Wow, a rather quick update, what's the occasion? Nothing really... Just it's shorter than a lot of the others because it's only exposition and flashbacks!
Chapter 14: Shadows of the past
Wes walked in carrying a mug of tea, Rui, Michael, and Jovi followed carrying a few more mugs for Zinnia, Noah, Zoroark, Red and Toon Link. "Here, have some of Rui's Pecha Berry tea." Wes said.
"Thank you." Red said. The rest of the Smashers politely accepted it. They took a few quick sips and were rather surprised at how good it tasted.
"I guess I should start at the very beginning of this story..." He glanced over at Michael and Jovi. "We are not biological siblings. I was adopted into their family. And I'm going to start this tale with my life beforehand..."
Wes just sat down in a chair, and took a sip of the tea.
"I never knew my real parents, and I was raised by a man named Gonzap." Wes said. "Gonzap, well, any time I asked him who my parents were, and where I was from, he told me that my parents had a debt to pay to him. And until they got the money, he would keep me and I wouldn't see them. All they would know about me was that I was okay in a photo that he allegedly sent once every month. Orre was such a garbage dump, I honestly believed it. Nowadays, I think that's a load of crap. He probably found me in a dumpster, and had some form of human emotion in his heart. He trained me to be a thief since I could walk, and talk. He said people would never suspect a kid..."
A young boy with platinum blond hair just quickly dashed through the streets.
"Thief! Get back here you stupid kid!" A person shouted.
The young boy just let out a laugh. "No one is going to stop if you ask them to!" He just dashed through some narrow alleyways and eventually lost the pursuers. He just got what he stole out and made his way back to the hideout.
"Oh! Look there's little Wes!" A gang member laughed. "Had a good day?"
"Yeah!" Wes smiled. " I got some goods, where's dad?"
"The usual spot, but it seems he's busy and has a guest, so you might want to wait a few minutes before reporting in some stuff." The gang member said.
"Understood." Wes replied.
The hideout was in shambles, but it was all he knew, to him it was home. He just sat down on a couch, outside of Gonzap's office. Eventually falling asleep.
He was woken up sometime later by Gonzap. Gonzap was a rather tall, bald, burly man, with a long jagged mustache, and weird eyebrows that seemed to form horns of hair. He wore a vest with no shirt underneath to show off his muscles and some scars that were across his chest. The other people in the gang said it was to make him intimidating. But to the young Wes, he never really thought of it like that. He just thought Gonzap hated sweating and having to constantly change shirts in the desert's harsh heat.
"Seems like you were waiting for quite a while. Sorry about that squirt." Gonzap laughed. "That meeting took a lot longer than I thought it would!"
Wes just nodded. He went over the various events of the day, recalling his heist. "And then they told me to stop!" Wes laughed. "What kind of idiot thinks I actually would?"
Gonzap just laughed and ruffled the boy's hair. "That's my boy!" He laughed. "Come on, let's go get dinner!"
As far as Wes was concerned, this was his family. They taught him all he needed to know. How to read and write, math, history, and other things such as playing poker, or gambling. They even taught him how to rock climb without a Pokémon or any harnesses. Then one day a grunt approached him.
"Hey Wes!" He said. "We found something, the only problem is that it's too small for all of us to go in, but maybe you'll be able to sneak in."
Wes just looked rather surprised. "Okay, I can try." Wes said. "But should we run this by the boss first?"
"Nah, don't worry about it." The grunt said. "If you find anything, bring it out, okay?"
Wes was brought outside to a cave, they entered and soon found a smaller crevice. The peon just handed Wes a bunch of rope, and Wes entered. Soon he got through the small entrance and got to some rather large hallways. He just made his way through the halls, using the rope as a marker so he didn't lose his way through all the twists and turns. And then, he eventually came to what appeared to be an altar. There was a podium with a black sphere on it. He just grabbed the sphere and put it into a bag and just quickly began to run back to the entrance. When he came out of the cave, Gonzap was there, looking none to pleased. The grunt was being held up by his shirt, and for the first time Wes saw Gonzap rather angry.
When Gonzap saw Wes, he dropped the grunt and just rushed to Wes. "You're safe!" Gonzap said, picking him up and giving him a rather big bear hug. "Your safe, thank Arceus you're safe!"
Wes just looked a bit confused.
"Don't ever do that again!" Gonzap suddenly said scolding Wes. "You don't know how dangerous that could have been! You didn't consult me first!"
"I'm sorry." Wes apologized. "I did get this though..."
Gonzap let him down and Wes handed over the bag.
"It was on an altar in the caves. So it might be valuable..." Wes said.
Gonzap just nodded. "I'll have some people look at it." He said. "Was there anything else in the ruins?"
Wes however shook his head. "No, just that and some murals and what looked like some ancient writing that I didn't understand."
Gonzap just nodded. "All right. Wes, never do that again." He said sternly. "For ruins and other places like that we scout ahead in advanced, and make sure there are no traps."
Wes just nodded.
And the days and weeks went by. Eventually Wes was called to Gonzap's office. He just took a seat, and fidgeted around. "Wes, do you remember a few weeks ago when you went into those ruins?" Gonzap asked.
Wes just nervously shook his head. "Yes sir..."
"You brought back a rock, and I sent it to some of our partners to look at it." Gonzap explained. It was hard to get a read on him. Wes couldn't tell if Gonzap was happy, angry, or frustrated, he was just a blank slate. "And one of them is rather pleased with it. They're called Cipher. I'm still not happy that you put yourself in danger, and didn't follow proper procedure. However, they are extremely happy, and are willing to pay us a pretty penny for this."
Wes just nodded.
"The next time you do something like that without consulting me first, there will be far more serious consequences than just no dessert for a few weeks." Gonzap said. "Do I make myself clear?
"Yes sir." Wes replied.
Gonzap just smiled. "Good, now then, I'll see you later."
Wes nodded. Work went on, and weeks, months, and even a few years passed. And then a meeting was held. All of the people of Team Snagem were there. "Some other group thinks that they can just waltz right into Orre!" Gonzap said rather frustrated, "well, not on my watch! We're going to kick their ass out of Orre and show them who's boss!"
