Thanks for the reviews, it was a bit tough getting Wes/Seth right and Rui to not know everything he does. I'm glad people are enjoying this story. Soon, you'll see a big twist!


Ch 4

He was naked.

That was the only way he could describe walking around Phenac without the Snag Machine on his arm. An irritating kind of nakedness that he couldn't cover by throwing on more clothes. Not that he had many to throw on over the jacket, but that feeling was one that he really didn't need to have at this time. He was information hunting.

Seth rubbed at his left arm as he scanned the crowds for Dash, the athlete who loved running circles round the fountain, chased by or chasing his beloved Castform. There were far too many people for his liking, and he had to control every urge to kick someone aside whenever a trainer bumped into him by mistake.

"Hi, there, cutie!" a voice called out and he stopped in mid-step, mentally shuddering. Pet names, he loathed pet names, especially those other people just tossed at him upon first look. He tolerated Rui's 'gallant prince' catcalls, but that was a different story altogether. Seth looked back and frowned as a pair of trainers ran up to meet him. The girl that had called him had lavender hair cropped into a bob and was dressed in, of all things, jungle camouflage. The other trainer was a small kid, chewing on a stick of gum.

"What do you want?" he growled, still looking for Dash. The girl smiled brightly and held up a decorated Poké Ball, Luxury Balls that were obtained through winning contests from the land of Hoenn.

"I saw your battle over there by the hotel. You were quite the fighter, but I bet I can take you on and win!" she remarked coyly, "So here's a challenge and a wager, m'kay? We'll have a little match here, and the winner gets lunch from the loser."

"I'd just have the battle if I were you, mistah." the little boy told Seth, "She'll follow you from here to Hoenn if you don't fight her."

"Dash! If you're out there, get over here!" Seth bellowed out and glared at the trainer girl. "It's because of people like you that I stick to the desert. Let's get it done and over with, then."

"Okay then! Let's do it!" the girl giggled and stepped back a few paces for some room, "Behold the beauty of my Pokémon and me! Lilith calls forth the elegant Espeona and the gorgeous Gardevana!" The two psychic type Pokémon appeared on the field, the Espeon wearing a pendant necklace and armlet on the right foreleg; the Gardevoir, a tall and graceful grass-type that resembled a slender lady, wearing a similar pendant and bracelets on both wrists.

Seth disliked the battle the moment he laid eyes on the bejeweled duo. Out of the corner of an eye, he spotted the athlete running towards him, the Castform's tiny figure bobbing alongside it and occasionally bopping him in the head. There wasn't much time for relief. Lilith had immediately sent her duo to gang up on Jupiter, who looked between the two of them in confusion.

"Hey, there, big guy! Sorry I'm late! What's up?!" Dash declared as he jogged up to Seth and kept in motion, running in place to stay on target with his exercise regime.

"Heard any word about the shadow beast in the area?" Seth asked as Pluto dove into the fray and bit the jeweled Espeon on the tail. It shrieked and ran back to the trainer, whimpering as it cowered behind her legs.

"Yeah, word is that the monster's been spotted heading this way. Should be here by evening, maybe later. News reports are keeping tabs on it by watching for attacks at night." Dash replied, "I'm canceling my at-night runs till it passes by. Why do you ask? You doing something about it?"

"You could say that. This beast is after something specific. I'm planting a bug on it next time I see it so I can track it, day or night." the Snagger remarked vaguely, "You are a very irritating person to hunt down, you know. I was coerced into two battles already by all of these 'outsiders'. I don't appreciate these kinds of slow downs in my line of work." Pluto was now chasing about the Gardevoir, who raced in a panic with the leafy dress hiked up for freer movement of her legs. Jupiter, seeing his brother enjoying himself, had curled up and fallen asleep while Lilith yelled at Seth to get his attention back on the battle.

"Really? Hadn't noticed. Busy working out for my triathlon." Dash replied, "But now that you mention it, there have been a fair bit of people coming in, eh?"

