• Hello!

    Please be aware that our content warnings system has recently been updated! Please refer to this thread for more information, or if you're unsure, feel free to contact a Workshop staff member!

    Thank you all for helping us ensure our community is a safe and healthy one, and for your continued patronage in our Library and Workshop.

The Retelling of Pokemon Colosseum

bobandbill

Stand up
Joined
May 15, 2008
Messages
80
Reaction score
1
Rated - PG, and a 'GAME' story. 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 on other places, such as 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. ;) Expect for now an update of about 4-5 days for each new chapter (ten in total ATM, plus a prologue).
This is my first Pokemon fic that I've written (only have done one other one-shot that is Pokemon-related as well).

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 necessary 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 that 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 suitable explanation.

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

The Retelling of Pokemon Colosseum
Prologue - Rebellion.


Somewhere in the middle of the vast expanse of the harsh Orre desert, a wild Skarmory was flying back to his nest. He had been hunting for his breakfast, but again was 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 Pokemon had recently decreased even further below the modest number it normally was, 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 building big gray buildings. And then he brought in Pokemon and…

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

Suddenly the bird spotted something. A small, almost insignificant bright orange object was wandering around below. A glint of triumph could be seen in the eyes of the Skarmory. Circling once, he then suddenly dropped like a stone towards the object, which wasn’t hard for the Steel/Flying type.

“Skarr!” (You’re mine!)

With a quick couple of jabs with his glinting beak, he made quick work of the baby Trapinch which had strayed too far from its nest. The Skarmory then scooped up the Trapinch 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.

***

Meanwhile, the previously mentioned man with ‘funny pointy hair’ - otherwise known as Gonzap - was expressing his displeasure at a young teenager inside Team Snagem’s hideout on the second floor.

Gonzap was an intimidating, muscular man with a large stature and a bald head - but a main distinguishing feature was his extensive pointy moustache, and his long eyebrows that jutted out from his face. Nobody made jokes about that though. Leastways, nobody would have dared when Gonzap was around.

“So that’s all you could muster? Two Voltorb? First Jacob comes back and brings a Dunsparce of all things, and now this!”

“Sorry, but that’s all I could find in the house. The trainer must have left a while ago, and those were the only ones there,” replied the teenager. This adolescent was tall and thin, and sported a blue trench coat, and large blue sunglasses that usually rested upon his silver-tinged hair. Long white streaks of white sunscreen were clearly visible below his amber eyes - 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. The teenager’s Umbreon - a black cat-like creature - started to growl at Gonzap.

"Umbre!" (Shut up, Mr Moustache Eyebrow man!)

“Quiet, Umbreon,” said the teenager. Meanwhile Gonzap looked thoughtfully at the Dark-type Pokemon, while twirling his moustache between his fingers.

“Hmm, on second thoughts, they can be the new Shadows.”

“Huh - what?”

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

“But, but…”

“I expect to see you hand them in to my desk in ten minutes - plenty of time to say farewell,” smirked Gonzap. “You can dispose of the Voltorb, Wes. Unless you want to keep them!”
With that Gonzap laughed, turned and departed heading towards his office for a spot of lunch.

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, but now he simply expects me to give up my two and only Pokemon to become Shadow Pokemon? And for who? I don’t even know what they do with Shadow Pokemon!!

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 Pokemon, Espeon, who 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.

Then Wes looked at the Voltorb, the Pokemon often mistaken for Pokeballs, only these were more common than that rare item - for the region of Orre, anyway. They looked back with frightened eyes.

Suddenly 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 more plum than the others. Skarmory unceremoniously dropped it into the nest - a rough bundle of sticks put together, and covered by a small spiky bush. 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, Skarmory looked around to make sure that nothing else was to come to try to steal his meal.

KA-BOOM!

The Skarmory literally fell out of the nest at the noise, and had to flap hard to avoid hitting the ground. Startled, he flew around several times screeching about the indignantly of being so greatly disturbed before he could eat his meal.

After he recovered from his shock however, he sighted smoke in the distance.

Odd, Skarmory thought. He flew in the general direction of the smoke cautiously to investigate.

***

Back at the Team Snagem base, things had changed. Wes in a burst of inspiration had decided to give Team Snagem a ‘renovation rescue’ of sorts. Their base had recently acquired a large gaping hole in a wall. Blazing clusters of flames were materializing around the area, and spreading as they licked at the remaining pieces of the section of the building. Alarms went off.

“Thanks, Voltorb,” said Wes, as he emerged from a hiding place he picked that he figured would protect him from the blast, but they didn’t reply - they had fainted as a result of using Self-destruct to aid Wes.

Wes quietly stood back by the new gaping hole 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 floor above him suddenly gave way and landed near Wes, piling up and forming a heap of rubble.

Serves them right, thought Wes.

He quickly grabbed a few items and stuffed them into his bag - a couple of Max Revives here, some full heals there. The Max Revives he gave to the Voltorb.

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

Wes himself prepared to have a quick getaway to avoid getting caught. Firstly, though, he had something else to do. He quickly ran off towards another room, one which 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. 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 Pokemon from other trainers - that Team Snagem used for major operations was in ruins, but the smaller Snag machine - small enough to fit on someone’s arm - was still amazingly enough intact.

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.

Just then, Gonzap showed up.

“WES! What is the meaning of this?!?” he shouted in fury, realising that Wes must have been the cause of the mess.

Wes smiled. “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 a Pokemon, 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, 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 as the flames coming 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 - 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. Today was a day for celebrating!

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. Struggling but in vain, he submitted to the force, as the flames that scorched his body left himself in no proper state to escape.

***

Gonzap grimly picked up the Great Ball and put it in his pocket. He glanced at the base, which was now blazing wildly as people were running out of the building. The second explosion had caused even more widespread damage - short-term repairs would be futile. In the distance, a faint siren was sounding - the police were on their way. Not that anybody would miss such a large explosion - it had surely made a minor earthquake, which 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.

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. Please R&R, and stick around for the next so and so chapters!

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


Orre - region which the entire game is based in. Mostly desert like, and no wild Pokemon can be caught in the game, probably due to the arid landscape of Orre.

Skarmory - in the opening cut scene in the game, this skarmory is seen. Why remains a mystery to all - very random start. HOWEVER, Gonzap turns out to have a skarmory - one and the same? In this story, yes.

Wes - main character of the game. Pic of him in the banner in my sig - blue guy. Unlike most main characters in Pokemon games, he is NOT a generic 10 year old that catches legendaries and breaks up criminal syndicates for fun. Instead of a starter Pokemon, such as Charmander, or Turtwig, he already has in the game an Espeon and an Umbreon.

Gonzap - head honcho of Team Snagem. Very large, and has very long eyebrows and a moustache that stick out several feet from his face, which makes up for his lack of hair.

Shadow Pokemon - Pokemon turned 'evil'. Not really explained how they were turned evil, but why: so Team Snegem can obtain world domination (obviously). They will feature more as the story goes on, as well as an 'explanation' for them as well. People who have played the game would know that there's more than Team Snagem in this game however...

Explosion - in the opening scene, Wes blows up the base, steals a Snag machine, and runs off. Why is never revealed, although you find out he worked for Team Snagem, which makes the whole thing even more questionable. Hmm... one of the MANY things left up in the air.
NB: For those who may have seen this elsewhere - this is the most updated version (i.e. more description!) Soon to be placed on the other places.
 
Last edited:
I thought I'd read this before on FF.net, but obviously my memory isn't all that clear.

A good start. Enjoyed the parts with Skarmory.
 
I thought I'd read this before on FF.net, but obviously my memory isn't all that clear.
A good start. Enjoyed the parts with Skarmory.
Thanks. The Skarmory may make another appearence... far later on in the story though. Glad you liked it.
This was quite good,wes TALKS for a change.
The end sentence about the eyebrows was funny:p
Thanks to you as well. Yeah, Wes wouldn't be much good in a story if he didn't speak. Something which all Pokemon protagonists seem to suffer. Heh.
Expect more comedy, especially in the later chapters.

Anyway, here is the first chapter then. Firstly though, as a heads up here - for every chapter (not the prologue), there will be a 'pastry/party-related item' hidden inside. Just a sort of random reference thing I've done that happened by itself while writing. Enjoy finding them - sometimes they are easy to spot, others less so.

***​

Chapter 1 - A New Beginning



After driving around the desert for a good twenty minutes, Wes decided to take a break and stop the Zoomer, figuring that he had put enough distance between himself and the remnants of Team Snagem’s base. Former base, Wes thought to himself. Team Snagem’s priorities would have for now shifted from getting him to escaping the police – surely nobody would have missed such a set of explosions.