The next few weeks was scouting out, and checking the new gang, and who they were. Wes practically went alone, after all no one would suspect a kid, and it was easy for Wes to just go to a few other kids and just ask to join in a game of soccer or whatever else they were playing. If the other gang noticed, they just saw some local kids looking at them.
Wes would then report back with his findings. They sent a few other scouts to confirm that it was accurate, and planned to attack and raid the base.
Soon the big day came, and Wes was with everyone else in Team Snagem, ready to attack the base.
For the most part the attack went as planned. Wes had stayed behind at a considerable distance to watch and make sure everything was going smoothly, and inform them if anything happened outside via radio. And then something went wrong... They were met with next to no resistance. It was a surprise attack but, it was still too easy.
"How are things looking out there?" Gonzap asked through a communication device.
"I don't see any movement..." Wes replied.
There was a loud clanging from the the communication's device. "Shit! They were expecting us!"
And then their communications were jammed. All that Wes could hear was the sound of static. He just carefully observed the base. He saw a small group sneak out the back and began to slowly approach him. As the group got closer, Wes quickly climbed the cliff side and hid in a cave.
He didn't have any Pokémon on him, as Pokémon were a luxury in Orre. Gonzap had talked about rewarding Wes with a Pokémon, but he had said it was going to have to wait until after they got rid of this rival gang. Not to mention that for his previous scouting missions, it probably would have raised suspicion if a kid had a Pokémon on him. He was defenseless and outnumbered.
"I don't see him."
"He must of saw us coming and hid."
"He couldn't have gone too far, spread out, find him, and then capture him alive. If he resists you can rough him up a bit, but he's a valuable hostage since their leader treats him like his own son."
The group of four just began to spread out. Wes could only watch as they just quickly looked at all the obvious spots.
"The only other place he could have gone was either climbing down, or climbing up..."
Wes suddenly felt his heart skip a beat. He was going to be found.
"I see a cave up there in the cliff side."
"Could he have climbed up there?"
Wes just quickly turned to cave and began to run deeper into it. As far as he could tell it went on for a while. Everything that Gonzap and the rest of Team Snagem had taught him began to come back. "Listen, if you're ever being chased, they won't give up easily, and they might send their Pokémon after you to act as a maker. You need to know if you're being tracked by a Pokémon."
Wes suddenly heard a horrible screeching sound. He brought his hands up to his ears to block the sound.
He soon came to another cliff inside the cave. He could hear water flowing down below. Feeling that his best bet was the underground river he just quickly began to descend the cliff. Hopefully he could follow the river to get to a path that led outside.
"Where the hell did they go?"
Wes just froze and looked up, he could see the four up on the top of the cliff. "Zubat, use supersonic once again!"
That horrible screeching happened once again. As much as it hurt Wes' ears, he just held onto the cliff side and bared with it, if he let go, it probably wouldn't end well for him.
They all suddenly looked down right at Wes.
"He's climbing down the cliff!?"
"Without a harness? Is this kid insane?"
Wes tried to speed up his pace.
"Zubat, go down there and try and stop him!"
The Zubat rushed down and just began to frantically fly around him. The next thing Wes knew was that fear took over, he lost his grip and fell into the raging river down below.
Somehow Wes survived, he had washed up onto a riverbank outside. Slowly he got his bearings. All he could see was just some trees. He was in a forest. He looked at the river a bit shocked. "If I'm still in Orre, then that would mean I'm in the northwestern forest..." he muttered to himself.
It didn't help him all that much. He had no idea where he was beyond that vague general area. He tried to remember some of the geography of Orre's northern forest. If he followed the river at one end, right by the sea, was Gateon Port. At the other end, right by Mt. Battle, was Agate Village. He just didn't know which way was which, or which way would be better.
Eventually he just began to travel downstream. "Either way, I'll get to somewhere with people, and then I'll be able to contact Gonzap..."
Wes just froze, and began to wonder what happened after he lost contact with everyone during the raid. He hoped that they were all fine, after all they were still family to him.
He continued to walk, eventually beginning to get hungry. He found a few berries growing on a tree and just quickly ate some and continued onwards until it got dark.
Wes eventually fell asleep. He woke up in the morning and continued his journey until he suddenly saw a bunch of dead trees. In the middle of the dead trees was a strange house. He wanted to avoid it however dark clouds had suddenly covered the sky and rain began to pour.
Being used to the dry desert, rain was a rare thing to him, and he was rather enthusiastic about it. At least until there was a loud clap of thunder and a bolt of lightning. Terrified he ran towards the house.
He just got closer to the old white house. It looked rather dirty, and there were strange antenna's sticking out of it, but Wes didn't care. He just frantically began to pound on the door.
Eventually an old man in a lab coat opened the door. Wes couldn't help but think that his attire was weird. He had purple pants and a yellow shirt on underneath the lab coat. He had a small beard and long white hair that was pointing up towards the sky. He wore thick glasses that obscured his eyes. "I thought I told you blasted people that I wasn't interested in anything, and I won't be buying." He then looked down and saw the crying Wes. "Oh what, are you one of the brats who always rings my doorbell and then runs away?"
Another thunder clap happened and Wes just let out a terrified scream.
"Fine get in!" The old man said.
Wes just rushed inside. He found an old couch that he sat on. The old man just threw a towel to him. "You're dripping water everywhere." He said. Wes just used it to dry off. "I'm Dr. Kaminko, and you are."
"Wes."
"I see." Dr. Kaminko said. "And what are you doing out here?"
"I'm lost..." Wes replied.
Dr. Kaminko just nodded. "Well, you can stay until the storm clears. But then I want you out! If the storm doesn't clear by night, you can sleep in the guest room." He just pointed to a door. "Now then, in the meantime, I'm returning back to my inventions. And I don't want to be interrupted."
Wes just nodded, and Dr. Kaminko just walked away. After several minutes Wes looked around the house, his instincts from Team Snagem began to kick in. He was looking for anything valuable, or the sign of anything valuable. But there was nothing. Perhaps the most important and valuable thing, at least regarding Wes' current situation, was a map of Orre that was hung on the wall.
