I don't own Pokemon

On the large island of Constanal, south of the uninhabited land that would be named Kanto in the distant future, a man in his mid-twenties started his hike up a steep mountain. The man's name was Drake, and he was dressed in the finest hiking wear you could buy as he climbed the mountain. People in the village where he lived knew him as a rich, power hungry, and greedy man who always got what he wanted, nothing would separate him from his goal. Now rumor claimed that he was seeking to become king, and that something at the peak of the tallest mountain in the Dragonbackmountain range would help him to achieve his goal.

...

Drake panted as he dug yet another grappling hook into the rock ahead of him. He wiped his sweat-soaked brown hair out of his blue eyes as he hauled himself yet another foot higher. Noticing a small ledge sticking out of the rock in front of him, he gratefully sat down for a rest. He took off his pack and gently sat it down beside him, careful not to harm the valuable treasure within. Drake looked up toward the peak of the mountain, but it was hidden in thick white fog. He sighed, he had been climbing this mountain for days and he still couldn't see the top. Trying to encourage himself, he thought of his goal, legend had it that a dragon lived at the top of this mountain, and if you offered something the dragon wanted, it would trade you anything. Drake wanted the dragon to make him king of the entire land of Constanal, and was willing to give anything to fulfill his wish. He picked up his pack, and resumed his climb, picturing himself on the throne to inspire his ascent.

Several hours of uneventful climbing later, Drake noticed the fog ahead was thinning, excited, he urged his exhausted muscles to take advantage of the visibility, but he barley made it twenty feet when he noticed a cave to his left. Drake scrambled over to it, and stood proudly at the enormous triangle-shaped mouth of the cave. The inside of the cave was total blackness, and it was impossible to see more than a few feet inside. Drake took a deep breath, and yelled, "I've come to see the dragon!" He noticed that strangely, there was no echo answering him.

Then he heard a flapping sound from deep within the cave. He held his breath as a few seconds later, a large shaped landed mere feet from him. The dark shape walked closer, until the weak light at the mouth of the cave slowly illumined it. Drake gasped, it was a Pokemon called Salamence, blue with blood red wings, like all of its kind, except it was over thirty feet long from nose to tail.

The dragon lowered its huge head, until its shiny black eyes met with Drake's blue ones. Salamence opened its jaws, as if to eat the man in front of it, but instead roared "WHAT DO YOU WANT?" Drake nearly fell off the mountain in surprise, but managed to sputter out, "y-y-you can talk?"

"ARE YOU DUMB? OF COURSE I CAN TALK! WHY HAVE YOU INVADED MY HOME?" The dragon bellowed, and Drake felt a wave of fear wash over him as he realized how easily this Pokemon could kill him, so he picked his next words carefully.

"I have come to humbly request a trade of sorts, a bargain." Drake said kneeling respectfully to the dragon.

Salamence seemed to consider a moment, before saying, "what do you haveto offer, human?" Drake was relived that the dragon Pokemon had stopped roaring. The man immediately reached for five of the Pokeballsin his bag, all five made of the finest Apricornsavailable. He took the black colored balls out of his bag and released the Pokemon inside, five huge Snorlax; all were awake, and confused at why they were in a caveat the top of a mountain, with a massive Salamence staring at them. "Behold, enough food to last you a year." Drake said gesturing at the huge black and white Pokemon, who had suddenly turned pale. "In return I wish to be king."

Salamence looked from the Snorlax back to Drake, an angry red gleam in its eyes. "YOU DARE THINK I AM UNABLE TO HUNT FOR MYSELF! YOUR BARGAIN FAILS!" the Salamence roared, sending shock waves through the mountain. Salamence looked back to the Snorlax"you are free from this man's bondage, return to the wild." all five Pokemon immediately scattered, disappearing quickly among the surrounding rocks. Drake glared at the retreating Pokemon, each had cost him their own weight in gold.

