Wes and Rui learn more about the Pyrite Colosseum in this chapter. Also, Team Snagem comes into town looking for Wes so they can try to capture him. Will they succeed in finding him?

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon or any of the characters.

Chapter 8: A Hidden Room

Inside one of the town houses, a muscular man was sitting at his desk looking...depressed. Wes and Rui walked in and approached this man; they wanted to ask him about the Pyrite Colosseum.

"Hello sir." Rui greeted him. "Are you Duking?"

"Yes I am" The man responded. "I run the Pyrite Colosseum. If you want to compete in the tournament you should go register now while you can."

"Where is the Colosseum?" Wes asked.

"It's on the other side of the chasm across the bridge..." Duking said. "Now, I'm busy...leave me be."

Wes and Rui exchanged glances with each other, and then back at Duking.

"Hey, are you okay sir?" Rui asked.

Duking didn't answer, he merely sighed and turned his head away.

"He looks like he's sad about something." Rui whispered to Wes. "I wonder what's wrong."

The trainer looked around to see if anyone else lived here. To his left he saw a little boy standing in front of a bookshelf. Curiously he walked closer to the boy and Rui followed.

"S-Stop...stay over there." The boy said to them. "Uhh this area is for kids only...adults aren't allowed here."

Wes gave him a weird look. He didn't know what he was talking about.

Sweat dropped down the boy and he nervously said "Just...move on with your day...uhh there's nothing behind the bookshelf."

The trainer raised an eyebrow when the kid said "nothing behind the bookshelf." He began to suspect that this boy was trying to hide something. Then Rui noticed something odd and pointed at it.

"Hey Wes, what's that?" She said.

There was a small red button on the side of the bookshelf. Wes noticed it too, then he walked over and pressed it. The bookshelf slid open to reveal a small cave area.

"Nice try kid." Wes smirked as he and Rui went inside.

Toad Town Theme - Paper Mario

Inside the cave there was a waterfall flowing into a small pond. Some old creates stood against the walls and there were two tables there. Three more kids, another boy and two girls, were sitting at one of them having a discussion. The boy had red hair and he wore a turquoise shirt, blue shorts, and brown shoes. The girl also had red hair but with a white ribbon in it. Her outfit was a little similar to the boy's outfit, except she wore a blue dress (the top part of also being turquoise,) black tights, and white shoes. The other girl was smaller, and her hair was in pigtails. She wore a pretty pink dress and also had black tights and white shoes.

"We've gotta find a way to save the Shadow Pokemon from the bad guys." The boy said.

"I know but how?" The girl replied. "Those people are really scary and we can't tell which is a Shadow Pokemon and which one's not."

"There has to be a way..." The boy said. "We can't keep letting those thieves use the Colosseum just to give everyone a Shadow Pokemon like that."

"Are you guys done talking yet?" The girl with the pigtails asked impatiently. "When can we play? I wanna play house!"

"Not now Candace, we'll play later." The red haired girl replied. Candace sighed and began to pout.

...

"That's a nice little clubhouse you have going on here."

The three kids were startled by the sound of the male voice. They turned around to see it was Wes and Rui, who were both standing there.

"Huh...who are they?" Candace asked as she and the others got up and walked over to them.

"Strange, I thought our brother Marcus was guarding this place." The red haired boy said. He looked over at Marcus, who stood beside the entrance rubbing his head and chuckling nervously.

"Well you're gonna need a better bodyguard if you want to keep this place hidden." Wes teased.

"Sorry for the intrusion there kids." Rui giggled. "My name's Rui, and this is Wes."

"Well since you're here, my name is Secc..." The boy introduced. "...and these are my sisters, Marcia and Candace."

"Hi, nice to meet you." Marcia greeted them and bowed respectfully.

"Ooooo, he looks tough." Candace said gleefully.

"Say, we couldn't help but overhear the conversation that you were having about saving the Shadow Pokemon." Rui said. "You know about them?"

"Oh...well uh yes, we do know about the Shadow Pokemon actually." Secc replied nervously.

"Really?" Wes looked astonished. "Any chance you could fill us in on what you know?"

Secc thought about it for a moment. He turned to the girls and asked "What do you think Marcia, should we tell them?"

Marcia looked up at Wes and Rui, then back at Secc and replied "Hmm...I think we can trust them Secc, they both seem really nice. Maybe they could help us."

"Yeah I agree with Marcia, tell'em tell'em!" Candace cried happily.

Secc nodded his head. He looked back at the grown ups and said "Okay, we'll tell you."

The kids started to explain what's been happening in the Pyrite Colosseum. Marcia was the first to speak up.

"You see, our papa runs the Colosseum that's way across town." She said. "It used to be a fun place to watch the Pokemon Trainers battle each other until one day when these horrible people showed up."

"They called themselves Cipher. They captured our dad's Plusle and forced him into letting them use the Colosseum." Secc explained. "And since then, whenever Pokemon Trainers win a knockout challenge, they go into that old building near the Dual Square and that's when they get their own Shadow Pokemon."

