When Tim Drake became Robin, his life was in turmoil. A car crash had just killed his mother and Batman was still reeling from the loss of Jason Todd. The Dark Knight was unsure how to go about mentoring another young sidekick, but the young sidekick would not be deterred.
Almost immediately after Tim dons the Robin costume, Bruce sends him halfway around the world to train under a martial master. However, his training would soon be interrupted as found himself caught up in international crime conspiracies without any way to rely on Batman for support.
The events in question take place in the original Robin miniseries by Chuck Dixon, Tom Lyle, and Bob Smith. After arriving in Paris, Tim meets another teenage boy named Shen Chi, who is the lama's grandson and star pupil. The two spar in the dojo as part of Tim's training and Shen easily beats him. They head out to a nightclub to bond when Tim meets a girl named Ling. While they talk, a gang called the Ghost Dragons appears, revealing Ling is one of them, and the other gangsters give Tim a beat down for speaking with Ling (later revealed as the villain Lynx). Picking himself up, Tim follows the Dragons to their hideout, where they are beating on another man, albeit someone who can fight back. Tim teams up with this man, who reveals himself to be a cop named Clyde Rawlins.
This fight marks the true beginning of Tim's superhero education. While sparring under a lama's supervision was no doubt instructive, it was only when he had to learn to navigate the geography and gangs of a new city that he began developing the skills he needed to excel as Robin. Later, Rawlins furthers this education when he teaches Robin the practicalities of street fighting. All the while, the two are pursued by the Ghost Dragons at their behest of their leader, King Snake, a blind martial artist and rich English businessman.
Lady Shiva joins Robin and Rawlins, providing information on King Snake's activities. In addition to trafficking in drugs and women, King Snake was interested in acquiring a biological weapon the Nazis had housed during World War II. The three of them track down the location of a hidden Nazi weapons lab along the German border and investigate, but fail to stop the Ghost Dragons from stealing a container of the bio-weapon. However, Tim uses his computer skills to confirm the package is en route to Hong Kong.
On their journey to China, Lady Shiva begins training Tim to use a bo staff, which would eventually become his signature weapon. Meanwhile, the bio-weapon is identified as the bubonic plague. King Snake plans to unleash it an airborne plague to clear the slums surrounding the Dorrance Building--a massive Hong Kong office building he owns. Tim and his companions storm the building and Rawlins is killed in the fighting. While King Snake is a much deadlier fighter, Tim manages to outsmart and defeat the blind criminal mastermind.
The weapon is neutralized but Tim learns the Ghost Dragons are shipping King Snake's cash to Gotham. He returns to his home city, finally having learned enough to step into his role as Robin, beating his enemies on his home turf. One of the Ghost Dragons present is Lynx, who has been disfigured for letting Tim escape.
The rivalry between Tim and Lynx would last for a few years before becoming replaced by more prominent story threads. However, everything that makes Tim Drake a great Robin is established in this story. His detective skills, martial arts and bojutsu abilities, computer skills, and the way he mixes street smarts with knowledge of international developments have continued to the present. After years of serving as Robin, Tim quit when his father learned about his vigilantism. Tragically, his father was murdered by Boomerang during the Identity Crisis story, after which Bruce Wayne adopted him. Tim returned to crime-fighting and took up the name Red Robin. He founded The New 52's Teen Titans and the post-Rebirth Young Justice team, and (after a brief period calling himself "Drake") has finally returned to being Robin.