Some more fleshing out of the plot. I feel like it's a bit slow-paced right now, but gotta make sure the personalities are set in place so that later on they don't suddenly make a random 180 (unless it's planned of course). It'll get more exciting after Chapter Six, believe me! In fact, even Chapter Five is pretty good :)

Chapter Four: Confessions

"I still can't believe your luck," said Wes, shaking his head with a sigh. "You get kidnapped by the two biggest idiots in Team Snagem and then somehow I come across you and you're still alive! Rui, the luck gods have decided that they love you."

Rui smiled. "I believe in Lord Rayquaza. I believe that he is there, watching over us. Perhaps it was Rayquaza that saved me, that…that has saved me. My whole life, he has kept me alive." She stopped speaking abruptly as if she was approaching a touchy subject. Wes easily got the message and switched gears.

"So…you can see those…close-hearted Pokémon?" he asked hesitantly.

"Oh, yes," replied Rui, her voice hard with certainty. "Yes, I definitely can. Wes, I think we need to see the mayor about this!" She was about to stand up and run towards the door when Wes grabbed her arm around the elbow.

"Rui, it's almost dinnertime. Why don't we go and see the mayor first thing tomorrow after breakfast? I'm tired, you're tired, your arm needs to heal, it's late, and we'll probably both feel a lot better about the whole ordeal tomorrow. Okay?" reasoned Wes. He was the one that was actually tired, after traversing nothing but hot, exhaustion-inducing desert weather in his motorbike for hours.

Rui sat back down on the soft bed and nodded in resignation. "Okay, Wes. First thing tomorrow…after breakfast!"

"Espiuuu…" grumbled Espeon ("We're not tired, Wes.").

"Umbri! Umbri!" chirped Umbreon happily, bouncing up and down on his paws ("I'm not tired! I'm feeling very energetic!").

"Sunny and Stellaluna want to see the mayor," mumbled Rui. Then she giggled. "But you two can wait, right? If you claim to be more patient then us, then why don't you show it?"

"Espi!" cried Espeon ("We never said that!").

Wes translated and Rui laughed. "I'm just joking!" She smiled and lay down on the fluffy pillows. "Oh, Wes, you will be able to get that Makuhita sometime, right? That's all I want you to do using that Snaggy thingy over there."

"I will," said Wes shakily, unsure if he was binding himself to a promise or not. Promise or no promise, he figured that finding one little Makuhita wouldn't take years and years.

"So what's for dinner?" asked Rui, gazing up at the clock. It was already 5:30 pm. "I'm hungry."

Wes looked through the small pamphlet that was already on the nightstand between the two beds, reading it thoughtfully. "Phenac Grand Hotel has its own buffet-style diner that's open from 5 – 8 pm every day except Sunday. It's 85 Poke per person thirteen years old and over. So that would be 170 Poke for the both of us…hey, not bad! That's a lot cheaper than a Hyper Potion, even, and those are a fortune. 1,200 Poke for something that can fully restore a Pokémon's strength…and to think, I've never noticed the difference between a Super Potion and a Hyper Potion except in the really, really strong Pokémon I've met…" Wes was careful to say "met", not "Snagged" because often before giving a Snagged Pokémon to Gonzap, he had to restore its health first so that the Pokémon would be in proper shape for Gonzap's reputably brutal testing.

"Oooh let's go there!" squealed Rui happily. "What's a buffet? I wanna see what it is?"

Poor girl doesn't even know what a buffet is. What kind of parents would never show their kid a buffet? Wes thought, thunderstruck. "A buffet is like a restaurant only you don't need to order. You just go up and pick what foods you want and put it on your plate. You'll see, it's nice without any wait time.

"That sounds delicious!" Rui got up and put her jean jacket back on. "Let's go!"

Wes packed his wallet and strapped his P*DA carefully to the wrist of the Snag Machine, which with some effort he forced onto his arm, shoulder, and hand.

"Why do you bring that bulky thing with you all the time?" asked Rui.

"Don't want it getting stolen by Team Snagem thugs that might be after me," replied Wes. This time it was the truth—well, only a half-truth. Rui still didn't know that it was his Snag Machine, and that he had been the Snagger of Team Snagem, and now he had left, and now Team Snagem "thugs" were probably trying to find him to make him pay…

"Paranoid of you but it makes sense," mused Rui, snapping Wes out of his rather depressing thoughts. "Anyways, this elevator won't come. How long will we have to wait?"