The Salamence turned around and began to walk back into the cave, a disgusted look on its horned face. "Wait!" Drake called to the dragon, "I have another offer."

Salamence turned its large head around, a bored look on its scaly face. Drake reached again into his bag, hoping the valuable treasure in there, his trump card, would catch the eye of the Salamence. Pausing for a dramatic effect, Drake pulled a large, beautifully cut diamond from his bag. The gem was the size of a man's head and shaped almost like an egg, the diamond was wrapped in a pure gold webbing that contrasted sharply with the transparent jewel, altogether it was worth enough to buy an entire castle, Drake hoped it would impress the dragon enough to make him king. Drake held his breath as the dragon stared at the stone.

The dragon seemed to be in a trance as it looked at the gem; slowly it moved its head forward and closed its powerful jaws around it. As the Pokemon lifted the crystal from Drake's hands with its fanged mouth, Drake grinned, thinking Salamence had accepted his offer. He watched the dragon as it held the gem tightly in its jaws, when suddenly the great dragon slammed its jaws shut, crushing the jewel into a sparkling powder.

"First you insult my hunting ability, now you offer me trinkets stolen from Pokemopolis?" the Pokemon's voice was deathly quiet as he spoke to Drake, who was frozen with a look of shock on his face. How did this Pokemon know I stole the diamond from the city of Pokemopolis? Drake wondered fearfully, indeed, two years ago he had visited the utopia known as Pokemopolis, the Pokemon-worshipping people there may be the greatest civilization in the world, but they trusted people too much, it was easy for him to sneak into a temple and steal the gem, but how could this Pokemon know? Suddenly he felt this was no ordinary Pokemon, he needed to leave quickly.

Salamence laughed, a horrible hissing sound that caused shivers to run up the man's spine, "You want to leave? Let me give you a ride." The dragon said and lunged at Drake.

"I don't think so," Drake said, before the dragon could get to him. Reaching quickly into his bag, he pulled out the last of the six Apricorn Pokeballs. Although he was not a Pokemon trainer, he had borrowed one Pokemon to protect him if he needed it. He turned a knob near the top of the dark colored ball, causing it to open around the middle, and a bright flash of white light materialized in front of the oncoming Salamence. "One last deal, dragon, make me king, and I won't have to kill you." Drake said as his Pokemon finished materializing.

The massive Salamence balked at the small plant-like Pokemon in front of it. "Bulbasaur!" the Pokemon cried as he struck a battle pose.

Drake struggled to remember the Pokemon's moves; he had not raised this Bulbasaur, but had got it from a friend. "Bulbasaur! Use Razorleaf!" he ordered, using the first move that came to his mind.

In response, the tiny Pokemon opened the bulb on his back slightly, and released a flurry of sharp-edged leaves toward the dragon Pokemon

Salamence snorted, "Foolish," then it released a torrent of bright red flames from its mouth, the intense flames shot through the leaves, and continued, engulfing Bulbasaur before he could react. Drake helplessly watched as the borrowed Pokemon was burned, luckily he remembered the Pokeball in his hand, and recalled the green Pokemon before the dragon's fire could kill the little dinosaur.

Salamence turned back to Drake, who was backed against the cave wall in fear. "What was that about killing me?" it asked, showing its teeth in a terrifying grin. "No answer? No other bargains to make? Well, I think its time we took a trip."

Before Drake could move, he was scooped up in the blue dragon's claws and pressed tightly against the Pokemon's hard white underbelly. Drake could feel the wind from the dragon's wings as it lifted them swiftly from the rock floor, and flew out of the cave. Although Drake was pressed face-up to the Pokemon's belly, he knew they were flying at incredible speeds, and after a few terrifying minutes, the Salamence slowed down and came to a stop, dropping Drake a few feet to the ground. Drake looked up at the hovering dragon, a scared look on his face.

