"
► WEIGHT ► 160lbs
► WEAPONS ► a pocket knife, always carries around one of his small robots that had been weaponized not long after joining team rocket (though, the one he usually carries around is more of a bb gun)
► NORMAL ITEMS ► rocket badge, rocket id card, iphone, ipod, satchel, sketchbook, various pencils, pens, & crayons, wallet, his uncle's scrapbook, a small digital camera
► POKEMON ITEMS ► Pokeball x5, Potion x3, Full Heal x2
► OVERALL APPEARANCE ► tsubasa is a tall man, though he definitely isn't the tallest around. he was a late bloomer, too, not getting his growth spurt in until he was nineteen. the man has a lean, well-toned frame covered in pale skin that refuses to tan, only burn. after all, he is an albino: white hair, pale skin, red eyes. his choice in clothing usually covers up as much of his skin as he possibly can regardless of the weather: long sleeves, long pants, hoodies, etc. he has even been known to wear sunglasses even on cloudy days. it is during the night that he isn't afraid to show more skin. there is only one very prominent mark on his body: a large scar from a knife on his back that extends from his right shoulder blade and toward his left hip.
ON THE INSIDE
► LIKES ► art, music, sweets, fireplaces, warm homes, psychic types, steel types, fairies, robots, being able to do what he wants, scrapbooking
► DISLIKES ► overbearing people, his grandparents, tasteless foods, people who flaunt off their money, deadlines, being left out of the loop
► FEARS & PHOBIAS ► Methyphobia- Fear of alcohol.
► HABITS & QUIRKS ► scratches at the back of his neck when nervous, tends to drop everything he is doing (assuming he isn't working) in order to sketch out an idea in his sketchbook, often loses track of time and forgets to eat/sleep/etc., often plays with his hair when thinking
► OVERALL PERSONALITY ► tsubasa doesn't seem too much like the type of person to be aligning himself with team rocket. you would probably be right to assume that. at a first glance, he isn't. he's quiet, he keeps to himself, and he doesn't go around looking for trouble. he is more of a wallflower than anything else, and he can be quite the pushover sometimes. this isn't completely the case, however. yes, he's quiet and reserved. yes, he can be a pushover. yes, he may pull the oblivious-to-the-world front, but that's just a front. even the pushover part is a front. an act. he chooses to sit back on the sidelines and watch as new developments occur. he is a man of science, after all, so observations are key to him. he watches, he listens, he learns. his ability to take the backseat gives him an advantage over others as he learns more from that seat in the back. he finds anything and everything he can use to exploit, all of a person's weaknesses and the skeletons in their closet. does he ever bother to use the information he learns? In most cases, no, he does not. he keeps it hidden away inside for usage later, if he is ever given the opportunity.
a naturally intelligent man, tsubasa kept his grades up through most of his schooling career. the only time he had allowed them to drop was when he was having some inner turmoil that kept him from even doing his homework. then he was taken out of school and given tutors who taught him more than the public schooling system would have ever cared to do, even going into college level courses when he was only sixteen. his natural ability to observe and his intelligence help him in almost any situation that deals with his job. he doesn't forget once he has seen or heard something, and he can pick out exactly what went wrong with something the moment he sees it. it probably helps that his metang is always on the lookout, pointing out anything that even he couldn't catch.
tsubasa does not have any negative intentions when it comes to his work. he simply does it because he loves it. he loves tinkering with objects, figuring out how it works, and putting them back together. he loves creating new 'toys' and programming them. he even loves the trial and error that comes with the job. even if all of his work (minus the little 'pets' he sometimes creates for himself on the side) goes toward team rocket, he never makes them with one set desire in mind, other than the desire to build. even if he creates weapons for them, he always puts safety or kill switches on them, primarily because he doesn't want to get complaints of anyone accidentally shooting themselves or accidentally setting off something at the wrong time. he tries to put in as much positive and negative into his creations to turn them into a neutral object that only becomes 'bad' when in the hands of certain people. though, he does have certain guidelines to follow, especially when a certain order comes in. he is not one to disappoint, after all.
there are sides of tsubasa that he tries to keep hidden from the rest of the world. one such side is the one that had been psychologically scarred from his early childhood experiences. he grew to have a fear of alcohol because of his father, to the point where he can't stand the sight or smell of it. it makes him tremble as the fears of long ago begin to resurface. he can't stand being anywhere near alcohol, and he tries to keep his distance from parties and anyone who has been drinking lately. he also doesn't really... believe in love, so to speak, or that he is more or less afraid of it. he had seen love that tore families apart, that sent his father into a deep depression that lead to alcohol and child abuse. he had seen a love that always end in pain and sorrow, even if he tried to keep up a strong front. he doesn't want to get hurt again, though he has no control over who he comes to love.
