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The Retelling of Pokémon Colosseum

this is an awesome fanfic.
seeing as I finished colloseum and am on the verge of beating XD, this is way more interesting than the game. keep up the good work!
 

bobandbill

Winning Smile
Staff member
Super Mod
Time to review some reviews - get them in!

Hype_chao
Firstly: a complaint:
Every single pokemon appears to be either stupid, evil or sarcastic, and despite how funny such personalities are, I see the detail you've put into the plot itself, and it makes me frown that other parts of the fic suffer this way

That's a fair point - although you may be gladened by some future chapters. I may not have greatly developed personalities, mostly because:
a) those pokemon one feature for a short battle and probably shall never be mentioned again (e.g. Botan's sunken + hoppip), or
b) I haven't yet developed those pokemon yet
I can understand where I need work in that area, espcially and Espeon/Umbreon haven't have much development yet, and Makuhita/Croconaw are both reduced to exclaiming "die!" as they are shadow. However, look for them to change as they become less and less 'shadow' like...

Moving a bit away:

The fic is almost perfect, although the current descriptions of settings are a tad lacking (It seems throughout the story you assume everyone has played through the game, which is not the case), and the afforementioned personality issues, I enjoy the attempted jokes throughout the story (You seem to have an obsession with devouring a multitude of imaginary pastries), and the attention to the original storyline of the game.
I can see how my story may not fully account for those who never played the game, though in that case they would simply miss out upon the 'explainations for the unexplained'. I may end up editing previous chapters slightly as so to be more descriptive and increase the auidence I intend to read this (which is everyone ;) ).


In future: aim for personality deviations (Which even the anime itself has struggled to do for a decade) and finer detail explanations, because despite the fact you are clearly aiming for an audience who has observed the original material, it wouldn't hurt to cater to those who haven't or simply can't remember... Or be bothered to replay the game (like me). Good job BobandBill! Aim for perfection!

Indeed I shall. Note however in the first post that I mention that it's 'best if you at least read the storyline again', so one can refresh the memory of the game had they played it before, and don't/can't play it again. Although as mentioned, it isn't quite nesserary - I think the story can still be enjoyed by those who never played that game.


hmm...

I don't think i can see what exactly Wes has that could make him dissapointed.

Bluno is one of the wierd color brothers right? I forget what they call themselves...

a funny chappie thats for sure.

but, I cant think of anythin else. (curse me and my horrible reviewing skills)

Hmm, you might have misread the last bit - "Something told him that Wes might be disappointed, and being a psychic Pokemon, he was rarely wrong…"
Not something that Wes HAS that could disapoint him - rather, Espeon has a feeling somethings isn't right. If you played the game, you would know - if you haven't... well, it'll be a nice surpise. :)
Anyway, glad you liked it. Maybe in your reviews, say what's your favourite part or what you didn't like?

For the record, Bluno is a 'colour person' - one of three, but they didn't call themselves anything - unlike in XD, where there a 'six' coloured brothers that are dumber and call themselves 'the Hexagon Brothers'.

this is an awesome fanfic.
seeing as I finished colloseum and am on the verge of beating XD, this is way more interesting than the game. keep up the good work!

Thanks, glad you liked it.


Anyways, remember to review please and if you want to be on a PM list so you don't have to check, post here or PM me.
As for the next chapter, I may have it done in 2-3/4 weeks, depending on assigments. Though soon it will be holidays for me, I will then have School Certificate straight after... :(
I do have a general plot outline thought up for the next chapter/s, only now I must type it up, make it funnier, fix mistakes, and so forth...
 

Sike Saner

Peace to the Mountain
It seems inevitable, or at least very likely, that a fic containing Miror B. will attract my attention sooner or later. :D I love the way Miror B. is portrayed, being referred to as "IT" the first time he appears and making old ladies faint with his terrifying hair. XD

Another character whose depiction I'm enjoying is Rui. Hers has been a very funny presence from the moment she was let out of that bag onward. XD

Oh, and I liked how the background music is actually provided by people in the various locations from the game. :D I'm also liking the explanations for other things, such as why Rui seeemd to accept Wes's former involvement with Snagem so readily. XP

In Skarmory’s humble opinion, all the trouble started when that good-for-nothing stupid man with funny pointy hair coming out from around his nose and eyes showed up near his nest and started building big gray buildings.

Meanwhile, the previously mentioned man with ‘funny pointy hair’ - a.k.a. Gonzap, was expressing his displeasure at a young teenager in a blue coat.
He was a bald man with a large stature - but a main distinguishing feature was his pointy moustache, and his long eyebrow. Nobody made jokes about that though. Nobody would have dared when Gonzap was concerned.

The teenager’s Umbreon started to growl at Gonzap.

"Umbre!" (Shut up, Mr Moustache Eyebrow man!

Meanwhile the Skarmory landed in its nest - a rough bundle of sticks put together covered by a small spiky bush. The Skarmory didn’t mind though - the sharp thorns in the bush did nothing to its steel hide, and it kept out the majority of intruders. Settling down to eat, Skarmory looked around to make sure that nothing else was to come to try to steal his meal.

KA-BOOM!

The Skarmory literally fell out of the nest at the noise, and had to flap hard to avoid hitting the ground. Startled, he flew around several times screeching about the indignantly of being so greatly disturbed before it could eat its meal.

Gonzap grimly picked up the Great ball and put it in his pocket. He glanced at the base, full of flames and people running out of the building.
Very smart, Wes.
You’ve destroyed our main Snag machine, and stole the other one. You took our Zoomer. And to boot, you used those explosives we had been planning to use in Agate Village as well to destroy our base.
AND half my moustache has burnt off, and I don’t have an eyebrow anymore.
You’ll pay for this.

After driving around the desert for half an hour, trying to figure out the controls of the Zoomer (which wasn’t helped by Espeon and Umbreon trying the chew the controls), Wes finally managed to get the Zoomer travelling in a straight line. After the recent event, Wes felt… free.
Free from Team Snagem. Free from having to sneak around towns to steal Pokemon. Free from the guilt he felt whenever he had to hand in a Pokemon that he knew would end up becoming a shadow Pokemon. Free from Gonzap’s ugly face. And free from the poor quality food that Team Snagem could muster.
For instance the sandwiches that were made on Fridays were made with real sand.

“Umm, Folly? Why aren’t you driving?”

“I, um, seemed to have misplaced the car keys...”

“WHAT!?!”

Wes took a moment to observe his surroundings before consuming the burger. It was a unique place, with a few people sitting around watching the T.V. Nearby a man with bright pink hair was playing a tune repeatedly on a harmonica.

Wes stopped eating to look upon the man. The bright pink hair looked disturbing to say the least.

“Oh never mind him,” exclaimed Kirk. “That’s just Pinky”

“Don’t call me that!” exclaimed the person. “My name is Willie and before you ask, this hair came about from a hairdressing accident…”

Umbreon looked upon the person with a questioning look.

“Someone’s Kecleon freaked out the hairdresser and she spilled this dye in my hair” Willie explained. “So I guess I’m stuck with it until it fades out - it doesn’t wash out for some stupid reason…”

Later on Wes saw something on the T.V that caught his eye. He had been watching a boring news investigation about a coffee shop that was typical of the average television programs only available in Orre.
It was starting to get interesting when one of the reporters, Mary was ‘assaulted’ by a random old man. He had started shouting about how he couldn’t get coffee and how that was such a tragedy. He wasn’t letting Mary past into the shop to interview the owner and was about to start throwing coffee mugs everywhere, when suddenly the investigation got interrupted.

“We interrupt this, eh, interesting news investigation with a special bulletin. Police has confirmed that the notorious criminal gang Team Snagem has had their base destroyed in an explosion.”

Willie stopped playing his harmonica as everyone clambered around the T.V.

“The location of Team Snagem’s hideout was previously unknown but now police have gotten into the act and have made arrests. They are currently interrogating these people. The cause for the explosion is currently unknown. We will now return to our program.”

The T.V program returned to Mary running away from the man who was yelling “WHERE’S MY COFFEEEEE!”

As Wes got out of the Outskirt Stand to find a place to stay for the night, Willie followed him out.

“Hey, Wes - want to have a battle?”

Wes thought for a moment. He didn’t really like Willie as he wouldn’t stop playing the same annoying tune over and over again on his harmonica. But it would be good practise for Espeon and Umbreon.

They quickly stood apart away from the train and got ready to battle. Silence followed, besides an encouraging shout from Kirk: “Go get him, Pinky!”

“Stop calling me that!” shouted Willie. “Go! Moltres and Mewtwo!” he called as he sent out two Pokemon.

Wes stared. Surely…he didn’t call his two Zigzagoon after Legendary Pokemon.

Nearby Folly and Trudly were still looking for the keys. Suddenly Trudly give out a shout of delight.

“I found them!”

“Great! Let’s go!” Said Folly as they hopped in the vehicle. “Oh, by the way, where were they?”

“Umm, it doesn’t matter” said Trudly quickly.

“No, really, where were they?”

“Well, they were… in my pocket.”

“What the…”

Sure enough, Folly and Trudly were trying to bring the sack within the city, and were failing in fantastic style. The ‘thing’ in the bag was shaking violently. A lady and an athlete with a Castform looked on worriedly.
“What’s… in there?” she asked nervously.

“Um, ahh…” stammered Folly.

“It’s a, um, a rabid crazy wild Pokemon! Stand back - it’s vicious and needs to be taken to the Pokemon centre now!” claimed Trudly hurriedly.

“Get me out of here!” shouted the thing inside the bag. Wes and the others looked at Trudly and glared.

“Um… it’s so crazy it can… talk?” offered Trudly weakly.

Folly winced. “Yeah, well, you never stop us. We’ve got Pokemon ready for battle!”

“Well actually you only have Pokemon, I left mine with…” began Trudly.

“Shut UP!”

“Now then, are you all right?” asked the woman.

“Yes… I think so.” said the girl.

“Good. After being tied up in a sack, you're lucky you didn’t suffer any mild…”

Suddenly the girl smiled and shouted “MY NAME’S ROMARIO AND I LIKE CHOCOLATE PIE!”

“…It seems I spoke too soon…” muttered the lady.

“ZROOM ZROOM!” shouted the confused person, who was aboard Wes’s Zoomer. She then attempted to drive the Zoomer, but looked confused by the various handles and the absence of a steering wheel.

“Don’t touch that!” cried Wes.

Fortunately the girl abruptly fell out of the Zoomer in comical fashion. She lay on the ground and started spinning around and around, smiling idiotically.

Wes considered this. “I have an idea. Espeon! Use a gentle Confusion on her to get her memory back! Be careful though…”

Espeon stared into the girl’s eyes. After a moment, the girl seemed to calm down.

“Wha… what happened to me?” she asked.

“Oh, good, you’re all right now” soothed the lady. “You were being kidnapped by two men, but this young man saved you. You were a bit, well, out of it a moment ago though…”

“Why, what did I do?”

“Umm… never mind” said the women hurriedly.

“Hello. My name’s Justy. Interested in taking part in a Pokemon battle challenge? It’s 4 trainers in a row, 2-2 battles.”

“I WOULD LIKE TO BATTLE!” shouted Rui happily. “But… I have no Pokemon.” She added, suddenly downcast. Her mood swings unsettled Wes.

“Now then - we’ve been at this for the last week, and we need to get some progress. Jimmy! Here’s an addition question. If I had 2 Pokemon, and then got 2 more Pokemon, how many would I have?”

Jimmy looked surprised at being asked a question.

“Umm… you would have some Pokemon.”

“Yes… and no. Look - one, two, three, four. So how many are there?”
The teacher drew some circles on the board to resemble Pokemon.

“Let me think..." answered Jimmy. "There are three…and that one.”

“Three and that one.” repeated the teacher with a sigh. “So if I add THAT one to the other three, what will I have?”

“OH! Um… Some circles.”

After Botan proclaimed his love for all things green and grass types, he sent out a Sunken and a Hoppip. Only, when his Pokemon caught sight of Espeon and Umbreon, Hoppip jumped back into Botan’s Poke ball out of fright. Sunken could not dive into its own Poke ball, being a small, weak seed Pokemon. It resorted to waving its leaves as viciously as it could at Espeon. Shortly before Wes even ordered an attack, the Sunken fainted out of pure fear.

Oddly enough, Lady Gwin after the battle huffed at Wes distastefully.

“My battle style must have been too sophisticated for you”. She struck her nose to the air, and walked off.

Odd comment to make after losing thought Wes. Meanwhile Rui ever so causally stuck out her foot, resulting in Lady Gwin having a squashed nose.

“As an award, you win… this WHITE HERB!” Justy handed a small white herb to Wes.

“Ah… thanks…” said Wes, before he stuffed it to the depths of his bag, probably never to be seen again.

“You must be travellers! Welcome!” greeted the man. He waddled up to Wes and Rui. “ I am Es Cade, the mayor of this town. Is anything the problem?

Suddenly Rui stepped up.

“I saw… IT!” she answered.

The mayor looked blankly at Rui.

“Oh… sorry. Well, I saw a peculiar Pokemon, no, that’s not quite right.”
Rui was stumbling for words.

“Well, what was peculiar about it?” asked the mayor.

“Well," began Rui hastily, "I was walking around Pyrite Town when I saw two people having a Pokemon battle, and one of them had this Pokemon and it was giving out a black aura, and it was very odd, and then the man told it to use a odd move that sounded something like shadow rush, and I didn't think that was a real move, and then the Pokemon attacked the other Pokemon, and it looked very evil and I said “why does it have a black aura”, but nobody could see the black aura, and the Pokemon attacked someone, and they ran away screaming, oh and I like cake, and it looked like a fighting machine, not a Pokemon and then the man asked me what I saw and I ran away but then I was kidnapped by the man and this other man, and they put me in a bag took me here, and then I was rescued by Wes who had very strong Pokemon, and I’m really scared, and yeah.”

The mayor blinked at Rui. “I think you need to explain that again, slowly, and more clearly… much more clearly…”

“Well, then. So basically, you saw a scary Pokemon with a black aura? And it attacked people, and some shady characters kidnapped you because you could see it. If that is true, it would be scary. But I do admit I find it hard to believe at face value…"

“But it’s true! MISTER MAYOR! It’s the truth!!” protested Rui rather loudly.

“No, no, I didn’t say I DON’T believe you.” said the mayor hastily. “I’m just saying that it is quite the story… anyway. I will investigate this…”

“Pttf. Why would we waste our time kidnapping some nobody? No, our beef is with Wes.”

