Chapter 1

It was a normal day for me in Outskirt Sand. The desert air was dry and nudged the dry soil across the landscape harmlessly. The sky was pale blue from the lack of water and the searing heat. Sandslash and sandshrew were visible digging beneath the surface, scavenging for whatever food they could come across. Marcactus stood completely still in hopes that a prey pokemon would draw near. Weary travelers had a hard time which one of the cacti were pokemon and which weren't, so the path to the worn out gas station was long and swerved.

I took a sip of my drink. There just never seemed to be enough sitrus juice in weather like this. The worst part about it was that I didn't have a cent more to get another. The sweat on my forehead was beginning to dribble, so I used my napkin to wipe it off.

"'Ey, Rui!" The door to the depleted gas station opened. The welcoming jingle of the bell that had been stung above it sounded. I turned around. My old friend, a rider at heart, sat down next to me at the bar. He smiled and a few grains of sand fell from his hair into my empty cup. "How ya been? Haven't heard from ya in a while!"

Willie has always been a weird one. He claims he's going to be the champion of some foreign region one day, but all he has are two zigzagoons. He hasn't really spent the time training them, either. He's so obsessed with riding his nifty, futuristic hover bike to really put any time into them. He didn't have the looked of the champion either. The pink hair, old leather jacket, and goofy attitude made him seem like the type kids bullied in elementary school. I'd only seen him a few times this summer, so seeing him was a bit of a surprise.

"I'm good," I replied. "Looks like you've been rolling around in the sand for a while. Training, maybe?" He smiled wider. Jeez, even his teeth had sand in them.

"Nope. But I got some cool news to share!" He opened his mouth with the intent to speak, but the bartender's old TV switched on and a picture of that fancy news girl came on.

"Breaking update here at Orre Region News!" She straightened the stack of papers on her desk while the cameraman fumbled to bring up a picture of same smoky ruins over her right shoulder. The ruins looked to have been some sort of big building that had been hidden in a carved out section of rock. Firefighters were fighting to snuff out the last of the hot embers. "Team Snagem's hideout has been found, but it's too late. The hideout has been destroyed and abandoned, leaving nothing but an empty shell of what used to be one of the legendary treasures of the Orre Region. There is no telling why it has been left as such, but be on the lookout, for now Team Snagem is on the loose."

Her picture faded and a screen displaying the weather popped up once more.

"Aw," Willie said. "I wanted to say that first." I narrowed my eyes at him.

"You saw Team Snagem's hideout?" I said skeptically.

Team Snagem is a group of thugs that are known for stealing pokemon. They usually do it for money, but the majority of the time it's just so they can have new pokemon of their own. Sometimes they rob banks and whatnot, but the police have been looking for them even harder lately when they found out that they've been experimenting on pokemon. In their hideout (the one that was supposed to be impossible to find), they were said to be testing some sort of chemical on them that makes them evil. I don't know what makes the pokemon evil, though. Some kid on the news was talking about it. Not many people seemed to buy it, so why should I care?

"No…" Willie admitted, "but I did hear a big boom and saw the smoke."

The jingle of the welcome bell sounded again. Willie and I looked towards the doorway as a man stepped inside. The taller man was covered in sand and dust, so much so that when he removed his goggles, he shed a whole layer of it right onto the floor. The bartender saw, but instead of telling him to go outside, he let it slide when the man glared at him.

Boy, did that guy have a glare. I've never seen someone with such piercing golden eyes before. And what was with that outfit? Some sort of blue robe that was cut to reveal the legs and flare out to the sides? Black jeans underneath? That guy must've been sweating hot under there, yet he didn't seem to be showing it. Yet one of the most identifying features of this guy was the weird contraption he wore on his left arm that domed over his hand and pulsed dark red. He looked like a legitimate badass, if you ask me.

I thought this guy was nothing but tough until I saw an umbreon and an espeon hop up onto each shoulder, nudging his face with their foreheads. The man pet both of them softly, a kind smile on his face. Maybe he wasn't as mean and tough as he looked. Anyone who treats his pokemon that kindly can't be a bad guy, right?

"Can I help you?" The bartender asked. I guess now that he had seen the guy was a big softie, he didn't mind at least offering some service. The man's face turned to stone again. He stepped up to the bar and sat down beside Willie. He said something in a low voice that I couldn't hear. The bartender heard and started making a sugary drink.

"You look like the type of guy who likes to battle," Willie said. What an idiot. The rider hadn't won a single battle in his life. He could barely take on weaker wild pokemon without nearly getting beat up himself. "How about we get to it?"