Wes had a feeling that the criminal activity that was often a frequent occurrence in Orre would soon diminish – but he still had to be careful. Surely Team Snagem wouldn’t forget about him entirely – leastways, Gonzap wouldn’t let the others forget about him.

Wes cautiously tested the brakes, and then slowed the Zoomer as smoothly as he could manage to a halt. It had taken him a while to figure out the controls of the Zoomer, which hadn’t been helped by Espeon and Umbreon trying the chew the controls at the same time. He disembarked tenderly, checking that his footing was steady after such a bumpy ride. After the recent event, Wes felt… free.

Free from Team Snagem. Free from having to sneak around towns to steal Pokemon. Free from the guilt he felt whenever he had to hand in a Pokemon that he knew would end up becoming a Shadow Pokemon. Free from Gonzap’s ugly face. And free from the poor quality food that Team Snagem could muster.

For instance, the sandwiches that were made on Fridays were made with real sand.
Wes’s stomach rumbled at the relief of not having to eat such poor fare. Speaking of which…

“How about some dinner, Espeon, Umbreon?” asked Wes.

“Espi!” (About time you said that!) acknowledged the Psychic Pokemon. The elegant light-purple cat gave a small sniff of distain, as if Wes should have mentioned it earlier. He then yawned, and twitched his forked tail in the air to back up his statement. 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 slightly more enthusiastic manner. The pitch black Pokemon was more silly one than Espeon, and also far more easy-going. 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. 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.

“Umbri! Umbreon!!” (I don’t care where, just get there NOW! I’M HUNGRY!)

“All right, calm down, calm down,” grumbled Wes 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 sported many of these irregular rocks.

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

“Oh, quieten down,” grumbled Wes. “Anyway - I can see it now.”

Espeon and Umbreon looked into the distance, and were a tad confused 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, now turned into an inn by the current owner. It presented a rare sight-seeing object for tourists who got lost and found themselves in Orre, an event which occurred every now and then.

By the train there was another vehicle with a large sack clearly visible through the windows. Two men - one had a flame-like colour schemed hair that was spiked up, the other had dark blue hair - were inside, clearly bickering to each other.

“So you’ve done securing that knot, Folly?” asked the blue-hair one. His hair-style was unique, to say the least, and a little odd. He donned an orange jacket over a blue shirt, and some simple gray trousers.

“Yes, I have, Trudly,” responded Folly. He has a blue singlet, and stylish blue glasses - Wes noted that this one seemed to have a slightly better sense of style.

“Good. Let’s go now, we’re in a rush, remember?”

Wes, Espeon and Umbreon observed them enter the vehicle. A long pause followed.

“Umm, Folly? Why aren’t you driving?” asked Trudly.

“I, um, seemed to have misplaced the car keys...”

“WHAT!?!”

Wes quietly laughed to himself. Umbreon and Espeon however were too busy looking with concern at the train. As Wes 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 large 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’ Pokemon. They promptly forgot their fears and feasted upon their lunches.

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 T.V. and chatting about the differing velocities of different Swellows. Nearby a man with bright pink hair was playing a tune repeatedly on a harmonica.

Wes stopped eating to look upon the man. The bright pink hair looked disturbing to say the least. The pink sideburns didn’t help the matter either.

“Oh never mind him,” exclaimed Kirk. “That’s just Pinky.”

“Don’t call me that!” exclaimed the person. “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 went back to playing the same tune on his harmonica.

***

After a hearty meal, and shortly before Wes was settling down to sleep, Wes saw something on the T.V that caught his eye. He had been watching a boring news investigation about a coffee shop - that 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. 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.

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

“Umbre!” (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. We will now return to our program.”

The T.V program returned to Mary running away from the man who was yelling “WHERE’S MY COFFEEEEE!”

Kirk broke the silence that followed by opening a bottle of champagne. Everyone cheered and proceeded to finish off two bottles under two minutes - it was an event worth celebrating. Wes quietly smiled to himself before joining in the celebrations. It would be harder for Team Snagem to search for him if they were on the back foot.

***

The next morning Wes departed the Outskirt Stand to put more distance between him and Team Snagem’s base for safety’s sake. To his amusement, both Folly and Trudly had seemed to be unsuccessful in their search for the car keys. A soft cough was emitted from behind Wes suddenly - 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. But it would be good practice for Espeon and Umbreon.

“Sure, you’re on."

They quickly stood apart away from the train and got ready to battle. Silence followed, besides an encouraging shout from Kirk: “Go get him, Pinky!”

“Stop calling me that!” shouted Willie. “Go! Moltres and Mewtwo!” he called as he sent out two Pokemon.

Wes stared. Surely…he didn’t call his two Zigzagoon after Legendary Pokemon.

“Um, ah… oh dear...” muttered Kirk in disbelief, looking on to the two identical brown and white patterned racoons. They stared back at Espeon and Umbreon, with small, black, beady eyes.

Quickly recovering from that oddity, Wes quickly flew into action.

“Espeon, attack with Confusion on, eh, Moltres, and Umbreon, Bite on Mewtwo…”

“Ok, Moltres And Mewtwo, Tackle!”

Right, thought Wes. This will be over soon, as he watched the two Zigzagoon take heavy hits. Espeon only suffered minor damage from a flimsy Tackle, before striking back with an intense stare. The opposing Zigzagoon let out a cry of pain as an intense burst of psychic power hit him. Meanwhile Umbreon evaded one of the Zigzagoon’s Tackle with ease, before counter-attacking with a vicious Bite to the body of the unfortunately-named Zigzagoon.

“Finish off with Return and Secret Power!” commanded Wes. Before Willie could shout at his Zigzagoon to dodge, the Zigzagoon fainted from successive hits from Espeon’s Return, and a powerful zap of electricity from Umbreon’s Secret Power.

“Aw, man…return,” said Willie sadly in defeat as he got his two Zigzagoon to return to his Pokeballs. “You’re pretty good!”

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

Nearby, Folly and Trudly were still looking for the keys, as they both scrabbled around in the dust. Suddenly, Trudly give out a shout of delight.

“I found them!”

“Great! Let’s go!” said Folly as they hopped in the vehicle. “Oh, by the way, where were they?”

“Umm, it doesn’t matter,” said Trudly quickly. Folly frowned - he said it a little too quickly.

“No, really, where were they?” he asked.

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

“What the…”

A loud onslaught of words flew out of Folly’s mouth. Everyone came outside to look at what the commotion was about.

“You’re telling me that we spent THE ENTIRE TIME 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.

The sack in the back seat of the vehicle was moving.

Hmm, that can’t be right, thought Wes. Wes climbed onto the Zoomer, and with a hasty ‘Bye’ to Kirk, he followed the mysterious vehicle.

***

After a while, Wes pulled up against a magnificent-looking town. 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 was immediately visible upon Wes’s entrance, 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.

“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. Among them was Trudly and Folly.

“Well, what’s happening here?” Wes murmured as he approached a group of people.

Sure enough, Folly and Trudly were trying to bring the sack within the city, and were failing in fantastic style. The ‘thing’ in the bag was shaking violently. A lady and an athlete with a Castform looked on worriedly.

“What’s… in there?” she asked nervously.

“Um, ahh…” stammered Folly.

“It’s a, um, a rabid crazy wild Pokemon! Stand back - it’s vicious and needs to be taken to the Pokemon centre now!” claimed Trudly hurriedly.

“Get me out of here!” shouted the thing inside the bag. Wes and the others looked at Trudly and glared.

“Um… it’s so crazy it can… talk?” offered Trudly weakly.

“You’re a kidnapper!” shouted the lady, wariness set upon her face.

Folly winced. “Yeah, well, you never stop us. We’ve got Pokemon ready for battle!”

“Well actually you only have Pokemon, I left mine with…” began Trudly.

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

“I’ll take you on!” cried the athlete with a Castform.

“Are you serious? Your Castform against…. TWO Pokemon? You’ll never win!” boasted Folly.

Wes decided to take action, as nobody in the town seemed to register the fact that there was a kidnapping occurring. “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.

“Sure.”

“Well… fine then! Prepare to lose!” said Folly, trying to sound confident. “Go, my Whismur!” He then proceeded to send out two cute-looking pink Pokemon. 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.

Right… he thinks he can beat me with those? thought Wes. Even the athlete with the Castform looked amused.