“Umbre…” (Mmm… beef).

“Enough talk! We’ll take it by force!” shouted the first Team Snagem member. He sent out a Corphish and a Koffing.

Wes smirked. “Espeon! Use confusion on Koffing!”

“Espi!” (This is going to be fun!)

As Espeon applied his psychic powers on the Koffing, it began shivering violently.

“Koffing!” (What’s he doing to me?!?)

All at once, the Koffing started expanding.

“What the…” wondered the Snagem member. Just then, the Koffing exploded. Corphish fainted from the shock, and the Team Snagem members were sent flying several metres down a stairway.

“What do you know, Wes. You’re from Team Snagem.” said Rui. “That’s ok.”

“It is?” replied Wes.

“NO! WHY DIDN”T YOU TELL ME?” shouted Rui.

“Esp…” (Oh dear)

“HOW COULD YOU HAVE BEEN A SNAGGER?!? DIDN’T YOU STOP TO THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU WERE DOING TO THOSE POKEMON?”

“That’s why I quit! Well, partly, anyway. Besides I can’t be all that bad - I did rescue you…” countered Wes.

“Well… I’ll give you that,” admitted Rui, who began pacing back and forth, “But still… for all I know, you could be stealing Pokemon for yourself!”

“Come on, Rui. Give me a chance. I’ve changed my ways, and all I want is a fresh sta... WATCH OUT RUI!”

However it was too late - Rui, while interrogating Wes, didn’t notice that she walked close to the flight of stairs nearby.

Too close.

Wes, Espeon and Umbreon observed Rui bounce down stair after stair until she came to a stop at the bottom.

“Umbre…” (Ouch)

Wes ran down to her. Rui groaned and looked to Wes.

“I’m...all right.”

Wes breathed a sigh of relief.

“By the way? It’s ok, Wes.”

“Huh?”

“It doesn’t matter to me who you are. After all, you’re my gallant price who rescued me…”

“Ok…” She probably changed her mind after taking a bump down the stairs thought Wes. “Let’s go rest at the Pokemon Centre.”

As Wes and Rui walked off, Umbreon gave Espeon a glance.

“Umbreon?” (You didn’t have anything to do with Rui’s sudden acceptance about Wes’s past, did you?)

“Espi…” (Well…)

“All your Pokemon are healed to perfect health. And your friend, besides a few bruises, is going to be all right.”

“Thanks, Nurse Joy.” acknowledged Wes. He was a bit bewildered about being in a Pokemon Centre again. He hadn’t entered one for years, and he couldn’t help but wonder why everything was so strange.
What with each ‘Nurse Joy’ looking exactly like the other, and one popping up every minute to spoil Espeon and Umbreon non-stop. Not that they minded much…

And then there were the people who seemed to live inside the centre. There was an old man that earnestly kept telling Wes that he could use the PC for storing his Pokemon.
And then there was a girl who asked every person whether they were Pokemon trainers or not. She even asked a bemused Justy, who had entered the Pokemon Centre to pick up some Pokemon. It was obvious, though Wes, that the best trainer in town, picking up Pokemon, WAS a Pokemon trainer.
There was also a kid, who seemed obsessed with the 3-D map of Phenac City.

And those people who did kidnap you… well, they didn’t look like Team Snagem. For one, they weren’t wear the generic ‘I’m-from-Team-Snagem!’ uniform.”

“No Pokéballs?” repeated an anguished Rui.

“Sorry, but we haven’t had any in the last few years - there’s been no need for them.” answered a young shop assistant.

“Well, where can we get some?”

“Umm, try Silph Co. It’s only in Kanto.” offered the inexperienced and dumb assistant. At this, the assistant received a slap to the face, as Rui marched out.

“Well, what can I do for you today?”

“Well, sir… we heard you may have some Pokéballs…”

“Pokéballs? There’s been no call for these things around these parts for ages… where’d I put them?” he mumbled as he walked off to look in the storage. He immediately came back with a whole box full of them.

“Here they are! They are a bit dusty, but they should work fine.” Kirk blew the dust off into Wes and Rui faces, causing a mass coughing fit.

“Umm...sorry. I’ll give you some for free for that. How about 5?” offered an apologetic Kirk.

Something interesting was happening - she could tell. She had the same feeling she had now before. The last time that happened, it turned out Jed’s overcooked apple pie HAD been the source of the burning smell that had caused a mass evacuation of Phenac city.

Suddenly, the lady saw a strange shadow upon the ground; bringing her back to the present. It looked like a large circular object… with a head attached to it.

Shakily, she turned around, to face… IT.
The ‘IT’ in question gave a dazzling smile.

“Hello madam! Is this the mayor’s house?” ‘IT’ asked.

Unfortunately, it received no answer - the old lady had fainted in shock.

“Umm… Sorry?”

But the strangest oddity was in the centre of the room. A tall man was dancing to very loud salsa music. The man was in bright yellow, had odd glasses, and looked like a relic from the 60’s.

The man’s height was increased due to the large orb-like thing on his head. Wes first took it to be a Voltorb - but quickly realised that it was actually an afro. One side was dyed red, the other half white - rather like a Pokeball.

“Espeon!” (All right, who the HELL is this!).

“Correct. And, well, I don’t like saying this, but we’re not at liberty to keep you lady friend at liberty.”

Rui frowned at both the meaning implied behind the sentence, and the poor wording of the sentence.

“Boys! Oh Boys! I shall return to Pyrite town. Remember, I will wait for you with the little lady, and Wes as well. Am I making myself clear? I won’t accept failure from you two…”

Folly and Trudly gulped. Maybe it was strange that a man with a giant Pokeball-themed afro and a snazzy bright yellow outfit with matching shoes was threatening them, but it worked to perfection.

Suddenly Miror B’s attitude changes - from threatening, to friendly and happy.

“Good!” He then struck a dance pose that made all in the room cringe. “Let the music play! Let’s get it on!”

At this, Trudly went back to the previous salsa song. With that, Miror B ducked down and danced out, so that his afro could fit through the door. The three coloured men glared at Wes, before following Miror B outside as well. Slowly the music faded away.

As the old woman outside regained consciousness, she caught sight of Miror B walking out of the mayor's house. Once again she fainted from sheer shock.

Wes gave a questioning look to Folly and Trudly.

“What…who was that, exactly?”

Folly smirked. “Why, none other than Miror B, an Administrator of none other than the Team Cipher!”

Wes grinned. Then Folly realised that he just revealed classified information.

“Damn it! You, you, you! You caught me off guard…”

“…again…” added a frustrated Trudly.

“… but that won’t happen again! Go! Whismur and Lotad!

“Umbreon! Attack Lotad with Bite!” commanded Wes.

“Lotad!” (Arrgh! Hey, what gives?)

“Umbre!” (Hey, it’s like a Frisbee!) Umbreon proceed to toss the Lotad through the air to Espeon. Espeon used his physic powers to make the Lotad spin in circles through the air. Suddenly, the Lotad hit the Whismur directly in the face, knocking both out.

“Okay, Spinark! Attack with Spider Web!”

“Spinark!” (Web power for the win!) exclaimed Spinark, before it firing a large clump of web at Espeon.

“Watch out!” cried Rui. Wes brought himself back to the present - to see Makuhita attack him with Arm Thrust. All Wes could do was tense himself and cover himself to lessen the impact. Nevertheless, he was still sent flying towards a wall. Wes remembered that Shadow Pokemon didn’t mind attacking trainers.

Fortunately, his crash was softened considerably - unfortunately for Rui.

“Umm, thanks Rui…”

“Gfttham frmhth nefhte!”

“What was that?”

“I said get off me!”

Wes jumped off (the slightly squashed) Rui.

“Makuhita! Use Arm Thrust!”

Makuhita primed its other arm to attack Umbreon.

“Espeon! Confusion!”

At this, Makuhita stoped focusing on hitting Umbreon, and clutched its head. Then it started bashing its own head in.

“Hita! Hita! Hita!” (Die! Die! Die!)

“Espeon…” (He must have anger management problems or something…)

“Damn! It’s confused… stop that! You stupid Pokemon!” shouted Trudly. At that, Makuhita glared at Trudly, and punched him.

“Oww!’

To be continued…







…right now.

“Umm… well, there was this thing inside with a Voltorb - I mean hair, and some random people in colours, and then the two men that kidnapped me were there as well and a Shadow Pokemon….” began Rui.

Makuhita glanced at his surroundings, and realised that he no longer belonged to Trudly. Not that he cared - Trudly had been too dumb to know his left hand from his right. Stupid Trudly.

Makuhita collided headfirst with a bookshelf, distracting the Shadow Pokemon.

“Maku!” (Stupid books! You must suffer!) It then proceeded to tear the pages.

“And I can’t find any information on them anywhere… very secretive. However, there is some on Miror B… - and his name is spelt M-I-R-O-R… odd. Maybe his parents couldn’t spell or something…”

Wes had found an article dated a few years ago featuring a large picture of the man with an enthusiastic Ludicolo. Accompanying the article was the headline “Weirdo Wins Dance Competition”.

“You can use that P.C., you know…” he began.

“Oh not again,” moaned Wes. “Didn’t you see me just use it five minutes ago?”

“Did you know that you can save the game by using the P.C. as well?”

“Save… the…game?” repeated Wes blankly.

“Why yes! Better save often, otherwise you could lose your game data!” answered the veteran.

Right, he’s crazy decided Wes.

“Save the game.” prompted the man.

“Um… I have to go now…” said Wes, desperately searching for an escape route.

“Save the game NOW!” demanded the man, with a sudden menacing voice. His grip on Wes’s arm tightened.

“Umm, look! A distraction!” said Wes, pointing in a random direction.

“Where?” asked the man, turning to stare at… a wall. Meanwhile, Wes made a dash for the exit successfully, knocking over the “Are you a Trainer?” girl on his way out.

“Damn.” muttered the man to himself. “This always happens. I start to trail off, and then I get onto a totally unrelated subject, like when will I get a pay rise, or when will it rain. It’s an interesting dilemma for Orre as the annual rainfall for the last ten years has not risen past… well nothing, but nevertheless if the drought doesn’t end soon… damn, I’ve done it again…” he muttered to himself, realising that yet again he distracted himself.

“Hey! Stop there, and prepare to be… stopped!”

“Grimer!” (Everyone hates me, so I hate you!) it shouted at Wes and Rui.

“Ugh!” said Rui to the Grimer in surprise. She never had encountered the Poison type before, and wasn’t very charmed by the encounter.

“Grim…” (See what I mean?) it stated sadly, placing an arm on a small nearby plant that had denied the harsh desert conditions. The plant instantly withered and died.

“Grim!” (OH NO! Sorry plant sorry!) it cried.

“Spoink!” (Bouncing is fun!)

“Croconaw!” (You shall die!)

“Umbreon!” (Bacon!) it cried upon seeing the pig-like Pokemon. Before Wes could issue a command, it had already launched a Bite attack.

“Oh no! You snagged by Croconaw - my Pokemon which had been a team-mate ever since I got it. Which wasn’t very long but anyway… damn you!” shouted Bluno.

“Get ‘em, Grimer!” he commanded.

However Grimer was too distressed over the dead plant to attack. Wes nodded and got to leave.

“When’s dinner?” asked Rui.

“Later.” answered the bus driver.

“What’s your name?” persisted Rui.

“Umm…” began the bus driver, trying to remember.

“You’re boring.” announced Rui, and with a grin, hopped off the bus.

Rui broke into a run - maybe if she could reach the bus, she’d be safe -

It was then that she ran headfirst into a lamppost.

“Boss? We seem to have caught a girl who recognized our Shadow … whoops, wrong number, damn.” he said, hurriedly hanging up on a confused pizza delivery service man.

The town could only boast of having the worst waste management system, one PokeMart that smelled like cheese, a shabby Colosseum and a few low-profile houses.


This is some fun stuff. Do put me on the PM list. :)
 

bobandbill

Winning Smile
Staff member
Super Mod
It seems inevitable, or at least very likely, that a fic containing Miror B. will attract my attention sooner or later. :D I love the way Miror B. is portrayed, being referred to as "IT" the first time he appears and making old ladies faint with his terrifying hair. XD

Another character whose depiction I'm enjoying is Rui. Hers has been a very funny presence from the moment she was let out of that bag onward. XD

Oh, and I liked how the background music is actually provided by people in the various locations from the game. :D I'm also liking the explanations for other things, such as why Rui seeemd to accept Wes's former involvement with Snagem so readily. XP

This is some fun stuff. Do put me on the PM list.
Yay one more reviewer! And it's Sike Saner - you're pretty big on here, right? I'm glad you liked the chapter. And you're the first to be on the PM list... come on you guys! ;) Will save you the time of constantly checking here for the next chapter...

Update on the next chapter... well, as usual, it shall take some time. I've haven't the time right at the moment to work on it, but never fear, it shall come! Meanwhile, I recommand you listern to Miror B's music while you wait ;)
 
LOL this is the single most funny fanfic i've ever read! infact it's pretty much the reason i signed up to the forums hear.

p.s do u mind if i link this to mah site?
 
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Imperator_Venit

Well-Known Member
This is by far the best fanfic I have ever read! Just the fact that it is based on the stroyline of Colosseum, makes this fanfic a hit in my books, but because of the way you have written it (i.e. Espeon and Umbreon's comments) , I believe it can't get any better. Keep up the good work!

Oh and can you PM me when you have finished the next chapter?
 

Psyblade

Inspiration Seeker.
I so forgot to post here, I've been reading this since chappy two, and wanted to post about the location of getting pokemon music and stuff...

*scratches head trying to remember what was going to say*

Ya, this was a real fun fiction to read, I also loved the pokemon's comments.

sorry if I am not giving constructive critisizm, but I'll log in later and work on it better, untill I do *pulls out a stamp and smashes it on the moniter*
I have this bookmarked, cya ^_^
 

bobandbill

Winning Smile
Staff member
Super Mod
Sorry, but the next chapter will be a while longer coming. I've not had much time to type, and I've haven't had the easiest of tasks in linking scenes together. I will try to make sure it gets done sooner rather than later, but currently study is taking up my time. And then will be the tests, and the homework, and the more important tests... oh well.
Anyway, seems I've had more reviews.

Well... thanks for that. I'd like to thank my parents, God... ;) Pity I can't put it anywhere besides the computer...

