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[Pokémon] The Retelling of Pokémon Colosseum

bobandbill

one more time
16,876
Posts
16
Years
Rated - PG. Warning - There is a high possibility of a random person possessing a large flamboyant afro.

I am writing this as after playing through Colosseum (and XD), I felt that there were too many plot gaps in the storyline.

For example, why did Wes destroy the Team Snagem hideout in the first place? Why did Rui just 'accept' the fact that Wes was part of Team Snagem in the first place as if it was a minor detail? How come do the NPC's whom you snag shadow Pokemon off not give a second thought about the loss of their Pokemon? What's up with Miror B's hair anyway? And why, oh why do several characters have the inability to change facial expressions???

…Anyway, I shall attempt to answer at least most of those questions - and more - with my own retelling of the Pokemon Colosseum storyline, as well as try to make the story, well, funnier. If anything, the comedy factor is the main part of the story, combined with the whole retake on the missing elements of an otherwise good game.

I have posted this work (currently 10 chapters long...) on Serebii Forums and Fanfiction.net, but have decided to expand on the number of places that it can be seen, so that I can amass an army of followers and conquer the world with my fic. ;) I shall get the story up to speed here, which will be then followed by slow, infrequent updates. ;)

This is my first Pokemon fic that I've written (only have done one other one-shot that is Pokemon-related as well). I have however written some comedy scripts before.


If you want to know how the story goes in the first place, the setting, etc, you could either play the game Pokemon Colosseum (more details in this should make more sense) or at least read a brief walkthrough of the game. It's not nesserary to enjoy the story, but if you have, you will undoubtedly 'get' more things in this story, including jokes.

Also, after each chapter, I shall include a 'summery' of how the events and/or characters in thiat chapter relate to the game. Consider it a reminder of the game's events, and an 'explanation' for certain things in the chapters.

If, by any chance, you want something 'explained', just drop a line along with a review (hint hint), and I'll try to come up with a sutiable explaination.

Anyway, that's probably enough rambling on about the story.
Enjoy!




***​

The Retelling of Pokémon Colosseum

Prologue - Rebellion



Somewhere in the middle of the vast expanse of the Orre desert, a wild Skarmory was flying back to his nest, battling against the harsh, howling wind which carried with it clumps of sand, tumbleweed and small children. The bright grains of sand which gave the air a yellow hue pelted the Skarmory's hard body but he ignored it, being used to such conditions. Once again, he had been hunting for his breakfast, and once again, he had been unsuccessful in his never-ending quest for food.

It was not because this silvery, metal-plated bird was no good at looking for food. On the contrary, it was an achievement that he had survived for so long in the barren region. However, the population of wild Pokémon had recently decreased even further below the modest number it had been, and all due to one newcomer.

Team Snagem.

In Skarmory's humble opinion, all the trouble started when that good-for-nothing, stupid man with funny, pointy hair coming out from around his nose and eyes showed up near his nest and started constructing that big, grey building. And then he brought in Pokémon and…

No, that didn't bear thinking about. The wild Skarmory tried to focus his mind on other things. Like how to impress that female Skarmory near his territory…

Suddenly the bird spotted something. A small and almost insignificant bright-orange object was wandering around below, sticking out against the pale-yellow sand. Skarmory grinned, his eyes suddenly gaining a glint of triumph. Circling once, he suddenly dropped like a stone towards the object, his steel body making it all too easy for him to accelerate towards earth and his target.

"Skarr!" (You're mine!)

With a quick couple of jabs with his razor-sharp beak, he made quick work of the baby Trapinch which had strayed too far from its nest. The Skarmory then scooped up the squealing Pokémon in his mouth, and with another cry of 'Skarr!', he flew off with renewed energy towards his nest, pausing every so often to retrieve the Trapinch he kept dropping clumsily.

***

Meanwhile, two people stood inside a plain building hidden inside the mountains and rocks that made up the tall and narrow passageway called Eclo Canyon. They were well protected from the persistent wind that threw itself at the windows. They ignored the sounds it made though, choosing instead to focus on the other.

One towered over the other in stature, with the facial expressions one might expect to see on a rampaging Tauros rather than a person. This alone prompted many of the members of Team Snagem to address the man with 'Sir Honourable and Super-Smart Leader-Guy Gonzap please don't hurt me' – it was hard to disagree with a man built like a weightlifter and with a personality like Gonzap's. More noticeable though than the muscles the man sported was the lack of hair he possessed on the top of his head, which seemed to have migrated down for unknown reasons. A large pair of eyebrows and moustache jutted out from his face for quite a rather remarkable distance. Nobody made jokes about that though. Leastways, nobody would have dared when Gonzap was around – the members of Team Snagem considered it fair game when he was elsewhere, and so did the teenager who was currently talking to Gonzap.

"So that's all you could muster? Two Voltorb? First Jacob comes back and brings a Dunsparce of all things – who honestly trains or wants one of those things? - and now this!" Gonzap bellowed at the adolescent. The youth grimaced slightly as he scratched his silver-tinged hair, and then brushed off some sand his blue trench-coat had gained before he came inside the building to report back to Gonzap. An annoyed glare aimed directly at Gonzap was hidden behind a pair of blue glasses.

"Sorry, but that's all I could find in the house. The trainer must have left a while ago, and those were the only Pokémon there," replied the teenager. "I can't snag something the trainer has when he and his Pokémon simply isn't there, you know. Something for free has got to be better than nothing." He then proceeded to wipe sand from his face now, away from long, white streaks of white sunscreen were clearly visible below his sunglasses. The teenager was of the opinion that it made him look cool.

"But I specifically told you to snag that Charmander! Or didn't you know the difference between those two?" sneered Gonzap, ignoring any logic offered up by the teenager. The teenager's Umbreon - a black fox-like creature - started to growl at Gonzap.

"Umb, Umbreon!" (Shut up, Mr Moustache Eyebrow man!)

"Quiet, Umbreon," the teenager said softly. Meanwhile Gonzap looked thoughtfully at the Dark-type Pokémon, twirling his moustache between his fingers.

"Hmm... on second thoughts, they can be the new Shadow Pokémon."

"Huh - what?" the other replied, unsure by what Gonzap meant.

"Espeon and Umbreon. They certainly would do better than a couple of Voltorb that probably don't even know Spark."

"But, but…" the teenager stuttered, frowning at Gonzap. The Umbreon stared at Gonzap as well, wondering if biting his leg or his eyebrows would prove more effective in defending himself if he needed to.

"I expect to see you hand them in to my desk in ten minutes when I finish my lunch - plenty of time to say farewell," Gonzap said with a smirk. "You can dispose of the Voltorb, Wes. Unless you want to keep them!" With that Gonzap laughed and departed towards his office.

How could he do this to me? thought Wes. After my years, well, months of service, after all the things I helped them with, he still insults me! True, I don't snag that much, and I'm not much of a criminal here, but I'm honestly better than the rest of the lot, and now he simply expects me to give up my two and only Pokémon to become Shadow Pokémon? And for what? I don't even know what they do with these Shadow Pokémon! He clearly doesn't know me well...

Wes angrily punched a wall, then winched in pain as his hand throbbed. He gazed at Umbreon, and then through the window at his other Pokémon, Espeon. He was outside sitting in one of Team Snagem's few methods of transport - a motorcycle-looking object that everyone just called a 'Zoomer'. Team Snagem got it at a bargain price as nobody understood its rather odd infrastructure - it had one wheel and the rest 'hovered' with the machine when used. But since it was cheap, and it didn't break down… well, that's all that mattered to Team Snagem.

No way I'm giving up my Pokémon. They're the ones I've had from the beginning, and I'm sticking with them. Even if Espeon's tongue is sharper than a knife, and Umbreon's... well, ditzy at times. I guess I can just leave...

Then Wes looked at the Voltorb, the Pokémon often mistaken for Poké Balls, only these were more common than that rare item - for the region of Orre, anyway. It said something about the land when many people relied on the Pokémon for electricity to power their homes, despite the risk of the Voltorb exploding. They looked back with frightened eyes.

Wes smiled. He had an idea.

***

Meanwhile, the Skarmory landed in his nest after a long struggle with the surprisingly heavy Trapinch. This one was plumper than the others he had managed to find over the last few months, its stubby legs waving frantically about as it tried to run away out of the Skarmory's grip. Skarmory unceremoniously dropped it with a small thud into his nest; it wasn't much more than a rough bundle of sticks put together, hidden by a small, spiky bush perched on top of a steep cliff. The Skarmory didn't mind though - the sharp thorns in the bush did nothing to his steel hide. And it kept out the majority of intruders. Settling down to eat, he glanced around to make sure that nothing else was to come to try to steal his meal, before it grinned at the young, flailing Trapinch.

KA-BOOM!

The Skarmory fell out of the nest, and had to flap hard to pull out of his descent to avoid hitting the ground or the cliff's face. Startled, he flew around his nest several times, screeching about the indignity of being so greatly disturbed before he could eat his meal.

After he recovered from his shock and returned to his nest, he glanced towards the source of the sound, and cocked his head. In the distance, a thick cloud of dark smoke flew into view, billowing upwards above the canyon, closely followed by the harsh smell of the smoke and fire.

Hmm. That's somewhat different from usual, Skarmory thought. He cawed and then flew in the general direction of the smoke cautiously to investigate, leaving the Trapinch where it was, upside-down and still flapping its legs about in a ridiculous attempt to walk upside-down away from the nest.

***

Wes waltzed back into the room he had been standing in only minutes ago, having hidden to protect himself from the blast. He looked around quickly, admiring the 'renovation rescue' of sorts he had given Team Snagem, such as the large gaping hole where a wall used to be. Blazing clusters of flames were materializing around the area, and spreading as they licked at the remaining pieces of the section of the building. Smoke billowed out of the building. Alarms went off.

"If you can hear this alarm, then something has gone wrong. Current analysis – the building is currently: 'ON FIRE'. If you can hear this alarm..." one above Wes' head blazed uselessly.

"Thanks, Voltorb," said Wes, kneeling down and glancing at the pair of Pokémon, but they didn't reply - they had fainted as a result of using Selfdestruct to aid Wes.

Wes quietly stood back by the large, new opening the building now sported to appreciate the damage he racked up, as a smile steadily widen upon his face. Walls were crumbling before his eyes as they failed to hold up any longer. A small section of the ceiling suddenly gave way and landed near Wes, piling up and forming a heap of rubble.

Serves them right, thought Wes. Although I better watch out that nothing falls on my head... Meanwhile, Umbreon looked inside, softly gasping with amazement at the damage.

Wes quickly grabbed a few items lying on some broken shelves near him and stuffed them into his bag; mostly healing items for Pokémon, such as a couple of Max Revives, and a packet of Full Heals. In an afterthought, Wes turned to the Voltorb and administered the Max Revives.

"You can leave now," smiled Wes. The Voltorb didn't wait around, hastily rolling through a door and off into the distance, glad to escape from the place.

Wes looked at his watch and glanced outside. He never planned on blowing up the hideout when he had joined up - he was just in it for the money after all - but no doubt it was as good a way to quit as any other. Firstly, though, he had something else to do.

I might as well go the full distance, but if so I better act now.

He hurriedly ran off towards another room, one which he knew was restricted from most Team Snagem members. Wes ignored the large sign upon the door stating that the penalty for anyone caught in there would be a two hour lecture on basic reading skills - such warnings didn't seem to apply to him anymore.

Another minute of work, and he was ready for his grand exit. His heart pumping, and with a newly-acquired device in his pocket, he made his way back towards the scene of the explosion, and approached the door that led to the way out.

Then he noticed something out of the corner of his eye.

In one small, ruined area of the room, the big Snag machine, made especially to steal Pokémon from other trainers that Team Snagem used for major operations, was in ruins. It was basically used to fire Snag Balls by the dozen at the target. But the smaller Snag machine – which was made to fit on a person's arm – was right where he had left it before talking to Gonzap, and was still, amazingly enough, intact as far as he could tell.

Why not? I might as well take it…give them something else to worry about. Wes picked up the Snag device and placed it upon his arm, clipping on the shoulder pad to his left arm and attaching the rest down his arm, the ending extending a touch beyond his wrist. The colour suited his coat, being a similar dark-blue. Red lines spiralled down the machine, masking the wires between the control pad hidden within the shoulder pad and the slot for putting Poké Balls in.

Seems to still fit more or less too... Wes pondered, as he held his arm out for Umbreon – and himself - to admire. Although it's not much use without any Poké Balls – but is there enough time to grab some of those as well?

Just then, Gonzap showed up, granting Wes the answer to that question. For once the man looked uncertain and indecisive. When he caught sign of Wes that changed however, as he quickly put two and two together.

"WES! What is the meaning of this?!?" he shouted in fury.

Wes paused for a moment, pretending to think about his actions. Finally, he smirked. "Let's just say that I'm leaving, and I've left you a farewell present."

***

A strange and glorious scene greeted the Skarmory as he came upon the ruins. Flames were everywhere, people were pouring out of the building and the stupid man with pointy things was chasing a smaller man and an Umbreon.

Many others were in the chase, but the younger man kept himself a good distance from the rest. He jumped into a strange object with an Espeon sitting in it, which then made a large noise and shot off at an incredible speed. The pointy man still kept chasing despite his sudden disadvantage.

KA-BOOM!

"SKARRRRRR!"

The Skarmory shot up faster than he ever had; flying up and away while crying in pain and surprise as the flames from the explosion scorched his body. Meanwhile, the smaller man was happily waving a black object with a bright-red button in the centre of it at the stupid man.

The Skarmory was very confused by the events - after all, it wasn't often that a building would suddenly burst into flames once, let alone twice. But he knew that if something bad happened to Team Snagem, and it certainly was judging by the reaction of the stupid man, it must be good.

"Skarr! Skarr!" proclaimed the Skarmory to the world, despite his injuries, spreading nonsensical celebrations with his shrill calls.

Shoomp!

Suddenly, the Skarmory experienced a weird sensation - as if he was being sucked into something. He looked below, and with a sinking feeling realised what was happening to him. He struggled but the explosion had already weakened him to the point that his efforts were in vain, and so was forced to submit to the force and shrink into oblivion.

***

Gonzap grimly picked up the Great Ball and glared at it.

"You thought you'd laugh at me, would you? I'll show you who's laughing.... when I'm in the mood for it," he muttered, before he stuffed it in his pocket. He glanced at the base, which was now blazing wildly as people poured out of the building. Twisted metal rained upon the ground, appearing like bright mini meteors against the smoky background of the sky. The second explosion had caused even more widespread damage than the first, and it was clear that short-term repairs would be futile.

That's the last time I'm letting just anyone attend a 'How to Use Explosives' class, Gonzap thought grimly. And it's the last time I ever put off fixing the lock on that room to next week and letting some fool of a grunt tell everyone about it as well.

In the distance, a faint siren sounded. The police were on their way. Not that was surprising; nobody would possibly miss such a large explosion. It felt like it had the force of a minor earthquake behind it. It had thrown him off his feet when he had been pursuing the dratted boy. And the smoke given off would be a dead giveaway to where the source of the explosion was.

There's nothing else I can do, Gonzap decided quickly. The hideout is gone, but if we linger, we'll all be caught. Pocketing the Great Ball, Gonzap turned and shouted orders at his incompetent gang - many which were now running around madly in circles - and then ran for it.

Very smart, Wes.

You've destroyed our main Snag machine, and stole the other one. You took our Zoomer. And to boot, you used those explosives we had been planning to use as well to utterly destroy our base.