Wes just studied the map, making note of a building that was north of the house called Pokémon HQ Lab. As far as he could tell it was quite a distance away, about the same distance as Agate Village and Gateon Port.
He slowly made his way to a door, and opened it, it led to a basement, and he sneaked down. He just saw Dr. Kaminko working on something at a table. "Eureka!" He shouted out. "I finished it!" He just held out the object in his hands, and it looked like it was an ordinary light bulb.
Wes just sighed and made his way back upstairs. He was thinking whatever this doctor invented it may have been worth it to steal it and get back to the base, however it just seemed to be useless junk. He went to the kitchen and just got some food. There was next to nothing in the fridge, and his cupboards were bare beyond a few boxes of granola bars. Wes just grabbed a few and began to eat.
At night time the storm didn't let up. Wes just stayed in the guest room and quickly fell asleep. However he was woken up at 2 in the morning by something.
"Help me! Please help me!"
Wes' eyes just bolted open and tried to look for the source of the sound."
"Help me please!" it cried out. It was soft, and faint. It sounded like a girl. Wes tried to look around the room, and quickly sneaked out of the room and checked a few other nearby rooms to find the source, however he could only hear it in the guest room.
He went to a few vents to see if the noise was traveling through them. But he heard nothing. Only when he got on the bed could he hear the soft cry. "Help me!"
Wes just looked around absolutely terrified.
The soft cries for help were then replaced with a blood curdling scream. Wes' body just reacted on it's own. He just ran away from there, fleeing into the forest during the night. He soon lost sight of where he was. Soon he was just lost in a dark forest. He collapsed against a tree and just gasped for air, eventually falling back asleep.
When he woke up in the morning, he realized he was truly lost now, not even having the river to lead him downstream.
Lost, frustrated, and scared, he did the worst thing someone in his situation could do, he started moving once again.
For days, Wes traveled through the forest with nothing to guide him, not even knowing if he was going the right way. He was growing more exhausted, and was slowly reaching his last legs. His clothing was tattered. His feet were covered in blisters and cuts. He was covered in burs and dirt.
For a kid in his situation it was a bit of a surprise that he lasted as long as he did without panicking and losing hope. On the other hand, Gonzap had always drilled it into his mind to never panic.
"Wes, never panic!" Gonzap would say. "The moment you begin panicking it's all over. Just remain calm, no matter what the situation. And then with a calm mind, you will be able to conquer any situation that comes up."
Wes just tripped and fell, he struggled to get back up. His body was shaking from his current situation. He hadn't eaten for three days. He was barely hydrated. The young boy just somehow stumbled forwards. He was clinging on to some small fragment of hope. That the next step would bring him out of the forest, that someone would see him and help him. That was all that was pushing him forwards at this point.
The trees began to thin out, and as he stumbled forwards he could see a white building with a gigantic pokeball on top.
He fumbled out of the trees and just weakly smiled. "I've made it!" He muttered before collapsing on the stone walkway, and blacking out.
Wes had finished drinking his cup of tea and just looked around at the Smashers and Zinnia who were intently listening. "Sorry I finished my tea. I need some more." Wes said. "Just take this moment to take a break."
He got up and walked out. The Smashers just either sat there and tried to digest the information. Or they got up and stretched a bit. Zinnia also got up. "Well, I heard what I wanted, he took it from the shrine, and it was sold to the highest bidder. I'm going to start looking at all the ruined labs I can find."
"I think that there may be more to his story that concerns you." Toon Link said.
Zinnia just let out a small sigh and sat down. "You really don't have to listen to his life story."
"Probably not." Red said. "But right now, we don't have any other leads, or anyone else to tell us what happened in this world. Besides, my trainer intuition is telling me that Wes is the best person to tell us."
Wes came back a few minutes later with more tea. He just sat down, took a deep breath, and readied himself once again.
When he came to he was in a nice warm bed. The room was white and sterile. He just looked around. "Am I dead?" He muttered. His eyes focused on a woman wearing pink. To him, she looked like an angel. In her arms was a baby with short red hair.
"You're finally up." She said.
The young boy just nodded, unsure of what to do. Where was he? Who was this strange woman? Was he safe? Was she going to hurt him?
"I'm so glad you're okay." She said. "We just found you collapsed outside of the Pokémon HQ Lab."
The boy's thoughts were racing, from such a young age he had learned never to trust anyone. That trust would only lead to disaster. He was also extremely cautious because of what had happened at Dr. Kaminko's house. Noticing the young boy's distress she just quickly engaged in some small talk to try and calm him down.
"My name is Lily." She said. "I live here. And what's your name?"
"Wes..." The boy muttered.
She smiled. "What a nice name." She said. "This is my son, Michael."
Wes' eyes just traveled around the room, eventually just noticing an IV in his arm. He winced.
"If you don't move, it won't hurt." Lily said. "It would probably just be best if you just stayed still. The doctor said you were extremely dehydrated and malnourished. We can probably get the IV out tomorrow and start you on food then."
Wes weakly nodded.
Throughout all of this the young baby Michael was just trying to reach out for Wes. Lily finally noticed and just let off a small laugh. "He wants to meet you." She said. "Do you want to hold him?"
"Sure..." Wes said.
Lily just carefully handed over Michael to Wes. The baby just nudged himself into Wes' arm. Wes was a bit surprised. "How old is he?" Wes asked.
"Five months." Lily replied.
Soon they had to leave, and Wes was just alone in that room. Occasionally Lily came back to check on him. They even brought the TV in so that he could watch some movies and cartoons.
Wes recovered, and for the most part he was enjoying it at the Pokémon HQ. He got to watch over Michael. It was looking like he could settle down and live with them.
And then Social Services came.
Wes thought it was a rather long and boring process. "Where did you come from?" They asked.
Gonzap had always made sure to say that since he was just a kid, he could easily just plead ignorance. But if anyone ever asked about his parents, or his home life, he just had to reply. "I grew up on the streets." Wes replied. "I don't have a family."
