CHAPTER 1

-A New Beginning-

It was a beautiful day in Cipien City, Pidoves and Starly's flew through the air squawking loudly. Cipienites of all ages gathered in parks and on the beaches that bordered Firax Bay. Everybody was happy and carefree, letting all of their problems fade away in the magnificent sunshine. All accept for one boy, Jason Fortis, who was possibly the only unhappy person in the entire city.

Jason pushed through the door of the grocery store and pulled out the shopping list his mother had given him. He cursed under his breath; this list was much more extensive than the usual bread, Moo Moo milk and veggies. The list just made him dread tomorrow evening even more than he already did, and his mood darkened further.

Tomorrow was the day his brother Dylan was coming home after finally graduating from Firax Academy, the most prestigious trainers school in the Firax Region, which would only serve to inflate his already humongous ego. Dylan was bringing friends from the Academy to the party, Jason had met them a couple of times and they were just as insufferable as his brother, they idolized him and treated him as if he was God's gift to Pokémon training. Jason couldn't lie to himself, Dylan was good, very good, he had graduated from FA (Firax Academy) having never been defeated, a feat that had only once been achieved before, coincidently by Jason's other brother Dave.

Jason's mood brightened considerably at the thought of his oldest brother, where Dylan was arrogant, condescending and an all-round git, Dave was the complete opposite; he was cheerful, kind, and could make anybody laugh, no matter how depressed they were. He was also the best Trainer in the Fortis household, but unlike Dylan, he didn't rub the fact that he was a Trainer in Jason's face.

"You need to stop worrying about everything," Jason said under his breath, "Just take a deep breath, relax and finish the shopping so we can get home and see everybody."

After what seemed like an eternity to Jason, he finally found the last item on his list, paid and left the store, almost unable to walk under the weight of all the shopping. Struggling around the corner, he saw a van pulled up outside of what had previously been an abandoned warehouse. He gazed curiously at the logo on the side of the van, 'Machoke Movers, All Your Moving Needs.' Jason nearly dropped his bag in shock, someone was moving into that old dump, it was designed completely wrong to be a house, it had no bedrooms, no kitchen, no anything! All it had was just one cavernous room and a smaller office at the far end.

Suddenly a strange voice burst out right behind him. "Can I help you, or are you just going to continue staring like a gormless fool?"

This time Jason did drop his bags in shock, and groceries spilled all over the pavement.

"Now look what you've gone and done." The stranger said "Well seeing as this is partially my fault I suppose I should help you pick them up."

As the stranger bent down Jason finally got a good look at him. He was a man of middle age, Jason would have said roughly 30 years old, with neatly cropped black hair. He was dressed smartly in a pair of slacks, a collared shirt and a cardigan over the top. However the most striking feature of the stranger were his eyes, a brilliant blue, which peered over the lens of his half-mooned spectacles, and it seemed to Jason that these eyes yearned for knowledge, and hid a remarkable intellect behind them.

"You're not from around here are you?" Jason blurted, and, realising how rude that sounded, quickly hurried to correct himself. "What I meant to say is that I've never seen you around this area before, so-o-o I was just wondering if your new to Cipien City?"

The stranger laughed "My boy you have keen observation skills, I'm not just new to Cipien City I'm new to the entire Firax Region.

"My name is Francis Willow, I was originally from the Kanto region where I studied under the great Pokémon Professor, Samuel Oak. I moved to Firax to set up my own independent research lab, and you've indeed caught me in the process of moving in."

"My name is Jason, Jason Fortis; I live about two blocks away." Jason replied.

"Well, I can see that you're in a hurry, my boy, so how about I give you a lift back to your place in my van? It's the least I can do to make up for making your drop your groceries." Prof. Willow asked with a friendly smile.

Jason frowned, his mum had taught him not to get into cars with strangers, but Jason didn't feel concerned about the Professor's motives, he seemed friendly enough, and plus, Jason really couldn't be bothered carrying the groceries the rest of the way home.

"Sure, that sounds alright." Jason replied.

"Marvellous, my boy, hop right in." Willow said jovially.

As the pulled up outside of Jason's house, Willow leant over, "Jason, my boy, I'm new to town and as such I don't have many friends, none at all to be honest, so if you ever feel like coming to see me, pop round anytime, my door is always open."

"Yeah thanks Professor I might just do that." Jason replied, as he hopped out of the car and gathered his groceries. "I'll be seeing you later then I guess."

"My boy, I look forward to it." Willow said as he drove off.

Jason smiled, he liked this eccentric man, and pushed through his front gate and walked up the steps.

"Hey mum, I'm home!" Jason yelled as he dumped the groceries on the kitchen bench.

"In the living room, Jase, the match has just started," Came his mother's reply.

Jason nearly knocked over the dining table as he rushed to the living room, this was the final of the Firax Tournament, the highlight of the Firax Grand Festival, Jason had been looking forward to watching it all week.

"What's the format this year?" Jason asked his father as he jumped next to him on the couch.

"One on One, winner takes all, it's a rough format, the commentators were debating whether it was fair before the match." Jason's father replied.

"Nah, that's great it just makes the match the much more exciting, its win or die!" Jason said, excited for the bout, "Now sush up or we won't hear the commentary."

'OH and Blaziken takes a big hit from Machamp, in this epic battle of the fighting types. I believe that was a close combat he just used.

Blaziken rolls, and flips back onto its feet, and look folks, its already charging down Machamp for the counterattack. Blaziken leads with a Fire Punch, Machamp, leans back and dodges, he sweeps Blazikens feet with a low kick, but Tyson saw that coming and already ordered Blaziken to flip over Machamps head, how will Sebastian deal with this?

Sebastian orders Machamp onto its hands and it uses the muscles of four arms to propel itself feet first into Blaziken, and Blaziken is down again! Tyson better change tactics quickly, because Machamp is too good for Blaziken.

Blaziken has picked itself up and has just let off a scorching flare blitz, Machamp is blasted back against the wall. Blaziken is rushing in and he delivers a crunching Sky Uppercut, Machamp is in the sky, struggling to regain composure from this renewed offensive from Blaziken.

Oh would you look at this, Tyson is looking to end this match right here, he has just sent Blaziken right up into the sky after Machamp with a Brave Bird, if this hits Machamp it will be game over folks! Machamp has rotated in the sky and his waiting for his moment, yes, he is preparing that Dynamic Punch, and the two Pokemon connect!

Machamp is rocketed back into the ground, he looks in a bad shape, and yes he is unfit for battle, the win goes to Blaziken, and the victory goes to Tyson! That's it for this years Firax Tournament, what a match and what a team, TYSON AND BLAZIKEN!'

Jason's father turned down the television and the commentary became inaudible, "Well I guess that's it until next year, shame it wasn't a Six on Six battle, I would have liked a real showing."

"Yeah but what can you do, anyway its not like there aren't other Tournaments on telly, I think the Orelog City Tournament is in a couple of weeks, and that should be just as good" Jason replied.

Jason's father nodded and looked at his watch "True, true, anyway it's getting late you should be getting into bed, it's a big day tomorrow."

"Don't remind me" Jason muttered under his breath as he trudged into his room.

Jason flopped onto his bed after brushing his teeth and getting into his pyjamas. "Maybe ill go and see that Professor Willow guy tomorrow, anything to keep me out of the house for as long as possible." He thought to himself as he closed his eyes.

It had seemed a regular day to Jason, but a single chance meeting had altered the course of his life forever, and by the end of tomorrow, he would be on his way to becoming a Pokémon Trainer.