Disclaimer: As you can see, if I own Pokemon, the world will become unbalance and be destroyed, leaving no one to update this story.
Hey guys! Another update! Lots of action and interaction between characters.
Of course, new characters are introduced. And I have important news regarding updates that I'll explain in the Author's Notes.
Enjoy!
Chapter 2:
Now, in Wes' life, he was taught to the art of stealing – from simple pick pocketing to elaborate house breaking. However, right now, Wes did the thing he was first taught to do in any situation when he got caught or after doing something bad – run.
Wes distracted the ranger by throwing his cloak at him, and then he charged to the opposite wall and, to Lunick's amazement, jumped over it. Wes didn't even give a second glance but simply smirked as he put on his silver glasses.
"HEY!" Lunick called out; throwing the cloak aside, as he, too, hop over the wall. He jumped down on the spot where the guy was just sitting and chased after the perpetrator. Then he climbed over the opposite wall to see the thief running down the alley. "Don't you dare run away! Give me back my Styler!"
Like I'm going to listen to you, Wes thought as he ran down the empty alley and found himself facing what appeared to be the market area. It was large circular space with a water fountain in the middle. There were sidewalks that pass by flower shops, open food markets, and even small gift shops. There were a lot of people here, but Wes didn't take this as an obstacle. He had experience in dealing with large crowds, and this also meant a higher chance of losing his pursuer. He charged through, dodging very quickly through people. Wes' light and thin stature made it easy for him to move, twist, and turn without causing havoc except a large rush of wind. Behind him, he could hear the people screaming at the strange blue blur that just passed them. Wes had no idea where to run, but he figured that sooner or later, he'll manage to lose the guy.
"GET BACK HERE!" Lunick called from far away, running like a maniac. On Lunick's shoulder, Minun's cheeks buzzed angrily. It was good at… stopping opponents, but with this many people, casualties could be heavy. Lunick was having a harder time to get through the multitude. His eyes could barely make out that blue trench coat from the throngs of people. "Out of the way, ranger on a mission!" Unfortunately, this didn't do except cause more people to congregate to see what the noise was all about.
At this rate, Lunick will lose that guy, and he highly doubt he'll be able to find him again. There has got to be a way to move around faster… Lunick suddenly noticed the stores' canopies. They give shade to bystanders walking on the sidewalk. No one was on those things and they led to where that thief was… Lunick immediately jumped on a couple of large vegetable crates and climbed up on top of a canopy over a fruit market.
"Hey!" The manager cried from below. He shook his fat fist in anger. "Get off!"
"Sorry!" Lunick called, saluting in apology, and immediately charged to frog jump on to the next store's canopy. "Sorry! Sorry! So Sorry!" He repeated this every time he landed on someone's top He was moving faster now. He charged and jumped above the whole traffic. There were now a whole bunch of people staring and whispering in amusement at Lunick's stunts. Lucky for Lunick, there was a large truck ahead, causing the pickpocket to stop and sidestepped. Just a couple of more hops…
Wes groaned a bit as he clutched his ribs. His injuries were still healing, and it was getting tougher to play this charade. People were starting to realize what was going on and it was getting harder to move. He suddenly heard loud cheering in the back and some surprise gasps. He looked to his side and noticed that the young ranger running and jumping over canopies right next to him. The little blue mouse Pokemon was buzzing electricity from its cheek. Lunick, contrasting to Wes, was built for strength and endurance. Lunick's muscles were thick both on his arms and legs. He was barely out of breath when he saw that Wes noticed him.
"YOU'RE NOT GETTING AWAY!" To Wes' shock, the guy jumped off and into the air, planning to land on top of Wes. That was a pretty brave and also pretty stupid move. "GAHHH – AHHHHH!" Lunick had changed his choice of word in midair when he noticed what the thief has counterattacked. Wes, who noticed garbage cans next to him that were waiting to be picked up, kicked and pushed the cans into the air so that Lunick was guarantee to crash into them.
