Chapter 3

The mayor was the last person I expected Wes to contact. Not because Wes was once part of Team Snagem and the mayor must've hated the bunch of them, but Wes and the mayer opposites when it came to personality. He was cheery and had a skip in his step. Whenever he wasn't talking he was humming a cheery tune. We followed him halfway across town and every time he saw someone, he would tip his hat to them. What a cheery guy. I liked him already.

Wes followed him quietly. I was at his side. What exactly did we have to talk to the mayor about? Shadow pokemon, duh, but is that all? Were we forming a plan to save them or something? Probably.

"Ah, here we are." The mayor lead us up to a house that looked just like the others in Phenac City. He opened the door and allowed us inside, where he lead us deeper inside until we were at the far back of the house. Here, there weren't any windows. Just a bunch of books and a desk that was cleared of any papers or pens. The mayor sat at it, his fat belly jiggling as he adjusted himself. He traced his mustache with one finger. "So you finally did it, did you?"

"Yessir, the base is off the map." He took the three glowing balls off his belt and put them on the desk. "These snag balls are the only ones I've needed so far. The Snag Sleeve works perfectly."

"Good, good." He adjusted his round wire glasses at me. "And who is this young lady?"

"My partner." Partner? Used in what context? "She can see the Haze. And she willingly joined me."

"Without knowing the plan?"

"Yes."

"Hmm," the mayor mused, stroking his patchy white beard. "What's your name?"

"Rui," I said quietly.

"Rui, why have you joined young Wes in this?"

"In what?" I asked. "Are there things I don't know?"

"Very many," Wes answered. Then, to the mayor, "She's not a trainer."

"Ahh," he replied, adjusting in his seat. "A rare sight here in Orre." He tapped his fingers on the desk in thought. Wes and I waited quietly for him to finish the conversation, but he was taking his time gathering his thoughts. I found myself looking around the room at all the books. God, this guy had quite the collection. That's what he probably was, a collector, because none of these books looked to have been read. A few were still in the factory plastic sealing.

A glimmer caught the corner of my eye. I moved my head slightly to the right. There it was again, almost like a blinking light. But it wasn't a light. It was a book in the far right corner of the room. It was the only book in the whole room that had been read, judging by the worn spine. I squinted at it, but I couldn't make out what was making it gleam from where I stood.

"Oh ho," the mayor suddenly said. I looked to him. He had been watching me the whole time. So had Wes. I blushed.

"O-oh, sorry. I didn't mean to-" The mayor raised his hand.

"There is no need to be sorry, my dear. It was simply a test."

The room was silent.

"What."

"We were testing to see if you were lying about seeing the Haze," Wes explained. He walked over to the worn book and pulled it out halfway. It wasn't the book that was glowing, but what was inside it. The pokemon trainer opened the dusty novel and retrieved the bright item that stopped pulsing when it touched his fingers.

It was just a feather. A pretty cool one, though. In the right light, it shone every color of the rainbow. Wait, was that…?

"It's a Ho-oh feather," the mayor explained. "And it's just what we needed you to find." He leaned back and propped his feet up on the desk. The wooden chair he sat in squealed in protest. "Shadow pokemon are diseased by the Haze you've seen. The makuhita you have here," he continued, poking one of the balls with a pencil, "is only level ten. The bayleef you see here," he moved the pencil thusly, "is level twenty. To make Shadow pokemon as mean and tough as they are, they need to be given as much Shadow as their level can handle. The higher the level, the more the disease needs to spread, the more powerful the Shadow pokemon. You understand?"

"Y-yeah," I answered.

"This feather is similar," Wes said, startling me. I hadn't seen him approach me. "But this Haze is different. It's white. That means it's the pure side of the spectrum, from a Light pokemon." He held it out to me. I took it from him gently. It was warm to the touch. "That's Ho-oh's feather."

"The rainbow pokemon?" I whispered in awe.

"Yes, my dear." The mayor sat in his chair properly once again. "There are many Shadow pokemon, but there is only one Light pokemon. We're going to need your help retrieving his feathers."

"Um, why?" I asked.

"It's the only possible cure for Shadow pokemon." Wes took the feather back and stored it in the book before sliding it in the shelf. "We've already tried it on an igglybuff and the results were flawless. She's in the hands of a capable trainer somewhere in Orre." He stepped up to me. It was uncomfortably close; he was nearly standing on my toes. I had to crane my neck to meet his eyes. "The mayor and I have been working together for a few years now. I was accepted into Team Snagem to spy on their research with Shadow pokemon as well as steal the Snag Sleeve. When my cover was about to be revealed by a slip up, I blew up the base. You know the rest."

"So you weren't really part of Team Snagem."

"I was there only to relay information." He leaned down to my height. "But now that you know that, you have to stick with me." I opened my mouth to ask what would happen if I didn't, but he turned back to the mayor. That was a bit unsettling. "What do you think, sir?"