AND half my moustache has burnt off, and I don't have any eyebrows anymore.

You'll pay for this.

***



Hope you enjoyed that.

And the list for what the characters/events in the prologue are based on:

Spoiler:
 
Last edited:
6
Posts
16
Years
I like it ^_^ not like other FFs out there with short chapters, and the charecters acually have some depth to them. Good job!
 

Minos Yewman

Banned
141
Posts
16
Years
  • Seen Apr 11, 2012
I loved colloseum, this looks great. Can you also explain why at the end everyone yells for someone to stop Evice from escaping when they are standing in a circle around him?
 

bobandbill

one more time
16,876
Posts
16
Years
ARRGH! POSTS DISAPPEARED! TWO CHAPTERS GONE! FORUM DIED! DAMN YOU DIALGA!!!

...

Anyway, I shall now repost the chapters again... oh, and for the two comments made that I hadn't replied to before deletion - I appreciated them. I shall regive shorten responses, as well as responses to new reviews...
I like it ^_^ not like other FFs out there with short chapters, and the charecters acually have some depth to them. Good job!
Thanks.
I loved colloseum, this looks great. Can you also explain why at the end everyone yells for someone to stop Evice from escaping when they are standing in a circle around him?
I shall, when I get up to that, that is. Thanks for the second respnse as well that never was...
I'd have to say, this is one the best i've read. you should make support banners.
Thanks. Although, support banners? Care to elaborate a tad more please - as in other people having them? Hmm...
Anyway, thanks for the compliment!
This is awesome, start this up!
Thanks, and I shall. Right now. :)


Anyway, a thing to note - in each chapter (not including the prologue), there shall be a 'pastry/pastry-related item' to find! Just a random thing that I've done. Sometimes it is obvious, other times hidden. So enjoy!




***

Chapter 1 - A New Beginning




After driving through the desert for an hour, having emerged from the rocky walls of Eclo Canyon a good while back, Wes decided he had put enough distance between himself and the remnants of Team Snagem's base. Former base, Wes thought to himself as he cautiously tested the brakes, slowly bringing his vehicle to a halt. It had taken him a while to figure out the controls of this Zoomer which hadn't been helped by Umbreon trying to chew them. He disembarked tenderly, checking that his footing was steady after such a bumpy ride.

"Umbreon Umb!" (We sure left that place with a BANG!) Umbreon said happily from a side seat on the Zoomer, only to quieten as Espeon who was sitting next to him glared silently at him. Wes merely grinned as he stretched his arms and legs, pondering what would happen now.

Right... if anything, I did this region a good turn. Snagem at worst will be out of action for a while, but they may come after me. Gonzap isn't about to forget this, and sadly I doubt I'll be forgetting his face anytime soon. I'll have to watch my back, but I doubt they'll come looking for me today.

Wes then turned back and looked back towards Eclo Canyon. A satisfying cloud of black smoke sat at the edge of the horizon, prompting another smile from Wes. After the recent event, he felt…. free.

Free from Team Snagem. Free from having to sneak around towns to steal Pokémon. Free from the guilt he felt whenever he had to hand in a Pokémon that he knew would end up becoming a Shadow Pokémon. Free from Gonzap's ugly face. And free from the poor quality food that Team Snagem could muster. Whoever heard of sandwiches that actually contained sand?

Wes's stomach rumbled at the relief of not having to eat such poor fare. Speaking of which...

"How about some dinner, Espeon and Umbreon?" asked Wes.

"Espi!" (About time you said that!) acknowledged the Psychic Pokémon. The elegant light-purple cat gave a small sniff of disdain, as if Wes should have suggested it earlier. He then yawned, and twitched his forked tail. A small crimson ruby situated in the middle of Espeon's forehead sparkled in the scorching sunlight, also seemingly in agreement.

"Umbri!" (Bacon for me!) cried Umbreon, in a more enthusiastic manner. The pitch-black Pokémon was sillier than Espeon, and also far more easygoing. His tail was of an ordinary size and shape compared to Espeon's elegant forked one, and unlike his brother, he didn't possess any psychic powers – only an immunity to it, being a Dark-type Pokémon. Upon his body were numerous yellow rings, which mysteriously faded out and reappeared again, over and over.

"Ok, then. I guess the Outskirt Stand should be the closest place," Wes replied. He had a decent idea on what his Pokémon said; he had known them for a good while now, and his Espeon also helped out a fair bit with translations if it was ever needed.

"Umbri! Umbreon!!" (I don't care where, just get there NOW! I'M HUNGRY!)

"All right, calm down, calm down," Wes said as they clambered onto the Zoomer again. Wes gunned the odd engine and continued on the same route. As they travelled, irregularly shaped rocks sprung out of the sandy ground as they navigated through them. The region of Orre was for the most part desert, and the only objects of interest to see in parts like these were the rocks and cacti.

"Umbre!" (Are we there yet?) Umbreon asked presently.

"Oh, quieten down," grumbled Wes. "At any rate though, I can see it now."

Espeon and Umbreon looked into the distance and made questioning growls at the sight of a dull red train - of all things - standing in the desert. Wes merely grinned at their bewilderment and pulled up by the train. It had been the beginnings of a grand transportation scheme set up for Orre, which fell apart after a few weeks. The only part of the railway system ever created was the train itself, which had now turned into an inn by the current owner. It served as a rare sight-seeing object for tourists who got lost and found themselves in Orre somehow, an event which occurred every now and then.

Parked by the train there was another smaller vehicle, resembling a ute and far closer to a car than the Zoomer. Wes glanced at it. A large sack was sitting on the back part of the pale-green vehicle. Two men - one had a flame-like colour-schemed hair that was spiked up, while the other had dark blue hair - were by the car, clearly bickering to each other.

"So you've done securing that knot, Folly?" asked the blue-haired one. He brushed some sand from his bright orange jacket, hunching over to check the bag within the car.

"Yes I have, Trudly," responded Folly. Wes noted that this one seemed to have a slightly better sense of style – his hair looked somewhat cool to the teenager, as did his blue singlet and glasses.

"Good. Let's go now! We're in a rush, remember?"

Wes observed them enter the vehicle curiously, as Umbreon glanced up at the train with confusion, ignoring the activity from the strangers. Espeon did the same; it was a rare action for the Psychic type to mimic his brother, but an announcement that suddenly rang from a loudspeaker hanging from the train informing them it was due to depart in ten minutes for Hoenn helped hold his attention.

How does a train with no train tracks get to a region an ocean away? Espeon pondered. This region sure is broken...

"Umm, Folly? Why aren't you driving?" asked Trudly from inside after a lengthy pause.

"I, um, seemed to have misplaced the car keys..."

"WHAT!?!"

Wes quietly laughed to himself, and turned to the train. As he went to enter it they snuck in close behind his heels. Inside the train, a large man behind a counter noticed Espeon's and Umbreon's cautious looks and laughed merrily.

"Never seen a train in the middle of the desert, have they? Oh, where are my manners? Welcome to the Outskirt Stand. What can I do for you, sir?" he asked.

"Any chance of dinner perhaps?" asked Wes. The man chuckled again enthusiastically, his warm personality spreading like a blanket.

"Of course! Sit down, sit down. By the way, people call me Kirk." Kirk promptly pulled a hamburger out of nowhere and two food bowls for Wes' Pokémon. They quickly forgot their worries and began consuming their meals.

Wes took a moment to observe his surroundings before consuming the burger. It was a unique place, with a mini-shop set up by the counter, and a few people sitting around watching the small, dusty television and chatting about the velocities of different Swellow. Nearby a man was playing a harmonica, the simple tune seeming to loop over and over without any sign of ending.

Wes stopped eating to look upon the man further. The entirely bright-pink hair looked disturbing to say the least, and the sideburns didn't help the matter either.

"Oh never mind him," said Kirk. "That's just Pinky."

"Don't call me that!" exclaimed the person with annoyance, ceasing playing to glare angrily at Kirk. "My name is Willie and before you ask, this hair came about from a hairdressing accident…"

Umbreon looked upon the person with a questioning look.

"Someone's Kecleon freaked out the hairdresser and she spilled this dye in my hair," Willie explained. "So I guess I'm stuck with it until it fades out - it doesn't wash out for some stupid reason…"

"Man that's unlucky, Pinky…" muttered Kirk with a grin. Willie just glared at him and resumed playing, as the wind outside picked up.

***

Later that night, Wes was settling down to sleep on a cushioned seat like the rest of the people inside. He had been watching a boring news investigation about a coffee shop, which was typical of the average television programs only available in Orre.

It was starting to get interesting when one of the reporters, Mary, was 'assaulted' by a random old man. He had started shouting about how he couldn't get coffee and how that was such a tragedy. He wasn't letting Mary past into the shop to interview the owner and was about to start throwing coffee mugs everywhere, when suddenly the investigation got interrupted.

"We interrupt this, eh, interesting news investigation with a special bulletin with some, uh, news. News, people! Police has confirmed that the notorious criminal gang Team Snagem has had their base destroyed in an explosion."

Willie stopped playing his harmonica as everyone clambered around the T.V. Images of the building - or what was left of it - were shown in quick procession, as Wes watched from his seat, remaining quiet.

"E...Espi…" (Wow... didn't think we did that much…) Espeon quietly commented to Wes, in awe of the destruction.

"Umbre Umb!" (Ha, it looks cool! Go us!)

"The location of Team Snagem's hideout was previously unknown but now police have gotten into the act and have made arrests. They are currently interrogating these people. The cause for the explosion is currently unknown, but we assume that something explosive is at fault there. We will now return to our program."

With that, the T.V program returned to Mary running away from the man who was yelling "WHERE'S MY COFFEEEEE!" as he gave chase with surprising speed, stopping only to throw a coffee mug at the camera.

Kirk broke the silence that followed by opening a bottle of champagne and announced that the drinks were on him. Everyone cheered in response, moving to the bar counter with astonishing speed, as Wes quietly smiled to himself before joining in the celebrations.

***

The next morning after a small breakfast, Wes departed the Outskirt Stand and stood on the ramp leading from the train's entrance, with no real idea on what he should do next. Deciding to not worry about it for the moment, he decided to look at Folly and Trudly who to his amusement had seemed to have been unsuccessful in their search for the car keys as the two were still scrambling around in the sand muttering under their breathe. Suddenly Wes heard a soft cough from behind him - Willie had followed him out.

"Hey, Wes - want to have a battle?"

Wes thought for a moment. He didn't really like Willie as he wouldn't stop playing the same annoying tune over and over again on his harmonica throughout the evening. But it would be good practice for Espeon and Umbreon, and Wes loved nothing more than a good battle.

"Sure, you're on."

They quickly moved off the ramp and onto a dusty clearing in front of the train as Wes's Pokémon hopped down from a window and raced in front of Wes, eager for the battle to begin.

"Right, I'm pumped!" Willie began, grinning as he adopted a pose.

"That's... good, I suppose," Wes responded. "But maybe you should-"

"Yeeeeeeaaaah! I'm burning now! I'm on fire!" Willie continued, as Espeon exchanged glances with Umbreon. "It's full-throttle time! Vrum! Vrooom!"

Silence followed, save for an encouraging shout from Kirk of 'Go get him, Pinky!'.

"Stop calling me that!" shouted Willie. "Go! Moltres and Mewtwo!" he called as he sent out two Pokémon.

Wes stared. Surely…he didn't call his two Zigzagoon after Legendary Pokémon.

"Um, ah… oh dear..." muttered Kirk in disbelief, looking on to the two identical brown-and-white striped raccoons. They stared back at Espeon and Umbreon with small, black, beady eyes.

Quickly recovering from that oddity, Wes flew into action. "Espeon, attack with Confusion on, eh, Moltres, and Umbreon, Bite on Mewtwo…"

"Ok, Moltres and Mewtwo, Tackle the both of them!"

Right, thought Wes, this will be over soon, as he watched the two Zigzagoon take heavy hits. Espeon shrugged off one of the Zigzagoon's Tackle attacks, and responded by staring intensely at it, sending a wave of psychic energy at his opponent. It cried in pain as it crumpled under the mental strain. Meanwhile Umbreon evaded the other Zigzagoon's Tackle with ease, before counter-attacking by biting the side of the body of the other unfortunately named Zigzagoon.

"Finish off with Return and Secret Power!" commanded Wes. Before Willie could shout at his Zigzagoon to dodge, Espeon rapidly charged in and struck his Zigzagoon with his body, sending it flying straight into the train. It gave a pathetic whimper as it fell, and promptly fainted. Umbreon merely moved away and sent a ball of electricity at his opponent, which succumbed to a similar fate as its friend.

"Aw, man…return," said Willie sadly in defeat as returned his two Zigzagoon to his Poké Balls. "You're pretty good!" he conceded with a grin.

"Yeah, you made quick work of Pinky!" exclaimed Kirk. But Willie was too busy playing the same old tune on his harmonica again to notice.

Suddenly, Trudly give out a shout of delight, as all turned to look at him.

"I found them!" he said happily, holding up the keys in the air.

"Great, and about time! Let's go!" said Folly gruffly as they hopped in the vehicle. "Oh, by the way, where were they?"

"Umm, it doesn't matter," said Trudly quickly. Folly frowned - he answered a little too quickly for his liking.

"No, really, where were they?" he asked.

"Well, they were…" Trudly paused, then in a much smaller voice continued, "in my pocket..."

"What the…"

A loud onslaught of words flew out of Folly's mouth, as everyone moved outside to look at what the commotion was about.

"You're telling me that we spent more than AN ENTIRE DAY looking for those keys, when they were…" screamed Folly in frustration, as his words started to disintegrate into unintelligible shouting.

As Trudly drove off while trying to ignore Folly's shouting, Wes noticed something odd – as he continued watching, it appeared that the sack in the back part of the vehicle was moving.

Hmm, there's something odd about that, thought Wes. And given the size of the bag and all...well, I've nothing better to do, so I might as well follow them. Wes climbed onto the Zoomer along with his Pokémon, and with a hasty 'bye' to Kirk and Willie, he followed the tracks of the car.

***

After a while of driving and following the strange loop-the-loops the tracks seemed to make – Wes assumed that the two men hadn't really known where to go - Wes pulled up next to their vehicle by the region's artificial oasis in the form of a town. Both the men and the strange sack had disappeared, but footsteps made in the sand led towards and into the town's front entrance. Wes hurried inside, noticing that water was an evident theme of the town - troughs of water could be seen flowing within the white walls of the town. A large fountain took up a large part of the town's square, placed symbolically in the middle of the town. The architecture was rather astounding, with magnificent, pure-white buildings arrayed symmetrically around the fountain, and with stones arranged simply yet effectively for the patterned pavement. Towering palm trees dotted the settlement as well, accompanied with various other water features, such as small waterfalls, and a cascading spherical building near the rear of town, spouting the wet substance - probably the town's well-renowned Colosseum, Wes pondered. It all looked modern and sophisticated - overall the city was a sight to behold, especially for desert-dwellers who didn't see much of water anywhere else.

"Umbreon!" (This must be Phenac City by the looks of things!) declared Umbreon.

"Esp…" (Well duh…) Espeon said tiredly, noticing a large sign stating 'Welcome to Phenac City - the town of water, water and… well, water!' by the entrance.

"Well, what's happening here?" Wes murmured as he approached a group of people. Among them was Trudly and Folly. It seemed that the two men were trying to bring the sack – which was now shaking violently - within the city, and were failing in fantastic style. A lady and a man, the latter dressed like a marathon runner and with a small, gray Castform floating behind him looked on worriedly.

