Wes and Rui walked into the lobby of Mt. Battle and were immediately greeted with applause and cheers. Every person in the room was thanking them for what they had just done on the mountain.

"You two, thank you so much!" A voice shouted over the other cheers of thanks.

Wes and Rui saw the receptionist that they had talked to earlier coming there way with a huge smile on her face.

"I don't know how I can ever repay you for what you have done." She said.

"There's no need to give us such praise." Wes said. "However there is one problem, everybody involved in the attack escaped."

The receptionist nodded her head but the smile did not leave her face.

"Yes they all ran through her a minute ago, but there's no need to worry. We have video evidence of their attack on the mountain however we couldn't get to it earlier because we were all being held hostage. However now that we're free we can show this evidence to the police and they can pursue the attackers."

Wes smiled.

"Then we'll leave the rest to you. The only thing I would like to ask you to do is to call Duking and let him know we'll be heading his way in a few-"

Wes halted mid sentence when he could feel Rui giving him a warning glare. He turned around and proved his feeling correct as she pointed at his burned back.

"I mean let him know we'll be heading his way tomorrow." Wes said making Rui's glare vanish.

The receptionist giggled.

"I'll let him know straight away. You are welcome here anytime."

"Thank you ma'am." Wes said.

The receptionist nodded her head and walked away. The crowd continued to thank Wes and Rui for there heroic act as Wes walked over to the healing machine and healed all of his Pokemon. Rui noticed the way he was walking was getting somewhat worse.

"Wes let's get out of here and head home so Grandma can help you with your injury." Rui said.

Wes nodded his head in compliance and walked with her out the door.


The two of them made their way out the door with their Pokemon behind them as the people in the lobby continued to give their thanks until they were out of sight. Outside the group made their way to Wes' motorcycle they were about to get inside until they hears someone behind them slowly clapping. Thinking it was another of the people giving them praise the two smiled and turned around only for the smile to quickly disappear when they saw who was behind them.

Standing there with a sinister grin on his face was a man with long silver hair wearing a strange purple robe and he had evil red eyes.

"Y-You, you're..." Wes stammered as his mind flashed back to when he first saw this man.

"Hmm...from the way you look boy, I'd wager that you're a traveling trainer."

"I like your attitude as well what I see in your expression kid. I have a feeling I'll be seeing you again real soon."

"You're that guy we saw back in Phenac City." Wes said as pointed a finger at the man who chuckled menacingly.

"How nice to see you again, Wes." The man said. "It seems my thoughts on you back then were correct I knew there was something special about you."

Rui quickly ran behind Wes and stood close to him trying to hide her face from the man in front of them.

"Wes, Run!" She said to him with desperation in his voice. Wes looked at confusingly why should he run? Why was she acting like this. He quickly turned back to the man.

"Who are you!? How do you know my name!?" He snapped.

The mans evil grin did not leave his face.

"What? You mean your dear sweet Rui didn't tell you about me?" He asked with fake shock in his voice.

Wes' eyes went wide and he turned around to face Rui.

"You know him?" He asked.

"Wes, I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but please I'm begging you don't attack him!" She said as she put her hands on his shoulders.

"Attack him!? Rui what are you hiding from me!? Who is this guy!?" Wes asked with force in his voice.

Rui shook her head not wanting to say a word. Wes turned back to saw the man still smiling.

"Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Nascour and I'm the second in command of Cipher."

Wes was surprised but only for a moment. He knew that this guy was evil the first second he laid eyes on him. With a low threatening growl, he reached for a Pokeball only to be stopped by Rui who grabbed his arm.

"Wes, please don't fight him! You don't know how powerful his Pokemon are!" She almost shouted.

Wes stared at her for a moment.

"How do you know about this guy?" He asked her.

"Allow me to explain." Nascour said making Wes turn back to him. "I met her when she was kidnapped by Miror B. I was planning to take to Master Evice."

"Evice who is that?" Wes asked.

"Our Leader, he is the one who ordered Rui's capture."

Wes didn't know what to say to Nascour.

"However things have changed now. You two have become to much of a threat to our organization and I'm afraid I have to kill you."

"K-Kill us!?" Rui stuttered growing scared.

"Yes my dear." Nascour said. "I'm sure you know of the bounty on your head. Everybody in Cipher is out for your blood, but they obviously haven't been successful. However I was certain that Dakim would have been able to do the job."

"What are you talking about?" Wes snapped.

"That earthquake that his Camerupt performed. I was certain that you would both fall of the edge."

"So that attack wasn't meant for Espeon and Umbreon but for us!?"

"Yes"

"But how do you know about that?" Rui asked.

