Chapter 1 – The Last Five Years
The Orre's sands always seem lonely to the people who haven't lived there. Most of those who have were lonely enough from the start, and we see those bleak, empty sand dunes as home. It's a futuristic post-apocalyptic shithole, but to us, it's home regardless.
I'd been away from that home for five years. Even one year was far too long, but it was something I had to do if I wanted to stay out of Pyrite's prison cell. Why? Because about ninety percent of the region considered me either a criminal or a traitor. Even Rui, who had stuck by my side even when I told her that I used to be a part of Team Snagem, slapped me in the face and ran off when she found out about what I'd done as a member of the organization. She had never meant much to me, other than someone to keep me company, but when she called me "the scum of the Earth" it definitely hurt. A lot.
Though, in her defense, she was probably right. I probably am worthy of the title "Scum of the Earth". Not only did I willingly steal trainers' Pokémon, but I'd let myself be used to steal other things for the criminal syndicate known as Team Snagem, known and feared throughout Orre's sands. As Gonzap's right-hand man, and a skinny little teenager, I was sent out to sneak into labs through air ducts and other tight spaces. As one of the leading criminal organizations in the area, Team Snagem made all kinds of deals under-the-table, and there was always a chance that something would go wrong. As reassurance, I would hide somewhere on the scene in case a deal fell through. On the rare occasion that it did, my job was to jump out, take our half of the bargain and run for it. Yeah, not quite "scum of the Earth" material, but it didn't stop there.
From then on, my crimes grew worse as I grew older. In the beginning, I stole from other criminals, on Gonzap's orders. A year and a half in, I started stealing from citizens and other wanderers, on my own terms. Of course, I was never truly alone. I had my Pokémon, who had been with me for as long as I can remember. Silver, an incredibly intelligent Espeon; and Shadow, a cunning and quick-striking Umbreon, were my partners in crime, and in everything else. If it weren't for them, I probably wouldn't be sane.
There is one other person who kept me from winding up in an asylum. Kayle. I met him the first time I ventured out of the Snagem hideout on my own. I got myself lost right around the Outskirt Stand, a little train car in the middle of nowhere that serviced the many wanderers who either had nowhere to go or, like me, were lost in the Orre's ever-shifting sands. I was only fourteen when we first locked eyes, but there must have been something about me that he liked, because he led me inside.
Life in Team Snagem, despite its dangers, was relatively rewarding. I had a place to go back to. The guys had my back and I had theirs, if the shit ever hit the fan. Most of the time, all of our dealings went smoothly. I was only thirteen when I'd joined, so Gonzap took me under his wing; practically treated me like his son.
…Thinking about it, that probably explains a lot. Never said he was particularly sane, either.
The trouble started about two months before I blew up the hideout and left the team. Snagem and Cipher had made a few deals with each other in the past, and Gonzap refused to let their newest deal fall through. They provided us with a revolutionary way to steal Pokémon – the Snag Machine. There were two of them; a large one we kept at the hideout, and a portable one that Gonzap entrusted to me, believing me to be the most capable Snagger he had. By then, he'd started to see my relationship with Silver and Shadow as a weakness, so I was determined to prove to him that I was still an invaluable asset. I might have done it partially out of pride…but I really did it for Silver and Shadow. I would have died for them. I was prepared to do anything to keep them out of Gonzap's claws.
I expected a high quota. I knew I'd have to hurt a lot of people, and probably smash their faces in with the Snag Machine attached to my arm, but I wasn't expecting Gonzap to tell me to kill every trainer I stole a Pokémon from.
It was a condition set by Cipher. They wouldn't take the Pokémon unless their trainers were dead or otherwise unable to spread the information that their Pokémon had been taken. After my first snag relating to the Cipher job, he handed me a pistol and whispered the order into my ear. I had met the victim once before, and it had been hard to see the look of shock on his face when my Snag Ball had captured his Pokémon. I was only seventeen, and I didn't have any kind of grudge against the guy. I tried to pull away, but Gonzap pressed a knife against the back of my skull. Feeling a drop of blood slide down my neck, I knew he was serious. I trained the gun on the trainer and fired.
After that, we went straight back to the hideout. Gonzap warned me not to balk again, and enforced it by using a hunting knife to carve a horizontal line across my face, from one cheekbone to the other. To this day, I can remember his words. As the blood slid down my face, mixing with tears brought on by the pain, he whispered to me, "This is a warning, Wes. I don't want to have to kill you, but if you can't obey my orders, I'll use this same knife to carve a line across your throat." He then slipped the knife into his pocket, right next to his revolver. As much as I hated him, as much as I wanted to take that knife and slit his throat before he had the chance to do it to me, I stayed where I was. Bleeding, shaking, and damn near terrified to tears, I couldn't have pulled it off, anyway.
