In the days following Evice's arrest, Wes and Rui took the opportunity to relax a little bit. First thing after leaving Realgam Tower, Eagun informed Rui that in his family, seeing Ho-Oh on the first day of one's journey as a Pokémon Trainer was a sign of very good luck. He therefore suggested to Rui that if she was at all interested in becoming a Trainer, this would be a good day for her to start. Rui asked how she would possibly become a Trainer if she couldn't find a wild Pokémon to catch for herself, but Wes stepped up and handled this, giving Rui his Dunsparce and Qwilfish as her first Pokémon.

After this, they spent a lot of time training. Not just at Mt. Battle, but also at the various colosseums- Phenac, Pyrite, and The Under. Winning all sorts of Colosseum challenges earned them a number of TMs. Rui used the TMs she won to teach Rain Dance, Shadow Ball, and Sludge Bomb to Qwilfish, and by pooling together the Poké Coupons she and Wes won at Mt. Battle, she was even able to afford TMs for Thunderbolt and Flamethrower to teach to Dunsparce.

Wes was no slouch, either. He continued to train his Pokémon, finally conquering the final areas of Mt. Battle. He was astonished to find nothing less than a Time Flute awaiting him at the top of the mountain, just before the final Trainer. He and Rui agreed they would wait to use this until there were only six Shadow Pokémon left to purify.

About a week after Evice's arrest, Wes and Rui had just finished paying for their meal- they were out on a date at the Outskirt Stand, which had become their favorite restaurant by this point. And then, as they stepped outside, Wes's P*DA rang. "What could this be?" Wes wondered out loud, as he took out the device. "Uh huh… OK, this is interesting," he said to Rui. "Nett's saying he and Secc developed a new system for downloading data automatically to my P*DA. Apparently, now I should get information on Shadow Pokémon directly from anyone connected to the network."

"Wow," said Rui. "That kid is a genius."

"Isn't he, though?" agreed Wes. "I- what now?" he murmured, for at that moment, the P*DA rang again. "OK, it's from Secc in Pyrite… apparently a suspicious-looking Pokémon was spotted in Pyrite, and Secc wants to give us the full story in person."

"I guess we're off to Pyrite then, huh?" said Rui.

Wes nodded. "That we are," he confirmed, as they approached his motorcycle.

"…OK, so, this guy, Cail, he hangs around Pyrite's entrance," Secc was telling them.

"That's not news, though," Wes frowned. "I know Cail. We go way back."

"Yeah, but here's the thing," Secc continued. "Cail recently battled this creepy Trainer who apparently used a weird Pokémon. You should talk to Cail."

"Sounds like a plan," Wes nodded. "Thanks, Secc."

"No problem, big people!" smiled Secc.

Wes and Rui exited Duking's house, and from there, it wasn't a long walk down to where Cail usually hung out. Indeed, to where he was currently hanging out.

"Yo! Wes! Rui!" grinned Cail as they approached the gatekeeper of Pyrite. "What's up?"

"So, word on the street is that you battled a weird Pokémon," said Wes. "Any truth to that?"

"Oh, yeah," nodded Cail. "It freaked me out but good. Here's the thing, though- I'll gladly tell you, but first I'm in need of a battle, y'know?"

Wes grinned. "Wouldn't have it any other way," he added.

"Actually," Rui said. "May I battle Cail instead?"

"Hm? You?" Cail said, turning to Rui. "Didn't think you had any Pokémon."

"I just started about a week ago," Rui explained. "So what do you say?"

Cail shrugged. "It's fine with me. Wes?"

"Go right ahead," Wes agreed. "She's very good, I want to see how she does against you."

Cail smirked. "Alright, then, here we go!" he exclaimed, throwing a pair of Poké Balls. "Go, Granbull! Go, Gardevoir!"

Rui, in turn, threw a Poké Ball and a Premier Ball. "Go, Dunsparce! Go, Qwilfish!" she exclaimed. The four Pokémon materialized simultaneously. By looks alone, Gardevoir and Granbull looked stronger, but Wes knew better than to assume Rui's Pokémon weren't tough.