***

A mere half-minute later, Folly and Trudly were walking off in defeat. Wes made sure of that, especially after Espeon and Umbreon primed themselves to take out the criminals as well. 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 Pokemon leapt at the bag and bit the rope into pieces. Immediately a girl jumped out of the sack, breathing in large amounts of fresh air. She was small and dainty, with startling blue eyes, and orange hair which held a tinge of red in it. She wore a blue jacket with pink trimming, which covered up a purple shirt, and among this also sported a white skirt and oddly enough, pink Ugg boots. Wes raised an eyebrow, noticing this sort of choice of shoe wear for the desert.

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

“Yes… I think so,” said the girl, stretching her arms and grimacing in mild pain.

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

Suddenly the girl smiled awkwardly and shouted “MY NAME’S ROMARIO AND I LIKE CHOCOLATE PIE!”

“…It seems I spoke too soon…” muttered the lady.

“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 sanity back! 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.

“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.”

“Any idea why they kidnapped you?” asked Wes. He wondered why anyone would kidnap this harmless-looking girl. Despite having being just kidnapped and rescued, she seemed remarkably relaxed as well, and oddly happy.

“Well, actually…” began Rui.

***


Hope you enjoyed that.


And here is the spoiler containing what characters in the chapter are like in the game:
Outskirt Stand - Train in the middle of the desert. Very unexplained - it is a shop and rest place for travellers of Orre. Apparently it is popular too.
Folly and Trudly - Two underlings of a character called 'Miror B'. Very stupid in the game, and not the best battlers. Have unique hair-styles (not up to Miror B's standards however) and kidnap the girl Rui in the game. They are also pathetic and have little bravery. I kept them the same in the stgory of comic purposes.
smile.gif
Feature a fair bit in the game, paticular in a few chapters time.


Kirk - Owner of the Outskirt stand. If he had a name in the game, I don't remember it... Friendly guy who sells you items.

Willie - one of the people in the Outskirt stand, and he is the first trainer battle as well. Has two Zigzagoon, and strange unsettling pink hair. Note that the background music for the Outskirt stand is a harmonica - that borders on enjoyable to near-annoying at times if listerned to for too long.

T.V. report - they feature occassionly in the game, and in this instance, it tells of Team Snagem's loss. Hurrah - you're on the news! However T.V. reports are boring after a while and don't change often. Decided to make it more 'interesting' by referencing the 'coffee man' in R/B/Y/FR/LG, that obstructs you because he didn't have any coffee...
smile.gif


Phenac City - despite being in a desert, it has water fowing all over the place. Talk about luxury. A very prettyful town with a large fountain in the middle of the place.

Rui - a 'sidekick' in the game which follows you all over the place and got kidnapped by Folly and Trudly. Features heavily in the game - as she can distingush Shadow Pokemon from normal Pokemon. How is never explained in the game...

Bystanders - two bystanders during the kidnapping that actually react to the event. Everyone else ignores the event... They talk to you at times - one of them always runs around a fountain and claims that it is his 'role' in the city
 
Last edited:
Prepare for long and tedious explanation by Rui.

Prepare for another good chapter.
 
this was also good.
Putting a team togheter and making the fights intresting will be a tough task I think..

The nicknames where rather...surprising.But fun all the same.
And I noticed a small blooper.
Wes spended the night at the outskirt stand,but folly later says they where looking for it for two hours,which does´t make sense if they did spend the night there..
 
Prepare for long and tedious explanation by Rui.

Prepare for another good chapter.

Thanks again. Rui certainyl shall have an explanation to give out, but not nesseraily straight away...
this was also good.
Putting a team togheter and making the fights intresting will be a tough task I think..

The nicknames where rather...surprising.But fun all the same.
And I noticed a small blooper.
Wes spended the night at the outskirt stand,but folly later says they where looking for it for two hours,which does´t make sense if they did spend the night there..

Thanks again as well. There are a few battles here, but I do them more in-depth in later chapters. Here has a bit of a filler.
Gah, new I'd make a mistake from my updates... thanks for pointing it out, now fixed. (And I wonder why my quotes split up into two as well?)

And here's the next chapter! Don't forget about the random pastry/pastry-related item in each chapter as well...

***

Chapter 2 - Battles, Shadows, and talk with a mayor

“…It’s hard to explain. I was in Pyrite town when I was kidnapped. I saw a… peculiar Pokemon. It was chasing Pokemon and then it attacked a person. Then, when I shouted out for help… I was suddenly chased, grabbed and thrown into a sack,” explained Rui, smoothing out her small ruffled jacket. “Hey, did they use an odd Pokemon?”

She saw a peculiar Pokemon that was attacking people? Could she have seen a Shadow Pokemon? pondered Wes. Maybe she got kidnapped because Team Snagem didn’t want her spilling the beans... but those people didn't look like Team Snagem to me... thought Wes grimly to himself.

“You saw a Pokemon attacking people?” questioned the athlete, a puzzled expression on his face. “But why would they kidnap you because of that? And no, they didn’t have any odd Pokemon… just incredibly weak ones.” The athlete snickered at the thought of two Whismur being a threat to people.

“I have no idea what they wanted to kidnap me for. Maybe they didn't want to have people knowing about that Pokemon,” claimed Rui. “But the important thing is that I got rescued.” Rui turned to Wes and beamed at him, while Wes tried to make himself invisible. “Thanks you, my gallant prince!” she exclaimed loudly, making Wes cringe.

“Espeon!” (The girl seems to be embarrassing Wes…) remarked Espeon, observing Wes’s reaction to Rui’s comments.

“Umbre.” (Heh. It seems he has a weak spot.)

“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. She then started using the infamous puppy dog look.

“Oh jeez…” muttered Wes to himself, before giving up. “Ok, I will. My name’s Wes, by the way."

“Yay! Thank you!” Rui said with a smile. “I thought you’d say that.”

Wes, Espeon and Umbreon sweat dropped.

“Espi…” (She’s… persuasive,) commented Espeon, scrutinizing the conversation.

“Umbreon.” (This could get interesting,) replied Umbreon

“I know what you can do!” said the lady abruptly, to the relief of Wes. “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 then ever before. “Only, I don’t know where it is…”

“Oh it’s…” began the athlete, only 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, who ran off. He started running around the magnificent water fountain in the middle of the town.

“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 thoroughly confused by the recent events. A kidnapped girl who didn’t seem affected all that much by her ordeal, odd people who had Shadow Pokemon – which the girl saw - and Whismur, and an athlete which seemed to have a liking for running around fountains. Bewildered, he stumbled off to find Rui.

***

When Wes got inside the house, Rui was already talking to the people inside.

“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.”

“Kidnapping? Huh,” replied a woman. “Well, this isn’t the mayor’s house, but… A KIDNAPPING?!? Huh - wait - come back!” she shouted in dismay - Rui had already left the building upon hearing that this was the wrong house.

“Sorry about that,” muttered Wes.

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 turned to leave.

What a very odd place this is, he thought. And how DARE he think that anime is better than what I did to Team Snagem’s base! …Oh, there’s Rui he added to himself. Rui had already run off a fair distance, and was approaching a large building in the centre of the town. 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 nearby person, who was standing by the door.

Rui and Wes looked around to observe their surroundings. There was an elevated platform in the middle of the room - it looked like one could battle on it. By the battling arena there was a lift leading to a level below. On their right, there was a control room, and to the left, there was a lesson on Pokemon going on. The teacher was looking frustrated at her students. Espeon and Umbreon trotted off to satisfy their curiosity.
A man clad in a white uniform came up to Wes and Rui and introduced himself.

“Hello. My name’s Justy. Interested in taking part in a Pokemon battle challenge? It’s 4 trainers in a row, 2-2 battles.”

“I WOULD LIKE TO BATTLE!” shouted Rui happily. “But… I have no Pokemon,” she added, suddenly downcast. Her mood swings unsettled Wes somewhat.

“You have no Pokemon?” inquired Wes. “You should get some, if only for protection...”

“Yes, I guess you’re right,” sighed Rui.

“Well,” said Wes to Justy, “I guess I will take part in the challenge. The mayor can wait, Rui,” he told her, having quite enough of running around town after her.

“I guess so,” answered Rui.

“Great!” replied Justy enthusiastically. “When you’re ready, step up to the battle area on the left. I look forward to watching some enthralling battles.” Justy smiled and walked off to a control room situated to the right of the room.

“Okay, Umbreon, Espeon, get ready! ...Where are they?” wondered Wes.

“I’ll get them,” said Rui, as she marched off into the general direction where they went. Wes sighed and followed her.

Meanwhile, Espeon and Umbreon were observing an interesting class in maths.

