Derek

**Derek** (Japanese: **デレック** *Dereku*) is a Pokémon Trainer hailed from the Sinnoh region, although his exact hometown is currently unknown.

## **New Era**

### **Sinnoh**

Derek first appeared after being paired up with Sadie in the Hearthome City Tag Battle Competition. The two battled together for the first time in the first battle of the tournament, where Derek's Slowking and Sadie's Glameow teamed up to battle against their opponents's Koffing and Scyther. Scyther starts things off with a Razor Wind, and Koffing attacks with a Sludge Bomb. Glameow blocks the Razor Wind with a Shock Wave and Slowking blocks the Sludge Bomb with a Safeguard. Koffing comes back with a Thunderbolt that Slowking blocks with Protect. Scyther attacks with an X-Scissor, but Glameow comes from above with a Slash attack that knocks out Scyther. Koffing uses Gyro Ball, but it is stopped by Slowking's Psychic. Slowking then slams Koffing into the ground knocking it out. The two win with a combination of Derek's defense and Sadie's attack.

Derek and Sadie advanced through the next few rounds, ultimately reaching the finals, where they face off against Dwayne and Lazuli. Ryder sends out Chimchar, Lazuli uses Elekid, and Derek and Sadie call out Heracross and Shellos, respectively. Dwayne's first attack is Flamethrower, followed by Elekid using Thunder. However, Shellos is able to counterattack Flamethrower with Water Pulse, which in turn is countered by Elekid's Thunder. Derek backs Shellos up by telling Heracross to use Revenge. Heracross gets in to take the Thunder attack, and uses the power of Revenge to attack Elekid. Next, Chimchar uses Dig as Sadie calls for Shellos to use Water Pulse again. Elekid uses Protect, but at the last minute, Shellos cancels Water Pulse, and Derek tells Heracross to use Feint to break the Protect, taking Lazuli off-guard. Shellos then uses Mud Bomb, hitting Elekid, but Chimchar finally hits Shellos with Dig.

Shellos counters with Hidden Power, again hitting Chimchar. Chimchar quickly recovers and uses Flamethrower on Heracross, but Shellos jumps in front of Heracross and uses Water Pulse. The attacks collide, causing an explosion. Elekid jumps through the smoke and uses Thunder Punch, while Heracross counters with Megahorn. Another explosion is created, sending Elekid flying backwards. Suddenly, Elekid begins to evolve into Electabuzz, shocking everyone, except for Lazuli. The newly evolved Electabuzz then begins to charge up its Thunder. In response, Derek tells Heracross to use Megahorn and Shellos uses Blizzard. Dwayne tells Chimchar to dodge Blizzard and to use Flamethrower on Shellos, while Electabuzz uses Thunder on Heracross. All the attacks collide, causing an explosion. Just when it seems like the battle is over, Shellos and Heracross are seen still standing once the smoke clears. However, Shellos gives its opponents a final smirk before they both fall to the ground, knocked out.

Sometime later, Derek enrolls at the week-long Pokémon Summer Academy because of his boredom, where he meets with Dwayne again, as well as Sadie, and they are all placed in the Red Team, with Dwayne being named as leader. The trio also meet a girl named Uriel, who was also a member of their team, who quickly engaged in a heated rivalry with Dwayne. The Trainers's first task is to choose a random Poké Ball in order to have them learn to adapt to any Pokémon they might come across. Derek gets paired up with a Magnemite, which he is happy about. The attendants are told to bond with the Pokémon, and Derek rubs an object and gives Magnemite some static electricity, making it happier and polishes it. The next day, each Trainer are set to battle alongside their partner Pokémon. Magnemite uses Thunderbolt, so another Trainer's Smoochum uses Sweet Kiss, but Magnemite ultimately manages to win the battle.

On the third day of Pokémon Summer Academy, the students are tasked with studying a Water-type Pokémon from the lake and presenting their findings. Derek chooses a Chinchou, and he sketches the Angler Pokémon, but finds his less than perfect drawing disappointing, and comments on his bad art skills. Their third lesson is on how to correctly approach Ghost-type Pokémon, when ever and where ever they encounter them. They are then paired up to find a hidden medal in the Summit Ruins, and while searching for a partner, Derek has a run-in with a mysterious girl, and is put into a trance. Derek is coaxed into walking off a cliff by the ghostly girl, but a Dusknoir grabs his arm, waking Derek from his daze. Though safe, Derek faints at Dusknoir's appearance. Sadie stumbles upon Derek on the ground, with Dusknoir ominously overhead. Sadie misinterprets the scene as Dusknoir having hurt Derek, and she confronts it. The Dusknoir frantically waves its arms before fading away. Sadie rushes up and wakes Derek. Derek explains to Sadie that he was following a girl, and according to what the Pokédex said about Dusknoir, Derek and Sadie incorrectly assume that Dusknoir took the ghostly girl to the spirit world, and was about to take Derek too.