"You said you wanted a kingdom, well here you go, welcome to Kanto, human population, one," The dragon said laughing, "human, you have now learned how NOT to bargain with a dragon!" the Salamence said as it flew away.

Drake watched helplessly as the dragon left, disappearing into the rapidly setting sun. After he could no longer see the Pokemon, He checked his surroundings, it appeared he was dropped in a small field surrounded on all sides by huge trees; unfortunately, the emerald leaves were too thick to see through, so he had no idea of how large the forest was. Looking at the sky, he saw no smoke that would give away a village, so he assumed Salamence was telling the truth about this place it called Kanto, no one lived here.

Sighing, Drake recalled the emergency survival training he had received before he had stupidly decided to climb the Dragonback Mountains alone. He remembered that the first thing you need to do is make a fire, luckily he still had his flint and steel from his trip up the mountain, which was a waste of time he reminded himself bitterly, before walking towards the forest to collect firewood.

As he entered the dark forest, he felt as if he was being watched, and sure enough, when he looked up an entire flock of Murkrow was staring at him. Making a twisted hand motion to ward off the bad luck the black birds made, he continued farther into the forest.

After an hour, he managed to collect a large pile of wood, and for another hour he tried to start a fire, the sparks flew wildly from the steel, but refused to ignite the kindling. Drake threw the flint and steel to the ground with disgust, he couldn't believe his terrible luck, one week he lives in a mansion, with millions of dollars, and the next he is huddled in the dirt, over a pile of sticks that won't catch on fire, all thanks to some monster, mind-reading Salamence. Suddenly, he heard a boom of thunder, and as if Mother Nature was trying to add to his misery, it started to rain. Cursing, Drake ran towards the forest for cover. As he curled up under a bush in an attempt to keep dry, he swore that one day he would get that Salamence back for ruining his life. With that oath, he fell into an uneasy sleep.

……………………………….

Several hours later, a Pokemon returned to the forest where he lived. As this Pokemon crawled under the leafy bush that was his home, he noticed that a strange creature was sleeping right on his nest. The small green Pokemon watched the creature sleep, enraged that this thing was invading his territory, and sleeping in his nest of all things! He began charging up the electricity stored in his thick fur, allowing just enough power to wake the thing up; he didn't want to kill it and have to deal with a corpse in his bush. Once the Pokemon finished charging up, he released a small thunderbolt of pure blue electricity at the strange creature.

………………….

Drake woke up with a jolt, feeling strangely dizzy. Still half asleep, Drake tried to figure what had happened. Suddenly he was hit again, and after shaking off the shock, Drake sat up and began franticly searching for what had shocked him. A few seconds later, he noticed a small dog-like Pokemon, its little fangs were bared and its green fur was crackling with electricity. Drake recognized it as the Pokemon called Electrike, one of his friends had once bred and sold them for pets, but he had never seen one that was so aggressive.

Once again, the Pokemon fired a Thundershock, but Drake dodged, rolling to the left. "So you want to play do you?" Drake snarled, picking up a clump of mud from the rain-soaked ground. He threw the mud ball at the Electrike, hitting it dead-on. The green Pokemon tried to shake the mud of, but the sticky stuff clung to its fur. Electrike growled deeply, and then tried to use another Thundershock, but the mud prevented the electricity from moving past his fur.

After realizing he couldn't use electric attacks, the Pokemon tried to flee, running out of the bush, toward the open field.

"Oh, no you don't." Drake said, swiftly crawling out of the bush. He ran to catch up with the Electrike, blocking the small Pokemon from its escape route. Annoyed by the human, the Electrike chomped his teeth into Drake's leg. The man shouted out in pain, and tried to kick the electric Pokemon, but it dodged nimbly out of the way. Enraged at the Pokemon's defiance, Drake decided to solve this the Pokemon trainer way, and released Bulbasaur from its Pokeball.