"What's… in there?" she asked nervously.

"We're not robbers, I swear! We're just kidna-" Trudly began, before stopping himself.

"Um, ahh…" stammered Folly, sweating from more than just the heat.

"It's a, um, a rabid crazy wild Pokémon! Stand back - it's vicious and needs to be taken to the Pokémon Centre now!" claimed Trudly hurriedly, before he tried to walk onwards.

"Get me out of here!" shouted the thing inside the bag. Wes and the others glared at Trudly, who scratched his head nervously.

"Um… it's so crazy it can… talk?" offered Trudly weakly.

"You're a kidnapper!" shouted the lady.

Folly winced. "Yeah, well, you never stop us. We've got Pokémon ready for battle!"

"Well actually you only have Pokémon, I left mine with…" began Trudly, as he and Folly clumsily set the bag down.

"Shut UP!" Folly shouted, anxious to quieten down his inept teammate.

"I'll take you on!" cried the athlete, as the Castform floated forward and gave an attempt at a terrifying squeak with little success.

"Are you serious? Your Castform against…" Folly paused for a moment, thinking. "Aha! TWO Pokémon? You'll never win!" he boasted.

Wes decided to take action, as nobody else in the town seemed to register the fact that there was a kidnapping occurring despite all of the shouting going on. "I'll battle," he said as he signalled to Espeon and Umbreon to get ready.

"Ah…you… will?" Folly asked, sounding amazed. He probably hadn't had to deal with someone actually accepting a battle before, Wes noted.

"Sure."

"Well… fine then! Prepare to lose!" said Folly, trying to sound confident. "Go, my Whismur!" He fumbled for his Poké Balls and sent out two cute-looking pink Pokémon. They were minute in size compared to Espeon and Umbreon, had large, adorable ears and didn't look capable of putting up a good fight any more than the Castform.

Right… he thinks he can beat me with those? thought Wes. This'll be a piece of cake.

***

A mere piece of cake later, Folly and Trudly were running out of town in defeat. Espeon and Umbreon growled at their retreating backs, ready to take them down as well if needed. As Wes watched them leave, the athlete got to work on the knot of the sack.

"Huh… this knot is tough to undo…"

Wes frowned. Why bother with untying a knot when you could do it the easy way?

"Umbreon, Bite the rope!" he ordered, as his Pokémon leapt at the bag and bit the rope into pieces. A moment later a girl struggled out of the sack, breathing in large amounts of fresh air. She was small and dainty, and had the odd combination of blue eyes and orange hair.

"Now then, are you all right?" asked the woman.

"Yes… I think so," said the girl, stretching her arms and grimacing in mild pain. The teenager then brushed dust off of her clothing – a blue jacket with pink trimming which covered up a purple shirt, a white skirt and pink Ugg boots. Wes raised an eyebrow, noticing this odd sort of choice of footwear for the desert.

"Good. After being tied up in a sack, you're lucky you didn't suffer any mild…"

Suddenly the girl smiled oddly and waved her arms about, and shouted "MY NAME'S ROMARIO AND I LIKE CHOCOLATE PIE!"

"…It seems I spoke too soon…" said the woman.

"Hey - where did she go?" asked the athlete.

"ZROOM ZROOM!" shouted the confused person, who was aboard Wes's Zoomer. She then attempted to drive the Zoomer, but looked confused by the various handles and the absence of a steering wheel.

"Don't touch that!" cried Wes.

Fortunately the girl abruptly fell out of the Zoomer in comical fashion. She lay on the ground and started spinning around and around, smiling idiotically.

"I'm scared," muttered the athlete. "Being in that bag without much oxygen mustn't have done much good on her…"

Wes considered this. "I have an idea. Espeon! Use a gentle Confusion on her to get her...acting normal! Be careful though…" he warned, before realising how odd his command must had sounded.

Espeon stared into the girl's eyes, and focused his mind onto hers. After a moment, the girl seemed to calm down.

"Wha… what happened to me?" she asked, seemingly confused as to why she was lying on the ground in a strange position.

"Oh, good, you're all right now," soothed the lady, helping the girl to her feet. "You were being kidnapped by two men, but this young man saved you. You were a bit, well, out of it a moment ago though…"

"Why, what did I do?" she queried.

"Umm… never mind," said the woman hurriedly. "Anyway, what's your name?"

"It's… Rui," she said quietly.

"Any idea why they kidnapped you?" asked Wes, as he wondered that very thing. She looked rather harmless – leastways, when she hadn't been running about screaming nonsensical words. And oddly, despite having being just kidnapped and rescued, she seems less panicked than Wes imagined she would have been.

"Well, actually…" began Rui.

***




That's the chapter - comments and so forth appreciated, naturally.

And here is the spoiler containing what characters in the chapter are like in the game:


Spoiler:
 
Last edited:

Umbreon Ruler

Like clockwork
28
Posts
16
Years
  • Seen Aug 12, 2010
Yay, I can review this now. Hm... I'll start with the Prologue.

Let's see... I've never played the game, so I can't compare anything, but I really liked it. The Skarmory at the beginning was a very interesting way to start the chapter, expecially including its point of view about Snagem and the "pointy mustache man." Even though it was a little short, the occasional touches of humor kept me reading. The only thing I might suggest is that you could use a little more description for the people and places. Other than that though, very nice.

Now, Chapter 1. The beginning with the Outskirt Stand was a little foggy, since at first you mentioned a train and I imagined them boarding it, but then they were eating and battling. The problem might just be my assuming things, so take it with a grain of salt. Hm... good plot develepmont (although it might be moving a TINY bit too fast) and I quite liked the bits with Trudly and Folly. I hope to see more of them. Rui seems... interesting to say the least, lol. Can't wait for the next chapter.

Sorry this review is so short, but I'm on a cheap, old laptop that I found in the attic, and it's not really all that comfortable.
 
17
Posts
16
Years
  • Seen Oct 31, 2010
Now if only they stopped the current pokemon show and put this as the new series
 

bobandbill

one more time
16,876
Posts
16
Years
Response to reviews + Chapter 2!

Yay, I can review this now. Hm... I'll start with the Prologue.
Let's see... I've never played the game, so I can't compare anything, but I really liked it. The Skarmory at the beginning was a very interesting way to start the chapter, expecially including its point of view about Snagem and the "pointy mustache man." Even though it was a little short, the occasional touches of humor kept me reading. The only thing I might suggest is that you could use a little more description for the people and places. Other than that though, very nice.[/COLOR]

Now, Chapter 1. The beginning with the Outskirt Stand was a little foggy, since at first you mentioned a train and I imagined them boarding it, but then they were eating and battling. The problem might just be my assuming things, so take it with a grain of salt. Hm... good plot development (although it might be moving a TINY bit too fast) and I quite liked the bits with Trudly and Folly. I hope to see more of them. Rui seems... interesting to say the least, lol. Can't wait for the next chapter.

Sorry this review is so short, but I'm on a cheap, old laptop that I found in the attic, and it's not really all that comfortable.
Thanks! Glad you liked the Skarmory introduction - occasionally I will sift to other people's (maybe even Pokemon later on) POV's in chapters. Prologue was short cause... well, it's the prologue - only a set-up scene based on the first... 40 seconds of the game (a cut scene, which ends up raising more questions then answers).

On description - in this story, I kinda go easy on it, as it's not really about the description, but me makinga game funnier and explaining the various plotholes and more. It is better that you'd have played the game, as you would 'get' more things here (jokes, what characters are based on, etc), but it isn't nesserary.

Outskirt Stand - hmm, though I had mentioned it was an inn to begin with - 'only part of the railsystem ever created was the train, which was now converted into an inn' - so there. ;) It is odd however, esp. when you play the game.

The next chapter' plot pace is shorter - fair bit of 'filler', that's still funny however. Towards the second half there will be some things to watch for however. The plot pace in the game is also quick - that's the first 5 or so minutes, factoring in the slow battles that are dead easy.[/COLOR]

Folly and Trudly will be appearing occasionally for the next few chapters as well. They're fun to write. Rui will definately feature heavily in the story, as she always does in the game...

Anyway, thanks for the review - greatly appreciated.
Great fic! It goes into more detail then the game's storyline. Hope to see your next chapter soon.
And that's the whole point of the story, well, part of the point at least... thanks.
Now if only they stopped the current pokemon show and put this as the new series
I'd have quite a big job then. ;) And produced not as regularly as well (enjoy these fast chapter-releases while you can...)

Anyway, let's get onto chapter 2! For those who've played the game - the Pre Gym features a fair bit, as well as a short scene with an important character...




***


Chapter 2 – The City of Water

"…It's hard to explain," Rui began, frowning as she recalled the incident. "I was on my way to Agate Village when our bus stopped for an hour or so in this smelly town called Pyrite. When I was walking about I saw a… peculiar Pokémon. It was short and stout and chasing another Pokémon, and then it attacked a person. Then, when I shouted out for help… I was suddenly chased, grabbed and thrown into a sack," she explained, smoothing out her small ruffled jacket. "Hey, did those kidnappers use an odd Pokémon themselves?"

Wes looked at Rui with puzzlement as he pondered her words. She saw a peculiar Pokémon that was attacking people? Could she have seen a Shadow Pokémon? Maybe she got kidnapped because Team Snagem didn't want her spilling the beans... but those people didn't look like Team Snagem members to me, he continued to muse grimly.

"You saw a Pokémon attacking people?" questioned the athlete. He wiped his brow and left his mouth a little too open wide, and tapped his foot on the pavement as he considered her words. "But why would they kidnap you because of that? And no, they didn't have any odd Pokémon… just incredibly weak ones." The man snickered at the thought of two Whismur being a threat to anyone over the age of five.

"I have no idea what they wanted to kidnap me for. Maybe they didn't want to have people knowing about that Pokémon," Rui said. "But the important thing is that I got rescued." Rui turned to Wes and beamed at him. "Thanks you, my gallant prince!" she exclaimed loudly, making Wes cringe. He quickly tried to hide his reaction by turning around and acting nonchalant.

"Espeon!" (The girl seems to be embarrassing Wes…) remarked Espeon.

"Um, Umbre." (Heh, it seems he has a weak spot.) Umbreon silently wondered if it was due to the fact Rui was female. After all there hadn't been many female people at Team Snagem, and the ones that were there also had to have their hair shaved as per the team's outfit policy.

"Ah, can you escort me for now, please?" Rui continued suddenly.

Wes was surprised by this question, and the suddenness of it. "Umm, no, I'm busy and have… um, no idea about this city. I don't know where things are…"

"Only I'm a bit worried, what with being kidnapped and all. Please, Mr…?" Rui pleaded, ignoring Wes's protests before giving him the infamous puppy dog look.

"Oh jeez…" muttered Wes to himself. He glanced around at the two onlookers but they didn't seem forthcoming in offering help themselves. He sighed before giving up. "Ok, I will, although I won't be much of a guide. My name's Wes, by the way." Not like I have much better to do now than this anyway.

"Yay! Thank you!" Rui said with a smile. "I thought you'd say that."

"Espi…Es," (She's… persuasive,) Espeon said, scrutinizing the conversation as Wes groaned quietly.

"Umbreon," (This could get interesting,) replied Umbreon.

"I know what you can do!" said the lady, destroying the uncomfortably silence that had followed to Wes' relief. "You should see the mayor. He'll know what to do!"

"Okay!" said Rui happily. It seemed that she already forgot about her ordeal - she was smiling more than ever before. "Only, I don't know where it is…"

"Oh it's…" began the athlete. But Rui had already run off into the distance, singing happily.

"Hurry up, Wes!" she called as she ran into a nearby house.

"Oh dear… she's energetic, isn't she? Well, you better catch up to her then. I'll go back to practicing for my race!" said the athlete as he ran off back to the fountain in the middle of the town before beginning laps around the magnificent water feature.

"You look like an attractive couple," smiled the lady, who also seemed to have forgotten the recent kidnapping. She walked off as well, leaving Wes alone with his Pokémon. He scratched his head and muttered to himself about the whole situation. A kidnapped girl who didn't seem affected all that much by her ordeal, odd people who had Shadow Pokémon – which the girl saw - and Whismur, and an athlete which seemed to have a liking for running around fountains. Bewildered by that and the sudden presumption that he and Rui, whom he had just met, were a couple, he stumbled off to find Rui. At least the house Rui had gone into appeared to be the right one as there was a large sign proclaiming just so outside it.

But when Wes got inside the house, he found Rui was already talking to the people inside who appeared to be merely regular citizens.

"This isn't the mayor's house… is it?" asked Rui. "Only I need to talk to him about a kidnapping that was occurring here."

"No, but one day... one day, I shall be the mayor!" proclaimed a woman in reply. Rui stepped uneasily away from her before she continued. "But wait - a KIDNAPPING?!? Huh - wait - come back!" she shouted in dismay as Rui decided it was a good idea to leave.

"Sorry about that," muttered Wes as Rui ran past him and nearly trampled on Umbreon in the process.

"Well, just make sure she votes for me!" the woman replied, throwing a pamphlet at Wes before walking off into a separate room. A teenager, seemingly oblivious to the recent occurrences within the house, turned to Wes and started commenting about the lack of anime programs around recently.

"I mean, there's all these news reports about a person blowing up Team Snagem's base… it's not THAT interesting…" he said, as Wes decided to leave.

What a very odd place this is, he thought, before silently bemoaning the fact that nobody knew it had been him who had blown up the base. He then scanned the city and caught sight of Rui who had already run off a fair distance; she was approaching a large building in the centre of the town. Sighing once more to himself, he ran to catch up to her.

***

Rui burst into the building, with Wes panting shortly behind her. "Is this the mayor's house?" she asked.

"No. This is the Prestigious And Highly-Esteemed Preparation Training Facility. Or Pre Gym for short," answered a person standing by the door.

Rui and Wes looked around to observe their surroundings. There was an elevated, rectangular platform in the middle of the room which appeared to be the battle arena, albeit a small one by usual standards. By the battling arena there was a glass lift leading to a level below. On their right, there was a control room with a man clad in a clean, white uniform sitting by a large panel of buttons and switches, and to the left was another room in which a lesson on Pokémon appeared to be proceeding. Given the fact the teacher appeared close to tearing out her hair it didn't appear to be going well. Naturally, Espeon and Umbreon trotted off to satisfy their curiosity while the man at the controls noticed Wes and Rui's arrival and marched down to greet them.

"Hello there!' he said warmly, as he offered a handshake. "My name's Justy. Interested in taking part in a Pokémon battle challenge? It's four trainers in a row in the usual double battle format."

"I WOULD LIKE TO BATTLE!" shouted Rui happily causing Justy to flinch at the unexpected enthusiasm. "But… I have no Pokémon," she added, suddenly downcast. Wes raised an eyebrow at her; her mood swings were unsettling to say the least – maybe Espeon's Confusion was still having minor effects on her.

"You have no Pokémon?" Wes inquired. "You should get some, if only for protection..."

"Yes, I guess you're right," sighed Rui. "It probably would have helped me out in Pyrite after all."

"Well," said Wes to Justy, "I guess I will take part in the challenge – unlike her I have a couple of Pokémon of my own. The mayor can wait, Rui," he told her. His legs already were feeling sore from the running about after her.

"I guess so," answered Rui. "I can watch after all, and see how you saved me!" she added with a grin.

"Great!" replied Justy. He grinned widely. "It's been a good while since someone has come to try out some battles here so I'm afraid all the trainers here have been pretty bored with battling each other. When you're ready, step up to the battle area. I look forward to watching some enthralling battles." Justy smiled and walked back to control room. Wes realised it must have external controls for the lift as well as a viewing platform – it certainly wasn't a bad set-up for a battling faculty given it was Orre.

