"Hey dad, why can't I come with you?" The little boy asked.
A large man with short silver hair casually glanced at the boy. He tied his boots on, and reached out in a closet for his jacket.
"Dad, come on!" The little boy yelled.
The man came back to the kid and put his hand on his head.
"Sorry Wes, I gotta go," the man replied. "You let your mother take care of you, I'll be gone for a while."
"How long?" A young Wes impatiently asked.
His father gave him a long stare, and finally said, "I will come back soon. Just you wait for me."
The man shortly zipped his jacket on and left the house. The young Wes walked back inside the house.
"Oh well, I guess I'll have to play with Eevee," he replied. "I can't wait till dad gets home..."
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Wes opened his eyes. To his right, there lay the snag machine, along with his clothes on a chair.
Umbreon and Espeon were both asleep. Wes got out of bed, and stared outside. He was in a hotel in Phenac City.
"Ugh, yesterday was so strange," Wes said while yawning. "I finally escaped out of the hideout, I met-"
Wes stopped talking. He paused. "Oh right, that girl," Wes thought. "Rui."
Wes got dressed into his clothes, and fitted the snag machine into his arm.
"Umbreon, Espeon! Wake up," Wes ordered. Both Pokemon yawned, and greeted their master. Wes and his two Pokemon then exited his room and went to go find Rui.
"Where is she?" He thought. "This place is huge! She could be anywhere!"
Suddenly, someone walked into Wes. He turned around, alarmed. It was Rui.
"What a coincidence," Wes said.
"Oh! Hello there Wes!" Rui happily said. "I was looking for you! Did you sleep good?"
Wes nodded. But, Rui didn't seem to be noticing Wes then. She reached out to pet Umbreon and Espeon.
"Ahhh, they are so adorable!" Rui exclaimed. Wes rolled his eyes in annoyance. "We depart for Pyrite Town now," he said.
"Wait, but we gotta eat first!" Rui replied as she kept petting Wes's Pokemon. Both of them seemed to be enjoying it a lot.
"We can eat on the way there, now let's get going," Wes stated in a rude way. "We can't afford to lose anymore time."
"Oh ok Wes, let's go then," Rui said. "Oh, how are those two Pokemon?"
Before Wes could ask what she was referring to, he instantly remembered. That violent look. The aggression. It almost seemed
like Wes nearly forgot about his encounter with Shadow Pokemon."Oh yeah, the Shadow Pokemon," Wes replied.
Wes took the two poke balls out of his pocket. Suddenly, Rui felt a sharp pain in her head. She fell to the floor.
"Oww!" Rui yelled out in pain.
Wes immediately crouched down to help her. "What's wrong?" Wes asked in an alarmed and worried tone.
"I, I can feel the darkness coming from them," Rui weakly replied. "It only hurts sometimes, but still... Wes, we need to help these Pokemon!"
Wes sadly looked down at the two poke balls. "I know," he said. "We'll figure out a way to fix them."
Rui then got back up once she was feeling better. "Y'know, I do remember a saying," she said. "Fighting and bonding with a Pokemon can gradually open up it's heart."
Wes immediately looked at her in a shocked away. "That's it!" He said. "You're right Rui, I could fight with Quilava and Makuhita, and open their heart! Personally, I can relate to that. It should definitely work." As Wes said that, he looked at Umbreon and Espeon. They both smiled back.
"Alright then!" Rui happily replied. "Let's go!"
They both then quickly left the hotel, and made it to entrance of the city. As Wes turned on the Zoomer, Rui exclaimed,
"Wow that's a nice ride you have!"
"Yea, it's something I've had for a while," Wes replied.
"What's in here?" Rui asked as she opened up a compartment inside the vehicle. Inside were dozens of poke balls.
"Wes, please don't tell me you stole those," Rui said with hesitation. Wes immediately started laughing.
"Yea, I guess you could say that," he said. "I stole this from Team Snagem, as well as Pokemon food, and just other essentials for traveling."
"You seem to have all this planned out," Rui said. "Where were you headed to?"
Wes stayed silent. After he made sure the engine was running fine, Wes got on the Zoomer, and announced, "Go behind me."
Rui glanced at Wes, and could see a slightly saddened look on his face. Suddenly, she realized that maybe her question might have made Wes remember something.
Rui pointed at the seat and said, "But Wes, how will both Umbreon and Espeon fit?"
Wes looked, and realized what she was saying was right. "Oh you're right," Wes said. "Umbreon, Espeon return!"