The man glanced over at him. He must've been out in the sun for a while because where his goggles had covered was stark white in comparison to the skin under his nose. I didn't know why he felt it was cool to draw a white line between the two areas, but whatever. It wasn't my business.

"My pokemon are tired," the man replied, "so no." His voice was a lot softer than I'd thought. I expected some sort of scratchy, deep, and maniacal voice. His was nothing of the sort.

"Shoot." Willie rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, are ya from around here? I haven't seen ya before."

"In a way, yes."

Someone started tapping on the window. The three of us turned around.

My heart caught in my throat. It was just a pokemon, I know, but this makuhita was different. It had a crazed expression on its face. His eyes were slightly open, as if it were peeking at us. The scariest part about it though was the dark purple haze surrounding it like fire. The haze didn't seem to be hurting it but instead helping it, for when he smiled, the blaze burned brighter. It looked like the pokemon was possessed by a gengar but I knew more than anyone else that pokemon did not look like that, possessed or not.

"Huh," Willie said. "You don't see a lot of those around here. Looks like it wants inside." He hopped off his stool and started towards the door. I grabbed him by the collar. The poor rider made a weird gurgling sound as I yanked him back to me.

"Are you stupid?" I hissed. "Look at that thing! It's downright crazy!"
The stranger snapped his head in our direction.

"Rui, calm down." Willie gently freed himself. "It's just a fighting type. I thought you were afraid of bug types."

"No, it's not that!" I pointed to the makuhita as it started glaring. The pokemon knew we were talking about him. "Do you not see it? Look! Something's wrong with it!"

"Pfft," Willie teased. "You're hallucinating. I'll get you some more sitrus juice when I'm done with this guy." He opened the door and peaked outside. "Hey there, little guy. What are you doing-"

The fighting type pokemon howled a fierce battle cry before lifting its heavy body off the ground and punching Willie right in the face. The surprised rider flew backwards and into the glass door which shattered upon impact. He fell into a pile of broken shards, unconscious. The bartender didn't hesitate; he ran into the back room and locked himself inside. I dropped off the stool and tried backing away.

I stopped when I felt myself back right into the strange trainer. He was taller and stronger than I thought. Backing into him was like backing into a stone statue. His golden eyes were set on the fighting type pokemon as the creature tried to step around the shrapnel to reach us.

"You said that pokemon has a black aura," he whispered close to my ear. I shivered. Ok, now this guy sounded like he was serious. It was frightening how much his voice could change. "Are you sure it's black? Or dark purple?"

There was nowhere I could go, so I answered. "Y-yeah." He paused to gather his thoughts. After a short while, he put a hand on my shoulder and gently pushed me backwards. I stepped backwards just as he stepped forwards in front of me. It might've just been me, but I got the feeling he was trying to protect me.

The makuhita was now in the gas station. The black aura around him was even darker now that he was closer. His eyes were almost fully opened now. It was creepy to be stared at a pokemon that had blood red eyes when usually it looked to so calm and focused. It smiled at the two of us, baring sharp fangs. The red rings on his cheeks were dark black and veined out in every direction like an infection. When it stepped up to the strange trainer, his pokemon leaped forward. Sharp eeveelution fangs dug into the sides of the evil pokemon's face.

Dark type moves aren't meant to do much to fighting types, but his pokemon were so strong that the pokemon fainted before it even knew what happened. It flopped onto the floor like a sack of jelly. I doubted it could even breathe through all that cheek fat on his face, but it refused to move.

I was about to congratulate the pokemon trainer, but I stopped. The device on his left arm was pulsing neon green and making a noise that sounded like an old gameboy booting up. He held his hand in front of his face, flexing his fingers. The device was strapped on to each one in a web of wires and cords. When he was sure it was on tightly, he pulled out a pokeball with his other hand and placed it back with the device.

The pokeball glowed for a brief instant. At one moment it was a normal red, white, and black ball, the next it was neon green and glowing like a lava lamp. There wasn't much time to get a good look at it before the trainer threw it and captured the makuhita without a single quiver. The ball pulsed visibly on the floor.

I froze, startled. What just happened? What happened to that pokeball? What did that device do? When the stranger leaned down to pick up the ball, I tried to get a better look. He was quick to store it in his weird robe.

"Hey," I snapped. "Let me see!" He narrowed his golden eyes at me. I froze. Holy Arceus, he was scary.

"It's better if you keep out of this." Espeon and Umbreon jumped up on his shoulders. Once the ball was secure in a hidden pocket in his robe, he turned his back on me and started out the door. His boots were so tall and thick that he didn't need to worry about trampling on the bigger pieces of glass.

