This story is for my dear friend and beta Spelshi who gave the idea to me. I asked her if she had any requests for a story and she picked Pokemon and choose any pairing. So, I went with Gonzap and Wes. First time writing this pairing and it's been a while since I've played the game.

Disclaimer: Don't own Pokemon, Nintendo does.

italics are thought or memory

Wes gazed up at the evening sky, his golden eyes making images of pokemon in the pink and violet clouds. He and Rui had just arrived in Agate Village from a full day of tracking down Shadow Pokemon. They were just going to make a quick check up on the village, but they were tired and when Eagun offered them a place to stay they couldn't refuse. Rui had gone to help her grandma set up the upstairs bedrooms while Wes went outside to check his e-mail. He was hopping for some info from Kid's Gear, but instead saw the ever flashing of the unread message that read new. Wes stared blankly at the flashing title, which said 'No Subject'. The date beside it told him that it was well a month old. Why he didn't delete it was a mystery, even to himself. Every time he went to remove the message from his e-mail, he stopped himself.

Sighing, Wes pocketed the device and went back inside, where he was greeted by Rui and her grandmother. They were making dinner, or in Rui's case, trying to make dinner. She had flour all over her face and was desperately looking through a cookbook. She was tapping the spoon against her chin when she noticed Wes. Before he could utter a word, Rui grabbed his arm and yanked him over to the stove.

"Here!" She thrust the spoon into Wes' hand and pushed him in front of the stove. "Just stir this until I find the rest of this recipe." And with that, she ran off and up the stairs. Wes blinked in surprise after her before looking uneasily down at the bubbling pasty food. As he attempted to stir it with the wooden spoon, a memory from long ago came to his mind. He didn't want to think about it, but it wouldn't be put back in the corner of his brain.

A fifteen-year-old Wes stood behind a counter, chopping up some vegetables. It was his turn for making food for Team Snagem and all of the other thieves agreed that Wes was the best cook of all of them. Even though he hated cooking, Wes had to either put up with making food or hungry thieves. Sighing, the ash blond poured the veggies into a pot that also had some rice and meat. He was beginning to stir the food when the doors to the kitchen slammed open. Startled, Wes dropped the spoon, which had hot water on it and burnt his hand. Clutching his hand to his chest, Wes glared over his shoulder to the intruder. Walking toward him was his big mustached boss, Gonzap. The muscled thief crossed his arms and glared down at the golden-eyed boy.

"When is the food going to be done, shrimp?" Glaring up at Gonzap, Wes turned back to his cooking, being careful with his right hand.

"It's almost done; I just have to add some more things." When he heard his boss groan, a little smile graced his lips. Luckily for him, Gonzap didn't see it. As he stirred and added things to the meal, Gonzap began to tap his foot, as if it would make Wes hurry his cooking. When Wes went to grab a different spice, Gonzap stepped up to the stove and slowly increased the heat. He then looked down at the food and scoffed.

"What is this? This isn't a meal! Now lets see... Ah! This should make it taste better!" He reached his giant hand out toward a bottle that read cinnamon. He then poured the whole bottle into the pot.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?" Gonzap looked over at Wes, who looked horrified.

"Well, I'm making it taste better. Is there a problem, shrimp?" Wes' face seemed to go white as he slowly moved toward the stove.

"Gonzap... That wasn't cinnamon..." Gonzap raised an eyebrow at the young thief.

"If this isn't cinnamon then why is it labeled that?" Wes would have rolled his eyes, but they were looking down at the pot behind Gonzap.

"One of the other thieves wanted to pull a prank on me and switched it with something else. I recognized it wasn't cinnamon..." Gonzap began to see what Wes was meaning.

"So... If this wasn't cinnamon... then what did I..." Before he could finish, the pot began to rattle and jump. Both thieves jumped away from the stove, eyes on the hopping pot. Since Gonzap raised the heat, the pot was turning red and white foam began to overflow over the top. The two thieves looked at each other before running and ducking under another counter. Just as they did, the whole pot exploded, shooting bits of carrots and meat and metal. The rest of the pot fell to the floor with a loud bang; however the two thieves weren't paying attention to any of this. When they ran for cover, Gonzap had fallen on top of Wes and now they were staring at each other. Golden eyes gazed up into dark ones, which were very close. Wes couldn't help but blush at how close Gonzap was to him. He could even feel his breath on his face. The two continued staring until the sounds of running feet broke them out of their trance. Wes was the first to snap out of it and scurried out from underneath his boss. Gonzap jumped up and helped Wes to his feet just in time to see the kitchen doors slam open and three Snagem thieves ran in.

"Boss, Wes! Are you alright?"

