Bandit stretched as he rolled out of bed. A feeling of warmth spread through him when he realized he was back in his home. It wasn't just a dream. He was glad that he was in his own bed, not some flea-ridden thing in a prison. Yesterday's events had really transpired.
His light mood turned sour. Yesterday really had happened. Some part of him wished that it was a dream. He crept into the other room and stole a glance at the couch. His heart fell when he saw the Treecko still passed out on the faded cushions.
He really shouldn't have expected anything different. The kid had practically begged to stay. He wouldn't just get up and leave. Bandit scowled, hating the situation. Why couldn't he just be a thief and not have to worry about the stupid Treecko with magical abilities?
A thought sprung to mind that brought a smile to the Pikachu's face. The kid asked to be taught, and Bandit had his own way of teaching. His own special way.
He hurried back into his room and began rummaging through the junk for his student's first test.
"WAKE UP!"
The Treecko jumped as something slammed against the table an inch from his face. He shot up from the couch and fell back on the other side.
"Wuzz goin' on?" he slurred, still half asleep. Memories from the day before were slowly rearranging themselves in his mind.
"Today's your first day, Jasper," Bandit reminded him, barely keeping the coldness from seeping into his voice. It took a moment for the Treecko to remember his decision regarding his name. He nearly missed the next part Bandit said. "It's your first day, and your first test."
Bandit indicated to the table. A simple wooden box rested on the table, a lock on the lid. It looked like it was pulled from the dump, and knowing Bandit, it probably was.
"What am I supposed to do with this?" Jasper asked, staring at the box.
Bandit sighed. "What is it about 'test' did you not understand?" Jasper stared at him blankly and the Pikachu face-palmed. "The box is locked. Open it."
Jasper shrugged and picked the box up. He prepared to smash it down when Bandit stopped him again.
"No! Not like that!" he exclaimed, then groaned. "You're supposed to pick the lock, not smash it until it opens."
"How was I going to know that?" Jasper snapped. "You said open the box. I was going to open it."
"Why would I give you a test that can be solved by brute force when teaching you to be a thief? What use would that have? You can't smash every lock you see."
Jasper rolled his eyes and picked up the box. He examined the lock, but couldn't distinguish anything abnormal about it. It looked like any old lock to him.
"What do I do?" he finally asked, dropping the box.
Bandit sighed and his tail turned grey. He picked a steel hair from it and gave it to the Treecko. "Use this."
Jasper accepted the needle like hair and jammed it into the lock. He heard how people picked locks by wiggling a needle back and forth. He tried the same technique, not really knowing what he was doing or the progress he was making.
Minutes ticked by and he grew steadily angrier. The stupid lock was taunting him. Bandit's not-so silent laughs didn't help. Finally, after ten minutes of struggling, he threw the pin to the ground.
"This is impossible!" Jasper shouted. "You're made this impossible to solve."
Without a word, Bandit picked up the discarded needle. He fit it into the lock, moved it a few times, and the lid popped open.
"You were saying?" Bandit grinned, sliding the box back to Jasper. He closed the lid and handed the needle back to the Treecko.
Jasper glared at him before taking the needle. He attempted to follow what Bandit did, but only achieved the same results as last time. He was close to rage quitting again when something clicked in his mind.
He took the needle out of the hole and placed his hand over the lock. Bandit leaned forward, intrigued by what was happening. Jasper didn't pay attention to him, and focused on channelling his energy.
The lid popped open and Bandit's jaw dropped.
"How did... how did you do that?" he stuttered. Jasper was whipping his hand back and forth, wincing in pain.
"Gust," he replied simply through clenched teeth. He checked his hand, looking for any injuries. Of course there were none.
"You can use flying moves?" Bandit asked, shocked over what had happened.
"Yeah. I said I can use every element, did I not?"
Bandit nodded, taking the box. The lock wasn't broken from the forced entry. The concussion of air must have moved the pistons inside, just like using a key would.
