The Pokedex Holders, Wes, and Rui rushed up the stairs toward the Phenac Colosseum and started heading around the wide circular shape that covered the outside of a small Gym-like building which eventually led them all travelers or townspeople over to the Phenac Colosseum.
However, just as they were about to walk toward the Colosseum, a man with a terrifying visage that was dressed in black clothes. His hair was colored white and it was wiry made out to be very serpentine-like that whipped in the wind as it passed him. His eyes were bright red as if he was possessed by a demon of some sort.
The man walked up to the Pokedex Holders as he smiled and said, "Hm? Ah, you must be a bunch of traveling Pokemon Trainers." He looked at Wes, who looked back at him, relentlessly glaring at him.
"Yeah, we are. What the hell is it to you?" Kusa asked, as he looked over to her, his smile grew larger from his excitement that he could barely contain.
"Nothing much. I… I just like what I see in your expressions." The man said, as he started to walk away from them. "I must go now. But, for some reason, I have the feeling that we will all meet again someday."
As he walked away, Machine walked over to Wes and they both looked over to the building that he came out of saying, "Let's go check it out."
"Yeah… Whatever or whoever that man was, he didn't seem normal at all. We have to check this out, for sure." Artie said as they all nodded at one another and walked over to the building that the mysterious man came out of. Since the building was so small, the Pokedex Holders decided that only Wes and Rui would go into the building.
Rui didn't seem to mind but Wes seemed highly annoyed by it. Despite this, however, they both entered the building and saw that this building in particular was very special. It turned out to be the Mayor's House.
The Mayor got up out of his seat and walked in front of them, bowing. The Mayor was a rather large man who was sitting behind a sort of receptionist desk. Even so, he seemed to be not very suspicious, or rather, not at all.
"Ah!" The Mayor said, with a jolly attitude similar to that of Santa Claus. "You must be travelers! Welcome to Phenac City! I am Es Cade, the Mayor of this city. Why have you come here? Have you come to see me?"
"Yes, sir." Rui said, as Wes stepped forward into the place and looked around. "We did come to see you. We were just curious about something."
"Oh, is that so?" Es Cade asked her as she stepped up to him. "What may I do for a pretty young lady like you?"
"I… I saw it!" Rui said, more nervous than she had ever been.
"Saw it? Saw what?" Es Cade asked as Wes walked back over to them, staying completely silent. He didn't actually know what she was going to tell him because he was still thinking about that strange man that walked out the Es Cade's home.
"What I saw was a Pokemon that gave off a black aura. It was like a fighting machine! And that Pokemon would attack people!" Rui stated, as Wes raised an eyebrow at her, wondering what she had been hiding from him and the Pokedex Holders.
"Oh my! Pokemon like a fighting machine? And it attacks people?" Es Cade asked, seeming particularly interested in something over than Rui. "However, if that were true, that would be truly frightening. Unfortunately, it is a little hard to believe."
"It's true, it's true! Because I saw that Pokemon, I was made prisoner of some frightening men a little while ago." Rui said as Es Cade raised an eyebrow at her.
"Hmm…" Es Cade said, as he turned back around and thought about what to do for a second. "I understand. I will begin an investigation at once."
"You will?" Rui asked, happier than she could ever be. "Thank you, Mr. Mayor!"
"Oh, no, no. There is no need for thanks." Es Cade responded as Wes sighed in impatience, ready to leave. "We mustn't allow thugs to do as they wish! Especially thugs that hurt a pretty young lady like yourself!"
Sick bastard… Wes thought to himself, a bit annoyed that Rui was taking his pedo comments as compliments.
"But I will have to ask that you give a little time on the matter. I promise I will get some useful information for you." Es Cade said as Rui nodded. "Oh and… before you go, I noticed that you two are Pokemon Trainers yourself. If so, I urge you to visit our city's pride and joy, the Pokemon Stadium. It's a breathtakingly beautiful Stadium befitting our oasis city!"
"Right. Well, thanks, Es Cade." Wes said, pulling Rui out of the Mayor's House and then walking out to see that Machine and the others had heard everything. "You heard everything?" Wes asked them as he let go of Rui's hand.
"Yeah, and I know what you're thinking. He's not at all what he seems. He's hiding something." Rich said, as the others nodding to him. "But still, it couldn't hurt to check out that Pokemon Stadium that he was talking about it."
"It's not like we weren't going there anyway. We may find some clues on this bastard there." Machine said, leading the way toward the Stadium. The others followed after him quickly, as they began to head up stairs that led them onto the walkway that led into the Stadium.
They walked into the Stadium's entrance and walked up the receptionist's desk that they were going to apply to go in for.
