. o b r u m b r a t a .
Author's Note: Yes, I realise this has been done very (very!) well by other authors before me. I simply don't feel there's quite enough Pokémon Colosseum out there, and I wanted a base fic with which to refer to when writing the few one shots I'm no doubt going to end up writing. No doubt WesxRui ones. This will stick quite rigidly to the plot but extra conversations, one or two extra scenarios (non major), a sexier Nascour (you know you want him) and the like included as well as delving into character's minds. It's a bad habit. :)
I apologise in advance for any extremist sticklers; I am in higher classes for English and it is my mother tongue, but neither punctuation nor grammar was ever my strong point. And I have a love of ellipsis and semicolons. Oh, and strange noises like 'FZZT'.
Rated Tdue toviolence, some harsh language and mature themes in later chapters (nothing too heavy, I promise)
Disclaimer: Pokémon belongs to Nintendo. I'm just...borrowing (yes, let's go with that) the characters and such to join in with those out to do the first Pokémon 3D RPG some justice.
Chapter 1 – Going Out With A Bang
Peace and quiet.
Blissful, sweet near-silence. One of the only good things about this Ho-oh forsaken desert.
With little but the hush of wind against towering canyon walls and hollow echoes of far off Pokémon cries. Only him, his bike, his Pokémon and his smokes - "FZZZZZZZT- Wes! FZZZZZT- where the hell are you! –FZT- three hours ago, Gonzap's goin' –FZTFZZT- crazy! –FZZZZZT-" With a low 'tch' of annoyance, the sandy haired teen straddling the bike picked up the communicator and threw it into a nearby rock. The Umbreon taking shelter from the blistering heat of the desert lands of Orre gave a soft murmur of appreciation.
"Umbree," he smirked in reply, taking a long drag from the cigarette held between two gloved fingers and exhaling before throwing it to the floor. The air above the engine shimmered with the rising heat from the four twin cylinder heads, a long flared exhaust pipe reaching upwards from each one as if the bike were reaching up to the sunlight. A few of the exhausts were higher or lower than the others, though on the whole the beast was well cared for, despite needing another lick of paint.
An Espeon leapt without a sound onto the rock to his left, casting a purple gaze curiously at the smashed radio. The sun glinted off the jewel on the Pokémon's forehead, dark lashes shielding his eyes, the mysterious look it gave him apt when seen with his master.
'Success, sir.' The teen nodded, pushing his large sunglasses up a little from falling off the end of his nose, resting on the white strip running across his face. The lavender Pokémon pounced into the red side car decorated with purple flames, the paint having faded and flaked a little in the brutal heat. His dark brother shook as he sat up, dislodging sand from sleek black fur.
"C'mon." Placing a circular disc with a Pokéball design on it into a pocket of his rich blue trench coat, the human lead Umbreon further into Eclo Canyon, back the way Espeon had come. A lone Skarmory flew above in the clear blue, heading towards a ramshackle building tucked into the rock wall, the metal bird circling twice and then flying in another direction. The teenager reached into the pocket with the detonator, pressing the blue half of the Pokéball shape.
The ground trembled; a boom breaking the quiet like a giant gunshot, debris flying through the air as smoke and gas billowed from ruptured pipes. The boy and his dark partner wasted no time in swiftly climbing up to the gaping wound left in the second story wall, boulders having fallen from the sides of the canyon providing an easy route. Dust and smog blew past them, Umbreon coughing and turning his head away while his master pulled a strange red and blue contraption from a stand, tucking it under one arm and tapping the Pokémon's ear as he passed, signalling their get away.
Barely had they run halfway across the forecourt back to the concealed vehicle when the main doors to the building clanged apart, a tall and broad shouldered man sprinting out with half a dozen grunts behind him. Long, gravity-defying eyebrows and a moustache zigzagged upwards as he bellowed curse words and insults.