"Well, that makes this lesson useless," Bandit muttered, tossing the box over his shoulder. "No point in learning how to use a pin if you can just use Gust."
"You got any other easy tests for me to beat?" Jasper grinned cockily, enjoying the feeling of beating Bandit's test.
Bandit glared at him as he thought. The look soon changed to something more frightening: A wide smile. Jasper knew that whatever came next wasn't going to be fun.
"Oh yeah, I got another test for you," he chuckled. "I think you'll find it quite educational."
"What is it?" Jasper asked, backing away slightly.
"It's time for you to get some hands on experience."
"Why are we always on roofs?"
"'Cause anybody can see you easily from the street. No one looks at a roof expecting something bad to come flying down from above. The rooftops are your best friends."
Jasper peered over the edge of the building to the streets below. Pokémon of all types wandered throughout the streets. Storefronts sold varieties of goods, ranging from food to cloths to weapons. Customers crowded around some of these stores, trying to buy supplies.
"Why are we up here?" Jasper asked, already knowing the answer, yet fearing it. He knew what came next, but desperately wanted to avoid doing it. He wasn't that kind of Pokémon.
"Oh, nothing, just enjoying the scenery. It's such a great view from here," Bandit said sarcastically. He snorted lightly. "You begged me to teach you to be a thief. What do you think we're doing?"
"Stealing?"
"Stealing."
Jasper grimaced slightly. He didn't want to steal, but he didn't have much of a choice. He asked to be a thief, now he was going to have to act like one.
"So I just need to rob someone, right?"
"Just steal from someone?" Bandit fixed him with a stare of disbelief. "Thank Arceus you found me. You'd be dead if I hadn't taken you in."
"Stop acting like a saint," Jasper said. "Stealing isn't some form of art that's that difficult to pick up. You choose a person and you steal from them. Two steps."
Bandit rolled his eyes and got closer to the edge so he could see the entire street. He motioned for Jasper to do the same.
"Look down there and tell me who you'd steal from," he told the Treecko.
Jasper inched forward and observed the pedestrians. His gaze instantly went to the stores.
"The shopkeepers probably have a decent amount of money on them," he said.
"They do, but how would you get it off them?" Bandit posed.
Jasper bit his lip thinking. "Sneak up behind them and pick their pockets?"
"Idiotic. They have their shops and registers right there. Why would they carry so much money on them?"
"Okay, then I'd go for their registers."
"How are you going to steal something that big with no one seeing you?"
"Does it matter?" Jasper snapped.
"Yes!" Bandit cried out. "Of course it matters if someone sees you."
"Why?" Jasper demanded. "What difference does it make?"
Bandit turned serious. "Do you honestly think no one will care if they saw you walk up to a register and steal it? Do you think the shopkeeper will just allow you to do that, never mind anyone with a conscience?"
"I stole something. I'm going to be like you either way, caught or not."
"You're a thief, but that doesn't make you like me. The difference between being a thief and a prisoner is knowing who to steal from."
"Is that why you ended jail so many times?" Jasper said hotly.
He knew he crossed a line. Bandit's scowl grew, his muscles twitching. Anger seethed just below the surface.
"Yes, that's why I ended up in jail," he finally said. "I made some stupid mistakes in my early days. I barely escaped from those. I've had to be more careful nowadays because just one slip up can screw me."
Jasper's brow furrowed. That was not the answer he was expecting. Bandit's mouth was U of disgust.
"Try again," Bandit ordered, his voice low. "Make sure you're right so you don't just become another mistake."
Peering down into the streets, Jasper kept what Bandit said at the ready. He checked the Pokémon, trying to tell if they would have anything or worth on them. But he didn't have Bandit's sense for this. A Weaville looked no different to a Totodile to him when it came to wealth.