"Is it not obvious? I was watching the battle from a higher floor. I must say Wes I was quite impressed with your skill. Rodd and Celia would be proud of you if they saw you today."

Wes felt his body go numb when he heard his mother and father's names.

"How do you know my parents?" He asked.

"My boy, we know more about the both of you than you realize. We know that you Wes were a member of Team Snagem. We also know about the Snag Machine on your arm and how you've been using it to take our Shadow Pokemon."

Wes stared down at the device on his arm.

"Speaking of Shadow Pokemon," Nascour said. "Before I kill you both I suggest you hand me that Shadow Entei you took from Dakim as well as all the other Shadow Pokemon you have. I will take your regular ones as well they would make fine editions to our collection."

Wes was shaking with fury.

"No way!" He snapped. "I won't give you anything! You think you can threaten our lives and threaten to take the ones I love away from me!? Well guess what, you've got another thing coming! Espeon! Umbreon!"

The two Pokemon jumped in front of their Master and Rui ready to defend them.

Nascour shook his head and grabbed a Pokeball.

"Must it end like this? Why can't you accept your fate quietly? Come out Nidoking."

A large Purple Pokemon with a horn on it's head appeared in front of Nascour and let out an ear splitting roar.

"Umbreon use Return!" Wes ordered.

The Pokemon did as he was told and charged towards his opponent."

"Nidoking, use Focus Punch." Nascour ordered calmly.

Umbreon tried to ram his head into Nidoking's body. However the large ground Pokemon struck him with a fist so powerful Umbreon was launched into the air and flew over Wes before landing behind him with a hard thud.

"Umbreon!" Wes shouted.

Wes, Rui, and Espeon ran to him and saw the he was knocked out cold. Wes quickly turned around and ordered Espeon to attack.

"Espeon use Psychic!"

Espeon was enraged at her injured mate's attacker. She fired a blast of Psychic Energy at Nidoking.

"Shadow Ball" Nascour ordered in his usual calm tone.

Nidoking formed a black ball in his hands and threw tremendous power at Espeon. It was able to break through Espeon's Psychic Energy attack like it was a wet piece of paper. The Shadow Ball hit Espeon square between the eyes and she was blasted backwards.

With incredible momentum she was knocked into Wes who thankfully was able to catch but not before being knocked over. Wes looked down at Espeon and saw she was knocked out as well.

"He defeated my two strongest Pokemon with only one attack to each!" Wes thought to himself in disbelief. "Just how strong is this guy!?"

Wes set Espeon beside Umbreon and grabbed another Pokeball.

"Go Typhlosion!" He shouted.

The fire Pokemon appeared in front of Wes and roared at Nidoking.

"Typhlosion use Fire Blast!" Wes ordered.

Typhlosion blasted a large fireball at his target from his mouth. Nidoking however did not make any attempt to dodge. The fireball hit him head on but when the smoke from it cleared Wes and Rui were both shocked to see that Nidoking didn't budge an inch. In fact there wasn't a scratch on him, like he wasn't hit at all.

Nascour smiled calmly yet evilly

"You're going to have to better than that." He said. "Nidoking Iron Tail."

Nidoking charged forward with incredible speed and his tail turned to iron before he whacked Typhlosion sending him flying into a wall the onto the ground unconscious.

Wes still had two more Pokeballs on him but one of them had Entei and he dared bring him onto the field if something were to happen then Nascour could easily take it from him. So he grabbed the last Pokeball he would use to fight.

"Go Hariyama!" Wes shouted as the fighting appeared in front of him. "Alright use Focus Punch!"

Hariyama charged at Nidoking with a raised fist but the ground Pokemon was able to grab it. He tried to strike with the other one but it was grabbed as well. Hariyama tried to over power his opponent but Nidoking held his ground firmly and wouldn't move.

"Mega Horn" Nascour ordered.

Nidoking shoved Hariyama backwards before charging at him and ramming him in the stomach with his horn. Hariyama was knocked back wards and landed on his back in front of Wes however he made no attempt to get up. Wes looked down and saw that he was knocked out.


That was the end of the fight. Wes dropped to his knees, Nascour's one Pokemon took out each of his like they were nothing.

Nascour crossed his arms.

"Did you really think you could even hold a candle to me, boy?" He asked. "Besides Master Evice I am the most powerful trainer in all of Cipher. You never had a chance."

Wes stared at the ground with a look of rage in his face. He was had tasted defeat before but this felt different. He was beaten by someone who had evil intentions and wanted to spill blood.

