[hider=Keiten Ballad]
Name: Keiten Ballad 
Appearance: 
[img=http://i1374.photobucket.com/albums/ag407/Hatakekuro/34e16e2ebe7adc36a4d380727e26f1ab1407425546_full_zpsf750afe6.jpg]
Starter Pokemon: Apollo: Shiny Charmeleon (Level 26), Thor: Electabuzz (level 24, Shadow pokemon though it's heart is nearly open. Took it from the Peon he killed.)
Equipment: a snag machine that he received from Professor Krane and 14 ultra balls from a peon he killed. Throwing knives. 

Personality: Keiten is a man hardened by the past and things he had done is his life as of now. He knows how to conceal his emotions so that he can think with a clear mind that is able to make hard choices. He is the kind of man who will do what no one else will dare to do even if it is necessary, even kill if it comes to that. It wouldn't be his first time killing someone since he's made a living out of it. That is not to say that this man has no emotion. In fact once one gets past his cold shell he is actually a very caring and kind individual who enjoys the company of people and his pokemon. He has a strong hate towards Cipher and oh so dearly wants to get revenge on them.

History: Keiten grew up never really knowing who his father was. All he knew about his father was that he was an excellent trainer, Elite Four worthy. He spent most of his time with his mother who owned a pokemon day care center in Agate Village, where he would help her take care of the pokemon and play with them when he would come back from school. He had a little secret that he kept from everyone though; he could talk to pokemon and see their "hearts" so to speak. With this ability he was able to converse with pokemon in ways that most normal people couldn't though he never dared to show it off. His mother never would've allowed it to happen; she knew that there were people that would've taken her son for such a rare ability. She had lived through the other shadow pokemon crises in previous years and knew all too well what would happen. 

Two years later on his birthday, he would receive a gift from his father in the mail, much to him and his mother's surprise. It was a shiny Charmander with a note from his father, telling Keiten to take care of this pokemon and that he was sorry that he could never be in his life, but no matter what he still loved him and he was proud of him. It was also the same day of Cipher's takeover. No one knew how it happened but they somehow found out about Keiten's ability of talking to pokemon and reading their "hearts." His mother tried to fight them off and she screamed at her son to run away as they razed the day care to the ground. He did as he was told; he ran and ran and ran. He ran even when his legs felt like they were only two pieces of rotting wood and stopped when his legs gave out. Life he had knew it was over; he lost his mother, the daycare and home, and most of his pokemon friends. All he had left were the clothes on his back and his new Charmander, which later over the course of the month would evolve into a Charmeleon. 

He somehow found himself in Pyrite Town, a town that reverted back into it's destitute crime filled scene. There he would learn his street smarts and at some point made his living as a hitman for the mob. They taught him everything they knew about the art of killing without leaving a trace. It's not like he wanted to do it but he owed his life to them. They took him in, sheltered him, gave him good food and clothes when he was about to die from dehydration and thirst. In order to pay them back for their services, he would have to return the favor. Life wasn't ideal but it was something. He would soon learn that you can't trust them. He was given a job to take out a Cipher Peon, a relatively easy job though it was a set up. The Peon who he was supposed to kill was waiting for him with two others to apprehend him though the coup would proven to be futile. They explained that the boss of the mob he was working for was promised a seat as an Executive member of Cipher he handed in Keiten no questions asked. As the two extra Peons tried to apprehend the young man, he knocked them out cold in a brutal and yet efficiently quick way and then pulled a throwing knife out on the Peon he was supposed to kill, finishing the job. Since the job wouldn't have a reward, he stole the dead Peon's Snag Machine, his pokeballs, and his shadow Elecabuzz. Keiten fled Pyrite Town and headed down toward's The Under, where he would hide out there for a year. 

Anger was all he felt. Anger that Cipher had forced him to hide underground in The Under, for taking away his mother, his home, everything from him. Upon hearing the recent rumors of a Cipher attack, he knew that he wanted to destroy them. He is going take them out once and for all. 
[/hider]