"Did that brat get blown up?"

"Oh, darn he's okay..."

Wes' eye twitched with irritation when he heard this, but quickly turned to pick up the broken pot and the wasted food. Gonzap glared down at the thief that had said that remark, but quickly barked out orders for going out and stealing food for dinner. He left with the other thieves, leaving Wes alone in the kitchen to clean. The two never talked about the incident in the kitchen ever since.

Wes shook his head fiercely to rid himself of the memory and he stirred the pasty food with more force. When Rui came back with the cookbook, she looked at Wes with worry.

"Wes? Are you alright? Please don't break the pot... Or the spoon.." Wes blinked and looked at what he was doing. He had the spoon in a death grip and some of the food was splattered over the stove. Without a word, he gave her the spoon back and exited the room. Rui blinked after him before calling out to him. "Wes? Where are you going?" Wes stopped in his tracks.

"Just outside." And with that he left. Rui looked confusingly after him before shrugging. Rui's grandmother walked in carrying a bowl of vegetables and looked around before looking at Rui.

"Rui? Where did Wes go? I thought he was helping us cook." Rui looked over her shoulder to her grandma before looking back to her food.

"He said that he was going to go out for a while. He doesn't like cooking anyway. I think something happened to him in his past that associates with cooking." She paused for a moment before continuing, "He was also blushing... I wonder why..."

---

A half-hour later and the food was done. The dinner was peaceful, Rui was talking with her grandparents about their day and Wes sat quietly, listening to the conversation and eating the pasty food. He didn't say anything during dinner, as usual, although Rui noticed that something was different about him. He would poke his food with his fork from time to time and his eyes would have a far off look. She would look at Wes to see if she could get eye contact with the snagger, but he seemed to be off in his thoughts. Giving him one last look, Rui went back to talking to her grandparents. She would ask Wes about it later that night.

---

Stars littered the blackened sky as Rui knocked on Wes' door. When she had tried to talk to him after dinner he went back outside, saying that he needed to check his e-mail again. Rui had a feeling that he was trying to avoid talking. All Rui knew was that something was bothering Wes. Sighing, she gently rapped on the door again.

"Wes?" She whispered. "Are you in there? I need to talk with you." After a long pause of silence, the door opened slightly, revealing Wes' golden eyes. The two stared at each other before Wes let her in, opening the door more and moving toward the window. Rui stepped in and silently closed the door behind her. She opened her mouth to ask her question when she noticed that Wes had no shirt on. She then realized that she had come when he was changing into his pajamas. Blushing, Rui began to turn and excuse herself out when she saw something on Wes' back. She took a good look at his back and gasped. "Wes! How did you get that scar?" Wes kept looking out the window before looking over his shoulder and gazing down at the white scar. Soon, memories that Wes wished he could keep in the depths of his mind bubbled up to the surface.

'My scar... Gonzap...'

Gonzap glared at Wes, rapping his fingers on the table in annoyance. The young thief had failed to steal a great amount of money from the local rich man. Wes had all the time in the world to steal it, but he had decided to try and steal the money when he was slightly under the weather. His sudden sneezing attack ruined the whole mission. Now the rich man set up more alarms and security, making an easy mission now impossible.

Gonzap sighed in annoyance before standing up and walking over to the equally glaring Wes. The sixteen-year-old's nose and eyes were red and puffy from all of the sneezing. The two stared at each other for a good minute before Wes wrinkled his nose, trying not to sneeze. Unfortunately for him he couldn't prevent it. He turned his head and sneezed quite cutely into his elbow. Having his head turned away, he didn't see the smirk on Gonzap's face. Although, from the corner of his eye he saw the glint of mischief in his boss's eyes. Rubbing his nose, Wes glared up at him.

"Wad's so bunny?" Finally, Gonzap's face broke into a toothy grin. The boy was just too funny and cute when he was unable to talk correctly with a stuffy nose. His grin earned him an attempted deeper scowl. "Duh next dime I need to sneeze, I'm sneezing on you..." This got Gonzap to laugh at him. Growling, Wes crossed his arms and stormed out of the room. The Snagem Boss blinked before rolling his eyes. He would allow Wes to cool down before continuing the conversation they were trying to have. Sighing, he went and sat back into his chair to wait for his ill thief.

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"Dat ibiot! How bare he make bun of me!" Wes ranted in his quarters, pacing back and forth. His Espeon and Umbreon watched him before looking at each other. This was the third time this week Wes had come back to his room and complain about his boss. They both knew that he liked him, but was just too stubborn to admit it. The two felines just shook their heads. Their trainer would figure it out someday. So for now, they had to deal with his rants.