This is by far the best fanfic I have ever read! Just the fact that it is based on the stroyline of Colosseum, makes this fanfic a hit in my books, but because of the way you have written it (i.e. Espeon and Umbreon's comments) , I believe it can't get any better. Keep up the good work!

Oh and can you PM me when you have finished the next chapter?
But I want to get better at writing! I can't be writing at my best ability now! ;)
Anyway, glad you liked it - and I shall PM you when the next chapter is up :)

I so forgot to post here, I've been reading this since chappy two, and wanted to post about the location of getting pokemon music and stuff...

*scratches head trying to remember what was going to say*

Ya, this was a real fun fiction to read, I also loved the pokemon's comments.

sorry if I am not giving constructive critisizm, but I'll log in later and work on it better, untill I do *pulls out a stamp and smashes it on the moniter*
I have this bookmarked, cya ^_^

Welcome Psyblade - I look forward to that constructive critisizm.

Don't forget - if you want an event in the game 'explained', just ask away.

Oh, and I may be getting a new banner soon, which'll (hopefully) look better than this crappy one I've did in Paint...
 

UltaFlame

I'm weird accept it
in then the end the psychic person always says this one message that I never quite understood...

I don't exactly remember it, and my friend is borrowing my Collosseum game... but I'd like that prediction explained.

after you beat the game, even when I got Ho-Oh, she said the same message over, and over. it confused me.
 

Psyblade

Inspiration Seeker.
Welcome Psyblade - I look forward to that constructive critisizm.

Don't forget - if you want an event in the game 'explained', just ask away.

Oh, and I may be getting a new banner soon, which'll (hopefully) look better than this crappy one I've did in Paint...

Well, I do have a question (it would perhaps be explained easily, but heck.)
In Ein's lab, why were there DNA's of pokemon that were not shadow-fied?
how the heck did they get Enti's DNA? Why does Miror B love to have a pokeball afro? (lol)
How to shadow pokemon feel about attacking people?
What does Celebi gain from purifying shadow pokemon?
why does the stone emit green light when a pokemon near purifying comes near?

Edit, Well, I dont think that the banner sucks at all, infact, it was the thing that drawn me into the fic...it is pretty good actually, banners are not about colors and ribbons, it is about the meaning of the story.

;282;: *yawns*
 
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Sammi

Banned
As promised, I'd read and review your ficcy But just the last chapter, since I see the others have been reviewed lots, already.

“Umm… well, there was this thing inside with a Voltorb - I mean hair, and some random people in colours, and then the two men that kidnapped me were there as well and a Shadow Pokemon….” began Rui.
I loved how you'd describe Miror B. so oddly. The descriptions of him before were also humorous, and I admittedly enjoyed it.
Makuhita charged at him. However, the short fat mayor nimbly dodged Makuhita’s attack, with unusual grace for one of his size and shape.
I'm not sre if I'm correct or not, but shouldn't the bolded be "short and fat" or "short, fat"? Also, how you hinted at the Mayor being... What's his name again? It's been so long since I've played Colosseum. I feel ashamed.
“Maku!” (Stupid books! You must suffer!) It then proceeded to tear the pages. Wes shakily grabbed the Pokeball off Rui, and directed it at Makuhita.
xDDDSuch insanity...
After a delayed lunch, Wes and Rui headed to the Pokemon centre.
Hmm, my games call it a Pokemon Center. Centre, I think, means center in French.
“And I can’t find any information on them anywhere… very secretive. However, there is some on Miror B… - and his name is spelt M-I-R-O-R… odd. Maybe his parents couldn’t spell or something…
I've always thought of his name odd that way, as well. Maybe make a part where Miror B gets his name explained, thoroughly, and not just a little assumption?
“Maybe they knew that if news about Shadow Pokemon got leaked, then Team Snagem would come after them. So they got desperate, and went for desperate measures. And between you and me, Folly and Trudly ain’t that bright…
You are missing the last quotation...
“Did you know that you can save the game by using the P.C. as well?”
x3 Me likes the fic a lot. The humour is sorta random but nonetheless funny.
“Damn.” muttered the man to himself. “This always happens. I start to trail off, and then I get onto a totally unrelated subject, like when will I get a pay rise, or when will it rain. It’s an interesting dilemma for Orre as the annual rainfall for the last ten years has not risen past… well nothing, but nevertheless if the drought doesn’t end soon… damn, I’ve done it again…” he muttered to himself, realising that yet again he distracted himself. He quickly ran up to Wes and Rui, who were already by the Zoomer.
Poor Bluno. xD
“Espi-Espeon…” (Is it just me, or is it odd that a Grimer cares for the environment?)
Even Espeon and Umbreon are amusing. D:
10 metres.

“I can’t watch…” muttered Rui.

5 metres.

2 metres.

2 ½ metres.

“Espeon?” (What the…?”) - however Croconaw’s random and inexplicit gravity-defying act lasted only a moment as he fell back down even faster.

2 metres.

1 metre.
I think it's better if you use words intead of just numbers for fiction descriptions, but that's just my opinion.

And that's all. Slap my little name onto your PM list, please. x3
 

bobandbill

Winning Smile
Staff member
Super Mod
Chapter Up!

in then the end the psychic person always says this one message that I never quite understood...

I don't exactly remember it, and my friend is borrowing my Collosseum game... but I'd like that prediction explained.

after you beat the game, even when I got Ho-Oh, she said the same message over, and over. it confused me.
I do not remember what she says either, but I shall investigate. I think however that she will say the same thing over and over again no matter whatever you do (e.g. purify all shadows, thus 'beating' the game), just like the other NPC's. It's a big problem Colosseum and XD suffer...

Well, I do have a question (it would perhaps be explained easily, but heck.)
In Ein's lab, why were there DNA's of pokemon that were not shadow-fied?
how the heck did they get Enti's DNA? Why does Miror B love to have a pokeball afro? (lol)
How to shadow pokemon feel about attacking people?
What does Celebi gain from purifying shadow pokemon?
why does the stone emit green light when a pokemon near purifying comes near?

Edit, Well, I dont think that the banner sucks at all, infact, it was the thing that drawn me into the fic...it is pretty good actually, banners are not about colors and ribbons, it is about the meaning of the story.

No, no, those questions are good and all. Even if they are obvious, ask away - I may forget some.

What do you think of my 'new' banner now though? It's been made by Sammi, and I like it! Speaking of Sammi...

As promised, I'd read and review your ficcy But just the last chapter, since I see the others have been reviewed lots, already.

I loved how you'd describe Miror B. so oddly. The descriptions of him before were also humorous, and I admittedly enjoyed it.

I'm not sre if I'm correct or not, but shouldn't the bolded be "short and fat" or "short, fat"? Also, how you hinted at the Mayor being... What's his name again? It's been so long since I've played Colosseum. I feel ashamed.

xDDDSuch insanity...

Hmm, my games call it a Pokemon Center. Centre, I think, means center in French.

I've always thought of his name odd that way, as well. Maybe make a part where Miror B gets his name explained, thoroughly, and not just a little assumption?

You are missing the last quotation...

x3 Me likes the fic a lot. The humour is sorta random but nonetheless funny.

Poor Bluno. xD

Even Espeon and Umbreon are amusing. D:

I think it's better if you use words intead of just numbers for fiction descriptions, but that's just my opinion.

And that's all. Slap my little name onto your PM list, please. x3


Thanks for reviewing as well as making a banner. I'm glad you liked it. Just for information, in Australia, it's spelt 'Centre' (according to teachers, experiance and Spell check), though I think Center is also used. The games use 'American English' - e.g. 'Mom', not 'Mum'.
I have already pre-planned Miror B's backstory (partly) - I shall get to him in due course (hopefull sooner rather than later). I shall edit the mistakes, and maybe the numbers soon-ish. After I get the new chapter up...now.
What's that - the chapter's up? Yes indeed, so here it is.



***

Chapter 5 – The Stench of Pyrite Town



Wes yawned as he woke up, groggily sitting up as his bed creaked nosily in response and stretching his arms out. Unknown to him, he had bumped an alarm clock off the desk besides him onto Umbreon who yelped and jumped a metre into the air as the clock rung obnoxiously loud.

“What’s wrong with you?” asked Wes sleepily. Umbreon glared at Wes.

“Hungry?” asked Wes. He rummaged through his bag and pulled out a can of food for his Pokémon he had picked up at the shops back in Phenac. “Here you are,” he offered, placing it by Umbreon.

“Um... Umbreon!” (Um… that’s not it, but good enough!) he said happily, as he deftly bit open the can and started eating. Meanwhile, Rui also sat up and rubbed her eyes as she looked at Wes from her bed on the other side of the room.

“Sleep well?” asked Wes.

“Sleep well?” she asked back with an eye roll. “What with you snoring and that bloke next door talking in his sleep…”

“Umm… sorry…” Wes apologised. He scratched his head and tried to remember the last time someone commented on his sleeping behaviour. “But what do you mean someone was talking in their sleep?”

“Uh huh. Something about a Zigzagoon using Tackle… but I took care of him,” grinned Rui.

“Espeon!” (You bet she did! Poor guy…) yawned Espeon, waking up and slowly stretching out his legs. Seeing Umbreon eating, he used his psychic powers to get a can of Poke food from Wes’ bag to float to him. He neatly separated lid from can, and discarded the lid in a nearby bin.

“Sure whatever, serve yourself…” mumbled Wes. He decided that he really didn’t want to know what Rui did to the sleep talker next door for the moment. He was simply too tired at the moment to worry about that.

“What’s the time?” he asked Rui.

”Well, it’s…” Rui began, consulting her watch, “almost eleven o’clock,” she answered mildly.

Wes sat upright. “Eleven o’clock?”

“Uh huh. Guess yesterday’s… occurrences really took it out of us.”

“Fair enough. Man, I’m hungry…” muttered Wes, watching Espeon and Umbreon chow down their food. “I guess Makuhita and Croconaw are also hungry. What say you give them a formal welcome, Espeon and Umbreon?”

“Umbreon…” (Fine… hope they’re not all crazy like before,) said Umbreon, as Wes took two Poké Balls off his belt and glanced at them for a short moment. He then directed them towards the ground, and pressed the button on the red-white colour split that decorated the spherical capsule. Multicoloured beams of light shot out of the Poké Balls, travelling in a jagged line towards the ground, illuminating the room. Upon contact with the ground, the beams of light diverted into two separate 3D shapes. Almost instantly, Makuhita and Croconaw emerged from the kaleidoscope of coloured illuminations that had materialised on the floor.

“Esp?” (Why does he always try to make that process exceedingly spectacular?)

Wes ignored this comment and observed the two Shadow Pokémon. He was still uneasy about them, especially as Makuhita had attacked him before he was snagged. Then again, Makuhita didn’t seem that aggressive against him right now. Perhaps attacking trainers was a concept that Shadow Pokémon didn’t disrespect in their altered state. Wes shuddered. Just how did Snagem make Shadow Pokémon anyway? And where?

Meanwhile, Makuhita glared around at his surroundings. Upon seeing Croconaw, it gave a low grow. The blue wide crocodile stared coldly down at the stouter Makuhita in response.

“Strange…” muttered Rui.

“What is?” asked Wes.

“Makuhita’s aura seems slightly smaller than before… or maybe I’m just imagining it.”

“Maku! Hita Hita!” (How dare you glare at me! I am far stronger than you!) shouted Makuhita loudly, waving his arms in the air menacingly.

“Croc-naw,” (I have no interest in what you say,) sniffed Croconaw disdainfully.

“His aura is smaller? Maybe… I guess we’ll have to wait and see, but one never knows…” Wes trailed off uncertainly.

“What do you think… could they become… normal again?” asked Rui.

“Maku!” (You’re just jealous of my strength!)

“Croc? Croconaw?” (What’s there to be jealous of? Your stupid squinty eyes, or your exceedingly large mass?)

“MAKU!” (That’s IT!) cried Makuhita, launching himself at Croconaw. Croconaw deftly dodged the attack, but Makuhita anticipated this and quickly changed direction, charging at Croconaw. Just before a full-on brawl ensured, both Pokémon found themselves frozen on the spot.

“Espeon…” (Behave, you two,) warned Espeon sternly.

“Maybe… but it’s probably too early to tell. However there’s the fact that you can discern Shadow Pokémon from normal ones, which means the shadow process is imperfect. And who’s to say that the shadow process is permanent?” said an oblivious Wes.

“I hope that’s the case,” replied an equally ignorant Rui, not noticing the scuffle between Wes’s new Shadow Pokémon.

“Maku!” (Stupid Espeon! Can’t you let me finish him?) Makuhita said. He tried to shake his fist at the Psychic type.

“Croc…” (Quiet, you annoying incompetent thing,) Croconaw said with a sniff.

“Umbreon, Umbreon?” (Why can’t we be friends, why can’t we be friends…?) the Dark type tried to reason. The off-key singing from the Pokémon did attract Wes’ attention again, who knelt down and turned to them.

“Hello, you two. As you may have guessed, I’m your new trainer. This is Espeon and Umbreon,” he said, nodding to Espeon and Umbreon. He tried a smile, but it fell slightly when Makuhita responded by giving Espeon a death stare, and Croconaw folded his arms and looked the other way. Espeon gave Wes a look of mild amusement.

“Umb...Umbreon!” (Oh calm down... you’re all acting like new born Bonsly!)

“Croc!” (You can talk, Mr. Moan-a-lot!) retorted Croconaw. Umbreon growled in response.

Wes sensed something was not right. He knew his own Pokémon well enough to get the gist of what they were saying - Espeon in particular was quite the translator being a Psychic Pokémon. And although he was unfamiliar with Makuhita and Croconaw, he knew that his new Pokémon wouldn’t be winning the Nobel Prize for Peace anytime soon.

“I guess I’ll have to resort to the language of all Pokémon then,” he said, grabbing his bag. “Hungry?” he asked Makuhita and Croconaw, as he pulled out another couple of cans of food. Immediately the tension in the air evaporated, as Croconaw and Makuhita promptly forgot about their argument.

“Maku? Hita hit!” (Food? Stupid Trudly never fed me!) Makuhita exclaimed, grabbing the can and squeezing it until the lid popped off. “Makuhita,” (And he wondered why I kept punching him,) he added.

“Croc Naw!” (Finally somebody’s talking sense here!)

Wes smiled. He knew just how to solve a quarrel between Pokémon. He turned to Rui as Makuhita and Croconaw quickly finished their meals.

“How about we go for a late breakfast?” he asked.