It was 10:45 pm. Wes was asleep.

Or, at least, supposed to be.

Rui's reaction to what a "buffet" was…definitely something memorable, he thought to himself, suppressing a chuckle. On the other bed, Rui appeared to be motionless. She was probably asleep. No use in waking her, the way women were…

"Wes, look! Food's everywhere! Don't you have to ask politely in order to have some? Or you just take a spoon and plop it all on your plate—,"

"No, Rui, you have to be generous. No, don't take half the thing of mashed potatoes! How can you even fit that much into your stomach? I'd get sick if I had to eat that much! Take just two spoonfuls…no, don't overload them like that, you're going to take half the bin again…"

"Oh but I like mashed potatoes!"

"You take a little bit…" Wes spooned a serving-spoonful of mashed potatoes onto Rui's plate, wanting to burst out laughing as he stared at her dejected face. "And when you finish, come back for another helping. That way other people have a chance to eat their favorite food too, okay?"

Rui made a hmph noise and stalked off, taking a handful of gummy bears and then scooping generous amounts of ice cream into a dessert bowl.

"Silly girl," Wes murmured to himself, watching the carver cut him a bit of meat. "Doesn't know that dessert comes after the main course."

As the carver put a thin slice of meat onto Wes's own plate, he said to him, "She's never been to a place like this before. Let her have a go. And if you do want to know, we'd refill that bin of mashed potatoes if she ate it all, no worries! She's hungry, let her eat." Then he chuckled and wiped the fat and grease off his carving knife.

A small smile formed on Wes's face. Rui was so innocent, so…hysterical sometimes, and so naïve to how things worked in this world. Perhaps her parents had pampered her too much with the helicopter rides. But then, if they forgot to even feed her, then surely she knew something.

Or perhaps she had forgotten it all.

On purpose.

Wes rolled over so that he faced away from Rui. Espeon and Umbreon pounced onto his bed, discontent with being unable to sleep near him, and curled up near his chest.

"Espi," purred Espeon quietly ("Wes, you've found yourself a friend.").

"Umbri," whispered Umbreon ("Goodnight, Wisteria.").

Wisteria.

A beautiful, yet hard-to-raise flower that most certainly would die instantly if planted in a desert as harsh and unforgiving as Orre. As far as Wes was concerned, his parents in Hoenn had owned a small wisteria plant and its flowers had been the most beautiful that he'd ever seen. If he could remember correctly.

Rui.

He felt heat flood his face. Why was she so familiar? Why did he feel like he knew her? There were debts to be paid…so many debts. Wes pressed his face into the pillow, refusing to let himself cry. One did not survive in Orre by being fainthearted.

"Espeon," came Espeon's purr, catching Wes off-guard ("But others survive through compassion, Wes.").

Wes decided he didn't know what Espeon was talking about and stretched out his back, sighing quietly as he manage to crack a few places.

"Umbri!" snapped Umbreon ("That's disgusting, Wes!").

"Just go to sleep, you two," Wes yawned, hoping that Rui hadn't been awoken by all the ruckus happening on his end of the hotel room. "I'm tired and you don't want to wake up Rui, do you?"

"Breon," Umbreon replied ("Your thoughts cloud your mind. It…concerns us.").

"Espi esp." ("All the same, as you wish. Night, Wes!").

Wes nodded as they curled back up and allowed himself to relax. Within moments he was asleep.

Contrary to Wes's thoughts and concerns, Rui wasn't exactly asleep. She couldn't stop all her thoughts from simply flash flooding her mind and forced herself to handle them one at a time.

Her first thought wandered over how the mayor would react to her claims that there were "weird Pokémon" running about. She had been kidnapped because those two thugs—Folly and Trudley—had wanted her to keep her mouth shut. So perhaps the rest of Orre (and probably Hoenn too) had yet to know that there were these bloodthirsty, brutal Pokémon who weren't afraid to attack and even kill other people…and Pokémon, probably, Rui added to herself in her mind.

