Michael stood in front of his target. Team Snagum's base.

"Finally. Man, this place has seen better days…I'd better get the Snag Machine back and bail fast."


Deep in the base, a tall and bulk man stood in front of his desk where Michael's Snag Machine sat. Waken, the man who stole it was standing in front of him.

"Hey, Wakin! That Snag Machine you say you went and got, what's up with it?! It's too honking small! How am I supposed to fit this on my arm?"

"But, uh…it's not because the machine's small, it's because your arm is so thick, Gonzap…"

"Shut your yap! Bringing me something so useless as this…huh?" They turned to the sound of footsteps to see Michael run up the stairs. "Who is that kid there?"

"There you are, ya creep!"

Wakin recognized him right away. "Hey! You! You're that kid! You must have come for the Snag Machine!"

"I'm not about to let some gang of thugs do whatever they want with it!"

"Good work getting out here. But we're not about to let you have it back. Give up now, kid!"

"I just took out all of your goons to get here! No way I'm backing off now!"


Lovrina walked into the main office of Cipher. Looking ahead she saw Wes's back. He was still looking at the monitor. "Oh, Master Wes! Good news! We're finally almost done the final adjustments for XD001!"

"How much longer?"

"Three weeks soonest."

"Perhaps you mean something different from the rest of the world when you say, "almost done."

"Er…heh, heh…maybe, but we're still close!"

"Hmph…"

"Did you find that last Pokemon on the S.S. Libra?"

"No. Apparently it ran off somewhere."

"Sheesh. That's what you get for putting Gorigan in charge of that kind of mission."

"With Snattle in Phenac and you working on XD001, I had little choice. Anything else to report?"

"No."

"Any sign of Snagum since those two grunts Zook chased off?"

"Nothing yet. Why are we even worried about some third-rate grunts we ditched?"

"Don't underestimate them. They can go far with the grudge they hold against us alone."

"Alright, alright."

"If that's everything you may leave." Lovrina left the room without saying another word. Wes looked up at the screen. "Even after all this time, I can't shake Team Snagum off…"


"Gardevoir, Psychic!"

Michael's Pokemon held it's hand out. It knocked out Walkin's last Gloom. The trainer was dumbstruck. "Trying to take you head on was a bad idea!" He looked up to see his Gloom get flung by Gardevoir, knocking him into a wall. "Ow! Really?!" Walkin glared, rubbing his head.

"That was for making a fool of me at the S.S. Libra."

Gonzap laughed from behind his desk. "Oh, hey, not bad! Pretty impressive, if I must say so! Listen, kid. Why don't you join us, and we'll smash Cipher together."

"Excuse me?" Michael asked.

"If we snag all the Shadow Pokemon from them using this Snag Machine, Cipher will collapse. When that happens, Team Snagem will step up and take over! So, how about it? Will you join us?"

"Sorry. No deal. I'm only here for the Snag Machine."

"All right. You mean to get this Snag Machine back, no matter what." Gonzap walked around the desk and cracked his knuckles. "Fine! You'll have your Snag Machine back, but only if you can beat me!"

"Alright, let's go, big guy! Gardevoir! Ninetales!"

"Electrode! Nuzleaf!"

Gonzap sent out two of his Pokemon as the ones Michael had out stepped forward.

"Here we go! Nuzleaf, Feint Attack!"

The grass type Pokemon rushed at Gardevoir. It braced itself as the attacker looked like it was about to strike only to stop and then flank it's left, hitting Gardevoir where it was open. The Psychic type was flung into a wall.

"Ninetales, Flamethrower!" The fox Pokemon shot a blast of fire from it's mouth, at the Nuzleaf. The Pokemon was knocked out.

"Now THIS is a battle!" Gonzap smirked. "Go, Wishcash!" Next was a Water Ground type. "Water Pulse!" First a burst of water, hit Ninetales, knocking it back.

"Electrode, Spark!" The Pokeball shaped Pokemon rammed into Gardevoir, knocking it out. Michael returned it to its Pokeball.

"Ursaring!" Next, Michael sent out the evolved from of Teddiursa. It roared as it appeared. "Return!" The Pokemon shoulder charged, Whiscash, knocking it out.