And so, I did as I was told. With a cold stare and one swift shot, I killed the trainer of every Pokémon I stole. There were forty-eight Pokémon in all. Each one had come from a different trainer.
The day I heard about the Shadow Pokémon, I lost it. The thought of Silver and Shadow ending up like them terrified me, and I refused to victimize any more innocent Pokémon. While the rest of the team was out, I set charges all over the base, and on the large Snag Machine. Gonzap kept the portable one in a case in his office when I wasn't chasing a target, so I slipped in, grabbed it, and set off the charges as soon as I was out of there. I took off on my car-sized motorcycle, the Snag Machine finally mine, with Silver and Shadow riding safely in the sidecar, and started my quest to recapture and purify every single Shadow Pokémon I'd had a hand in creating. And I succeeded.
Still, it wasn't enough. Because I was stupid enough to tell Rui a little bit more about my past, she freaked out and ran straight to the police. After hearing her story, they came after me almost immediately. I fled to the Outskirt Stand, where Kayle awaited. Even while I ran with Team Snagem, he'd supported me, saying I'd get out of there someday. He was the only consistent person in my life, besides Gonzap, Silver, and Shadow, of course, and I left the motorcycle with him. I can remember that conversation with him, clear as day.
"Why are you leaving this with me if you're going somewhere outside the desert?" he asked.
"I'm heading out into the mountains," I said. "Besides, it's a reminder. I'll come back. I don't know if it'll be in five months or five years, but one of these days I'll be racing around on that thing again." I smirked at him.
"Well, if you're so sure about it, get going already," Kayle snapped. "I got customers."
"To hell with the customers," I snapped. He turned around, ready to argue, and I pulled him down to my height, kissing him. It was long, deep, and full of words that didn't need to be said. We stayed like that for what felt like ages, but was really only a few minutes. When the moment was over, I stuffed Silver and Shadow back into their Pokéballs and let out Talon, my Skarmory. I hopped up on her back, turned back to look at Kayle one more time, and we were off.
The flight from the east end of the desert to the forested mountains up northwest took two days. I couldn't read Talon's mind, but being on her back, I could feel her muscles working, the rise of her body temperature as the day dragged on, and her breathing. Once I could feel her heartbeat throbbing throughout her body, reverberating through mine, I let her down immediately. We found a spot safe from the wind, I let out the rest of the Pokémon in the team, and we all slept together, huddled in a ball for warmth. That night, I dreamt of the so-called family I had left behind to come to Orre. When I woke up the next morning, I looked up at the sky with narrowed eyes. I watched my sleeping companions, thinking of the bonds we'd all forged. That included many of the Pokémon who weren't in my team at that very moment.
"These guys…are more of a family to me than my blood relatives ever were," I thought to myself, hoping Silver, if not Shadow, would be able to feel the sentiment. I think they did, because they curled up even tighter next to me, purring in their sleep. We got up before the sun rose, while it was still cool, and took off again.
During those five years away from Orre, I met only one other human. He never gave me his name. He gave me food and shelter, as well as the rest of my Pokémon. All of them, including the great legendaries that had joined me after the last Shadow Pokémon was purified, had the room to run free on the mountain, and they always returned to me. Often, I wished they wouldn't. I was the one who killed their trainers. They didn't deserve to have to live with me.
That one old hermit, as it turned out, was an old ninja, though he'd never completed his training and turned to thievery in order to survive. He used the five years we had on the bleak, empty mountainside to teach me how to survive, as well. Or, at least, he tried to. Because of my slight build, I'd always resorted to climbing through air conditioners and squeezing into other tight places in order to steal things, but he wanted to teach me how to hide my presence and hone my ability to balance on narrow footholds.
I remember asking to be taught to fight, but his answer was, "No. You're not suited for battle. A little whelp like you would get knocked out with one hit. If you want to be able to make it, you have to be sneaky. For that, you need speed and balance, not combat training."
Training under that old man changed me. With enough work, and enough smacking me on the head with a stick, I became a whole different kind of thief, much more refined. More balanced, more skillful, and much more likely to get away without getting myself caught. I wasn't a ninja – I couldn't run across a building without making a sound, I couldn't scale walls or cling to the ceiling, and I had no clue how to use any kind of weapon other than a gun, but that old man was proud of me for making such progress.
