Hello! Now, to get the obligatory stuff out of the way; this fic is one of a bunch of one-shots I wrote going off of a list of prompts I found, one I unfortunately can't find anymore, based on a story I'm probably going to write in the future, or at least take place in the same game-based universe, featuring prototypes of real scenes I plan to include. So if anyone is reading these after my theoretical series has begun… Possible spoilers ahead. I may just straight-up use these scenes in the future. I'm going to be posting a lot more of these, so if you like this one, keep up with my profile!
And look, a Colosseum fic!
For those not familiar with the game, the main character, Wes, starts with an Espeon and Umbreon. Here they're named Sundance and Moonshine respectively. I pretty much ripped dialogue from the game here, so yes, it's not my fault that Rui talks like she should be Red's age here.
Also Wes talks like a cowboy because why not.
Shadow
As soon as the Peon sent out the Makuhita, Wes could sense something fundamentally… Wrong. Something was very wrong.
The Pokémon growled and snarled, appearing to be in blind rage, nothing but fear and fury in its barely open eyes.
"Wes! It's that one, that Pokémon!"
Rui shouted, pointing at the Makuhita.
"Those jerks captured me because I saw that Pokémon."
"What?"
He turned to the girl.
"I can see a black aura coming from it. They must have done something to that Pokémon!"
Black aura… The Pokémon's strange behavior…
Of course! It had to be from that program he had read about in the files!
White hot rage once again consumed Wes, as fresh as when he had first found out about the vile program, his hands shaking as they balled into fists.
How dare they.
How dare they.
But rage immediately transmuted into heavy, crushing guilt as he reminded himself this was how the Pokémon he had snagged had ended up.
In fact, he'd sworn he'd snagged a Makuhita in the past few months. Goodness, was this the same Makuhita?
The pain and rage that this poor Pokémon felt was, in a way, his fault.
"WES! WATCH OUT!"
Suddenly, the Makuhita lunged towards him, it's fist making hard contact with his chest.
Wes gagged and hacked, stumbling backwards and doubling over as the pain from the punch shot through his guts.
Rui screamed. Moonshine looked towards Wes with shock, and Sundance snarled towards the offending Pokémon, the gem in his head glowing with psychic energy.
The pain. Oh goodness, the pain; his heart felt like it was going to burst!
Sundance and Moonshine protectively rushed to his side. Moonshine whining with worry, Sundance's eyes filled with spiteful rage at seeing him in agony.
"Sundance… It ain't Makuhita's fault…"
"Wes, be careful! This Pokémon isn't afraid to attack people!"
"Ya… Ya think…?" Wes retorted.
It wasn't uncommon for gangs to sic their Pokémon on others anyway, he also wanted to add. It was just that that usually came after the match.
His Snag Machine came into his view as he tried to catch his breath.
…Of course!
This was going to be the key to him correcting his mistakes. His mistake of unwittingly participating in this little program of theirs, of being nothing but an unwitting pawn for 6 whole years.
He picked himself up, holding the Snag Machine with his other arm, his face reflected in its black surface.
"I know, Wes! I hate to say this, but there's no other choice."
Rui nodded.
"Get that Pokémon from the bad guys! Please, you have to! You can… Actually, only you can do it!"
He grinned.
"Heh. Ya don't have t'say it."
The Peon's Duskull fell with a Bite from Moonshine, leaving only the Makuhita standing.
"Makuhita! Shadow Rush!"
"YIPE!"
"Moonshine!"
Moonshine let out a painful cry as the opponent attacked with uncharacteristic ferocity lacking in mercy; even in the cruel region of Orre, the Pokémon usually knew to hold back unless their masters ordered them to use lethal force. But this attack was something else.
Wes empathetically winced at his companion's pain. Sundance, meanwhile, looked just about ready to avenge his brother and trainer in the most painful way possible.
"Sundance, Reflect! Moonshine, Secret Power!"
Sundance, visibly disappointed by not being allowed to attack, cloaked himself and the Umbreon with psychic energy. Moonshine picked himself up and slammed into the Makuhita, surrounding himself with a mysterious power, the opposing Pokémon snarling as it was hit.
"Shadow Rush!"
The Makuhita, while injured, immediately recovered at surprising speed, and this time the strange attack connected with Sundance, making the Espeon let out a high pitched whine as he flew backwards and slammed into the ground.
"Sundance! Hold on!"
Fortunately, it appeared Reflect had mitigated the damage at least somewhat, as Sundance was quick to be back on his feet. Good, it bought time.
Immediately, with practiced hands, Wes readied a Poké Ball, feeling the familiar buzz of the machine as it charged the ball with energy and broke the anti-theft mechanism.
Once again, a wide grin crossed his face. It was time to do what he did best.
Author's Notes:
Colosseum sounds like an amazing game and it's a bummer Pokémon will never do anything with it again. Writing it will probably be fun. And really long.
Wes is a different protagonist from the others I write; he's this cynical jaded 17-year-old and as much as I love writing children, it's also refreshing writing someone like him. But just like the other protagonists he still loves Pokémon.
I really liked characterizing Sundance and Moonshine here, though Sundance's personality comes out more.