Rui looked at him concernedly when he got to his feet with his hung way low. What happened next scared her. Wes let out a primal roar and charged at Nascour. He raised a fist and tried to strike him in the jaw. Nascour simply ducked the blow before shoving a hard open palm into Wes' chest and then kicking him in the jaw sending him flying off to the side.

"Wes!" Rui screamed.

Nascour shook his head and crossed his arms once again.

"I'm not just trained in Pokemon battles you know." He said to Wes who still on the ground dazed by the kick.

Nascour turned to Rui who was frozen with fear.

"Nidoking," Nascour began as he pointed at Rui. "Hyper Beam"

A huge ray of light began to form in Nidoking's mouth. After a moment he fired the Hyper Beam from his mouth and it traveled in her direction with incredible speed. Rui was so scared she couldn't move. The only thing she could do was closed her eyes and cover her head as she awaited the inevitable.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" A voice screamed after a huge blast.

Rui opened her eyes and noticed that she wasn't injured. However when she looked up her eyes widened in absolute horror when she saw a boy with sandy hair and blue trench coat standing in front of her acting as a human shield. Her thoughts went back to the scream and she inaudibly gasped when she realized who it belonged to.

No...Dear Arceus...Please no!" She whispered as the form in front of her was shaking.

Eventually the person began to fall backwards and tears streamed down Rui's cheek as she ran to the boy.

"WES!" She shrieked at the top of her longs so loudly that it hurt her throat.

Wes fell on the ground with a thud as Rui dropped to her knees beside him. His clothes were tattered and torn, he had bruises and burn marks all over his body, he was shaking violently, his breathing was shaky and erratic, and he had a far away look in his eyes.

"Wes! Please speak to me!" She screamed desperately.

It was a long few moments of Silence as Plusle jumped from Rui's shoulder nudged Wes' cheek with his nose. Eventually Wes' eyes began to move and they fell to the girl in front of him.

"I-I...promised...t-that...I-I...would...p-protect...y-you..." He whispered weakly in a voice that was barely as loud the gentle breeze in the wind.

His eyes then closed.

"Wes? Wes!?"

Rui shook him but his eyes did not open she tried again but the results were the same. He put her head on his chest and heard his heart beat becoming weak and his breathing going quiet.

"No! No Wes!" Rui cried.

Rui cradled him in her arms and buried her head in shoulder. She was losing him and didn't know what to do.

Suddenly she heard footsteps approach her from behind. Plusle growled and jumped in front of th two ready to defend the two behind him. Nascour however kicked the little Pokemon away and it crashed into the passenger car of Wes' motorcycle.

"Plusle!" Rui cried worriedly as Nascour stood behind and observed the boy cradled in her arms.

"Stay away from him!" She shrieked at Nascour as she held Wes close to her.

Nascour ignored Rui and continued to look at the injured boy in her arms.

"Hmm...it seems he's still alive but just barely." He said. "Amazing how he could take the full power of my Nidoking's hyper beam and live." He then looked down at Rui and smiled menacingly. "You should be thankful my dear. He risked his own life and used himself as a shield to protect you."

The smile left his face.

"It's a pity that it was all for naught. Your not as strong as he is and there's no chance in hell of him surviving that move twice."

He walked back to Nidoking's side.

"This is the end for the both of you."

Nascour was about to command Nidoking to use Hyper Beam once more. However he stopped when everybody heard something in the distance. Listening closely they could hear sirens getting louder and louder. The police that the receptionist called were arriving.

Nascour growled he wanted to finish Wes and Rui off but he was no fool. He could see the flashing lights in the distance. He couldn't kill them now.

"You and Wes are very lucky." He said to Rui. "However your luck is bound to run out. I assure you that we will meet again. Come back Nidoking."

Nascour returned the ground Pokemon to his Pokeball. He then summoned his Skarmory and jumped on his back before flying off.


Rui watched him leave but then her eyes fell back onto the boy almost lifeless in her arms. She put her head head to Wes' chest and his heart beat was growing weaker and weaker.

"No! Wes! You have to wake up please!" She sobbed As she broke into hysterics. She looked up and saw the police cars in front of her through her tear filled eyes and screamed in the most pain filled voice she could muster.

"PLEASE HELP!"

The police officers got out of the car and noticed the two kids in front of them and immediately rushed over to them.

"Please you have to help my friend! He's dying!" Rui wailed desperately.

The police looked down Wes and gasped when they saw how pale he was becoming and how violently he was starting shake. Rui grew scared.

"What's happening What's the matter with him!?" She sobbed.

"His condition's getting worse!" One of the police officers said before snapping at the others. "We need a doctor now!"

The officers ran inside to get help as the others began to tend to the boy desperately hanging on to life.