In a quiet part of Veilstone City, a young man with long purple hair was asleep. At least, he wanted to be asleep. He woke up when he heard a small explosion but smiled to himself when he remembered that his little brother was finally home. The young man yawned and walked over to his window, opening it. "You know, you don't have to train so early!" He shouted into the backyard. A teen boy, also with dark purple hair, but shorter looked up at him. Next to him was a large black and yellow pokémon as well as a large turtle with trees on its back. "The sun is barely even up."
"I've been training for an hour, Reggie," the younger male answered.
"Honestly, Paul," Reggie sighed. "Come on inside, I'll start breakfast in a moment." Reggie went back into his room before popping his head back out. "Please be more careful! I'm looking after a cranky baby pokémon today, remember?"
"Fine," Paul sighed. Reggie smiled and nodded to himself, leaving his brother alone. "I can't even train in peace anymore," the younger boy sighed.
"Don't worry, you still have plenty of time to decide what to do," Torterra assured him.
"Yeah! The leagues don't start up for another two months," Electivire agreed.
"That doesn't give me much time at all," Paul huffed.
"Why don't you challenge Brandon again?" Torterra asked. "That was your original plan, wasn't it?"
"Yeah, it was," Paul sighed. "I got word that he's left, and no one knows where he is. It would be pointless to try and chase him."
"So you have to come up with a new idea," Electivire muttered.
"That's about it," Paul muttered, taking out his pokéballs and returning the two. The purple haired teen walked into the house and saw that Reggie was scrambling eggs and cooking bacon. "You do know that breakfast doesn't have to be a feast, right?"
"Yeah, sorry." Reggie chuckled. "I just thought egg with bacon would be a good choice."
"Just that? Normally you make waffles along with it or something," Paul muttered. He sat down at the table and waited for Reggie to place the plates down.
"After breakfast I have to return some pokémon and pick up that baby pokémon," Reggie informed his little brother.
"Whatever," Paul huffed.
"Will you be fine by yourself?" Reggie asked.
"Yeah, perfectly fine," Paul glared. "I have been traveling by myself, remember."
"Yeah, but, now, you have to protect some pokémon while I'm out. Don't be so mean to them, okay?" Reggie requested. "Most of them are still young."
"I make no promises," Paul muttered.
"Will you try?" Reggie pushed.
"I'll try, but I won't make any promises," Paul repeated.
"Well, that's the best I can get from ya," Reggie sighed.
Reggie had left about an hour ago.
"Reggie's brother! I'm thirsty!" A small Poochyena cried. Some other pokémon were a ways away from them, watching nervously.
"Milk or juice?" Paul huffed, getting off the couch and entering the kitchen.
"Pecha juice!" the puppy barked happily. Paul nodded and got a jug of pink juice out of the fridge and poured it into three small bowls. He set them down and watched the young pokémon swarm around it.
"How can such a small thing like juice make you happy?" Paul muttered to himself.
"They're just kids," a Gallade answered. "Showing them something that makes noise or is shiny will make them happy."
"Good point," Paul muttered, pouring a glass of water for himself.
"Mister Paul…" a tiny Chinling called nervously.
"Yeah? What do you want?" He asked.
"How come you know what we're saying?" he asked. "My owner never knows."
"Yeah! Reggie can tell, but he doesn't know exactly what we're saying!" a female Pidgey agreed.
"How come you can?" the young pokémon surrounded his ankles, wanting to know the answer.
"I just can," Paul growled. The small pokémon screamed playfully and ran off laughing. "Kids are so annoying," Paul sighed. "Whether human or pokémon."
"Master Paul!" a Zangoose shouted, running into the house.
"What is it?" Paul asked.
"An Ariados kidnapped two of the children! It took a Castform and Phanpy!" Zangoose shouted.
"Great, just great," Paul sighed. He turned towards the Gallade. "Take care of them and make sure everyone is inside! No pokémon is allowed to leave until I return! And no one can be let in unless recognized by one of them as its trainer!"
"Yes sir," Gallade nodded.
"Let's go," Paul sighed, rushing out of the house.
"Where did that damn thing go?" Paul growled.