"Ninetales, Fire Blast again!"

The fire Pokemon shot another star-shaped burst of flame ingulfing the Electrode. It too, was knocked out.

"Alright kid…the gloves are off! Vileplume! Skarmory!" Gonzap sent his last two Pokemon out. "Hyper Beam!" Both of them shot bright lasers at Michael's Pokemon. Ursaring endured the hit, but Ninetales, having been hit by a super effective move already fell over. Michael returned it.

"Go, Jolteon!"

Gonzap stared at the yellow Pokemon as it came out. "A Eevee evolution…What are the odds…"

"Quick! While his Pokemon are recharging!" Michael ordered. "Faint attack! Pin Missile!" Jolteon shot green needles at the Vileplume. The grass type winced as it stumbled back. It looked up just in time to see Ursaring's fist collide with it's face. It slid across the floor unconscious.

Gonzap returned his defeated Pokemon. He looked into the determined look in Michael's eyes. "Heh…I like that look kid…only one other trainer in Orre ever had the guts to look at me like that…And did he ever get me angry! Skymory, Steel Wing!" The bird Pokemon blew past Jolteon with it's sharp wings. "Now Arial Ace!" It made a u turn and rammed its sharp beak into Ursaring's belly. "Gotchya!" The bear Pokemon growled as it grabbed its beak in its paws. Skymory tried to get away with no success. "What?!"

"Jolteon, you ready?" The electric type stepped forward. "Ursaring!" The bear threw Skymory into the air. "THUNDER!" Jolteon flashed yellow as it sent a bolt of lightning into the air. Said bolt came down on the flying type with a loud boom. Skymory fainted on the spot.

Gonzap fell to his knees. "Nwoooooh!"

"Great job you two!" Michael smiled as he petted his Pokemon. "I'll be taking the Snag Machine to go now!"

Gonzap growled as he punched the floor. "If we had your expertise and the Snag Machine, we'd have no trouble crushing Cipher." The man sighed as he got up. "But, fine! A promise is a promise! Here, take your Snag Machine back."

Walkin looked at him in shock. "Hah? Are you serious, Gonzap? After all the trouble we went through to get it? Weren't we going to use that to teach Cipher a lesson for dumping us?"

"This kid's fighting to bring Cipher down, right? Him and us, we're both after the same thing." Gonzap replied as he took the machine off his desk and walked over to Michael. "Here, kid, take it. You can have your Snag Machine back."

Michael wasted no time putting it back on his arm. "Finally!"

"That thing didn't fit my arm anyway. Gwahahaha! Oh, yeah! I may as well give you this, too! It just goes to show how I can be generous!" He handed Michael a key.

"What's this?"

"This is a gift from me. There's a chest in a corner on the ground floor. That's the key for it."

"Uh, thanks…"

"All right, kid. Let's get going! Cipher's secret factory is to the north. We'll all looking forward to your crushing Cipher! That's when Team Snagem will again be in control! Gwahahaha!"

"So, once I'm done with them I have to deal with you again?" Michael asked as he made a shrugging motion with his arms while walking back to the stairs. "As if dealing with Wes wasn't a tall order on its own."

"Wait just a second kid!" The boy turned back to see a serious expression on Gonzap's face. Walkin looked confused. "What does Wes have to do with this?"

"Yeah, I thought he left the region." Walkin added.

Michael stared at them blankly for a second. "You guys don't go online a lot, do you?"

"Who has time for THAT these days?!" both men replied simultaneously.

"Go figure." Michael thought to himself. "Wait…you knew Wes? Like, personally?"

"Knew him? Kid, I practically raised him!" Gonzap replied.

Michael looked at him in disbelief. "What?! Are you his father?!"

"Well, no…but I guess I was kind of what you would say a…father figure to him. He worked with us at Team Snagum for years."

"He worked for Snagum? Why?"

"Not important! Look, just tell me what's going on!"

Michael sighed and took out his P*DA. He opened up a specific article. "Maybe you should see for yourself."

Gonzap and Walkin walked up to him and read the article.

From hero to villain!