there is also the side that he really only shows his metang, josef. it's the soft, caring side, like a child who had yet to be corrupted from today's society. it's a nearly pure side that he only allows those closest to him to ever see. it is also the only side that he allows himself to fully drop his guard until someone else draws near. it the side that allows him to open up to the one he is with, to show all of his feelings to him. it is the side that caused him to cry until he slept on his sixteenth birthday. it is even the side that sings soft lullabies to his metang and promises to keep the pokemon and anyone he ever allows himself to love safe to the best of his ability, not to abandon them when the going gets rough or when death comes knocking. though, it is also this side that can bring forth all the anger he has kept hidden for all these years if those dearest to him are threatened.
► DISLIKES ► overbearing people, his grandparents, tasteless foods, people who flaunt off their money, deadlines, being left out of the loop
► FEARS & PHOBIAS ► Methyphobia- Fear of alcohol.
► HABITS & QUIRKS ► scratches at the back of his neck when nervous, tends to drop everything he is doing (assuming he isn't working) in order to sketch out an idea in his sketchbook, often loses track of time and forgets to eat/sleep/etc., often plays with his hair when thinking
► OVERALL PERSONALITY ► tsubasa doesn't seem too much like the type of person to be aligning himself with team rocket. you would probably be right to assume that. at a first glance, he isn't. he's quiet, he keeps to himself, and he doesn't go around looking for trouble. he is more of a wallflower than anything else, and he can be quite the pushover sometimes. this isn't completely the case, however. yes, he's quiet and reserved. yes, he can be a pushover. yes, he may pull the oblivious-to-the-world front, but that's just a front. even the pushover part is a front. an act. he chooses to sit back on the sidelines and watch as new developments occur. he is a man of science, after all, so observations are key to him. he watches, he listens, he learns. his ability to take the backseat gives him an advantage over others as he learns more from that seat in the back. he finds anything and everything he can use to exploit, all of a person's weaknesses and the skeletons in their closet. does he ever bother to use the information he learns? In most cases, no, he does not. he keeps it hidden away inside for usage later, if he is ever given the opportunity.
a naturally intelligent man, tsubasa kept his grades up through most of his schooling career. the only time he had allowed them to drop was when he was having some inner turmoil that kept him from even doing his homework. then he was taken out of school and given tutors who taught him more than the public schooling system would have ever cared to do, even going into college level courses when he was only sixteen. his natural ability to observe and his intelligence help him in almost any situation that deals with his job. he doesn't forget once he has seen or heard something, and he can pick out exactly what went wrong with something the moment he sees it. it probably helps that his metang is always on the lookout, pointing out anything that even he couldn't catch.
tsubasa does not have any negative intentions when it comes to his work. he simply does it because he loves it. he loves tinkering with objects, figuring out how it works, and putting them back together. he loves creating new 'toys' and programming them. he even loves the trial and error that comes with the job. even if all of his work (minus the little 'pets' he sometimes creates for himself on the side) goes toward team rocket, he never makes them with one set desire in mind, other than the desire to build. even if he creates weapons for them, he always puts safety or kill switches on them, primarily because he doesn't want to get complaints of anyone accidentally shooting themselves or accidentally setting off something at the wrong time. he tries to put in as much positive and negative into his creations to turn them into a neutral object that only becomes 'bad' when in the hands of certain people. though, he does have certain guidelines to follow, especially when a certain order comes in. he is not one to disappoint, after all.
there are sides of tsubasa that he tries to keep hidden from the rest of the world. one such side is the one that had been psychologically scarred from his early childhood experiences. he grew to have a fear of alcohol because of his father, to the point where he can't stand the sight or smell of it. it makes him tremble as the fears of long ago begin to resurface. he can't stand being anywhere near alcohol, and he tries to keep his distance from parties and anyone who has been drinking lately. he also doesn't really... believe in love, so to speak, or that he is more or less afraid of it. he had seen love that tore families apart, that sent his father into a deep depression that lead to alcohol and child abuse. he had seen a love that always end in pain and sorrow, even if he tried to keep up a strong front. he doesn't want to get hurt again, though he has no control over who he comes to love.
there is also the side that he really only shows his metang, josef. it's the soft, caring side, like a child who had yet to be corrupted from today's society. it's a nearly pure side that he only allows those closest to him to ever see. it is also the only side that he allows himself to fully drop his guard until someone else draws near. it the side that allows him to open up to the one he is with, to show all of his feelings to him. it is the side that caused him to cry until he slept on his sixteenth birthday. it is even the side that sings soft lullabies to his metang and promises to keep the pokemon and anyone he ever allows himself to love safe to the best of his ability, not to abandon them when the going gets rough or when death comes knocking. though, it is also this side that can bring forth all the anger he has kept hidden for all these years if those dearest to him are threatened.