Then she wondered how that Makuhita was doing. The poor Makuhita had killed his own trainer, been forcefully stolen by Folly and Trudley and taken who-knows-where, and probably hadn't felt a single bit of remorse or care for anyone or anything. Perhaps the Makuhita was just so plain…corrupted…that he didn't even know where he was. Perhaps all was the same to him. As long as there were other people and Pokémon to beat up, Rui was sure that he was happy. It pained her heart to know that people could be so cruel and do such things to Pokémon.

And who knows? Someday, this Team Snagem might even manufacture people with the same sort of aura, Rui thought, terrified, to herself.

But why terrified? She was in the safety of Phenac City. Wes was here with his Snag Machine, Sunny, and Stellaluna. She was perfectly safe, and when she reached Agate Village, her ever-faithful Dratini would await her at her grandparents' house. She had found Dratini in the Safari Zone in Kanto on a family vacation a few years back. The Dratini had been severely injured and had immediately rushed up to her as if she was a Pokémon Doctor. She was, of course, not a certified doctor at all, but she managed to nurse the little Dratini back to traveling health and before she knew it, the Dratini refused to leave her side. The safari warden had agreed to let her keep it; after all, Dratini had clearly wanted nothing more than to stay with Rui for as long as possible. Once back on in Fuchsia City in the hotel, Rui continued to help Dratini recover and before long, he was healthy enough to make the journey back to Orre, whereupon Rui's parents decided that the best place for him would be in the lush, fresh-air Agate Village.

Oh, Drew… she thought wistfully. By now Drew was most certainly almost ready to evolve—if he wanted to. Rui knew how much Drew like floundering around as the little worm-dragon he was, and he was absolutely adorable. But perhaps he had already evolved into a Dragonair. The possibility was there, for her grandfather, Eagun, had once been a Myth Trainer, a legend among Orre and one of the best, if not the best, at battling in the entire region. Age, of course, had done its job to keep him from trying to battle now that he was retired, but he did like taking his Pikachu-themed team on regular walks and enjoyed even more training them, although the training sessions were erratically scheduled and depended heavily on Eagun's ability to be as energetic as possible—a feat for his advanced age.

Then she thought about Wes. She couldn't help it. Her thoughts automatically seemed to drift in a Wes-like direction no matter how much she tried to prevent it. He was so strong and brave to fend off two thugs at once that had kidnapped her, although admittedly those two Whismur hadn't been much of a challenge. Still, he had been intimidating enough to make sure those two didn't try breaking out the fists. Wasn't that quite the accomplishment? He was rather handsome too, from his bright yellow eyes that always made him look like he was up to something, to his blonde-brown hair (that was exceedingly spiky) to his overall thin figure, steampunk sense of fashion, and his gentle touch… So far he had been relatively kind to her even though they had met in the most unusual of circumstances and had never met before.

Had they?

Now Rui was really wondering just what was up. She knew that he was familiar to her, although she didn't know how. Surely they had met elsewhere. If they had, she thought to herself as she tried to keep herself from giggling with happiness, it didn't matter. He was a gallant prince and he had saved her when she was in distress. Why shouldn't he deserve her full and utmost trust? She wanted to. She wanted to trust him with every fiber of her being, yet something held her back. It was probably just the fact that they had known each other for less than a day. That was it, she decided firmly to herself. That was what it was. Soon enough, she knew, they would be the best of friends!

At this a small chuckle escaped her. She couldn't help it. A new friend! Fancy that!

"Rui, wake up. Wake up! It's almost ten. Didn't you want to see the mayor? We can't if you won't get up!" Wes shook Rui's shoulder, a bit irritated that she didn't seem to want to wake up. Was she actually asleep? Wes was doubtless that she was feigning just to annoy him. It was working too. He was becoming annoyed.

"BOO!" screamed Rui suddenly, leaping up. She must have overestimated though, because she slammed straight into him, knocking him over.

"Gah!" grunted Wes as the wind was knocked out of his lungs and his back hit the floor.

"Ah!" gasped Rui. "Sorry, sorry!" She was going cherry-red in the face, having landed pretty much on top of him. "I'm sorry, Wes, I'm sorry! Are you hurt anywhere? Are you okay?" The words tumbled out of her windpipe extremely fast and at an unusually high pitch. Wes wanted to chuckle at her embarrassment, but in all honesty, he could feel himself going even redder than her.