BAM! PLAT! SLAM! BOOM! MIII! AHHH! Lunick and the cans crashed and rolled around. Soon the garbage spewed everywhere from the open cans and landed on Lunick and Minun, both who had just taken clean bath. Immediately, laughter filled the entire place at the sight. Turning red in the face, Lunick was just pulling off a banana peel from his head when he noticed the guy rushing off.
"COME BACK HERE!" But it was too late.
…
Wes didn't stop until he reached to a less deserted place in the northwest of this city. Here there were residential houses that had white bricks, red roofs, and flowers growing from the window sills. It was pretty quiet over here compare to the other part of town.
Wes, adrenaline now gone, was now feeling slightly guilty for what he had done. Still, that guy put up quite a bit of a fight. Wes took out the Capture Styler and looked at it again. Cautiously, he took the Fiore Region Guidebook that Duking gave him from his sack. He skipped everything until he came to the page he had earmarked – 'The History of Rangers.' Wes skimmed through until he reached the page where it showed an old man with a thin white mustache that curled up and a small beard. His white eyebrows were very thick and long, and his head, with white long hair that went to his neck, had a fancy purple top hat. The man was wearing a long white coat with pockets under a purple plump suit. To top this off, he was holding a brown cane and a briefcase. On the very bottom of the page, Wes read the name of this name – Professor Hasting, The Ranger Union's Chief of Technology.
According to the book, Hasting created the styler which was shown on the next page. The picture was enlarged and colored in the same way as the styler Wes had swiped. Unfortunately, there wasn't really anything else about the styler that was described in detail, but that problem can be solved. Wes observed the map on one of the first pages that showed the map of Fall City. He observed the area until he noticed one building that seemed to contrast greatly from the other white and colorful houses. It was a large gray square building with black windows. The place looked more like a warehouse. Wes read next to the door, a sign that said – Professor Hasting's lab. Perfect. The man that Wes wanted to see.
Like all normal spies, Wes didn't use the front door; he backtracked to the other side of the building. He noticed that there was a small window that was open. He peered in and saw complete darkness. Wes' dexterity allowed him to fit through the window and into what appeared to be a large dark storage area. He coughed slightly at the dust that settled everywhere. Someone needed to clean up.
Wes took off his shades and looked for an exit. He suddenly noticed a bit of light coming from what appeared to be a door on the right side that had stairs leading up to it, but just before he could make a move, Wes heard voices.
"Thanks Aria for coming here and help cleaning up. I have so much trouble trying to organize everything," a young female voice, sound as though the person was thirty years old, said.
"No problem," the other voice said, sounding much younger and a bit haughty. "I know how the professor is. He's always out and just threw things everywhere." Wes flinched and looked around. He noticed a stack of discarded paper boxes lying in a corner and managed to jump behind them just in time as the lock turned and the door clicked open.
"Where are the lights…?" the assistant muttered and felt the wall until there was a soft click. Wes saw that there was a small light bulb shining faintly in the room.
Not wanting to take any chances, Wes crouched as low as possible and listened only to the voices. There were the sound of shuffling of feet and books, flapping noises of paper, and loud booms from heavy documents dropping onto the ground.
"I keep asking for the professor to help, but he always tried to find an excuse and run off," the older female said and then said to herself, "Hmm, these papers are what Hasting wants."
"Well, it's not like he wants to clean up," the girl, Aria, said as she filed the books back on the shelf in alphabetical order. The two girls kept talking and talking and talking… Normally, a person would be impatient in this situation but not Wes. Right now, he was thinking of what to do.
Judging by what this Aria girl had said, Professor Hasting wasn't here or else that assistant would've forced that professor to clean up with her. But he still come back every once in a while so the best thing to do is to leave and come back later.
