The Orre region. A vast, desert wasteland. Beautiful in its way, for certain, but in many other ways, not so much. For one thing, wild Pokémon were virtually nonexistent within the region. Even the likes of Cacnea and Sandshrew, both of which thrived in arid desert environments, were a distinct rarity. This, of course, made things that much harder on what few wild Pokémon did call Orre home, particularly those who preyed on smaller Pokémon. And for another thing, Orre was riddled with crime. Mostly small-time thugs and muggers, but then there was an entire organization devoted to stealing Pokémon from unsuspecting Trainers. This organization, known far and wide across Orre as Team Snagem, despite being rather brazen in their criminal activities, have yet to be caught. There were several reasons for this, one being Snagem members having remarkable skill in escaping capture and arrest, and perhaps the biggest reason of all having to do with the location of their hideout.
Nestled away inconspicuously within Eclo Canyon, a modest building stood. Built on that site intentionally so as to not draw unwanted attention, it served as Team Snagem's main base of operations. It was a genius move on their boss's part, allowing the team to function within Orre with virtually no fear of being caught for many years.
That very boss sat in his office within said building, going over all sorts of reports from his grunts- names of Trainers with rare and powerful Pokémon, names of places where said Trainers were most likely to be found, and of course, details on the Pokémon themselves. This was all vital information for the man sifting through the reports. As for the man himself, he was very powerfully built. He wore the same red vest that most other members of Team Snagem were known to wear, but beyond that, there was nothing covering up his considerably muscular torso or arms. He was also bald, but his mustache and eyebrows made up for this in spades, both varieties of facial hair jutting out from his face in a very noticeable way.
"Heh, that's good," he chuckled to himself as he read over one report in particular. "I've heard of that guy- supposed to be one of the best. Maybe I'll see if Wes is available for this one... if he ain't here yet, I guess I'll ask Wakin instead…" The mustachioed man's malevolent monologue was interrupted by a knock on his office door. "Hm? Come in," he said.
The door opened up, and in walked a young man whose presence put a satisfied smirk on the man's face. He looked no older than 20, maybe 21 years old, and his overall appearance suggested he was something of a badass. Quite apart from the usual generic Team Snagem uniform, this man wore a distinctive blue trenchcoat over a black outfit, and a pair of black boots on his feet. His spiky hair was a sort of pale blond, and a pair of shiny, reflective, protective metal glasses sat just above his face, ready to be slid down over his eyes at a moment's notice. There was a pale stripe on his otherwise tan face indicating where said glasses usually sat. "Master Gonzap, can I talk to you?" he asked.
The man, whose name was indeed Gonzap, nodded and grinned. "Wes, m'boy, come in, come in," he said. "Have a seat. Of course we can talk. I was actually about to see if you came in yet, as fate would have it- got a job I think I can only entrust to the best. Take a wild guess as to who I mean by that," he added with a grin. "But first things first- you wanted to talk to me?"
Wes took a seat before Gonzap's desk and sighed. "It's just… I'm… I dunno, I just… I… Well, when I Snagged that Growlithe last week, that… I just, I can't get it out of my mind, the look on that girl's face. It's… I just, I can't help but think…"
Gonzap nodded. "Wes, lad, this is nothing I haven't seen before," he replied. "You're not the first Snagger to have these kinds of thoughts, nor will you be the last, and my advice to you is the same advice I give all the others- you can't dwell on these feelings. Guilt is the enemy."
Wes sighed. "Maybe you're right," he said, though without his heart in it. "It's pretty hard to get it out of my mind, though, it's, it's got me rethinking all sorts of things."
"You need a distraction," Gonzap replied firmly. "A little something to get your mind off of this, yeah? And I think I got just the thing," he added, handing Wes the report he'd been looking over. "This is some top-level stuff right here, something I think I can only entrust to the best Snagger in the business."
Wes stared at the report. "A Pikachu?" he murmured. "And the only location listed is Agate Village?"
Gonzap nodded. "The Trainer is an old man who was revered as a powerful Trainer in his youth. His Pikachu is supposed to be good. Like, Ash Ketchum good. So, yeah, you wanna take this one?" Wes gave a nod, not trusting himself to speak his mind at the moment.
After that meeting, Wes found himself pacing around in front of the Snagem Hideout. His motorcycle was parked not too far away- this unusual conveyance possessed only one wheel, and a massive engine which somehow didn't tip it over. Wes didn't fully understand what manner of physics or sorcery kept it upright, but he knew that it ran well, it moved fast, and it was well adapted for traversing the vast Orre region, so Wes, never one to look a gift Ponyta in the mouth, raised no questions on the matter. He'd had this machine for years, and it's served him quite well the whole time.
Wes was not alone, either. Sitting in his motorcycle's sidecar was a slim purple feline, whose tail split into two at one point. The Espeon looked curiously at his Trainer, sensing great unease from the man. And following Wes around as he paced was a similarly shaped feline, this one covered in black fur and the occasional yellow ring. The Umbreon looked quite concerned. "Breon?" he said to Wes.
"I'm fine, Umbreon," Wes replied, managing a brave smile.
"Espe," Espeon spoke up flatly, raising an eyebrow skeptically.
Wes sighed. "…No, I'm not," he conceded. "I… I can't do this anymore, guys. "I can't just steal innocent Pokémon from their Trainers anymore. And… and now Gonzap wants me to steal some old man's only Pokémon! But I can't just quit… Gonzap doesn't take kindly to deserters. I mean, he likes me, but even so, I hate to think how he'd react if I went and just gave him my resignation."