His gaze wandered to the shops again. He knew that he couldn't steal from the shops themselves, yet he still felt they were important. One of stores sold gold bracelets, the counter piled with expensive jewelry. Pokémon tried desperately to get their hands on the shiny trinkets, pouches full of Poké.
The answer clicked in his head. "From the customers!" he exclaimed. "Steal from the ones that are buying. They need to have money on them to buy stuff."
"Exactly," Bandit confirmed. He didn't give any praise. "Which one would you steal from?"
Jasper felt his heart fall again. Those that had a lot of money watched their pouches carefully. They knew how to protect their cash. The ones that had less definitely looked different. They were leaner, tougher, as they spent a lot of time defending themselves. Stealing from them would almost certainly end in a fight, one that he would lose. Even if he did somehow manage to get away, would the pay be any good?
Finally, he spotted the poor. Weak and pitiful, they carried small amounts of Poké. Jasper doubted they'd be able to do anything if they were robbed, or that anybody would help them.
"I'd go for the poorer ones," he said, hating himself inside. "They may not have much, but it'd be less risk."
"I know how you feel," Bandit said glumly. Jasper looked at him and saw actual pain on his face. "It sucks, I know, but you need to start off somewhere. Even if you don't like it, they're the ones you go for."
Bandit was once like him, Jasper realized. Only he didn't have someone teaching him the ropes. He had to figure this all out by himself.
"So should I go steal from them?" Jasper asked, dreading the answer. Those Pokémon barely had enough money as it was. He didn't want to put them farther into debt.
Bandit shook his head and relief spread through the Treecko. "Nah, you're not getting your hands dirty yet."
"So what am I going to do?"
"I'll steal and you watch," Bandit said, rubbing his hands together. "Pick the target and sit back and enjoy the show."
"Okay, I guess," Jasper shrugged. "That one." He pointed to a sickly looking Ampharos who was trying to slouch his way through the crowd unnoticed.
"What? No! I'm not stealing from that guy," Bandit protested. "I'm a master thief. Give me a challenge."
Jasper frowned and searched the crowd. He grinned evilly when he found the perfect target. "Okay then. How about that Blaziken?"
"Whoa, I said challenge, not a suicide run."
"You scared?" Jasper laughed.
"No, the risk is not even close to the reward," Bandit replied coolly, not rising to the taunt. "The guy has three friends with them. No way am I going for that."
"Oh yeah," Jasper mumbled, noticing the small group trailing close behind the Blaziken. He searched the crowd for another target when Bandit's eyes grew wide.
"Hello," the Pikachu grinned, looking down the street. "What have we got here?"
Jasper followed his gaze, but couldn't see anything. "What are you looking at?"
"Master's forces," Bandit replied simply, craning his small body for a better look. "Not many. They look loaded though."
"How can you tell them apart?" Jasper said, straining his eyes to no avail. "They all look the same to me."
"You have to know what to look for. You see how the crowd kinda parts around that group?" Bandit pointed out. Almost as soon as he said it did the indicated crowd become visible. "It's, like, a term of respect and fear. Stay out of their way unless you want to get beat."
One of the soldiers, an Electrike, knocked over the skinny Ampharos. His group laughed loudly and continued on. Jasper tensed. He wanted to jump in there and wail on them.
"Easy, tiger," Bandit said. "Watch and learn"
Cracking a few joints, the Pikachu jumped off the roof to the alley below. From there, he entered the street and melted into the crowd.
Bandit always got a kick out of this. Sneaking through a crowd to rob a soldier always gave him a warm feeling. Some would paint on their free time, or work an actual job. Not Bandit though. He was born for this.
The soldiers had come to a rest at food stand. Along with the Electivire were an Aggron, a Hariyama, a Pinser, and a Machoke. Their backs were turned to the Pikachu. A burlap bag lay on the ground behind them. It bulged in odd places, much too erratic for something soft.
Bandit grinned. This was too easy.