"Aria, can you get those boxes over there so we can fill it up with these papers?" Wes' heartbeat went ten times faster. He was hiding behind the boxes that were…
"Sure thing," Aria said. Wes could hear the footsteps come closer and closer. Well, there was nothing to do but let it all blow over. He saw his hiding spot being removed and came face to face with a girl about the same age as him. She had long curly blond hair and wearing purple sleeve and white jacket along with white pants. Her brown fingerless gloved hands were holding tightly onto one of the box. Her gray eyes widened with shock… then with horror.
"EEEEKKKKK! PERVERT!" Aria yelled and she tried to slam the boxes right on top of Wes who was already on the move.
Guess this is what happens when you break into a house, Wes thought as he tried to move to the door. There was no point in hanging around when you get caught.
"What's going on here?" another voice cried. Wes stared in amazement at an older gentleman coming through the door. He was the same one from the picture in Wes' book. White beard, purple suit underneath a white lab coat and holding a hat, cane, and a briefcase – Professor…
"Professor Hasting!" The young assistant, who has long brown wavy hair and a yellow uniform, cried out with amazement as though she couldn't believe this. "What are you doing here? Don't you have a meeting?" But before the professor could explain, he found himself grabbed by the throat and pushed out of the door and slammed against the wall. Hasting sputtered for air and found himself face to face with a young spiky white hair man wearing a blue trench coat and a strange device on his left arm. His black gloves squeezed slightly tighter around Hasting's throat. The boy's amber reddish eyes glowered with a strange anger yet a hint of doubt within.
"Professor Hasting!" the assistant shrieked. Aria, though shaking a bit, held up her Ranger badge that was small and had golden 'FR' on the front.
"Pervert!" Aria yelled, "By the order of Fall Ranger, I command you to let go of the professor and turn yourself in to the police!" Hasting saw the boy turned his head and whatever facial expression the boy gave to Aria, caused the girl to stumble back in fear. Then slowly, the boy turned back to face Hasting. The boy took something from his pocket and held it high enough for the bewildered Hasting to see.
"You and I have a lot to discuss."
…
"That was humiliating," Lunick muttered as he dumped another bucket of water all over his head and shook his head to let the drop of water on his head to fall to the dirt ground. After that fiasco earlier, a kind lady allowed Lunick to clean up in one of the shop's courtyard sinks. Minun removed an eaten apple core from its bag and shook itself clean as Lunick dumped water all over it from a pail. "What in the world will we tell Spencer…?" Lunick thought and Minun, with the same expression, thought as well. How the Ring Town's ranger leader would would react when he heard that Lunick lost his Capture Styler…
Soon the atmosphere turned dismal.
"AHHH!" Lunick said, "We're going to get killed!" Lunick said as he clutched his head at the sheer thought of think of what Spencer's face and the awaited torture would look like. Minun ran around in circle. The little mouse Pokemon was also terrified. "Death awaits us when we go back."
"MIIIIII!" Minun cried as it still continued to run in a circle.
"Minun, it was nice knowing you!" Lunick cried as it hugged Minun and both of them started bawling tears.
"What the heck is going on?" the lady, who owned the store, muttered, as she watched from inside the store, the two cry. There was a loud slam of a door and someone rushed past the lady and to the courtyard where the ranger and his Minun was.
"Lunick!" Lunick looked up to see a brown hair lady with yellow attire. He immediately recognized her.
"You're Professor Hasting's assistant!" Lunick cried, "How did you find me?"
Ignoring the question, the assistant dived in to the situation. "You need to hurry! Aria went to get help as well but someone attacked the professor!"
"What?" Lunick gaped in shock, "the professor… Wait, what?"
"Just hurry!" With that Minun jumped on Lunick's shoulder, and the boy ran all the way to the professor's research lab, leaving the assistant far behind. Lunick's endurance and speed were still good after all that happened to him.
Professor Hasting was a really good friend of Lunick's. Escorting the famous man was one of Lunick's first jobs as ranger. However, Hasting was a bit… well, hasty. He tended to look things rashly and ignore the consequences. Perhaps that's why people say that Lunick was a lot like a younger version of Hasting. Ignoring passersby, Lunick finally reached the entrance and opened the door to see the professor standing in front of someone Lunick had just met less than an hour ago.