Towards the end of our long stay, I took to traveling the mountain, only to find that it was as bare of Pokémon as it was of people. That was probably due to its amazingly steep slopes. And the impossibly complex makeup of its forest. With only Silver and Shadow at my side, I got lost in the unfamiliar terrain, and stayed lost for about a week. During that week, I met two estranged Pokémon; a Sandslash whose trainer and other Pokémon had died on the mountain, and an old, very powerful Persian with green eyes and a green gem, instead of the usual red. Those two would come to be some of my closest friends, with enough time.
Sempre, as that Sandslash came to be known, proved essential in us making it back to that old ninja's camp. The Persian, with the odd name Brightstar, revealed that she could talk. First time I heard her voice, I damn near broke my nose by smacking into a tree. Some ninja's pupil I turned out to be.
There was something about that Brightstar, though, like I'd already seen her before. I knew I'd seen her oddly-colored eyes before, but I couldn't place my finger on it. I'd heard her voice, too, but decided to drop it until I was back in the human world. Still, we eyed each other every day, both of us struggling to remember something. The night before I planned to head back to the desert, we stayed up, just talking to each other, trying to figure it out. Unfortunately, fate had other plans. After a long night of getting nowhere, we fell asleep with the rest of the Pokémon, in a giant mass of fur, feathers, skin, scales, rock or steel hide, and plant material.
That was the night Lugia showed up. I knew I was dreaming when I first saw it, because there wasn't much of anything in the background, just a whole lot of dark gray fog. "The hell are you doing here?" I asked it.
The voice that answered me reverberated through my mind. A deep, commanding baritone, it was the voice of a giant, echoing and all-consuming. And yet, it seemed sad…bereaved, even. "It seems that pain and suffering have the power to turn even saviors away from the rest of the world."
Somehow, all the fight drained out of me in an instant. "I'm no savior. Those Pokémon wouldn't have needed saving if it hadn't been for me."
Lugia sighed. "If you had not been the one to steal them all, they would not have been saved. At least, in saving them, you got to make up for the part you played in their misery." Before I could say anything, he silenced me by holding out his wing. "I am well aware of your past, Wes. I have read your mind…and I truly am sorry for all the pain you've already been put through, but I must ask you to carry yet another burden on your shoulders."
My shoulders. Lovely. "And it's gotta be me?"
"Yes. Because you have purified the hearts of every Shadow Pokémon that you had a hand in creating…you know the pain they went through, and you strove to save them. Nobody else, human or Pokémon, knows about the Shadow Pokémon and has a strong enough soul to contain my power."
"Say what," I said, dumbstruck. I knew I sounded like an idiot. "You're storing your power…in me? You're out of your fuckin' mind."
I'd expected the sea's guardian to get pissed at a little human talking to him that way, but he simply shook his head. "You are my only option, Wes. Consider it your destiny, or as many humans like to say, your God-given duty."
"I don't care if there is or isn't a God; I will get him back for this." Lugia must have heard my thoughts, because not a moment later, he laughed.
"You are quite the fireball, young human. I think you're fully capable of handling my power…but I must warn you, I am storing the purest part of my power in you, because I have been captured and am going to become a Shadow Pokémon in just a few hours. Because your soul is tainted with guilt, sadness, rage, and the weight of taking so many lives, it will not merge well with you. It may even attack you…so be prepared." He lowered his head, staring me straight in the eyes. "Once I have been purified, you will know. Seek me out then, and I will take back my power. Until then, though, I can say with certainty that your body will suffer."
"Well, fuck," was all I could say.
"That is not all," Lugia continued, sounding more upbeat. "My power, no matter how short its stay is, will permanently grant you some of my powers. You will be able to delve into the minds of other Pokémon and hear their thoughts. Likewise, they will be able to hear yours, if you focus on them."
I scoffed. "Now he tells me."
Instead of responding, he lowered his giant beak and touched the bridge of my nose, right in the middle of the scar Gonzap left on me. "I know you've hidden your scar because of the memories it brings you, more so than because of what people think when they look at you. Now, this scar will be a reminder of me, of Silver and Shadow, of every Pokémon you've worked so hard for. When you look in the mirror, or into the surface of a pool of water, you will not see Gonzap, and you will not feel fear. Remember me, think of the power that rests inside you, and of how many souls you've saved, rather than how many souls you've taken." He wished me luck, and faded from the dream.
