Pyrite Town was a fairly large town by Rui's standards. It was hewed out of a crimson-colored canyon and was laced with bits of old trash and mining debris, the latter a reminder of the town's mining past. Most of the buildings and machinery in the town were saturated with rust.
She had heard that Pyrite Town was an honorable town of thugs and scoundrels. Once a mining town, most of the residents have resorted to a life of crime since the town's livelihood began to wane. Her grandfather told her the rumors about the levels of crime in Pyrite appear to be exaggerated slightly. That it is said that people who stay in Pyrite for a long time take on the town's characteristics. He also said Pyrite was known locally as "the town of earth, wind, and money".
Rui moseyed around the town square looking for Sherriff Sherles.
"He wasn't at the jailhouse so where else could he be?" she asked.
It was then that she saw a Makuhita beside a man with his black hair done up in two buns. He wore red shades, an orange vest over a long-sleeved charcoal gray shirt and black long cargo pants. There was another man beside him with spiky, orange-tipped blonde hair and blue shades. He wore a dark blue tank top and brown long cargo pants. The Makuhita was attacking an older man with dark brown hair.
"Come on, man!" cried the man with the double buns. "Cough up all the loot! I don't want to see a penny missing."
"Please don't hurt me! I'll do whatever you say!" cried the older gentleman.
"Oh my goodness!" Rui cried. It was then that she noticed a black glowing aura emanating from the pokémon. "What's wrong with that pokémon?"
It was then that the man with spiky blonde hair noticed Rui staring at them from afar.
"Hey, Trudly we got company."
The man referred to as Trudly looked up from the man they were antagonizing at Rui.
He scoffed. "It's just a little girl, Folly. She can't do anything to us."
"Maybe not but look at how she's eyeing your Makuhita."
"Hm?" Trudly noticed the concentrated expression she wore on her face as well. He sneered. "Hey, kid! Get out of here!"
"Please stop hurting that old man with your freakish pokémon! There's something wrong with it!"
"What are you going on about? There's not a damn thing wrong with my pokémon."
"Rui gasped and hesitated to speak any further. These were obviously criminals engaging in unlawful behavior. She couldn't be too rash otherwise she might end up getting hurt herself. Where the heck was Sheriff Sherles?
It was then that the man got up from the ground and started running away.
"Hey! We're not done with you yet!" Trudly yelled as the man booked it away from them. "Damn it! If only I had a fast pokémon on me."
He turned back to look at Rui to see she was still staring at his Makuhita.
"Hey, you got a problem, little miss?"
"N-No!" Rui stammered as she started stepping backwards. "I don't want any trouble!"
"You should have thought about that before you interfered," said Trudly. "Go Makuhita!"
The bipedal yellow pokémon jumped in the air and landed just a foot in front of Rui. She shrieked as it prepared to punch her. She dove out of the way before scrambling to her feet and sprinting away.
"Oh no you don't!"
Rui panted as she continued to run. How could she have been so foolish to engage with criminals? She didn't even have a pokémon to protect her.
Rui found herself running down an alleyway, but she ran into a dead end.
"Oh no," Rui muttered.
"Nowhere to run," Trudly said as he and Folly cornered her. The Makuhita was walking ahead of them, still emitting that same black aura Rui saw earlier.
"P-Please don't hurt me!" she stammered.
"I'm more interested in what you saw in my Makuhita here," said Trudly. "You said there was something wrong with it. How would you know that?"
"U-Um, i-it's just…I can see pokémon auras and your Makuhita was giving off this cold soulless aura. I didn't mean anything by it! Just to take your pokémon to a Pokémon Center or something! Honest!"
"You can see auras?" Trudly wondered.
"Hey, Trudly," whispered Folly. "If this girl can see auras, then she can maybe tell that it's a Shadow Pokémon. That would not be good for our operations. Better take her back to the boss."
"You're right. Okay then," Trudly stepped forward. "You're coming with us."
"No! Please, no!" Rui cried.
"Now don't make this difficult."
Wes drove and drove until he could no longer drive anymore. He must've driven for hours. His motorcycle needed gas. Wes pulled into a lonely gasoline stand and diner that was in the southeastern desert. The stand itself was made out of a broken-down locomotive engine.
Wes parked his motorcycle and signaled for his Espeon to wait in the bike cargo trailer while he went inside with Umbreon. As he got off his motorcycle he stared at the Snag Machine he stole. He hadn't actually worn it himself. The pokémon he captured were all from the wild but he heard from the grunts that the prototype Snag Machine had the ability to steal pokémon from Trainers. He couldn't let them hold on to it and do God knows what else. It was clear they had stolen pokémon already and Wes was determined to get those pokémon back to their original Trainers. He put the Snag Machine on his torso and arm, snapping it into place. It was a perfect fit.
Getting up from his motorcycle, Wes started for the entrance to stand when he noticed a large bag tied up in the back of a green jeep. It was a large bag about the size of an almost fully grown human being. Before he could question it nay further two men came out from the stand.
"Fwaah! We sure pigged out, eh? I love chowing down after a job! It adds to the flavor, I swear."
"Heheheh, yeah. And we bagged ourselves a great big catch, too. Boss'll be sure to fix us up with big rewards, too. Heheheh, it doesn't get any better than this!"
The two men then got into the jeep. As the driver got into his seat he noticed Wes staring at the large bag on the back of their jeep.
"Hey! Mind your own business kid!" he yelled before speedily driving away.
Wes shook his head and continued inside the locomotive stand/diner. The machinery of the stand still appeared to work, with the steam engine providing electricity to the appliances inside.
Inside the engine was a small bar and restaurant that doubled as a convenience store. Weary travelers were resting in booths sipping cool drinks as they listened to the radio or jukebox. There was a television as well showing a news report.