“Now then,” began the teacher. “Pokemon battles are an important part of life, as that’s all people seem to care about these days. However, if you want to be a good battler, you must be able to do a bit of simple maths.”

Collective groans were made at this speech.

“Now then - we’ve been at this for the last week, and we need to get some progress. Jimmy! Here’s an addition question. If I had two Pokemon, and then got two more Pokemon, how many would I have?”

Jimmy looked rather surprised at being asked a question.

“Umm… you would have some Pokemon.”

“Yes… and no. Look - one, two, three, four. So how many are there?” The teacher drew some circles on the board to resemble Pokemon.

“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 circles.”

“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 scoop him up like a lost toy.

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

“Um… well behaved fine evolved Pokemon?” 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 at 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-then-inspiring equivalent of a Pokedex - for the teacher to see.

The teacher gasped upon seeing the P*DA. “You don’t have a Strategy Memo!”

“No, I don’t,” admitted Wes. Personally he thought he could rely upon his own memory and knowledge to know which Pokemon were good against others.

“Tell you what, if you beat the Pre Gym challenge, I will upgrade your P*DA,” offered the tutor.

“Thanks! Well, I better get started then…” Wes walked up the stair nearby up to the battle arena and took the left side of it, with Espeon and Umbreon next to him, prepared for battle.

“I’ll cheer for you Wes!” shouted Rui enthusiastically.

“OK! First challenge is… Botan! You’re up!” shouted Justy from the control room, before pressing a button, summoning a lift next to the battle arena to suddenly appear. Sure enough, a person by the name of Botan walked out of the lift.

“Wes, Wes, beat Botan, if you can’t do it, no-one can!” cheered Rui as Botan took up his position opposite Wes. Everyone sweat dropped at this… behaviour.

***

All in all, the pre-gym challenge was a cinch. Even Jimmy would have beaten it, Wes reflected.

After Botan proclaimed his love for all things green and grass types, he sent out a Sunkern and a Hoppip. Only, when his Pokemon caught sight of the well-trained Espeon and Umbreon, the small pink Hoppip jumped back into Botan’s Poke ball out of fright. Sunkern could not dive into its own Poke ball, being a small, weak pineapple-looking seed Pokemon 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. Her team was considerably better than Botan’s, consisting of a small blue mouse Pokemon called, Marill and a Surskit. However, the battle lasted after only one attack. Espeon’s powerful Return had struck Marill right into the small water spider, knocking both out instantly.

The third battler was a posh looking boy with the slightly less posh name of Dugo. He had a Trapinch and a Swinub. As soon as the orange Trapinch was sent out, it oddly started dancing. This seemed to help it, as it successfully evaded both Espeon’s Return and Umbreon’s Bite attacks. Meanwhile, Swinub (a small pig-like Pokemon) burrowed through the ground by using Dig, meaning that Wes’s Pokemon could not target it. Unfortunately, instead of attacking Espeon and Umbreon from below, it ended up burrowing underneath and hitting the dancing Trapinch, knocking it out. Swinub then got thumped thanks to a swift Bite by Umbreon, after Espeon helped it with Helping Hand, jumping on top of the pale pink pig Pokemon.

The last battle was a relatively straight-forward one. The final battler, an uppity Lady Gwin, sent out two defensive rock-typed Pokemon - Geodude and Ryhorn. Geodude, an odd-looking head with arm that defied physics and levitated, started off with a moderately-powered Magnitude attack. This however, besides unsettling all in the room, dished out severe damage to its rhino-based partner in Ryhorn, while Espeon and Umbreon held their ground, making the battle easier for Wes. After Ryhorn fainted, Geodude stood no chance against the combined forces of Bite and Confusion, clutching his head as he fainted and stopped floating in the air.

Oddly enough, Lady Gwin after the battle huffed at Wes distastefully.

“My battle style must have been too sophisticated for you.” She struck her nose to the air, and walked off.

Odd comment to make after losing, thought Wes. Meanwhile, Rui ever so causally stuck out her foot, resulting in Lady Gwin having a squashed nose.

“Great work!” smiled Justy, commenting upon the battles. “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.

“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, before he stuffed the small object to the depths of his bag, probably never to be seen again.

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

“Sure. I’ll swing by when that happens,” smiled Wes. 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 Pokemon trainer, let alone have any Pokemon.

***

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 allay with various water features - seemingly Phenac city liked to show off its large reservoir of water at every opportunity. Luckily, Wes pulled her up short.

“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 knew the location of the mayor’s house. To his frustration though, Rui started walking directly behind him.

“Rui…”

“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. Rui also gave out a gasp of surprise.

The man was a tall skinny person, who didn’t have much of a dress sense. He had long white hair, and unattractive purple clothing, save for a red, skirt-like thing. His eyes were cold and cutting. Overall, he had the appearance of an ugly, poisonous flower.

The man… 'smiled' at Wes.

“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 walked off.

“Well…” said a bemused Wes. “That was… odd.”

“And… scary,” added Rui.

“Umbreon!” (People in this town are strange, aren’t they?)

“Espeon!” (I agree with you on that one.)

“Well, let’s go in,” encouraged Rui, 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 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?

Suddenly Rui stepped up.

“I saw… IT!” she answered.

The mayor looked blankly at Rui.

“Oh… sorry. Well, I saw a peculiar Pokemon, no, that’s not quite right.” Rui was stumbling 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 Pokemon battle, and one of them had this Pokemon and it was giving out a black aura, and it was very odd, and then the man told it to use a odd move that sounded something like shadow rush, and I didn't think that was a real move, and then the Pokemon attacked the other Pokemon, and it looked very evil and I said “why does it have a black aura”, but nobody could see the black aura, and the Pokemon attacked someone, and they ran away screaming, oh and I like cake, and it looked like a fighting machine, not a Pokemon 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 Pokemon, 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…”

Ten minutes of explaining later…

“Well, then. So basically, you saw a scary Pokemon 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…"

“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. Give me time to investigate and I will get back to you with information on how we are going later! By the way, are you Pokemon trainers?"

Wes nodded.

“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.”

All right. I already beat the Pre Gym challenge - this can't be much harder, thought Wes.

As Wes and Rui left the building, Wes thought he saw something in the mayor’s face.

A look of contempt? Anger? Hate?

Nah, I probably was just imagining it, thought Wes.

***



And that ends the chapter.
And here is the spoiler on characters and such in the game:
Rui - in the game, after revealing that she can see Shadow Pokemon, she then requests you to take her to the Mayor’s house (never mind you just saved her, and that you don’t know the place, but at least she asks nicely), and follows directly behind you all the time. If you played the game, you’d know just how annoying it gets - especially as she does so for the ENTIRE GAME! Yes, in the game, you’re stuck with her through thick or thin. Even if when you snag loads of Pokemon, and she never gets one. Anyway, her and various issues concerning her shall be addressed in due chapters.

People in house - random people in a house in Phenac City. Your average dim-witted NPC - note that the guy that comments on the T.V. broadcast moans about the such for the entire game. Never mind that it’s all about you saving the world, and that he misses out on his show because of it.

PRE-GYM - short for ‘Preparation Training Faculty’, as a NPC tells you. Looks good - has a mini-multi-environment underground for the NPC’s to train in (desert, forest, grassland, lake and sea rolled into one…) and a small lesson with teacher and students by the side.
Trainers however suck - all four have the same names and Pokemon as in the game. Made the battles more ‘fun’ too.

Jimmy - what do you get when you mix a bland NPC that is one of the students at the Pre-gym, and a comical scene form the great show ‘Blackadder II’ - episode II? (so what if I referenced it- it’s funny, no?)
You get Jimmy.

‘Random-guy-by-mayor’s-house’ - also known as ‘Nascour’ in the game. Doesn’t look very… human, has strange and unsettling dress sense, and what he says in the game (same as what he says in this chapter) is… odd. Hints that he knows who you are then - escapee from Team Snagem - but, that doesn’t fit in the storyline. For this fic, he doesn’t.

Mayor - short happy obese-er-fat mayor called Es Cade. Oh, foreign. He comes from the land of fairies and elves and will do anything to help you.
Ok, the last sentence I made up. He does have happy theme music, and acts more or less as he did in this chapter. Note that Wes is still on edge.

Also note that those who have played the game will remember that the mayor has another minor detail about him. Knowing about it however, will spoil the game AND story for those who have not played the game, or finished it, or forget. I advise not to click the spoiler if you mind about things getting spoiled and such.
If you REALLY want to know:
Mayor is REALLY the head honcho of Cipher
 
Last edited:
No you weren't, Wes!

And Rui, stop running. You'll get yourself lost.