"Unfortunately." Seth muttered as the Gardevoir finally tripped over and wailed over the dust on its body before being called back into the Luxury Ball. "Pluto, are you done yet?" The Umbreon looked back at him with a happy look on its face and the pendant in its mouth. "You're copying me again, aren't you? Give that back, it's of no use to us. Probably worthless, too." Seth ordered. The Pokémon shrugged and tossed its head, letting the necklace fall at the girl's feet.

"I can't believe I lost to some guy who wasn't even giving orders or looking at the battle!" the girl yelled in a fury, "What kind of trainer are you?! Forget the wager! I'm not going out on a date with YOU!" She stomped away after snatching up the pendant and throwing down a wad of money.

"Didn't want it anyway." Seth muttered under his breath as he scooped up the cash and pet the Umbreon on the head. Jupiter was nudged awake and joined his brother in the petting.

"Hey, mistah. You got some guts doing that. Never mind her, my Cubone-head sister does that to every guy she sees." the little boy told him and held out a strangely decorated tube with a Poké Ball shaped dispenser on one end. "This is on me, guy. It's a Poké Block Case. Holds candy for Pokémon. They love this stuff. Came all the way from Hoenn, they make 'em there. The candies, I mean." he went on and showed Seth how it worked. "The panel here tells ya what flavors the candies are and you hit this thing here to pop it out like this." He flicked a small trigger and snapped the case upward sharply, popping a sugar-cube sized block into the air. He caught it and showed it off. "See? You put 'em back through here, the bottom." The boy pushed it back in and handed it off. "It holds about forty blocks and you can make more with berries but you need a berry blender and some friends for it to work. I suggest a trip to Hoenn. Well, see ya!" He ran off and Seth studied the new item in his hands.

"And I thought cologne for Pokémon was a strange concept. Candy?" he wondered to himself as he walked back to the hotel with the two Eons chasing after.

Standing outside the building, Seth paused to examine the case again. He popped one of the candies out and took an experimental lick. It was a bit sour and dry. He held it out to the twins and let them sniff at it. Pluto sniffed and shook its head, uninterested, but Jupiter gobbled it out of his hand and nuzzled his hand eagerly, chewing the candy in its mouth.

"All right. Let's see. How about this one, Pluto?" he murmured and took a lick at another block. It was sour again, but with a sweet overlay to it. He showed it to the Umbreon and it licked his hand after munching it down, sniffing at his arm for more. "You guys really like this stuff, huh?" Seth remarked in mild surprise. The treats he had used before on the twins were usually bits of food from his own plate. He popped another candy out and tested it. Spicy and dry, an interesting mix.

"Ah, what the hell." Seth remarked with a small grin and popped the block into his mouth, chewing and pressing the small mass against the inside of his cheek. His mouth puckered and he shuddered a bit, but in all he liked it. The twins stared up at him, heads cocked as he stood and leaned against the building, smiling at nothing as he finished chewing on the Poké Block, stretching the flavor as long as he could before swallowing the textured candy and entering the hotel.


Rui stepped out of her shower and yelped at seeing Wes back already. He stood over her bed, looking down with a scowl at the two Snag Machines sitting side by side.

"Rui, did you have to put them together like that?!" he started to gripe as he looked back at her. He stopped abruptly, staring at her for a full second before clapping the visor back over his eyes and spinning around to face the bed again, "RUI! GET BACK IN THAT SHOWER!" The roar was enough to make her race in again, clutching the fluffy towel wrapped around her. She slammed the door closed, then burst into laughter. She had been embarrassed and shocked, but she had seen his face turn a bright shade of red. That made up for the little blunder.

"Sorry! I didn't know you were in!" Rui called through the door. "I can't get dressed, my clothes are out there on my bed! Can you get them for me?" She could hear muttering and things being moved around, then stepped back as the door opened a small bit and Wes's arm shot in, a mess of frilly undies and her skirt and top clutched in the fist. "Um, thanks." she mumbled, taking them into her arms.

"Don't mention it. Really. I don't want any reminders that this day happened." Wes growled, "And which of these is my Snag Machine?!"