"H-hey! Wait!" I stepped over the smaller piles of glass, but he was already ahead of me. "C'mon, wait for me-Eee!" Just as I jumped over a larger pile of shrapnel, I slipped. My legs gave out beneath me and started to fall backwards.

My eyes were closed and my body had stopped, but I didn't feel any glass digging into my back. I opened one eye. The strange trainer was holding my hand, stepping on my feet, and holding me up as I leaned backwards dangerously close over the pile of glass. He had an annoyed look on his face, but his pokemon were smiling. He pulled me till I was upright then backed away.

"What do you want?" he asked. It wasn't angry, he was genuinely curious what I wanted.

"What was with that pokemon? And that thing on your arm? And with that pokeball? What did you do?" He held up a hand, a signal to stop. My words came to a stop.

"It's better you stay out of it," he said. "All of it. It doesn't involve you."

"What?" I stamped my foot. "Listen here! That pokemon had a black haze around it and it attacked my friend!" Willie moaned. "Well, sort of friend." The stranger raised an eyebrow. I wish I could do that. "Forget it. I just need an explanation. What just happened?" His eyes were suddenly clouded in thought.

"You did see it, then."

"Duh. It was hard to miss." He paused.

"Normal people can't see the Haze." There was a pause.

"Um. What?" The espeon on his shoulder whipped her tail. The umbreon blinked once. "The Haze? Like… is that some sort of magic?"

"No, it's a side effect." He took my hand again and started leading me out into the desert. I was tempted to pull away, but I was getting an explanation. "That was what we call a Shadow Pokemon. They're creatures that have been altered so they can take large amounts of damage without fainting. Even when they're on the verge of fainting, these monsters will keep fighting like they're at full health. They don't mind hurting humans either."

"Altered pokemon?" I asked. "Who altered them?"

"Team Snagem." He said it like it wasn't even a problem. "They've been altering them for a while now. I'm surprised this is the first one you've seen."

"So there's a bunch of those pokemon running loose?"

"Yes. The vast majority are in Team Snagem's pockets, but a few got loose in the testing."

"You're saying this like it's nothing." He released my hand and looked back to me. Oh, Arceus, his eyes were still just as scary as before. I wasn't sure if he was going to lash out at me for saying that.

"It's not nothing," he corrected. "It's a horrible, evil, and cruel thing to do." He turned back to the road, motioning me to follow. I stepped up to his side. Ahead of us, a particularly large and expensive hover car was sitting under a rocky outcropping. Umbreon and Espeon hopped off their trainer and took a seat in a small sidecar that had been designed for pokemon. "The Haze is a side effect on each and every Shadow Pokemon. The bigger the Haze, the stronger the pokemon. You're the second person I've met who can see it."

"Well, what does that make me?"

"Gifted." He hopped up onto his hover car, where he slipped his goggles on over his eyes. "Keep an eye out for those. If you see one, run."

"Wait, you're just leaving me here?" I couldn't see his eyes under the mask, but I had a feeling he was still staring at me.

"I thought you had that 'sort of' friend back there." Oh, right. I probably should have checked to see if he was ok.

"Whatever, he's fine. Where are you going?"

"Phenac City. There's probably going to be some of Team Snagem there. I can start looking for how to cure this guy." He held up the pale green ball. "Hopefully it's not irreversible."

"Then I'll come with you." He paused, then slowly lifted up his goggles. Instead of harsh and scary, his eyes looked surprised. "I'm serious."

"I know that. I don't think you know what you're getting into."

"What? Think I'm not tough enough?" He took a moment to think.

"I don't believe you're a pokemon trainer." I stuck out my lower lip at him. He chuckled. "Not to be rude, but we're dealing with hostile pokemon here. There'll be stronger ones out there, and I don't think using fists will be a good way of defense."

"Well then, I'll buy a weapon," I solved. The trainer chuckled again.

"What's your name?" His voice was soft. I blinked in surprise. Wow. He looked kinda cute when he wasn't being all serious.

"Rui." He flashed a bright smile.

"Well, if you want to get a weapon, Phenac city might have a few shops to look at." He held out his hand. "I can give you a ride there." He helped me up onto the bike, where I climbed up and sat behind him.

"What's your name?" I asked.

"Wes," he said, revving the engine. "Hold on, it's a bumpy ride." Before I could ask what to hold onto, the bike shot forward. My arms automatically wrapped around his waist. I hid my face behind his back; the sand was blinding. I heard him and his pokemon laughing.

I hope I didn't make a mistake by trusting him.

Willie Fainted!

Wes And Rui Teamed Up!

Saving Game…

Game Saved!