Good work again.
 
Yo, bobandbill! So you know, it's me, Skunter from PC! So you brought your story here too! Sorry I hadn't been able to critique it there, but there were so many other people doing it there, I couldn't really keep up. Hopefully, I can do a better job here.

Anyways, still looks good! But...I think you could've done some proofreading before posting it here for minor stuff... Then, again, I guess it really would've mattered since stuff seemed to blend in anyways.
 
No you weren't, Wes!

And Rui, stop running. You'll get yourself lost.

Good work again.
Thanks. Rui's 'I'll follow you EVERYWHERE!' aspect got mentioned here, as you noted. Glad you liked it.
Yo, bobandbill! So you know, it's me, Skunter from PC! So you brought your story here too! Sorry I hadn't been able to critique it there, but there were so many other people doing it there, I couldn't really keep up. Hopefully, I can do a better job here.

Anyways, still looks good! But...I think you could've done some proofreading before posting it here for minor stuff... Then, again, I guess it really would've mattered since stuff seemed to blend in anyways.
Hey there! Yep, I'm spreading my brainwashing-er-story here as well now. Would like critique from you, also that this is, if you noticed, an updated version. With more description, and also with me doing more proofreading then ever before. But, clearly I haven't gotten everything...
Looks good! But one thing--it's not "Sunken", it's "Sunkern", as in sun-kernel.
Cheers, and also for the mistake - somewhat amuses me that it has evaded detection all this time since my first version of that chapter... well, now it has been caught. Stupid weak Sunkern. :p

Thanks all!
 
Well, these forums died or something for a while for me... but here's the next chapter.
***
Chapter 3 - A Shadow, Pokeballs and a Lot of Hair


“What do you mean, no challenges?” asked Wes.

“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,” answered the receptionist in a matter-of-fact way.

“Odd, isn’t it?” commented Wes 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. “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, threatening to fall upon their heads yet unable to do so. 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 was struggling in retrospect. Wes then squinted is eyes as they stepped outside, the sun blazing in his face all too brightly.

“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 eyes adjusted to the light and he realised what the sources of the voices were - they belonged to one of a few Team Snagem members.

They stuck out like a sore thumb to Wes - wearing the same attire as each other. Match 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 knew members. Wes had declined this sort of outfit, choosing to stick with his appearance, not being a fan of Gonzap’s choice of uniform. Gonzap wasn’t a fan of Wes’s sense of fashion - Wes liked to think that he didn’t appreciate it.

“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, Umbreon and Wes knew that Orre wasn’t free from the rough type, despite only being in the Orre region for close to a year now. Rui had a lot to learn.

“Er, don’t you know?” asked one, confused. “We’re Team Snagem!”

“Team Snagem? Arrgh!!!” screamed Rui. She then proceeded to kick the nearest one in the shin.

“Arrgh! What was that for?” asked the criminal member, grabbing his leg in anguish. He was clearly not used to having people stand up for themselves.

“For kidnapping me!” cried Rui.

“Kidnap you?” asked the confused member. “Pttf. Why would we waste our time kidnapping some nobody? No, our beef is with Wes.”

“Umbre…” (Mmm… beef.) Espeon rolled his eyes at his partner’s comments. Meanwhile, Rui finally started to realize something.

“And what do you mean by traitor…” She turned to Wes. “Wes, you mean…”

“Yep! He was from Team Snagem! Not only that - he was a Snagger! He was snagging Pokemon without fail! Well, with some ‘fails’ here and there, but he was one of the better ones!”

Rui looked astounded, and seemingly without the ability to speak. She shortly gathered herself though and regained that capability.

“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. Wes wondered why Rui hadn’t noticed the snag machine in the first place. It was clearly situated on his arm, and was blatantly obvious. Then again, she probably hadn’t been paying attention. And she had been running off in every direction. 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 - see probably knew that much about Orre.

“... It converts Pokéballs into Snag balls, which overrides trainer possession of the Pokemon, 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 a Koffing!” Hurling two Pokemon at Wes and Rui’s feet, two forms materialised - a small orange but determined-looking crab-like Pokemon, and a round purple Pokemon that floated and had a typical ‘skull and cross-bones’ sign below its face that the Koffing species displayed. Gasses emitted from various crater-like bumps on the Pokemon.

Wes smirked upon noticing the poison-typed Pokemon in Koffing. “Espeon! Use Confusion on Koffing!”

“Espi!” (This is going to be fun!) Espeon said, looking sadistically excited. As Espeon applied his psychic powers on the Koffing, it began shivering violently.

“Koffing!” (What’s he doing to me?!?)

All at once, the Koffing started expanding.

“What the…” said the Snagem member, taking a tentative step back. The others decided to do the same, worriedly looking at the Koffing, now several times its previous size.

Then the Koffing exploded.

All the Team Snagem members were sent flying several metres down the stairway leading to the Colosseum. Their outfits were covered in black sludge, and the Corphish had fainted from the shock. Wes and Rui however had been protected - Espeon had thrown up a barrier of light with his Reflect attack, saving them from Koffing’s involuntary explosion.

“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. Watching them leave, Rui then turned to Wes.

“What do you know, Wes. You’re from Team Snagem,” said Rui. “That’s ok.”

“It is?” replied Wes, surprised.

“NO! WHY DIDN”T YOU TELL ME?” shouted Rui, once again in a sudden rage.

“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.” (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, half-cowering from Rui’s attack.

“Well… I’ll give you that,” admitted Rui, who began pacing back and forth, “But still… for all I know, you could be stealing Pokemon for yourself!”

“Come on, Rui. Give me a chance. I’ve changed my ways, and all I want is a fresh sta- WATCH OUT RUI!”

However it was too late - Rui, while interrogating Wes, didn’t notice that she 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.

“By the way? It’s ok, Wes.”

“Huh?”

“It doesn’t matter to me who you are. After all, you’re my gallant price who rescued me…”

“Ok then…” She probably changed her mind after taking a bump down the stairs, thought Wes.

“Let’s go rest at the Pokemon Centre. Here, I’ll help you,” Wes offered, taking her hand and pulling her up gingerly to her feet.

As Wes and Rui walked off, Umbreon gave Espeon a glance.

“Umbreon?” (You didn’t have anything to do with Rui’s sudden acceptance about Wes’s past, did you?)

“Espi…” (Well…)

***

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

“Thanks, Nurse Joy,” acknowledged Wes. He was a bit bewildered about being in a Pokemon Centre again. He hadn’t entered one for years, and he couldn’t help but wonder why everything was so strange.
What with each ‘Nurse Joy’ looking exactly like the other, and one popping up every minute to spoil Espeon and Umbreon non-stop. 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 nurse 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 Pokemon.
And then there was a girl who asked every person whether they were Pokemon trainers or not. She even asked a bemused Justy, who had entered the Pokemon Centre to pick up some Pokemon. It was obvious, though Wes, that the best trainer in town, picking up Pokemon, WAS a Pokemon 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.

Wes sat down next to Rui. ‘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 Pokemon, and didn’t want you spilling the beans.”

“That’s an idea… that poor Shadow Pokemon…” added Rui to herself. “I mean it looked so… unlike a Pokemon should. Really angry.”

“Which reminds me - what do you mean by seeing a black aura? I never saw any aura around a Shadow Pokemon. In fact, nobody I know who worked at Team Snagem could distinguish Shadow Pokemon from normal Pokemon easily.”

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

“Ok… what’s that?” Wes asked, raising his eyebrows.

“We get ourselves some Pokéballs, and then steal back that Shadow Pokemon with 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.

“Firstly, that Shadow Pokemon could be anywhere. Secondly, its unlikely Trudly and Folly will show up again so we can find it. And thirdly - where will we get Pokéballs? None are kept anywhere I know in Orre as there’s rarely any wild Pokemon anyway, and Team Snagem imported them illegally from Kanto, as far as I know.”

Rui blinked. “Well… it’s still a good idea,” she answered adamantly.

Wes sighed. “Ok, whatever. I’ll help you, but I don’t think we’ll get far. Where do you propose we go looking for Pokéballs?”

Rui smiled. “Let’s go SHOPPING!

***

“No Pokéballs?” 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.

“Well, where can we get some?”

“Umm, try Silph Co. It’s only in Kanto,” said the inexperienced and dumb assistant. At this, the assistant received a slap to the face, as Rui marched out, having expressed her annoyance at the shop assistant. Wes came after her, carrying large boxes.

