Bad Masters

Chapter 1

The traffic was never very bad in Pewter. The city centre wasn't much bigger than a village town, but it could still be a hassle to bypass. Many of the buildings were grey, something resembling an old English village inn. A woman walked her groomed growlithe down the street, as Wesley strolled by, she gave him a glance, then a friendly smile and a nod. They didn't know each other. Just it was customary in the community to acknowledge one another.

But Wes didn't smile or nod. He continued on his way, as the part of Pewter he came from were a lot less friendly and he felt uncomfortable by gestures from complete strangers. But he soon forgot about it and went on his way to meet Richard. Wes had already declined Richard's bulbasaur seed idea. Because of it Richard was unable to sell it on, perhaps because he was afraid of having the blame landed entirely on him, but selling produce from an illegally slaughtered animal was a pretty punishable offence in Kanto.

But Richard had a new proposition for Wes. Something that Wes did think he had the heart and guts for. But the closer he got to the abandoned parking lot the more his insides began to churn. The surroundings were grey. Rubble and gravel crunched under his feet as his steps grew slower and more reluctant. The chain around the wire fence rattled in the wind, as dead leaves scratched the concrete, but other than that, it was silent.

The area was empty. Wes's breathing quickened. He could feel his heart begin to race. The entrances to the buildings were nothing more than black shadows, from within no life could be seen. He hated the old industry estate. It was too silent, and there had been many horror stories of fights and killings and such. It was so easy to get away with murder here. A man or pokemon would appear to transform, especially in a group. If the opportunity arose to be savage, they would take it.

Was that what had happened to Richard? He had told Wes to meet him here, where they would further discuss what it was they were to do. Ever since mixing with the gang that patrolled the area Richard had degraded and become unpredictable. Wes was considering upping and leaving. It almost seemed as if the shadows were peering out at him, like someone would stab him in the back if he dared stick around.

It was overcast. The wind rushed into Wes's ears. He regretted not carrying a jacket as the cold was blowing through his t-shirt. Sticking around was becoming unbearable. He scanned his surroundings once more. No sign of life. He checked his phone. No missed calls, no messages. He held his arms as a gust of wind blew by, and he started off walking.

"Wes!"

He stumbled. Startled, he turned around to see Richard amongst a group of 3 other rough-looking guys approach him head on. One of them, about 6ft tall and a large build seemed to walk past Wes where he was out of sight. Wes stood back a bit, so he could see most of them. He tried to appear relaxed but his eyebrows often gave away his fear as they slanted upwards in the middle.

"Hey, Wes…" Richard said quietly, "These are the guys I was talkin about, y'know…" he pointed at the big tall one in the white vest "Bruiser, you got the eevee?"

"Yah…" He flipped out a small, red and white orb and released the pokemon inside. From a ripple of bluish light, the furry dog-like rabbit made an appearance. Its mane was thick and glossy and its eyes peered up at its surroundings, the whites only barely visible at the corners. But its body was shaking and its nose seemed too dry. There was a rasp to its short breaths.

"All you need to do is hold it."

Wes stared down at the animal, which was too afraid to do anything but shiver. Its thick, matted tail, caked in its own dirt, sat underneath the pokemon in a submissive way. Wes watched as the other two, plus Richard, revealed three stones. They were unfamiliar to Wes. One red, one blue, one yellow, all seeming to shine the closer they got to the eevee.

"We're gonna make this pokemon evolve. Do you know what happens when you use all three stones on an eevee?"

Wes shook his head, wide-eyed, terrified.

"Neither do we." Richard smirked.

Then, looking at the eevee, he remembered. That article in the newspaper… Two 'element stones' were used on a pokemon to try and make it evolve. It died. Its body was found horribly disfigured, skin peeling, strange fins and growths gone wrong, fused limbs, spilt insides, a clear and disturbingly graphic image of the creature on the front page had stuck in Wes's mind - a profoundly traumatizing picture. And that had only been two stones… they were about to use three.

He began to sweat at the thought of seeing such a thing again, "You'll kill it!" He blurted in panic.

"Since when did you become the expert, will ya just hold the damn pokemon!"

The eevee sprayed a soft sneeze as the stones approached it. Wes's grip had to tighten on its sides as he could feel its weak and shaking muscles tense. It tried to move backwards, claws scraping on the ground. Its ears flattened on its back as it gave a distressing squeal and it started kicking its back legs to try and escape. Its hind paws thumped the ground until they bled, but Wes tightened his grip further. He looked up to see all three stones glowing together, each one held by each of the guys. The one in the middle with the black spiked hair frowned for a moment, but smiled as the pokemon began to glow.

Wes felt he couldn't speak out. These thugs wouldn't listen. But he wasn't going to take any responsibility for the death of this pokemon. His mouth went dry at the thought of what he might see if the eevee was to mutate.

Suddenly, the link between the stones and the pokemon were broken. The three men, including Richard were startled as a spark flew from the stones and near hit them. Another squeal echoed through out the area. The panicky cries became more hysterical as Wes ran with the eevee held close to his chest. 'This is Insane' He thought.

"What the… !" Richard scrambled to his feet and ran after Wes, Bruiser and the black-haired skinny guy close behind.

Wes sprinted up the broken road, the pokemon in tight embrace as it squirmed. He wasn't used to running a lot. His throat quickly became dry, and his head burned, but Richard and the other two could be close behind. He didn't know, but he didn't want to stop, just in case.

"Wes, you little shit!" Richard yelled after him, "Hand over the fucking pokemon!"

Wes wasn't sure what he had said, but he sounded pissed-the-hell-off. The eevee had quietened a bit, probably exhausted. Wes just kept running. His legs were wobbling from the adrenaline, and he stumbled. Looking round a moment, seeing Richard and Bruiser, he regained his balance and tried to keep on running, but for some reason he couldn't get his legs to move fast enough. It was like he was weighed down.

He looked around again. Two figures stood, one doubled over, a third came out from behind a corner. But still, Wes carried on. Out the estate and to his street, he carried on home. It was the safest place he could be. They would still be after him, but at least at home he would have some time to think things through. He was just lucky home wasn't too far away. A few moments more and they would probably have caught up with him.

Wes lay the eevee down on his kitchen floor. It wasn't the cleanest of places, but by the looks of things that eevee had been used to much filthier environments. As soon as the pokemon sat down it looked up at Wes, still shaking and wheezing. Big black beady eyes glistened, almost looking teary. Wes leaned on his kitchen table, gasping.

"Wha… what am I gonna do with you?