"That was apparently the wrong answer, as the next thing I knew was that I was in a car driving away from the Pokémon HQ lab." Wes said. "Although, in the end, it didn't really matter that much, because in less than a week I was back. I figured that Lily and her husband had said something. Soon it was pretty much official, I was adopted into their family."
"Honestly now I can't imagine life without you bro." Michael said.
Wes just nodded. "There's 7 years between us. And for 9 years I thought of them as my family. They really were. We laughed, played, and cried together. I used to think of Team Snagem as my family too, but I quickly found out that there was something different between the two families. Honestly, I was probably the happiest I had ever been. I even got my first two Pokémon there at the lab, a pair of Eevee's that later evolved into Espeon and Umbreon. I was 16 about to turn 17, and I was sent on an errand to get some groceries. That's when everything changed..."
Wes had just stepped out of a grocery store. He was about to get ready to call a cab to drive him back to the Pokémon HQ lab, when he suddenly felt the presence of a few people behind him.
"Hey guys, look it's Wes!"
Wes just turned around, and was a bit shocked to see four Team Snagem members.
"What do you want?" Wes asked.
"Don't you remember your old pals at Team Snagem? How come you never call? Have you found a nice cushy place to live now?" One asked. They just motioned for him to follow him. Realizing that they could probably overpower him, Wes agreed.
They just escorted him to the old hideout in Eclo Canyon. And eventually just put him into a room. "Wait here, the boss will be with you in a few minutes."
The door closed, and there was an audible click signaling that he was locked in the room and couldn't escape. Wes just let out a heavy sigh, and waited. He thought that he had forgotten a bunch of Team Snagem stuff. But one by one the memories just flooded back in, mainly that disastrous mission.
The door unlocked, and in walked Gonzap.
Wes didn't know what to expect. He certainly didn't expect to see Gonzap crying.
Gonzap just walked over and hugged Wes. "You're alive!" He managed to stammer out.
Wes never knew Gonzap to be an emotional man. If he ever did show emotion it was anger. He always toned it down if Wes was in the room, but if he wasn't he could always hear Gonzap's voice echoing throughout the base.
"So are you." Wes managed to reply, a bit shocked. He didn't exactly know how to take or react to this scene.
"What happened that day?" Gonzap asked.
Wes just looked down at the ground.
"It's alright. Take your time, you don't have to answer me right away?"
"After communications were cut off, I hid in a cave." Wes replied. "The people from the rival gang came up, I imagine our plan was leaked. They began to search the area and noticed the cave. I traveled to the end of it, where there was a cliff and an underground river. I tried climbing down, but their Zubat startled me and I fell in the river, I washed up on shore later... What happened on your end?"
"It was a trap, and we walked right into it. Steve betrayed us, and leaked everything." Gonzap replied. "We were putting up a fight so they sent the four to capture you, and use you as a hostage... They came back and said that you fell to your death... The boys said they never saw me that angry. I whited out due to rage after that, and apparently I had my Pokémon single-handedly destroy their entire base. They were begging for mercy."
"I'm glad that everyone was safe then after that..." Wes said. "So, what do you want? I doubt you got me here just to catch up on old times."
"We're planning a heist. We want something... and we know you're quite familiar with the area." Gonzap said. "The Pokémon HQ Lab."
Wes just went white, and lost all will to fight.
"The way I see it, we can do this the easy way, or the hard way." Gonzap said. "The easy way, well you go in, and since you live there, you can just steal what we want, if you get the right thing then you can go back to your life and we'll never bother you again... Or, we could do it the hard way, we can go there and take whatever we want by force and hurt whoever gets in our way. We'll give you some time to decide."
He just lightly patted Wes on the back and they walked out of the room and locked the door.
Wes just scoffed. "Decide? Like you're actually giving me a choice." He tried to sink further into the chair, hoping that it would just eat him. He didn't even know what Gonzap would be interested in there. All that they were doing was work on a possible battle simulator. As far as he knew, that exactly wouldn't be of any use to Team Snagem.
Time passed.
Wes was just sitting in the room, waiting. He was still scared. Part of him was saying that they would at least come in and ask him what he was going to do before setting out, and that he should have nothing to fear.
There was a knocking at the door. "Wes, it's me." Gonzap said.
"Come in." Wes weakly replied.
Gonzap just came over and sat on the other chair. He looked at Wes who was now just looking down at the floor, and was extremely engaged with the pattern on the carpet.
"Have you thought it over?" Gonzap asked.
Wes just weakly nodded. "I'll do it, so please, please don't hurt anyone there." He muttered.
Gonzap smiled. "That's my boy."
"So, what is it that you want me to steal?" Wes asked. "If you know enough to know that I'm living there, you should know enough that they're only working on a battle simulator."
"We do." Gonzap replied.
Wes just looked up in shock. "You do?"
"Yes, and we want the Pokémon data that's being used in the simulator. For whatever reason, we've got some high paying customers who want that data."
Wes just nodded. At least on the bright side it was something that was something he could just copy. Although he was still a bit confused. Mainly because nearly all of the data was publicly available information. What type of moves Pokémon can learn, at what levels, what moves they can inherit from their parents. Were they the only ones who had compiled it in this format?
"Fine." Wes sighed. "I don't see the point though, but fine, if it will keep everyone else safe... But just one word of caution, Gonzap, if you go back on your word after I deliver the data, and you hurt anyone, there will be hell to pay!"
Gonzap just smiled. "I am a man of my word. Just get that data, and everything will be fine."
"Okay." Wes said.
"Now, I'd like to discuss other things."
"Such as?" Wes wondered.
"Why, tomorrow is your birthday isn't it?" Gonzap wondered.
"The day you said was my birthday..." Wes weakly replied.
"Wes, please look at me son." Gonzap said. "Listen, I may not of always treated you the best, but I did think of you as my son. That day, when everything went bad. I was afraid that you were killed. Deep down, I was telling myself that I raised a strong boy who wouldn't get killed, that he would survive and find his way back to the base. But, the days and weeks passed. And I had given up all hope. I fell into despair and thought you were dead. Could you imagine my surprise when I found out that you were still alive a few months ago."