"Okay, Umbreon, Espeon, get ready! ...Where are they?" Wes said suddenly, looking around.

"I'll get them," said Rui, as she marched off towards the room they had walked into. Wes sighed and followed her.

Meanwhile, Espeon and Umbreon were observing an interesting class in maths. Espeon was entertaining himself by levitating some pieces of chalk above Umbreon's head while the two regarded the teacher with a look of pity.

"Now then," the teacher began with a strong hint of exasperation in her voice. "Pokémon battles are an important part of life because unlike people they can do amazing things like breathe fire. However, if you want to be a good battler, you must be able to do a bit of simple mathematics." Collective groans were made at the last remark but the teacher continued on. "Now, we've been at this for the last week, and we need to make some progress. Jimmy! Here's an addition question. If I had two Pokémon, and then got two more Pokémon, how many would I have?"

Jimmy blinked at the teacher as he attempted to understand what she had asked, mouthing the words to himself before answering.

"Umm… you would have some Pokémon."

"Yes… and no. Look here," she said as she drew some circles on the blackboard to resemble Pokémon. "Now, one, two, three, four. So how many are there?"

"Let me think..." answered Jimmy. "There are three…and that one."

"Three and that one," repeated the teacher with a sigh. "So if I add THAT one to the other three, what will I have?" The teacher went as far to hold up four fingers in front of Jimmy's face in a desperate attempt to have him get the answer.

"OH! Um… Some fingers."

"Espeon…" (He's rivalling the two idiots we saw before in stupidity...)

"Umbre!" (And winning!)

"Ah! There you are!" shouted Rui. She quickly scooped the pair up and handed them to Wes.

"ESPI!" (Put me down!) Espeon cried, surprised that Rui would simply pick him up like a lost toy.

"Hello!" greeted the teacher. "Don't worry, those Pokémon were well behaved. And what fine evolved Pokémon they are! Jimmy! What do YOU think of these Pokémon?

"Um… well behaved, fine evolved Pokémon?" answered Jimmy, struggling to keep up with the sudden subject change.

"No, that's what I think. What do you think? Try to have a thought of your own, Jimmy, thinking is so important. What do you think?" explained the lecturer patiently.

"I think...thinking is so important," replied Jimmy.

The teacher sighed and turned to Wes. "Never mind Jimmy, he's been like this for years. Hmm, do you have a P*DA?"

Wes frowned. "Yes. I am a trainer, as you can see." He held his P*DA – Orre's somewhat less-than-inspiring equivalent of a Pokédex - for the teacher to see. It was a small gadget that could fit in one's pocket but it didn't give much in the way of detailed information beyond moves known by Pokémon in the trainer's possession, and wild speculative rumours about the species. Nobody was quite sure why the star needed to be mentioned in its name but everyone just went along with it.

The teacher frowned a bit upon seeing the P*DA set up. "You don't have a Strategy Memo, do you?"

"No, I don't," admitted Wes. Personally he thought he could rely upon his own memory and knowledge to know which Pokémon were good against others. He also felt confident about knowing that water beat fire and ice moves tended to be rather cold without the help of the add-on.

"Tell you what, if you beat the Pre Gym challenge, I will upgrade your P*DA," said the tutor. "It's a typical reward we give out, although I can't say it's very, uh, extensive."

"Well... I guess if I ever have to lend this to a young child who doesn't know his left hand from his right it may be useful, so might as well. I better get started then…" Wes said with a shrug before walking back to the battle arena, deciding to take his position on the left hand side. Espeon and Umbreon trotted out in front of him, prepared for battle.

"I'll cheer for you, Wes!" shouted Rui loudly.

"OK! First challenge is… Botan! You're up!" shouted Justy from the control room, before pressing a button and summoning the lift. Another teenager walked out and took his battle position.

"Wes, Wes, beat Botan, if you can't do it, no-one can!" cheered Rui.

"Rui, could you please pipe down during the battle?" Wes yelled back.

***

All in all, the pre-gym challenge was a cinch. Even Jimmy would have beaten it, Wes reflected, despite the enthusiastic and somewhat distracting shouting from Rui.

After Botan proclaimed his love for all things green and grass types, he sent out a Sunkern and a Hoppip. However, when his Pokémon caught sight of the far larger Espeon and Umbreon who towered over the tiny creatures, the small pink Hoppip jumped back into Botan's Poké ball while shrieking in fright with its squeaky voice. Its partner however could not dive into its own Poké ball, due to being a small, weak seed lacking legs or the ability to jump. Left without any other options, it resorted to waving its leaves as viciously as it could at Espeon. Shortly before Wes even ordered an attack, the Sunkern fainted out of pure fear.

The second battle was against a girl by the name of Liqui, who boasted that nobody liked water types as much as her. Wes suspected by this point the trainers' names weren't real but then again, strange names were common for citizens of the region. Her Pokémon were at least considerably better than Botan's (consisting of a Marill and Surskit) in that it required an attack from Wes' Pokémon. However it only needed one; Espeon's powerful Return had struck Marill right into the small water spider which was squashed by the other's weight, knocking both out instantly.

The third battler was a posh looking boy with the slightly less classy name of Dugo. He had a Trapinch and a Swinub, the former being quite fond of dancing about as soon as it was sent out. This seemed to help it, as while its partner had dug underground Wes's Pokémon were unable to target it and so they focused on the Trapinch instead. They failed to land a hit on it as it successfully evaded both Espeon's Return and Umbreon's Bite attacks, swaying its body just out of reach. Unfortunately, instead of attacking Espeon and Umbreon from below, the Swinub ended up burrowing underneath and hitting the dancing Trapinch, knocking it upside down. In the confusion (which hadn't been helped by Dugo shouting at his Pokémon about docking their salary for their mistake) the two Pokémon were both promptly jumped upon by the two Eeveelutions and a mere moment later they had also been defeated.

The last battle was a relatively straight-forward one. The final battler, an uppity Lady Gwin, sent out two defensive rock-typed Pokémon in Geodude and Ryhorn. The Geodude begun with a Magnitude attack which shook the room slightly and sent all nearby onto the ground. Rui gave a sudden shriek when she fell, while the teacher muttered a bit as she scrambled to recollect pieces of chalk and blackboard dusters while ignoring any fallen children. However the attack dished out severe damage to its partner in Ryhorn thanks to the type disadvantage, causing it to bellow in pain before charging straight ahead right out of the door. With the departure of the rhino, Geodude stood no chance against the combined forces of Bite and Confusion. Oddly enough, Lady Gwin after the battle huffed at Wes distastefully.

"Uh... well, my battle style must have been too sophisticated for you!" She struck her nose to the air, and walked off towards the stairway to search for her Ryhorn.

Odd comment to make after losing, thought Wes. Meanwhile, Rui ever so causally stuck out her foot, resulting in the woman giving a startled shout and acquiring a squashed nose.

"Great work!" smiled Justy, commenting upon the battles as he made his way to the arena. "You beat the Pre Gym Battle Challenge!" He tried to make it sound like a fantastic accomplishment, but both Wes and Rui felt that Justy knew how 'challenging' it really was. Nonetheless, the man continued on. "As an award, you win… this WHITE HERB!" Justy handed a small white herb to Wes, with the same level of fake enthusiasm, if not more.

"Ah… thanks…" said Wes as he scrutinised the small white leave, wondering if Justy had been joking by offering this as a price. Justy's wide beam suggested it wasn't, and so he stuffed the small object to the depths of his bag, figuring that he would probably forget about its existence by tomorrow.

"I would like you to battle me, Wes. But only when you get a full party of six Pokémon," Justy continued in a similar fashion.

"If you insist I suppose," Wes said, thinking that wasn't too likely he would get himself any more Pokémon any time soon – he was quite content with his current small party. On his way out, he got the upgrade for his P*DA from the teacher, who seemed to be using this as an excuse to stay away from her students. Wes didn't blame her. She even gave Rui a P*DA, even though she wasn't a Pokémon trainer, or have any Pokémon in the first place.

***

The moment they walked out of the Pre Gym, Rui started to rush off again into the depths of the white stone city towards a long alley, eagerly eying the numerous water features crowding the street. Wes however grabbed her jacket before she could progress.

"Stop running off!" he said sternly. "If you want some help from me, you'll have to stop rushing off into every house. From now on, just follow behind me. OK?"

"Yes…" said Rui somewhat reluctantly.

"Good," said Wes, confident that he got the hyperactive Rui under control for now. He started walking towards a house to the left. He had talked to someone upon leaving the Pre Gym, so he now hopefully knew the location of the mayor's house. Rui started walking directly behind him.

"Rui…" he said at length.

"Yes?" replied Rui innocently.

"Can you please stop walking directly behind me?"

"But you said to follow behind you," answered Rui mischievously.

As Wes went to say something impolite to Rui, he suddenly bumped into a man who had walked out of the mayor's house.

"Hey!"

"Oww! Sorry…" apologised Wes, before stopping short as he gazed at the man. Rui let out a gasp and Umbreon looked up uncertainly.

The man was a tall, skinny person, who didn't have much of a dress sense – his cold eyes didn't do much to distract from his long, white hair and unattractive purple clothing, save for a red, skirt-like piece of garment which gave him the appearance of an ugly, poisonous flower. The man smiled oddly at Wes, causing him to shiver on impulse.

"You are a travelling trainer?" he asked. He smirked at Wes and Rui's looks of bewilderment. "I like your expression. Fufufu, I have a feeling we will meet again somewhere." The man then abruptly turned around and walked off.

"Well…" said a bemused Wes as he scratched his head. Normally people would say 'that's all right' or more likely say something rude at being walked into rather than say... well, that, before leaving suddenly. "That was… odd."

"And… scary," added Rui.

"Umbreon, Eon?" (People in this town are strange, aren't they?)

"Espeon Espi." (Change 'town' to 'region' and I'll agree with you on that one.)

"Well, I hope you don't have to meet him again," Rui said uncertainly before giving a small shrug. "Let's go in," she added, not one for waiting around.

As they entered, they saw the complete opposite to the man they just encountered. The person seated before them was a fat, short rounded figure, with a brown suit that somehow managed to contain his entire mass within. This, along with possibly having to talk with his previous visitor, didn't seem to detract the mayor to welcoming them with a wide smile.

"You must be travellers! Welcome!" greeted the man. He waddled up to Wes and Rui. "I am Es Cade, the mayor of this town. Is anything the problem?"

Why do they keep assuming we're travellers anyway? Wes thought to himself. Rui took the opportunity to step forward, banging her hands on the table as she began her recount.

"I saw… IT!" she answered.

The mayor looked blankly at Rui.

"Oh… sorry. Well, I saw a peculiar Pokémon, no, that's not quite right," Rui said quickly, somewhat grasping for words.

"Well, what was peculiar about it?" asked the mayor.

"Well," began Rui hastily, "I was walking around Pyrite Town when I saw two people having a Pokémon battle, and one of them had this Pokémon and it was giving out a black aura, and it was very odd, and then the man told it to use a strange move that sounded something like 'shadow rush', and I didn't think that was a real move, and then the Pokémon attacked the other Pokémon, and it looked very evil and I said 'why does it have a black aura', but nobody could see the black aura, and the Pokémon attacked someone, and they ran away screaming, oh and I like cake, and it looked like a fighting machine, not a Pokémon and then the man asked me what I saw and I ran away but then I was kidnapped by the man and this other man, and they put me in a bag took me here, and then I was rescued by Wes who had very strong Pokémon, and I'm really scared, and yeah."

The mayor blinked at Rui. "I think you need to explain that again, slowly, and more clearly… much more clearly…"

***

"Well, then. So basically, you saw a scary Pokémon with a black aura? And it attacked people, and some shady characters kidnapped you because you could see it. If that is true, it would be scary. But I do admit I find it hard to believe at face value…" The mayor said a good ten minutes later. Wes smirked silently to himself - the mayor didn't seem so disbelieving of the idea of Shadow Pokémon to himself, but then again it was a known problem within the region, or at least worse parts than Phenac. There was no doubt that that was what Rui had seen after all given her descriptions.

"But it's true! MISTER MAYOR! It's the truth!!" protested Rui rather loudly.

"No, no, I didn't say I DON'T believe you," said the mayor hastily, holding his hands up to stop Rui's outburst. "I'm just saying that it is quite the story… anyway. I will investigate this…"

"Thank you!" gushed Rui.

"Don't thank me! It's my job and I cannot allow this," the man assured the teenager in a soothing voice as he offered her a glass of water. "Give me time to investigate and I will get back to you with information on how we are going later via those P*DAs of yours! By the way, you are Pokémon trainers, no?"

Wes nodded. "Well, I am anyway."

"Well then, while you're here, why not go to our Colosseum, and take up a challenge? It's state of the art, and the pride of our town. We also have our highly esteemed Pre Gym!"

"Well, all right. I already beat the Pre Gym challenge but I'm always up for more battles," Wes answered with a grin as his Pokémon nodded in agreement. "Thanks for your time – we might as well check it out now."

"Sure thing," the mayor continued, standing as they left to leave. Wes turned and left the building with Rui following him happily behind him, pausing only for a moment to turn back. Wes swore that that he had seen something in the mayor's face - a look of contempt? Anger? Hate?

But the mayor simply beamed back at him happily with a wave.

Nah, I probably was just imagining it, thought Wes. Too darn jumpy after the whole Team Snagem business I suppose...

***



Please reply on your thoughts! And I hope you enjoyed it! From here-on in, the chapter do start to get longer as well...
Oh, and in the next chapter, everyone's favourite afro-wielding music-loving Ludicolo-fanatic guy will make an appearance as well.

Chapter 3 may come on Sunday (my Sunday - live in Australia so for some Saturday...) as well, depending on time and availablility of internet.

And here is the spoiler on characters and such in the game:
Spoiler:
 
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11
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16
Years
It's real good and super funny! XD Rui is crazy! Colosseum was a good game. It's nice to see such an interesting fic about it. Keep up the great work!
 

bobandbill

one more time
16,876
Posts
16
Years
It's real good and super funny! XD Rui is crazy! Colosseum was a good game. It's nice to see such an interesting fic about it. Keep up the great work!
Cheers.

And here's the next chapter - including everybody's favourite guy from Colosseum, Miror B! (guy in avatar).


***

Chapter 3 – Enter the Afro


"What do you mean, no challenges?" asked Wes, drumming his fingers on the desk.

"Sorry, but the current challenge is already underway. I guess you will have to come back later if you want to try the Phenac Colosseum challenge," the receptionist said in a matter-of-fact manner.

"Alright then... thanks anyway," Wes grumbled. "Odd, isn't it?" he said to Rui as they walked out, with Espeon and Umbreon following behind. "You'd think the mayor would have remembered that the challenge started a day ago…"

"I guess he just… forgot," offered Rui as an explanation, admiring the architecture of the Colosseum which had even more water features than the town itself within the white structure. "It IS a nice stadium though, isn't it?"

"Yeah, I guess so…" Wes said, taking one last glance of the interior of the vast Colosseum before they left. It truly was the highlight of the town, with water clinging from the spherical ceiling and flowing down to the moat surrounding the building rather than falling onto their heads. The building was simply staggering in beauty, but Wes wondered how much money could have been saved on other parts of Orre, which from what he had seen while working with Team Snagem was struggling in retrospect. As they stepped back outside onto the bridge over the moat, Wes squinted his eyes at the blazing sun before putting on his shades.