Derek and Sadie return to the academy to report their findings to Professor Rowan, who becomes alarmed as Dusknoir wasn't one of the tamed Pokémon around the area, and once they realize that Dwayne and Uriel still hadn't returned, they all set out to find them. They arrive just in time to see Dwayne holding Uriel to prevent her from getting sucked into the spirit world by the ghostly girl, and they all witness Dusknoir protecting Dwayne and Uriel, with Derek realizing that all along, Dusknoir only wanted to protect them from the ghostly girl instead of attempting to abduct them. The next day, Professor Rowan awards each team 30 points for a job well done. None of the teams gained an advantage, and the Blue Team leads by 260 to the Red Team's 220. Dwayne isn't discouraged as he rallies for the Red Team to turn the tables and takes the lead.

Professor Rowan says that the last event will be the Pokémon Triathlon. The race is about to start, and an aide fires the starting pistol and Derek, Dwayne, Sadie, and Uriel are all running at the same speed, and all four reach the checkpoint at the same time. Dwayne, Sadie, Derek, and Uriel receive Spoink, Rhyhorn, Dugtrio, and Ariados, respectively, and begin the first leg. Back at the school, Rowan and the others monitor the race. With the race, Sadie has taken the lead with Dwayne closely following when Uriel uses String Shot to propel herself into first. Picking up on this, many Trainers begin attacking each other, with Derek's Dugtrio using Dig to cave in an underground tunnel and avoid any attacks from other competitors. Arriving at the checkpoint at the same time, Derek and Sadie trade their Pokémon for a Huntail and Marill, respectively, and they begin the swimming part of the race. Derek and Sadie approach the end before sending out their Heracross and Glameow, respectively. Ultimately, Sadie finishes in third place, with Derek close by in fourth. As other competitors cross the finish line, the Pokémon Triathlon comes to an end.

The victory gives the Red team just enough points to win the challenge and all of the members receive a plaque after Rowan makes a quick speech. As a final celebration for the end of the Summer Academy a bonfire is lit and a buffet laid out. The next day, all Trainers depart from the Academy, with Derek bidding his friends goobye.

Derek later qualifies for the Lily of the Valley Conference, where he managed to advance through the first few rounds, eventually facing off against Dwayne in the third round. Before the match began, Derek eavesdropped on Dwayne's training and assumed that Dwayne would choose his Infernape, Torterra, and Machamp. The battle between Dwayne and Derek finally starts and will be taking place on a grass battlefield. It will be a three-on-three Pokémon battle. Derek chooses Shuckle as his first Pokémon and Dwayne chooses Noctowl. Derek is surprised that Dwayne is using different Pokémon than he thought he would. He had thought Dwayne would use Infernape because it had recently learned a new move, but Dwayne tells him that he knew Derek was watching earlier and tricked him into believing he'd use the Pokémon he was training to catch him off-guard, which leaves Derek both impressed and frustrated. Derek starts the battle off by telling Shuckle to use Withdraw. Dwayne orders Noctowl to use Sky Attack, while Derek continues to boost Shuckle's defensive stats. Noctowl swoops down to attack, but Shuckle's defense sends Noctowl flying back. Shuckle then uses Power Trick to switch its defense for a heightened attack stat. Noctowl then approaches with Air Slash and Shuckle counters using Gyro Ball, which is able to break through the Air Slash and knock Noctowl out of the sky. While Noctowl stands up again, Dwayne recalls him.

Dwayne then sends out Geodude. Shuckle uses Sludge Bomb but Geodude counters with Rollout, rendering Sludge Bomb useless. Derek then tells Shuckle to use Gyro Ball again. Gyro Ball hits and causes Geodude to lose control and crash. As a result, Dwayne recalls Geodude. For Dwayne's third Pokémon, Dwayne sends out Gible. Derek notes that Gible had not yet mastered Draco Meteor. Derek has Shuckle use Gyro Ball. Dwayne uses Gible's habit of biting things to his advantage, and she manages to catch Shuckle in her mouth. To counter, Derek tells Shuckle to use Sludge Bomb in Gible's mouth. Gible is hardly happy about this. With no other choice, Dwayne tells Gible to spit Shuckle out but Gible has other things in mind as she prepares a Draco Meteor. Shuckle is heaved into the air with a now-mastered Draco Meteor. Shuckle crashes to the ground and is rendered unconscious. Derek recalls Shuckle and thanks it because he now knows which three Pokémon Dwayne will be using for this battle.