DIGGING DEEPER
► MOTHER ► fukui aiko, deceased @ 19
► FATHER ► erik salzwedel, deceased @ 27
► SISTER(S) ► n/a
► BROTHERS(S) ► n/a
► OTHER FAMILY ► josef salzwedel, uncle, deceased @ 35
► PAST MAJOR ILLNESSES & INJURIES ► nearly getting killed by his father when he was younger, albinism (if you wish to consider it as an illness)
► OVERALL HISTORY ► tsubasa's parents met when his mother was only a sophomore in high school and his father was a student teacher (also working on an exchange program from his home region of unova) at her school. the two soon fell in love, though they kept it secret from the school and both of their families. it wasn't until he proposed to her when she was heading into her senior year that they finally told everyone. his family didn't seem to mind much. they were thrilled, in fact. it was his mother's parents that were furious. they forbade their relationship, telling her that she was never to see the man ever again. this tore her apart, but she wasn't going to let her parents take away the person she loved. so, she dropped out of high school. she decided that she wanted to be with her love, even if her parents were against it. the two ran off together to elope, and that begins the tale of tsubasa, the infant who ruined everything.
the couple moved to ecruteak city, deciding that it was a perfect place to start their life together. it was almost unexpected that the young woman became pregnant not long after they settled in. it was a good kind of unexpected, though. they quickly began getting ready for their newest addition to their family. only a few months into the pregnancy, however, she fell ill. the pregnancy was taking its toll on her body, and she grew weaker and weaker with each week that passed. her husband called up his brother, asking him to come down and help out. after all, he had to work, and he couldn't take care of his wife all the time. his brother moved in, and it was while he was at work that his wife went into a premature labor. she was rushed to the hospital, though she was never able to walk out after that.
by the time her husband had arrived, his baby had survived, but his wife did not. he was devastated. the woman of his dreams, his life, had passed away, leaving him with a child he no longer wanted.
but, he had to care for the child whether he wanted to or not. after all, the child--which the uncle named tsubasa after searching through various databases because the father would have named him something cruel--was the only remaining 'thing' his wife had left behind. this did not mean he took proper care of the young boy. it was his uncle who ended up caring for tsubasa in the end. his father definitely wasn't going to do it. there were times when he would forget to feed him, and he would just listen to him cry and cry until he got mad at the toddler for crying. physical abuse was not uncommon whenever his uncle was away. tsubasa ended up with various bruises all throughout his body at the end of the day, though actual cuts and scrapes began to show up as time went on.
his father had fallen into a dark depression. he started spending long nights out at the bar, and he would come home disheveled, sweaty, and smelling like alcohol. the abuse was often worse if tsubasa was caught up whenever his father came home, and his uncle had to install a lock on the boy's door so his father couldn't wander into his room in a drunken stupor. though, there were some nights that tsubasa would hide away in his uncle's room in an attempt to escape from any fears he had of his own father in the middle of the night. at least he didn't have to deal with his father for too long.
one night, when tsubasa was only four years old, his father arrived home earlier than usual. things moved pretty quickly, and the memories are all jumbled in his mind, though he woke up the next morning in the hospital with his torso wrapped in bandages and a horrible pain in his back. they waited a week to tell him that his father was dead, committing suicide not long after tsubasa had lost consciousness from blood loss. he was shocked, to say the least, even though he should have seen it coming. it hit him hard. his father may not have been the best father in the region, but that didn't mean he didn't love him in the slightest bit. after all, it was his father. he was dependent on him, even if the man had tried to kill him.
tsubasa was released into the custody of his uncle as soon as his back had healed up enough. by that time, his uncle had already packed up everything of value in the house and marked it for sale. he was ready to leave with the boy in tow, and it was off to the unova region they went to live with his late-father's and uncle's family. he had never seen his grandparents or anyone else in his family, so he was excited, despite the lingering feeling of something he couldn't place in the back of his mind.
the welcome he received from his grandparents was a warm one, something he wasn't used to at all. he soaked it all in, though, enjoying the way they instantly began to spoil him rotten. it was the usual grandparent thing to do, though his grandparents seemed intent on making his life better than it had been. they weren't part of his life for too long, however. his grandmother was diagnosed with cancer not long after he arrived, and his grandfather's age was already starting to get to him. tsubasa was only ten when his grandmother passed away, and his grandfather passed on only months later. it hit the boy harder than it had his father. his uncle tried to make it seem like everything was going to be fine, but he knew it wasn't. he already understood that everyone dies one day, but that didn't mean the pain would be lessened by that knowledge.