"YOU!"
…
Wes didn't have time to react when the ranger's Pokemon sent out an electric blast at him. Immediately, Wes was shocked by blue electricity, and he couldn't move. The ranger came forward and searched in Wes' coat. Not finding what he wanted, Lunick grabbed Wes by the collar. Wes could smell the disgusting trash still from the incident before. "Where is my Caputure Styler?"
"Right here." Lunick turned around and to his shock, saw Professor Hasting holding Lunick's Capture Styler. Lunick stared at the styler then back at Wes; then he pointed to the styler and back at Wes as though trying to find the connection but wasn't seeing it. Hasting coughed in embarrassment but gave the item to the bewildered Lunick, who let go of Wes to take back the styler. Minun was looking back and forth, surprised as well.
"Wes here told me he came from a region called Orre and wanted to ask me something serious that appeared to be related with what I work with." Lunick looked at the thief, called Wes, who was now able to move and patted his coat as though Lunick had ruined it.
"Professor," Lunick finally sputtered and pointed at Wes, "This guy stole my styler! He even attacked you!" Hasting looked slightly embarrassed, and Wes, who looked slightly insulted for being pointed at, intervened.
"I attacked the professor because I figured that was the only way I could talk to him after being… found. When those girls left, I gave the old man here the benefit of the doubt and explained to him the problems."
"What problems?" Lunick demanded, angry that Wes wasn't giving Hasting any respect, "And his name is Professor Hasting!" Wes ignored Lunick and held out what appeared to be a broken styler, except there was something different about it. Hasting immediately grabbed it and stared at it with wonder.
"This… is a Capture Styler!" Professor Hasting gasped and then muttered to himself, "the style is different but the basic foundation is the same and… what's this…?" Hasting continued to move the broken pieces around like a child trying to fit the puzzle pieces back together. His face was all giddy with excitement. Lunick continued to glower at Wes who didn't seem to find the glare bothersome.
"That thing you call styler," Wes said, trying to get Hasting focused, "was what attacked me and allowed Snagem to kidnap a friend of mine." Lunick's face turned from hatred to surprise. Kidnap? Hasting's face changed into concern as well.
"And you think that this thing has something to do with me? Impossible," Hasting said, shaking his head as though the idea was ridiculous, "The basic foundation of this styler is the same as my creation, but everything else is… different. Stylers aren't supposed to attack people anyways. Who is this Snagem? And why was your friend kidnap?" Wes didn't answered frowned and put his hand to his lips as though contemplating the information. Finally, deciding he had no choice, Wes then took out from his bag, a strange gray electronic device that popped open to reveal many different green windows that display what appeared to be Wes' ID.
"This is my PDA. Give me your email and notify me if you can give any information on that thing I just gave you," Wes said, "I'll come back later and explain in more detail of what happened in Orre." Lunick stared surprise at the strange device as well as Hasting who put in his information. Wes then closed the device back to its gray rectangle form and placed it back into his bag before turning out to the door.
"WAIT!" Lunick called out and grabbed Wes by the arm. "Where do you think you're going? You're under arrest for stealing and for injuring someone." Wes stared back at Lunick who couldn't tell what Wes was thinking. After a long painful silence, Wes pushed Lunick away and continued to the door. "Hold on a minute!"
"Professor!" Wes was suddenly bumped into by a strange girl. He then realized it was that Aria from earlier. She looked terrified but not because she encountered Wes again. "Professor," Aria gasped. Everything that had happened ago seemed to be erased from Aria's memory and a new terror was in place. She didn't even seem to notice Lunick or Minun. "Come to the ranger base quick!"
"Why?" Professor Hasting asked urgently, "What happened?"
"It's Joel," Aria said, this time tears coming out of her eyes, "Something happened to him."