Upon returning from an abandoned lab Professor Krane reports that his kidnappers may have been working for a reconstructed Cipher. Furthermore, upon leaving he encountered the Hero of Orre Wes, who had been away from the region for the last five years. The hero claimed to be the leader of the abductors. Authorities are on the hunt for the former hero and residents have been advised to be on the look out. The motives for his actions are unknown and investigations have begun.

Gonzap and Walkin were both at a loss for words. "You've got to be flippin' kidding me…Wes…is leading Cipher?!"

"I know there has to be more to this than we can see." Michael replied. "I'm going to try to talk to him and-

"Walkin gather the others. Kid, you go on ahead. We'll meet you at the Key Lab."

"Huh?"

"You heard me! Wes ditched me for what happened five years ago…Now he's producing Shadow Pokemon?! I'm getting to the bottom of this!" Gonzap stormed out of the room. Walkin hurrying behind him.

Michael simply watched. "Five years ago?"


"Wroooar! What'll I do now? Gorigan's going to chew me out again!"

Michael looked at the Shadow Zangoose he snagged. "Sorry it took me so long to free you."

"Urrrrgh..." Zook grumbled. "The punk thumped me...And Gorigan will be furious with me again..." He slowly rose to his feet. "...I should go away. Somewhere far away where Cipher won't have any influence. So long, punk. I've had enough of battling you to last a lifetime."

Michael watched as he left. "I hope this means he's free from Cipher too…" He then looked at the pyramid shaped base. "Here it is…Cipher's Key Lab…I'm coming for you Wes."

He ran towards the entrance as the door opened. Two bulky men ran across the bridge and stood in his way.

"Hey, hey, hey! This is no place for a kid like you!"

"No, no. Can't let you in, nope! You run along now!"

Michael took out two Pokeballs. "I don't have time for this!"

One of the bulk men looked at the Snag Machine. "Huh? Wait a minute…That weird machine on your left arm…You look sort of like that kid I saw on TV, but maybe not. Hey, kid were you ever on TV?"

"You mean when I sent your chump leader running? Guilty as charged."

"Wh-what? The kid taking the fight to Cipher is you? Well, what an opportunity! I'll knock you out and earn myself a promotion to admin!"

"Hold it, there!"

Michael looked behind him to see Gonzap and Walkin approach. Beside the ladder was one of his Glooms. And behind them were all the members of Team Snagum.

"Gonzap! Walkin!"

"Sorry to keep you waiting." Walkin grinned. "Gathering everyone for this assault out of the blue was a real pain."

"That kid's special." Gonzap said to the guards. "He's not anyone you can beat. If you know what's best, let him through without a fuss."

"What?! Don't make me laugh!"

Gonzap then turned to Michael. "Hey, kid let us handle this little problem."

"I can take em."

"I know you can. But it wouldn't pay to make a racket. All it'd do is alert the guys inside the building." Ganzap turned to his second in command. "Hey, Walkin!"

"Yo!"

The guards then were able to recognize their uniforms. "Hey, you guys are from Team Snagum! What do you think you're doing here?"

"Gloom! Hit them with Sleep Powder!"

"Glooooom!" The Pokemon shot out a green powder at the guards. Both of them grew drowsy and soon toppled over.

"Good going, Walkin!"

"Heheh! Glad to be of service!"

"Thanks guys! You, brought your whole team?" Michael asked.

"Cipher alone is one thing. Wes is another entirely." Walkin replied. "We need all the bodies we can throw at this. He knows how Team Snagum operates…this'll be tough."

Ganzap then turned to his team. "Alright boys here's the drill! You lot storm the place and make a distraction! Walkin and I are going to shut this sorry junk yard down! While we're doing that, the kid makes a beeline for Wes!"

"Yes, sir!"

"Alright, let's-

"Wait!" Gonzap turned to Michael as he protested. "Maybe we should switch jobs."

"What do ya mean?"

"How about I go with Walkin to shut down the factory and you go find Wes?"

"Uh, kid? You're stronger than me. You have the better chances."

"Maybe we don't need to fight him."

"Say what?"

"Like I said I was going to talk to him. But I tried that twice already and that didn't go too well. Besides, you said you were a father figure to him. Maybe he'll listen to you."