“Did we REALLY have to buy all these clothes…?” Wes grumbled to himself. “And don’t say I didn’t warn you…”

“Psst!” said a random old man to Rui as she walked by, ignoring Wes’s point. “They may have some Pokéballs in the Outskirt Stand…” he offered, before tapping his nose exaggeratedly and abruptly walking into the PokeMart.

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

Wes merely shrugged. “He acted the same way when I asked him where the Mayor’s house was.”

***

After Rui deposited her newly-acquired clothes from the PokeMart to her home PC and a bumpy ride on the Zoomer later, they arrived at the Outskirt Stand. A worried-looking Willie greeted Wes as they debarked the loud machine.

“Oh, I was worried about you…”

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

“Well, recently some tough looking characters with a Koffing came asking around about you. And it looked like they were from Team Snagem… hey, who’s the chick?”

“Excuse me!” exclaimed Rui. “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.

“That’s right.”

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 Pokéballs…”

“Pokéballs? 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. Immediately, he came back with a whole box full of them.

“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 faces, causing a mass coughing fit.

“Umm...sorry. I’ll give you some for free for that. How about five?” offered an apologetic Kirk.

“Thanks... I think I’ll buy another ten, for safety’s sake,” Wes decided.

With a significantly heavier bag full of Pokéballs, 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.

Recently, she had turned her attention to the mayor’s house. Something interesting was happening - she could tell. She had the same feeling she was having now before. 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 looked more like an alien with bad 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, 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.

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 did. 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; bringing her back to the present. It looked like a large circular object… with a head attached to it.

Shakily, she turned around, to face… IT.

The ‘IT’ in question gave a dazzling smile.

“Hello madam! Is this the mayor’s house?” ‘IT’ asked.

Unfortunately, it received no answer - the old lady had fainted in shock.

“Umm… Sorry?”

***

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, looking flustered and flurried. “Some scary looking men came here - including the two people who kidnapped you!”

Rui instantly tensed up at this news, remembering back to her ordeal. Wes silently smiled - maybe she hadn’t been so dismissive about the whole issue then, covering it up by being happy. Or her bump during her fall down the stairs knocked some sense into her.

“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 Pokemon centre till I come back.”

“No! I mean… I’m going with you,” said Rui.

“What?” Wes asked, surprised.

“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. Maybe I was wrong? he thought. Or she’s braver than I thought.

She certainly did look more confident, 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.

As they drew close to the mayor’s house they noticed a still figure by the mayor’s house.

“Hey… that’s an old woman! She’s unconscious!” shouted Rui.

“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 trotted 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. Then she realised what Wes was looking at.

“What in the name of Ho-oh is that?”

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.

There was no short chubby mayor to be seen - but both Folly and Trudly were present. Three other men stood at the side of the room - one clad in green, one blue, and the last in red flashy uniforms.

But the strangest oddity was in the centre of the room. A tall man was dancing to very loud salsa music, clearly having fun. The man was in bright yellow, had odd disco-styled glasses, and looked like a relic from the 70’s.

The man’s 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 Pokeball.

“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 noticing Wes’s and Rui’s appearance. Suddenly the man also seemed to take notice of the recent entrance of Wes and Rui, and stood up straight. Luckily, the ceiling was just high enough to accompany his hair.

“Oh, aren’t you two pathetic! You couldn’t beat these infants? Trudly, song change! Something more ‘suitable’ for the situation.”

Trudly grabbed a nearby radio, and changed the music. Now the music was far more sinister sounding - Wes frowned in confusion at this action.

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

“Darling, did you say your name was Wes?” the man asked. Wes shrugged offhandedly

“Well, I didn’t actually say that it was my name, but yes, it is Wes. And you are… Miror B?” Wes said.

“Correct. And, well, I don’t like saying this, but we’re not at liberty to keep you lady friend at liberty.”

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. If you don’t like pain, like most people, you can avoid pain by keeping you nose out of places it needn’t be.” Now Miror B 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 Pokeball-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.

Suddenly Miror B’s attitude changed - from threatening, to friendly and happy.

“Good!” 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 taking the radio with him, so that his afro could fit through the door. The three coloured men glared at Wes, before following Miror B outside 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!

One of the small pink Whismur that had been sent out last time Wes and Folly battled appeared. The second Pokemon, a Lotad, took the stage. It was small and blue, and bore a deep-green flat lily pad upon its head. It didn’t seem to pose much more of a threat then the Whismur though, letting out a tired yawn.

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

“Lotad-ad!” (Yawn… I was sleeping…)

“Umbreon! Attack Lotad with Bite!” commanded Wes. Umbreon quickly darted forward and chomped on the small Pokemon’s leaf - it was seemingly attacked 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. Espeon used his physic powers to make the Lotad spin in circles through the air, ignoring further protests from the Pokemon 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 weak Pokemon to their respective Pokeballs. “I failed… again.”

Trudly stepped forward. “It’s my turn now! I’m not going to end up like Folly - and NOW I have my Pokemon! Go! Duskull and Spinarak!” Two new opponents appeared before Wes’s Pokemon, 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!) exclaimed Spinarak, before it firing a large clump of sticky web at Espeon.

“Espeon! Use Reflect!” commanded Wes. Espeon summoned a force field around himself, light glimmering off the translucent wall. The spider web hit the force field, and rebounded right back into Spinarak, engulfing it. While it struggled to break free, Umbreon pounced once again with another Bite attack, and it gave up and succumbed to a similar fate that Whismur and Lotad had. Shortly afterwards, Umbreon then jumped up and bit Duskull, who succumbed after Espeon applied a Confusion attack upon it.

“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 Pokemon was sent out. It was a brown Pokemon with a slight orange hue to it, and upon seeing his opponents brandished two large blue gloved hands in the air at them.

“Makuhita!” (Prepare to DIEEEE!)

“Espi?” (Come again?)

Wes frowned. This Pokemon, 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 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. Suddenly - of course! He remembered this Makuhita. It was the one who had nearly escaped about a month back, and had given Gonzap a sore leg in the process. It had been destined to be a Shadow Pokemon after that, and it seemed that it was one now.

“Watch out!” cried Rui. Wes brought himself back to the present - to see Makuhita attack him with an Arm Thrust attack. All Wes could do was tense himself and cover himself to lessen the impact. Nevertheless, he was still sent flying towards a wall. Wes remembered that Shadow Pokemon didn’t mind attacking trainers faintly before the wall brought him to a sudden stop. Fortunately, his crash was softened considerably - unfortunately for Rui.

“Umm, thanks Rui…”

“Gfttham frmhth nefhte!”

“What was that?”

“I said get off me!”

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

“Wes… That’s the Pokemon 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 Pokemon can use it, and it hits - hard. Umbreon! Dodge and counter with Bite!

As Makuhita charged at Umbreon, it nimbly dodged and bit Makuhita’s arm.

“Maku!” (Oww how dare you! You must die!)

“Makuhita! Use Arm Thrust!”

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. With a cry Espeon let lose a hired blast of energy at Makuhita. Shouting in response, Makuhita stoped focusing on hitting Umbreon, and clutched its head. Umbreon realised something was up and released his hold on Makuhita’s arm, jumping away as the angry Pokemon started bashing its own head in.

“Hita! Hita! Hita!” (Die! Die! Die!)

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

“Damn! It’s confused… stop that! You stupid Pokemon!” 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.

“Wes… look! It’s getting tired!” Rui said.

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

“Good.” Wes smiled upon seeing this. “Now is the time.” With that, Wes grabbed a Pokeball from his bag, and put it into the Snag Machine.

“What the… NO!!” cried Trudly, realising what Wes was about to do. Wes, with the grace of a Pokemon expert, threw the Poke Ball at Makuhita. As it hit Makuhita in the head, it started sucking Makuhita into the Pokeball. Within a second Makuhita was gone from sight and all that remained was the Pokeball as it landed on the floor.

All in the room stared at the lone Pokeball 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 Pokeball… wobbled a fourth time.

And a fifth time.

“Huh?” everyone said.

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

“You… you snagged Makuhita!” gasped Rui.

“My Pokemon!” whinged Trudly. “You’re too good! You snagged my Pokemon!”

“What are we supposed to do now?” lamented Folly. “Miror B will punish us for sure…”

A pause followed as the two pondered their options.

“ESCAPE!” shouted the pair, as they blitzed passed Wes and Rui out of town faster than a raging Taurus.

“You did it Wes!” cried Rui happily. “You snagged it!”

“Espeon? Esp!” (What about us? We did all the fighting, and all he did was chuck a Pokeball at it!)