"I'm sorry." Wes replied.
"Come with me. Let me show you what we've made." Gonzap said.
He just got up and followed behind Gonzap, and he was eventually taken to a room. He soon saw a machine that looked like an orange vending machine. "This was given to us by a group known as Chiper. They wanted us to use this to steal Pokémon. Of course it's kind of clunky. But we've been doing some work and have made some improvements and have made this!"
There was what looked like a broken mannequin. On it's left shoulder was a shoulder pad, and then a metal pipe that went down and was joined with what looked like a hand guard. "A portable snag machine!" Gonzap laughed. "Soon we'll be stealing lots of Pokémon!"
Wes just nodded.
"Now then, you know I like paying people for when they do jobs." Gonzap said. "And, well consider it a bit of a belated birthday gift too."
He was soon in front of a giant red bike, with a passenger car. Wes just stared at it shocked. "What?"
"It's yours." Gonzap said, handing over some keys to him. "Drives like a dream. Happy Birthday. Just get that data, and then you can go do whatever you want. Or go wherever you want. You can even come back here and live with us!"
"Thank you." Wes said. "Was it this Cipher that wanted the data?"
"Yeah." Gonzap laughed. "You catch on quick! You still have your instincts with you Wes. If you ever get tired of your life at the lab, there's still a spot open for you here at Team Snagem."
"I'll get you your data." Wes said. "Give me a week. I don't want them getting suspicious, if this disappearance is anything to go by."
"All right." Gonzap said.
Wes just got on the bike and began to drive it. It took a few minutes for him to get used to it. Notably the wind getting into his eyes. But he endured and he was soon back at the Pokémon lab. He pulled out the bag of food that the Snagem grunts were nice enough to put in the passenger seat.
"Wes, what happened?!" Lily said confused. "You were gone an unusually long time."
"Oh, I just met up with some old friends." Wes replied. "It was a bit unexpected, and they wouldn't take no for an answer."
"Oh I see." Lily smiled, but deep down Wes knew she was questioning it since Wes had never brought up his previous life before he appeared on the steps of the lab and if he did it was as an extremely vague statement. "Well, go find Michael. He hasn't stopped asking when you'll be back."
"Okay, thanks." Wes said.
Wes just let off a sigh. "Of course he would be wondering where I am. I can't go to the washroom without him bothering me..."
Wes continued through the hallways, with every employee he passed, he cringed and felt a bit unsure. He was worried, after what he would do, would he be allowed to stay here? Would they chase him out afterwards?
He made it back to their living area.
"Big brother!" Michael just immediately jumped up and slung his arms around Wes' neck and hung from his back. "You're back!"
"Yeah, I am." Wes laughed, at his 9 year old brother.
"Guess what?" Michael said.
"What?" Wes wondered.
"Well, I wanted to buy you a birthday gift. So Mom helped me pick out something for you!" Michael said. He passed over a wrapped box. "Open it!"
"My birthday is tomorrow, squirt." Wes reminded him.
"I know, but I want to see you open it now!" He said.
"Fine." Wes replied admitting defeat. He knew not to bother trying to out stubborn his younger brother. He just began to open the carefully wrapped gift wrap, and was greeted with a box holding a new pair of sunglasses. He just immediately took them out of the box and put them on. He looked at himself in the mirror. Wes did have to admit he looked pretty damn cool. "Thanks squirt."
Wes just embraced his younger brother.
That night they had a small birthday party for Wes. As far as Wes could tell it seemed peaceful. But one day, as he was walking around the labs with Michael and Jovi, he over heard some scientists talking.
"There saying that Pokémon are suddenly getting violent and attacking humans." A scientist said.
"No way."
"Yeah, it's all over the news..."
Curious, Wes looked it up, and sure enough there were reports of Pokémon attacking humans. He just got up and began to walk until he found his mother and Professor Krane.
"Mom, Professor Krane, can we talk?" Wes said.
The two just looked at the trainer. "Of course, about what?" Lily asked.
Wes just motioned towards a table and he began to explain everything that had happened over the previous week and some of his previous life. How as a child he was in a gang known as Snagem and they were the only family he had. How he was taken away from his parents when he was a young age because they had a debt to Gonzap. How when he went into town, he had unfortunately met up with some Snagem members and was given an ultimatum. Either he stole the data at the lab, or they'd come and take it by force.
"I see... so that's what happened..." Lily said.
Wes just nodded.
"Well we can't allow any harm to come to us." Professor Krane said. "We can increase the security..."
Wes just nodded. He was walking down the hallways when he suddenly was stopped by an assistant, Professor Ein.
"Wes, I couldn't help but over hear your story. How about this... We give them some of the data, but it also has a virus on it, that will destroy their computers."
"That would be a great idea!" Wes said.
Professor Ein just smiled. "I'll get on it right away."
Within a day, Professor Ein was done. He called Wes into his office, and for the first time Wes looked around. Across the walls of Ein's office was pictures of fossils. Wes just looked at them a bit shocked.
"Professor Ein, what are these?" Wes asked.
Ein just laughed. "Oh, I had a passing interest in archeology. Still do, when I came to Orre, I heard they had ruins here. Of course, I haven't had very many days off to go and see them. But have you heard of the Dome and Helix Wes?"
"No."
"They are two ancient Fossil Pokémon. The Helix representing the chaos of the world. And the Dome representing order. But there are many others. Lord Amber, the god of Neutrality and balance." The room seemed to become colder as Ein continued to talk. "Lord Root, the god Speech, earth, and plants. Lord Claw, the god of silence. Lord Skull, the god of offense. Lord Armor, the god of skill, strategy, and defense. Lord Cover, the god of Life, Patience, and progress. Lord Plume, the god of Death, Plague, Science. Lord Jaw, the god of isolation and battling. Lord Sail. And then Lord Drive, the god of imbalance."
"I see..." Wes said getting creeped out.