“I was waiting for you to say that,” said Rui. “Although wouldn’t it be an early lunch?”

“No, I still say it’s called breakfast,” claimed Wes, recalling his Shadow Pokémon into his Poké Balls, not quite trusting them to walk the streets of Pyrite without causing mayhem. After all, they were Shadow Pokémon, and he didn’t want the goons from Cipher to see either of them in his possession.

“What’s wrong with calling it lunch? It’s late enough as it is,” queried Rui, as they left the abandoned hotel.

“What about… ‘brunch’?” offered Wes.

“‘Brunch’? That doesn’t sound appealing at all!”

***

Yet again, Pyrite town presented problems to Wes and Rui. Wes resorted to using his Pokémon to help search for a place to eat. They had split up with Rui and Espeon one way, and Wes and Umbreon the other way. They met up outside a closed Poké Mart with a sign on the door proclaiming that the owner had ‘Gone Fishing’ - where the owner would fish in the desert Wes had no idea. It didn’t seem that he would be back yet at any rate.

“Any luck?” asked Wes.

“No,” replied Rui. Wes noted that Rui was strangely distracted by a tall nearby lamppost randomly placed in the middle of town.

“What’s up with this place?” grumbled Wes. “No restaurants, no fast food takeaways - heck, there’s not even a shoddy kebab stand in sight!”

“Let’s ask,” decided Rui, walking towards a bystander with his hands in his pockets. “Excuse me…” she began.

“ARRGH! Get away from me!” the man shouted, running several paces away from the girl. “You’re trying to hit me up for money, aren’t you?” he accused.

“Umm… no, I just want to know…” continued Rui, slightly frightened by this outburst herself.

“Well I’m NOT giving anyone any more money!” declared the man, running off. Rui blinked.

Just then, the old woman that had chased them the night previous opened her door to her house, shouted “Stop trying to sell me money!” and slammed the door shut.

“This town is… weird,” exclaimed Rui.

“Espeon,” (This region is weird,) Espeon corrected.

“It seems most people here are on edge. I don’t particularly blame them - judging the mess this town is in - and the police service…” Wes said, referring to Johnson. “Is there anyone who is in charge here?” he wondered.

“Hey! I found a place!” declared Rui, reading a sign by a house near the town’s entrance. Wes went up to the notice which stated in large print:


PYRITE’S MOTHER’S FORTUNE TELLING
Have your future told - if you dare…

Special deal - free meal* with first reading
*meal may be of questionable quality and variable quantity


Wes scrutinised the sign. Frankly he did not go into the mysteries of the future all that much - especially after Espeon had once told him he would have been a good violinist. How very wrong was he. He also didn’t like the sound of the disclaimer at the bottom of the sign, but a meal was a meal.

“Espeon…” (I HAD told him ‘guitarist’, not ‘violinist’, but how he misunderstood me…) moaned Espeon, reading Wes’s thoughts, but commenting to no one in particular.

Rui was much more positive about the find, taken in by the mysterious dark interior of the house she could see through the windows.

“Doesn’t this look great? A meal and entertainment!” exclaimed Rui excitedly.

“Umm, yeah, sure - seems, um, ok…” muttered Wes, unable to cover up his lack of enthusiasm. Rui ignored this as she entered the house.

“GADZOOKS! Who dare enters this place?” demanded an elderly lady, clad in a brown cloak and overly-large glasses.

“Great, another weirdo…” muttered Wes. The woman noticed Wes, and stared at him, before letting loose a few profound metaphors.

“To find what you seek, you must first stop looking,” she declared.

“Uh-huh…” said Wes, unconvinced. “What about an Itemfinder?” challenged Wes.

“Umm… And to be truly strong, one must be truly weak!” stated the woman, avoiding Wes’s question.

“Uh-huh. Sure…” said Wes, with a look of disbelief on his face. Personally, he thought, to be strong, it takes a lot of training and perseverance. Or have a really powerful Pokémon. That also works.

“Night is day, and gravity pulls things up,” continued the prophetic woman.

“What?” retorted Wes.

“Shh, Wes, she’s a clairvoyant - she knows what she’s saying,” whispered Rui. “We’re here for the special deal…” she said, more loudly to the woman.

“Indeed. Welcome to my humble house. Please, sit down and eat.” The woman nodded to two chairs, which Wes strangely did not remember seeing before. He shrugged off that fact and sat down and devoured the offered meal of eggs and bacon, followed by a few croissants. The food was sufficient enough for both the hungry teens.

“Yes, you see, one seems to get more customers in this town if you offer food…” said the woman. “And one gets a more accurate reading if the customer is satisfied.”

“Sounds about right,” agreed Rui, feeling better already.

“Hmm… do any of you have any psychic Pokémon?” queried the woman.

“Espeon!” (That’s me!) exclaimed Espeon, who trotted forward and jumped elegantly onto the table with an air of superiority. Umbreon merely glared.

“Aha! I knew I felt some other presence here…” mumbled the woman, holding her forehead dramatically. “Now before we begin…” the woman coughed and made the ‘give-me-money’ hand sign.

At least she has her priorities set straight, reflected Wes, slightly amused as he paid the wrinkled hag, who scrutinised the amount given to her. Satisfied, she promptly pulled a crystal ball out of nowhere and set it on the table.

“Is that a giant pearl?” asked Rui, amazed at the size of the colossal shiny object.

“Yes. It was found nearby here with a deceased Spoink - works better that way,” stated the woman mildly. “Now, both of you, hands on the pearl. Do you mind if I, ahem, use your Espeon for this? Only one gets a better reading with one’s psychic Pokémon helping and all.”

Wes shrugged - he didn’t particularly mind. He and Rui placed their hands on the smooth cold pearl.

“Through the power of the great Mew, I utter the words of great magical power: Abra, Kadabra, Alakazam!” cried the woman. Wes raised an eyebrow at the choice of words claimed to be words of ‘power’. Then he jumped - the pearl’s see-through surface was suddenly clouded with swirling shapes.

“Hmm…” muttered the woman. She suddenly gave a loud gasp.

“What is it?” asked Rui curiously.

“Umm… oh, you will meet a tall dark stranger,” said the seer weakly. “Umm… that is all… you may leave now.”

Outside, Wes and Rui looked at each other. “That was a waste of a ‘reading’, but at least we ate well!” declared Wes.

“I’m a bit disappointed with it,” agreed Rui, as they went into town to explore, and hopefully solve the trouble with Cipher.

Inside the diviner’s house however, the woman was still staring at the pearl, seemingly trying to recover the secrets it held.

“So, they stand a decent chance to clear up this nasty business in this town,” muttered the woman to the empty air. “So be it - and I do hope they succeed…”

***

Unaware of the fortune-teller’s knowledge of their quest, they walked on back through the town to their hotel rooms for a short rest. The hotel keeper was still absent.

“What shall we do now?” asked Rui. “Ask people about Team Cipher?

“Are you crazy? Nobody marches up to someone asking if they know anything about a criminal gang! What if they are part of Team Cipher? We might as well tie ourselves in a sack, paint it bright orange and go up to them shouting ‘Look at me! We have your Shadow Pokémon!’”

“All right, all right then!” interrupted Rui. “I get the picture. But how are going to find out about them?” she demanded.

“By being subtle and not arousing attention,” answered Wes. “We’ll just go sightseeing in the town-” Rui smirked at the thought that Pyrite had much to ‘sightsee’ “-for now, and see what we can pick up about Cipher the safe way. Listen to talk on the street, and lie low for the time being. Besides, I’ve worked with Team Snagem - I know how to do these things,” stated Wes.

“Fair enough - but what are we going to ‘sightsee’ today?” she said, raising an eyebrow.

“I guess we could have a look at the windmill and the Colosseum here. That should take up whatever is left of the day,” offered Wes.

“Ok then - lead the way, Wes,” commanded Rui jokingly. They walked out only for the two to be met by a shapely female teenager who eyed Wes approvingly.

“Look what we have here. You’re quite the hottie! Why not lose that wallflower with you and be my sweetie?” drawled the female. Wes with unease stepped back at this sudden approach, when Rui charged forward glaring at this newcomer.

“Wait a second! Who are you to call me a wallflower? What makes me a wallflower?” she demanded.

“Aha! She’s all serious! Uncool! I’m only teasing out of boredom. A guy like him - not my taste,” mocked the teen.

Hey, not your taste? Wes thought impulsively.

“Gah! What is it with you? He’s my… I mean Wes! Be a man - stomp her down!” shouted Rui.

“Stomp? Who, me?” retorted the newcomer. “Ahaha! That’s a laugh! I’ll go easy on you... Hang on, where’d he go?” asked the girl. Rui turned - there was no sign of Wes, who had evidently chosen this moment to leave the dispute. Frowning furiously, she turned around, abruptly kicked the girl in the leg and marched off through a Pokémon battle, ignoring the cries of protest from the trainers and Pokémon alike.

“Hey! What’s that for?” demanded the girl, but Rui was already well on her way to the windmill.

***

She perfectly intercepted Wes at the entrance of the windmill, both of them arriving at the same time.

“Why did you leave then?” asked Rui, grabbing Wes’ arm.

“Umm… well, you see…” began Wes, wondering if Rui would let go or kick him if he said something else had caught his interest. He had a feeling it would be the latter.

Luckily for Wes they were suddenly interrupted by some off-key singing emitted from the windmill. Wary of the slow-moving blades of the windmill, they entered.

“Thirty long years I’ve spun these gears! Thirty more years I’ll spin some more!” sung an aged grey-haired worker. His clothes were dirty and in tatters. Behind him a large arrangement of gears were spinning in an almost hypnotic fashion, the man controlling them with grubby hands.

“Umbre…Umbre…Umbre…” (Round and round and round…) muttered the Dark type Pokémon, moving his head in circles while trying to keep up with the speed of the gears.

The off-key singing worker then noticed the two newcomers and literally jumped at them in greeting.

"Hello! They call me the Chief around here! I monitor the gears here in the windmill!” boomed the employee.

“Erm, hello,” Rui said uncertainly.

“Come on, put some ‘oomph’ in that ‘hello’!” demanded the man. “And remember, it’s CHIEF!” He then turned to Wes, cutting off any protest from Rui. “Welcome to the windmill!” he repeated, and he offering his hand for a handshake. Almost instantly, he pulled the hand back giving Wes no time to move.

“Hahaha, TOO SLOW!” laughed the man heartily, as if that was the most original and funniest joke in the world. Wes and Rui exchanged glances, and Espeon tilted his head as he regarded the so-called Chief. He then glanced at Umbreon, who was still observing the moving gears.

“Espi Espeon?” (Don’t you pay attention to anything that happens?) scorned Espeon.

“Umbreon,” (Hey, simple minds are easily amused,) Umbreon said, before turning back to the gears. Espeon sighed and gave Umbreon a push. With a squeak of surprise, Umbreon found himself seated upon the gears and rotating at an incredible speed.

“Umbre!” (Arrgh! Getmeoffgetmeoffgetmeoff!) cried the Pokémon. Espeon merely laughed to himself and watched in amusement.

“Hey, are you interested in a job here?” asked the man suddenly.

“Not really,” admitted Wes.

“Chief,” added Rui hastily.

“Of course not! It takes a real expert to control these gears!” boasted the man, pointing at himself with an air of pride. “If you change your mind ‘bout having a career in gear spinning though, try for this job after twenty years of experience or so!” boomed the worker. To Wes’s and Rui’s dismay, he began to sing again.

“Thirty long years of cranking gears, thirty more years I’ll spin some more…”

Covering their ears, Wes and Rui walked out, with Espeon trotting behind.

“Umbre!” (Hey, don’t leave me!) cried Umbreon. Just then, the Chief increased the speed of the machinery. With a cry, Umbreon went flying off the gears, through the door, narrowly missed one of the blades of the windmill, and mercifully had his landing softened by an unknowing Espeon.

“Espi!” (Arrgh! Get off of me!) cried the startled Pokémon, as Umbreon staggered to his feet.

“Umbre-Umbreon!” (Well it’s your fault… ah, look at all the colours! Wee!) replied the dizzy Pokémon, stumbling into Espeon again. Wes heard the commotion, and seeing the two Pokémon, laughed.

"Oh dear, you two keep getting tangled up in something don’t you? Well, I’m not letting you cross the bridge in that state,” Wes told them, tilting his head in the direction of a shaky looking bridge of dubious quality. With that, he pulled out two Luxury Balls and returned Espeon and Umbreon to them, to the protests of both Pokémon.

“Where did you get those?” asked Rui in awe of the glittering Luxury balls. They were the image of comfort for Pokémon belonging to trainers – basically a better version of the Poké Ball - but these were rare for any part of the Pokémon region, let alone Orre.

“I got them a while after I got those two,” responded Wes. “I had to… well, I mean, it cost me a fortune,” he added quickly, catching himself; he wasn’t keen on getting lectured on things done in the past again. “Come on, let’s go see the Colosseum - with luck maybe we can catch some battles,” urged Wes, never one for waiting around too long.

***

The bridge was in fact rather stable, if only a bit wobbly. Wes strode confidently across it with Rui following, with a bit less poise.

“Scared?” asked Wes, smiling at Rui’s worried look.

“Well I wouldn’t be if I could at least see what’s underneath me!” confessed Rui, as she safely reached the other side. She was right - whatever was underneath the bridge was hidden in the pitch-black void. Wes peered down the crevasse in awe of the sheer depth of it.

“There’s a town down there,” said a person standing nearby, approaching the two curious travellers.

“A town?” repeated Rui doubtfully.

“No, no, I’m not crazy,” denied the man hurriedly, seeing Rui’s and Wes’s faces. “There really is a town down there - it’s called ‘The Under’.”

“Pretty bad name,” observed Wes.

“Makes sense though,” said Rui, risking a look down the crevasse.

“You see, Pyrite was an old mining town,” explained the man. “But that was years ago - now there’s nothing left down there. However some people decided to stay down there. What’s it like down there is anyone’s guess…” he muttered, before walking off.

“Do you think there is a town down there? Who would live there?” Rui asked Wes.

“Hobos,” Wes absentmindedly answered. After a moment of staring at the invisible crack in the ground, he raised his hands to his mouth and hollered ‘Echo!’. The sound bounced off the rocky walls, giving a ghostly feel as the word came back to them and faded into the darkness below.

Echo.

Echo.

Echo.

Then a new sound emerged from below.