"Breon, Umbreon," Umbreon nodded with a shudder. Espeon also gave a nod- he and Umbreon had both witnessed Gonzap's reaction to various Team Snagem members who wished to quit, and who had been fool enough to voice said wishes to Gonzap. Ridiculous though his mustache and eyebrows made him appear, an angry Gonzap was not a pleasant sight to behold.
Wes sighed. "So… what do I do?" he murmured. He looked back desperately at the Snagem Hideout… just in time to see a pair of bald Snagem Grunts carrying an odd blue device. It was vaguely cone-shaped, looking though it was made to be worn on someone's arm. "That's the new Snag Machine," he murmured. "Yeah… Gonzap told me he'd ordered it after Wakin broke the old portable one… where he orders these things from is beyond me, though… heh, he even got it in blue like he said he would." Wes managed a small chuckle at this little detail- it was the same shade of blue as his trenchcoat, done specifically because Wes would be the one entrusted to use it the most. For a moment, he pictured himself wearing this nefarious device.
And then something occurred to Wes. Why shouldn't he wear it? It was, after all, ordered specifically for his use, even if Gonzap never explicitly said as much. In fact, why make his resignation all official and stuff when all it would achieve is angering Gonzap? Why not go out… with a bang?
"Come with me, Umbreon," Wes said, noticeably more confidence in his voice. "Espeon, guard the motorcycle. We won't be that long." With that said, Wes and Umbreon walked back into the hideout, the former piecing together his plan in mind. His first stop was a supply closet. Normally, it was locked tight, but Wes being one of Gonzap's most trusted underlings, naturally he had a key. Wes opened the door, grinning at all the high-tech devices within. The sign on the now-open door spelled out a warning in huge letters; "DANGER! EXPLOSIVES STORED IN THIS ROOM! AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY!" Below the sign was a crude drawing of a Voltorb, pretty much the universal sign for explosive. Wes paid the warning no heed- he was authorized personnel. At least, for now, anyway.
Espeon looked on as Wes emerged from the building, glasses now slid down over his eyes. He headed towards the left side of the building and attached a strange device to the wall. Then, after pressing a button on the device, he and Umbreon ran away from the building. Espeon felt a sudden sense of foreboding, and once they were within range, he cast a Reflect over Wes and Umbreon. And not a moment too soon- almost immediately afterwards, the device exploded! Confused cries and shouts emanated from the building, and Wes knew he had only moments to act. Leaving Umbreon to stare at the explosion in awe, Wes strode back over to the building, and peered in through the huge hole he'd just made in the wall. "Perfect," Wes smirked- according to plan, he'd managed to blast a hole in the wall of the Snag Machine storage room. Stepping over the twisted, mangled remnants of the large Snag Machine, he couldn't help but grin as he reached out and grabbed the portable Snag Machine. Also according to plan, the big Snag Machine was wrecked, whereas this one was left totally unscathed. Of course, he wouldn't exactly have minded if both machines were wrecked, but his initial plan was to take this one as a memento in any case.
Wes ran back out of the building, now with the cool cone-shaped device attached to his left arm, over the sleeve of his trenchcoat. It was remarkably lightweight, and according to Gonzap, it was supposed to have all sorts of new features as well, but Wes knew this wasn't the time to act like fat guys in small towns and marvel at how amazing technology is. Umbreon started running alongside him as thunderous footsteps echoed from within the building. And then, as Wes neared his motorcycle, the hideout's doors burst open, and Gonzap raced out, with numerous eerily identical Snagem Grunts following close behind. "Wes!?" Gonzap exclaimed. "What is the meaning of this?"
By now, Wes was now seated on his motorcycle, and Umbreon was sitting next to Espeon in the sidecar. He turned to smirk at Gonzap. "In case I haven't made myself clear," he called to his former boss, "I quit!"
"WHY YOU LITTLE-" Gonzap shouted, incensed beyond reason by this stunning turn of events as his voice was drowned out by the roar of Wes's motorcycle engine. "WES! GET BACK HERE, YOU UNGRATEFUL DESERTER!" Wes paid Gonzap no heed as his motorcycle started moving. "YOU TRAITOROUS SON OF A-"
BOOOM! Gonzap's screaming was cut off abruptly as Wes drew a small remote control out of his pocket and pressed its only button. This caused one of the larger bombs inside the hideout to blow up immediately, just as Wes had set it to do. It was one of the devices usually reserved for breaking into Pokémon Centers, which took the security of Pokémon in their care very seriously, so Wes knew the hideout didn't stand a chance. With any luck, maybe the explosion might even alert the authorities to the hideout's presence. As the motorcycle zoomed out of Eclo Canyon, Wes slid the glasses back up to his forehead, grinning happily, feeling more free than he'd felt in a long time.
Gonzap had abandoned his attempts to shout some sense into Wes, electing now to seethe in silent fury, glaring at the horizon over which Wes's motorcycle had long disappeared. The roar of the motorcycle was no more, leaving a deafening silence… which was soon broken by an almost laughter-like cawing sound. A glance at the sky above him revealed to Gonzap that a wild Skarmory was flying overhead, seemingly laughing at his predicament. Too pissed off to say anything, Gonzap heaved a Poké Ball at the Skarmory. Caught off-guard by this, Skarmory was turned into a shapeless mass of red energy and sucked into the ball. Once the ball had fallen back into Gonzap's hands, it had already stopped shaking. Grunting his satisfaction that Skarmory was no longer laughing at him, Gonzap glared off into the distance. Skarmory he'd deal with later. Right now, he had a traitor to attend to…
