Yeah, I know, I don't own Pokemon, but let's face it, if I did, I wouldn't be typing this. All created Pokemon and characters are mine and can not be copied or used without my permission.

Enjoy.

Drakor Region:

Chapter 2:

First Rival, First Battle.

I'm never gonna stop,
I'm never gonna drop,
Ain't no different than it was before.

So take some good advice,
You better stop and think twice,
Before you take your first step,
Out that door.

If you wanna step up (step up),
You're gonna get knocked down (knocked down).
If you wanna step up (step up),
You're gonna get knocked down.

You had your chance to walk away.
Live to see another day.

Excerpt from "Step Up" by Drowning Pool

Zack's Perspective

"You're on, Flake."

Those three words were the reason that Blake and I were now in one of Professor Aspen's back fields, standing about thirty feet apart. Professor Aspen has agreed to officiate the battle, as long as it took place outside; Blake had wanted to start the battle right in the lab originally. Prof. Aspen stood in between Blake and I close the fence, with Brittany and Courtney on the opposite of him.

"This will be a one-on-one Pokemon Battle. The winner will be determined by knock out or by his opponent returning his Pokemon early. When both of you are ready…" Professor Aspen trailed off, waiting for Blake or I to send out our Pokemon, but the twins had a stipulation of their own to add before we had the chance.

"The winner of this battle will travel with us through the Ingret Forest to Randim City," Brittany began, looking at me. I blinked back, not giving any sign of interest.

"While the loser," Courtney continued, glaring at Blake, "must travel on their own to Randim City."

"May the best man win," both Courtney and Brittany said together.

I just rolled my eyes at this, not really caring about traveling with the twins. Sure they were nice and everything, but they were way to prissy; they'd probably freak out if we encountered mud in the forest.

Blake, on the other hand, looked like he had been given the opportunity of a lifetime…then again, he always did fawn over the twins. He has always tried to get the publicity I have, and I can't blame him.

With my father a Champion Pokemon Master and my mother, formerly Misty Waterflower, now Misty Ketchum, a Gym Leader, I was well know and respected, not that I enjoy it. I prefer to earn others respect, not expect because of what my parents have done. I've been doing things my own way since my two older brothers and triplet sister left on their own journey five years ago, living in the house our parents left for us, keeping up in school (I hate sciences…), and learning about Pokemon.

I lost contact with my older brothers about three years ago, my sister two, and I haven't seen my parents since I was around seven years old. That's my reason for my journey, to find the answers about my family's past and where they are now.

But along the way of course, there's some Gym's to conquer.

When I looked up from my thoughts, it appeared Blake had gotten over the twins "deal", so to speak and had released his Gerare, the grass starter in Drakor. Blake had some how knocked off his glasses in the process, the dork.

Gerare is a small fly tap-like Pokemon about two and a half feet tall, similar in appearance to the Fly Trap Pokemon from Sinnoh, except the Gerare is potted. The pot is gray, but there are small crack points where it looks like the roots are trying to break through. Halfway up the stem, two vines twist out from the body with three leaves at the end of each "arm". The most striking aspect of Gerare is that it has no eyes. Instead there are two antennae that located at each mouth joint. The antennae seem to work like eyes, but the ends of them are just black balls.

Blake quickly grabbed his glasses, placing them back on his nose, and then pointed at me. "Come on now hot shot, try and beat my Gerare," he called out to me.

I detached my only pokeball from one of the hanging chains, enlarged it, and tossed it into the field. I didn't call out what it was as I wanted every element of surprise. As my Pokemon emerged, the pokeball snapped back into my hand, where I shrunk it down and reattached it to its chain.

When my Pokemon took shape, everybody was staring at him like he was some sort of legend.

Then again, Larvitars are impossible to catch in Drakor.

"Yes, I know, Larvitar are impossible to catch in the wilds of Drakor. But because Tyranitar is my favourite, my parent's sent me a special Larvitar, this Larvitar, just a few days ago as opposed to me picking a starter. He's a bit temperamental, but he's stats are above average. You'll soon find out why I say that," I gloated a little bit. I was proud of my Larvitar, and he truly is special.

According to my Pokedex scanning of him, he knows the basic starting moves as well as some egg moves my parent had Brock breed into him: Dragon Dance, Ancientpower, Outrage, Iron Head, Repeat, and Iron Defense. That, along with the basic Bite and Leer, I would be alright until some of the harder Gyms.