They both willingly returned to their respective poke balls. Rui got in the back seat, and they all headed off to Pyrite Town.
=========================================================================================================================================
Wes finally stopped driving. Using directions from the map in the hotel, Wes easily figured out where Pyrite Town was.
"Here we are," Wes said, wiping crumbs off of his mouth.
"Ah, what a tasty meal!" Rui exclaimed, as she finished eating her breakfast. Pyrite Town lay before them. It contrasted greatly to Phenac City. Not much water could be seen anywhere, and it seemed to fit more with a desert theme. A lot of buildings looked like they were about to crumble, and people with shady clothing walked around the city.
Wes sighed. "What a dump," He concluded.
Rui replied, "Oh, I remember this place. I was taken from those men here."
As Rui got out of the Zoomer, Wes vividly stared at her. "Those losers kidnapped you here?" He asked in a shocked way.
Rui nodded. "My memory is a little foggy, but I do remember being here," Rui recalled. "I was walking here when suddenly I saw a bunch of Pokemon with a shadowy aura. My head started to hurt a lot, and then I tried to leave town afterwards, but those two creeps grabbed me and knocked me out."
Wes turned away from Rui and looked angry. "How could they do that to someone as innocent as her?" He thought.
Wes got out of the vehicle, and after making sure it was properly parked, walked directly into the city. Rui quickly followed.
"Wait, Wes where are you going?" Rui asked.
Wes periodically jerked his head around the city. "We've gotta find answers now!" Wes replied. Suddenly, Wes stopped.
"Wes, you finally stopped moving!" Rui said. "Please promise me you'll not do that again-"
"Who are you?!" Wes called out. In front of him, was a huge yellow circle. At the opposite end of the circle, were 4 trainers. One trainer smiled. He had short brown hair, and a bandana around his neck. His clothes looked disheveled and tattered up, and he stared at Wes and Rui with sharp black eyes.
"This is the Duel Square," he finally replied.
Wes glanced at him back, smirking in response. "If it's called Duel Square, then why is there a yellow circle on the ground?" He asked as he softly chuckled.
Suddenly, the 3 other trainers behind him started to laugh. "Oooh Nover just got told!" One person said.
"Shut up, Divel!" Nover turned around and retorted back. Then, Nover turned around to face Wes and Rui.
"It's called a square because there are 4 of us, braniac," Nover replied.
"Hmph," Wes mockingly said, but he let Nover continue.
"This is a place where even crying kids know they'd better shut up," Nover said. "This is where all the roughnecks in the city gather. So, how about it?
How would you like to battle me?"
Wes smirked once again. "Heh, I'd be happy to! Just don't blame me when you become one of those crying kids!" Wes replied.
"Haha, such confidence!" Nover said. "Excellent then! I like a man who can come to a quick decision! Let's have it out!"
Just as Nover took out 2 poke balls, Rui started to feel pain in her head immediately. "Ow, why does this keep happening to me?" Rui thought.
That's when Rui realized what would transpire. "Wes, that guy has a Shadow Pokemon!" She frantically said.
"Wait what, he does!?" Wes replied looking back at her. "You're sure?"
"Yes! It seems strong!" Rui said.
Out of Nover's poke balls came a Ledyba, and Noctowl.
"Alright, I'm going to try you use you 2, Makuhita and Quilava!" Wes called out as he took their poke balls out. "Rui, which one is the Shadow Pokemon?"
Rui, suddenly scared, pointed at Noctowl. "That one!" She said.
Wes threw his poke balls, and Quilava and Makuhita popped out. Both looked very confused and distraught.
"Oh man, I hope this works!" Wes thought.
Nover then started to laugh. "Ah, you must know about my Shadow Pokemon," he said. "I see that little lady can tell if it is Shadow or not. Interesting."
Noctowl started to flap its wings, eager for battle. Ledyba got in a ready battle position as well.
Wes suddenly stared at Nover venomously and said, "you wouldn't happen to know anything about who she is, would you?"
Nover looked at Wes curiously. "Not to my knowledge, no," he replied.
"Quit playing games!" Wes angrily said. "Where did you get that Noctowl?"
Nover looked at Wes with even more suspicion. "How about you beat me first, and then I'll tell you where I got this critter alright?" Nover asked.
Wes stared back into his black sharp eyes, and finally replied, "fine, let's do this! Quilava, use Shadow Rush on Ledyba!"