After a brief flash of white, Bulbasaur appeared a few feet from Drake, the small Pokemon was covered in black burn marks, and could hardly stand up. Drake was surprised at the Pokemon's condition; he had always thought that a Pokemon healed inside a Pokeball.

Bulbasaur suddenly fell over, and Drake felt an unexpected wave of pity for the creature, but it seemed that the Electrike cared not for the fallen Pokemon, and tackled him, sending the grass type flying into the open field. Drake ran over to Bulbasaur, and kneeled beside him. The Pokemon weakly looked up at Drake, pain radiating from his eyes.

Drake heard a rustling sound from the woods, and Electrike burst out of the forest, not yet done with the trainer and his Pokemon. The electric Pokemon crept toward Drake and Bulbasaur, thick mud still caked on its fur. Drake glared at the approaching Pokemon, noticing the sun was rising behind it, casting rays of sunlight though the trees, one of these bright rays fell on Bulbasaur, whose bulb began sparkling slightly. Drake gasped as the seed Pokemon's wounds began to heal, and soon Bulbasaur looked good as new and stood up, facing Electrike, "Bulba!" it shouted, challenging the opposing electric type.

Drake reached into his pack, pulling out a thick book titled, Pokemon of the world. Inside the book was information about all the Pokemon known to Man, he had originally brought it to use for identifying edible Pokemon, now he would use it to show Bulbasaur's attacks. He flipped through the pages until he found the Bulbasaur page, Drake skimmed the attack list, and choose an interesting looking move: Vine Whip- uses thick vines to grab/hit.

"Use Vine Whip, Bulbasaur." Drake ordered, looking up from the book.

The man watched as Bulbasaur extended long vines from under its large bulb, stretching them toward the oncoming Electrike. Bulbasaur grunted as he tightened the vines around the green dog and lifted it into the air, yelping and squirming. But right as the grass Pokemon was about to throw the opponent, the Electrike bit one of the vines, and sent an electric shock through his teeth. Drake saw the wave of sparks shoot down the vine, making a cackling sound. To Drake's surprise, once the electricity got to Bulbasaur, it passed right through the Pokemon to the ground, Bulbasaur didn't seem to even feel the sparks. Then Bulbasaur finished off the move by slamming Electrike to the ground with a muffled thump.

The Electrike immediately stood up once Bulbasaur let him go, the way he stood, head held high and confident, told Drake, You've got to do better than that.

Suddenly, faster than Drake could blink, Electrike started running toward Bulbasaur, quickly picking up speed until it was no more than a green streak. The streak zoomed around, confusing Bulbasaur momentarily to the Electrike's true location, then the green Pokemon struck Bulbasaur from behind, " Bulbasaur!" it cried out in surprise, but didn't seem too bothered by the attack.

After the attack, Electrike ran into a patch of weeds, disappearing into the tall green stalks. From inside the grass, Electrike's eyes turned red, and he glared out at Bulbasaur, the grass Pokemon became fearful, losing his composure. Responding to Bulbasaur's lowered defense, Electrike shot out of the weeds like a bullet, slamming into Bulbasaur, and running back to the long grass before the stunned opponent could counter-attack.

Before Drake could find a way to help Bulbasaur, Electrike shot out of the grass again, hitting the Pokemon before he knew what had happened. Drake watched as Bulbasaur tottered drunkenly, about to collapse.

Drake knew Bulbasaur couldn't survive another surprise attack, so he needed to find away to remove the tall grass, luckily, he knew the perfect move for the job.

"Bulbasaur, try and cut the grass away with Razorleaf!" Drake ordered.

Bulbasaur planted his feet firmly on the ground, and released a flurry of extremely sharp leaves at the tall weed pile, Drake was surprised to see the attack looked more powerful than the one he used against Salamence, It must be the pressure of his injuries, Drake thought.

The leaves cut through the thick plants like a hot knife through butter, hitting the hidden Electrike also, causing the Pokemon to cry out in both surprise and pain.