Without a noise, Bandit crept up behind the soldiers. Two Pokémon, a Cacturne and a Vigoroth, were having a heated argument. They were wrestling for the possession of an orb. The kind of orb escaped Bandit. He didn't use orbs that much and never really learned what they did. The two created quite a racket, reducing Bandit's chance of being heard.
Grinning, he grabbed the bag. He tugged on the burlap, but the bag didn't move. Curious, Bandit opened the hole and looked inside. He nearly gasped out loud, stopping himself at the last moment.
Inside were multiple golden idols of various Pokémon, ranging in different sizes. The smallest one was at least half his size. He grabbed that one, since the others would be too heavy to carry, or just too big to fit in his small pack.
He stuffed the idol into his bag, stumbling a step from the weight. His gaze met Jasper's on the roof, and he gave a wink and a wave. Jasper didn't return the gesture.
The Treecko had watched the short task unfold. He saw Bandit sneak into the bag and pull out the idol. However, he missed the celebratory gesture.
His attention was focused on the fight between two Pokémon, still pulling on the orb. They tugged at the same time and the orb flew free from their hands. Jasper watched as it flew through the air towards Bandit, sailing right over the Pikachu...
And nailing the Machoke soldier in the back of the head. It turned angrily to face the Pokémon who threw the orb. It didn't find them, instead eying the Pikachu holding a very valuable idol.
On the ground, Bandit saw Jasper mouth a very familiar word from the rooftop.
'Run'
"Hey!"
He turned to find himself staring up at five very angry Pokémon. They formed a semi-circle around the thief, all glaring at him threateningly. Bandit took a small step back.
"Don't run, thief," Hariyama growled.
That is exactly the opposite of what Bandit had in mind. He turned tail and ran, ducking through the crowds of frightened and confused Pokémon. Shouts came from behind as the soldiers followed in hot pursuit.
"Uh-oh," Jasper muttered as he watched the chase spring into action. Despite the idol, Bandit was fast, a mere yellow blur in the street. The soldiers were slower, but kept a good distance on the thief. If they tried, they could easily catch the hindered Pikachu on clear, straight path. Jasper didn't have many options. He joined the chase from the rooftops.
Bandit never left his sight, even when he jumped gaps between buildings. Sure he was told to stay put, but this was definitely a time to break the rules.
Bandit took a sharp left, hoping to lose his pursuers in the alleys. He didn't bother checking behind, so he had no idea what the chasers were doing. From his vantage point, Jasper saw everything.
The soldiers saw Bandit and split up, three going a block down to seal off the one other exit. The two remaining soldiers chased Bandit down the way he entered.
They were setting a trap.
Bandit rapidly approached the corner. The wall was easily thirty feet high. Challenging to scale, but not impossible with the right technique. He jumped at the wall, trying to gain traction on the brick. The bag was an anchor, and worked with gravity to pull him down. His attempt at climbing failed and he slipped to the ground. A quick glance over his shoulder showed two soldiers making their way around the corner.
A jolt of fear ran through him, and he shot off down the alley once again. The corner at the end would be a perfect place to wall jump to the roof. He'd lose the soldiers up there. They were too slow to climb after him, and he now knew the limitations of the weight of the bad he carried. All he needed to do was reach the wall and he'd be home free, a shiny idol as a reward.
From the corner of his eye, he could see a commotion on the roof. He ignored it. Just another distraction for him. It started getting more intense and he couldn't resist looking up. What he saw made him stop in his tracks.
Jasper was waving his arms frantically, a desperate look on his face. The Treecko shook his head back and forth while gesturing in the direction Bandit was running. He then pointed the other way and started running. Bandit began to ask what he was doing, but the words died in his mouth.
Shadows inched their way along the walls on the other side. Soldiers were coming from both ends. Jasper was already running along the roof away from the shadows, and Bandit decided to do the same. He spun around and ran back the way he came from.