"Oh that's terrible." Rui responded sounding upset.

Wes remembered when he battled the trainers at the Dual Square and snagged their Shadow Pokemon just a little while ago. If Cipher really was using the Colosseum to give Shadow Pokemon to the winners, then this would explain why those trainers all had one to begin with.

Marcia spoke up and said "Yes it is awful. I remember just a few days ago, a man with green hair competed at the Colosseum and he got a Shadow Pokemon as well."

"Man with green hair..." Rui repeated, but then she gasped. "Hey Wes, wasn't he the guy we saw back at the entrance last night? Maybe he knows something."

"Huh...you could be right." Wes responded. "Let's go talk to him."

Suddenly they heard a loud voice coming from outside the cave area. Wes, Rui, and the kids went out to see what it was. A man was standing in front of Duking's desk giving him an angry look.

"Just how much longer are you going to let Cipher do this to you?!" He shouted. "They can't keep this up forever, we have to stop them!"

Duking said nothing, he simply sighed and turned his head away.

The man stomped his foot and yelled "HEY are you listening to me? I said we need to stop this madness!"

"..."

"Hmph, some owner you are." The man muttered as he stormed out the door.

"Who was that guy?" Wes asked.

"That was Silva." Marcus answered. "He's our dad's best friend and lieutenant. He's a nice guy, but he's pretty scary when he's mad."

"Poor Papa." Marcia said sadly. "I wish there was something we could do to help him."

Music stops

Wes looked out the window and he saw the members of Team Snagem that he had encountered back in Phenac City, Wakin, Biden, and Agrev. It looked liked they were coming towards the house.

"Oh crud..." The trainer muttered. "Guys get back inside the room, we gotta hide!"

"Why, what's wrong?" Rui asked.

"Just do it someone's coming!" Wes exclaimed.

"Marcus, can you stay out here and make sure they don't find our secret room?" Secc asked him.

"Sure." Marcus replied. So they hurried back in the cave area except for Marcus who stayed outside. The kid pushed the button on the bookshelf to close the entrance.

"Are you sure it's okay to leave him out there?" Rui asked.

"Don't worry, Marcus knows what he's doing." Marcia responded. "Besides, one person has to stay outside so he can let us out."

Snagem Hideout - Pokemon Colosseum

The Snagem members came inside the house and approached Duking's desk.

"Hey you there! We're looking for a guy named Wes, have you seen him anywhere?!" Wakin demanded.

Wes and Rui could hear Wakin's voice from inside the cave. Secc, Marcia, and Candace wondered what was going on out there, but judging from the glare that Wes had on his face they could tell that it wasn't good. The trainer could feel his heart pounding and he thought (Please, don't let them find us.)

Outside, Duking replied "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't play dumb, I know he's here!" Wakin shouted. "Now where is he?!"

"Look I don't have time for this nonsense!" Duking snapped. "I'm busy so leave me!"

Wakin groaned, but then he and the other members saw Marcus standing by the bookshelf and walked over to him.

"Hey kid, have you seen a guy named Wes around here?" Wakin demanded.

"Yeah he's the guy that wears a blue trench coat and has a pair of silver visors in his hair." Biden described. "Oh and he's got that little white stripe on his face and has a snag machine too."

"Trench coat? Silver visors?"

"Yes!"

"White stripe? Snag Machine?"

"Yes yes!"

"Umm...never heard of him." Marcus replied innocently.

"DANG IT!" Wakin shouted.

"Ah forget it, he's obviously not here. Let's check somewhere else." Agrev said.

"Fine," Wakin complied. "Let's move out, we have to find Wes and capture him."

The Snagem members left the house and Marcus looked out the window to make sure they were gone. Then the boy pressed the button on the bookshelf to open the entrance to the cave area.

Cave (1F) - Pokemon Black and White

"It's all clear, you can come out now." Marcus said.

Wes, Rui, and the kids came out once more. The trainer was relieved that the Snagem members didn't find them.

"Those guys out there were Team Snagem weren't they?" Rui said.

"Team Snagem?" Marcia gasped. "Isn't that the group that went around stealing all those poor Pokemon?"

"Yeah I've heard about them too." Secc replied.

"Mister Wes, do you know about them?" Marcus asked. "Because I think they were looking for you."

Wes didn't know what to say. Deep down he didn't want the kids to know that he used to work for Team Snagem. It would be difficult enough to tell Rui the full story when the time came, but there was no way he could tell anyone else about it let alone the children.

"It's a long story...and one that you probably wouldn't understand." The trainer said at last. "Come on Rui, let's get going."

"Oh, right." Rui replied. "Sorry kids, we have to go now. We'll see you later okay?"

"Okay, be careful out there." Secc replied.

The kids said their goodbyes and Wes and Rui went out the door and headed to the entrance of Pyrite Town to find the green haired trainer.

To be continued...