"The one on the left!" Rui called, getting dressed and wishing her face would stop being so pink as she looked in a mirror. Oh great, he had seen her underwear first hand. Didn't her mother tell her constantly that only her future husband should see her undies? It was, like, family tradition! And he must think that she was such an air-head. She groaned loudly at the thought and jumped when a knock on the door sounded.

"Rui? Are you okay in there?" Wes asked, sounding concerned, "I heard you... moaning?"

"No, I'm fine." she replied, still a bit depressed by her thoughts.

"Are you dressed yet?"

"Yes..."

"Good. We're going out."

"Okay. I'll be fine here. I'll order room service again."

"No. We're going out."

Rui looked confused. Maybe he hadn't heard correctly. She got up and opened the door a crack, peeking at him. He stared right back at her, the visor back on his head.

"I said, okay. I'll order room service. Let me know when you come back." she replied softly, looking up at those strange eyes. Wes frowned and rolled them heavenward.

"Cubone-head. I know another girl who's just like that." he muttered, "I'm telling you, we're going out." Rui looked confused again, both by the Cubone remark, whatever it was, and his repetition.

"We're going out?" she echoed, "The two of us?"

"No, me and your shadow. Of course, the two of us!" Wes growled and grabbed her wrist, pulling her out of the bathroom, "We're going out to eat and get me a little exposure to the night life. If the shadow beast is anywhere near here, like Dash said, I want it to see that I'm here too."

"You mean, bait it?" Rui asked blankly and yelped, "The city where rivers run from dry beds! This is the city! The monster will come for you here! No! I don't want to go out! And you're not going out either!" She pulled back and dug in her heels as he pulled harder to get them to the door. "Wes! Stop it! We're staying right here! No! I don't want that thing to get you again!"

"Rui! That was the whole point to the Snag Machine copy! That's the real bait!" he yelled through his teeth, dragging her along, "It's going to hold the tracking chip and the beast will take it and lead us to where it came from and whoever it is that wants the machine so badly!"

"Noooo!" Rui wailed and crashed into him when Wes yanked on her arm with all the strength he had, "Owwww!" The twin Eons sitting on Wes's bed shut their eyes and hunched at the crash, then blinked at the scene. They were beginning to sense a trend to the way their master and his 'partner' interacted.

"Rui... Do you always have to make things so difficult?" Wes sighed in exasperation as he tried to pick himself off the floor. Her face was buried in the front of his jacket again. She sniffed, she could smell paint. It was from the copy that sat on her bed. After the two plaster pieces were connected with the rubber tubing she had bought, she covered the pieces with metal strips, sealed them on and painted them to resemble the Snag Machine. The tracking chip had been set next to the real Snag Machine. She had planned to plant it after her shower, the paint stunk up her hands and clothes, but now she wouldn't have that chance. She also smelled... candy? Where did he get candy?

"Sowwy..." she replied through the leathery jacket, "Cahn't whee jush ee ehn?"

"Excuse me?" Wes muttered and she raised her head up, looking up at him with a pink face.

"Can't we just eat in?" she repeated hopefully.

"No." She kicked and wailed as he picked her up, slung her over his right shoulder and carted her outside to find a restaurant, ignoring the strange looks from the people that watched them go by.


Seth resisted the urge to claw at the fake machine sitting on his arm. At least he didn't feel naked, but even through the leathery fabric of his trench coat the plaster seemed to scrape at his skin. He tried thinking of it as the real one, but it didn't help much.

Rui had gotten over herself, it seemed, and was thoroughly enjoying their night out. Seth bit the piece of steak off of his fork to cover his smile. She was happy, he could see her face light up at everything they did. Browsing street markets where she cooed over a Dragonair charm bracelet until he gave in and bought it for her; watching battles in the center of town between trainers from Kanto, Johto, Hoenn and Orre (he made it a point to go back to the hotel and get the twins out so they could study the moves and learn about them); teaching her how to ride the speeder on her own, he sat behind her on the seat and spent more time trying to keep her from wriggling about than showing her some of his better maneuvers, but she at least knew enough to manage; now this, dinner at the new Char's Chops restaurant, where the food was cooked with fires lit by fire-type Pokemon.