Shut up…

Shut up…

Shut up…

“Guess he was right,” said Wes.

***

They next explored the town’s Colosseum. Inside the run-down building was a small reception area blocking off the entrance to the main battle arena. At least the floor was tiled, but the colour of them appeared to have faded away, and through the entry to the Colosseum Wes spied a run-down battle arena with patches missing from the roof of the building.

“Seems it’s closed for the day,” said Wes dejectedly.

This was confirmed a moment later as Wes overheard a conversation between a receptionist and a large towering man.

“So the next tournament will be on in three days, right?” asked the lady.

“I guess so. But I don’t like this business. What with all the rumours and all… Well, I’d better be going,” replied the muscular man with a grim frown plastered on his face.

“So will I. See you later, Duking.”

The man named Duking turned around and seeing Wes gave an even bigger frown before leaving. Wes returned the favour despite the man’s superior size. He would have matched Gonzap in stature, Wes mused. The lady left a moment later, leaving Wes and Rui alone save for a random bystander left in the reception area.

“Nothing here - I think we’ll go back for now,” offered Rui. Just then, the bystander approached them. The tall ungainly man stumbled over to them, a large grin upon his face.

“Ya knowy that big guy there? Yah, he’s Duking,” he slurred.

“Are you drunk?” asked Rui, as the smell of alcohol reached her.

“That’s a silly-hilly question. I never drinks da stuffs,” denied the man, before he staggered and crashed into a wall. “Okay, maybes a littles bits…” he confessed.

“Yeah, well, good for you,” replied Wes.

“Yar, Duking runs the colomesum thingy,” added the man.

“Really?” asked Wes. “That’s interesting… do you think I should try this tournament? After all, they did mention that something strange is going on…” he questioned Rui.

“I hope we don’t have to stay in this dump for so long,” replied Rui.

“Yar know, if you zoant to comply - I mean compel - I mean compliss… compete! That’s the word… anyways, you sees Duking, and he’ll makis it alls,” stuttered the drunk.

“Well, thank you,” said Wes politely.

“No problem-ey. Yes, Duking is da owner, and he had somnething to do with weighthifting as well. He could mift an entire Snorlax!” insisted the man.

“Somehow I doubt that… strong as he seems,” answered Rui.

“Well maybe a Pichu… I wish I could wins this… you know, the the the thingy…the…”

“What?” asked Wes, slightly annoyed now.

“Ah yes, the liage cash prize but espicallys the strongily Pokémon they gave you…” blabbed the man, still unable to form words properly. His face suddenly brightened up. “Do you livey in a house? I livey in a house.”

“Pokémon?” asked Rui, ignoring the man’s ramblings.

“Cash prize?” asked Wes.

“Oh yess, they gvve pokemans to winners recently. They was said to be straighter and butter... Cail won it last. Stupid Cail and his win-win Mc victories...”

“What?” asked Rui, confused.

“I think he meant ‘stronger and better’,” guessed Wes. “What about the money?” he added, before getting a poke from Rui.

“Oh, it’s three grand… or four grand, or something-and-rather.” Wes’s eyes light up. “’Coursa, the entry cost is five hundred smazzules…” added the man, to Wes’s dismay, who assumed ‘smazzules’ meant ‘money’.

“Well let’s go,” said Rui. “Cail is that guy by the town’s entrance, right? Let’s ask him about it.”

“Ok. Thanks, man,” said Wes as he bade the drunken man goodbye. “I doubt it could be a Shadow, but it might mean something big is going on…”

“Hey, I know who you are!” proclaimed the drunk. Wes froze. If he knew what he did to Team’s Snagem’s base then it’s bad news for me.

“…You’re what’s-his-face… I nows! Superman!” stated the drunk, still finding it hard to walk or talk straight.

“Okay…” said Wes relieved and annoyed at the same time. He and Rui continued on their way back to the entrance of the town to confront Cail.

“Bust gets meself hime,” said the man, before falling unconscious on the spot - alcohol had gotten the better of him. It was just as well, as in his past state he would have never been able to cross the bridge without falling.

***

“Hey look, the shop’s open now,” remarked Wes as they neared the Poke Mart on their way back to the hotel.

“Better go there later though,” commented Rui, noticing the long line of customers by the shop.

‘Hey, HEY! You two! Stop walking through the square!” shouted a bystander.

“Oh, sorry,” apologised Wes. He and Rui had walked right through the middle of a large painted circle were some Pokémon trainers were jeering at each other, occasionally having battles. Rui noticed that she had earlier walked through here as well after she had kicked that girl in the shin, and blushed slightly at the memory.

“Yes - sorry for that. I’ll try to pay more attention,” vowed Rui.

“Hey, come on now - that isn’t how you apologise here!” retorted the man. Seeing Wes’s and Rui’s faces, he continued, “Are you new here?”

Wes nodded. “Yes - we’ve come for - umm, for a short while. Just arrived yesterday…”

“Oh well. Well, this is what we call Pyrite Square - or Duel Square. Here is where the Pokémon battlers turn up. And if something happens that somebody doesn’t disagree with something - it’s resolved with a wager and a battle,” explained the man.

“And interrupting our battles by walking through the middle is one of those disagreeable things,” added another nearby person, none too friendly.

Wes grinned - he was familiar with the ways of street life, especially the ‘codes of law’, as they were commonly known as in such towns across various regions, especially in Orre. He hadn’t encountered it for a while, as he had been with Team Snagem until recently and so had avoided towns like Pyrite, but it came rushing back to him.

“What can I say?” Wes shrugged. “I’ll battle then - how much are the wagers here?”

“Oh, about three hundred - plus any extra from the crowd if they’re impressed,” answered the man with a grin.

“You’re on,” said Wes. When wagers and battle were concerned, he didn’t care about the price, especially as he ended up winning more often than not. Noticing that Rui was confused, he moved to reassure her. “Never mind - it’s just a battle,” he reassured. “Better just stay to the sides and watch - I’ll win soon enough. Then we’ll use the winnings for dinner,” he instructed confidently. Rui nodded and moved off as Wes walked into one half of the circle - the man into the other.

“My name’s Vant by the way. Yours?” asked his opponent, taking off a gray jacket.

“Wes.”

“Ok. I’ll even give you an advantage - three Pokémon for you, two for me, though you can only have two out at one time. Double battle. Agreed?” challenged Vant.

Wes grinned even more - clearly Vant was confident of a win. “All right then, your loss. Go, Umbreon and Espeon!” he cried, sending out his respective Pokémon.

“Nice Pokémon,” remarked Vant. “Go, Zigzagoon and Misdreavus!”

Zigzagoon, the ever-so-common normal type gave a small growl anticipating the battle. However, Wes surveyed the Misdreavus, which would normally be considered more of a threat. Ghost-types were generally tough fighters, and as a rule they were not to be underestimated. This particular Pokémon was made up of a levitating black and purple head and neck - the typical scary look ghost types had. It oddly enough also had a necklace around its neck, which twirled around the neck of the Pokémon.

“Zigza!” (We’ll beat you smelly Pokémon!)

“Es? Espeon, Es?” (Smelly? You’re original with your taunts, aren’t you?) ridiculed Espeon.

“Misdreavus.” (You have no chance of winning…) giggled the Misdreavus softly in a bone-chilling way.

“Umbre…” (Ok-ay then… you might be disappointed though,) retorted Umbreon.

“Zigzagoon, start off with a Tackle on Espeon!” declared Vant after the Pokémon had finished taunting each other. The small Pokémon charged forward at a quick speed towards Espeon, or as quickly as its short stubby legs would allow it at any rate.

“Block it, Umbreon!” countered Wes, without missing a beat. Umbreon intercepted Zigzagoon’s run with ease, and roughly bumped it back into the opposite direction. Wes decided to go quickly on the counter-attack, when suddenly he and Vant were interrupted by Rui.

“Wes - the Misdreavus - it’s… it’s… SHADOW!!!” cried Rui, to the dismay of the spectators who covered their ears in pain at the volume of Rui’s screech.

“Shadow? What?” asked Wes. Another Shadow Pokémon? What’s going on?

“Bugger - how did you know it was a Shadow?” asked Vant. “I was planning on giving him a surprise…Never mind - I’ll win anyway! Misdreavus, Shadow Ball on Espeon!”

The black and purple ghost type gave a hiss and gave a midair somersault, summoning a black sphere of energy. In a matter of seconds the black blob had grown to the size of the ghost Pokémon, spinning in front of Misdreavus. Suddenly it flew at an astonishing pace towards Espeon.

“Quick, dodge!” cried Wes, still distracted by the news that Misdreavus was a Shadow Pokémon. However Espeon was caught out by the attack before it could jump to safety and cried out in pain as the ball of dark energy engulfed him, before dissipating away.

“Misdreavus!” (Haha, direct hit! No chance!) Rui gave out another gasp.

“Wes, Misdreavus’s aura… it’s turned… red?” shouted Rui confused at this change.

Vant smiled. “Zigzagoon, use Tackle again!” he commanded.

“Umbreon - block it!” shouted Wes. Umbreon dived right in front of the smaller Pokémon and blocked it again.

“Now - Misdreavus - Shadow Rush!” yelled Vant. With a sense of despair, Wes realised that Zigzagoon’s attack was a trick - with Umbreon pulled in, Espeon was left exposed.

“Espeon, Confusion!” ordered Wes, hoping to make Misdreavus reel back in pain of the psychic attack. Espeon tilted his head and directed its psychic power at the charging Misdreavus, scoring a direct hit. Despite this however the Shadow Misdreavus continued and made direct contact with Espeon with its charge, knocking it out.

Wes was shocked. “But it was… Espeon damaged it…”

“Ah yes, but it was in Hyper state,” pointed out Vant. “You may not know it, but if a Shadow Pokémon enters that state, it gets stronger and doesn’t notice much, such as an attack. That’s why she went going, and as she was in Hyper State; its attack was more powerful. You’ve got a long way to go to beating me!” taunted Vant. “All in this instruction manual,” he added, waving a ‘How to Care for Your Shadow Pokémon’ pamphlet at them.

Wes frowned - he remembered now. Shadow Pokémon tended to do that sometimes. But Vant seemed to know too much about Shadow Pokémon, and the fact he had one was frankly suspicious. Team Snagem people knew about such technicalities, but the general public should – by all rights – know only that Shadow Pokémon existed. Wes decided to venture the dangerous option.

“Do you work for Cipher?” Wes asked. The crowd began jeering, bored by the conversation and eager instead to watch a battle.

“Cipher? Who are they? No, my Shadow Pokémon was a prize. Since I won the Colosseum challenge and all,” explained Vant.

“Wait, hang on a second… the Pokémon prize you get… is a Shadow Pokémon?” asked Wes.

“Oh sure. Most of us have one now though,” claimed Vant. Many of the bystanders nodded their agreement. Rui looked shocked at this new development. “But hey - stop talking, and get on with it!” urged Vant.

“Um… sure,” answered Wes. So Team Cipher has multiple Shadow Pokémon… and they give them away to strong trainers? Something’s wrong… very wrong… Wes thought, before shaking his head. Snap out of it… I need to win this and get that Misdreavus… who should I use? Makuhita may hurt someone in his rage. Like myself. And I don’t want that…and the Croconaw isn’t much better but at least it wasn’t trying to punch the first thing it saw.

"Go, Croconaw!” he commanded. He threw the Poké Ball out onto the field, and Croconaw emerged, giving a rough growl and kicking up dirt.

“Croc!” (A Zigzagoon? Pfft!) stated Croconaw, glaring arrogantly at the opposition.

“Okay, Croconaw… try a Water Gun!” ventured Wes.

Croconaw stared at Wes blankly.

“Umbre…” (Oh dear - you can’t do that?)

“Cro! Croconaw! Naw!” (Quiet! I cannot remember such a move! Your trainer’s probably crazy!) Croconaw yelled as it made a rude gesture at Umbreon.

“Umbreon!” (Don’t you DARE insult Wes!)

“Calm down, you two! You don’t know Water Gun?” asked Wes. Croconaw shrugged as he dodged an attack from Zigzagoon and managed to swipe it with its claws.

“Okay then, follow up with another Scratch!” urged Wes. Croconaw gave the same blank look.

“But you…” began Wes, glancing at his P*DA to see Croconaw’s attacks. The gadget quickly scanned Croconaw with a red ray, and returned the results of the analysis as Croconaw blinked in annoyance. “Hey - only one attack? Oh well… Croconaw, Shadow Rush on the Misdreavus, Umbreon, Bite on Zigzagoon!”

“Dodge it, Zigzagoon!” cried Vant, but Umbreon’s attack was too quick as he bit Zigzagoon in the leg and tossed him away into a wall. Meanwhile, Croconaw lumbered forward and charged right at Misdreavus. His target gave a ghostly laugh and disappeared, reappearing behind Croconaw before it used a Shadow Rush of its own. Laughing, it gave a wicked grin as Croconaw fell down from the impact.

“You have a Shadow Pokémon too?” asked Vant, confused. “Never mind - it’s doesn’t seem to know anything but Shadow Rush, so it’s no match for my one! Misdreavus, finish it!” instructed Vant. Misdreavus gave another ghostly laugh as it fired up another pulsing Shadow Ball.

“Umbre!” (Get up, Croconaw!) cried Umbreon. Noticing that Croconaw was too limp to move, he shook his head and decided to take matters in his own hands. He charged at the Zigzagoon head on.

Wes realised what was going on. “Ok then. Croconaw! Jump up and get near Zigzagoon!” he urged desperately.

At Wes’s order, Croconaw struggled and jumped a short distance into the air and landed clumsily on his feet, lumbering towards Zigzagoon unsteadily. The movement distracted Misdreavus, and delayed its attack as it turned directly towards Croconaw. Meanwhile the hurt Zigzagoon tried its best to limp away from Umbreon, but Umbreon anticipated the Pokémon’s weak effort and picked it up between his teeth like a rag doll. It then in one movement sprang in front of Croconaw.

“Croc…” (You’re risking yourself to protect me?) asked Croconaw in surprise, stopping short.

Umbreon gave a muffled response, due to Zigzagoon’s leg being in his mouth, but Croconaw got the gist of the reply. Croconaw nodded his head and assumed a battle pose.

Vant nodded his head in acknowledgement of the move. “Nice idea. Misdreavus, hold back the attack!”