"I'm fine," he assured. "Nothing's broken, nothing's bleeding, I'm perfectly fine. No apologizing, Rui, you already have, and you've been forgiven. Honestly, Rui, you don't have to apologize!" he said louder over her repeated "I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry…"

Rui obeyed and remained silent, although it was clear she was still full to bursting with "I'm sorry"s.

"Now, can you please get off of me?" asked Wes, trying his very best to keep a straight face.

"Oh! I forgot, I'm sorry!" She leapt up and plopped herself on a chair. "What's for breakfast?" she asked. "Any cereal or something?"

"I do have a box in my bag here. Do you mind Frosted Flakes?" asked Wes, digging through his messenger bag and getting out two mini-boxes of Frosted Flakes. He looked at the tiger and wrinkled his nose. "Cereal companies sure know how to make crazy-looking mascots."

"Where'd you get that from? That's not from Orre!" exclaimed Rui, opening the bag and taking a bite. "Oh, these are sooooooooooooooooooo good!"

"Er…" Gonzap had gotten them and given them to Wes as quick calories before he had blown up the hideout. Wes had had another Snagging mission before he had decided that enough was enough, so as it was, he still had all the food Gonzap had given him. It wasn't much, but it was good for maybe a breakfast or two. "I just kinda had them, I suppose. Don't really remember how I got them. I travel around places, I don't really stay in one spot, you know."

"Explains that nice motorcycle," commented Rui. She finished up the last of the flakes and patted her nonexistent belly. "Oh that was good, I'm full!"

"Full already?" asked Wes, mildly surprised. Considering how underfed she looked, he would have thought that she had a huge appetite.

"Well, I'll be good until lunch," Rui corrected.

"Then here, have another box. I have five," said Wes. As he finished his and decided that he could hold off until lunch just fine ("Espi!" cried Espeon ("You're being a hypocrite!").), he tossed another box to Rui. Within a minute Rui had dumped the rest into her mouth and was shredding it for the trash.

"Okay let's go!" Rui exclaimed. "Let's go see the mayor! Quickly, quickly!"

"Okay, okay," said Wes. "Hold your horses, Rui." He packed up his stuff and then carefully zipped up his bag (it had a nasty history of breaking if handled roughly). While Espeon and Umbreon nuzzled it, as if to claim it their territory—Rui chuckled—Wes affixed the Snag Machine to his left shoulder and hand once more. Then he slung the bag over his other shoulder and headed out. "Done packing Rui, let's go."

"Oh, oh—wait!" cried Rui. "I have to go use the bathroom!"

Wes sighed, dropping the bag onto the floor. "Go and use it then."

As Rui relieved herself, Wes chuckled. Rui was just adorable. Plain adorable.

The toilet flushed and out rushed Rui. "You were laughing about me, weren't you?"

"You're funny." Wes couldn't help but just tell her the blunt truth. "You're very funny."

"No, I'm not!" Rui stomped out the open door. "Everyone has to go pee!"

"No, not that." Wes finally began howling with laughter. "You're just funny!"

Pretty soon, Espeon and Umbreon joined in, their trills of laughter echoing off the wall. Wes felt sorry for anyone that would get startled awake, but he could stop himself. Rui joined in too after a few seconds, her laugh a high-pitched squeal that sounded like she was shivering. At this, Wes laughed even harder.

It was a while before he was able to see well enough to press the right elevator button, and on the trip down, Rui and Wes both could not stop giggling. As they checked out, the receptionist gave them a very stern sort of look and told them, "I hope you two got permission from your parents to do all that hokey-pokey!"

That wiped the laughter from their lungs. As they left, Rui was aghast, her eyes wide and her face frozen in shock like a ghost. "I can't believe she said that! What is a hokey-pokey anyways? And what about my parents?"

"…Nothing," said Wes hastily, hoping that he wouldn't have to…educate her.

"Where's the mayor's house, I wonder…?" Rui wondered out loud.

"Oh, honey, you're safe!"

It was the woman who had watched Wes defeat Folly and Trudley in battle, and the woman who had managed to get Rui some medical attention for her arm.