The twins both looked like they were fighting the urge to rush over and adore my Larvitar. I never have picked up why they have come to like the things I like…oh well. No time to be thinking about the twins, there's a battle to win.

Blake then let out a laugh that snapped me off my train of thought. What could be so funny?

"A Larvitar huh? Well, then I've got this in the bag. Since my Gerare is a Grass type, while your little Larvitar is a Rock/Ground combination, one grass attack and you're toast," Blake announced with a gusto I haven't seen out of him before. I have, however, seen him knock off his glasses doing stupid things, like know.

"Flake, it would help if your Gerare knew a grass move."

Blake froze, his head dropping with a gloom cloud over him. He had forgotten that Gerare don't learn a grass move until level 8. He stood there for a moment, then he started digging through his backpack.

"Are we going to battle or what Flake? I haven't got all day," I called over to my rival. Larvitar had decided to lie down and looked like he was sleeping.

Blake emerged from his bag with a disc in his hand. Before I or Prof. Aspen could say a word, Blake set the disc on Gerare. Gerare began to glow a dark green colour and I turned away, not liking the sudden bright light. I turned back around to see that my Larvitar had opened an eye and Blake once again had a triumphant smile on his face.

"Now we can start…Gerare, use your new Bullet Seed!" Blake called out.

I shook my head, dumbfounded that Blake would use a TM so soon in his journey and then use it first thing in battle. He has no concept of surprise or strategy at all.

"If you think one new move will take us down, you're dead! Larvitar, take your time and hit him with an Iron Head," I called out.

Larvitar nodded, than took off, Bullet Seeds bouncing off the ground just behind him. If he hadn't used those Dragon Dances earlier, he would have been done in early. Then again, Gerare probably wasn't used to his new attack and wasn't using it to his advantage. Larvitar suddenly stopped, getting a glancing hit from a seed, then hurled himself at Gerare. Gerare froze, unsure how to react to this kind of attack, and got hit square in the "head" by my Larvitar's Iron Head attack. Larvitar landed in front of him and held his head, the impact dazing him for a minute.

Gerare stood there for a moment, and then fell backwards, knocked out. Blake was shocked to see his starter out cold so soon, as was I.

I scratched the back of my head. I forgot that Dragon Dance also boosted physical attacks and that Gerare have relatively low defense. "Whoops, looks like we over did it there Larvitar,"

Larvitar was looking at Gerare, surprised that he was knocked out already; he had wanted a better fight. Larvitar began poking Gerare until Blake returned Gerare with a snort of annoyance.

"It was because of your cheap tricks that you won, that's all," Blake said before he rushed out of the field. I thought I saw a tear in his eye, but I couldn't tell as my attention was distracted by PokeNav giving a loud ding.

I looked at it, seeing that instead of my 5000 credits, I now had 6500 credits. I had gotten 3000 credits to start with and had saved up another 2000. The other 1500 credits must have been for beating Blake. I was about to call out to Blake to return the cash to him, but he was already too far gone. I shrugged, putting my PokeNav back in its pocket.

"Well, I proclaim Zack the official winner of this battle. I'm surprised that Blake returned his Gerare, as it was probably just flinching from the impact," Prof. Aspen said, walking over to me. I nodded, agreeing with the Professor.

Larvitar tried to make his way over to me, but Brittany and Courtney bowled him over as they ran over. "Alright, looks like we get to travel with Bane to Randim City!" Brittany shouted while Courtney went back to grab Larvitar.

I looked at them confused. I don't rememb-oh right, at the start of the battle...damn it, this'll slow me down. I thought to myself, putting on a small smile just for show.

"Good work there Larvitar, do you need a rest?" Larvitar shook his head once he jumped out of Courtney's arms. "Alright, well, Larvitar and I are heading out for Ingret Forest, so thanks again Professor, I'll call some time."

"Certainly Zack, hope you three have bug spray with you." Professor Aspen said before heading back to his lab.

Brittany and Courtney looked at each other before saying in hushed tones. "Bug spray."

Larvitar mimicked me in smacking myself in the forehead.

Well, that clears that up. Sorry about the short battle scene but I did it for a friend.

Aerisphoenix: Hope I answered the reasonable question, about his mom. I can't reveal his reaction to his grandfather as that would ruin everything.

Xtreme Gamer: Yeah, but he doesn't really take it in, he's a bit on the dense side…on purpose.

Next chapter will feature the unveiling of the other two starters of Drakor

Chapter 3: Don't bug me.