Now that the opponent was reveled, Drake once again checked his book for a move, Take Down, he read, a powerful tackling attack.

"Sounds good," he said to himself before shouting "Use Take Down!"

As Bulbasaur began charging at Electrike, Drake noticed that it had surprising speed for such a chubby Pokemon, and the grass type managed to slam into Electrike before the electric Pokemon could react. The plant Pokemon hit the opponent so hard he actually hurt himself a little in the careless attack, but Electrike was hurt a lot worse. Drake surprised himself with a shout of excitement, in the past he had never been interested in Pokemon battles, but this was truly exciting!

After the two Pokemon got up, they began slowly circling around each other, waiting for the other to make a careless move. Drake used this opportunity to check the book for another move. Skimming through the list, his blue eyes fell on the last move listed: Solarbeam: absorbs sunlight and focuses it into a beam. A Bulbasaur's most powerful attack.

Drake looked to the sky, the sun was now visible, and casting a good amount of light on the field. "Bulbasaur, finish it with Solarbeam!"

Bulbasaur turned toward the sun, and Drake could see tiny particles of sunlight being absorbed into the bulb on his back. looking nervously to the Electrike to see what it was doing, he was surprised to see it was also absorbing energy, the air around it started to cackle with static electricity, the power from the sparks causing the mud on its fur to drop of like a discarded skin.

The two Pokemon stood at a stand-off, both slowly powering up for a final devastating attack.

After another few seconds of charging, the Electrike was the first to move, the last few sparks were absorbed into his body, and the Pokemon jumped high into the air, its entire body making popping sounds as it moved. Once the Pokemon reached the climax of his leap, he let out a mighty roar, and it released every bit of power from his small frame in the form of a lightning bolt. The blue energy fell toward Bulbasaur, who in that instant fired the Solarbeam. The two energies hit, and for a single second the beams connected, sunlight and electricity fighting to get past one another. The Solarbeam won out, bursting through the lightning and hitting its target, enveloping the Electrike in solar energy while he was still in the air. "Elect!" he cried out as the powerful beam drained his energy away. Meanwhile the Thunder attack veered off course and harmlessly stuck the ground, throwing up clumps of dirt.

A moment later, the beam of solar light faded, allowing the target to fall to the ground. The electric Pokemon tried to stand, but the combined effect of the Solarbeam, and losing all the electricity from his body due to the Thunder attack, left it exhausted, it fell to the ground in a limp heap.

Drake considered for a moment what he should do. The battle with this Pokemon was exciting, even fun, and he knew that if a trainer likes a Pokemon they battled, they would capture it. But did he really want to have to care for this Pokemon? He was not the kind of guy who would train a Pokemon, much less have to take care of one on an uninhabited foreign land. But,he thought, having more Pokemon meant more protection. So it all came down to the question, did he truly want to follow the path of the Pokemon trainer? He wasn't sure of the answer, but if he did later decide to raise Pokemon he would regret not catching this Electrike, it had put up a great fight, and loved to battle, it seemed. Drake looked once more at the fallen Pokemon, which was starting to stir, and then he looked down at Bulbasaur, who was looking expectantly at him. Having making his choice, he reached into his bag for the Pokeball that had once held one of the Snorlax he had offered Salamence, thinking of the dragon, he realized that if he trained his Pokemon enough, he may get the revenge he so desperately wanted against the dragon.

Turning the small knob at the top of the Pokeball, he released the internal lock. He threw the ball at the fallen Electrike, watching the mysterious red light suck up the Pokemon as the ball split. Drake heard a small clickas the two halves snapped together. As the internal lock started to seal the Pokemon within, the weakened Electrike struggled to free itself the ball, both Drake and Bulbasaur watched as the Pokeball rocked once…twice…three times before coming to a stop

Whew, it's been awhile since I wrote this story, and I still love the medieval theme early in this chapter, too bad a lot of it is lost in the later chapters... oh well.

reviews are welcome!