"Long ago the Dome and Helix fought." Ein said. "It must of been a marvelous battle. But that's a story for another day. Here is the disk with the virus on it."
Ein just handed over the disk to Wes, and he was quickly on his way to the Snagem Hideout. He occasionally glanced down at the disk.
"I won't forgive you or Cipher for threatening my family." He replied.
He had hatched a plan in his mind. He would give it to Snagem, he'd then leave, steal the snag machine, and then go and stop Cipher himself.
It was crazy, but... He couldn't stand for them threatening his friends and family. He would use everything in his power to make sure they were crushed.
He soon met up with Rui and found out about Shadow Pokémon. With the Snag machine he was able to get the Shadow Pokémon and purify them.
Their journey soon brought them to the Shadow Pokémon Lab and Wes was met with a familiar face. "You surprised me Wes." A voice said. Stepping out of the shadows was Professor Ein.
"Professor Ein?!" Wes said shocked. "What are you doing here?!"
"You idiot." Ein replied. "I'm a member of Cipher. I always have been."
"What?!" Wes said shocked. "But then... the lab, the virus..."
"It's true I could have gotten the data any time I pleased, but it seemed that the idiot Professor Krane was suspecting someone was stealing data." Ein replied. "So, I decided to enlist Team Snagem for help. They are quite a bit helpful. They go around stealing Pokémon that are then turned into Shadow Pokémon."
"But the virus..." Wes just stammered out.
"That Virus? It was something I had to whip up at that lab." Ein replied. "It was the real reason why you had to transfer it and be a carrier pigeon."
"What?!" Wes said.
"I didn't get to tell you the rest of the story. About the fossils..." Ein replied. "There are many forces beyond our comprehension! And I want to control them! And the Shadow Pokémon are the first step!"
Wes just felt something crawl up his back.
"Olden or Inol!" Ein laughed. "A force capable of destroying everything!"
"And where do the Shadow Pokémon fall into this?" Wes asked.
"Olden doesn't have a physical form." Ein replied. "The Shadows are just merely fragments of it's corruption and influence."
"Ein I've heard enough!" Wes said. "You're crazy. And you've lied to my friends and family. I will defeat you!"
Ein just laughed. "Well then, let's battle."
The two fought, and Wes snagged his Shadow Raikou and defeated him. Ein just began to laugh.
"So you've won." He said. "That's fine, Olden's resurrection will still happen. It is inevitable! Even purifying them doesn't cause it to disappear!" He just turned to walk away and disappeared.
They continued on with their journey. Eventually eventually they destroyed all of Cipher, and purified all of the Shadow Pokémon. Or so they thought.
After that Wes returned to the labs. Michael was in tears that his brother finally came back, and had left without saying anything. For the time being Rui moved in with her grandparents in Agate Village, and they started dating.
A year later, Wes was investigating some ruins in the desert. Trying to find some hint on Olden, and Ein's mad ranting. Ein had left behind a diary in his desk after he left the labs.
And then Cipher appeared once again. This time Michael took them down. But they had a new weapon. XD001, Shadow Lugia. A Pokémon that Cipher thought couldn't be purified.
But over the past year, Professor Krane had been working on a purification chamber, and it was purified.
At this time, Wes was exploring a deeper part of the desert ruins that he hadn't been in before. For convenience he had moved and got a house built out in the middle of nowhere. It was a few minutes away from the ruins, and just made everything simpler.
As he stepped into the new chamber he saw various murals.
"Wait, is this the chamber that we were just in?" Zinnia questioned.
"No, I didn't know about that one, but it's a different chamber." Wes said.
Zinnia just nodded. "I may have to go investigate that chamber then. But maybe later."
"Yeah."
The murals were that of the old gods that Ein had talked about. "Why did they take the form of Pokémon?" Wes wondered. "Or did Pokémon take after them?"
After a hard day of trying to decipher them, he just made his way out of the ruins and back to his house. However Rui was standing outside.
"Rui?" Wes said a bit surprised. "What's wrong?"
"The shadows..." She said. "I can sense them again! They're gathering. I can't help but shake the feeling that it's at the Pokémon HQ Lab."
"What why?"
"I don't know." Rui replied.
Wes just jumped onto his bike and Rui followed. He drove as fast as he could across the desert. As soon as the Pokémon HQ Lab was insight he could tell something was wrong.
They parked, and saw a bunch of people outside of the lab.
"Wes!" Jovi shouted rushing over to Wes and Rui. "What are you doing here?"
Wes just looked around. "That's not important right now? Where's Michael?"
"He's still inside..." Jovi replied.
"Rui, watch over Jovi!" Wes said.
"Wes, you can't go in there..." Rui said.
However Wes had all ready began running for the front doors. Some security guards looked rather shocked, they tried to move to stop him from entering, but Wes effortlessly slipped past them.
He rushed into the lab. He could see why everyone was outside. There was smoke, and the sprinklers and alarms were going off. But perhaps what was even scarier was that even he could see the shadows now. He didn't know how, but he could tell the difference between the smoke and the shadow aura. The shadowy aura all seemed to be creeping in one direction.
He soon came to a sealed door that the shadows passed through, and wasted no time in kicking it open.
The room was dark. The lights had been destroyed. Only the faint glow of the computer screens illuminated anything. Wes just focused on a scientist with teal hair who was standing around a tube with some white cat like creature in it.
"I assume you're the new professor that has been hired here that my brother had been talking about. Dr. Yung." Wes said.
The man just chuckled.
"Wes... what are you doing here?" A voice weakly said.
Wes' head jolted to the side, to see Michael against the wall. His Pokémon were knocked out, and he was in pretty bad shape. Wes just rushed over to his brother, and helped him up, along with recalling his Pokémon.
"Get out of here Wes, he's dangerous." Michael began to plead.
"Not without you." Wes replied.
He just helped his brother up and glared at Dr. Yung. "I suggest you start talking."
Dr. Yung just laughed. "If I did, I doubt some street urchin such as yourself wouldn't be able to comprehend it. How could two idiot brothers like you defeat Cipher."
