Chapter 2

Wes' bike was loud. And I mean loud. I had my free hand over my ear the entire trip. The rumbling, clanking, and roaring beast that was the engine followed us across the sandy desert. The thing had been placed right on top, too. There was no covering to it like a hood. To make it worse, giant pipes spewing black smoke were sticking out at odd angles from it. If I hadn't been hiding behind Wes' back, chances were that my lungs would've been cemented.

The trainer and his pokemon didn't seem to mind the noise. Espeon and Umbreon were leaning into the wind to feel the rush of the wind over their fur. Wes, smiling wide, leaned forward over the engine to grab the handles and steer the beast. He was enjoying the ride just as much as his pokemon. He seemed a lot more calm back at the Outskirt Sand.

I was relieved it was a short ride. The vehicle topped eighty miles an hour and could be heard from miles away, so even if pokemon didn't move out of the way, Wes harmlessly swept past them. The bike had one wheel but was in little to no need of it. By the time we arrived, it probably only rotated about six times.

The bike came to a stop, but I could still feel the vibration of Wes' monster machine in my bones even after it had died. Umbreon and Espeon purred at the face I made when Wes jumped off. I was beginning to wonder how I was going to get down until Wes held a hand out to me, which I gratefully took. He helped me down before slipping off his goggles again.

"Here we are," he said, glancing to the left. I'd never seen the oasis city. In the middle of the desert, right where a huge lake used to be, was a city of marble and sandstone. There were only a few houses, a pokemon center, and pokemart, but what it lacked in people it made up for in fountains, manmade streams, and a huge stadium that people were beginning to pour out of. As Wes and I stepped through the wide-open gates, a breeze of cold, damp air washed over us. Oh, yeah. That was nice.

Wes' face was back to stone cold. "I'm going to the a friend's home to speak to him personally about the issue. In the meantime, you find a weapon." Without so much as a goodbye, he started off past the fountain and up the stairs to the next level of the town. Well, he didn't waste any time, I'll give him that.

I started into the town. Wow, the stadium must still be pretty full. There was nearly no one nearby except a teenager who was chasing his castform around the fountain. They looked pretty happy, running around in circles like that. Maybe if I'd chosen a pokemon like castform, I would've gotten along with it.

Yeah, I'm not a pokemon trainer. When I was younger, my mom gave me a dratini to raise until I was old enough to train. Man, me and that dratini went way back. We used to play every day, go to school together, travel together, even talk to each other. What was I, five when I first had her? That was a long time ago. Now I'm eighteen and still haven't picked up another pokeball. Probably won't ever, either. Not after that heartbreak.

"Hey, give him back!" The teen that had once been chasing his castform was now jumping up and down to try and retrieve his pokemon. The weather pokemon was being held painfully by a guy with blue sunglasses and dark brown hair. He even had it stick up and out like one, too. He smiled wickedly down at the boy as he desperately tried to free his castform.

"Gimme gimme never gets," he taunted, moving the tiny pokemon out of his reach every time the trainer jumped. "Get lost, this thing's mine now. Go home. Cry to your parents."

"Hey," I said, grabbing his attention. The shady character looked to me. It was faint, but I could see him blinking in surprise from behind his goggles. "Give the castform back. It's not yours."

"'Scuse me," he said quickly, "but I believe that this is a private conversation. Go try on some more cosplay, you Misty wannabe."

Ok, I did look like Misty. I had the orange hair and the lean figure, but I made sure to keep my orange locks up in two shorter ponytails, not one long one. And my outfit was nothing like hers. I had a much better purple belly shirt and a cool jacket that was thin enough to keep me warm when it's cold, and cool when it's hot. My skirt was a little bland in comparison to the rest of the outfit, but whatever. I was nothing like Kanto's Misty.

I reached up and took the castform from his hands. He was mean, but he wasn't too tall for me. When I had castform, I stuck my tongue out at him and handed the pokemon back to its' rightful owner. The shady guy was furious.

"Didn't your mother tell you to pick your own fights?!" He pulled out a pokeball. The kid and his tiny pokemon stepped back. Great, these two weren't battlers. No need to worry, I had plenty of experience in disarming people who wanted to battle me.

He threw out his pokeball, almost hitting me in the forehead with it. When it hit the ground, the ball nearly split in half releasing a bayleef. Piercing red eyes nearly sliced through me as the male pokemon squared up to me. Oh shit. This was a Shadow pokemon.

I stepped back and held out my arm for the teen to do the same. Something crossed on the thugs face when he saw my sudden fear. He knew his pokemon was a Shadow. And now he knew that I could see it.

"Ohh," he purred. "You're one of those people." There was no doubt about it, this guy was part of Team Snagem. How was I supposed to battle this thing if it's as mindless and killing as Wes said they were? Better yet, how were we going to help it if it was in the hands of a trainer? "You want an upclose look? Bayleef loves playing with people who get to know her right away."