"You'll never find them," Zangoose smirked, showing its claws. "There are no Castform or Phanpy at this little day care! There's also no cranky baby pokémon that's supposed to be picked up." Paul felt strings wrap around his torso, and was hung from a tree limb.
"What the hell?" Paul growled, struggling against the web. An Ariados crawled next to Zangoose and they both smirked.
"Right now our trainer is taking all the pokémon. With the help of Gallade," Ariados smirked.
"We've been waiting for this moment for a while now. That fool Reggie was supposed to take off and leave Gallade in charge. Then our trainer would come and take everyone!" Zangoose informed him. "But then you never left. So we had to get a little creative in how to lure you away from the house!" Paul gritted his teeth and growled, glaring at the pokémon.
"I hope you know that you'll never get away with this, I still have my pokémon," Paul growled, trying to reach for his belt. Web was wrapped around his wrists, keeping them away from his belt. Paul gritted his teeth together. "Damnit! I can't let this end this way! I may not care about those pathetic pokémon but if anything happens, Reggie will be blamed! I can't let that happen!" A strong burst of wind swept through the forest and hit Paul, causing him to blow back, and the tree branch to break. Paul broke free of the web and flipped through the air, landing on his feet.
"You aren't going to get away with this!" Paul shouted, running forward. His body felt weightless and he easily passed the two pokémon, who were in shock. Paul appeared at his house moments later and punched the door down. An older man gasped in shock, holding a bag, filled with the younger pokémon. "Let them go, now," Paul ordered, glaring at him. The trainer froze in shock. Paul took this moment to punch him, forcing him to drop the bag.
"Stop right there! Police!" Jenny called, knocking down the front door. Weavile was next to her, his arms crossed and smirking.
"It's a good thing I don't go in my pokéball all that often," He smirked. Paul took the bag and opened it, letting the pokémon come out. A few pokéballs rolled out as well. Officer Jenny took the criminal and placed him in the police car.
"Thank you for your help," Jenny saluted.
"No problem," Paul grunted.
"I hope the owner gets better protection for these pokémon for when he has to leave," Jenny sighed, before driving off.
"It wasn't Reggie's fault," Paul muttered, crossing his arms.
"Huh? Do you know Reggie?" Weavile asked, looking at Paul.
"Did you hit your head or something," Paul huffed, walking into the house. "It's me, your trainer. We may need to work on your memory."
"Paul! Is that really you?" Weavile gasped. "You look so different! What did the thief do to you?"
"What do you mean I look different?" Paul asked in an annoyed tone as he approached the hallway mirror. He froze and stared at his reflection in shock. His hair had turned white, with grey streaks. He had a gold drop hanging from a grey band wrapped around his forehead. Paul also noted that his hair was slightly longer and was in a ponytail that reached his lower shoulders. The shocked boy looked down at his clothes and found that he was wearing a white singlet with loose legs. The outfit had a grey stripe on the sides. There was a golden ring around his waist. He had grey leggings on and white boots that reached his knees. The fronts of the boots were golden in color. He had on a short sleeved jacket that was gold with white sleeves. On his hands were grey biker gloves. "What the hell happened to me?"
"You mean you don't know?" Weavile asked. "Well, that would explain why you didn't realize why I couldn't recognize you." Paul pulled on his bangs in shock.
"What happened?" Paul muttered, still in shock.
"Paul! What happened to the doors?" Reggie asked, entering the house. "Did the pokémon get into a fight or something?" He froze when he saw his little brother. His eyes widened and he took out a pokéball. "Who are you and what do you want?"
"Reggie! It's me!" Paul shouted quickly.
"It's true!" Weavile shouted, nodding its head.
"Paul…" Reggie gasped in shock. "What did you do to yourself?"
"I didn't do anything!" Paul shouted. "I was tricked into the forest by pokémon who actually belonged to a thief that tried to steal everyone. And when I looked in the mirror, I looked like this!" he turned back to the mirror, in disbelief.
"Until we find out what's wrong, you can't leave the house, you do realize that, right?" Reggie asked.
"Yeah," Paul nodded.