"So, what do we have here?" a sinister voice…voiced, bring Wes out from his musings.

"Hey, Wes!" another cried. "We found you, you filthy, double-crossing traitor! You wrecked Team Snagem's base, and stole the Snag machine as well? You have some nerve!"

Wes frowned as his looked across the bridge to confirm the sources of the voices - a pair of Team Snagem grunts.

Had they been in a town they would have stuck out like a sore thumb to anyone. Nobody else wore that attire composed of jet-black jeans and gloves, a dark-red jacket, and even the same kind of odd hairstyle - a ring of hair at the back of their heads was all that remained from the free haircut that Team Snagem offered to new members. Wes had declined this sort of outfit, choosing to stick with his appearance, not being a fan of Gonzap's choice of uniform. In turn Gonzap wasn't a fan of Wes's sense of fashion - Wes thought that Gonzap didn't appreciate his clothing but hadn't cared, instead pointing out that the fact he went on operations not dressed up like Team Snagem tended to help him remain unsuspicious. Not that it mattered anymore anyway.

"Who are they?" asked an oblivious Rui, failing to notice the words 'We're Team Snagem!' stitched upon their jackets, or their menacing tone of voice. Espeon rolled his eyes - even he and Umbreon knew that Team Snagem's outfit was recognised across the region, despite having only arrived in Orre a few months ago. Rui had a lot to learn.

"Err, don't you know?" asked one, confused. He scratched his head. "We're Team Snagem!"

"Team Snagem?" Rui shouted as her eyes widened.

"Yeah, that's-" the other continued before Rui proceeded to kick the nearest one in the shin.

"Arrgh! What was that for?" asked the criminal, grabbing his leg in anguish. He looked in bemusement at the girl who glared angrily at him; he was clearly not used to having people stand up for themselves.

"For kidnapping me!" cried Rui.

"Kidnap you?" asked the member, blinking with surprise. "Pttf. Why would we waste our time kidnapping some nobody? No, our beef is with Wes."

"Umbre…" (Mmm… beef,) Umbreon muttered. Espeon rolled his eyes again at his partner's comments before lightly slapping his head with his tail and mentally conveying to him to be prepared for a battle.

"But I was kidnapped!" Rui cried. "And what do you mean by traitor…" she added as an afterthought as she turned to Wes. "Wes, you mean…"

"Yep! He was from Team Snagem! Not only that - he was a Snagger! He was snagging Pokémon without fail! Well, okay, he wasn't perfect, but he sure was one of the better ones!" he said, leering at Wes. "And then he went and blew up our base and stole our Snag Machine."

Rui looked astounded and chose not to speak straightaway, opting instead to catch her breath before turning her glare at Wes.

"IS THIS TRUE!?!" she demanded, glaring at Wes.

"Umm… yes?" answered a nervous Wes. Rui's face at this answer made him wince - it was a mixture of anger and sadness rolled into one.

"Well, well, look what you did now, Wes, breaking people's hearts," the first member sneered. "I'd love to stay and chat, but we need to get going. Give us the Snag machine now!"

"What's a Snag machine?" asked Rui, seemingly on auto-pilot now.

"Oh, a Snag machine is that mechanical contraption on Wes's arm," said one of the Team Snagem members, pointing at the object Wes had stolen. Wes wondered why Rui hadn't noticed the snag machine in the first place, nor anyone else for that matter. It was clearly situated upon his arm and would have been one of the first things people noticed about him, he imagined. Then again, she probably hadn't been paying attention, what with her running off in every direction. Furthermore, Orre was filled with oddities, and several residents of Orre had stranger things than a machine on their arm. No wonder she didn't mention it - she probably knew at least that much about Orre.

"...It converts Poké Balls into Snag balls, which overrides a trainer's possession of the Pokémon within the Pokémon's original Poké Ball data, and thus allows it to be stolen…" continued the Team Snagem member.

"Shut up!" warned another.

"Oops."

"Enough talk! We'll take it by force!" shouted the first Team Snagem member. "Get him, Corphish and Koffing!" he continued as he hurled two Poké Balls at Wes and Rui's feet as the two Pokémon materialised. The former - a small, orange crab-like Pokémon - quickly jumped forward and tried to latch onto Umbreon's snout but the Dark type was alert and twisted his body to deflect the attack. The Koffing merely watched and waited for a command as gasses emitted from various crater-like bumps upon its body.

Wes smirked upon noticing the poison-typed Pokémon; he had dealt with these Pokémon before. "Espeon! Use Confusion on Koffing!"

"Espi!" (This is going to be fun!) Espeon said, looking sadistically excited before staring at the ball of gas. As he applied his psychic powers on the Koffing, it began shivering violently.

"Koffing..." (I don't feel well...) the Pokémon said before burping out purple sludge.

All at once, the Koffing started expanding, before Umbreon joined in and applied his own attack which gave rise to sparks which engulfed the Pokémon.

"What the…" said the Snagem member, taking a tentative step back. The others decided to do the same, worriedly looking at his partner's Pokémon which was now several times its previous size. Satisfied, Wes quickly ordered his Pokémon to summon up a quick wall of light around them which they did promptly.

Then the Koffing exploded.

The two Team Snagem members were sent flying several metres down the stairway leading from the Colosseum. Their outfits were covered in black sludge while the Corphish flew through the air and landed in the moat, clearly fainted from the explosion. Some sludge fell harmlessly on Espeon's and Umbreon's barrier of light and slid to the ground.

"Blast you! Don't think this is over! We'll get the machine!" shouted one of the Team Snagem members, before they limped off into the distance, one dragging the Corphish with them. Watching them leave, Rui then turned to Wes.

"What do you know, Wes. You're from Team Snagem," said Rui.

Wes sighed as he put his hands in his pockets. "Well... yes, I am; no point denying that fact."

"Well, that's okay."

"It is?" replied Wes, surprised.

"NO! WHY DIDN"T YOU TELL ME?" shouted Rui, stomping a foot on the ground.

"Esp." (Oh dear.)

"HOW COULD YOU HAVE BEEN A SNAGGER?!? DIDN'T YOU STOP TO THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU WERE DOING TO THOSE POKEMON?"

"Umbreon, Umb?" (She has a good Screech attack, doesn't she?) Umbreon remarked to Espeon quietly.

"That's why I quit! Well, partly, anyway. Besides, I can't be all that bad - I did rescue you…" countered Wes.

"Well… I'll give you that," admitted Rui, who began pacing back and forth, "But still… for all I know, you could be stealing Pokémon for yourself!"

You know, that's not a bad idea in itself if it didn't increase my chances of getting caught by Team Snagem or landing in jail, Wes mused for a moment, but he wisely decided against voicing that line of reasoning. For some reason, he didn't feel like upsetting this girl any further.

"If I was stealing Pokémon I would have taken those guys' ones instead of..."

"Espeon," (Exploding them,) Espeon offered.

"That. At any rate, I wouldn't say that- WATCH OUT, RUI!"

However it was too late - Rui, while interrogating Wes, didn't notice that she had walked close to the flight of stairs nearby.

Too close.

Wes, Espeon and Umbreon observed Rui bounce down stair after stair until she came to a stop at the bottom. Startled, Wes ran down to her.

"Umbre…" (Ouch.)

Rui groaned and looked to Wes, looking a bit confused at first before her thoughts gathered.

"I'm...all right."

Wes breathed a sigh of relief.

"Let's go rest at the Pokémon Centre. Here, I'll help you," Wes offered, taking her hand and pulling her up gingerly to her feet.

***

"All your Pokémon are healed to perfect health. And your friend, besides a few bruises, is going to be all right."

"Thanks," acknowledged Wes. He was a bit bewildered about being in a Pokémon Centre again. He hadn't entered one for years, and he couldn't help but wonder why everything was so strange. Each nurse seemed to look just like each other, and most of them seemed intent on spoiling Espeon and Umbreon non-stop with a pet or treat. Not that they minded much. Espeon constantly gave a look whenever one of the nurses had to pause and stop petting him, while Umbreon simply walked up to every staff member that entered the room.

And then there were the people who seemed to live inside the centre. There was an old man that earnestly kept telling Wes that he could use the PC for storing his Pokémon, and the girl who asked every person whether they were Pokémon trainers or not. She even asked a bemused Justy, who had entered the Pokémon Centre to pick up some Pokémon. It was obvious, thought Wes, that the best trainer in town, picking up Pokémon from the Centre built around Pokémon, WAS a Pokémon trainer.

There was also a kid who seemed obsessed with the 3-D holographic map of Phenac City displaying from a table. What disturbed Wes was that he was seemingly to be drooling over it, muttering senseless technical terms.

Shaking his head at the group of weirdos, Wes sat down next to Rui.

"By the way? It's... it's okay, Wes," Rui begun in a quiet voice.

"Huh?"

"I've thought for a bit, and... it doesn't matter to me who you were. After all, you're my gallant price who rescued me…" she added with a smile. "Besides, you quit, so can't be so bad anyway."

"Well... okay then…" Wes said with a shrug.

Umbreon gave Espeon a glance.

"Umbreon? Umbre?" (You didn't have anything to do with Rui's sudden acceptance about Wes's past, did you? Especially not when she fell down those stairs?) he asked quietly.

"Espi…" (Well…)

"Anyways, Rui… something is rather odd about this…whole thing," he began.

"What is it?"

"Well, firstly… didn't you think it odd that those Team Snagem members didn't know anything about your kidnapping? And those people who did kidnap you… well, they didn't look like Team Snagem. For one, they weren't wearing the generic 'I'm-from-Team-Snagem!' uniform."

"Yes…" mused Rui. "That is… odd. But then who kidnapped me?"

"I'm not sure… maybe those people somehow got possession of a Shadow Pokémon, and didn't want you spilling the beans."

"That's an idea… that poor Shadow Pokémon…" added Rui to herself. "I mean it looked so… unlike how a Pokémon should be like. Really angry."

"Which reminds me - what do you mean by seeing a black aura? I never saw any aura around a Shadow Pokémon. In fact, nobody I know who worked at Team Snagem could distinguish Shadow Pokémon from normal Pokémon easily, beyond the whole 'they're trying to kill you!' fact. Which makes me fairly interested as since I was fairly new, I didn't really know much yet about how they made Shadow Pokémon and all. I was just told to steal them."

"I honestly don't know. I guess nobody else could see it… but I've seen loads of Pokémon before, so I was pretty spooked when I saw the aura around this one. Besides, I came up with an idea," smiled Rui.

"Okay… what's that?" Wes asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Well, you have a stealer thingy from there, don't you?"

"Yes, I do..." Wes said, already suspicious of the way the conversation was going.

"Well, we get ourselves some Poké Balls, and then steal back that Shadow Pokémon with them! And then we help them!"

"Um… Rui, remember, you bumped your head on the stairs. Your 'great idea' may need some reconsideration…"

"Why, what's wrong with it?" Rui asked, somewhat disappointed. Wes sighed and counted off a bunch of reasons on his fingers.

"Firstly, that Shadow Pokémon could be anywhere. Secondly, it is unlikely Trudly and Folly will show up again so we can find the one they have. And thirdly - where will we get Poké Balls? None are kept anywhere I know in Orre as there's rarely any wild Pokémon anyway, and Team Snagem imported them from other regions, as far as I know. And they weren't cheap."

Rui blinked. "Well… it's still a good idea," she answered adamantly.

Wes sighed as he leant on the desk. Well... it's not like I have anything else to do, he thought silently to Espeon.

No, I assumed that blowing up their warehouse isn't something that means you can still keep your job, Espeon thought back drily. After all... to be frank, Umbreon and I were never keen on the whole Shadow Pokémon thing anyway, and who knows, finding out more about this whole deal could be... interesting.

"Ok, whatever. I'll help you, but I don't think we'll get far. Where do you propose we go looking for Poké Balls?" Wes asked Rui.

Rui smiled. "Let's go SHOPPING!"

***

"No Poké Balls?" repeated an anguished Rui.

"Sorry, but we haven't had any in the last few years - there's been no need for them," answered a young shop assistant. "You know, with the whole lack of wild Pokémon thing."

"Well, where can we get some?"

"Umm, try Silph Co. It's only in Kanto," suggested the assistant with a roll of his eyes. This proved to be a fatal mistake as the assistant received a slap to the face, before Rui marched out in a huff as Wes followed.

"I did say," Wes pointed out.

"Psst!" said an old man to Rui as she walked by, ignoring Wes's comment. "They may have some Poké Balls in the Outskirt Stand…" he offered, before tapping his nose exaggeratedly and abruptly walking into the Poké Mart.

"Huh… um, thanks?" Rui said to thin air.

Wes merely shrugged. "He acted the same way when I asked him where the Mayor's house was."

***

A bumpy ride on the Zoomer later, they arrived at the Outskirt Stand. Rui had complained about making the trip by the machine in the first place, but soon got accustomed to the transportation vehicle. Espeon and Umbreon had been annoyed that she had taken up a lot of space in their usual seat. When they arrived Willie greeted Wes as they jumped out of the loud machine, running up to the two.

"Oh, I was worried about you…" he said, panting slightly.

"Why?" asked Wes, surprised that the pink-haired person would have worried about him.

"Well, recently some tough-looking characters came asking around about you. They had a Koffing, and it looked like they were from Team Snagem… hey, who's the chick?"

"Excuse me!" exclaimed Rui as she glared at the man. "And… why is your hair…"

"I'll explain later," said Wes hastily, as he dragged Rui into the train, ignoring Willie's cries of 'Wait!' - after all, he already had dealt with these Team Snagem people, if they had a Koffing with them. Still, he'd have to be on his guard so that the same thing didn't happen again.

"Hello there, Wes! Brought a stranger?" asked Kirk as they entered the train with his usual wide grin.

"That's right," Wes nodded.

Rui smiled. "My name's Rui, sir," she told him.

"Well, what can I do for you today?" Kirk asked warmly.

"Well, sir… we heard you may have some Poké Balls…"

"Poké Balls? There's been no call for these things around these parts for ages… where'd I put them?" he mumbled as he walked off to look in the storage. He immediately came back with a whole box full of them to their surprise.

"Here they are! They are a bit dusty, but they should work fine." Kirk blew the dust off the red and white orbs into Wes and Rui's faces, causing a mass coughing fit.

"Umm...sorry. I'll give you some for free for that. How about five?" offered Kirk as he winced at their response.

"Thanks... I think I'll buy another ten, for safety's sake," Wes said after he recovered. And so with a significantly heavier bag full of Poké Balls and a considerably lighter wallet, Rui and Wes made their way back to Phenac City for lunch.

***

Outside the mayor's house, an old lady stood, observing the happenings in the city. She was well known for being a gossip, and spent most of her time spying upon others. People went to her if ever they wanted a chat about the latest in the town, such as news about any interesting newcomers or whether anyone had fallen in the fountain again.

Recently she had turned her attention to the mayor's house. She could tell something interesting was happening there. She had the same feeling she was having now as well before; the sort that itched at you and refused to go away until it was attended to. The last time that happened, it turned out Jed's overcooked apple pie HAD been the source of the burning smell that had caused a mass evacuation of Phenac City.

But what was up? The old veteran was thoroughly perplexed by the recent events around the Mayor's house. First, that man (if he deserved such a title; he had looked more like an alien with poor dress sense) showed up in the Mayor's house, and then the young man and that girl went in too… it was all very odd.