The grass type lashed out at me with razor leaves. I ducked, but the Shadow pokemon aimed a second time and sliced a small cut in my cheek. The teenager had fled the scene, but it was better that way. Better a grown woman like me got hurt instead of a kid. I rolled to the side. Bayleef roared and whipped at me with her vines. Luckily I was able to fall backwards into the fountain to avoid it before she either sliced my head off or beat me to a pulp.

There was a small chance this pokemon was going to kill me. That was terrifying.

Really terrifying.

I considered staying underwater until someone noticed I was being attacked, but the sun suddenly went out and I was yanked from the water like a fish in a net. Someone had put me in a potato sack. Not someone, some ones. There were two people carrying both end of the sack now as I tried to kick and squirm my way out, but the two kidnappers were stronger than me and kept me just where they pleased.

"She saw the Shadow, right?" I heard a voice near my feet whisper.

"Yeah," the voice near my head replied. "You could tell right away. She'll be useful."

"Excuse me," I heard a third voice interrupt. My body met hard concrete as the two idiots who had caught me carelessly let my bag drop to the floor.

"Ow!" I shouted. "Watch it, will ya?! I'm not a bag of crap!" I wasn't sure what happened, but now the two boys were frantic.

"Folly, you forgot to gag her!" said the first.

"I didn't have time! I barely just got her in the bag!" responded the second. They paused. I could nearly hear the bewilderment in the air. What was going on?

"Is… is that you, Wes?" the two boys said in unison.

"Release her. Now." Yep, that was Wes alright. I was surprised that he had come just in time, but I was even more surprised that my two kidnappers were doing as he said. They untied to bag and helped me out of it. I was still dripping wet, so the sudden chilled breeze made me shiver.

Wes was standing in front of me. His eyes were narrowed, not in my direction, but at the two goons. One of them was the idiot that had taken the castform. The other was a lanky loser in black clothes and matching goggles. They were both awestruck at the sight of my partner.

"Over here." Without looking away from the two nappers, Wes pointed to his side. I felt like a punished child as I walked up to his side, but that didn't seem to be the case. His expression was tight with hidden rage. "I'm going to need your bayleef and your croconaw."

"What?" the shady guy named Folly asked. "C'mon, Wes, we're in public. Can't you, me, and Trudly do this-"

"I'm not joking. Give me them. Now." Folly and the other goon exchanged glances.

"Well, you see, there's really no need to listen to you anymore." The thug named Trudly seemed a little uneasy about saying it. "After… well, you know, I don't think they're going to really let you in charge anymore." Wait, what? What was he talking about? How did he know Wes?

"Good. Give me the pokemon." Wes was getting impatient. Espeon and Umbreon began to growl.

"Ohh, I get it." Folly nudged his friend with an elbow. "Wes here got the girl so he can find all the Shadow pokemon and bring them to boss."

"Oh! That makes sense," Trudly responded. "It doesn't really explain why he wants our pokemon, though."

"Or why he blew up the base."

Trudly hit Folly upside the head with his gloved hand. "You idiot! Don't say that out loud!"

"You know it's true!"

"It doesn't matter! We're in public, we can't go around letting people know that we're in Team Snagem!" Folly looked around frantically. Luckily, no one was nearby to hear.

"Wait, Team Snagem?" I snapped at Wes. He paused to watch the two goons fight, then looked to me.

"Yes. I was once a part of Team Snagem." He looked away. "I blew up their base earlier today."

"Why'd you do it, man?" Trudly asked. "Now a bunch of Shadow pokemon are roamin' around. And the boss is angry, he's going to kill you."

"I don't care." Wes held out his hand. "Bayleef. Croconaw. Now." The two of them glared and pulled out their pokeballs.

"I don't believe we owe you anything," Folly snapped. "If you want our pokemon, you'll have to battle us first!" They threw out the bayleef from before and a croconaw with just as malicious a Haze. They looked angry. And when they saw Wes, they licked their lips. Were they really thinking on eating them?

Wes brought his left hand to his waist, where he pulled two pokeballs from his belt. I saw him do it, but I doubt the others did. Their pokemon charged at him, fangs glistening. For a brief second, Wes looked fully ready to be eaten alive by the ravenous beasts. But at the last second, he turned his hands and threw the glowing balls at the two pokemon.

These pokemon were full health. They were monsters. They were owned by trainers. But when each of the balls hit, both pokemon were enveloped and trapped inside. There was not a single attempt at breaking free once the pokemon had been snagged.

"Dammit!" Trudly shouted. "He has the Snag Sleeve! Do you have anymore pokemon?" Folly pat himself down in an attempt to find one.

"N-no, I'm out!"

"Then run!" Trudly grabbed him by the collar and jerked him towards the entrance of the city. "Go, go, go! Wes has four pokemon now! Hurry up!" They stumbled out into the sand hastily.