"She's just what we needed." He stood up from the desk and over to me. "Rui, now that you're on the force, would you like a pokemon of your own? I have a great many to choose from."

"No thank you." The mayor blinked. "I'm fine with a weapon instead of a pokemon." Wes was silent.

"Oh?" the mayor asked. "I suppose a weapon would be satisfactory."

"I have one." Wes held his arm straight out. In it was an oddly shaped piece of metal. It had the slight resemblance of a sword, but no hilt, only a short section that had been filed down for someone to hold it without being cut up. At the bottom of it, the initials WAL had been engraved in curvy, girly letters. Where'd he get that?

"Oh ho," the mayor said. "It's been awhile since I've seen a skarmory feather in action." Skarmory feather. So that's what that was. I didn't know people used that as a weapon. Wes handed it to me. I had to be careful with the exchange or risk cutting myself on the parts that hadn't been smoothed out.

"Where am I supposed to keep this?" I asked him. He blinked at me.

"I heave a sheath back on the bike."

"So if I get attacked, I have permission to cut them up?"

"Only if you're in danger. I prefer you not kill anyone without good reason." Kill? Me?

"Then it's settled," the mayor said. "Welcome to the team, Rui. Now, if you want to catch more Shadow pokemon, you'll need some pokeballs. I'm sure they're selling them back at Outskirt Sand."

"Yessir." Wes turned away and started out the door. How rude. Does he do that all the time, regardless of who he talks to?

"Thanks, Mayor," I said quickly, nodding my head in his direction before chasing after Wes. I caught the jolly old fool tipping his hat before the doors to his house opened and we were out in the open. I found myself blinded by the light of day the instant they opened.

"Wes, wait for me-Eeee!" I thought my path was clear, but obviously, it wasn't. As soon as my feet stepped out into the city, I found myself running right into another person. I fell back on the cement, scraping my butt. "God, Wes why did you have to-"

Oh God. I hadn't run into Wes. It was someone different entirely. And though it seemed impossible, this guy was scarier than the trainer I had partnered with. He was on a whole new level of scary. He was a foot taller than Wes. His purple shirt was so tight that it was beginning to tear at the seams. For some reason, he was wearing an odd, skirt-like bottom that flared out like claws. The weirdest part about him was his white hair that he had somehow managed to get to stick up at odd angles. Piercing brown eyes bore into me.

"Excuse you," he said in a deep voice. Wes, who had turned to look at what had happened, approached me. When he held out his hand to offer me aid to my feet, the man spoke again. "I guess you're a traveling trainer." Now that I was righted, Wes turned to him. The pokemon trainer was silent but his eyes were menacing. Shivers went down my spine at the sight. "Hm. I like what I see in your expression. You seem tough. I might see you again somewhere."

The muscular man glanced at me before rudely turning his back on us and exiting the city out the west entrance. The two of us watched him go for a ways. When he was out of earshot, my partner looked to me with narrowed eyes.

"I have known you for a few hours and you've gotten in trouble three times," he stated. I smiled nervously. It was hard to tell if he was scolding me or if he was just amazed.

"Uh… sorry." He snorted.

"I don't see how any of these have really been your fault except that one. Stick close to me from now on." I expected him to turn away and start off, but he actually waited for my response. I was surprised, so I had to fumble for a reply.

"Oh, sure. I can do that." To show my seriousness, I pulled up beside him a bit closer. He chuckled. When he started moving, I was sure to keep close. It'd be a good idea to try and time when he was going to walk away all unexpected-like. It'd keep the both of us out of trouble. Me, mainly.

"The mayor said Phenac doesn't sell pokeballs," Wes stated. "We're going back to Outskirt Sand to pick up a good few."

"Right." I adjusted the skarmory feather in my hand as we walked. Wow, this thing was pretty cool. Extremely lightweight, super sharp, and easy to hold with one or two hands. It'd take some practice, but sooner or later it'd be easy to protect myself. I just hoped I didn't end up slicing someone open on accident.

After I swung the blade a few times to test it out, we were back at the bike. Umbreon and Espeon hopped into their little sidecar and started rearranging themselves until they were comfortable. I'd only seen them battle once, but they had downed a makuhita in one hit each. They had to be somewhat powerful.

I had only just finished staring when I felt Wes' hands grab my waist and lift me up onto the bike. He hopped on after and took the place at the handles. There was no way I was going to say it out loud, but that gesture had taken me by surprise. It was probably the easiest way to go, but still. Unexpected. Really unexpected.

Was… was I blushing?

A while after we had taken off from Phenac City, we were back at Outskirt Sand. A short while ago, it had been empty and the door had been shattered. By the time we returned, the door had been wrapped up with plastic to later repair and the glass had been swept away. It looked like the people were back, too. I could hear them talking and drinking inside. It was like nothing had happened.