Wes growled and plopped down in between Espeon and Umbreon. The dark pokemon rubbed it's head against his shoulder and Espeon licked his cheek. Wes would have stayed in a bad mood, but his two partners wouldn't let him and soon there was a smile on his face. Laughing, Wes gently rubbed them both behind their ears and hugged them.

"Dank you, bod. Sorry you bad to bear me complain about Gonzap... Again." Espeon made a happy chirp while Umbreon pawed at Wes' hand, wanting to be petted again. Shaking his head, Wes patted both on the head one last time before standing. "I'm going bor a walk, want to come wid?" They looked like they were considering the walk before Umbreon pounced on Espeon. Soon, the two felines were wrestling on the floor. Smiling, Wes made a silent farewell and walked out the room.

Walking down the hall, Wes entered the kitchen to see if he could help. The cook for the week was just adding some garlic when Wes entered. He looked over his shoulder and smiled.

"Hey, Wes! How are you? Feeling better?" Wes was going to answer, but the thief cook cut him off. "Oh, sorry! You probably don't want to talk. Save your voice for I know what's it's like to have a sore throat." The cook began to hum a tune while Wes resisted the urge to punch him.

"Um, excuse be but I don't habe a sore doat. I habe a stubby bose." The other nodded and stirred his dish.

"Yes, yes that's what I meant. I must finish this dish." Seeing that he was not wanted, Wes turned to go, but before he was able to make it, the cook stopped him. "Wait one moment, Wes. Could you do me a favor?" Wes turned to see what the thief wanted. The cook had gone to get the cookbook and turned some pages before he walked over to Wes. "I need some of these. They grow in Diglett Hills. Could you get them for me?" Wes' twitched on the inside before agreeing to go get the shrub. Walking out to the hall and heading toward the front doors, he saw the darkening sky and thought to himself,

'What have I gotten myself into?'

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Making his way up the rugged hill, Wes began to think of ways to make the cook's life slightly miserable. Not only was Wes wanting to kill the cook, he wasn't feeling well, he had messed up a heist, and was earlier humiliated by his boss. That and the stormy weather was not making things any easier for him.

"I am not habing a good day today..." He grumbled as he climbed higher on the hill. Suddenly, as he put his foot down, the ground beneath him collapsed. He tried to regain his footing, but as he tried the ground crumbled more and more. He soon found himself falling down into the hill, rocks falling all around him. The last thing he saw was the oncoming storm clouds and a figure running in the distance.

"Wes? Are you okay?" Wes blinked his eyes, continuing to gaze out the window. Rui opened her mouth to ask again when Wes spoke.

"I got this scar in a rockslide." And that was all he said. He turned to Rui before giving her a faint smile. "I'll tell you in the morning, Rui. Goodnight, Rui." The two stared at each other for a moment before she smiled and turned to the door.

"G'night, Wes." And with that, she exited his room. Once she left, Wes' smile faded and his mind began to wander. He couldn't remember what had happened that night. He remembered that he was angry at Gonzap for laughing at him when he was ill and needed to calm down. He also remembered falling and the crushing weight on his legs, but after that he couldn't remember a thing.

It was only after the surgery he apparently had did he wake. Both Gonzap and Ein were hovering over him, asking him if he was alright and if he was in any pain. Wes answered yes that he was in pain, which is what Ein was hoping he was going to say. Both had been worried that the left leg, which had almost been literally crushed, would not have any feeling in it and that they would have to remove it. Ein had patted his head and walked off to do some experiments. Wes was expecting Gonzap to leave, but he stayed. Ever since that incident Gonzap was quite close to Wes. He didn't understand it.

Wes sighed and shook his head. It didn't matter now anyway. Snagem was a pokémon corruption lab and that was something he was not going to be part of. Gonzap was an evil man now and nothing was going to change that.

'Even so... Why do I still feel a tug at my heart when I think about him?' He thought as the climbed into bed. Before closing his eyes, Wes looked at his Pokégear and saw the unread e-mail flashing, waiting to be read. Wes blinked at it before reaching over and picking up the device. Slowly, he pressed the open button and watched as the e-mail popped up into view. He was surprised at how short it was. The e-mail was only made up of two sentences, but both made a lonely tear run down Wes' face.

'Wes, come back. I love you.'

Wes gritted his teeth before pressing the delete button. As he watched the letter dissolve into nothing, he curled up in his bed, trying hard to stop the rest of his tears that wished to fall. Memories of Gonzap began to flood his mind, but he suppressed them. They were only memories...

And memories they would remain forever.

---to be continued.

I'll be finishing the second chapter soon. So until then :D