The bag flapped crazily on his back as he ran. He searched for the Treecko on the roof but couldn't find him. Had Jasper ditched him? There was no way he would do that, not after he went through all the trouble of convincing Bandit in the first place. He turned the corner and skidded to a halt.
"Gotcha now, you little punk," the Machoke growled, stepping in front of Bandit. The Pinser manoeuvred his way behind, trapping the Pikachu between the much larger Pokémon.
Bandit's head whipped back and forth, trying to find an escape route. He found none. The soldiers were too large to get around. With the extra weight on his back, wall-running would be much more challenging to pull off.
Bandit cursed in his mind. Jasper saw this coming. That's why he bailed on the roof. The blasted Treecko knew he was going to be caught, so he hightailed it out of there as fast as possible.
"Are we gonna do this the easy way, or the hard way?" the Pinser asked, his sideways mouth clicking with anticipation. No doubt he wanted it to be the hard way.
Anger flared in Bandit's mind. No way was he letting the Master get any satisfaction out of this. If he was getting caught, he was going out with a bang. He shrugged his shoulder, freeing one arm of the strap.
He didn't get time to remove the other strap. The Pinser lunged at him, forcing the Pikachu to dive. Its claws narrowly missed him, but the beetle was on its feet quickly. Bandit backed up and hit stone.
A horrible feeling passed through Bandit when he realized what he'd done. He just backed up into a wall, and the soldiers now had him right where they wanted. They grinned evilly at the cornered Pikachu.
"Looks like he chose the hard way," the Machoke laughed, cracking his knuckles. The Pinser remained silent, instead snapping his pincers together. Bandit closed his eyes and shrunk back into the corner, and they pounced on him.
A battle cry pierced the air, forcing Bandit to open his eyes. A set of green tentacles wrapped themselves around one of the beetle's pincers. He staggered back, an unexpected burden forcing him off balance. The Machoke stared dumbly at his partner, not sure of what to do as the bug fell heavily to the ground. Bandit gasped.
Jasper panted hard, his vines still stuck around the thrashing Pinser. The Machoke regained his sense and charged the Treecko. Jasper was too tired to move and was hit full on by the attack. His vines snapped from the bug as he was lifted into the air by the fighting type.
"You wanna be a hero?" the Machoke spat, holding Jasper against the wall. His partner was quickly freeing himself behind him. "Then you get to see what happens to those who try."
He raised a fist to pummel the grass type's head in.
"Oi!" yelled a voice from behind him. "You forgetting something?"
The Machoke turned angrily to face the Pikachu. Bad move on his part.
Bandit spun quickly, releasing the bag from his grasp. It hurtled straight towards the Machoke's head. The fighting type was too stunned to react, and the bag struck him in the face. He released his grip on Jasper and both fell to the ground in a painful heap.
The thief didn't waste any time. The Pinser was almost up, blocking their escape route from the alley. "C'mon!" Bandit yelled, grabbing the idol. "Let's go!"
Jasper was on his feet in an instant. The two criminals retreated deeper into the alley while the soldiers behind them recovered. The victory was short-lived.
The shadows were still at the end of the alley. The other half of the soldiers were still waiting there. Bandit figured that they as long as they could get to the corner, they could make it up to the roof. It was a long shot, but it their only chance.
"They're trapped in the alley!" the soldiers shouted out from behind them. "Get them before they escape!"
Just then, the shadows at the end of the alley stirred. The thieves skidded to a halt and shared a fearful glance. No more escape routes for them.
Jasper stared in vain at the rooftops. The fight exhausted him. Using the Vine Whip then getting slammed drained him. Bandit might have been able to make it, but the load on his back would be too heavy. He would have to ditch the idol.
He saw the Pikachu staring grimly around them. Jasper knew that they were thinking the same thing: they were doomed.
Well, maybe not. There was still one other option, an option that Jasper didn't even want to consider. The commotion coming from both sides showed him he didn't have much of a choice.
He took a deep breath, steeling his nerves. This was going to hurt a lot.