Gonzap was silent for a second before sighing. "I dunno kid…that was a long time ago…and ever since what happened the day he left, well…"

"What happened that made him leave?" Michael asked.

"Ancient history kid." Walkin replied. "Now are we going to yammer out here all day, or are we-

"You know what kid, maybe you have a point."

Walkin looked at Gonzap in surprise. "Gonzap?"

"I'm his former boss, so I'm more responsible for him than you are. I'll talk to him…and if that doesn't work I'll knock some sense into him!"

"You sure Gonzap?"

"Walkin stick with the kid! You know what to do."

"Alright. Good luck, boss."

"Now's our chance! Hurry! We can wreck Cipher right now!"


A tall man with headphones and shades banged on the door to Wes's room.

"I though I made it clear that I was not to be disturbed."

"But Master Wes! We've got a huge problem!"

The man on the other end sighed not turning away from the monitor. "I'll get back to you later."

"Of course."

He turned the monitor off and turned to the door. "Come in, Gorigan."

The bulk man rushed into the room. "The Lab's under attack!"

"The kid? Or Snagum again?"

"That's the worst part! Both!"

"This kid is working with Snagum? What's Gonzap up to now?" The leader thought. "How many members?"

"I donno but they're storming the place! It's only a matter of time before-

"Hey, stop! Nobody's allowed in-GAH!"

Both men averted their attention to the door as Gonzap barged in. "Knock, knock!"

Gorigan turned to him. "Who the heck are you?!"

"That would be Gonzap." Wes replied. "Their boss."

"Awww. And here I was thinking you might hove forgotten about little old me after all these years!"

"You got some nerve coming straight here punk!" Gorigan growled. "I'll stomp ya like a-

"Enough." Both him and Gonzap looked at Wes as he approached. "Go get rid of his grunts. I'll deal with this myself."

"Grrrr. Fine, fine." Gorigan stormed out of the doorway.

"Your working with the kid I hear." Wes said looking straight at Gonzap. "What an unlikely alliance."

"What can I say? That kid's really something. Skilled, bold, strong-willed, full of potential…Kinda like you when I found ya all those years ago."

Wes didn't reply.

"Wes, what happened to you? You ditched us to take down Cipher and here you are rebuilding it? What happened to saving all Pokemon from the likes of us?"

"Things change…"

"I can see that…I saw it firsthand five years ago, traitor."

"The Torchic or the egg, Gonzap?" Wes sharply replied. Gonzap only growled in response. "Enough. You clearly want to stop the production of Shadow Pokemon. I refuse to let that happen. There is only one thing left to do."

"Fine then…I was getting bored of talking anyway." Both trainers brought out two Pokeballs. "Ironic ain't it Wes? Last time it was you fighting me to stop Cipher. Now it's the other way around."

A glimmer of light flashed across Wes's shades. "But it will end the same way."


Michael and Walkin rushed downstairs. "Okay, so what are we looking for?"

"Anything." Walkin replied. "There must be some clue on how to…Aha! Jackpot!" The man ran over to a nearby computer. "Let's see…I should be able to hack into this thing and find the schematics or something. Give me a few minutes."

"Think Gonzap is going to be okay?" Michael asked looking at the nearby desk.

"Well…normally I'd say yes but…This being Wes he's up against…it'll be hard for him…"

"If he was like a son to him I bet it would be…I still can't imagine Wes working with Snagum…er, no offence."

"Eh, none taken. To be honest, it happened under the most bizarre circumstances. And well…things change."

"What do you mean?"

Walkin stopped working on the computer and sighed. "Kid…if Gonzap finds out that I told you he'll chew me out, okay?"

Michael looked at him seriously. "I won't tell."

"Alright…it happened around eight years ago when Snagum first formed. At the time there were only four of us, me Gonzap, Agrev, and Biden. We were low on money which we needed to expand out team. So, we planed our very first heist. We were going to rob a building in the night and hightail it out of town. The thing is, our team was small, so we couldn't afford to be noticed by the public. That meant doing the whole thing completely undetected."

Michael listened carefully as he continued.