"Hello, ma'am," said Wes respectfully.

"Hi person!" greeted Rui happily, bouncing up and down. "Weren't you the person who went to the Poke Center so that my arm could get fixed?" She showed her the cast. "Look, look, it's almost better too! Do you know where the mayor is?"

The woman chuckled, her eyes glittering with happiness. She, too, must have found Rui to be absolutely adorable. "It's straight down this path. You'll have to go around the Pre-Gym and it'll be the house right next to Phenac's western entrance. Mayor Es Cade is a wonderful person, you know. I'm sure you two will take a liking to him right away! Now if you'll excuse me, I'm on my way to work. Best of luck to your arm, young lady!"

"Thank you, ma'am!" said Wes. The woman waved as she left.

"Well, let's go," said Rui.

They took the route that the women had told them to take and soon enough, found relatively large-looking house with a sign on the window that said in large black, bold font: "RESIDENCE OF MAYOR ES CADE, ALL WELCOME".

"I wonder just how serious this Mayor Es Cade is about the 'all is welcome' business," griped Wes.

Just as he prepared to ring the doorbell, however, he saw a strange, creepy-looking man step out. He had wild green-grey hair that feel to the middle of his back. Wild as it seemed, it really was well-combed and fairly straight. Bangs that had obviously been very well-cut framed his pale face. His eyes were a dark black and seemed to drill straight through Wes. Around his eyes was a lot of glowing red paint. Or was it all a tattoo? That must have been one painful tattoo, Wes thought. Rui gave a frightened squeak.

"Hello there," said the man, crossing his arms over his muscled chest. He had an abnormally thin waist and virtually no hips. It was almost unnatural, the way this man looked. He had on an extremely tight purple long sleeved shirt and gloves. He had a black skirt thing on as well (Wes sniffed disgracefully as his lack of fashion sense, or even the sense of what matched and what didn't) and tight, black pants that were almost identical to Wes's and finally black sneakers to finish the very mismatched outfit.

"I do feel like we'll cross paths again," he added with a very stalker-ish smile. "You look like you've got quite the potential stored up in you…yes, yes." Then he walked off.

"He's creepy!" whispered Rui. "What kind of mayor would allow a person like that to even step into his house?"

Wes was wondering the same thing. All the same, he rang the doorbell and a voice came from inside. It sounded like it belonged to the stereotypical fat, happy man. "Come in, come in dears!"

Wes and Rui stepped inside and found that the owner of the voice was indeed a fat, happy looking man with a red, old-fashioned-looking jacket that had sleeve cuffs and a very finely ruffled collar. His hair was the weirdest thing that Wes had ever seen, bunched into three main groups, one that pointed up, and two that pointed left and right. He looked like some fat, pudgy clown.

"Good morning mister and miss!" said the mayor happily. "I am Sir Es Cade, mayor of this peaceful town. Have you two any problems to report to me? I will see to them immediately! I am dedicated wholeheartedly to improving Phenac and making it the most beautiful, best-to-live-in city in all of Orre!"

It kinda already is, it has water everywhere, Wes thought rudely.

"Who was that strange man that walked out of your house just now?" asked Rui. "Did you arrest him or something?"

"Good grief Rayquaza no!" Es Cade boomed thunderously. "I would never do that to someone as great as that wonderful man. In fact, he's been helping me with a bunch of investigations lately! Outside of Phenac City there have been so many reports of strange, vicious Pokémon—,"

"OH!" Rui screeched almost as loud as Es Cade had boomed. Wes winced at the pitch of her voice. "Those Pokémon! I can see them, mister mayor, and that's why I came to see you! And these two thugs tried to kidnap me too, I think you should arrest them. There was a MURDER in Pyrite Town not too long ago too, Sir Es Cade! That weird Pokémon you're talking about pushed someone that looked like his trainer right off the cliff into The Under! That poor boy probably died, no one can survive a fall that high. You need to do something about them and this Team Snagem!"