"Shouldn't we get our bikes?"

"Screw the bikes! Just run you idiot!"

They were still arguing by the time they had been masked by the dusty wind. Wes looked out to them, as if he were keeping track of which way they ran so he could chase them later. When he had his fill, he bent down and picked up the glowing balls and clipped them to his belt. Then, as if I wasn't there, he turned and started back into the city.

"Hey, hey, hey, wait a fricken moment, will ya?" I grabbed the sleeve on his right arm. He stopped mid-step. Then, placing his foot back down, he sighed.

"I told you, I don't want to get random people involved."

"Apparently, I'm not a random person." He brushed my hand off him and turned to me. His spiky silver hair blew gently in the breeze. He looked so heroic like that. How could he manage to look so cool all the time? "You heard them. You need someone to help you find out which pokemon are Shadow and which aren't."

"That is true."

"What-"

"But I'm not giving them to boss," he interrupted. "Believe me or not, I'm finding a way to reverse them."

"But you were part of Team Snagem!"

"'Were' being the key word." I blinked at him.

"How can I trust you?" I snapped.

"You don't have to. Go home." He started off again. I followed him up the steps to the higher level of town. He didn't acknowledge I was there. In fact, he was acting as if I was already left.

"Wait, don't you need me?"

"For what."

"For finding the Shadow pokemon!"

"Not entirely," he said, bored. "I know all of Team Snagem. I know who has Shadow pokemon and which ones they are. I can get the majority on my own. The wild ones will probably appear ransacking a city or attacking children. They're not entirely impossible to track down." I stuck out my lower lip, but he didn't see it. He started up to the third level of the town that was nothing but a giant pokemon stadium. Now I wasn't sure where he was exactly planning to go.

"But, you told me to come with you."

"I didn't tell you. You asked, and I accepted."

"Stop walking!" I barked, speed walking my way past him until I could block his path. He stopped and looked down at me. His expression was just as hard as usual. "Look, if you didn't need me to track down those stupid pokemon then why did you accept me on your team?"

He was silent. For a while all he did was look at me. I was pretty sure he was just going to stand there until it got too uncomfortable for me and I left, but his gaze was strong. His golden stare was weird. Like, enticing. No, it was hypnotic. I found myself staring right back at him.

For a while, that's all we did. Just stand in the middle of an empty stadium and stare at each other. I'm not really sure why we did it, nor was I certain of how long. But for some weird reason, it felt good.

It felt right.

He blinked suddenly. He must've just come to. I suddenly felt the awkwardness of the situation and looked away to stick out my lower lip.

"Well, I still don't know why you wanted me to follow you around when I'm just-"

"Company." The word was forced. I glanced back at him. His gaze hadn't moved. "I guess you could say I wouldn't have minded some company." I crossed my arms.

"Company," I said doubtfully.

"Yes."

"And you're not longer part of Team Snagem."

"Correct."

"You blew up their base."

"Obviously."

Oh my god. This guy wasn't joking. He was serious about the whole thing. Couldn't he get arrested for being a part of a dastardly team like that? Why was he telling a random stranger about it? Well, I guess his coworkers had spilled the beans on him. He had to fess up or else I'd known he was lying. While I was mulling it over, I saw the contraption on his arm pulse green. At the same time, the three pale green pokeballs on his belt glow in unison with it.

"What is that thing you're wearing?" I questioned. He held his arm out to me and opened his hand to my face.

"It's called a Snag Sleeve. It's primary use is keeping Shadow pokemon in check," he explained.

"It can steal trainers pokemon, then?"

"Only Shadow ones."

"Why?" I continued.

"Shadow pokemon don't last long in normal pokeballs. The connection between them and their trainers are weak, too, so they are almost too easy to catch." I paused.

"Can… can you battle with them?" He nodded. "So you can send out that bayleef right now and battle me with it."

"I wouldn't have much control over him because he's a Shadow and tired but, in shorter terms, yes." He pat the eeveelutions on his shoulders. "I prefer these two."

"So, you stole that thing and blew up the base."

"Mmhm," he agreed.

"Why?" He took a moment to think.

"Because I wanted to." Ok, so he wasn't too keen on sharing everything with me yet. That's alright, I guess. He'd already shared a ton already.

"Alright," I sighed. "Then I'll tag along with you." That same surprised expression he had when I asked to join him back at Outskirt Sand returned. "But I get to know everything and anything I want about this whole quest you have going. I get just as much say in anything we do than you do." His face cleared.

"I suppose."

"There you are!" The two of us looked towards the door. A fat old man with a top hat far too small for him was standing at the entrance to the stadium. "Wes, is it? My secretary said you were looking for me?"

"Yessir." He started off towards him. "I want to speak to you about Shadow pokemon."

Wes Was Released From Team Snagem!

Rui Is Hypnotized By Wes' Intimidate!

Wild Mayor Appeared!

Saving Game…

Game Saved!