"Welcome to Phenac Stadium. This is where we register Trainers for challengers." The receptionist said, welcoming them to the place. "However, the current challenge has already started. So, we are no longer accepting Trainers for this challenge."
"Oh shit, really?" Machine asked as the receptionist nodded to them. The Pokedex Holders, Wes, and Rui all gave a disappointed sigh of annoyance. It must have been because they spent that time at the Mayor's House.
"I apologize but please, come back later and the next challenge." The receptionist said, as they nodded and started back out into Phenac City. However, as soon they walked out, three men dressed in red and black clothes with headphone-like headsets on their heads walked in front of them and stopped them from going further.
"Hey, Wes!" Shouted one of the men. "We finally found you! You filthy, double-crossing traitor!"
"Who the hell are these guys?" Artie asked, kneeling down to Wes.
"Team Snagem grunts." Wes said, glaring at both of them. "Filthy and double-crossing traitor, huh? You bastards have a lot of gall to call me that."
"Shut the hell up!" Shouted another one of the grunts. "We have a bone to pick with you!"
"Yeah, how could you wreck the hideout like that? How could you betray us all like that?" The last of the grunts shouted to him.
"And if that wasn't enough for you, you stole the Snag Machine from us! You've got some nerve!" Shouted the second grunt once again.
"So?" Wes asked. "Do you have a point here? Because, it seems to me that you guys are all just crybaby's whining about your pathetic loss."
"That's not the point!" Shouted the first grunt to him. "The point is that you betrayed us! You were no ordinary member either! You were the Snagger! You were the best at Snagging Pokemon without fail!"
"Really, Wes?" Kusa asked him. "You didn't tell us that part. Is that true?"
Wes sighed and scratched his head saying, "Yeah… That's true. But I'd hope to avoid doing shit like this… I thought they weren't ever going to catch up with me…"
"Hey, Wes, shut the hell up!" Shouted the third grunt. "We're not done with you! Give back the Snag Machine or else!"
"Or else? What the hell are you three going to do?" Wes asked, reaching for his Poke Balls that contained Espeon and Umbreon.
"You son of a-"
"Easy!" Shouted the first grunt, just as frustrated as he was but kept his cool. "Screw this shit! It's not getting us anywhere! If you won't give it up willingly, we'll have to take it by force!"
"Bring it on, bitch!" Wes shouted, taking out his two Poke Ball's as the grunts took out one of each. "Let me take this guys! I can totally kick their asses at once!"
Machine nodded and said, "Go ahead, Wes. We can complete confidence in you." All the Pokedex Holders and Rui nodded, allowing Wes to go ahead and face them alone. "See, Wes? We're all behind you."
"Alright, thanks guys!" Wes shouted as everyone stepped back and the Snagem grunts turned to face Wes. "Come out, Espeon and Umbreon!" Wes released both of his Pokemon onto the field, into battle once more with his trusted comrades.
One of the Snagem grunts told the other two to back away, while he took on Wes himself. "Krabby and Koffing! Come out!" The Snagem grunt called out his two Pokemon, releasing onto the field, ready for battle.
"Umbreon, Espeon, let's make the first move!" Wes shouted as his two Pokemon nodded to him, ready to go. "Umbreon, use Bite onto Krabby! And then, Espeon follow up with Confusion on Koffing! Go!" Both of Wes' Pokemon jumped into the air, and then stared down at their targets. Espeon attacked first, sending a blast of invisible, colorless psychic energy in a spiral down at Koffing. Koffing was hit so hard, it was defeated and sent tumbling back into its Poke Ball.
As Umbreon bit onto Krabby's head, it didn't completely defeat it. So, immediately after, Espeon came out of nowhere and slammed its body onto the Krabby, defeating it once and for all. This grunt was defeated before he could even really do anything.
After the battle was over, the Snagem grunts glared at Wes. He glared back at them and said, "Well?"
The grunt that had lost, gritted his teeth and shouted, "Damn it all, Wes! Don't think this over! We're going to get that Snag Machine back and make you pay for betraying us! Just you wait!" All three of the Snagem grunts ran off, dashing into the distance.
Wes called back his Espeon and Umbreon, as Machine walked up to Wes just before he turned around. Machine looked at him, discerningly, however, this was only for effect. "What's with that look, Machine?" Wes asked him as he turned around to his superior.
"You already know. But you're willingly to make yourself admit it." Machine said as Wes threw his hand away, a bit annoyed that Machine tried to tell him what he was thinking. "Wes, don't walk away from what you're feeling!"
"What the hell do you think I'm feeling, Machine?" Wes asked, turning back to him. "I'm feeling the urge to destroy Team Snagem for giving me so many years of hell. They're going to feel the wrath of the only member that even meant business."