But Misdreavus was too enraged as it fired the ball of energy. It struck Zigzagoon directly, narrowly missing Umbreon. The raccoon Pokémon gave a small weak yelp of pain - normal types could survive ghost-typed attacks, but from such close range from an angry Shadow Pokémon, it didn’t stand a chance. Misdreavus gave a look which might be interpreted as a twinge of regret, but it quickly vanished as it glared angrily at Umbreon and Croconaw.

“Zigza…” (But why…) it moaned, before fainting. Vant shakily returned it to its Poké Ball.

“Wes… now Croconaw’s aura turned red!” said Rui warningly.

“Must be in hyper state then…” muttered Wes, making the link. “Umbreon! Croconaw? Ready to win?”

“Umbreon!” (Oh yes - this’ll be revenge for hurting Espeon!)

“Croc Naw!” (Gonna smash that ghost!)

“Good - Croconaw - Shadow Rush!” instructed Wes. Misdreavus laughed, and merely relied on its previous tactic of disappearing once the Croconaw got close. It soon emerged behind it as Croconaw snorted angrily and turned around.

“Now, Umbreon!” shouted Wes. Misdreavus felt the teeth of Umbreon in the back of its neck and shrieked in pain. He held on for a few seconds, before letting go, just a split second before Croconaw clashed with Misdreavus head on with a Shadow Rush attack from the opposite direction. The Ghost Pokémon gave another cry of pain as it fell to the crowd limply, losing its levitating ability. It was still in the battle, but only just as it struggled to rise from the ground.

“I think that’s enough…” began Vant conceding defeat, but stopped mid-sentence as he noticed what Wes was doing. A few of the more attentive members of the crowd also looked puzzled as Wes removed a Poké Ball from the machine upon his arm, and then gasped as he threw the Poké Ball…

…right at Misdreavus.

As the ball made contact, Misdreavus was sucked into the small capsule and the ball started wobbling. A few seconds later, it stopped and as the ball gave a small flash, it came to rest.

Wes moved to bend down and pick it up. As he stood up, he noticed that all of the audience were staring at him, especially Vant who had an angry scowl on his face. It dawned on Wes that maybe snagging someone’s Pokémon in a public place was not the best idea - especially an innocent person’s Pokémon. He smiled weakly at the crowd.

“Guess the wager’s off, then?” he asked. Then, to Rui, he added “Run!”

***

Johnson was glad with himself. He had successfully kept Pyrite in order single-handedly for another day, defeating numerous ruffians and scoundrels alike – he didn’t even have to fight them, as they had cowered away in fright of his sparking blue police uniform. Not to mention that he had told off that small kid who had dropped a small apple core. Oh, that boy sure did get a good lecture on money and littering…

The police officer walked up to a small statue lying in disarray by the sides of the main pathway. He looked around carefully before speaking to it.

“So, do you know what happened yesterday in the Poké Mart at five pm?” he demanded.

The statue unsurprisingly was silent.

“Oh yeah? Nothing to say?” persisted the officer. A person walking past glanced at him, rolled his eyes, and walked off.

The statue remained quiet.

“Well, I’ll let you off. I’m watching you though!” said Johnson, brushing his hands. Yep, I sure am the best policeman around here, he thought to himself. He began to walk off to harass another piece of rubbish, when he noticed a pebble shaking on the ground.

“What’s wrong with you?” asked Johnson. The pebble to his horror ignored him and started shaking harder, and even jumped a few centimetres from the ground. Johnson realised that the ground was shaking as well, before falling to his knees.

Then he heard a noise from behind him - quiet at first, before it grew louder. He turned to see two people being chased by a mob down the street. Unintelligible words were shouted in his direction - something about ‘stealing’, ‘Snagem’, and ‘kill him’.

Johnson put on a brave face and stood up straight, facing the angry mob which had been gaining on the two victims. He raised a hand towards them.

“Stop!” he shouted.

A moment later, the mob collided with him, and the world went topsy-turvy.

***

“Sorry for causing the mess and all. It’s my fault,” began Wes.

He and Rui were now in a prison cell. They had been caught by the crowd, who had gone mad in anger and outrage at him. If there was a golden rule in the Pokémon world it was this - never, ever get caught stealing someone’s Pokémon. That’s why Rui and Wes had been chased, mistaken for part of Team Snagem. And, as Wes grimly thought, who would believe that they had done it for a good purpose, not a bad one?

They had been in the lead but already that had been shortened significantly. Wes had recalled his Pokémon to his Poké Balls - he knew that they would be no match for an angry mob after that battle. They were caught by the crowd near the entrance - Wes vividly remembered that the inept Johnson had been caught up by the mob as well, and unsurprisingly was also a victim of the mob’s rage.

He and Rui had gained a few bruises in the first few seconds, but luckily before it got any worse, Wes faintly recalled a man commanding ‘Stop!” in such a way it had froze everyone in their tracks. Then everyone had shifted away quietly and quickly. Wes didn’t remember much after that, only that now they were imprisoned, and would now have a criminal record added to their names. It looked like it was all over.

“Never mind - it’s not your fault,” sighed Rui softly. “Remember - we’re in this together,” she added more firmly, giving a weak smile to Wes. Wes returned it and squeezed her hand - more to comfort her than himself, of course.

Wes’s Pokémon had been confiscated and placed in the police force’s hands - Wes was surprised that there was actually a ‘force’ that kept the town in order. Seems it had finally made itself evident – just as well for them then, but maybe not for the not-so-distant future.

“Well, looks like it’s all over, unfortunately,” Wes sighed. “So much for us stopping Team Snagem and Cipher… man,” Wes chuckled. “If one heard our story…”

“Oh, I’m listening,” a voice sounded from the darkness of the shadows surrounding the cell. Wes jumped up in surprise, trying to make out the shape before him. “So, you know something about Snagem and Cipher, eh?”

***





I hope you enjoyed it. And for those who played that games - did you see the last part coming? Tell me what you think of the chapter please, and have a nice day!
 
Last edited:

Sammi

Banned
Here I am, again. And you're welcome.
“GADZOOKS! Who dare enters this place?” demanded an elderly lady.
Oh no, I remember her, now...
He shrugged off that fact and sat down and devoured the offered meal of eggs and bacon, followed by a few croissants. The food was sufficient enough for both the hungry teens.
Evil you, making me hungry before breakfast. DD:
“Yes. It was found near in a deceased Spoink - works better that way.” stated the woman mildly.
... o_o
Echo.

Echo.

Echo.

Then a new sound emerged from below.

Shut up…

Shut up…

Shut up…

“Guess he was right.” said Wes to himself, surprised by the outcome. “Let’s go into the Colosseum for now…”
I love this part the most. Creative. I showed it to a friend on MSN. We lol'd.
“’Course, the entry cost is five hundred smazzules…”
How do you even pronounce that? Smaa-Zoo-llz?
“Misdreavus.” (You have no chance of winning…) giggled the Misdreavus softly in a bone-chilling way.
Gave me the idea of a mischievious flirt. o_o;

Sorry for lacking CC. It's 4 AM and I just woke up, so there's no surprise to me not being able to detect anything.

But the "echo echo echo shut up shut up shut up" thing was priceless. x3
 

UltaFlame

I'm weird accept it
yes that part was priceless.

the battle wasn't too bad either, poor Espeon. I would've taken the Misdreavus's head and cut it in half. with a bite attack, Espeon is my fave character.

uhh... considering I had to stop reading this halfway, and then finished the rest later, I can say, it was awesome, but I can't give the best crit, as the first half was read hours ago, right before I was forcedly delved into the story of Warcraft III...
 

Sike Saner

Peace to the Mountain
Do you live in a house? I live in a house.

That drunk guy was frelling HILARIOUS. XD

Also great in that chapter was Johnson. Yep, good ol' Johnson. Don't DARE drop an apple core near him or you'll get the scolding of your life. XP Then there was the windmill-guy with his awesomely bad singing of his song about gears... XD

And also, I am really liking Umbreon. He's got that sort of cute ditziness that makes him amusing and easy to like. ^^

And oh yeah, I've got to mention the crystal ball made out of a dead Spoink's pearl. I thought that was really creative. ^^

“Umbre-Umbre!” (Why can’t we be friends, why can’t we be friends…?)


PYRITE’S MOTHER’S FORTUNE TELLING
Have your future told - if you dare…

Special deal - free meal* with first reading

* - meal may be of questionable quality and variable quantity

“Night is day, and gravity pulls things up.” continued the prophetic woman.

“WHAT?” retorted a confused and annoyed Wes.

Satisfied, she promptly pulled a crystal ball out of nowhere and set it on the table.

“Is that a giant Pearl?” asked Rui, amazed at the size of the colossal shiny object.

“Yes. It was found near in a deceased Spoink - works better that way.” stated the woman mildly.

They were suddenly interrupted by some off-key singing emitted from the windmill. Wary of the slow-moving blades of the windmill, they entered.

“30 long years I’ve spun these gears! 30 more years I’ll spin some more!” sung an aged grey-haired worker. His clothes were dirty and in tatters. Behind him a large arrangement of gears were spinning in an almost hypnotic fashion.

“Umbre…Umbre…Umbre…” (Round and round and round…) muttered the dark-type Pokemon, moving his head in circles trying to keep up with the speed of the gears.

Espeon sighed and gave Umbreon a push onto the gears. With a squeak of surprise, Umbreon found himself seated upon the gears moving at an incredible speed.

“Umbre!” (Arrgh! Getmeoffgetmeoffgetmeoff!) cried the Pokemon. Espeon merely laughed to itself and watched in amusement.


Just then, the ‘Chief’ increased the speed of the gears. With a cry, Umbreon went flying off the gears, through the door, narrowly missed one of the blades of the windmill, and mercifully had his landing softened by an unknowing Espeon.

“Espi!” (Arrgh! Get off of me!) cried the startled Pokemon, as Umbreon staggered to his feet.

“Umbre-Umbreon!” (Well it’s your fault… ah, look at all the colours! Wee!) replied the dizzy Pokemon, stumbling into Espeon again.

After a moment of staring at the invisible crack in the ground, he raised his hands to his mouth and hollered “Echo!”. The sound bounced off the rocky walls, giving a ghostly feel as the word came back to them.

Echo.

Echo.

Echo.


Then a new sound emerged from below.

Shut up…

Shut up…

Shut up…

Just then, the bystander approached them.

“Ya know that big guy there? Yah, he’s Duking.” he slurred.

“Are you drunk?” asked Rui, as the smell of alcohol reached her.

“That’s a silly question. I never drinks da stuffs.” denied the man. He staggered and crashed into a wall. “Okay, maybes a littles bits…” he confessed.

“Do you live in a house? I live in a house.”

“Oh yess, they gave pokemans to winners recently. They are said to be straighter and butter... Cail won it last. Stupid Cail and his win-win Mc victories..”

Johnson was glad with himself. He had successfully kept Pyrite in order single-handily for another day. Not to mention that he had told off that small kid who hand dropped a small apple core. Oh, that did sure did get a good lecture on money and littering…

The police officer walked up to a small statue lying in disarray by the sides of the main pathway. He looked around carefully before speaking to it.

“So, do you know what happened yesterday in the PokeMart at 5:00pm?” he demanded.

The statue unsurprisingly was silent.

“Oh yeah? Nothing to say?” persisted the officer. A person walking past glanced at him, rolled his eyes, and walked off.

The statue remained silent.

“Well, I’ll let you off. I’m watching you though!” said Johnson, brushing his hands. Yep, I sure am the best policeman around here he thought to himself.

He began to walk off to harass another piece of rubbish, when he noticed a pebble shaking on the ground.

“What’s wrong with you?” asked Johnson.

Then he heard a noise from behind him - quiet at first, before it grew louder. He turned to see two people being chased by a mob. Unintelligible words were shouted in his direction - something about ‘stealing’, ‘Snagem’, and ‘kill him’.

Johnson put on a brave face and stood up straight. He raised a hand towards them.

“Stop!” he shouted.

Unfortunately for him, it didn’t work. The mob collided with him, and the world went topsy-turvey.

So yeah, lots of good stuff in that chapter. :D
 
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bobandbill

Winning Smile
Staff member
Super Mod
Reviews of reviews time:
Here I am, again. And you're welcome.

Oh no, I remember her, now...

Evil you, making me hungry before breakfast. DD:

... o_o

I love this part the most. Creative. I showed it to a friend on MSN. We lol'd.

How do you even pronounce that? Smaa-Zoo-llz?

Gave me the idea of a mischievious flirt. o_o;

Sorry for lacking CC. It's 4 AM and I just woke up, so there's no surprise to me not being able to detect anything.

But the "echo echo echo shut up shut up shut up" thing was priceless. x3
Thanks for reviewing. Glad you liked the chapter, and particular the 'echo' joke. I'm astonished that you are awake at that time - I'm a late sleeper.
yes that part was priceless.

the battle wasn't too bad either, poor Espeon. I would've taken the Misdreavus's head and cut it in half. with a bite attack, Espeon is my fave character.

uhh... considering I had to stop reading this halfway, and then finished the rest later, I can say, it was awesome, but I can't give the best crit, as the first half was read hours ago, right before I was forcedly delved into the story of Warcraft III...
Guess that echo joke was a decent one. Interesting that I managed to do a decent battle too that was a bit more... 'epic' than the other ones...
That drunk guy was frelling HILARIOUS. XD

Also great in that chapter was Johnson. Yep, good ol' Johnson. Don't DARE drop an apple core near him or you'll get the scolding of your life. XP Then there was the windmill-guy with his awesomely bad singing of his song about gears... XD

And also, I am really liking Umbreon. He's got that sort of cute ditziness that makes him amusing and easy to like. ^^

And oh yeah, I've got to mention the crystal ball made out of a dead Spoink's pearl. I thought that was really creative. ^^

So yeah, lots of good stuff in that chapter. :D

Hello again! Glad you liked the characters. Did you like how the other characters have been developed as well so far? It's something I worked on this last chapter.

Hmm... feeling kinda bored, so for those of you have not played the games or cannot remember it much - here be some background on some of the characters (and events) that were in the last chapter and the game:

Drunkard - He was merely a person outside the Colosseum in Pyrite, who conveniently tells you that they give away 'strong Pokémon like Cail's (read: Shadow Pokémon), before hurriedly telling you to 'forget what he just said'. I thought nobody is that stupid, so in order to keep it amusing and 'explain' this event, I came up with that explanation.

Gear Chief - The guy in the windmill is a NPC in the game, who sings a lot. He has a tiny part in the game plot, which you will see later in this fic. Works for Duking, who is a muscled man how features a LOT in the game, as well as XD.