"It was going better then we hopped. Everyone was sound asleep by the time we snuck in. We got the money easily and were climbing out the window before anyone could have a chance to notices us…but when we all stepped out and were about to bail…we noticed someone was watching us make our exit. A kid around your age. Homeless…alone save for two small Eevees at his side…"

"Wait…was that kid…Wes?"

"Yeah…Like I said it was a huge problem because, if he reported what he saw to the cops, then we'd be screwed. But well, we didn't know what to do, I mean he was just a kid, who had it rough enough as is, looking at him. None of us wanted to hurt the guy."

"Wow. Even crooks like you have a line you won't cross?" Michael smirked.

"Hey, we may be thieves, but we aren't heartless!" Walkin retorted in an offended tone. "Anyway, as I was saying we were all panicking, wondering what the heck we were gonna do…then the boss made a decision none of us saw coming…"

"What was that?"


"Hey, kid."

"What?"

"You have nowhere to go, do you?"

"Why would you care?"

Gonzap knelled to him and extended a hand. "Why don't I give you a place to go? Together we'll reach the top of the world!"


"So, Gonzap took him in?"

"I was sceptical at first." Walkin admitted. "I mean, what was a kid going to do to help a shady organization? But I kept my mouth shut, knowing we didn't have much of a choice. So, we took Wes with us back to our hideout. At first, we had him doing any simple job we could find him. You know, cleaning floors, checking our supplies, helping us maintain the healing machine…then one day the generator was going haywire. We were worried the whole place might blow."

"What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything. Wes hurried in and fixed the whole thing with his own hands."

"How did he know what to do?"

"When we were out on heists, he'd stay behind. Usually reading whatever he found at the hideout. Sometimes Gonzap would swipe a book or two for the kid when we returned form our heists. Before we knew it, he was one of the smartest members. So, we had him in charge of checking on the generator and our other heavy equipment…then about a year later we could tell he was growing up. Gonzap saw him with his Eevee and decided on something.


"Hey Wes?"

"Yeah?"

"Have you ever considered being a Trainer?"

"Can someone like me ever be one?"

"Kid, with hard work and dedication, anybody can be a Trainer! In fact, you know what? I think I'll make you my personal project!"


"Gonzap taught him how to battle with his Eevee?"

"The start…actually wasn't as rough as we thought it would be." Walkin said. "Those Eevee would listen to any command he would give him. They were like his family. Gonzap was a tough coach but Wes pulled through."


"Alright! That's enough for today Wes."

"Okay. Come on guys, let's get you heal- Wes looked at him Poekmon and saw both of them glow blue. He looked back at Gonzap with his face displaying panic. "Wh-what's happening to them?!"

Gonzap grinned. "Don't look away kid. This is a moment you'll want to burn into your memory for the rest of your life."

Wes looked at his Eevees as they changed shape. The two of them were bigger. Evolved. One was purple, one was black.

"Whoa…"

Gonzap patted Wes on the back. "Congratulations Wes! Your Pokemon have evolved! Take pride in this moment!"

A smile grew on Wes's face.


"That was the first time anyone saw Wes with such a big exited smile." Walkin said smiling at the memory. "After that we started taking him with us on our heists. He was a good teammate. A good Trainer. A good snagger. We all relied on him. Snagum started to grow thanks to him. Everyone was coming to respect him…and then one day, years later…they showed up."

Michael gave him an odd glance. "They?"

"Cipher."

Michael's blood froze.

"I suppose I should tell you…we had an alliance with them five years ago. You see, it started when they came to our hideout with a strange machine…they called it…a Snag Machine. Not like yours. It was bigger. A giant thing really. You'd be dumbfound if you saw it."

"Wait...come to think of it…I saw some weird machines in your hideout. They were all wrecked though."

"That'd be them. Anyway, they demonstrated what they could do, and we made a deal. They'd provide us with Snag Machines and we'd provide Pokemon for their Shadow Pokemon project."

"Did you even know what it was?"

"Not until about two weeks later. One of their admins came by and explained it to Gonzap. He then also said they he wanted to test it on stronger Pokemon that had deep connections to their Trainers…then on his way out…he saw Wes training. He was amazed with what he saw…then he turned to Gonzap and told him that he wanted Wes's Umbreon and Espeon for his experiment."