Then the lady had observed an explosion of sorts from near the Colosseum during a confrontation between that same boy and girl and a group of other people. After that, three people looking remarkably like Team Snagem members had ran past, looking the worse for wear and covered in black goo. Then the girl fell down the stairs without warning… all very peculiar. And then there was the gossip going on about a girl being saved from a kidnapping only hours beforehand, one of the many stories springing about every since news about Team Snagem's hit on their base reached the media. There was a smell of change in the air, what with the reputed criminal gang suffering badly - and as a result that was all that was being talked about on Orre's TV stations currently.

The senior sighed. Whatever it was, she sensed it wasn't good, and probably won't go away as easily as Jed's apple pie had. Not that anyone else in town seemed to notice much, if at all. Recently she heard a man discussing that he 'heard that a scuffle was going on at the town's entrance', but that he 'couldn't be bothered to find out what happened'…

That man is as naive as a Slakoth at times, deliberated the old woman to herself. I bet he didn't notice the explosion either… then again, he wouldn't even know the time of day. Either way… kidnappings and explosions don't seem right when Team Snagem should have by all rights gone on the back foot. Something else is up.

Suddenly, the lady saw a strange shadow upon the ground. It jolted her out of her reverie and back to the present. She blinked at the shadow - it looked like it belonged to a rather large circular object… with a head attached to it.

Shakily, she turned around, to face… it. The 'it' in question gave a dazzling smile and bowed to the lady.

"Hello madam! Is this the mayor's house?" it asked.

Unfortunately, 'it' received no answer as the woman gave a soft moan and promptly fainted in shock.

"Umm… Sorry? These poor citizens aren't accustomed to my grace I fear..." it said to itself.

***

As Wes and Rui entered Phenac City, their attention was grabbed by the lady who was with them during Rui's kidnapping.

"Oh! It's you two! Something terrible is happening!" she said, panting as she ran to them and waving her arms about as if she was on fire, looking flustered and flurried. "Some scary looking men came here - including the two people who kidnapped you!"

Rui instantly tensed up at this news. Wes glanced at her before looking back at the lady.

"Where did they go?" asked Wes.

"Towards the mayor's house, I think. Maybe the mayor is in trouble!" answered the lady.

At this Wes nodded. "Ok, I'm going to see what's going on. Rui, you stay in the Pokémon centre till I come back."

"No! I mean… I'm going with you," said Rui.

"What?" Wes asked, surprised. "I man... it seems odd you want to go and risk yourself after these folk, and the same who had kidnapped you to boot."

"I'm not letting those two away, and I'm certainly not letting you have all the fun," smiled Rui. "So there."

"Umm, ok then. Be careful though," answered Wes. Didn't expect her to be this confident.

She certainly did look more confident than before as she walked along with Wes towards the mayor house, up a set of white stone stairs flanked by a pair of small waterfalls. Wes hoped that all was well, and that the mayor was safe, but it didn't seem to be good news that the two people had reappeared again and went about that area.

As they drew close to the mayor's house however, they noticed a still figure by the mayor's house.

"Hey… that's an old woman! She's unconscious!" shouted Rui as she poked the body with her foot.

"Shh! Can you hear that?" Wes chided, ignoring the lady for now. Something else had caught his attention. Rui, Espeon, Umbreon and Wes stood quietly for a moment and listened. There was a noise coming from the mayor's house. It sounded almost like…

"Music?" asked Rui incredulously.

"Umbre!" (And from the sounds of it, good music too!)

"Maybe… the mayor's having a party?" offered Rui, but even she didn't believe that idea.

"Only one way to find out," said Wes, barging into the house. Espeon and Umbreon ran in afterwards.

"Wait for me!" cried Rui. She too followed in, only to collide straight into Wes as soon as she came in.

"Hey, what gives…" asked Rui as she stood back up and looked at the still form of Wes. Then she realised what Wes was looking at and gaped at the sight.

"What is that?" she whispered.

The strangest scene was in front of them. Wes quickly recovered from his shock and surveyed the room just like he had been taught to while he had been with Team Snagem, mentally telling himself to keep focused on the task at hand.

There was no short chubby mayor to be seen, but both Folly and Trudly were present in the room. Three other men stood at the side of the room - one clad in green, one blue, and the last in red flashy uniforms. Not one looked like a member of Team Snagem.

But the strangest oddity was in the centre of the room. A tall man was dancing to very loud salsa music, clearly having fun as he spun and grooved across the carpeted floor. The man was in bright yellow, had odd disco-styled glasses, and looked like a relic from the seventies. But most noticeable was the fact that his considerable height was increased due to the large orb-like thing on his head. Wes first took it to be a Voltorb but quickly realised that it was actually an afro - and a very odd one at that. One side was dyed red, the other half white - rather like a Poké Ball.

"Espeon!?" (All right, who the HELL is this!?)

Umbreon however was the only one to take the look of the strange man in his stride, still nodding his head in time to the music.

"Master Miror B! It's him! He's the one that took the girl from us!" shouted Folly, pointing at the two as he noticed Wes's and Rui's appearance. Suddenly the man also seemed to take notice of the recent entrance of the two and ceased dancing, assuming a straight posture as he looked down at the newcomers. Luckily, the ceiling was just high enough to accompany his hair.

"Oh, aren't you two pathetic!" he said to Folly and Trudly. "You couldn't beat these infants? Trudly, song change! Something more suitable for the situation, if you will!"

Trudly grabbed a nearby radio and hit a button, changing the jovial music to a more grim, sinister tune.

"Umbre!" (Hey, I was enjoying that!) Umbreon cried in protest.

"Darling, did you say your name was Wes?" the man asked.

"Well, I didn't actually say that it was my name, but yes, it is Wes," he replied uncertainly. "And you are… Miror B?"

"Correct. And, well, I don't like saying this, but we're not at liberty to keep you lady friend at liberty," he replied with an unfitting, dazzling smile.

Rui frowned at both the meaning implied behind the sentence, and the poor wording of it. Nevertheless, Miror B continued.

"She sees… things that ordinary people aren't supposed to see. That won't do… not at all."

"Why not?" Rui demanded, but Miror B just turned to Folly and Trudly.

"Boys! Oh boys! I shall return to Pyrite town. Remember, I will wait for you with the little lady, and Wes as well. Am I making myself clear? I won't accept failure from you two…"

Folly and Trudly gulped. Maybe it was strange that a man with a giant Poké Ball-themed afro and a snazzy, bright, yellow outfit with matching shoes was threatening them, but it worked to perfection.

"Ye…Yes, sir," stammered Folly.

Clearly this…person holds power of some kind, thought Wes.

"Good!" Miror B sung happily as he then struck a dance pose that made all in the room cringe. "Let the music play! Let's get it on!"

At this, Trudly obediently picked up the radio and changed the grim tune back to the previous salsa song. With that, Miror B ducked down and danced out as he took the radio with him, so that his afro could fit through the door. The three coloured men glared at Wes, before following Miror B as well. Slowly the music faded away.

Wes gave a questioning look to Folly and Trudly.

"What…who was that, exactly?"

Folly smirked. "Why, none other than Miror B, an administrator of none other than the Team Cipher!"

Wes grinned. Then Folly realised that he just revealed classified information.

"Damn it! You, you... you! You caught me off guard…"

"…Again…" added a frustrated Trudly.

"…but that won't happen again! Go! Whismur and Lotad!"

"Oh no, you're not going to kidnap me again!" Rui yelled angrily.

"Oh, I wouldn't worry too much about that," Wes said with a grin. "Remember; I'm here!"

"Espeon..." (Not very modest of you...) Espeon drawled.

One of the small pink Whismur that had been sent out last time Wes and Folly battled appeared, accompanied with a small blue creature that wore a deep-green lily pad upon its head. It let out a tired yawn and glanced at its trainer.

"Whismur!" (I hope I win… not you two again,) it added, catching sight of its opponents, Espeon and Umbreon.

"Lo...tad..." (Yawn… I was sleeping…)

"Umbreon! Attack the Lotad with Bite!" commanded Wes. Umbreon quickly darted forward and chomped on the small Pokémon's leaf. It was seemingly attached to it as it was lifted into the air along with the lily pad.

"Lotad!" (Arrgh! Hey, what gives?) it cried in protest.

"Umbre!" (Hey, it's like a Frisbee!) Umbreon proceed to toss the Lotad through the air to Espeon. His brother grinned before applying his Psychic powers to the Lotad, spinning it around in circles through the air and ignoring the further protests from the Pokémon to put it down so it could go back to sleep. Suddenly, the Lotad's continuous path around the room took a sudden change and ended abruptly as it hit the Whismur directly in the face hard, knocking both out.

"Return…" said Folly sadly, summoning the two Pokémon to their respective Poké Balls. "I failed… again."

"See?" Wes said to Rui, who smiled back weakly.

Trudly stepped forward. "Oh no you don't! It's my turn now! I'm not going to end up like Folly - and NOW I have my Pokémon! Go! Duskull and Spinarak!" Two new opponents appeared before Wes's Pokémon, one a black floating skull-shaped ghost, the other a small green spider that started scurrying around straight into a wall.

"Espi…" (What, we have to beat these two as well? What a waste of energy,) Espeon smirked as he made this comment understandable to all in the room. Wes managed a grin.

"Okay, Spinarak! Attack with Spider Web!" Trudly shouted, trying to ignore the sarcastic comment.

"Spinarak!" (Web power for the win!) said the Spinarak as it dashed at the Eeveelution and spat out a large clump of sticky web at Espeon, only for Umbreon to quickly dart behind it and knock it flying back with a strong Tail Whip. The spider found itself colliding with its own attack in midair, and then the wall as Espeon ducked his head away from the attack. While it struggled to break free, Umbreon pounced once with another Bite attack which was enough to knock it out.

"Uh," Trudly managed as Folly face-palmed. "Duskull, do... something!" His Pokémon glanced uncertainly at his trainer before waving itself at its two opponents.

"Dusk! Skull! Duskuuuul!" (Oooooh! I'm a ghost! Ghosts are scarrrrrrry!) it shouted.

The Eeveelutions exchanged glances before they sprang forward and struck the Pokémon simultaneously, and despite Duskull's best attempts at continuing to scare them away it was predictably knocked out as well.

"Looks like you lost again," grinned Wes, his grin widening. To his surprise, however, Trudly also grinned.

"Not quite. Go, Makuhita!" At this, a short, fat fighting-type Pokémon was sent out. Upon seeing his opponents, he brandished two large blue gloved hands in the air at them and waved angrily.

"Makuhita!" (Prepare to DIEEEE!) he shouted loudly as it stomped its feet.

"Espi?" (Come again?)

Wes frowned. This Pokémon, unlike the others that Folly and Trudly had offered up beforehand, looked rather capable, and also a little mad. But a two-on-one battle shouldn't be too hard, thought Wes.

"Espeon! Attack with… what is it Rui? Stop tugging at my coat!"

Rui's eyes however startled Wes - they were wide open - wider than before, if that was at all possible. She pointed a shaking finger at the Makuhita.

"Sh… sha…SHADOW! IT'S A SHADOW POKEMON" she screamed.

"Well… you didn't have to shout in my ear," winced Wes. "Hang on… shadow?" Wes gazed at the Makuhita. "Let's see...yes, of course! I remember this Makuhita!"

"You do?"

"Espeon! Esp," (Yeah, we have seen this one before! It was the one who had nearly escaped about a month back,) Espeon explained to the two.

"Umbreon!" (He gave Gonzap a sore leg!) Umbreon added with some respect.

"Yes, someone at Team Snagem stole it, and it was meant to made into a Shado-"

"Watch out!" cried Rui. Wes brought himself back to the present only to see Makuhita attack him with an Arm Thrust attack. Startled, Wes could only tense himself and cover himself with his arms to lessen the impact but was nevertheless sent flying towards a wall, remembering all too late that Shadow Pokémon didn't mind attacking trainers. Fortunately, his crash was softened considerably - unfortunately for Rui.

"Umm, thanks Rui…" he said sheepishly.

"Gfttham frmhth nefhte!"

"What was that?" he asked.

"I said get off me!" Rui yelled.

Wes jumped off the somewhat squashed Rui, and mumbled an apology. Umbreon and Espeon glanced at the two worriedly for a second, and then glared angrily at Makuhita.

"Anyways, Wes… That's the Pokémon I encountered earlier. And I can see a black aura! Can you see it?"

"Well… no, I can't," answered Wes.

"Oh, shut up with the yapping. Makuhita! Use Shadow Rush on Umbreon!" ordered Trudly.

"Shadow Rush?" inquired Rui.

Wes grimaced. "It's a Shadow move… well, basically the only one there is. Shadow Pokémon can use it, and it hits - hard. Umbreon! Dodge and counter with Bite!"

"Umbreon!" (Easy!) Umbreon replied, and as the Makuhita charged at Umbreon, he nimbly jumped to the side just as the Fighting Pokémon swung a fist and bit Makuhita's arm.

"Maku!" (Oww how dare you! You must die!)

"Makuhita! Use Arm Thrust!" Trudly shouted.

Makuhita primed its other arm to attack Umbreon, who was oblivious to the impeding danger, still clinging on to Makuhita's arm.

"Espeon! Confusion!" Wes shouted in defence, prepared for this counter with his own. With a cry Espeon let lose a blast of energy at Makuhita. Shouting in response, Makuhita stoped focusing on hitting Umbreon, and clutched his own head. Umbreon realised something was up and released his hold on Makuhita's arm, jumping away as the angry Pokémon started bashing his own head in.

"Hita! Hita! Hita!" (Die! Die! Die!) he shouted with each successive strike.

"Espeon…" (He must have anger management problems or something…)

"Damn! It's confused… stop that! You stupid Pokémon!" shouted Trudly. At that, Makuhita glared at Trudly, and punched him.

"Oww!' Trudly cried in pain, finding himself the target of Makuhita. He started running around the room, with Makuhita chasing him ferociously.

"You know, this is pretty amusing when he isn't punching me," Wes said as he watched.

"Wes… look! It's getting tired!" Rui said.

Wes glanced at Makuhita, who was taking deep breathes in-between shouting insults as his running slowed.

"Good point. I guess now is as good a time as any!" With that, Wes grabbed a Poké Ball from his bag, and put it into the Snag Machine on his arm.

"What the… NO!!" cried Trudly, realising what Wes was about to do. With the grace of an experienced Pokémon veteran, Wes threw the Poké Ball at Makuhita which struck the preoccupied Pokémon in the head and proceeded to suck his form inside of it. Within a second Makuhita was gone from sight and all that remained was the Poké Ball as it landed on the floor.

All in the room stared at the lone capsule in the centre of the room. It wobbled once. It wobbled twice.

It wobbled a third time.

"Come on," Wes said under his breath.

To be continued…





























…right now.


The Poké Ball… wobbled a fourth time.

And a fifth time.

"Huh?" everyone said.

Then it stopped. Umbreon trotted over to the Poké Ball, picked it up between its teeth, and walked back to Wes, dropping it at his feet.

"You… you snagged Makuhita!" gasped Rui.

"My Pokémon!" whinged Trudly. "You're too good! And now I lost my Shadow!"

"What are we supposed to do now?" lamented Folly. "Miror B will punish us for sure…we won't even get that salsa lesson he promised us!"

A pause followed as the two pondered their options. Wes raised an eyebrow at the last comment.

"ESCAPE!" shouted the pair suddenly, and they blitzed past Wes and Rui out of town faster than a raging Tauros.

"Yes! You did it, Wes!" cried Rui happily as she jumped in excitement. "You snagged it! And you defeated the kidnappers again!"