"Granbull! Take Down on Dunsparce!" Cail ordered. "Gardevoir, use Thunderbolt on Qwilfish!"

Rui sprang into action. "Dunsparce! Glare!" she ordered.

"Sparce!" Dunsparce exclaimed, flying in front of Gardevoir and fixing it with a surprisingly ferocious glare. Gardevoir crackled with electricity, but was ultimately unable to launch the attack.

"And Qwilfish, use Surf!" she ordered.

"Fish qwil qwil!" Qwilfish exclaimed, summoning a huge tidal wave, swamping the entre battlefield. Neither opponent was knocked out, but this didn't deter Rui one bit, especially when Granbull's Take Down missed Dunsparce by less than an inch.

"Let's do this!" she called to her Pokémon. "Dunsparce, use Take Down on Granbull! Qwilfish, use Shadow Ball on Gardevoir!"

"Gardevoir! Psychic!" ordered Cail. "Granbull! Crunch!" Alas, his orders came too late- Dunsparce plowed Granbull into the ground, knocking it clean out. It was quickly joined by Gardevoir, who couldn't withstand the super effective attack. "Gah… she's good!" Cail exclaimed as he withdrew Gardevoir and Granbull.

"Told you," Wes grinned.

"Yeah, well, feast your eyes on Machamp and Shiftry!" retorted Cail, throwing two more Poké Balls. His Machop and Seedot had clearly evolved, and they both looked ready for action. "Cross Chop on Dunsparce, Extrasensory on Qwilfish!"

"Qwilfish! Sludge Bomb!" ordered Rui. "Dunsparce, Flamethrower!"

"Oh, what?! WHAT?!" Cail exclaimed. Machamp's Cross Chop missed, largely due to Qwiflish's Sludge Bomb getting sludge in its eyes. Meanwhile, Shifty was smarting from the Flamethrower, though did manage an Extrasensory on Qwilfish. The Balloon Pokémon wasn't knocked out, but the attack had hurt nevertheless. "OK! Machamp, Earthquake! Shiftry, Giga Drain!"

Rui smirked. "Do it!" she called. "Qwilfish, use Surf, and ride it!"

"Qwil!" grunted Qwilfish. This time, as the giant tidal wave formed, the Water/Poison-type jumped up with his tail, and landed atop the wave.

"Now, Dunsparce, catch Qwilfish!" ordered Rui.

"Dunspaaaaarce!" Dunsparce exclaimed. With much flapping of her tiny wings, Dunsparce soared underneath Qwilfish, expertly catching him on her back. Dunsparce soared above the Earthquake, and above the Surf that crashed down on both Machamp and Shiftry, the latter looking more weary due to the Earthquake.

"Now do it!" Rui exclaimed. "Qwilfish, Sludge Bomb! Dunsparce, Take Down!"

Qwilfish sprang off of Dunsparce, and launched a volley of Sludge Bombs at Shiftry, knocking it out. Meanwhile, Dunsparce dove right down into Machamp, also knocking it out.

"Yes!" Rui grinned, withdrawing her Pokémon.

"Damn," Cail sighed, withdrawing his own Pokémon. "It's been a futile struggle every time. But yeah, I did promise you some information. The guy used a Shadow Bayleef- I know it was a Shadow Pokémon, he told it to use Shadow Rush. His name… gimme a sec… ah, hell, I forget the name, but he did say something about the Snagem Hideout, for whatever that's worth."

"The Snagem Hideout?" Wes repeated.

"Yeah," nodded Cail. "I doubt I gotta tell you where that is," he added to Wes with a grin.

"Nah, yeah, I know the way," Wes nodded. "C'mon, Rui," he added. "Never thought I'd be going back there again. Oh, yeah, and before I forget," he added with a smile. "That was some great battling."

"Thanks," smiled Rui. "So, c'mon, let's go to the Snagem Hideout."