like hundreds of other young, ambitious folk across the region, dante has begun his own 'journey' through hoenn in order to compete all the gym challenges and become a pokémon master... you know, sort of.

dante is constantly in transit, seldom staying in one town for very long. he frequently catches sleep on buses, trains, and at the nearest pokémon center, to the point where he's gotten kicked off or out for loitering. aside from these irate publc service workers, however, it's doubtful he makes much of an impression on the local population of wherever he happens to stop at.

rookie that he is, he's just another nameless face stamped onto a cheap, plastic trainer's card.

unknown to rocket, except perhaps as another potential victim.

dante left home after what his mother calls 'the longest gap year ever.' their parting was full of bitter sarcasm and unresolved familial tension, though that doesn't stop her from occasionally wiring him money, and frequently calling him to make sure he's not dead in a ditch somewhere. he does his best to tolerate these long phone lectures, partly because she's effectively his only relative that actually matters, mostly because he's usually broke and in no position to irritate her further — provided that's possible.

he's a complete and utter failure in the world of academia, much to his mother's dismay... though dante would argue that you'd need to actually be enrolled in some kind of school in order to flunk out of it (or, at least, you'd need to have attempted to apply there in the first place). further, he's never held down a real job in his life, and has bombed every single interview he was forced into— likely on purpose. roaming aimlessly around the world and fighting with magical animals seems like a much more practical use of his time, if you ask him. whether or not he's actually trying his best in that regard is still a mystery waiting to be solved, but the smart money is on 'no.'