The windmill in the game only powers up the Colosseum, but I thought that that was a bit of a waste considering there was a whole town - hence, the town depends on the windmill. Minor tidbit I suppose.

Fateen - An NPC who sits in a house in Pyrite. She occasionally 'reads' your future which has something vaguely to do with a future event. Pretty bland character in my books in the game.

Johnson - he's a random irrelevant and dumbly-portrayed character in the game. He also collides with you at times, mistakes you for someone, and proceeds to tell you a LOT of classified information, before realising his mistake. He’ll feature a fair bit more.

Vant and Cail - two of the many trainers in the town that battle you if you talk to them. Cail's a bit more important in the game than Vant, but not by much. In both Colosseum and XD, none of the trainers react in any way if you steal their shadow Pokémon. Needless to say (yet I’m going to say it anyway), this is VERY unrealistic. Here we get a mob chase instead.

Other NPCs – there’s the guy who 'refused' to give Rui money - in the game he does reveal a bit more than his woes with having to give people money – along with the 'Stop Selling Me Stuff' lady. She stays in a house and asks why you want to sell her stuff if you talk to her, before asking 'Why would I want that?'. Pretty amusing at times.

Anyways, the next chapter will be again a while, considering that I have tests coming up during these next few weeks. Until then, please review, ask questions on what you want 'explained', and be inspired by Miror B's retro grove until the next Chapter!... and in turn, the next 'Pastry of the chapter'. :)
 
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Hype_chao

Eevee FTW!
You were alot better on the humour and the characters this time around, however your dialogue often TRAILS for so long, I lost interest during the opening speeches (However I noted you used this as a sneaky way of explaining how to "fix" a shadow pokemon), the humour flies fast during a lot of it, but then just stops, leaving you with a gap that feels awkward and odd, just to pick up again. I little more balancing with the dialogue and humour would do wonders for getting everything in place and making the fic a perfect read.
I enjoy the fact you actually bothered to say the roles of the characters from the game, it helps for lazy people like me who never bother to go back and re-play games like this from the start.

I also have to compliment you on the fact that Espeon and Umbreon have differentiated in their actions and dialogue, Umbreon is a little bit more expressive and Espeon seems a little sarcastic (Almost nasty) at times. The "master" thing still puts me off a whole load, kinda creepy, like they're slaves or something. I always pictured good friends to call each other by NAMES rather than consider one of the group superior.
 

bobandbill

Winning Smile
Staff member
Super Mod
Chapter up!... finally...

You were alot better on the humour and the characters this time around, however your dialogue often TRAILS for so long, I lost interest during the opening speeches (However I noted you used this as a sneaky way of explaining how to "fix" a shadow pokemon), the humour flies fast during a lot of it, but then just stops, leaving you with a gap that feels awkward and odd, just to pick up again. I little more balancing with the dialogue and humour would do wonders for getting everything in place and making the fic a perfect read.
I enjoy the fact you actually bothered to say the roles of the characters from the game, it helps for lazy people like me who never bother to go back and re-play games like this from the start.

I also have to compliment you on the fact that Espeon and Umbreon have differentiated in their actions and dialogue, Umbreon is a little bit more expressive and Espeon seems a little sarcastic (Almost nasty) at times. The "master" thing still puts me off a whole load, kinda creepy, like they're slaves or something. I always pictured good friends to call each other by NAMES rather than consider one of the group superior.

Hmm, that pacing things is something to look for I guess. However, I shall find it hard to try to fix that, as in some cases, I simply cannot find something funny to write of that is said in the game at times. It is hard, and a few parts of the last chapter had been intentionally left 'serious' - so I can have some pieces to give an 'explanation' the game never had, or give some info (such as the part on shadow Pokemon you mentioned). Do not have the capacity to think up jokes for every part, but I shall look into improving that. Shall not apply to this new chapter however as I've already done it, and it is more a plot-based chapter anyway...

I might as well say the roles of characters in my fic (i.e. who they are in the game) after every chapter for convience's sake.

I guess I might do away with 'master,' or make it clearer that it's just a name tag for Espeon and Umbreon to refer to Wes... might establish that when I look back in previous chapters.

And I've done the next chapter! (auidable gasp from auidence). I've had no time for the vast majority of last month to work on it, but there was nothing I could do about it. This chapter is more serious than previous ones - mostly a plot setting chapter. It's advisable to read everyting in detail, as a few rather sutle jokes may be missed...
Enjoy the chapter, the pastry, and a reference to Pikmin 2 - can YOU find it?

...

Anyway, here it is.


***


Chapter 6 - Prison Cells



“Who… are you?” asked Wes, still peering at the man to get a better look. Suddenly the room was flooded with light. Wes covered his eyes and grunted a little as the pain of burning retinas slowly subsided. His eyes recovered in due course, and a moment later he was able to look up to see the stranger’s face.

The man before him was aged. Wes guessed that he was in his fifties, maybe even his sixties. The evidence that the man had passed his use-by date was evident in his gray, disappearing hair and a thick bushy pale-gray moustache that looked as though a thunderstorm had recently passed through that region. However, this man’s frame did not in the slightest suggest that he was old and frail - everything about his posture said that here was a man not to be messed with.

“Err... hi there,” Rui said as she fiddled with her fingers subconsciously.

“So, what’s with this stuff you’ve been talking about Team Snagem, eh?” replied the man gruffly, ignoring Rui’s attempt at a friendly greeting. “You do know that stealing other people’s Pokémon is a criminal offence, hm?”

“Well, you see…” began Wes, only for Rui to intervene.

“Well, two days ago I was walking in Pyrite town because I was on a bus trip and I was to see my grandparents - they live in a tree - and then I saw this Pokémon and it had an aura and it was scary and purple and then I said something and then two people chased me and I collided with a- well never mind about that - they caught me and kidnapped me and put me in a sack and they took me to Phenac city where Wes - that’s him - he rescued me and he used to work with Snagem but he’s good now and then we saw the mayor of Phenac city and we said he would help us and then later we saw Team Snagem people and then Wes beat them and their Pokémon went boom and then I was angry at someone - funny, I don’t remember much then - and then we went back to the mayor’s house and we saw a crazy man who had a lot of hair and he danced a lot and had salsa music and he said we worked for team Cipher and then the two people who kidnapped me were there and they battled Wes and he won because he’s a wonner - I mean winner - and then Wes snagged a Shadow Pokémon - they are the Pokémon with the funny aura - and then we left for Pyrite and battled some guy who spoke random things and…”

“Slow down Rui…” interrupted Wes.

“… and then Wes battled him as well and he also had a Shadow Pokémon and Wes snagged it too and it was odd that Team Cipher - whoever they are - have two Shadow Pokémon so we went to Pyrite and the next day - that’s today - we walked around and then Wes battled a trainer and he also had a Shadow Pokémon and I went ‘SHADOW!!!’. And Wes snagged it and then they chased us and now we’re in jail and please don’t reprehend us because I hate getting reprehended and what would my parents say and we didn’t want to steal Pokémon but it was Shadow and we’re trying to stop Cipher, and… yeah.”

Wes sighed as Rui panted after her long speech. The man’s face was warped into confusion as he tried to figure out what Rui actually said. Wes would have laughed at the situation were they not in a jail cell that smelt worse than Pyrite’s streets.

“All right then…” said the man at length. “Might as well give you a chance to properly tell me your side of it,” he said, as Rui blushed at this remark, “because from what I can make out of that tale, it’s an interesting one. Not to mention that the fact that you having the Snag machine that’s gone missing from Team Snagem’s base is intriguing. Come to my office.” He unlocked the jail door, and motioned for Wes and Rui to follow him.

“Name’s Sherles, by the way. I’m the sheriff of this dismal excuse of a town,” he added.

***

After a lengthy interrogation involving a lot of talking, questioning and the occasional toilet break, Sherles was satisfied with the tale.

“Well,” he began, sticking his head into the room after having left for a coffee, “looks like your story holds. I’ve contacted some, ahem, people in Phenac and the Outskirt Stand, and it seems that there’s truth in it. Ah, who did you say kidnapped you, young lady?”

“Oh, their names were Folly and Trudly,” she answered.

“Yes, that’s right. My memory sometimes fails me…” trailed off Sherles. Wes doubted that there was anything wrong with his memory, and his thoughts were confirmed when two men walked through the door, with Sherles in tow.

“I’m telling ya, we didn’t do nothing…. YOU!” gasped Folly, seeing Wes and Rui. Trudly and Folly were escorted by Sherles into the room. Sherles gave Folly an amused look.

“I mean… YOU…. Um… aren’t you on T.V. or something?” stuttered Folly weakly.

“Hello, Folly,” replied Rui, grinning. Folly frowned, and then winced as Trudly whacked him in the head.

“Why couldn’t you keep your trap shut…” began Trudly.

“Quiet!” commanded Sherles in a no-nonsense voice. Trudly and Folly immediately fell silent. “Now,” he continued, “I want you to tell me all you know about Snagem and Cipher. Spill the beans!”

“Um… but we don’t have anything to tell you about Cipher or Snagem or Miror B…” began Trudly.

“Aha! So Miror B’s on this, is he?” advanced Sherles. It was Trudly’s time to receive a knock on the head.

“You know of Miror B?” Wes asked Sherles suddenly, confused. “But I thought…”

“Well, that’s where you’re wrong, son. And from your story, it seems much worse. However,” said Sherles, turning to Folly and Trudly with a small smile appearing on his face, “we can start fixing things by turning these two in. I guess Miror B will be displeased to hear that you have failed him.”

“OK WE GIVE IN!” cried Folly and Trudly as one.

“Please don’t do that!” pleaded Folly in desperation.

“All right, alright, calm down…” reassured Sherles. “You’ll be kept here and we’ll keep it quiet - only you’ve got to tell us about Cipher and Snagem, and anything else relevant. Or else,” he finished. Folly and Trudly nodded. They may have the intellectual capabilities of a Magikarp between them, but they understood a threat when they heard one.

With that, Sherles led Folly and Trudly out of the room back into their cells. He returned a few minutes later.

“Interestingly enough, those two had turned themselves in for stealing a vehicle. Despite the fact it belonged to them, they insisted upon being arrested so it was obvious they were frightened of failing Miror B... so, where to begin. You know that Snagem steal Pokémon, and that they turn them into Shadow Pokémon, right?” began Sherles, wasting no time.

“Yes, although I don’t know how or anything like that,” Wes said.

“Well, here’s a shock for you - it’s actually Cipher that does the whole shadowing process.”

It took a moment for the news to sink in for Wes. “But that can’t be right…” he begun, scratching his head as he mulled this news. “I mean… even Gonzap said…”

“Ah, that’s the thing,” continued Sherles. “You see, the police service near Team Snagem’s base actually caught one of the higher-ranking officials of Snagem - partly thanks to you, might I add. Didn’t want to talk much, from what I heard - although after getting some truth serum, he opened up pretty quickly.”

Wes raised an eyebrow. Truth serum potion was known to be created from acids produced by the poisonous plant Pokémon Gloom. It was also known to be only used for high-profile cases, due to the possibility of side effects taken place, such as nausea, loss of bone density and uncontrollable episodes of impromptu break dancing.

“Anyway,” continued Sherles, “it turns out that instead of acquiring Pokémon themselves to make into Shadow Pokémon, this Cipher group had a partnership with Team Snagem who did that job for them. You didn’t know, because you were just a… grunt, let’s say, and Snagem kept this information from all but the most trusted.”

“Who the hell are Cipher anyway, then?” Wes asked.

“Unfortunately, we don’t know,” sighed Sherles. “They’ve just... appeared out of the blue. However it seems that they’ve been biding their time and only chose to appear now, giving Shadow Pokémon left right and centre. Why I don’t know, and how they managed to hide resources from us is also a mystery. And all this time we’ve thought that Snagem were doing small-time stuff - oh sure,” he added, seeing Wes’s face grow in puzzlement, “we thought they might be making Shadow Pokémon – and everyone suspected it, but we couldn’t find any evidence. Seems that it had lied with Cipher all this time.”

“Fair enough,” began Rui, “But why do innocent people have Shadow Pokémon?”

“Well, recently, Team Cipher moved into Pyrite, along with Miror B, who might be a high-ranking official, or even the boss, I don’t know. Things changed then.” Sherles’ face was for a moment sad. “Cipher hides somewhere so we can’t find them, yet they’ve practically taken over the town. And Duking’s never been the same since as the Colosseum’s gone out of his hands, and all I’ve got is that idiot Johnson.”

Just then, ‘that idiot Johnson’ burst into the room and collided with Sherles, Rui and Wes - an impressive effort considering they had been in different parts of the rooms. Johnson leapt to his feet and turned to Wes.

“Owowow… I’m sorry boss, but there’s trouble afoot! There’s talk of thieving of Pokémon and Shadow Pokémon and I hurt my head because people ran over me…. HUH? You’re not the chief…” commented Johnson, realizing that he was talking to a complete stranger. He stared at Wes in astonishment, who stared back in annoyance as he picked himself off the ground.

“I’m right here Johnson… I’ve heard it over and over again already. Where were you anyway?” said an annoyed Sherles.

“Oh chief, there you are! You’re such a kidder. Ahaha. Well, I had been talking to a stat… I mean, the Poké Mart owner, when…” began the officer uncertainly.

“Quiet, Johnson.”

“Sorry, sir.”

“Now, these two people are the ones who got arrested over the alleged stealing. But they’ve been cleared.”

“Who?”

Sherles sighed.

***

“So, they’re good guys. Or are they bad?”

“NO! I told you for the twelfth time!” cried Sherles. Wes and Rui were currently watching the whole conversation from a couch for the last half-hour, seeing just how far Johnson’s thinking capabilities stretched. It wasn’t very far; Wes mused that had one compared it to a gap between a train and a station platform, Johnson would have tripped long before he managed to get out of his house.

“So they are bad?”

Sherles slapped his own head in exasperation.

Eventually though, after another pain-stalking hour filled with sock puppets and verbal threats, the man soon comprehended the situation to a satisfactory level.

“So… what’s going to happen with Wes and Rui?” asked Johnson.

“Wow, Johnson. I’m impressed. An intelligent question,” muttered Sherles under his breath.

“What was that, boss?”

“Err, nothing. Anyway, it is a big dilemma… on the one hand; Wes did destroy the Team Snagem building, putting many people’s lives at risk, and was caught in the act of stealing someone’s Pokémon, a high court offence no matter which way you look at it. Pity that Pyrite has no real legal system to speak of.”