"WES! You'll never get away with this! We'll hunt you down like the dog you are! Hunt you down and make you wish you'd never been born! Do you hear me!" the boy and Umbreon joined Espeon on the hover cycle, gunning the engine and speeding off with a middle finger raised in reply. As soon as they were almost out onto open desert again, Wes pulled the detonator out once more, pressing the red half this time. The ground shook again, more violently this time, as the shockwave of the second larger blast tore out, taking a large portion of the building and at least twenty goons with it.
Wes couldn't help but grin as the bike zoomed along at breakneck speeds through the scorched land, putting a good distance between him and the enraged Tauros that was Gonzap. That would give the muscle head something to think about.
'Sir, there is a small bar four miles further south, south-west. It would be a good place to catch our breath.' Umbreon gave a cheeky grin.
'You tired bro?' Espeon fixed him with a disdainful look.
'I wasn't addressing you, I was addressing sir.'
'Hey, Wezzles is fine, ain't cha buddy?' the teen chuckled and shook his head at the twins. He couldn't imagine life without them, having been with them since before Gonzap...before Gonzap found him, took him under his wing and decided to turn him into a little ball of cold rage. The colder you were in Team Snagem, the better snagger you were, and Wes was the best. He never questioned why he had to snag other's Pokémon, he figured they weren't worthy or something. The Pokémon he caught were sent away and rarely came back and he was instructed to catch more.
He wished they never came back at all.
He'd seen one recently, a sweet little Torchic he'd captured about a month ago and had nuzzled his hand when he let her out to make sure she met standards. She was in a small cage, huddled up in one corner with those beautiful big warm eyes staring out. Except they weren't so beautiful and warm any more. They were cold and empty and she stared at Wes with nothing short of confusion and fear.
Funny, he thought he'd lost his heart. He thought he'd lost it the second he saw her lying there, blood flowing through the cracks of the alley floor, eyes glazed and dead boring into him. He'd felt it freeze and over the years whither away.
He'd made the decision there and then not to stay any longer. He didn't know what was happening to those Pokémon, and in honesty, he didn't want to know what could make such a happy little Torchic become a cold empty shell, as long as no more suffered thanks to him.
'Sir, we are about to collide with that rather solid looking rock, it would be wise to divert our course to the left in order to avoid such an event.' Honey eyes blinked in surprise, the bike veering sharply to the left just before hitting the aforementioned obstacle. Out of the heat haze ahead, a bronze locomotive appeared; a few wheels and other things lodged in the sand around it.
"Sorry guys, I was just thinking" Espeons gaze lingered on Wes for a moment as they pulled up outside the small diner.
'Alright! Let's get some grub!' Umbreon leapt out of the side car, darting up the ramp and into the air conditioned interior.
'Sir...' moving his large silver sunshades to the top of his head, Wes followed the psychic's gaze to a green open-top truck. A large sand coloured sack wriggled in the back. Kidnapping, by amateurs seeing as how they'd stopped for food and left their prize to die from dehydration and suffocation.
"Fwaah! We sure pigged out, eh?" Two men sauntered down the ramp leading inside, the one with orange and blonde hair patting his stomach with a grin. "I love chowing down after a job! It adds to the flavour, I swear." The second one with green hair hidden under a blue hat placed his hands on his hips with a satisfied smirk.
"Heheheh, yeah. And we bagged ourselves a great big catch too. Boss'll be sure to fix us up good with big rewards. Heheheh, it doesn't get any better than this!" The green haired one got in the drivers side, starting up the engine as the other clambered in. Espeon's hackles were still raised when they were gone and he was following his master into Outskirt Stand, a small wooden sign being abused by the wind telling him the name.
'Pfft, take your time why don't you?' Wes fought the urge to roll his eyes, unaware of the bartender's suspicious look. To the average person, Wes was a little out of the ordinary; he was obviously an aloof young man, though retained a coy boyish look about him with light sandy coloured hair, almost dragon like gold eyes, a white stripe across his face like war paint which contrasted sharply with his warm, sun darkened skin and a fondness for materials that didn't look suited to the heat. Yet he never once overheated.