Bandit could almost see the body of one the soldiers when he was tackled from behind. The blow was so unexpected, it knocked the wind from his lungs. He saw the ground rush up to him, but he didn't hit it.
Reality warped around him. The ground faded away into complete darkness. His entire body was enveloped with a... a sensation. He couldn't describe it well. It felt like his body was being ripped apart, but he felt no pain. It just felt... odd. He couldn't breathe, he couldn't feel. He was at the mercy of whatever was happening.
A jolt of horror ran through his mind. He couldn't breathe! Was he going to suffocate? He didn't want to die like that. He didn't want to die in general.
As fast as it came, the feeling vanished and his vision returned. He hit the ground hard, the bag slipping off his head and rolling along the floor. Jumping to his feet, he prepared to continue the sprint. But there was no one else around.
He was in a completely different area. The walls around him were still brick, only they surrounded him on four sides, not two. He was in a room, a storage room from the looks of the many crates. He had been transported from the alley. A sudden sharp gasp of pain came from behind. Bandit spun around to face it.
Jasper lay on cold stone, writhing in pain. His first gasp escalated into a series of short screams. They were pitiful sounds, but filled with agony. Bandit couldn't help feeling sorry for the kid.
"Where the hell did they go?"
The roar of rage came from the other side of the brick wall. The same wall Jasper cried next to. The brick didn't seem to fully stop voices from travelling through to the room.
"I don't know, boss," said a different voice, another soldier. "They were gone when we got here."
"Pokémon don't just up and vanish into thin air!" the first voice yelled. "Especially if they are types that can't use teleport!"
In the silence that followed, Jasper let out another cry of pain, the loudest one yet. Bandit breathed in sharply, gaze locked to the wall. He waited fearfully for a reaction from the other side.
"What was that?"
"It sounded like someone crying, sir."
The soldiers heard. Would they be able to piece together what caused the sound though? Bandit didn't want to find out. He rushed over to Jasper, roughly covering the Treecko's mouth with a hand. Jasper struggled from the sudden contact, cries stifled by Bandit's hand.
"Dude, calm down. It's me," Bandit whispered harshly. "Stop struggling. The soldiers will hear us."
Jasper stopped moving, but Bandit could hear his breaths coming in quick, sharp gasps. He could feel the Treecko's heart beating like a frenzied drummer.
"Where did it come from?"
Bandit leaned from the wall. He didn't want the soldiers to accidently feel the hammering of his pulse through the brick. 'Please go away, please go away, please go away,' Bandit mumbled to himself silently, repeating the same words in hope that they would repel the soldiers.
"It was probably nothing. C'mon, let's get out of here. Sarge is going to pissed that we lost that idol."
Bandit could hear the soldiers trudge away along the alley. Within minutes, all was quiet. He let out a nervous laugh, which quickly consumed him in a full fit. He wasn't dead, he wasn't captured. He was still free to do whatever he wanted.
And he couldn't be happier.
He looked down at Jasper. The Treecko's eyes were closed and his breath slow and shallow. Sometime during the panic, Jasper must have passed out. Whether it was from pain, fear or exhaustion, Bandit didn't know.
Bandit knew one thing though. Jasper was the one that saved them. He used his curse to get them both out of danger, even when he knew it would hurt like hell. Jasper could have easily saved himself, yet he chose to stick with Bandit.
The head of the gold idol was poking through the top of the bag. Bandit pulled it out for examination. He nearly burst into laughter once again.
The idol was a small version of Arceus. The head was deformed from when he launched it at the Machoke. Despite the dent, it was still an amazing piece of art. The features of the god Pokémon were intricate and beautiful.
As Bandit gazed at the statue, he felt like he should thank someone to for the gift of continued freedom. Without them, he would've been caught.
"Thanks," he said softly. He wasn't looking up when he said it. Instead, he was looking down at the passed out Treecko.