Wes' eyes just flared up. "Are you apart of Cipher?"
"Was." Dr. Yung replied. "Until it was destroyed. You're quite familiar with Professor Ein, correct?"
"What about him?" Wes asked.
Dr. Yung just laughed. "Nothing, we were just old friends. His shadow Pokémon, no our shadow Pokémon were apart of something. Have you heard of the battle of gods. Between the Helix and Dome?"
"Ein had talked about it."
"We wanted to recreate that battle." Dr. Yung replied. "And bring back the force known as Olden. For that we made the Shadow Pokémon. We corrupted them. Even as you two purified them, trace amounts of their shadow aura remained, and began to gather together... I came here to this lab to get all the data that was left on the Shadow Pokémon, and create more of the dark aura. And now, today you are going to be greeted with the resurrection of Olden!"
"You're about as insane as Ein was." Wes said.
Dr. Yung just laughed. "You say that, but perhaps, we're the only sane people left in the world."
Wes just glared at him.
Dr. Yung just walked over to a black case that he opened. Inside of it was an orange crystal that seemed to glow.
He just took out a large orange crystal. "This is the crystallized remains of the Shadow Pokémon!" He laughed. "All the shadow aura has been gathered into this. And now it's time!"
He just stabbed it through the test tube and into the white cat like creature's shoulder. It just began to let out a cry. He flipped a switch and a dark shadowy aura began to surge through the tube.
The white skin began to transform into a purple color. "You two were graced with never seeing how a Shadow Pokémon was made."
"All we know is that you shut out their hearts somehow, and the trauma that they suffered must of been intense!" Wes said.
Dr. Yung just laughed. "Indeed. Now there was something else too. All this couldn't have been possible without you, Wes."
"Without me?" Wes said a bit confused. "What the hell are you talking about?"
"Well, you see. You remember that black rock you brought back one day to Team Snagem, and someone bought off of them for a high price?" Dr. Yung asked. "Well, the Shadow Pokémon were birthed from that rock. That rock, which is a fragment of Olden, and has graced our world! And now, it will grace our world once again!"
However Dr. Yung was suddenly impaled by the crystal. Blood just seeped down to the floor. He looked at the crystal rather shocked. But slowly a smile began to cross his face. "Thank you Olden, for your faithful servant wouldn't ask for anything better... Letting me become the first blood in your crusade! Destroy this pathetic world! Destroy everything!"
The Shadow Pokémon just stepped out of the remains of the test tube and looked around. It's aura began to spread across the room, causing electronics to explode, and starting another fire. It then raised it's hand up and shot an energy beam out, creating a hole in the ceiling before flying away.
Wes just hung Michael on his back and began to make his way through the ruins of the lab. "We need to get out of here." Wes kept on muttering to himself.
He made it outside where Rui and Jovi were waiting. "Wes!" Rui rushed over to him, and he just collapsed.
The next thing he knew he was in his bed in his house. Right beside him was Jovi. "Wes is up! Jovi is so happy!" She said.
"Jovi?" Wes muttered.
But Jovi had all ready ran out of the room. Wes just slowly began to get up. A few seconds later Rui rushed in. "Wes, you're up!" She said.
Wes just weakly nodded.
"I was so worried about you."
"Where's Michael?" Wes asked.
Rui just looked over at him. "He's in the guest room."
Wes just slowly began to get up, and he made his way to the guest room with Rui supporting him.
There on the bed, he saw his little brother sleeping peacefully. "He's still out cold." Rui said.
"Have you called a doctor or anything?" Wes asked.
Rui just looked down rather grimly. "Wes... there's something you should probably know..."
It was there he learned that it had been a few days since he was knocked unconscious. Whatever was at the lab had broke free, and been destroying the world. Orre was first, but then it set it's sights on other regions. Currently it was in Johto and Kanto. People and Pokémon were left petrified in it's wake.
"Sorry." Rui said. "I knew a bit of first aid, and with the help of Espeon, we were able to get the smoke that you two inhaled out... but..."
Wes just hugged Rui. "Thank you." He said.
The next day Michael had woken up.
It wasn't long until they found out that society had collapsed. If there were any survivors, they gravitated together and formed gangs in the lawless wasteland to control resources. The weak were at their mercy.
Only the strong seemed to stay alone.
"And that's how this world became hell on earth." Wes replied.
"So, it was neither of those stories." Red sighed.
Wes just nodded. "Yeah, unfortunately it's some strange Pokémon. We may have met it yesterday too..."
"This is just making me wonder, where is Mewtwo..." Toon Link muttered.
"Yeah same..." Red said. "Hopefully he is safe."
"I am." A voice replied. Everyone just looked around in a bit of shock.
"Mewtwo?!" Red said. "Where are you?"
"I'm outside." Mewtwo replied. "Hearing that story, and traveling around looking for answers, I've realized that the Pokémon responsible for this is my doppelganger. Somehow another Mewtwo was created."
"Another Mewtwo?" Wes asked.
Mewtwo just teleported into the room. Wes and Michael were in shock about his sudden appearance.
"I am Mewtwo."
"I see..." Wes replied, trying to take in the Pokémon's looks.
"I was created by humans. And it would appear, so was that other one." Mewtwo said.
"And what's your plan, Mewtwo?" Red asked.
"I will find and fight this imposter." Mewtwo replied.
"What?!" Wes said a bit shocked. "Every other person and Pokémon that has faced him has been turned to stone."
"That won't happen to me." Mewtwo replied. "After all, you two fought it, and you weren't turned to stone."
Wes and Michael looked on in shock. "That's true." Wes said. "But, it may be because we purified the shadows before. It might of realized who we were and couldn't turn us to stone."
Mewtwo just nodded. "Well, one way or another, I'm going to find out."
"There might be another reason..." Michael added in. "When we fought it, we exhausted it."
"It then used a powerful attack, but it was quite clearly a last resort." Wes said. "We blacked out, but Michael's Pokémon were still in their pokeballs and came out, and fended him off."
"Can I see your Pokémon?" Mewtwo asked.