"Espeon? Esp!" (What about us? We did all the fighting, and all he did was chuck a Poké Ball at it!)

"Umbreon!" (Keep quiet, and we might get a pat on the head!)

"Espeon…" (Well, a good point, I'll give you that…) Espeon conceded.

"But I'm sure there are others like it… Let's get them all from the baddies!" added Rui. She beamed at Wes who looked at her questioningly.

Great. NOW she wants us to snag all the Shadow Pokémon?

***




I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Please post your comments, and anything thing you would like to see me 'explain' about the Pokemon Colosseum storyline.​

Reminds me - soon Wes will be up against one of the Johto starters (2nd evo - part of the game for those who don't know). Which one will it be? Find out next chapter!​

And, the spoiler for this chapter's characters:​

Spoiler:
 
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Crystal Shaymin

~Blown Away on the Winds~
369
Posts
16
Years
  • Seen Jun 28, 2009
awsome. lol'ed at the part about team snagem, and rui...lol...then umbreon and espeon all th way through. this was a funny chapter, especially when mirror B. was there. great chapter!

edit, did you make a typo here: gallant price who rescued me. did you mean to say prince?
 
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11
Posts
16
Years
I like how you put what the Pokemon are saying in battle-it's really funny! I especially liked the frisbee Lotad part. (They DO look like frisbees!) And Miror B FTW! On XD, I never snagged all the shadow Pokemon from him, just so I could continue to see him! There's nothing like battling in Miror B's music... Oh, and I also liked the "To be continued... ...right now" part. I actually thought it was the end of the chapter until I scrolled down and noticed the end part! Keep it up!
 

Incinermyn

The Abomination Lives!!!
646
Posts
16
Years
I love your idea, bobandbill, but there was a little thing that stuck out in chapter two... For the battles against the Pre-gym trainers, from what I read, it looked like you just gave one-paragraph synopses (summaries) of each battle... I really would've enjoyed reading more about them than just that... Try to avoid that stuff in the future, cause it opens up a little potental for slapstick stuff... Good job overall though. I'll check back as you add more.
 

bobandbill

one more time
16,876
Posts
16
Years
awsome. lol'ed at the part about team snagem, and rui...lol...then umbreon and espeon all th way through. this was a funny chapter, especially when mirror B. was there. great chapter!

edit, did you make a typo here: gallant price who rescued me. did you mean to say prince?
Thanks. :)
Price... uh, yeah, of course it's meant to be price... ;) Thanks for that. *edits*

I like how you put what the Pokemon are saying in battle-it's really funny! I especially liked the frisbee Lotad part. (They DO look like frisbees!) And Miror B FTW! On XD, I never snagged all the shadow Pokemon from him, just so I could continue to see him! There's nothing like battling in Miror B's music... Oh, and I also liked the "To be continued... ...right now" part. I actually thought it was the end of the chapter until I scrolled down and noticed the end part! Keep it up!
Thanks again.
Miror B music is probably the best Pokemon music IMO. I prefer Colo over XD, incidently.
For those who may 'recognize' the 'to be continued... right now' joke from the Simpsons - in actual fact had written that part before hearing of the joke, let alone seeing the movie (did so a couple of weeks or so later. Was interesting to see the same thing...).
I love your idea, bobandbill, but there was a little thing that stuck out in chapter two... For the battles against the Pre-gym trainers, from what I read, it looked like you just gave one-paragraph synopses (summaries) of each battle... I really would've enjoyed reading more about them than just that... Try to avoid that stuff in the future, cause it opens up a little potental for slapstick stuff... Good job overall though. I'll check back as you add more.
Thanks for that. I migth as well 'explain' mu summaries:
Well, if you've played the game (or any Pokemon game), you'd know about the huge amounts of battling that occurs... and had decided to 'summerise' that part to save time, and keep the pace moving. And after all, if I actually went ahead and did every single battle in 'real-time' that occured in the game... it'll be a while before I finished this. :)

Have already done the next so-and-so chapters previously (up to chapter 9), but you'd be plaesd to here that the next few battles also occur in 'real-time' and all, including a big-ish one. I do use the 'summary' technique once more later on (chapter 7), although in generally greater detail than here, and that part basically warrents the use of that (and would have resulted in the chapter being twice as long if I had the brain capacity and time to make them all long, and still funny battles - and it ended up being nearly 18 pages...). Good point however, and a fair one to make. I like those sort of things - helps me improve.

In other words, there's not many summeries that will occur anytime soon, and a fair few 'proper' battles.

Thanks for reviewing all!
 

Minos Yewman

Banned
141
Posts
16
Years
  • Seen Apr 11, 2012
Hey, a new chapter! I like how these are being updated quickly, which starter will Wes catch though?? Quilava was my first shadow as I fainted Mahuita with confusion. All the battles still make me laugh out loud, keep up the good work!
 

bobandbill

one more time
16,876
Posts
16
Years
Hey, a new chapter! I like how these are being updated quickly, which starter will Wes catch though?? Quilava was my first shadow as I fainted Mahuita with confusion. All the battles still make me laugh out loud, keep up the good work!
Thanks.
It's been updated quickly as I've already done these chapter - posted elsewhere (like Serebii Forums), so am getting them up to speed here - like a chapter every few days. After that it will be slow... especially thanks to my schoolwork, that I do first, and I also can get off-task...

As for which starter - well, you'll see in this chapter! As in, right now! It also involves a change of setting - Pyrite, which will feature quite a lot from now on...


***
Chapter 4 – The Wonders of Pyrite




As Wes stared at Rui and regarded her statement, the mayor walked into the house.

"Hello... what happened here?" he asked with a soft, painful moan as he observed the overturned flowerpots. He poked at a painting lying against the base of the wall which had snapped clean from its hinge. It promptly broke into two and clattered on the battered carpet.

"Umm… well, there was this thing inside with a Voltorb - I mean hair, and some random people in colours, and then the two men that kidnapped me were there as well and a Shadow Pokémon-" began Rui, before the mayor cut in.

"Mi…ah… who were here? And what's this about Shadow Pokémon again?"

"Oh, Wes has it now," answered Rui, grabbing the Poké Ball containing Makuhita from Wes' hands.

"Hey!" retorted Wes.

"I wonder what this button does…" wondered Rui, examining the object in her hand curiously. Upon pressing it, Makuhita came out of the Poké Ball, to Rui's surprise and Wes's bemusement that Rui was unfamiliar with the workings of a Poké Ball.

The Makuhita glanced at his surroundings, then back at Wes, only to realise that he no longer belonged to Trudly. Not that he cared - Trudly had been too dumb to know his left hand from his right. Stupid Trudly. Makuhita glared at his new owner and a girl with big fat eyes and a bewildered expression as she examined a Poké Ball, before his eyes widened.

"Maku…. ta!" (Who are you…DIE!) he exclaimed, catching sight of the mayor. He gave a loud bellow and charged at him. However, the short fat mayor nimbly dodged Makuhita's attack just before contact was made, with unusual grace for one of his size and shape. Makuhita collided headfirst with a bookshelf which then fell down and tipped a large number of books upon the floor, distracting the Shadow Pokémon from his intent.

"Maku!" (Stupid books! You must suffer!) he cried, before proceeding to tear the pages of a particularly expensive-looking book. Wes shakily grabbed the Poké Ball off Rui, and directed it at Makuhita.

"Return, Makuhita!" he commanded, before a ray of red materialised around Makuhita, sending the angry Pokémon back into the Poké Ball.

"Umm…Sorry?" apologised Rui.

"That's… a Shadow Pokémon," offered Wes. "As you can see, it's unusually angrier than normal Pokémon."

"I see…" answered the mayor, blinking at the further mess that Makuhita had caused. He then glared at Wes and Rui.

"Please leave," he said evenly to them. Wes didn't blame him - he too would be angry if someone trashed their office.

Poor guy - he's got a lot to deal with at the moment, thought Wes, as he walked out the door with Rui and Espeon, as Umbreon trotted behind with a book in his mouth. They ignored the fainted woman outside the mayor's office.

***

After a delayed and slow lunch in a small takeaway joint, Wes and Rui headed to the Pokémon centre. Ignoring the girl who yet again questioned him on whether or not he was a trainer, Wes sat down at a table and looked at Espeon.

Well... what do you and Umbreon think? Wes thought to Espeon, deciding it would be best to ask silently. About going and snagging other Pokémon and helping them, I mean.

Well, Espeon communicated back, you DID help steal them in the first place. We just got one we saw earlier, no?

Yeah, but... Wes began.

Could have been one of us, Espeon added mildly.

Especially me! Umbreon added.

...True, you have a point, Wes admitted. And I've nothing else to do... Guess you're going to get some new friends then.

But that one is all...punchy, Umbreon complained back.

"So…" said Wes to Rui, "what do you make of what happened there, anyway? Or this?" he added, holding up the Poké Ball containing Makuhita.

"I'm thoroughly confused by the recent happenings…" confessed Rui, tugging at one of her ponytails. "Especially that man, with the hair…"

"Ah, yes, the Man with the Hair," repeated Wes. He moved towards a nearby PC and started typing. "What was his name…Mirror B? What kind of name is that?"

"And Cipher? I never heard of them," Rui said.

"No, neither have I," answered Wes after a few minutes. "And I can't find any information on them anywhere… very secretive. However, there is some on Miror B - and his name is spelt M-I-R-O-R… odd. Maybe his parents couldn't spell or something…"

"Really?" exclaimed Rui excitedly as she leaned over. An article was displayed on the computer screen written few years ago featuring a large picture of the man with an enthusiastic Ludicolo in the background. Accompanying the article was the headline "Weirdo Wins Dance Competition". Nothing much was available in the article about Miror B himself - only that his addictive Salsa music and unique dance style had taken the competition by storm. After a few more searches, which pulled out similar articles about Miror B winning dance competitions and contests, Wes gave up, seeing that he wouldn't find much more about the enigma.

"Festive sort of person," commented Wes as he logged off the P.C., and turned to Rui. "So, the big question is… why is…Cipher - whoever they are - interested in you?"

"Well," began Rui, "either Cipher could have something to do with Shadow Pokémon, or those three just didn't want me ratting on them having a Shadow Pokémon."

"I'm leaning towards the second option," said Wes. "Firstly, it's tough to keep a large criminal syndicate secret - and I've never heard of this group. Team Snagem is known by nearly everyone and they deal with stealing and then making Shadow Pokémon. This may just be some small wannabe team that did a deal with Team Snagem concerning Shadow Pokémon."

"You may be right… but to kidnap me? And raid the mayor's office?" Rui frowned slightly and wrangled her hands.

"Maybe they knew that if news about Shadow Pokémon got leaked, then Team Snagem would come after them. So they got desperate, and went for desperate measures. And between you and me, Folly and Trudly ain't that bright…"

"Espeon!" (Understatement of the year!)

"What gets at me," continued Wes, "is that why would Team Snagem give out a Shadow Pokémon…"

"Umbre!" (To celebrate Christmas!) Umbreon offered, earning a slap from Espeon's tail.

"I think what may be more likely is say doing it as a test to see how it would act outside of their control with normal people, but then I wouldn't know."

"I thought you worked with them?" inquired Rui.

"I did. But I was simply a Snagger - they wouldn't tell me what they did with the Pokémon I stole. I honestly have no idea how they even made Pokémon Shadow - only that they 'closed the heart' or something…"

"I think we should go to Pyrite Town," butted in Rui bluntly. "We have the Shadow Pokémon, but no real idea why I was kidnapped…"

"Aren't you a bit worried for your own safety?" asked Wes once again struck by how brave Rui acted in the region of Orre, despite already getting kidnapped in what must have been record time.

"…Nope!" answered Rui with a smile. Not with you near me, she added silently to herself.

"Alright then," Wes said. "Let's go investigate. It'll be an interesting trip - never been there myself yet although I'm fairly sure I know the way. We'll take the Zoomer if you're ready to go now." When Rui nodded Wes stood up only for the old man by the PC to leap out at Wes and grab his arm.

"You can use that PC, you know," he began.

"Oh not again," moaned Wes, smothering out his blue trench coat that the man had wrinkled. "Didn't you see me just use it five minutes ago?"

"Did you know that you can save the game by using the PC as well?" the man continued enthusiastically, ignoring Wes's comments and grinning up at the tall teenager.

"Save… the… game?" repeated Rui blankly.

"Why yes! Better save often, otherwise you could lose your game data!"

Right, he's crazy, Wes decided.

"Save the game," prompted the man.

"Um… I have to go now…" said Wes, desperately searching for an escape route past the man, but the only one was blocked by the persisting figure.

"Save the game NOW!" demanded the man in a deeper, more serious tone, as his grip on Wes's arm tightened. Wes looked at Rui with worry who shrugged.

"Uh...Umm, look! A distraction!" said Wes, pointing in a random direction.

"Where?" asked the man, turning to stare at a wall, but before realising his error Wes and Rui had made a dash for the exit successfully, knocking over the "Are you a Trainer?" girl on their way out.

"Stupid region," Wes grumbled as they ran towards the entrance. "Full of... flaming weirdoes... Arrgh!" he shouted as a man clad in a blue similar to Wes's coat from head to toe jumped out at them from the pool of water by the exit.

"Sorry to break it to you, but you may not pass!" he yelled over-dramatically as water dripped from his clothes onto the tiled pathway.

"Sure, whatever, blue man…" muttered Wes. He walked on past the man. Blue's a good colour, but there's such a thing as too much blue.

"Do you have any idea who I am?" the man said slowly but loudly, beginning to pace about. "You dare to walk by and insult the wonderful colour of blue by ignoring it? You bear the same colour, yet you scoff at it? You ruined our plans for now, but I, yes, I will seek redemption for us! Yes, there is no getting out of this town now! The only way that you will be allowed past is if you can beat me in a battle… HEY!" shouted the blue man. He only realised now that Wes and Rui had already gone a good hundred metres out of town, blatantly ignoring him.

"Damn," muttered the man to himself. "This always happens. I start to trail off, and then I get onto a totally unrelated subject, like when will I get a pay rise, or when it will rain. It's an interesting dilemma for Orre as the annual rainfall for the last ten years has not been lower since… well, ever, but nevertheless if the drought doesn't end soon… damn, I've done it again…" he muttered to himself. He quickly ran up to Wes and Rui, who were already by the Zoomer.

"Hey! Stop there, and prepare to be… stopped!" he shouted. He then grabbed a Poké Ball from his pocket, and chucked it in front of the Zoomer. A purple creature with the appearance of a deranged kindergarten's attempt at making something out of play-dough materialised.

"Grimer!" (Everyone hates me, so I hate you!) it shouted at Wes and Rui.

"Ugh!" said Rui, gagging slightly as a wicked stench hit them from the small Pokémon.

"Grim…" (See what I mean?) it sadly said, placing an arm on a small nearby plant that had denied the harsh desert conditions to reach the modest height of a couple of inches. Upon contact with the Grimer's arm, the plant instantly withered and died.

"Grim! Grimer!" (OH NO! Sorry plant, sorry!) it cried.

"Espi-Espeon…" (Is it just me, or is it odd that a Grimer cares for the environment?) Espeon pondered sarcastically, amused by the irony of it.

Wes frowned at the newcomer, thinking for a moment before realisation set in. "Weren't you in the mayor's house?"

"Yes! And now we shall do battle, because otherwise I may get a pay cut if I let you get away, and that wouldn't be good, because I don't get paid enough as it is…"

Wes and Rui exchanged glances.