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

“Espeon…” (Well, a good point, I’ll give you that…)

“But I’m sure there are other’s like it… Let’s get them all from the baddies!” added Rui, jumping joyfully in the air several times. She beamed a wide smile of happiness, glad that Makuhita was Snagged from Trudly and Folly.

Great. NOW she wants us to snag all the shadow Pokemon? thought Wes, not as enthusiastically.

***


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. Which one will it be? Find out next chapter!

And, the spoiler for this chapter's characters:
Team Snagem attack - in the game, after leaving the Colosseum due to it being closed (just as well - the Pokemon there are at higher level' than what you have at the time), three Team Snagem members ambush you, revealing to Rui that you are a Team Snagem member. Naturally, Rui is shocked - unnaturally, for only a few seconds - after the battle and after they escape, she says 'you're ok' and continues to follow you around, after telling you to get some Pokeballs.

Very unrealistic. If I knew the guy I was following was an ex-criminal, I'd be a bit more worried and less easy-going than that.

Poke-Centre People - your typical collection of NPC's in Colosseum. All three mentioned in the chapter are in the game, and only say the same things. PC guy in particular is annoying.

The Pokeball fiasco - oh dear, no Pokeballs in Phenac City Mart! Never mind, a random old man in the mart 'secretly' tells you that they sell them in the Outskirt Stand. Yes, there is an NPC that does that.
Kirk also manages to find the Pokeballs in his store in record time in the game, despite saying that he hadn't sold any for ages, and gives you 5 for free. What a nice quick serving guy in the game...

Old lady - in the game, she stands outside the Mayor's house. She notes the strange going ons, but lets you do all the work. Gave her more of a personality in the chapter.. and someone else in the town has to respond to the kidnapping and Team Snagem coming... there is actually a guy in Phenac City which remarks on the kidnapping, but that he didn't know much and couldn't be bothered to find out more. Hurray for lazy NPC's I suppose...

IT - Miror B

Miror B - an ‘Administrator’ of Team Cipher. Commands Folly and Trudly and some others as well, but is not normally threatening or serious. Possibly the ‘scariest’ he gets in the game.
In the game, he is normally easy going, although he does scare the heck out of many a player when they first see him. I mean, tall man in bright yellow suit + giant Pokeball-themed afro + salsa theme music is startling…
Picture of him in my sig banner or Google him for more images.
Has an obsession with Ludicolo, music and dancing, and prefers doing that over being ‘evil’.
Considered by many as the best Pokemon trainer ever - if you’ve played the game, you might well agree. He has the best theme music in the game IMO - very addictive - and is quite mysterious in other ways. Why the hair, for instance? More on him in later chapters.

Makuhita - the first Shadow Pokemon in the game - naturally, being Shadow, it is angrier and more violet than most. It actually attacks you in the game - watching Wes do his ‘take damage’ visual is quite funny actually, without the game trying to be funny. Rui sees it have an aura (all purple and interesting), tells you it is a Shadow, and thus you can try to snag it with the snag machine and the Pokeballs you conveniently bought before. Afterwards, Rui jumps up and down, saying that now we can stop Cipher (seems suddenly you know all about Cipher in the game, and Team Snagem have no importance) and snag all the Shadows.

I’ve altered a few things from the game and added a few too for that scene.
(Oh, and incidently, the 'to be continued...right now' joke had actually be written before the Simpsons movie came out. Quite the coincidence.)
 
Last edited:
Good story once again,I did read 2 chapters in a row this time.

You seems to be aiming mainly for humour,but the story has much dark potenional.
For example,once of the things that I sorely missed in the game was that you never actually see the CREATION of a shadow pokemon.
How are they doing that?Perhaps you can think of something...

Rui is nicely stupid,but beware that you aren't going overboard,such as her kipnapping story,where she add ''I like cake''.
That can work at times,but that was a bit to much.

For the rest,Keep it up.
I mostly like espeon's sarcastic comments,with umbreon being more practical.You descripe battles a bit odd,but very orginal.
 
Hahaha, very nice.

MIROR B. FTW!
Thanks once again. And indeed - Miror B FTW. :)
Hilarious. But another mistake--you identify Miror B's style as being from the '60s when it's really the '70s, which was the age of disco.
Bah. I'll go fix that then.
Good story once again,I did read 2 chapters in a row this time.

You seems to be aiming mainly for humour,but the story has much dark potenional.
For example,once of the things that I sorely missed in the game was that you never actually see the CREATION of a shadow pokemon.
How are they doing that?Perhaps you can think of something...

Rui is nicely stupid,but beware that you aren't going overboard,such as her kipnapping story,where she add ''I like cake''.
That can work at times,but that was a bit to much.

For the rest,Keep it up.
I mostly like espeon's sarcastic comments,with umbreon being more practical.You descripe battles a bit odd,but very orginal.
I can confirm that the sole premise of this story is to amuse and entertain in such a fashion. Basically, me putting a rather different spin on a game and putting it into a different light. So there isn't too much of the 'dark potential' being used so to speak - not quite my domain and I enjoy writing comedy. :)

With the Shadow creation thing - I've had an idea for a scene involving that later on, but that's for a chapter I haven't written yet... have already done 10, BTW. That also would be funny, but might also turn out to be a bit 'dark' as well...

Rui's 'cake' remark... I put it down to still feeling a bit odd after being tied up in a sack for a long time. (yes, that'll do...) ;) She doesn't have many of these moments, just so you know. Also, have in different chapters tried some different kinds of homour, so that appeals to the readers who like randomness. :) Either way, I'll watch not to take it too far.

Anyway, thanks for the review people!
 
Are you having plans for XD actually?
Eh, have had some ideas for it, but whether I would do it or not is another question. Firstly, I aim to finish this one first, which will take a while. I started this story last year, mind you, and now am having less and less time to actually write new chapters. I've already done 10 which I've posted in other places (not including the prologue), and I'm only up to the Miror B battle... and the chapters start to get a bit longer too.

Basically, haven't decided upon it yet, but if I do it'll start after I've done this story, which will be a fair while... certainly not ruling it out though. :)
 
Well, here's the next chapter.

***
Chapter 4 - Adventure to a ‘hell-hole’.


Just then, the mayor walked into the house.

“Hello... what happened here?” he asked, confused. The house was in a mess. A few overturned flowerpots were about, a classical painting was broken and the floor looked the worse for wear from the two battles that had occurred just moments ago.

“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 Pokemon-” began Rui, before the mayor cut in.

“Mi…ah… who were here? And what’s this about Shadow Pokemon again?”

“Oh, Wes has it now,” answered Rui, grabbing the Pokeball with Makuhita inside off of Wes.

“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 Pokeball, to Rui’s surprise and Wes’s bemusement that Rui was unfamiliar with the workings of a Pokeball.
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 Pokeball, before his eyes widened.

“Maku…. ta!” (Who are you…DIE!!!) he examined, catching sight of the mayor. With a loud bellow, Makuhita 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 Pokemon 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 Pokeball off Rui, and directed it at Makuhita.

“Return, Makuhita!” he commanded, before a ray of red materialised around Makuhita, sending the angry Pokemon back into the Pokeball.

“Umm…Sorry?” apologised Rui.

“That’s… a Shadow Pokemon,” offered Wes. “As you can see, it’s unusually angrier than normal Pokemon.

“I see…” answered the mayor. He blinked 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 with Espeon, and Umbreon trotting behind with a book in his mouth, and by 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 Pokemon centre. Ignoring the girl who yet again questioned him on whether or not he was a trainer, Wes sat down at a table and began to discuss the recent developments.

“So…” said Wes, “what do you make of this?”

“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 P.C. and sat down in front of it, and started typing. “What was his name…Miror B? What kind of name is that?”

“And Team 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. Wes had found an article dated a few years ago featuring a large picture of the man with an enthusiastic Ludicolo – a festive-looking duck Pokemon - 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 some 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…Team Cipher - whoever they are - interested in you?”

“Well,” began Rui, “either Team Cipher could have something to do with Shadow Pokemon, or those three just didn’t want me ratting on them having a Shadow Pokemon.”

“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 Shadow Pokemon. This may just be some small wannabe team that did a deal with Team Snagem concerning Shadow Pokemon."

“You may be right… but to kidnap me? And raid the mayor’s office?”

“Maybe they knew that if news about Shadow Pokemon 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 Pokemon… maybe simply as a test to see how it would act outside the base… 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 them. I honestly have no idea how they even made Pokemon 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 Pokemon, 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.

“…No,” answered Rui. Not with you near me, she added silently to herself.

