If Tomo ever had bilogical family, he doesn't remember them. One of the many street-raised kids in the Pokemon world, he spent his youth scrapping and surviving any way he could. Though survival was made immesurably easier as his teens rolled around, and he was gifted his first Pokemon by Professor Oak: Charmander. An inexperienced Tomo with a new Charmander led to a lot of small burn scars on Tomo's arms and spending quite a lot of time around cool water to soothe his own pain. Soon after Charmander he gained the other two Kanto starters through trade and by chance--and it was not long after until he caught the eye of Team Rocket's rivals: the Kantosakana-Kai.

Through the Kai, Tomo did more than survive. He had a family and a purpose. As with many young members of the Kai, Tomo became a courier, transporting rare artifacts and pokemon across Kanto--and later, other regions as well. By his early 20s, Tomo had gathered up an entire team of Pokemon to journey with him, and the Kai thought him responsible enough to assign him a Little Sister named Umeko. In the eyes of the Kai he was dependable and trustworthy, though his courier lifestyle still left him without a home per se. In his mid twenties he finds two Rockets harassing the Clefairy tribe atop Mt. Moon--and a scientist who had befriended the tribe. Tomo deals with the Rockets and finds a new friend in the scientist, Castor. A friend who becomes a penpal and later something more.

Trivia

• As introverted as he can be, Tomo is almost cripplingly shy. It takes a long while--or certain content of character--for him to trust someone enough to call them friends, and once he does he's deadly loyal to them. That said, he considers most Pokemon friends immediately. Especially the big ones.
• Tomo's favorite hobby is fishing. It's one of the only things he does for himself purely because he enjoys it. Mostly it's catch and release, but occasionally he'll bring something rare back to the Kai. The first gift he gave Castor after they got together was a Dragalge he net himself.