Meant to get this chapter done sooner, but I ended up rewriting it because it didn't flow like I wanted it to.
I think I might enjoy this sort of story pacing though.

(~)

It was no small coincidence that Wes was the greatest Snagger to work for Team Snagem, much to Gonzap's mix of pleasure and chagrin. No, it was skill, a good bit of luck. But mostly observance.

He reached out and scratched behind the lavender ear of his Espeon. The creature leaned into his touch appreciatively as the rogue mulled things over in his mind.

If there was one thing he prided himself on, it was his observational skills. His sharp amber eyes were as keen as a Fearow's. He could pick out a single target in a crowd. He could read a person's body language to tell if they were lying. He could juggle battle strategies and escape routes in his head on the fly, depending on his surroundings.

And he could tell that Gonzap was up to even shadier business than usual.

It left a bitter taste in his mouth, having to rely on Team Snagem so often for "employment opportunities" as Biden so pleasantly put it. If he had his way, Wes would turn around and never look back. But Snagem paid well for his services.

Stealing money or items had never really had much impact on Wes' rather unconventional moral code. Stealing Pokemon was another matter entirely. In a region where wild Pokemon was as scarce as water in a… well, desert, you were lucky to have one. But he'd always managed to meet the quota that Gonzap had set. He always kept his eyes peeled for those who saw Pokemon more as tools and status symbols rather than actual beings. He had no issue with stealing from other nastier criminals, or lifting from the rare wealthy person who would genuinely show their Pokemon more interest if the creatures were gilded in gold and came with a lucrative business merger.

But as of the past few months, Gonzap had been jacking up Wes' quota, higher and higher. It was getting difficult to keep his pickings among acceptable targets. And thanks to Wes' keen eye, he quickly realized that despite the higher expected income of stolen Pokemon, none of the criminal organization- even Gonzap – showed an influx of Pokemon or strength on their teams.

They had to be going somewhere. And he was sure he wasn't liking the implications. Selling Pokemon on the black market was a roaring niche in the region despite the best efforts of the honestly inadequate police force to quash it. And yet…

For all the time Wes had known about Snagem and its ruthless wall of a leader, he could tell that they prioritized power over everything else. Money was all well and good, but Gonzap craved complete authority and influence. He wanted his name to strike fear and submission into the hearts of all who heard it. Compared to that, money was an added perk. He would rather bully people out of their money with a terrifying army of monsters under his command. He wasn't the type to do back alley dealings to sell off what he could use for himself.

No, something was not right, he thought as he glanced out the dirty, shattered window of the base. A rusty, battered jeep had pulled up to the hideout, and two figures jumped from their seats, strutting up to the hideout doors with a swagger in their step that suggested they owned the place.

The odd hat and the garish fireball of hair. Those two were not members of Snagem, Wes knew that much. But he'd been glimpsing them from afar more and more often at the headquarters. They would come in, be lead to Gonzap's trash heap of an office, and engage him in private conversation for anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours. And he doubted there was a coincidence in the fact that Gonzap obtained an extraordinarily vicious Skarmory sometime after these visits had become regular. The thing had, according to rumor, nearly gutted a Snagem grunt who accidentally disturbed its sleep one morning. He'd heard Gonzap's booming voice gloating about it through the halls.

Wes sat back, staring out the window, eyes narrowing. His Espeon glanced up at him, noting his master's guarded expression. His Umbreon continued to snooze on the bed. Silence stretched as the sun started to sink towards the sandy horizon.

And then, as usual, he saw the two leave. They were laughing raucously, a sack thrown over Fireball's shoulder as they strutted back to the jeep. Even from this distance, the rogue was sure that the sack was filled with capsules containing stolen Pokemon.

Wes thought it was about time he resigned from Team Snagem's employment. He hoped Gonzap wouldn't mind too terribly if he didn't give him two weeks' notice. But perhaps he could leave them a going-away surprise. Go out with a bang

A grin flickered on the edges of his face.