His only argument to Umbreon's comments was that if something happened to him whilst the bike was doing over eighty miles per hour and he found he was no longer riding said vehicle, it would at least stop his skin from being shred to ribbons upon inevitable collision with the ground.
And it was comfortable, thank you very much.
A man in a pink shirt slurped noisily on a blue fruit slushy beside him, Wes directing a slight frown at the noise-maker.
"I haven't seen your face around these parts before, a traveller I take it?" The bartender was a bull of a man, tall and broad shouldered with deep red hair and beard...and a rather intriguing hat and apron. Umbreon was somewhere behind the teen, entranced by the green-then-red-then-green glowing jukebox standing against the left wall. The bar was right by the entrance, a giant rotating cog at the other end. On the right wall were two seating booths with a long tinted window which kindly faced away from the sun. Wes gave a vague nod at the question "Fair enough, kid. So, what can I get you?"
"A chocolate milkshake, cola – hold the ice – and a glass of mineral water...with a straw, and one for the milkshake" He answered as Espeon selected a drink for both Pokémon. Handing over a few bills and telling the bartender to keep the change, the ex-snagger made his way to the vacant far booth, sinking into the creaky green leather with a grateful sigh. The orange pipe work was not helping his headache and that annoying glow from the music maker was apparently its faithful ally, but it was a relief to be out of the heat. Umbreon had lost interest in the 'glowing-ness' and sat expectantly beside Espeon, waiting for his milkshake. They didn't have to wait long before a red haired girl carried them over on a wooden tray, her apron matching the bartender's own curious fashion piece.
'So...' Umbreon began, pausing to sip his drink that had been quickly delivered 'what do we do now?' The teen shrugged, leaning back in the seat and rubbing his eyes with the heel of his hand. The psychic glanced at the snag machine, bound by a simple off-white cloth.
'...I'm open to suggestion'
'We train. We become as strong as we can possibly become, and then we become saviours. We take out Gonzap, permanently.' Espeons voice, whether heard in the mind or not, was dark and firm. 'With all due respect of course, sir.' Wes couldn't remember when Espeon had begun to call him Sir, or how many times he'd told the Pokémon not to before accepting it. If anyone else called him that, he'd feel highly uncomfortable, but it had become Espeon's pet name for him, much like 'Wezzles'.
Except far less embarrassing.
'Sounds like a plan.'
'Indeed. It was intended to be such...Look at the news.' The lavender psychic motioned to the large screen beside the jukebox. A woman in a short-sleeve blue dress held a microphone to her mouth, staring into the camera, taking her que from the previous newsreader.
"Thank you, Mike. Authorities have made a stunning announcement on the mysterious building that exploded in Eclo Canyon. It was the hideout of the notorious band of Pokémon thieves, Team Snagem. The hideout was discovered only as a result of the explosion, but by the time police arrived, the ruined building was completely abandoned, only the bodies of those caught in the blast remaining. The cause of the explosion is still under intense investigation. We hope to bring you more on this story-"
'It would be most wise of us to lay low for a time until this has at least dulled somewhat.' Wes nodded, eyes glancing at the picture of the ruined hideout over the rim of his cola glass as he took a deep gulp. 'Stop thinking about mass murder, sir, it's most inappropriate at the table.' The teen arched an eyebrow in response.
Hmmm...He needed another cigarette.
Author's Note: And thus ends the first installement and begins the rollarcoaster Wes is unknowingly boarding. Poor Wezzles. Feedback is well appreciated, though if you hate it for whatever reason, be constructive in yourcriticism to help me improve. Thank you. huggles
EDIT: Alas! The formatting is ruined (what little there was x-x) and I still can't put in exclaimation marks next to question marks.