Pokémon Colosseum
By: Minty-Fivestar

Revision 5.1 (7/1/17): Minor revisions to the story to make it consistent and remove unnecessary notes. However, I am planning on possibly rewriting this entire story in the future, so no updates to this one will be forthcoming. In other words, this fanfiction is dead and will not be updated anymore. Please be aware!

One of the very first Pokémon Colosseum fanfics on this site (at least in English, as far as I know).

Disclaimer: Pokémon and all related characters, places, concepts, etc. belong to Nintendo, Game Freak, and all other rightful owners. I do, however, own this story and my original characters and concepts. Do not attempt to steal or use ideas from my stories without permission. (Note that I do not claim to own general concepts that anyone can come up with; I am merely protective of my exact renditions. Believe it or not, I have discovered very un-creative thieves who have essentially plagiarized my stories, with only a few minor differences or replacing the characters I used with their own.) I will find out, and I will take action to have the work taken down and you hopefully banned from whatever site you've used it on. I've sent DMCA takedown notices to sites where I have found stolen content, and I will be happy to do it again.

Notes: This story is rated M for safety, due to profanity and sexually suggestive content. Nothing particularly explicit, however.

The story largely follows that of the game Pokémon Colosseum, though it is of course my own take on the plot and characters. Many of my original characters also make an appearance throughout the story and will have important roles to play; if that does not sit well with you, feel free to hit the back button and find a different story, because that is not changing. The plot is also meant to tie into the same world and overall story of my other Pokémon fanfics.

The Pokémon in this story are limited to Generation 3 because that was where the game was at the time. Please note publication and update dates before wondering where Pokémon from Gen4+ are. Use of italics will generally be used to indicate a character's thoughts.

Prologue

Orre. The sparsely populated, desert region to the west of Johto, cut off from the rest of the continent by fierce, jagged mountains as dangerous as the sandy deserts themselves.

Very few Pokémon call this harsh environment home; almost all Pokémon living in Orre belong to Pokémon trainers. Cities are spread thinly across the blinding, dry sands. Water is a precious luxury to the living beings here. But just as difficult to obtain here is the peace of mind that those in Johto, Kanto, and Hoenn take for granted…

A sinister criminal team known as Team Snagem calls the whole of Orre as its own. With their advanced Snagging technology, they capture the Pokémon of others, using them for their own unlawful acts to control their territory and strike fear into the hearts of all trainers. Led by the ruthless Gonzap, Team Snagem has established itself as a criminal force to be reckoned with, and there is no Pokémon within Orre—wild or owned by a trainer—that can escape their Snag Machines.

And yet… the power they wield seems not as their own. For about two years now, Team Snagem has grown even more sinister… Rumors of a darker team hiding in the shadows behind them abound… A team whose goal is not only to control all of Orre's Pokémon, but the entire world's, with a strange power lying in wait for that day...

With law enforcement few and far in between, there is nearly nothing to stop this evil team's advancements; nothing to protect the innocent people and Pokémon that live in fear of them.

Until the day… that one trainer dared to oppose the iron might of Team Snagem. The day that a renegade from the team's ranks began his slow but sure process to under-mind the entire organization and discover the dark intrigues brewing beneath that would threaten the entire world.

The day that one teenage boy began a journey, a quest, and a dream that would ultimately take him further than he ever dared to imagine…

Dawn over western Orre. One lone Skarmory raised its weary head up from where it perched on a cliff ledge, observing the building below hidden within the rock faces around it in Echo Canyon. The Steel/Flying-type shifted nervously at the sight, for it knew what this tall, human-made structure was.

Team Snagem's main hideout.

Much of the already-sparse population of wild Pokémon in the area had since been depleted by the members of this particular base; captured to serve the criminal team. Skarmory had seen many of the captures over the years, and now, it was pretty much alone as one of the few wild Pokémon left in these parts. A sad feeling rose up in the bird Pokémon's breast for an instant, but it was soon gone. One did not survive Orre by being softhearted, be it Pokémon or human.

For a moment, Skarmory glanced over to the west, at the tall, jagged mountains in the distance, which separated Orre from the beginnings of the Johto region. A passing Dragonite had told Skarmory of Johto once, and it had sounded like a paradise. Humans and Pokémon lived in almost perfect harmony with one another. Granted, there was a crime organization over there—Team Rocket, or something like that—but compared to the state of Orre, it seemed like nothing, really. Skarmory would like to have made a migration to Johto, and lived the rest of its days there in peace. But Skarmorys were ill equipped for long-distance travel (steel wings could easily wear any Pokémon out, even Skarmorys themselves), and the amount of food needed to gain enough energy for the journey was not to be found in the deserts of Orre. So here Skarmory remained.