Es Cade's eyes widened with what seemed like feigned terror to Wes. "Dearie, Dearie me…I must do something about this. It seems as if the time has come for me to set up a proper investigation for this. I will begin contacting the police in Pyrite Town right away to start looking into this…dilemma. Thank you very much, sir and ma'am. Now while I attend to this business, I would recommend that you two tough trainers check out the Phenac City Colosseum. Ah, boy, you already have a Colosseum Pass! That's all and good, I was about to give you one!" Es Cade clapped his hands together happily. "The Colosseum is located at the highest point in our city. From my house, go left, then go around the Pre-Gym again and up the stairs to a large dome with water that cascades down its sides constantly. Beautiful city here, isn't it? Gotta love the water displays, I sponsored all of that!"

"Is that water drinkable?" asked Wes, unable to help himself from rubbing it into Es Cade's face that this was all a waste of water.

"Yes it is," replied Es Cade stiffly—a stark contrast from his previously jolly attitude, "in fact, all the water that circulates around here is part of a huge underground purification system that is then usable as drinking water and washing water and everything else water by our systems and facilities. Good day." He returned to his desk, a clear cue that Wes and Rui ought to leave.

So they did and Rui sighed. "Wes, you're so tactless!"

"I really don't see the point of wasting water on lavish displays like these when Orre already only has a few drops anyways," replied Wes roughly. "Let's go to this Colosseum, I'm actually pretty interested in seeing what kinds of battles I can stage here…"

"Okay." Rui's voice sounded unusually hollow.

Wes dismissed it, sure that she probably had wanted to make a sermon out of her encounters with "that weird Makuhita". Walking at a relatively fast pace, he was about to enter when he heard Rui cry, "Sweet Rayquaza, look at the sky Wes!"

She sounded absolutely terrified. Wes looked up, wondering just what was so scary, and for a moment his heart forgot how to beat.

It looked like some kind of grotesque fusion between a dragon and a bird. Its wings were like giant hands, and its talons, even from a distance, looked as if they could easily rip a person to shreds. The beast emitted a shrill, spine-chilling cry that sounded like fingernails being dragged down a chalkboard. Wes had to clap his hands over his ears. The creature circled over Phenac City two or three times, continuing to roar, and then soared off into the distance.

"What was that?" whispered Rui, shaking with fear.

"I don't know," replied Wes, fighting to keep his voice steady. "Let's go into the Colosseum. I'm sure a good battle will help us recover a bit from that…"

Rui nodded and followed him inside.

Wes was stunned at the aesthetic design of the Colosseum lobby. All around them, water cascaded down and began flowing rivers. He walked down the brick path, looking at Goldeen that swam around in the crystalline water. Behind the reception desk, two searchlights shined upon a floating, humongous Poke ball, all of this covered mistily with a tumbling waterfall that seemed to only add to the surreal feeling that Wes received. Palm trees adorned either side of the entrance. From the reception desk, two more brick paths branched out to two enormous doors that went from floor to the high, sloping ceiling. This lobby was obviously in the front part of the dome, meaning that the peak of the building was somewhere inside the Colosseum battle zone itself. Wes had never seen so much water in one place.

Two Cooltrainers ambled about around the desk. As Wes walked up to the desk, the girl turned to face him and said, "You here to battle too?"

"Yeah, I am," replied Wes, hoping that he wouldn't be challenged to a battle. Sure, he loved to battle, but he wasn't in a battling mood.

"Well, I think a challenge already started," said the girl informatively. "The doors have been locked. You can ask the lady though if you'd like to see if you can still enter, but I doubt she'd let you in. You sure look tough though." Then she walked off to admire the Goldeen.

"Good morning sir," said the receptionist as Wes and Rui approached her. "Are you here to enter into a Phenac Colosseum knockout challenge?"

"Well, I suppose so," said Wes, uncertain of what he was saying. Didn't he just confirm with himself that he wasn't in a battling mood?

"I'm sorry to hear that." The lady inspected the Colosseum pass in his jacket pocket and continued, "We've just started a knockout challenge already, you barely missed the window of time trainers had to enter. Come back later and you might be able to enter into another one. Best of luck to you!"

"Tough luck, I suppose," Wes muttered, leaving. "Might come back here sometime, see if the trainers are any match for me…"

"Oh, Wes, don't need to go acting so proud," admonished Rui jokingly.

"Wes! You!"