"Hmph." Machine said, patting him on the back as he passed him. "Whatever man… Just don't become consumed by your hatred and revenge. It won't do you any good to be on the side of good with evil consciously tearing at your emotions. Stay true to the light." Machine gave Wes a look as if he knew what he was going through. The stare froze Wes in place until Rui walked up from behind him and warmed him with her hand, almost as if she was giving him life.
"Wes, are you alright?" Rui asked as Wes shook himself out of the trance and nodded to her. "Good because we have to get moving onto the next town. I think our work is done here."
Wes nodded and started to walk over to his motorcycle when he realized what she had said. "We?" Wes thought to himself. What the hell did she mean by "we"?
"Yeah, Rui's right guys. We've spent enough time here. I think it time to move on." Rich said, tossing a Poke Ball up into the air, releasing his newest Pokemon. "Come out, Umbreon!" His Umbreon was released from its Poke Ball, glimmering in the sun that was shimmering above them, everyone marveled at the color of the rings that were on its ears, legs, and tail. Umbreon's fur was colored a sleek shade of black, furthering its amazing stance. The rings around its ears, legs, and tail glowed a strange, ghostly blue color that mesmerized all the Pokedex Holders, Wes, and Rui. On top of that, Rich's Umbreon was an abnormal size, being much taller than most other Umbreon's they had ever seen. Not even Wes' Umbreon was as gallant as Rich's was.
"Whoa, is that your Umbreon, Rich?" Wes asked as Rich nodded to him. "But… why are its… rings-"
"That color?" Rich asked as Wes nodded to him, amazed in Umbreon's strength that glowed from it. "That's very simple. It's that color because… of the fact that this is… Umbreon's Shiny form. It's rings are only this color because of the fact it's a Shiny Pokemon."
"A Shiny Pokemon? No way!" Kusa shouted to him, in amazement. "How were so lucky as to come across a Shiny Pokemon like Umbreon!"
"I'm just extremely lucky, I guess." Rich responded to her, with a lazy expression on his face. "Besides, why are you guys making such a big fuss over this? I didn't think it was that big of a deal. I thought it was cool and then got over it."
"Are you serious, man?" Artie asked, walking over to Rich's Umbreon and petting it softly. It closed its eyes and started wagging its cat-like tail back and forth as Artie stroked his hand through its fur, feeling the beauty of its amazing abnormality. "Shiny Pokemon are extremely rare. I'd say they're even more rare than most legendaries. You've got a special Pokemon with you right there."
"Well… I suppose so but… like I said, it's not that big a deal to me or Umbreon. I'm pretty much just cool with the fact that I got an Umbreon." Rich said shrugging his shoulders.
"Fine then." Machine said, calling out his Charizard. "Enough of this idle chit-chat. We've got to get to the next city. Let's all just get going." Machine and Kusa hopped onto the back of his Charizard and got ready to take off. Artie and Rich took a jump onto Rich's Umbreon and were ready to go. Wes jumped on the back of his motorcycle and Rui realized that she had nowhere to sit. She started to turn away, however, Machine turned to Wes and shouted, "Wes, Rui will travel with you from now on!"
"What?" Wes asked surprised. "No way, why would I do that? Why can't she just ride with you?"
"My Charizard only 'technically' can hold two people at the most. Plus, my Larvitar's riding on my shoulder causing Charizard a little bit more weight than normally. So, just deal with it alright? It's not like she has a disease or something." Machine said, obviously lying to Wes, pointing to his Larvitar that rested on his shoulder.
"Yeah! Machine's right, Wes. Besides, it'll only be for a little while, won't it?" Kusa asked as all four of the Pokedex Holders shrugged and him and smiled.
Wes sighed, and even though he knew he'd regret this, he finally allowed Rui to ride with him. "Fine… Rui, come, to my beast ass motorcycle." Rui skipped over to Wes happily, jumping onto the back of his motorcycle and wrapping her arms around him, to make sure she didn't fall off.
"So Wes… where to next?" Artie asked as the heroes got ready to take off to the next location.
Wes pulled out his P*DA and looked at the Town Map, which showed the entire region of Orre in completion. Wes smiled and put his P*DA away, started up his motorcycle and said, "Next stop… Pyrite Town! Let's go!" At that moment, Wes, Rui, and the Pokedex Holders blasted off into the distance, off to their next destination, Pyrite Town.
However, just as they left, someone in a long, white cloak that concealed their face walked out in the midst of the dust that the heroes left behind. The person let out a tired, old, raspy laugh that made the people around standing around this person jump a little. This person then started to walk after them, however, he leapt through the air, disappearing in a white blast of smoke that covered his entire body leaving a wise, overwhelming presence behind him. This person was definitely different. He seemed more wise and powerful. And this person happened to be heading straight for the Pokedex Holders' destination; Pyrite Town.