life went on, whether he wanted it to or not. his uncle provided for him the best that he could, though they fell on hard times when tsubasa became a teenager. his uncle lost his job after one mishap at the office, and the pair were forced to move into a smaller apartment. despite his wishes to help his uncle, the man made it very clear that he needed to focus on school rather than their current situation. this didn't mean he wasn't going to worry. he did what he could to help make their bills lower or to save money in general. he brought smaller lunches to school, sometimes even going without it. he kept the lights off as much as possible, only using a small lamp to do his homework with. the computer was only on whenever he needed to use it for a report, or when his uncle needed it. for a while, this much worked.
only a few weeks after his fifteenth birthday, he received a letter in the mail. it was from his grandparents on his mother's side, a side of the family that had seemed intent on keeping him out of their lives. they wanted to meet him. no. they wanted him to live with them. they had not been notified of their son-in-law's death until many years later, and they wanted their living grandchild to be with them, not with the brother of the man who took their beloved daughter away. this put a strain of the small family of two. tsubasa had always wanted to meet his family on his mother's side, in hopes that they would tell him more about the woman than his uncle had ever been able to provide. yet, he didn't want to leave his uncle, the only person who had cared for him since birth. his grades started to decline in school as he began to worry constantly over what to do. should he leave his uncle in a time of economic crisis or should he stay and help?
he consulted his uncle on the issue, and a plan was formed. if his grandparents would come up to unova to at least meet him, then he could make his final decision. with that in mind, he wrote a letter to his grandparents and waited for their reply. their reply came in the form of them showing up one day on their doorstep, faces clearly showing their displeasure at the condition of the apartment building, along with his mother's three sisters and single brother. it was a shock to him that he had so many relatives he didn't even know about, and he was quick to welcome them all into the apartment, despite his uncle being nowhere to be found since he was out job hunting again.
his mother's side of the family quickly looked around with the disgust still apparent on their faces, though it was mainly his grandparents who were looking around. his aunts and uncle were already taking to fuss over him. his aunts cooed over how 'cute' he was while his other uncle was wondering why he hadn't bulked up any. he used the excuse that he didn't have time to do sports or anything. it wasn't like he liked them in the first place. he burned too easily, and being outside for extended periods of time gave him horrible headaches. there was also no way in the distortion world that he was going to go to a gym and pay a lot of money just to sweat with people. nope. his aunts didn't seem to care about his size. no, they were perfectly fine how scrawny of a teenage boy he was. they picked at his clothing though, frowning at the worn, hand-me-down clothes. it was when they tried to lift up the back of his shirt to inspect more than they saw the long scar from that night long ago.
the apartment fell silent.
before anyone could even open their mouths to speak, his uncle on his father's side walked through the door, stopping short once he saw all the people crowding around his nephew. "who?" tsubasa let a sheepish smile cross his face, reaching back to scratch his neck. he would have spoken, but his grandmother cut to the chase. "we're talking tsubasa back with us." oh, no, no, no, no, no. this was not the plan at all! he was powerless in this matter, however. he couldn't do anything but slink away into his room, close the door, lock it, and wait for everything to be over. he listened to the arguing back and forth between his stubborn, straight-laced grandparents and his dear uncle for hours, only for everything to go quiet as night approached. a soft knock on his door coaxed him to unlock it and open it to see the softly smiling faces of his aunts.
"what happened?"
his grandparents and uncle took everything outside, apparently, because of a noise complaint by a neighbor. so, he was left in the care of his aunts and uncle until they returned. he took this time to do his homework while getting to know them. he had always been great at multitasking unless his mind was caught up in turmoil. he learned from his aunts and uncle that his grandparents were rich, owning a company that meant just about everything to them and being ones to do whatever it took to get what they waned. this made it not nearly as strange as to why they hadn't wanted his mother and father to marry. it would look bad on the company and the family. he was even able to get his aunts and uncle to tell him more about his mother, about how beautiful she was until the end, about how she always had a smile on her face... they were a little too biased when it came to his father, but he didn't take too much offense to it.
it was around two in the morning by the time his grandparents arrived back at the apartment. his uncle was nowhere to be seen, though his grandparents claimed that he gave them approval to take him back to the kanto-johto continent. he couldn't fight them, so he decided to go along with whatever they were planning. he went about the apartment while he was packing, a nagging feeling in the back of his mind telling him something had happened to his uncle. listening to the nagging feeling, he slipped into his uncle's room to rummage through his things. it was there that he found a scrapbook that had been kept since tsubasa was born, something he had never really seen his uncle doing but found it sweet regardless, and he also found a small box with his name on it. there was also a card next to it, once more with his name on it. he opened the card, only to see a happy sweet sixteen on it. this was for his sixteenth birthday. grabbing the card, box, and scrapbook, he quickly packed them away and allowed his grandparents to drag him off to the airport.