Wes froze mid-step. Three members of Team Snagem were walking up to him, hunched over, faces contorted with anger. He knew that they were Team Snagem grunts, it wasn't hard to tell. They had that awful haircut that left the tops of their heads bald and wore baggy pants and red vests. Wes was glad that he had been exempted from the haircut, he prized his own hair. But that was only because he was the top Snagger (and the only one).

"How do they know who you are?" whispered Rui. "And who are they?"

"Hello, grunts," Wes hissed between his teeth.

"You know why we're here, right, you double-crossing traitor?" asked one of the Team Snagem grunts ferociously.

"I don't know," replied Wes flatly. Shut up…shut up…

"We're here to take that Snag Machine back!" the grunt replied jovially.

"You stole it from Team Snagem!" cried Rui. "Well, I mean, I already knew that, but—,"

"Hot chick, you knew that? Awww, Wes, you told her?" said another grunt in a mocking sweet voice. "Did you gloss over the finer details?"

"Details?" asked Rui curiously. "Wes, what are they talking about?"

"Shut up you three," Wes growled.

"Double-crossing traitor Wes, we've had enough of you and your little maverick quest. It ends here and now and you're coming back to where you used to work! Now hand that Snag Machine over like a good boy, and if you're lucky, boss Gonzap will still treat you nicely…"

"Work?" exclaimed Rui incredulously.

"Well it's true, isn't it?" said the grunt snidely, clearly having the time of his life, revealing details about Wes's past life.

"Why don't you shut your mouth or I'll shut it for you!" Wes replied hotly. His hands tightened unconsciously into fists.

"You were a top Snagger, Wes!" said the grunt on the far right who hadn't yet spoken. "No Pokémon you set your sights to ever, ever escaped you and that nice Snagging arm of yours…plus your most excellent aim. Come on, Wes, it's something to be proud of. Gonzap wants your talent back. Why don't you give it to him? And to appease him, give him the hot chick?"

Rui stepped back, eyes wide with fright. "Wes, you…you used to be a part of…Team Snagem? And you were…a Snagger? A top Snagger? YOU stole all those Pokémon and turned them into those…beasts?"

Wes couldn't believe it…and was also startled by his own emotional vulnerability. Up until this moment, it took a lot to get him to smile and laugh…and even more to bring him to the brink of tears. He didn't beg nor did he plead. But now he wanted to. He wanted nothing more than to confess to Rui everything and then ask her to forgive him for not informing her earlier. Simply her face was enough to launch him into a spiral of guilt that only worsened and worsened with each passing second. But there was nothing he could do.

"Wes, answer me!" Rui said in a high-pitched wail.

"I could lie," Wes began uncertainly, hoping that he could word the answer in a way that would ask for forgiveness without receiving a dose of humiliation from the Team Snagem grunts. "I could lie and say no, but…Rui…yes, yes I was…I'm not anymore, I promise. But…"

"Just give me a straight answer." Rui's voice had gone strangely cold and icy. "So you used to be a part of Team Snagem. You used to use your Espeon and Umbreon to steal Pokémon from their trainers, who loved them with all their hearts. You rather enjoyed this act of evil. Is this all true?"

I never said I enjoyed it! Wes though angrily. But instead he said, "Yes," in a flat, emotionless voice.

"Hot chick, thought your man was different?" mocked the grunt.

"Shut up," replied Rui, stepping back again.

Wes turned to face the Team Snagem grunts, wishing that he could punch the living daylights out of them. "You douche," he snapped.

"Give me that Snag Machine," the middle grunt replied.

"You'll have to kill me before you can! Over my dead body!" Wes snapped his fingers and Espeon and Umbreon appeared as faithfully as ever by his side.

"Oh! OH! We're getting serious here! Well then, I, Wakin, challenge you to a Pokémon battle! You lose, we get that Snag Machine. You win, we'll leave you alone!" shrieked the middle grunt, holding aloft two Poke balls.

"Challenge accepted," Wes muttered. He tried to meet Rui's gaze, to see if he could detect her expression, but instead she looked up into the sky, determined not to look him in the eye. Deflated, he stared as a Corphish and a Koffing came out of Wakin's Poke balls.

"Go! Corphish and Koffing!" Wakin roared. Several spectators were now gathering to witness the battle.