I had never been a particularly healthy person. I'd had migraines since I was seven, got sick a lot, generally fevers and coughs, but often it would be something worse. Still, I had never felt as horrible as I did that night. I wasn't paying much attention to my body, though, because the whole time I was wrapped up in a whirlwind nightmare full of everything that had caused me pain in my short life. It wasn't bad enough that my life was in danger, but it was still a night of hell. A fever ravaged me, my head pounded with the most intense migraine I'd ever felt, I vomited more times than I care to remember, and the worst part of it all was the fact that I was helpless. Lugia's power…I felt like it was tearing me apart, breaking every bone in my body, slicing through every muscle, twisting every organ out of place. When I finally woke up the next morning, it was all over. Silver and Shadow stood watch over me nearby, the psychic link Lugia's power created telling me that they had seen my dream-meeting with the legendary beast and passed word of it to the rest of the Pokémon. I closed my eyes, exhausted, and slept through the day and the night, knowing that if they were there, I would be safe.
But, of course, it was just the beginning. The next morning, when I had regained enough strength to wash myself off, I noticed something odd about my reflection. Though the white paint I used to hide my scar had washed off, the scar itself was still white. It almost…glowed.
Deciding to test out my new ability, hoping I'd be able to use it so soon after receiving Lugia's power, I called to Silver. "Hey, Silver, do you sense any of Lugia's power coming off of my scar?"
"Wes, is that your voice? It seems Lugia wasn't kidding." Silver's head popped up from behind a large rock. "Well, having never met the sea's guardian before, I don't know what Lugia's presence feels like, but there's definitely a strong, and pure, power coming off of that scar. And…a small point from the small of your back." He jumped into the water with me, tracing a paw down my spine. "I'd call this line of power running down your spine a support vein for the rest of the power. The scar is the point where it will be released. And…there are ten points of power I can sense all around your back, but I can't see them. Together, they form the shape of an ellipse."
"Just like those purple ridges on Lugia's back," I mused. "And you said you can't see them?"
"Correct. They are probably like storage cylinders. When the power builds inside of you, I would expect the support vein on your spine to funnel energy to all ten of those points. Once they have contained all they can, the scar on your face will release that power. Or at least, that is my guess." Silver swam to shore and hopped out of the water, immediately starting to lick himself dry.
I stayed on that mountain for another two weeks while I recovered, relapsed, and recovered again, all the while wondering about the points that Silver had been talking about. During my waking hours, provided I was feeling alright, I would practice using the new power of speaking with the Pokémon through thoughts. I came to realize just how much of a personality each one of them had. Back when I couldn't hear their words, I had known that Silver is generally earnest, while Shadow leans more towards a sarcastic personality, but being able to speak to them reached a whole other level of closeness. Our bonds had never been stronger.
By the end of those two weeks, even though I was still feeling out of it, I convinced myself I'd be fine. So, I made a stupid move and took off on Talon's back, headed straight for the Orre desert. Everything ailing my body was cast from my mind the second I caught sight of the dull, dusty hills.
I hadn't seen those sand dunes in five years. I had been lost in a world of trees, rock and rivers. It was beautiful, but it wasn't home.
The desert was my new home. Its deathly-hot, lonely expanse of sand didn't conceal people waiting to attack me. The desert's sands didn't have trees. I'd had a few bad experiences with trees, including being chased up one by an unruly Growlithe, mugged repeatedly by a bunch of red-haired kids to whom the Growlithe belonged, and a few…unwelcome advances by the woman my parents had hired to be my nanny. Creepy and intuitive as she was, she never found me when I'd hidden in an underground cave I found. The first time I hid from her there, I fell asleep with the scent of wet earth surrounding me. Since then, dust, sand, rocks and soil have been my comfort zone. A lack of color, lack of life, became the place I belonged. The desert, hot as it gets, as bright as the sun is there, is my source of safety. No one can sneak up on me in the desert.
I can't ever truthfully call a place full of green my home.
Author's Note: Yes, I know I've said that I'm on hiatus. I'm only posting this because my beta reader Vicious-Loner and I already have the first four chapters written, and they're currently going through one final round of editing. I know re-doing this story may seem redundant, but...I just wasn't satisfied with it. At all. I'm sure every writer has had more than a few moments like that. However, we have changed quite a few important points in the story (more so in the first chapter than anywhere else), and are working to keep the plot consistent. That is, provided I have the time to write it.