Michael just nodded, and let Jolteon, Walrein, Shiftry, Dusknoir, and Gardevoir out of their pokeballs. They all looked at Mewtwo and were immediately defensive. "Relax guys, it's a different Pokémon."
"I will now read your minds and see what he did." Mewtwo said.
Jolteon, Walrein, Shiftry, Dusknoir, and Gardevoir forced their way out of the pokeballs. They were all rather unhappy about the current condtion of their trainer and his older brother.
Shadow Mewtwo just let off a grunt of frustration. The dark aura around him began to thin. "To believe that I was brought to this point by these trainers. Although they aren't normal trainers, neither are you normal Pokémon. You are all fragments of me... You had all been purified. Except for you, you were never a Shadow Pokémon!" He pointed at Jolteon. "Now, let's begin."
The Pokémon began to battle, but it seemed like Shadow Mewtwo was tired of playing around. He just teleported to dodge attacks, and quickly struck down the other Pokémon until they had all fainted.
Mewtwo let off a disappointed sigh. "I was hoping for more information than that. But either he was playing around the whole time against you two, or he was at his limit for some reason and could no longer screw around. I won't know until I fight him, but it might be the latter."
Wes just glanced outside. "Well, it's getting late, so you probably won't be able to fight him tonight. You're all welcome to stay here. In the meantime, I think it's dinner time."
Everyone just stared at Noah. "All right." He said. "I'll start with summoning up some food any requests?"
Dinner was filling, and now the Smashers were just relaxing. Toon Link had pretty much fallen asleep right away, while Noah and Red decided to take a small walk around outside to help clear their minds. Greninja, and Zoroark followed.
"I wish I could fall asleep as quick as Toon Link." Red laughed.
"Same. I'm always just lying in bed, looking up at the ceiling, and waiting." Noah replied. "And when I get to sleep, I'm a really light sleeper..."
They saw Wes and Zinnia going back to the ruins. A bit confused they decided to follow.
"We can wait until morning." Wes said.
"I don't think there's time." Zinnia replied. "Mewtwo has already made it clear that he want's to fight Shadow Mewtwo as soon as possible, and I think Shadow Mewtwo will be active again tomorrow."
"Why do you say that?" Wes wondered.
"Its most likely been healing after your battle with it." Zinnia replied. She just stopped and glanced back at the Smashers. "You know, no one likes being followed."
"Sorry." Red said. "It's just, we were kind of curious as to why you were going back to the ruins."
"Well in that case, follow me." Zinnia said. "Or rather walk in front, we may need a few pincushions for all of the traps."
Noah just froze.
"Beyond the structure possibly failing, there's no traps there anymore." Wes said.
They just walked in and Wes led them to another chamber. The painting on the wall this time depicted golden Pokémon fighting against a shadowy figure. Zinnia just began to read the Draconid language. "And what all does it say?" Wes wondered.
"To fight against the influence of Olden, our Pokémon had to break through their limits." Zinnia said. "Even those that couldn't previously Mega Evolve, or could Mega Evolve, but couldn't due to a lack of Keystone and Mega Stone, could call upon 'Break'."
"Break?" Wes said a bit surprised.
"They're covered in a golden aura, and it seems they get much stronger." Zinnia explained. "Well, that's all I know from this."
"Does it say how to activate this form?" Zoroark asked.
"Not really." Zinnia sighed. "But seeing as how it may be derived from Mega Evolution, which required a bond between the Pokémon and Trainer, this may require something similar."
"Break... maybe I can wield this power..." Zoroark whispered to himself, so that only the Smashers could hear. "Until Master comes back and I can Mega Evolve..."
Wes just approached the wall. "If this does have the same power as Mega Evolution without it's drawbacks, that probably would be great."
"Drawbacks?" Noah questioned.
"Physical strain on the trainer." Zinnia replied. "There's a reason why trainers can only mega evolve once per battle. They have to recover afterwards. Not to mention you can become synchronized with your Pokémon, feel pain that they feel. It's a double edged sword, and there's a reason why some trainers only do it as a last resort. Anyways, that's all that's here, do you know of any other ruins?"
"Yeah a few." Wes said leading the way.
The Smashers just followed, hoping to find out some more information.
Inside a cave, Shadow Mewtwo was recovering. He had surrounded himself in a barrier just in case anyone or anything came looking for him.
The barrier disappeared, and he just began walking out of the cave and looking at the sunrise. "Another me has appeared? One that didn't turn out like this? It seems like we're going to meet..."
Suddenly, Shadow Mewtwo just collapsed and began to grab its head and began to scream out in pain. "Leave me alone! Who are you?! You fought this other me? He's strong? If I can take him out you'll leave me alone?"
After several minutes the pain subsided. Shadow Mewtwo just gasped for air. He reached for the gem that was glowing and jutting out of his chest.
"Then I will defeat this other me." Shadow Mewtwo said. "I will destroy him."
File 1
Do you want to save?
YES
Party: Noah, Lucario, Zoroark, Greninja, Red, Charizard, Ivysaur, Squirtle, Toon Link, Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Pichu, Mewtwo, Wes, Michael, Rui, Jovi, Zinnia
7 Chosen Champions Remain
Notes:
It's shorter because, well, truth be told, I don't know what else to do. I could have done Mewtwo and Shadow Mewtwo's battle, but pacing wise I felt that was too much.
For those who aren't familiar with Twitch Plays Pokémon, the lore of the series became that the fossil Pokémon were gods. Originally it was the Helix Fossil, but it grew to include all of the other fossils in their little pantheon. I've pretty much fallen out of Twitch Plays now after Anniversary Crystal. Olden was a glitch that appeared during the Anniversary Crystal run, and was made into being this eldritch force.
Pokémon Break: In the Pokémon TCG, there are now golden Pokémon cards known as "BREAK" It's also all caps. Much like BOTTLESHIP add this to the list of words that I won't do all caps in the middle of the story, because I think it looks stupid. Because Zoroark BREAK also looks a bit distracting.
Pokémon Colosseum and XD originally took place with 5 years between them. I went with just 1 year between them, for this story.