he could hear sirens in the distance, heading toward his old apartment building.
they didn't go to johto like he had expected. no, they went to the kanto region. they moved him into their estate just outside of celadon city, and tsubasa was thrust into a life of luxury. it was so different from the life he had been in beforehand. he went from economic crisis to holding a silver spoon, and it was pretty overwhelming for the boy. he tried his best to deal with it, though. he kept his mouth shut on any questions regarding his uncle, figuring it would be easier to pull the oblivious act, especially after overhearing his grandmother making arrangements for his uncle's death to be kept out of the media and hidden away as if nothing had ever happened, as if he had never been born.
they tried to get tsubasa to take the name of his mother, though he refused to do so. because of this, they did not allow him to go to the school his aunts and uncle had gone to. it would be weird for the fukui family to enroll someone who did not share their last name, so they called in for various tutors who would keep their mouths shut. it was almost like they didn't want him to be known to the world, even though they were the ones to pull so many strings just to have him be with them in the first place. he went along with their game, though, pretending to be naive in their presence. besides, he was able to excel with the tutors teaching him anything and everything about the world. he even found a new passion in science, and he did everything he could to focus on it even after the tutors had left for the day.
on his sixteenth birthday, he waited until the end of all the different festivities in his 'honor' to hide away in his room. he locked the door, moving over to a drawer beside his bed. inside was the card, box, and scrapbook his uncle had kept. he had continued to add to the scrapbook whenever something interesting or worthwhile happened. he didn't want it to end at his fifteenth birthday. he tried to keep it in the same style his uncle had been using, and he almost had the duplication of the style down to a science. after flipping through the pages, he moved onto the card and the box. he read over the card about five times before he finally opened the box, finding a pokeball inside. lifting the sphere out of the box, he pressed the button to release the pokemon from within.
it was a beldum.
the tears he had been holding in for so long finally flooded out, blurring his vision and wetting his pale skin. the beldum became distressed, unable to understand what was going on. the only thing the creature could do was move closer, nudging at the human, only to have arms wrapped around it and held close to the boy's chest. he cried until he fell asleep, the beldum still in his arms and held closely to his heart. "josef. your name shall be josef." named after the man who devoted his life to caring for the child his brother had forsaken.
he kept the beldum a secret from his grandparents. he allowed his aunts and uncle to know about the pokemon, though he made sure they swore never to tell his grandparents. he did not want to risk having another precious part of his life to be taken away. the years slowly passed him by. he fell into a routine of waking up, eating his meals, going to tutoring sessions, and then bidding his family goodnight. somewhere along the line, he had started tinkering with the various objects in his room, especially anything that used electricity. he would ask the tutor who taught him science various questions on how anything and everything worked, and he was even able to bribe the tutor into teaching him more on technology. he figured out how to build things on his own, taking apart anything he could get his hands on in order to see what was inside, only to put it back together after he finish. he was around eighteen by the time he had started to create his own miniature robots that did nothing at first until he was able to work out the kinks and make them move on their own.
josef helped a lot as well, especially after evolving when tsubasa was nineteen. a naturally intelligent creature, tsubasa was able to put the metang to good use. it even helped him figure out some things that even his tutor couldn't help him with. speaking of which, that tutor ended up becoming a good friend to tsubasa, often allowed into his room-turned-workshop to help him whenever he needed it. alas, all good things must come to an end. when he turned twenty, his grandparents stopped having tutors come to the estate. he already excelled in everything they placed before him, so now it was time for him to get a job. one thing was for sure: he did not want to work for his grandparents. not even the loss of his grandfather could make him sway.
he searched around in the nearby celadon city for something to do, an occupation that paid well and allowed him the time to continue tinkering with his creations. this job came in the form of team rocket. he did not have any fancy degrees in technology or science, though that did not under-qualify him. besides, team rocket came to him, not the other way around. no, that probably is not the best wording for it. his salvation came in the form of his tutor, the one who had taught him more and more about science and technology. said tutor was apparently a technician for team rocket. the tutoring was just a side job that paid well since it was his grandparents. it was the tutor who scouted him into team rocket, putting a good word in with the boss. all tsubasa had to do in order to get the job was to show them his creations. none of them were weaponized, though they had the potential to be (and he was taught how to weaponize just about anything later on). his creations included small robots that could fit in the palm of your hand, just a hair bigger than a joltik. they acted much like dogs, considering that was the best ai system he could come up with at the time, and they had voice and facial recognition.
at only twenty, he had landed the job.