"Whatever," said Wes. "I'll battle you. I've had it with Cipher as it is." And by the looks of that Grimer, this will be a pushover, much like the other Pokémon they have, he thought.

"Umbre? Umbreon?" (We have to battle AGAIN? Are we getting paid for this?)

"Aha! So battle we shall! Yes, I the mighty Bluno shall take you down!" he shouted, before glancing at his Grimer who was crying murky tears which dissolved the ground they landed upon. "Oh, you're feeling blue again!?" the man said to it before pausing for a moment. "Get it? Depressed... feeling blue...?"

The Grimer continued to cry.

"Well, uh...go, Spoink and Croconaw!" proclaimed the blue man, tossing two Poké Balls towards Espeon and Umbreon.

"Bluno?" asked Rui incredulously. Wes ignored the name though and focused on the new arrivals. One was a gray pig-like creature with a pearl on its head, and a notable absence of a body or legs. Instead it had a spring, of all things. It started bouncing up and down upon it in a repetitive rhythm. The second Pokémon was a fat yet ferocious-looking blue crocodile Pokémon; large teeth exposed as the Pokémon open its mouth and chomped on air aggressively.

"Spoink!" (Bouncing is fun!)

"Croconaw!" (You shall die!)

"Umbreon!" (Bacon!) he cried upon seeing the pig-like Pokémon. Before Wes could issue a command, he had already charged forward excitedly, preparing for a Bite attack.

"Spoink!" (Oww!) cried the Spoink as Umbreon bit hard, before leaping a good twenty metres into the air. Umbreon was left dangling on, desperate not to let go. Espeon decided to watch on, amused.

"Espeon! As funny as it is, don't just sit there! Attack with…" started Wes.

"Wes!" Rui cut in. "I'm afraid…" Rui gulped. "Croconaw is also a... SHADOW POKEMON!!! ARRGH!" Rui was clearly scared out of her wits, although she seemed to be acting a bit overdramatically with expansive arm movements synchronising with her shouting.

"WHAT!?" said Wes. This can't be right… This Cipher has two Shadow Pokémon? Why...

"Use Shadow Rush!" commanded Bluno. At his request, the Croconaw charged at Espeon with surprising speed, with Espeon giving a sharp cry before leaping to the side and diving into the dust as Croconaw narrowly missed his target. Espeon attempted to hit back by throwing itself at his adversary with a Return attack, but he instead bounced off Croconaw's body upon contact. Espeon charged at Croconaw again, with similar results to the previous effort.

"That's one tough Pokémon," Wes said quietly, tugging at his ear while trying to think up a battle strategy.

Meanwhile, Spoink kept on bouncing up to extreme heights and back down to Earth, with Umbreon still hanging on and repositioning himself so he wouldn't hit the ground. Then Spoink suddenly jerked its body, causing Umbreon to lose his grip and fall a considerable distance – only for him to land right on top of Croconaw's head. Umbreon bounced off and landed clumsy with a squeak before springing back up to his feet. The Croconaw groggily looked around to see what hit him so suddenly and rubbed his head.

"Espeon and Umbreon, use Return and Tackle on Croconaw now, simultaneously!" shouted Wes. The two Pokémon dashed forward and hit Croconaw high into the air as it gave a groan and flailed its arms in surprise.

"Oh no," Bluno said. Everybody watched Croconaw approach Spoink's path of movement, the pig Pokémon still bouncing in relief of having survived Umbreon's Bite. Too late, it realised the danger.

"Oink… " (This is gonna hurt.)

It was right. The two collided in midair, and unsurprisingly, Spoink came off second best and fainted, falling to the ground. Croconaw then plummeted towards the ground as well, still conscious but rather dazed.

"Croc!" (Bugger!) it moaned, crashing just as a Snag Ball struck it and instantly engulfed the Pokémon. After such a big fall giant hit Wes was unsurprised when after a few shakes the Poké Ball quickly pinged in announcement of the successful Snag.

"Oh no! You snagged by Croconaw - my Pokémon which had been a team-mate ever since I got it. Which wasn't for very long but anyway… damn you!" shouted Bluno. "Get 'em, Grimer!" he commanded, pointing squarely at Wes.

However Grimer was still too distressed over the dead plant to attack, as it sat there and continued to bemoan the loss of life he had caused. Wes nodded and got to leave, climbing onto the Zoomer along with Rui. Casting one last look to the oasis of water in Phenac City, Wes turned around and headed out to the parched dry desert that awaited them.

Bluno sighed. "Folly and Trudly can't be blamed for losing…you won convincingly! But just because you have my Shadow Pokémon, it doesn't mean that this is over! No, I will take my revenge on you, and it shall be sweet, like candy! Sweet, sweet candy! But for now I must begin plotting. Or maybe I should first find someplace to sleep…"

Bluno, yet again absorbed in his own words, failed to notice that Rui and Wes had long gone, leaving him outside Phenac city chatting to a fainted Spoink and a depressed Grimer.

***

In the meantime Wes and Rui sped towards Pyrite Town, dust clouds forming behind them as Wes learnt how to make the Zoomer move faster.

"So what do you think about Bluno and him having another Shadow Pokémon?" shouted Rui over the roar of the Zoomer.

"It's left me confused," admitted Wes. "It is possible the Team Snagem gave them two Shadow Pokémon, but… something doesn't seem right. Anyway, what's Pyrite Town like?" inquired Wes.

"Smelly," answered Rui. "And rather messy as well. Nothing like my home town – but it's my first time in Orre, after all. I was on my way to Agate Village to visit my grandparents."

"Explains a few things," Wes said. "Well, no surprises about Pyrite being messy; surely shouldn't be all that different to where I came from. What were you doing there in the first place anyway? Before you got kidnapped?"

A long pause ensued, as Wes waited for an answer while making sure he didn't direct the Zoomer into any rocks that popped up in the trail to Pyrite every so often.

"Rui?"

"Espeon!" (Can't you see that she's having flashbacks?) asked the psychic Pokémon.

"Well you could tell me next time..." Wes grumbled.

***

"Alright, get off de bus! We're gonna refuel it, so get outta da way!" shouted a disgruntled and uneducated bus driver. A tired group of people wandered off the bus as Rui bounded after them.

"When's dinner?" asked Rui curiously, twirling a finger through her orange hair.

"Later," answered the bus driver.

"What's your name?" persisted Rui.

"Umm…" began the bus driver, trying to remember.

"You're boring," announced Rui, and with a grin, hopped off the bus. It was fun to annoy that bus driver, and doing so had provided her entertainment for the long trip to Agate Village. It had been her parents' idea for Rui to go alone to Agate this time, and Rui was looking forward to meeting her grandparents.

Rui walked around town, wondering what to do to make time go by. She didn't think much of Pyrite Town personally and hoped that Agate was still better than this place - it stunk, and in more ways than one. Although she had to admit that the buskers by the side of the street did play some pretty catchy music.

"Hey look! Is that Tailow… wild?" someone exclaimed. Wild Pokémon were rather rare for the harsh Orre desert, so a wild Pokémon was a find indeed.

That someone was Folly.

"Out of my way - I'm going to catch it!" cried Trudly, as he pushed Folly out of the way. "Go Makuhita! Shadow Rush!"

Trudly threw the Poké Ball at the Tailow as Makuhita materialised from it, pumping his arms in the air angrily and glaring venomously at the tiny bird with squinty eyes.

"Maku!" (I will eat you up, little bird!) it shouted. It was at this point that the Tailow decided to fly off, not at all appealed by the statement made.

"That was your fault, Folly!" blamed Trudly despite the fact that Folly hadn't done anything, walking up to his friend.

"Bah. The Tailow was probably scared off by your own face…" said Folly. "Hey, what are you looking at?" Folly asked Rui, noticing her look aghast at Makuhita start to chase a random passer-by. Trudly noticed what Makuhita was doing and started yelling at it to stop.

Rui meanwhile gaped. Despite not having a Pokémon or any sort of Pokémon item for that matter, she knew enough about them, and she knew that an angry-looking Pokémon giving off a violent violet aura wasn't right.

"Why… why does it have that… aura?" she asked.

"Aura? What are you talking about?" said Trudly, before realization appeared on his face.

"Umm… nothing," said Rui, walking quickly back to the bus. However Trudly and Folly quietly followed her just as quickly. Rui broke into a run - maybe if she could reach the bus, she'd be safe -

It was then when she ran headfirst into a lamppost.

She lost consciousness, and Trudly and Folly quickly put her into a conveniently nearby sack without anyone noticing or caring – after all, in Pyrite, it was important to look out for yourself and yourself only. Trudly grabbed a phone from his pocket and dialled a number.

"Boss? We seem to have caught a girl who recognized our Shadow Pokémon without knowing it was one … whoops, wrong number, damn," he said, hurriedly hanging up on a confused pizza delivery service man.

As they slunk out of town, the bus driver called back the passengers, not noticing that Rui was missing.

***

"What's that?" asked Rui, snapping out of her flashback and noticing a large white tower near them. She blinked at it, having not expected to have seen this in the middle of the desert.

"That? That's… um, some new Colosseum," answered Wes, deciding to ask Rui about Pyrite Town at some later date. "Want to go have a closer look?"

However, there wasn't much to see there - although the tall, state-of-the art proud tower was visually stunning against the clear blue sky, the mess around it wasn't. Nor were the lazy grubby workers, who at first were intent at keeping them away.

"Get out of here! This is a construction site, not some tourist attraction!" protested one worker. Wes and Rui blinked at the outburst.

"Oh, I give up," said one worker, as Rui and Wes peered at the clutter of bricks, wheelbarrows, steel frames and half-eaten remains of sandwiches.

"I'll be glad to go home after this," sighed one of the workers, rubbing a cloth over his dirty sweaty face. "It's been a long time since I was home - but we're nearly done."

"Who exactly owns the tower?" asked Rui.

"Oh, he wouldn't reveal who he - or she - was. We got approached by some people 'representing' him," replied the worker. "But whoever the person is, that person had a lot of cash…" he added as he grinned, happily thinking of the large bag of money given to them.

"Well, let's get going," interrupted Wes, put off by the sight of the worker's rotting teeth. "Better go to Pyrite and find somewhere to sleep - it's getting dark." The sun was getting closer to the horizon, and due to the lack of urban build up and thus pollution in the sparsely populated Orre region, the sunsets were nice to watch, one untainted feature Orre had to offer over the larger regions.

That was until they reached their destination. It wasn't without reason than Pyrite Town attracted the fewest tourists to it for any part in Orre.

Pyrite Town only looked marginally better than the mess outside the new tower, albeit the appearance was spread around the entire city. The town could only boast of having the worst waste management system, a sole shop that smelled like cheese, a shabby Colosseum and a few low-profile houses. The 'highlight' of the town was the large windmill that was the town's only source of power. Random artefacts littered the faded, cracked concrete ground, and the buildings looked rather small - smaller than what houses normally were at any rate, but there was evidence that these were residential buildings.

By the entrance a police officer was interrogating an aloof man. Wes grinned – he knew of the man as Officer Johnson, infamous for being the village idiot of Pyrite around the region, and few came close to stripping that title from him. Not that Johnson shared that opinion; he truly believed the opposite, and displayed his navy blue uniform proudly as he yapped to the man about the importance of not breaking windows.

"Aw, Mr Johnson, give a man a break here. I tell you - I don't know anything!" protested Cail, before glancing at his watch and showing it to Johnson. "Look, I got to go and do some, uh, lawful stuff. Real lawful, and I'm going to be late."

"That better be true - if you are trying to con me, I'll know about it!" claimed Johnson, in an overly-loud voice. A distant cry of 'shut up!' could be heard.

"I wouldn't think about lying to you! You've got to believe me!" Cail said, in an overly-fake voice, complete with eye roll. Johnston seemed oblivious.

"All right, fine… I'll let you off easy today. But don't forget… if you find out anything about the..." Johnson then paused, trying to remember what he had been talking about. "Yes, the... theft of the cookie from the cookie jar, to tell me about it!" With that Johnson nodded and left, chanting 'Who stole the cookie from the cookie jar' to himself, looking for some opportunity to be the town's hero.

Cail chuckled to himself. "Heheh, what a nitwit. Of course I haven't got a thing to tell him! And the fact that he ended up believing that a cookie was stolen…" Cail continued chuckling until he noticed Wes and Rui.

"What are you looking at? Are you tourists or what? If you don't want to get hurt, get lost, and quick, for the good of your health," he addressed, before walking off arrogantly.

An old man came up to the bemused pair. "Never mind him - he gets all protective of his turf. Welcome to Pyrite - town of earth, wind and money."

"It's also smelly…" added Rui, wrinkling her nose at the smell.

"Oh, you'll get used to it in a few days," replied the old man brightly. "Though beware - there are ne'er-do-well sorts here," he warned, as Wes and Rui delved into the town to find a place to sleep, navigating through various pieces of garbage. Wes quickly located a hotel, and walked in.

The place looked mildly decent – it was markedly cleaner than the street outside for a start, although the person behind the counter had an obvious drinking problem, and looked at them with bloodshot eyes.

"Hello," began Wes cautiously. "We'd like a place to stay…"

"$100," interrupted the man. "Each."

"What?" demanded Wes. "$100 each? That's crazy! Nobody charges that much!" Wes shook his head at the high price – it more suited a five-star hotel in a tourist destination in the Pokémon world, rather than a humble motel in a slum like Pyrite.

"Well I do," slurred the drunken hotel keeper. "Seeing as I own the only hotel in this dump!"

"Well, we'll see about that!" announced Wes, walking out. Rui followed behind. As Wes walked out, he noticed the large neon sign over the hotel. It read:

Pyrite Hotel - the ONLY hotel in town!

"Doesn't that say…" began Rui.

"Probably a typo. It can't be the ONLY hotel in town," reasoned Wes.

However an hour later, Wes admitted that there was a lack of hotels in Pyrite. Wes had even tried asking some people for a bed for the night, but they had all declined. One particular occupant had chased Wes and Rui out with a broom, thinking that they were trying to sell her a hotel instead.

"Shall we go in and pay? I'm sleepy, and I've had enough of being chased by crazy residents," Rui said.

"But I'm stingy, and proud of it!" declared Wes, who was giving evil stares through the window at the hotel keeper, who was on his fifth bottle of wine. "Besides - I think I've found a way in," he added with a grin.

A minute later, the innkeeper ran out of the hotel and out of town screaming, with various floating objects following him.

"Nice work, Espeon," Wes, said, kneeling down to give Espeon a pat.

"Espi!" (It's fun to scare people!)

"Umbreon…" (How come I didn't get psychic powers…)

"I don't quite agree with your methods… but I guess they work," admitted Rui, as they walked in, and looked for a bed of their choice. Satisfied with a room nearby the entry, they settled down into two low-lying beds. "'Night," she added.

"Goodnight," replied Wes. "Hopefully we'll resolve this whole thing tomorrow," he added with a yawn, before settling down to sleep.

***



And the spoiler of spoilerness on characters and events:
Spoiler:
 
Last edited:

Minos Yewman

Banned
141
Posts
16
Years
  • Seen Apr 11, 2012
I laughed out loud again! This fanfic is GOOD. You switched font right at the end for some reason though.

The Miror B. battle is next...I want to see what Wes makes of the Ludicolo extravaganza.
 

Sydian

fake your death.
33,379
Posts
16
Years
Ok, the bell's about to ring(I snuck on here at school) and read the prologue and part of chapter one. Really nice...I like how Willie named his Zigzagoon after Mewtwo and Moltres...I think I might just do that myself.

Great so far...I'll try to read the rest when I get home.
 
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