Seth made sure he was able to put himself in open areas in each place they visited, listening for sounds of the shadow beast. It was dark, nearly ten at night by his guess, and still no sign of the monster. He would probably have to try again the next night.

"Wow! This is like a date! And thanks again for the bracelet, you didn't have to buy it for me, but it was sweet of you to do that anyway." Rui remarked brightly over a crisp salad and soda.

"It was nothing, really. Just so long as you're having fun." Seth replied and grinned. He couldn't help it, he was enjoying himself too! He knew he shouldn't, that something like this wasn't helping his plan of leaving her after the shadow beast mystery was resolved. But what harm was there in making a few good memories for later?

"So it's a Dragonair?" she asked again, lifting her bracelet. She had asked him what all the new Pokémon were, watching him closely when he answered. He didn't know what that was about, but it unnerved him.

"Yes. For the tenth time, yes, it's a Dragonair. It's evolved from a Dratini and becomes Dragonite at the third evolution. Why are you looking at me like that?" Seth replied and raised an eyebrow at her. She was looking at him strange again.

"Have you ever seen those Pokémon before?" she asked. Seth shook his head slowly, "Read about them? Heard about them?" Again he shook his head. "Then how did you know what they were?"

Good question.

"I don't know. Why do you keep asking me that?" Seth grumbled irritably. There were things that he had always known, but never questioned why or how he knew them. Now that Rui was poking and prodding at his knowledge, he was beginning to feel a bit worried about himself.

"It's just weird. Sorry." she replied and shrugged, "Never mind. Where are we going next?" He finished the steak and thought carefully.

"Not sure. I'll come up with something. Excuse me first." he replied and headed for the men's room. The itch was growing unbearable.

--

Once hidden away from Rui's eyes, Seth breathed a bit more easily and pulled off the plaster cast on his arm, scowling at the chips of paint and plaster clinging to the sleeve. He brushed them off and pulled it back on. The tracking chip he spotted on Rui's bed was securely wedged in the forearm unit, he didn't trust his shoulder with it. The real Snag Machine was left on Rui's bed, along with a small note he managed to scribble out and slip underneath it. It was all part of his plan. Now was the time to implement the next part of it.

"Okay, guys. Here we go." Seth murmured and released the Eons into the room. They shook their heads and looked up at him, eager for orders. He held out two candies, the flavors matching the Pokémon. "Guys, listen close. I need to tell you this now. Sooner or later, hopefully sooner, I'm probably going to get carried off by that shadow beast we saw in the desert." he told them. The twins stopped sniffing at the candies and began growling. "Easy there. I want that to happen. I'm looking for where it came from and this is the only sure way of finding it. I'm leaving the Snag Machine and you two with Rui. You keep her safe and fight for her in my place, okay?"

The Eons whimpered and rubbed against his legs. He rolled his eyes and smiled. His two oldest and closest friends never failed to make him smile. He fed them the candies and gave them the order again, then called them back.

"Thought you got lost back there." Rui teased when he returned to the table and popped a candy in his mouth. "What was that? Is that candy? Can I try one?" she asked eagerly.

"It's a Poké Block. Candy for Pokémon." he explained and held one out to her, a sweet cube, according to the label. She stared at him incredulously.

"Candy for Pokémon? And you're eating it?!" she declared in shock, "Why?!"

"It tastes good. Try one." he offered again. Rui picked up the block and eyed it warily, then took a hesitant lick at it. She scrunched up her face and stuck out her tongue. "What's the matter?"

"Ick. It's all grainy and stuff. What do they make these things out of, anyway?" she complained and held it back to him, "Yuck! Pokémon may like them, but I'm not a Pokémon!" Seth picked it up and popped it in his mouth, shrugging. It tasted fine to him, sweet and juicy with pulp. "How can you stand it? You're not a Pokémon!"