For his second Pokémon, Derek sends out Lickilicky. Dwayne tells Gible to use Dragon Pulse but Lickilicky uses Lick before Dragon Pulse has the chance to be fired. Gible is treated to a thorough licking while the audience shivers at this disturbing sight. Dwayne tells Gible to escape by using Dig. Lickilicky counters with Power Whip, which reverberates across the battlefield and throws Gible into the air. Before Derek can call any more attacks, Dwayne recalls Gible and sends out Noctowl once more. Derek orders Lickilicky to use Power Whip once more but its tongue proves to be too short to reach Noctowl's altitude. Noctowl then uses Wing Attack, which hits Lickilicky right in the face. Lickilicky then uses Thunderbolt but Noctowl quickly dodges the otherwise super-effective attack. Noctowl uses Extrasensory to lift Lickilicky into the air and then throws it down to render it unable to battle.

With only one Pokémon left, Derek sends out his Dusknoir and orders Trick Room. Dwayne tells Noctowl to use Extrasensory but Dusknoir suddenly appears behind it and throws a Thunder Punch. The attack hits and Noctowl is rendered unable to battle. Because Dwayne's Noctowl, Geodude, and Gible are all faster than Dusknoir, the latter will always be the first one to attack. Next, Dwayne sends out Geodude once more. Dwayne tells Geodude to use Rollout but Dusknoir strikes first with a powerful Shadow Punch. This leaves Geodude unable to get back up. Dwayne tries to switch Geodude out but Dusknoir uses Mean Look to trap Geodude on the battlefield. Dusknoir uses Shadow Punch again, and despite Dwayne telling Geodude to use Defense Curl to increase his defenses, Shadow Punch still proves powerful to knock him out.

With two down, Dwayne has no choice but to send out Gible again. Trick Room, however, is still in effect. Derek is aware of Gible mastering Draco Meteor now, but claims it won't work this time. Dwayne tells Gible to use Dig but Dusknoir's Shadow Punch is able to hit before Gible can escape. As a result, Gible is hurdled into the ground. Gible then aligns herself under Dusknoir while in the ground and shoots straight up. Dusknoir is ordered to use Shadow Punch once more and reappears behind Gible. Dwayne then tells Gible to turn around and bite the Shadow Punch. Gible bites Dusknoir's hand and, as Derek remarks in absolute surprise and shock, eats Shadow Punch. Dusknoir tries to shake Gible off but Gible uses Draco Meteor to shoot Dusknoir into the sky. Dusknoir lands but is still able to battle. Dwayne tells Gible to use Dragon Pulse but Dusknoir's Shadow Punch strikes first again. Gible, however, hangs strong and releases its Dragon Pulse, which hits Dusknoir straight in the face and knocks Dusknoir out. With all three of his Pokémon unable to battle, Derek loses the battle and Dwayne is now able to advance to the next round.

## **Character**

Derek was described as being "odd" by Sadie after being paired up with her at the Hearthome City Tag Battle Competition. Derek's battling style consists of strategies and calculations, and Derek firmly believes that type advantages are essential for victories, and disagrees that "willpower" could change that fact.

After meeting Dwayne, however, Derek quickly realized that the young Trainer's unorthodox training style and sudden change of strategies weren't able to be calculated, and admitted that his overthinking style wasn't necessarily fail-proof, and becomes satisfied by meeting different training styles than his own.

## **Pokémon**

### **On Hand**

Slowking's known moves are Safeguard, Protect and Psychic.

Slowking's known moves are Revenge, Feint and Megahorn.

Slowking's known moves are Withdraw, Power Trick, Sludge Bomb and Gyro Ball.

Slowking's known moves are Lick, Power Whip and Thunderbolt.

Dusknoir's known moves are Trick Room, Thunder Punch, Mean Look and Shadow Punch.

### **Temporary**

Magnemite's only known move is Thunderbolt.

Dugtrio's only known move is Dig.

None of Huntail's moves are known.

## **Achievements**

### **Badges Obtained**

#### **Sinnoh Badges**

This listing is of the Badges Derek has obtained in the Sinnoh region:

* Coal Badge
* Relic Badge
* Beacon Badge
* Mine Badge
* Icicle Badge
* Cobble Badge
* Fen Badge
* Forest Badge

## **Pokémon League**

Derek has competed in the following Pokémon League Conferences:

* Lily of the Valley Conference – Top 16

## **Pokémon Competitions**

Derek has competed in the following Pokémon competitions:

* Hearthome City Tag Battle Competition – Runner-Up (with Sadie)
* Pokémon Summer Academy – Winner (Red Team)
* Pokémon Triathlon – Fourth Place