► LIFETIME PARTNER ►
► FATHER ► erik salzwedel, deceased @ 27
► SISTER(S) ► n/a
► BROTHERS(S) ► n/a
► OTHER FAMILY ► josef salzwedel, uncle, deceased @ 35
► PAST MAJOR ILLNESSES & INJURIES ► nearly getting killed by his father when he was younger, albinism (if you wish to consider it as an illness)
► OVERALL HISTORY ► tsubasa's parents met when his mother was only a sophomore in high school and his father was a student teacher (also working on an exchange program from his home region of unova) at her school. the two soon fell in love, though they kept it secret from the school and both of their families. it wasn't until he proposed to her when she was heading into her senior year that they finally told everyone. his family didn't seem to mind much. they were thrilled, in fact. it was his mother's parents that were furious. they forbade their relationship, telling her that she was never to see the man ever again. this tore her apart, but she wasn't going to let her parents take away the person she loved. so, she dropped out of high school. she decided that she wanted to be with her love, even if her parents were against it. the two ran off together to elope, and that begins the tale of tsubasa, the infant who ruined everything.
the couple moved to ecruteak city, deciding that it was a perfect place to start their life together. it was almost unexpected that the young woman became pregnant not long after they settled in. it was a good kind of unexpected, though. they quickly began getting ready for their newest addition to their family. only a few months into the pregnancy, however, she fell ill. the pregnancy was taking its toll on her body, and she grew weaker and weaker with each week that passed. her husband called up his brother, asking him to come down and help out. after all, he had to work, and he couldn't take care of his wife all the time. his brother moved in, and it was while he was at work that his wife went into a premature labor. she was rushed to the hospital, though she was never able to walk out after that.
by the time her husband had arrived, his baby had survived, but his wife did not. he was devastated. the woman of his dreams, his life, had passed away, leaving him with a child he no longer wanted.
but, he had to care for the child whether he wanted to or not. after all, the child--which the uncle named tsubasa after searching through various databases because the father would have named him something cruel--was the only remaining 'thing' his wife had left behind. this did not mean he took proper care of the young boy. it was his uncle who ended up caring for tsubasa in the end. his father definitely wasn't going to do it. there were times when he would forget to feed him, and he would just listen to him cry and cry until he got mad at the toddler for crying. physical abuse was not uncommon whenever his uncle was away. tsubasa ended up with various bruises all throughout his body at the end of the day, though actual cuts and scrapes began to show up as time went on.
his father had fallen into a dark depression. he started spending long nights out at the bar, and he would come home disheveled, sweaty, and smelling like alcohol. the abuse was often worse if tsubasa was caught up whenever his father came home, and his uncle had to install a lock on the boy's door so his father couldn't wander into his room in a drunken stupor. though, there were some nights that tsubasa would hide away in his uncle's room in an attempt to escape from any fears he had of his own father in the middle of the night. at least he didn't have to deal with his father for too long.
one night, when tsubasa was only four years old, his father arrived home earlier than usual. things moved pretty quickly, and the memories are all jumbled in his mind, though he woke up the next morning in the hospital with his torso wrapped in bandages and a horrible pain in his back. they waited a week to tell him that his father was dead, committing suicide not long after tsubasa had lost consciousness from blood loss. he was shocked, to say the least, even though he should have seen it coming. it hit him hard. his father may not have been the best father in the region, but that didn't mean he didn't love him in the slightest bit. after all, it was his father. he was dependent on him, even if the man had tried to kill him.
tsubasa was released into the custody of his uncle as soon as his back had healed up enough. by that time, his uncle had already packed up everything of value in the house and marked it for sale. he was ready to leave with the boy in tow, and it was off to the unova region they went to live with his late-father's and uncle's family. he had never seen his grandparents or anyone else in his family, so he was excited, despite the lingering feeling of something he couldn't place in the back of his mind.
the welcome he received from his grandparents was a warm one, something he wasn't used to at all. he soaked it all in, though, enjoying the way they instantly began to spoil him rotten. it was the usual grandparent thing to do, though his grandparents seemed intent on making his life better than it had been. they weren't part of his life for too long, however. his grandmother was diagnosed with cancer not long after he arrived, and his grandfather's age was already starting to get to him. tsubasa was only ten when his grandmother passed away, and his grandfather passed on only months later. it hit the boy harder than it had his father. his uncle tried to make it seem like everything was going to be fine, but he knew it wasn't. he already understood that everyone dies one day, but that didn't mean the pain would be lessened by that knowledge.