Wes gulped.

“However… we may drop charges, IF he and Rui agree to help us on this case regarding Cipher. After all, they did get told some classified information.” Sherles gave Wes a long deep stare, which Wes matched.

“Oh, no need to bother, boss. Me and my trusty Magikarp will save the day!” Johnson announced loudly. Needless to say, neither Sherles nor Wes bothered to point out that a Pokémon that only knows Splash would probably not be able to stand up to a single ruffian, let alone two criminal syndicates.

“Well, I guess that we have no other choice, do we?” answered Wes at length.

“Good. Welcome aboard,” replied Sherles, glancing through the small window. “We do have one glaringly large problem however. It seems that the townspeople want justice of some sort… we can’t just simply drop charges and set you free, as you’ll won’t be much help here if half the town wants to kill you… I mean, just run you out of town,” he added, seeing Rui’s horrified face.

“Maybe... they should give everyone a BIG hug and say sorry over some hot chocolate? Usually works,” offered Johnson.

“Johnson?” Sherles sighed.

“Yes?”

“Shut up.”

“Maybe…” Rui said. “Maybe we can convince them that we’re innocent.”

“How?”

***

Outside the prison, a large crowd was gathering despite an impending storm cloud looming over Pyrite. News of the theft of Vant’s Pokémon had spread and soon enough everyone who had heard the story had come to the initial hearing.

Initial hearings in Pyrite town involved a summary of what the offending party was charged with, often accompanied with overly loud booing from the audience. Then the audience would decide what the harshest penalty could be given for the offender if proven guilty. The person would be sent to court in a few days time, and in the meanwhile kept in dull shabby prisons with nothing to accompany them but the occasional Rattata which scourged the town for scraps. Leastways, it was intended that they would go to jail for a few days – sometimes the people who had been convicted of harsh crimes didn’t make it there directly.

To the dismay of some who lived in Pyrite, the death penalty was considered null and void but many older ones still remained.

“I hope they get all that they deserved,” muttered Vant to someone who was the kind to be only seen when something interesting was happening.

“What’s the maximum punishment?” he asked.

“Loss of a limb,” replied Vant.

“Ouch.” A moment of reflection insured. “Which one?”

“Oh… probably the left arm, since it’s the one with that strange machine upon it.”

“Hmm, I see. In that case, I call dibs on it.”

“No way - I called for it first!” cried another. Soon enough, the whole crowd was arguing over Wes’ left arm - not even a loud cry of ‘Stop selling me arms!’ from the paranoid lady down the street calmed them down.

The appearance of Sherles did however. Wes, looking from a window within the police station, noted that Sherles held the town’s respect, which was further proof that the old man knew what he was doing as sheriff.

“People, lend me your ears,” he said gruffly as he looked down at the crowd from the front steps.

“Eh, wot?” asked one. “Tis’ attached to me, they are.”

“It was a figure of speech, son,” said Sherles coldly. The man mumbled something and then shut up as Sherles continued to stare at him.

“Now then, I know why you are here. The answer to why and how this injustice came to be,” several cheered for a few seconds, and then piped down, “is right…there.” Sherles pointed to two Pokémon which walked out of the prison office next to him. The whole town stared intently at the two in confusion.

“Now!” said Sherles, but the crowd ignored his sudden command. Instead they found themselves staring at the Pokémon themselves, before their eyes were forced towards the heavens. As the two Pokémon merged powers, they directed their own focus towards the sky. Gradually, distortions of the air dissected the hanging clouds, resulting in giant waves of colour rippling across the dark night sky. The stars glistened in the light show, enhanced by a drizzle of rain which resulted from the merging of clouds.

“Ohhhhh… shiny…” droned the crowd as one. Sherles observed the light show in silent awe. A few minutes later, the rippling slowly ceased as the two Pokémon collapsed to the ground out of exhaustion. Soon after, the large crowd broke out of its trace.

“Wha… where am I?” muttered one.

“Strange… I feel that I should be… angry about losing something…” said Vant. “But that’s silly - hmm, I don’t remember anything since this afternoon…”

“I have a strange lust for someone’s left arm…” remarked another.

After a few murmurs of confusion, the crowd fell silent as they tried to figure out where they were, and then why they were gathered around the prison in the rain. They mused over this while Sherles ushered the two Pokémon by the prison back inside.

“Hey, let’s go eat some quiche,” one suggested at length.

“I like quiche!” agreed another.

The crowd soon wandered off to get some quiche - an idea that greatly appealed to the citizens of Pyrite. Quiche was the town’s emblem, as the original founders of the town hadn’t been able to think of anything more relevant to use.

Meanwhile, Wes recalled his Espeon, while Sherles recalled his Psychic Pokémon, an Alakazam.

“I must say, your Espeon was quite good at holding out for so long. Must have been quite a drain on them to convince the whole town that you and Rui never existed,” commented Sherles with respect.

“I can say the same thing about your Alakazam,” replied Wes. “I think they’ll just need a good night rest.”

“Wasn’t my idea great, Wes? To wipe the town’s memories? I hope they’re all right but… both the town and Espeon, I mean,” Rui said.

“Um, yeah, great idea. I’m sure they’ll be fine,” comforted Wes, as Rui beamed happily.

“Umbre…” (They don’t know half of it…) commented Umbreon to himself, recalling that Espeon had done the same thing to Rui, who did not seem to recollect the event. He looked over Espeon until he was satisfied to see that the strain had not been too much on his brother.

***

“Strange… did you see that?” comment a young woman from a window in a tall building. She rubbed her eyes and stared at the sky, certain that she had seen a glimpse of bright lights fade away a mere moment ago.

“What? No, I didn’t. Be quiet, Ferma - you might interrupt… him, and we want that promotion, remember?” hushed the other. They glanced to see if he heard, but Miror B was too absorbed in his dancing. From a nearby radio a loud salsa beat played, which it had done for the last hour. However neither minded; in fact it strangely hadn’t even come close to sounding bland yet.

Suddenly, a large TV behind them that occupied the width and length of one of the walls gave a few beeps, and then flickered.

“Great! That’s probably him!” cried Miror B. “Quick - song change!” Silently, the second female by the name of Reath walked over to the nearby radio and with a sigh changed the song to a tune that was a mix of meditation and typical elevator music. It strangely gave a peaceful yet catchy sound compared to the once upbeat party-like atmosphere.

Miror B nodded his appreciation at the song change. He grabbed a remote from a table and selected a button which turned the television screen red for a brief flash before it faded away into a blurry transmission of a man. He wore a red, skirt-like thing, had long white hair and had the appearance of an ugly, poisonous flower.

He was the same man who Wes had bumped into outside the mayor’s house in Phenac city.

“I trust things are going according to plan, Miror B?” he asked with a frown.

“Oh yes, Master Nascour,” answered Miror B, nodding enthusiastically in time to the music. “Our plan is coming along in a lovely peachy-lemon way.”

“Eh, what was that? And what’s with the happy music?” asked Nascour. He shifted uneasily, while Miror B continued to groove slightly.

“Honestly, don’t you ever have to not have things spelt out to you in a means other than depressive?” replied Miror B. He used the remote to change the music to something more suiting to Nascour’s taste, a darker tone of music engulfing the room. Ferma and Reath shivered, but Nascour seemed to enjoy it more.

“We have broken Duking’s spirit. We can do as we please at the Colosseum without his meddling. And now we’ve given Shadow Pokémon on the sly to challenge winners for gathering data,” translated Miror B in a bored drone.

“Good. Others also appear to be doing their part to implement their plan. Our Shadow Pokémon plan is falling to place quickly, and the final phase is not far off. Ein for instance has managed to turn even more into Shadow Pokémon. Oh, and your Shadow Pokémon is due tomorrow - I hope you… enjoy it.”

“Fwhohoho - this is perking up my spirit, baby! Oh, I almost fell like… dancing! It’s afro-tastic!” cried Miror B, before pulling of a dance move, making Reath, Ferma and Nascour cringe. Worse yet, he even began to hum the tune of ‘You should be dancing’ by the Bee Gees - many a person who heard a rendition of that song by Miror B ended up having the tune stuck in their head for days.

“Save your dancing and your singing until our plan succeeds, please,” interrupted Nascour hastily. “Besides, we’ve had a minor setback, as I’m sure you know.”

Miror B snorted. “If you call Team Snagem’s base blowing up a minor setback, I suppose you’re right…” he muttered. “All over the news! It even replaced the regular culture section I liked to listen to...”

“Anyway, reports are that he was a former Team Snagem member, by the name of Wes. He destroyed one Snag Machine, and stole the other, so until we regain it, we basically cannot rely on Team Snagem. A major problem, as I’m sure you’ll agree.”

“Oh, whatever. I actually encountered him,” continued Miror B to himself. “But what about my-”

“WHAT!?” shouted Nascour, making every hair in Miror B’s almighty afro quiver in fear. “Why did you not capture him? You stupid, music obsessed…”

“Erm, when I said ‘I’, I meant ‘Folly and Trudly’, sir,” said Miror B hurriedly. “I wouldn’t let him walk away, knowing how dangerous he is to our project, of course.”

Nascour scrutinised Miror B for a moment, then seemed to accept his explanation grudgingly.

“But what of them? Were they successful? I’m guessing not, considering otherwise you would have mentioned it by now.”

Miror B smiled uneasily. “I do not know - I have not heard back from them since yesterday. I did, um, hear, that that girl they said they had had, um, escaped with Wes…”

Nascour’s face was one of displeasure and distaste, as if he had bitten into an overly-bitter Durin berry. “This will not do. Firstly, the man who destroyed Snagem’s base has escaped, and worse, that girl who can somehow see shadow Pokémon is with him? What if they discover us next? What’s more, I have not heard from Bluno either…”

“Well, I - I mean, my assistants - have told me an accurate description of the two…”

“Really? That’s something I suppose…” growled Nascour. “I likely won’t get a good one from Gonzap for a while unless I’m lucky after all. Do share.”

“Well... what did they say...” Miror B put a hand to his chin and pretended to try to recall what he knew perfectly well. “He’s kinda thin... if he is then he should use a bit of food - who can dance when they’re so undernourished? Okay, okay…” muttered Miror B as Nascour shot a warning look. “Well, he’s got the Snag machine, he’s a teenager - probably in his later teens. He had white streaks on his face, has a stylish blue coat - I don’t think it would rival my snazzy outfit, wouldn’t you think? ...Nascour, are you alright?”

Nascour’s face had turned white, and his lips trembled slightly. I saw someone just like that outside the mayor’s office myself, he thought. And that girl that was with him would have been…

“Damn it!” Nascour said aloud, before realising Miror B was still listening. If he had known, he would have had the rebel imprisoned instead of deciding to say some stupid sentence to keep up the illusion of being intimidating and save himself from speaking to others unnecessary… no, Nascour had the opportunity to turn him in and have Cipher’s problem’s averted. A chance gone begging.

“Oh, never mind Miror B… carry on…” he stammered, before aborting the televised transmission to Miror B’s bemusement.

Well, obviously the boss couldn’t have done anything about it - I assume he realized who they were, Nascour thought to himself as he breathed deeply to collect his thoughts. After all, it would have raised a few eyebrows - too many eyebrows. That girl would have no doubt cried about being kidnapped, and although people may not question arrests in say Pyrite, they do in blasted Phenac. Still, I must warn the others, and make measures for myself… I’m not going under, and neither is Team Cipher, not now!

Meanwhile, Miror B was continuing staring at the screen in bemusement.

Oh well, he shrugged. Not my problem that he’s weird. Probably not in the position to call anyone else weird, but he certainly is.

“Ferma! Reath! I shall soon return to my hideout with my Pokémon. You keep things in order for then - make sure you give out the next Shadow Pokémon for the upcoming Colosseum battle. But first… we dance!”

Ferma and Reath sighed as Miror B turned on the music to full blast, and started tapping away. They retreated to another room quietly, so not to disturb the man.

“At least those two fools are out of the picture for now!” whispered Ferma to Reath. “I bet they did something stupid like drive off a cliff.”

“Yes, great news. At this rate, promotion to their position will be a cinch!”

“Indeed... although this Admin is quite strange, it’d be no doubt useful to be his most useful underlings...”

Miror B, meanwhile, twirled one of his many Ludicolo about the room, ignorant of his two whispering underlings.

Who cares about that silly boy and girl anyway? Or the project? he thought to himself, trying to dispel his fears. They’ll never find us here… and even if they were, they’re not going to stop me dancing.

And so he danced.

***




Hope you enjoyed that slightly more serious chapter, and the jokes within it. As for the characters not seen before:

Sherles - he is the Sherriff of Pyrite town in the game. He is old but does his duty - despite that in the game, most of his help is off-screen. He randomly appears at the end of the game to help you without any indicator he would do so beforehand, and the fact you save the town and he does nothing conflicts with how he is portrayed in the game.

Here, he has a much more active role in the story, and I've added to his personality. However, just like in the game, he dislikes Johnson (in the sequel of Colosseum in XD for instance, after Johnson stuffs something up, Sherles locks him up so he cannot mess up anything else).

Ferma and Reath - two women that you battle and then can rebattle after the story mode. They work for Miror B, look up to him (or maybe just look up to his afro?), and... well, the game gets kinda fuzzy about their role in the game. The only clear part of it is that they work for Cipher. They get arrested in the game, and have a tiny role in the story, but that's about it. As they didn't fit in without any sort of explanation, I gave one - that they want Folly and Trudly's jobs. Will they succeed?

Nascour - major head honcho of Cipher, with creepy outfits and white hair. Doesn't even look fully human (though that may also be partly due to the animation work). Portrayed as cold, and when you first encounter him, he says a weird thing to you (what he says in chapter 2 of this fic). A rather mysterious character.

As for the Miror B and Nascour scene - it's a scene that occurs in the game after you talk to a specific NPC. Nascour talks to Miror B about the plan coming along nicely, only they don't mention Team Snagem's loss in the game which is a questionable omission at best. Here they do talk about it, and also acknowledge the existence of Wes.

Please reply on your thoughts on that chapter... and any suggestions on how to improve it, or anything that you want explained that isn't in the game. Hopefully, the next chapter shall come a bit quicker this time.

Shall be giving the earlier chapters a bit of a rebrush sooner or later to fix some stuff, add to description, etc, etc. - shall be mostly minor however.
 
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