…
Lunick, Wes, and Professor Hasting found Fall City's ranger leader, Joel. completely unconscious on one of the hospital beds that the ranger base provided. Joel's purple uniform was ripped pretty bad and his arms, head and legs were bandaged. His glasses, broken in half, were placed next to the small dresser. Two of Aria's ranger classmates, Lind and Keith, were looking grim as they continued to stand by the bedside. The assistant, from Hasting's office, was bawling her tears out and looked up with amazement at Hasting.
"Professor," the assistant choked, "I… I…" She couldn't say anymore and continued to cry.
"What happened?" Hasting asked urgently as the reception lady of the base tried to calm the assistant down.
"We, me and Keith," Lind, a blond hair kid, said, "were at the Krokka Tunnel and were coming back when we found Joel attacked just outside the city. Dodiro was… gone… as though it disappeared…"
"Krokka Tunnel…" Wes muttered in confusion as everyone watched Lind shamelessly bawling. He took his book out and looked for a map. It's the cave tunnel that connects Ring Town and Fall City. It was made apparently by Dugtrio thanks to Rangers' efforts.
Wait a minute, Wes looked up as though he just realized something. Attacked? Pokemon disappearance?
"We…" Keith continued to Hasting though the boy, too, looked chocked up, "We brought him back and noticed your assistant. She found Aria who went to get you…"
Lunick stood wordlessly at the injured and unconscious Joel, who, it felt like a lifetime ago, just gave him a mission. Before he could say anything, Lunick saw Wes brush past him and look straight at the two rangers.
"Was there anything there that seemed out of place?" Wes demanded. Lind and Keith looked shocked at this strange question from an unknown guy. "Was there?"
"Y… yeah," Keith gulped and took some red headphones out of his pocket. "I found this…" Wes snatched them from the ranger's hand and took one good look at it,
"Where is Krokka Tunnel?" Wes demanded.
"Just west of here," Keith said, now scared, "But… why?" Wes didn't say anything and headed out.
"Hold on!" Lunick called out, following Wes. "What are you doing?" Wes didn't answer and continued to walk in the direction of Krokka Tunnel. "Stop!" Lunick this time ran straight ahead and blocked Wes' path. "You need to start explaining! Everyone is confused but you seemed to be the only one who has a clue as to what is going on." Wes gazed back at the angry and frustrated Lunick.
"Lunick!" Hasting called out and Lunick and Wes turned to see Hasting, with extraordinary speed, coming after them. "Phone! It's Spencer! He… he needs to talk to you!"
"Professor? What…?" Lunick said, looking puzzled. Wes observed the situation and didn't move until Hasting came face to face with Lunick.
"Spencer had just been recently informed," Hasting gasped through breaths of air, "and he said that Joel's injury must somehow connect to what was going on."
"What? What was going on?" Lunick repeated, confused. Professor Hasting paused as though he too didn't know what was really going on.
"Just come inside. Spencer will explain," Professor Hasting said and looked at Wes too, "I think you should come as well." Wes glared back as though he was questioning this Spencer's interruption but grudgingly followed as well. Lunick quickened his pace so that he was next to Professor Hasting, leaving Wes behind by himself. Lunick still didn't trust this strange thief guy and he highly doubt he ever will.
Author's Notes
Insert laughter here. We all know the irony in Lunick's statement.
Well, we're finally getting somewhere.
Now for everyone here. If you don't know already (I posted this up in all of my other stories) I'll tell you now. I'm going to be on vacation and won't be back until early July. Do not expect updates anytime soon after this.
Okay, let's thank my reviewers.
…
Trutown
Jarkes
littlmiget123
RWT
Rinku588
Ketchum Kid (yuck. Grimer is one of the worse to deal with. I don't know how the people in the game can take it. Thanks for reviewing.)
Crownofthorns
…
That's it from me.
Please reviewing and I'll look forward to hear from you when I get back.
-JapanDreamer