Except Willie, who was sitting against the outside wall, sipping away at some lemonade. He saw me approach in Wes' giant of a bike and spat up whatever fluid he had in his mouth. He was still coughing when the bike powered off and we had unboarded. I hoped to just pass him and walk right inside, but he approached us, wiping lemonade off his face and wiping it on his clothes. Already, Wes looked impatient with him.

"Rui!" Willie exclaimed in a wet voice. "You hitched a ride with scary guy here?"

"Yeah," I replied. "Willie, this is Wes. Wes, Willie." The rider waited for my partner to speak, but all Wes did was nod his head slightly. He hadn't taken off his goggles yet, so there was no telling what expression he was hiding in his eyes. I tried to glare him into taking them off, but whether or not he saw, he didn't acknowledge it.

"Ah, Wes then." Willie adjusted his jacket. "You must be a pokemon trainer as well. I'm a pretty good one, myself. You'll have to battle me sometime." Silence. Noticing the awkwardness of the situation, he switched subjects. "Uh, Rui, where'd you go back there? I woke up and you were gone."

"Phenac City," I replied. "We went to sight see."

"Well, good thing you're back. A bunch of shady characters just left. One of them had a crazy afro." Wes lifted his glasses slightly, barely peeking under them. "They only came to eat, though. So that's good. They weren't too nice when I offered to battle them."

"No one's very nice when you offer to battle them," I said softly.

"Well, that may be true but these guys were extra mean."

"How mean is extra mean?"

"They threw a sandwich at me," he whined.

"Like, a full sandwich?"

"No, just the lettuce they didn't want."

"That's not a sandwich," I protested.

"Sorta like one. Hey, where'd your boyfriend go?" It was just an automatic response. My fist met his face, his face met the dirt. There was no stopping it. When he was on the ground, Willie stopped to process what had just happened. Then, slowly, ever so slowly, he pulled himself up from the sand. After thoroughly wiping the sand out of his eyes, his nose, and mouth, he pulled himself to his feet. His eyebrows raised at me. "So. You have a crush."

"No I don't!" I looked around frantically. It was true, Wes had disappeared. He had to be nearby, though. His bike was still right where he had parked it. "Listen, it's not like that! We're just traveling together!"

"How long have you known that guy?" he asked. "You haven't even been gone a day. What made you like him? Love at first sight? Or did he save you from the makuhita and you got a hit of the love potion off that?" He leaned in close. "Did he brush your hand or something?" I blushed, hard.

"Stop it, Willie! I told you, it's nothing."

"So it was the brushing of the hand," he purred, wiggling his eyebrows. I grunted.

"No," I whispered. "He lifted me onto his bike. And… he has cute eyes." It was good to know that Wes wasn't anywhere nearby, because Willie laughed rather loudly. "I'm not going to tell you this stuff if you laugh about it."

"It's not that," he said. "Did you not see that guy, Rui? He's not the loving type. And if he is, I'd say he's into the hardcore, tattooed, biker chick." He jabbed a thumb at the bike. "I doubt he bought that just for himself."

"You don't know that!"

"So you're saying you're going to try?" he teased. I stuck out my lower lip.

"No, I… I mean it won't… He's… Ugh, I don't know!" Willie was about to laugh again, but he caught sight of Wes just as he was leaving the Outskirt Sand. He approached us and stopped right when he noticed Willie was trying to look serious. Goggles now off, he narrowed his eyes at the two of us.

"Should I have left you two to yourselves?" he asked.

"What?" the two of us piped up. I waved my hands out in front of me.

"No, no, that's not it! Willie and I are barely friends!" I exclaimed. Willie started to nod, then shot me an angry look.

"At least I've had a girlfriend befo-" I punched him in the gut this time. He hunched over in pain, grumbling the last couple words followed by a string of slurs. Wes looked surprised, but he quickly dismissed the awkwardness of the conversation.

"I've bought the pokeballs. We can head back to Phenac now."

"Head back? Why?"

"Business." His expression told me to keep quiet.

"Alright." I pat Willie on the back. "I'll talk to you later. We gotta go now." Wes and I started to the bike, which the both of us hurriedly jumped on. Before I had situated myself, I noticed a sheath in the sidecar with Umbreon and Espeon. I reached for it, but Wes grabbed my arm.

"You won't be needing that yet," he assured. Then he started up the engine and spun around quickly, nearly throwing me right off if I hadn't grabbed onto him right away. The wheel spun, caught the ground and we were off.

Behind us, Willie was still hunched over. We were already gone, but he still waved faintly. "Good luck… on that romance."

Rui Learned About Ho-Oh!

Rui Is Infatuated!

Wes And Rui Ran Away!

Saving Game…

Game Saved!