“Fair enough,” replied Wes. “Let’s go investigate. It’ll be an interesting trip - never been there myself.” They got up to leave the Pokemon Centre. Wes followed Rui out, but just before he could step outside, the old man by the P.C. leapt out at Wes and grabbed his arm.

“You can use that P.C., 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 P.C. as well?” the man continued enthusiastically, ignoring Wes’s comments and grinning up at the tall teenager.

“Save… the… game?” repeated Wes blankly.

“Why yes! Better save often, otherwise you could lose your game data!” answered the veteran.

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, with a suddenly menacing tone. His grip on Wes’s arm tightened.

“Umm, look! A distraction!” said Wes, pointing in a random direction.

“Where?” asked the man, turning to stare at… a wall. Meanwhile, Wes made a dash for the exit successfully, knocking over the “Are you a Trainer?” girl on his way out.

***

Suddenly, a man clad in a blue similar to Wes's coat from head to two jumped out at them as they approached the main entrance of the town.

“Sorry to break it to you, but you may not pass.”

“Sure, whatever, blue man…” muttered Wes, who was clearly not paying any attention to him. Blue’s a good colour, but there’s such a thing as too much blue.

“Do you have any idea who I am? 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 now 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, realising that yet again he distracted 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 Pokeball from his pocket, and chucked it in front of the Zoomer. A repulsive-smelling purple creature materialised to Rui’s and Wes’s surprise, as a wicked stench hit them. It had the appearance of a deranged kindergarten’s attempt at making something out of play-dough.

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

“Ugh!” said Rui to the Grimer in surprise. She never had encountered the Poison type before, and wasn’t very charmed by the encounter.

“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!” (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 Team Cipher as it is.”

And by the looks of that Grimer, this will be a pushover, much like the other ‘Team Cipher’ people’s Pokemon, he thought.

“Umbre!” (We have to battle AGAIN? Are we getting paid for this?)

“Aha! So battle we shall! Call me… Bluno! Go, Spoink and Croconaw!” proclaimed the blue man, tossing two Pokeballs towards Espeon and Umbreon.

“Bluno?” asked Rui incredulously.

Two Pokemon materialised - 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 Pokemon was a fat yet ferocious-looking blue crocodile Pokemon; large teeth exposed as the Pokemon 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 Pokemon. 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… Cipher has two Shadow Pokemon?

“Use Shadow Rush!” commanded Bluno. At his request, the Croconaw charged at Espeon with surprising speed, with Espeon narrowly dodging. Espeon attempted to hit back by throwing itself at his adversary with a Return attack, but literally bounced off Croconaw’s body upon contact. Espeon charged at Croconaw again, with similar results to the previous attack effort.

“That’s one tough Pokemon,” 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 repositioned 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 gracefully - but Croconaw was dazed.

“Espeon! Use Return on Croconaw now!” shouted Wes. Espeon dashed forward and hit Croconaw head-on into the air, sending the Pokemon high in the air.

“Oh no,” Bluno said. Everybody watched Croconaw approached Spoink, who was 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, falling head-first. It was now only twenty metres above the ground.

Ten metres.

“I can’t watch…” muttered Rui.

Five metres.

Two metres.

Two and a half metres.

“Espeon?” (What the…?) - however Croconaw’s random and inexplicit gravity-defying act lasted only a moment as he fell back down even faster.

Two metres.

One metre.

However just then, Croconaw was spared - by a Snag Ball. Unfortunately for Bluno, the Snag Ball was Wes’s, and after a few shakes the Pokeball quickly pinged in announcement of the successful Snag. As Croconaw had taken a massive hit from Espeon, it probably was too tired to resist the Snag Ball.

“Oh no! You snagged by Croconaw - my Pokemon 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 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 Pokemon, 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 were speeding 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 Pokemon?” 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 Pokemon, 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 Pokemon.

And she was.

***
From the depths of Rui’s mind, we proudly present:

Flashback - Rui vs. Pyrite

“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 – but only one of them wasn’t tired.

“When’s dinner?” asked Rui curiously, twirling a finder 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 better then this place - it stunk, and in more ways than one. Although the buskers by the side of the street did play some pretty catchy music…

“Hey look! Is that Tailow… wild?” someone exclaimed. Wild Pokemon were rather rare for the harsh Orre desert - so a wild Pokemon 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 Pokeball at the Tailow as Makuhita materialised from it, pumping his arms in the air angrily. Makuhita glared 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 fact the fighting type Pokemon wanted to eat him.

“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, as Trudly noticed and started yelling at it to stop.

Rui meanwhile was white-faced - despite not having a Pokemon or any sort of Pokemon item for that matter, she knew a decent bit about them, and she knew that an angry-looking Pokemon giving off a violent violet aura wasn’t right.

“Why… why does it have that… aura?” she asked. “It doesn’t look right.”

“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 Pokemon 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 the missing Rui.


Meanwhile Rui saw… a really tall tower?

***

“What’s that?” asked Rui, snapping out of her flashback and noticing a large white figure nearby.

“That? That’s… um, some new Colosseum,” answered Wes, deciding to ask Rui about Pyrite City at some later date – the later the better. “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, happily thinking of the large bag of money given to them.

“Well, let’s get going,” interrupted Wes. “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.

***

However, one thing partially ruined the sunset - the backdrop of the town that unsurprisingly attracted the fewest tourists to it.

Pyrite Town only looked marginally better than the mess outside the new tower; only the appearance was spread around the entire city. The town could only boast of having the worst waste management system, one PokeMart 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 concrete ground, that didn’t even conceal some of the ground, and the buildings looked rather smaller, smaller than what houses normally where, yet there was evidence that these were residential buildings.

Wes and Rui already had an amusing show for them ready as they arrived though - in the form of an ‘interrogation’.

Well, at least Johnson tried to make it an interrogation, but the young officer was easily sidetracked. Johnson was also known as the ‘village idiot’ around town, 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 a shady-looking man by the entrance of town.

“Aw, Mr Johnson, give a man a break here. I tell you - I don’t know anything!” protested Cail, a loafer in the town whom personally had had enough of conversing with the policeman.

“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. However Johnston seemed to have not noticed this.

“All right, fine… I’ll let you off easy today. But don’t forget… if you find out anything about the theft of the cookie from the cookie jar… tell us.” With that Johnson nodded and left. He started 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, 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 Pokemon 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 - only they all declined. One particular occupant had chased Wes and Rui out with a broom, thinking that they were trying to sell her a hotel.

“Shall we go in and pay? I’m sleepy, and I’ve had enough of being chased by crazy residents,” Rui said after that event.

“But you know me - 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.”

A minute later, the innkeeper ran out of the hotel and out of town screaming, with various floating objects following him, although only a few people in town seemed to take any notice of this. Wes kneeled down to give Espeon a pat.

“Nice work Espeon.”

“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.

Espeon however gave a stare at Wes. Something told him that Wes might be disappointed, thinking that he would have this issue with Cipher done and dusted, and being a psychic Pokemon, he was rarely wrong.


***

Hope you enjoyed that.

And the spoiler of spoilerness on characters and events:
Mayor’s house turmoil - in the game, nobody notices what’s gone on in the mayor’s house, and the mayor doesn’t come back and remark on what happened…

Bluno - one of the three coloured men in the fated Miror B scene shortly before snagging Makuhita. After you leave the mayor’s house and aim to go to Pyrite, you’d have to battler either one of these as they are each blocking on exit point. They also have one shadow Pokemon each - a 2nd evolved form of a Johto starter according to their colour. In this case, Bluno’s Pokemon is Croconaw.

Rui’s flashback - not much is revealed on exactly how Rui got herself kidnapped. It is mentioned that she was to see her grandparents, but beyond that it’s unclear why she was in Pyrite town of all places, nor how Folly and Trudly actually managed to kidnap her.

Construction site - a messy scene outside the newly-constructed ‘Reaglem Tower’, that has been recent built by non-mentioned rich people.

Pyrite town - features heavily in the game. Your typical slum, with not much to offer in the tourist department. All features described in the story are in the game - however more personality is added here.

Pyrite hotel - in the game, this is the Pokemon centre - unless you either deposit your Pokemon into the PC and withdraw them, thus healing them, or use a healing machine in Pyrite Colosseum. However Pyrite Hotel is closer to the exit and quicker than depositing Pokemon - only it costs money. But given Wes’s personality, why pay?
The hotel has a few residents as well - most notably, a person who talks while sleeping.
 
Last edited:
Please note: The thread is from 17 years ago.
Please take the age of this thread into consideration in writing your reply. Depending on what exactly you wanted to say, you may want to consider if it would be better to post a new thread instead.
Back
Top Bottom