The Steel/Flying-type shifted its claws again, scanning around for any sign of prey. Even a tiny Wurmple would have been nice to eat, but you rarely found those in the midst of the desert. Skarmory shook its head. It sure wouldn't mind being owned by a trainer about now; at least it would get regular meals. But that was much too risky; and even a good trainer had the chance of losing his or her Pokémon to a Snagger of Team Snagem. Skarmory would rather go hungry than become a heartless Shadow Pokémon.

As Skarmory stretched its wings, and prepared to fly off in search of breakfast, a huge explosion suddenly rocked the canyon, startling the bird Pokémon. Skarmory instinctively spread its steel feathers out in defense, and looked around for the source of the blast. It quickly spied smoke rising up steadily from the Team Snagem hideout from a hole in the side, which puzzled it. What had happened? What was the cause for the explosion?

In any event, Skarmory huddled down against the cliff ledge, peering intently down for a sign of activity. Whatever had just happened, it was interested; for anything detrimental to Team Snagem was definitely a plus in its book.

Within the base, the base commanders of Team Snagem had just been in the middle of a meeting when the explosion threw all of them for a loop. In the midst of the chaos, the boss of Team Snagem itself, Gonzap, jumped to his feet, his face red with anger. He had very long and prominent brown eyebrows and an equally long mustache.

"What was that!" he roared, grabbing the nearest subordinate and shaking him.

"I, I don't know, sir!" stammered the unfortunate individual, trying to loosen Gonzap's grip on his collar.

Gonzap threw the man aside. "All of you, investigate that blast immediately!" he ordered.

"Yes, sir!" the others exclaimed, tripping over one another to get out of the room.

Gonzap followed them, trying to come up with a possible explanation. "It can't be electrical…" he mused to himself. "We don't concentrate electricity in one place within the base, it's all underground… It's got to be explosives… But the room with all of them is specially cooled; they couldn't have spontaneously exploded… And I'm the only one here who has access to the explosive room… Well, besides Wes…"

At that, he suddenly stopped short.

Amidst the smoke and settling debris, a lone figure stepped through the newly made hole in the wall. He was about 17-years of age, with short, spiky, sand-colored hair. He wore a blue trenchcoat, and silver sunglasses on his face, which he lowered with a smug smile to reveal eerie yellow eyes.

"That worked well," he murmured softly to the two Pokémon suddenly appearing at his side.

"Espi!"

"Umbri!"

"And there it is…" The teen approached a large, strange machine nearby, in front of which was a wire frame shaped like a human person. Upon the frame was a smaller machine, shaped to fit around someone's arm. He grabbed the small machine and tucked it underneath his arm, lowering his sunglasses once more.

"Espeon, Umbreon, ya ready to go?" he asked. The two Pokémon nodded.

He grinned again. "Well, let's leave Gonzap one last present before we go… A good-bye gift, of sorts. Agreed?" The two Pokémon nodded again, and watched their trainer reach within his coat and pull out a small device, which he attached to the side of the larger machine. It beeped once, and a little light lit up on it.

"There we have it…"

"Wes! Stop right there!"

The teen, now upon an obscure, engined-vehicle outside the Team Snagem base, turned at the sound of Gonzap's yell. He smiled at the sight of the Team Snagem boss, along with the rest of the Team Snagem members, running as fast as they could towards where he was parked.

"Gonzap, sir, I take my leave of you… permanently," he said softly. "And I take my prize for all my years of service to you… The Snag Machine." He held the portable Snag Machine up as proof.

"Damn you, Wes! Is this the gratitude you show me for everything I've done for you?" Gonzap demanded.

Wes shrugged, glancing down at Espeon and Umbreon sitting next to him. "In a way… yes." And with that, he quickly gunned the engine to his speeder, and drove off full speed back out into the desert.

"Stop, Wes! You little—" The rest of Gonzap's words were cut off, as Wes pressed the button on a little device in his hand and detonated the remaining explosives set in the base. The resulting explosion threw them face-first to the sands, watching helplessly as Wes drove away.

Gonzap gritted his teeth. "I won't forget this, Wes…" he growled. "You will pay, I swear it!"

As the smoke grew thick around the canyon, and the heat intensified all the more with the flames leaping from the base, the Team Snagem leader watched with growing hate the speeder growing more and more distant, a Skarmory joyously flying in its wake. "This is only the beginning…