"Stellaluna and Sunny, you know the drill," said Wes gently. Then he pointed at Koffing fiercely. "Sunny, psyche out the Koffing and assault him with your mind! You know what to do! Stellaluna, Bite the Corphish as hard as you can but be careful and avoid those pincers!"

Sunny leapt gracefully through the air to avoid a bomb of noxious gases and among other assort toxic things that the Koffing tried to fling at her and as she landed fixated her gaze upon the purple ball of poison. Koffing froze, unable to move, gases shooting out of his pores at a lightning-fast rate as he slowly began to deflate, unable to withstand the assault.

"Come on!" roared Wakin. "Koffing, snap out of it!"

It was no use. Soon, Koffing was fading into the air, and Wakin was forced to summon him back to the Poke ball.

Stellaluna, meanwhile, had clamped her muzzle firmly around Corphish's middle, batting at the pincers with her paws.

"He's about to shoot some water at you!" called Wes. "Jump up and then hit him with a Secret Power. Jolt him with electricity if you can!"

Stellaluna dodged easily, somersaulting across the ground and then whirling back on the little lobster. He batted his paws at him and rays of light seemed to strike his body. There were multiple crackling noises and electricity seemed to appear out of nowhere and deliver the final shock. Corphish rolled onto his side, curled up into a small ball and distinctly unable to battle.

"You win," said Wakin grudgingly, recalling Corphish back. "But don't forget, we'll be back for you, Wes." He tacked on Wes's name with anger and then summoned the other two grunts to follow him as they ran towards the city exit.

Wes turned to Rui as the spectators dispersed. "Rui, I'm s—,"

"Oh, you're SORRY!" laughed Rui aloud, glaring at him. He froze at her stare. Her eyes were angry, so angry. He was unable to speak.

"Gonna remain silent, aren't you, little coward? So you're the one responsible for creating that Makuhita! You created a murderer, you killed a little boy, and now what, gonna kill me?"

"I rescued you!" Wes cried bitterly at last. "I'm not a murderer! I left! I left and now I'm going to use this Snag Machine for good! I'm not a liar, Rui, I'm not…I'm not lying to you…"

"Prove that you've actually changed heart," Rui whispered mockingly. "Give me that Snag Machine. Give it to me."

Before Wes knew what he was doing, he found himself ripping the Snag Machine off his hand and then slowly extricating his arm from the mess of wires and finally removing the shoulder component. Then he slammed it into Rui's arms. "There," he said, panting for some odd reason. "I gave the Snag Machine to you. What are you doing to do with it?"

Rui stared at the Snag Machine, a small hint of surprise on her face. "I'm…I'm sorry, Wes," she suddenly murmured, lowering her head so that Wes couldn't see her eyes. "I just…sorry…Team Snagem ruined my life."

"Team Snagem? You never mentioned anything like that before…" said Wes, half-relieved that he had been forgiven, and half-scared of what Rui might say next.

"I just know they did," said Rui, stomping on the ground. He voice was consumed with bitterness. "I know it…oh, Wes, I just know it…my parents…my parents…they can't be my parents. They simply can't be. Team Snagem did it, I know they did! Team Snagem…must've killed my parents…they must have, there's no other explanation. For all my life I've wondered, but now that I've seen you, now that I've seen that Snag Machine…" Her voice trailed off and then she finally added, "Wes, I feel like I've known you from elsewhere!"

Now Wes truly was speechless.

"But I'm probably just being silly…the first ten years of my life are all a muddled mess." She shook her head and sighed. "Wes, you were once a part of Team Snagem, but…but…that doesn't matter now. No, no, it doesn't. You were still…still my gallant prince. That saved me." She managed a small smile and Wes could see that she was trying her best to hold back tears. He half-wished she would just cry. It vented stress. She gave the Snag Machine back to him. "Wes, what you did in the past was unforgivable," she said bluntly. "But…but we have to save that Makuhita. Okay? And after that…we should rescue the Pokémon you first stole. I can't bear the idea of suffering Pokémon, Wes, we have to save them."

Wes remember what he had promised himself after blowing up the Team Snagem hideout. He nodded firmly as he put the Snag Machine back on his left arm. "That's a promise, Rui." He had no idea what he was getting into, nor could he remember all the Pokémon he'd Snagged, but part of him wanted redemption.

Redemption…