Wes in his mind prayed for this to work. "It's the only move that I've ever seen either of those 2 do," he thought. "I hope they don't attack me instead."
Quilava started to stare at Wes. Wes glanced back, and realized that he made a mistake of ever considering to use him. Suddenly, Wes peered into Quilava's eyes more carefully, and noticed something peculiar.
"Those eyes," Wes thought. "They aren't ferocious like last time. No, Quilava's... suffering."
Quilava started to look back at Ledyba, but didn't attack. He just glanced at it.
"Of course," Wes thought. "They must both be suffering. They must be trying to open their heart back up!"
Wes looked at Makuhita. He was looking at Nover very suspiciously, and then back to Wes.
"He has a eerily same look to Quilava," Wes thought. "It's not the face of a violent machine, it's the face of a Pokemon who's suffering."
"Wes, what are you waiting for?" Rui yelled out. "What's the matter?"
Wes snapped back into reality. "But how can I use these Pokemon to help me snag that Noctowl?" Wes asked himself as he looked back at Noctowl.
It had dark brown wings, and had a triangle pattern on it's body. It's giant eyes also had a frantic and distraught look, but it didn't seem to look like it was suffering as much as Makuhita and Quilava was.
"I hate to interrupt your thoughts, punk, but I guess I'm going to make the first move if you're not!" Nover angrily replied. "Ledyba, Headbutt on Quilava!"
Ledyba started to attack Quilava with it's head. Quilava suddenly stared at Ledyba with anger.
"Quilava, use Shadow Rush!" Wes shouted again. "Come on Quilava! We can do this!"
Quilava looked back at Wes, and then quickly hurled itself at Ledyba in a fit of rage. Ledyba quickly fainted.
"Argh, Ledyba return!" Nover cried out as his Pokemon came back to the poke ball.
Quilava then looked back at Wes.
"Is he... trying to say something to me?" Wes thought.
"Alright, I guess I'll have to go hard!" Nover said.
"I wish you had from the start," Wes slyly replied.
"Noctowl, use Shadow Rush and destroy his Makuhita!" Nover ordered.
Noctowl suddenly looked burst into anger and attacked Makuhita.
"Makuhita, dodge!" Wes said.
But Makuhita didn't move. It stayed right where it was, looking confused at Noctowl.
"Oh no!" Wes thought. "It's over! That attack's gonna kill Makuhita!"
Noctowl then proceeded to shove Makuhita out of the way. It let out a cry as it got hurt.
"No!" Wes cried out. "Makuhita!"
Nover started to laugh. "Yeah, nothing stops my Noctowl! Now, finish off his Quilava with Shadow Rush once more!" Nover exclaimed.
As Noctowl swiftly moved in to attack Quilava, he didn't move. Quilava just stood there, in confusion.
"Damn it, I can't lose you too!" Wes gritted his teeth.
To his surprise, he ran and put his hands out in front of Quilava. Quilava looked at Wes in amazement in and disbelief as Noctowl closed in on it's attack.
"Wes, no stop it!" Rui cried out. "Get out of the way, you're going to get hurt!"
"You're not going to hurt my Quilava, you hear me?" Wes yelled out to the striking Noctowl.
"Noo Wes stop!" Rui cried out once more. "Please, you don't have to-
Noctowl slammed into Wes, and sent him and Quilava both flying and then landing on the pavement. Wes could instantly feel pain searing through his body.
"WES!" Rui screamed as she ran to him. "Are you alright?"
"Yea yea I'm fine," Wes weakly replied. Then he looked at Quilava. "Are you ok there Quilava?" Wes asked.
Quilava suddenly looked Wes with an entirely different expression. His eyes didn't have a whole lot of resentment as they had used to. Instead, Quilava looked at Wes with awe and wonder.
"Well well, looks like I got a double strike!" Rover said. "Alright, before we close the show, let me have Noctowl finish your Quilava off for good!"
"Quilava," Wes weakly said. "Use Shadow Ru-
But Quilava instead immediately started to shoot out rings of fire from his mouth. He fired it over and over at Noctowl, until it fainted on the ground.
"What the- no, Noctowl!" Nover cried out. "No way!"
Wes and Rui looked at Quilava in shock. But, without a second passing, Wes immediately got out a poke ball from his pocket and put it inside the Snag Machine on his arm.
Then, he threw the poke ball at Noctowl. It rolled several times before finally clicking.
"Snag success!" Wes yelled with great pride.
Quilava gave a little smile at Wes, and Wes smiled back at his new partner.