"Authorities have made a stunning announcement on the mysterious building that exploded in Eclo Canyon." Said the news reporter. "It was Team Snagem's hideout. Team Snagem is a gang of Pokémon abductors who have already been marked for arrest. The hideout was discovered only as a result of the explosion. By the time the police arrived, the ruined building had already been abandoned. The cause of the explosion is under investigation. It should become apparent eventually."
Wes grimaced. He didn't expect the explosion to be investigated so quickly. And what's worse was that Gonzap and the rest of the team had already evacuated. He certainly had a target on his back for sure but he couldn't worry about that at he moment. He had to get gas and supplies before trying to make his way back home to his mother.
He walked up to the stand where a red-headed muscular man with a headscarf stood behind the counter.
"Oh? I haven't seen your face around these parts. A traveler, huh? Not that it matters any. I don't know where you might've come from, but relax, stick around a while."
Wes pointed to the bottle of gasoline indicating that he wanted to buy it.
"The quiet type, eh? It's not my place to judge. If you want that can that'll be $10.50. And I'll need to see some ID."
Wes looked quizzically at him, confused by what he was asking for.
"ID," he repeated. "You don't have a P DA or Trainer Card on you?"
Wes shook his head 'no'.
"Aye yai yai. You need a license to be a Pokémon Trainer, kid. Luckily for you we also certify here. Stand right there and I'll take your picture."
Doing as he was told, Wes got his picture taken and the man behind the counter developed his picture and put it into an electronic device.
"This is a Pokémon Digital Assistant or P DA for short. In Orre, we use P DA's in lieu of a Trainer Card. The P DA keeps track of a Trainer's ID no., their money and Poké Coupons. It can also be used to send and receive emails and has a ringtone that can be customized to the preferences of the user. Keep this on your person at all times. That will be an additional $24.95 for the P DA."
Nodding, Wes took out his wallet and paid for the gasoline and P DA. As he walked with the decently sized bottle and put the electronic device in his coat pocket, he could hear passing conversations of the customers sitting in the diner.
"You know, I don't quite understand what happened, but having your hideout blow up on you…Crime doesn't pay, I guess. I live a crime-free life, so nothing's going to blow up on me. Wahaha!"
"There's no forgiving that Team Snagem. They don't deserve it, not when they steal pokémon from Trainers! Why, I'd give a hip, hip, hooray if they were wiped out with their wrecked hideout!"
"Hey do you know about Team Snagem? They're a seriously nasty lot! There's no telling how many Trainers have suffered at their hands."
Wes couldn't shake the disgusting feeling he had in being a part of such a nefarious organization. It didn't matter that he was tricked – he still contributed to their schemes and helped capture the pokémon they turned into Shadow Pokémon with Cipher. There was no forgiving what he had done.
As Wes turned to exit, he was called out by a young man with pink spiky hair.
"You're a pokémon trainer too, aren't you?"
Wes nodded.
"Heh…I can tell. And you're good. I can see it in your eyes. I bet your pokémon are impressive too. If the opportunity ever arises, I'd like to have a battle with you. Heh…Though, I doubt I'd have any chance of beating you."
Before Wes could leave, the man behind the counter called out to him.
"Also, you need to put your pokémon in Pokéballs, kid. I have these two empty balls laying around here. Go on and take 'em."
Wes took the two pokéballs from the man and stared hard at them. He vowed to not keep his pokémon contained in what seemed like an evil practice, at least through his experience. He minimized the pokéballs and put them inside his pocket as well.
As he exited the stand, the same trainer with pink spiky hair stopped him.
"Yo! Wait! Wait up!" He yelled as he walked ahead of Wes. "Hey, my name's Willie. After I got a good look at you, well, I got this urge to battle you. It's like I'm compelled to. Any way I look at it, it's obvious you're no ordinary Joe. So what do you say? Let's you and me have a quick battle!"
Though Wes really wanted to be on his way back home, he felt that he couldn't turn down his request and nodded.
"Yeahah! That's the spirit!" Willie cried. "All right, all right. Over here, this way!"
Willie led Wes over to an open area in front of the Outskirt Stand.
"Yeeeeeeaaaah! I'm burning now! I'm on fire! It's full throttle time! Vrum! Vrooom! Let's roll!"
Willie tossed two pokéballs into the air and two raccoon-like pokémon materialized on the field.
Wes signaled his pokémon to come onto the battlefield. His Umbreon and Espeon took their stance in front of him immediately.
"Yeah alright!" Willie cried. "Zigzagoon use Tackle!"
The Zigzagoon swerved and ran recklessly in a zigzag fashion as they charged forward to Wes' pokémon.
Without saying a word, Wes' instructed his pokémon to attack. From certain hand gestures they were able to know what their human wanted them to do.
The Espeon used Confusion and her eyes glowed a light purple as the two Zigzagoon were enveloped and outlined in psychic energy, levitating them above the ground, effectively stopping their attack. She then telekinetically pulled them forward to Umbreon, where he bit down on both pokémon and tossed them backwards. Espeon then unleashed a surge of lavender psychic energy and the two pokémon were KO'd immediately.
Willie covered his face. "Tch…Wiped out. I still need seasoning."
Afterwards Willie recalled is two pokémon into their pokéballs before walking up to Wes and his pokémon. "But, yeah, you're touch. Real tough. You did a real number on us. Hey, I know. Why not test your skills in Phenac City? It's out west of here. You'll find Trainers who are way better than me there. You should go out and get some battling in."
Wes had no desire to battle more Trainers. His main focus and priority was getting back home and seeing his mother. But considering he didn't know where anything was in this region, it couldn't hurt to go and try to find a map.
Making his decision, Wes and his pokémon got onto his sports bike motorcycle and started heading west.