"I'm used to eating weird things. Comes with my background." Seth replied and placed a tip and payment for the dinner on the table, "Let's go. I heard they're shooting fireworks over the stadium."

"Yay!" Rui cheered and jumped up to follow him out to the stadium. He let her pass and carefully dropped the two Poké Balls into her jacket pocket as she did. "We're gonna go see fireworks! Let's go, Wes! I want to get us a good view!"


They walked to the fountain and sat on the benches set around it, waiting for the fireworks show to begin. Rui clutched her new Clefairy doll, yet another gift from Wes, and snuggled closer to him. The doll was too cute to pass up and once more he was able to identify it without any problems. He glared at her when she asked and she decided not to pursue the question any further.

She was definitely putting this in her diary as the best day she ever had, second only to meeting Wes for the first time. Something in her pocket slid and thumped her leg, but she ignored it, blissfully unaware of what Wes himself was doing.

"This is just too cool, Wes!" she laughed and looked up at the starry sky, "I hope the fireworks start soon, it's getting kind of cold." she added. Rui yelped slightly when he draped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer.

"Desert winds are blowing in and are always kind of frigid. The water from the fountain behind us doesn't help either." he murmured, "Anyways, they should start in about a minute, if my PDA is right."

"No shadow beast to ruin this night. I'm glad that, for once, Fateena was wrong. Maybe it passed us entirely." Rui remarked and oohed at the first bursts of color that erupted in the sky. "Wow! Pretty!"

The sounds of awe from the crowd around them were quickly replaced by screams of terror only a few minutes into the show. Rui and Wes jumped from the bench and looked around for the source of the commotion. People were running around, trying to escape from the entrance of the city.

"Wes! What's going on?!" Rui cried and fought to keep from being pushed by the crowd. She spotted him darting around the panicked tourists towards the city gates and pressed on to follow him, "Wait! Wes! Don't go there!"

Chairs and tables were knocked over, creating more barriers for her to overcome as she continued tailing the dark blue trench coat pulling further and further away from her. She cried louder, still clutching her doll and using her free hand to shove people aside as she forced her way through. A violet shape towered over the masses and she gasped.

There was nothing to it! If it had been a Shadow Pokémon, she would have seen the creature and the aura that surrounded it, but this was nothing but a shadow, a pure shadow! Blasts of something from its mouth hit the brightly lit signs on the stores and shops and the shape clarified itself. Now it looked more like a strange griffin, sans wings and with a wolf's head instead of a lion's.

"That's the shadow beast?" she murmured and screamed at Wes again, spotting him standing before the creature with Plusle shooting bolts of electricity at it. The light cut into the shadow and it roared in what seemed like pain. "Wes! Get away from there!" she wailed and tried to run after him, only to be pulled back by a police officer.

"Don't you think about it, young lady! That trainer's on his own now!" he told her sternly.

"I'm his partner! He can't fight without me!" Rui snapped and twisted her arm to get free. "Wes! Get back from it!" she yelled, running after him. The Snagger jumped back from the beast as it lashed at him with one claw.

"Rui! Don't come any closer!" he shouted back, dodging another attack as the griffin shifted on its feet, trying to figure out what to do with him. She skidded to a halt and froze. He turned to look back at her, something in his hand. "I'm counting on you to track this thing down!" he added with a grin and threw the object towards her. She jumped and caught it, discovering them to be the keys to the speeder bike.

"Wes?!" Rui cried and screamed as the beast cocked its head and made a quick swipe with a claw, knocking the Snagger across the ground. He lay with his back to her, a limp figure just lying there, visor tumbling away. She dropped to her knees and stared, frozen in disbelief, while the shadow beast nudged Wes's body face down onto the ground. It looked at her and seemed to smile in triumph.

"Don't you dare..." Rui whispered and broke into sobs as she watched the griffin daintily pick him up by the waist and shape shadowy wings from its back, flapping to get airborne. The visor flitted and tumbled towards the restaurant they had just left. "WES!" the girl wailed as the shadow beast took to the sky, the unconscious Snagger dangling from its jaws, and soared away.