Linkage

4

"Even facing the wall I can hear you Wes," said the man, his deep voice reverberating through the room. "It's not very becoming of someone trying to be stealthy."

Wes laughed and stepped up to the big, yellow G that was painted on the floor. He wasn't trying to be stealthy, so he considered it almost a compliment that Saturn thought he was. There had been many a-time where Wes had actually snuck into this office to talk to the insecure head of Team Galactic. It was that Saturn had grown to expect him in the nights. Talking was a necessary thing.

Saturn turned around in his chair and rested his elbows on the table, fingers to his lips. "I saw that you captured more strays. Congratulations, you did it without my help this time."

"That's not why I'm here this time," said Wes beginning to pace in front of the desk. "There have been more disappearances."

The executive buried his head into the deeper folds of his hands. "I know, so I don't get why you're returning. It's not as if there are that many rogue grunts left."

"I don't want to know about your people," said Wes who sat against a wall in the back. "I need to know about Cyrus."

Saturn stood up from his chair, fingers in pyramid-like stands, as he tried to glimpse at Wes who had purposefully hidden himself in the shadows. Wes could tell just by looking at Saturn that he was choked up, uncomfortable, and was having a difficult time with the topic. The vigilante could relate. His past mistakes weighed heavy on him, and the consequences that came with those mistakes were something he'd learned slowly to bear.

"Master Cyrus-" said Saturn, voice utterly destroyed with unconfidence. "Master Cyrus wanted a world without spirit."

Wes gestured with his left hand, knowing the illumination of the snag machine would tell Saturn to go on.

"He was willing to do anything to get it. But, the current champion Dawn Hikari, and the previous champion Cynthia stopped him. Master Cyrus...oh Master Cyrus...he imprisoned so many Pokemon and then tried to destroy everything. But he vanished into a dark world after he left. Something they call the Distortion World."

"The Distortion World?" Wes asked, standing up in the light to face a trembling Saturn. His sunglasses were over his eyes as to not portray his fear to the other man.

Saturn began, "It's an old myth of Sinnoh-"

"I don't have time for myths," stated Wes.

Saturn glowered at the desk. "Myths are true Wes. Don't kid yourself. In this world, nothing is false."

Wes felt bad. It occurred to him that the ancient engineering of Sinnoh was indeed something that caused a calamity within his own region. Saturn trembled and in his eyes Wes saw a genuine brokenness that was akin to himself. He decided to stand and listen to the rambles of Saturn. And with it he learned about the better world that Cyrus had promised them, how he took control over everyone, and how Saturn regretted everything. The relationship between Wes and Saturn had been touchy in his visits, only with the expectation that Wes was there to catch galactic grunts, and would not hesitate to put Saturn away for years should he not cooperate. It was apparent that Saturn was trying to remedy the fear that Wes had caused in him the first time they met.

The vigilante could still remember those first weeks in Sinnoh. He'd heard of Team Galactic taking over and so he wanted to investigate. Little did he know that the news had been stale, and so he arrived in Sinnoh on bad terms because he left the last region too soon. Deciding that the cost was sunk he got a tiny apartment and figured he would round up the stragglers of Team Galactic still loyal to Cyrus's evil ambitions. It was then he went after Saturn from the "new and improved" company. Wes struck down Saturn on his first visit, acting as if he was going to drag him out with a pair of handcuffs. The admin saw through him though, and so Wes was forced to threaten him with a gun. There were few people in the world that the man in blue had ever considered killing, so the admin's life was safe, but it didn't mean Wes didn't take advantage of the fear. He didn't have to now though. There was almost a bond of kinship forming between them. Because Wes understood Saturn.