"What?!"


"Ein, we've been giving you plenty of other Pokemon already!"

"Not like that boy's Gonzap. His hold strong ties with him. I'm curious to see if they can hold after we turn them into Shadow Pokemon…Besides you can always give him new ones. He seems to be a good Trainer."

"He won't take em. He refuses to use any Pokemon other than those two."

"We have given you plenty of Snag Machines. Including our latest prized model. You will do what we ask." The scientist left without saying another word.


Walkin was with Gonzap at his desk.

"Gonzap…are you sure?"

"We have no choice. They want Wes's Pokemon, we need those Snag Machines and Shadow Pokemon."

"But taking Wes's Umbreon and Espeon…and turning them into Shadow Pokemon without even asking? He'll never forgive us for this."

"He'll live. We all need to chip in. Tomorrow, I'll take them to Ein."


"You were going to take Wes's Pokemon and turn them into Shadow Pokemon against his wishes?!"

"That was the plan." Walkin replied. "The next morning Gonzap called me to his office again…"


"Today's the day." Gonzap said. "We'll take Wes's Pokemon to Cipher's Lab."

"Yes sir…" Walkin replied, not too happy about what they were about to do. Sure, they stole Pokemon before, but this was from Wes. One of them.


"And then it happened."

"What happened?" Michael asked.


BOOOOM

The whole base started to shake at the sound of a explosion. "What was that?!" One of the men asked.

"An attack?! Were we found out?!" Walkin asked.

"Come on!" Gonzap ordered. They hurried outside of the building.

"Boss, look!" One of the grunts pointed to Wes. He was running away from the hideout with his Umbreon at his side. In his arm was the newly developed Snag Machine.

"Wes!" Gonzap yelled. "What do you think your doing?!" Wes glanced back but kept running. "GET HIM!"

They all ran after Wes. Unfortunately for them, he already had his bike stationed nearby. His Espeon, sat in the sidecar. He threw the Snag Machine in then jumped onboard himself. Umbreon jumped in next to Espeon. Wes glanced behind him to see Gonzap coming up close. "Consider this my way of saying I quit!"

With that his engine roared as he took off leaving Gonzap and the rest of Team Snagum in the dust. They all gave up the chase and stopped to catch their breath.

"Wes…!"

As he drove off Wes held up a switch with a button. "And here's my resignation note." he grinned.

One of the grunts looked at the hole Wes blew in the wall to get to the Snag Machine. "Well, at least the damage isn't that bad."

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM

A much bigger explosion hit the base, blowing chunks off. Gonzap glared into the distance.


"That was the point of no return." Walkin concluded.

"No wonder your base is a wreck…Did he know what Gonzap was going to do?"

"Yeah. After the explosion we tried to salvage whatever we could…When I looked around the boss's office I found something…there was a listening device stuck to the bottom of his desk. Only Wes would have thought of that. He overheard everything we said the night before."

"Oh…"

"Now do you see why the boss is hesitant?"

"I guess…has he ever talked about it?"

"Rarely. And whenever it comes up he simply tells me things change. I guess he thinks Wes changed again."

"No, he hasn't! Because there's a difference between what happened that day and now!"

Walkin looked back at Michael. "What do you mean?"

"Back then all of you were convinced he changed! But this time there are people that believe Wes is still a hero!"

Walkin turned back to the computer. "Hey, here's something! Up on the roof there's a console used to control the voltage in this facility. If the voltage goes too high, it could fry the super computer controlling this place…deleting all the data, including what they're using to create Shadow Pokemon!"

"Then that's what we'll do! How do we use it?"

"According to this, the System Lever is given to different scientists every day to make sure they don't accidently mess it up."

"You mean this?"

Walkin turned to Michael in surprise to see him hold up a metal stick. "How'd you find it so honking fast?!"

"It was right over there on that desk. The dope in charge of it today must have forgotten it."

"How convenient. Alright, the others will take care of things here. Let's take that baby upstairs!"

"Right!"


I was always curious on why Wes joined Snagum in the first place and what made him leave. Anyhow, sorry for all the time skips, I promise that this one was the only one that will be so big.