life went on, whether he wanted it to or not. his uncle provided for him the best that he could, though they fell on hard times when tsubasa became a teenager. his uncle lost his job after one mishap at the office, and the pair were forced to move into a smaller apartment. despite his wishes to help his uncle, the man made it very clear that he needed to focus on school rather than their current situation. this didn't mean he wasn't going to worry. he did what he could to help make their bills lower or to save money in general. he brought smaller lunches to school, sometimes even going without it. he kept the lights off as much as possible, only using a small lamp to do his homework with. the computer was only on whenever he needed to use it for a report, or when his uncle needed it. for a while, this much worked.
only a few weeks after his fifteenth birthday, he received a letter in the mail. it was from his grandparents on his mother's side, a side of the family that had seemed intent on keeping him out of their lives. they wanted to meet him. no. they wanted him to live with them. they had not been notified of their son-in-law's death until many years later, and they wanted their living grandchild to be with them, not with the brother of the man who took their beloved daughter away. this put a strain of the small family of two. tsubasa had always wanted to meet his family on his mother's side, in hopes that they would tell him more about the woman than his uncle had ever been able to provide. yet, he didn't want to leave his uncle, the only person who had cared for him since birth. his grades started to decline in school as he began to worry constantly over what to do. should he leave his uncle in a time of economic crisis or should he stay and help?
he consulted his uncle on the issue, and a plan was formed. if his grandparents would come up to unova to at least meet him, then he could make his final decision. with that in mind, he wrote a letter to his grandparents and waited for their reply. their reply came in the form of them showing up one day on their doorstep, faces clearly showing their displeasure at the condition of the apartment building, along with his mother's three sisters and single brother. it was a shock to him that he had so many relatives he didn't even know about, and he was quick to welcome them all into the apartment, despite his uncle being nowhere to be found since he was out job hunting again.
his mother's side of the family quickly looked around with the disgust still apparent on their faces, though it was mainly his grandparents who were looking around. his aunts and uncle were already taking to fuss over him. his aunts cooed over how 'cute' he was while his other uncle was wondering why he hadn't bulked up any. he used the excuse that he didn't have time to do sports or anything. it wasn't like he liked them in the first place. he burned too easily, and being outside for extended periods of time gave him horrible headaches. there was also no way in the distortion world that he was going to go to a gym and pay a lot of money just to sweat with people. nope. his aunts didn't seem to care about his size. no, they were perfectly fine how scrawny of a teenage boy he was. they picked at his clothing though, frowning at the worn, hand-me-down clothes. it was when they tried to lift up the back of his shirt to inspect more than they saw the long scar from that night long ago.
the apartment fell silent.
before anyone could even open their mouths to speak, his uncle on his father's side walked through the door, stopping short once he saw all the people crowding around his nephew. "who?" tsubasa let a sheepish smile cross his face, reaching back to scratch his neck. he would have spoken, but his grandmother cut to the chase. "we're talking tsubasa back with us." oh, no, no, no, no, no. this was not the plan at all! he was powerless in this matter, however. he couldn't do anything but slink away into his room, close the door, lock it, and wait for everything to be over. he listened to the arguing back and forth between his stubborn, straight-laced grandparents and his dear uncle for hours, only for everything to go quiet as night approached. a soft knock on his door coaxed him to unlock it and open it to see the softly smiling faces of his aunts.
"what happened?"
his grandparents and uncle took everything outside, apparently, because of a noise complaint by a neighbor. so, he was left in the care of his aunts and uncle until they returned. he took this time to do his homework while getting to know them. he had always been great at multitasking unless his mind was caught up in turmoil. he learned from his aunts and uncle that his grandparents were rich, owning a company that meant just about everything to them and being ones to do whatever it took to get what they waned. this made it not nearly as strange as to why they hadn't wanted his mother and father to marry. it would look bad on the company and the family. he was even able to get his aunts and uncle to tell him more about his mother, about how beautiful she was until the end, about how she always had a smile on her face... they were a little too biased when it came to his father, but he didn't take too much offense to it.
it was around two in the morning by the time his grandparents arrived back at the apartment. his uncle was nowhere to be seen, though his grandparents claimed that he gave them approval to take him back to the kanto-johto continent. he couldn't fight them, so he decided to go along with whatever they were planning. he went about the apartment while he was packing, a nagging feeling in the back of his mind telling him something had happened to his uncle. listening to the nagging feeling, he slipped into his uncle's room to rummage through his things. it was there that he found a scrapbook that had been kept since tsubasa was born, something he had never really seen his uncle doing but found it sweet regardless, and he also found a small box with his name on it. there was also a card next to it, once more with his name on it. he opened the card, only to see a happy sweet sixteen on it. this was for his sixteenth birthday. grabbing the card, box, and scrapbook, he quickly packed them away and allowed his grandparents to drag him off to the airport.
he could hear sirens in the distance, heading toward his old apartment building.
they didn't go to johto like he had expected. no, they went to the kanto region. they moved him into their estate just outside of celadon city, and tsubasa was thrust into a life of luxury. it was so different from the life he had been in beforehand. he went from economic crisis to holding a silver spoon, and it was pretty overwhelming for the boy. he tried his best to deal with it, though. he kept his mouth shut on any questions regarding his uncle, figuring it would be easier to pull the oblivious act, especially after overhearing his grandmother making arrangements for his uncle's death to be kept out of the media and hidden away as if nothing had ever happened, as if he had never been born.
they tried to get tsubasa to take the name of his mother, though he refused to do so. because of this, they did not allow him to go to the school his aunts and uncle had gone to. it would be weird for the fukui family to enroll someone who did not share their last name, so they called in for various tutors who would keep their mouths shut. it was almost like they didn't want him to be known to the world, even though they were the ones to pull so many strings just to have him be with them in the first place. he went along with their game, though, pretending to be naive in their presence. besides, he was able to excel with the tutors teaching him anything and everything about the world. he even found a new passion in science, and he did everything he could to focus on it even after the tutors had left for the day.
on his sixteenth birthday, he waited until the end of all the different festivities in his 'honor' to hide away in his room. he locked the door, moving over to a drawer beside his bed. inside was the card, box, and scrapbook his uncle had kept. he had continued to add to the scrapbook whenever something interesting or worthwhile happened. he didn't want it to end at his fifteenth birthday. he tried to keep it in the same style his uncle had been using, and he almost had the duplication of the style down to a science. after flipping through the pages, he moved onto the card and the box. he read over the card about five times before he finally opened the box, finding a pokeball inside. lifting the sphere out of the box, he pressed the button to release the pokemon from within.
it was a beldum.
the tears he had been holding in for so long finally flooded out, blurring his vision and wetting his pale skin. the beldum became distressed, unable to understand what was going on. the only thing the creature could do was move closer, nudging at the human, only to have arms wrapped around it and held close to the boy's chest. he cried until he fell asleep, the beldum still in his arms and held closely to his heart. "josef. your name shall be josef." named after the man who devoted his life to caring for the child his brother had forsaken.
he kept the beldum a secret from his grandparents. he allowed his aunts and uncle to know about the pokemon, though he made sure they swore never to tell his grandparents. he did not want to risk having another precious part of his life to be taken away. the years slowly passed him by. he fell into a routine of waking up, eating his meals, going to tutoring sessions, and then bidding his family goodnight. somewhere along the line, he had started tinkering with the various objects in his room, especially anything that used electricity. he would ask the tutor who taught him science various questions on how anything and everything worked, and he was even able to bribe the tutor into teaching him more on technology. he figured out how to build things on his own, taking apart anything he could get his hands on in order to see what was inside, only to put it back together after he finish. he was around eighteen by the time he had started to create his own miniature robots that did nothing at first until he was able to work out the kinks and make them move on their own.
josef helped a lot as well, especially after evolving when tsubasa was nineteen. a naturally intelligent creature, tsubasa was able to put the metang to good use. it even helped him figure out some things that even his tutor couldn't help him with. speaking of which, that tutor ended up becoming a good friend to tsubasa, often allowed into his room-turned-workshop to help him whenever he needed it. alas, all good things must come to an end. when he turned twenty, his grandparents stopped having tutors come to the estate. he already excelled in everything they placed before him, so now it was time for him to get a job. one thing was for sure: he did not want to work for his grandparents. not even the loss of his grandfather could make him sway.
he searched around in the nearby celadon city for something to do, an occupation that paid well and allowed him the time to continue tinkering with his creations. this job came in the form of team rocket. he did not have any fancy degrees in technology or science, though that did not under-qualify him. besides, team rocket came to him, not the other way around. no, that probably is not the best wording for it. his salvation came in the form of his tutor, the one who had taught him more and more about science and technology. said tutor was apparently a technician for team rocket. the tutoring was just a side job that paid well since it was his grandparents. it was the tutor who scouted him into team rocket, putting a good word in with the boss. all tsubasa had to do in order to get the job was to show them his creations. none of them were weaponized, though they had the potential to be (and he was taught how to weaponize just about anything later on). his creations included small robots that could fit in the palm of your hand, just a hair bigger than a joltik. they acted much like dogs, considering that was the best ai system he could come up with at the time, and they had voice and facial recognition.
at only twenty, he had landed the job.
► LIFETIME PARTNER ►
► NAME ► josef
► SPECIES ► metang
► GENDER ► genderless
► ABILITY ► hustle
► EGG MOVE ► n/a
by makoto of years to remember
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