Linkage

8

Solaceon Town. Wes rode in on his Rapidash, and dismounted by the daycare. Off towards the ruins he could see a few galactic grunts dragging things. They were conspicuous, and Wes could understand where the annoyance came from. It was an advantage to him that they were so noisy. Wes remembered all of the evil teams he encountered, especially Cipher. There was nothing inconspicuous about any of these people.

"Do you know what we're transporting?" asked one of the grunts.

The other one said, "No, I'm not sure. It's probably more supplies again."

"We need to be quiet," said an alternative grunt. "That was our directive. There's a vigilante on the loose and we don't know who's listening. Besides, we know what following the directive is about."

That surprised Wes. They continued on in silence. And he followed. With a pulley they were hoisting boxes up. Wes watched as yelling between the top and bottom ensued. Whatever they were hauling looked heavy. He wondered what the supplies were. Determined to find out, Wes slid between the trees and towards the side of a rockface. A pair of grunts passed next to the tree he was hiding, towing a big box.

He took a deep breath and ran for another tree. There were footsteps and Wes held his breath. Someone noticed him. As quietly as he could, Wes took his Umbreon from off his belt, and set him loose. Loud, his Pokémon served as a great distraction. He headed for the cliff.

Open, the space was a great risk to him. The cliff side was in plain view, lit up by giant spotlights. Wes ran for the cliff, looking for grunts. There were none. He started to scale, his breaths deep and his footholds strong. But as he got higher he became more nervous. The wind whipped and his coat fluttered. Wes reached for his glasses.

...where were his glasses?

From the rockface Wes began to panic. His glasses. Did he lose them in the forest? A snap of the trees distracted him. Down below a grunt came wandering. Wes began to panic, he climbed faster as the grunt began to look around. In a split second move, he released his Espeon's pokeball from his belt, letting it fall to the ground. The psychic Pokémon lifted him up to the top edge of the ruins, letting him hide inside a long cave.

Somewhere along in the cave, he could hear the sounds of more dragging.  He followed the noise, and saw a glimpse of galactic grunts. But as he came closer, the light of something blinded him. He wasn't sure what it was, but soon there was a shout and in the flash  everything was gone.

Wes ran after the grunts, but from the pitch black, he found himself on route 214 out of Veilstone City. The grunts were gone. And this time, he had underestimated them. Wes looked around. Where could they have hidden so fast? He looked around. In the distance he saw an overgrown cut in the trees, that looked like it could be a path. It seemed like the right way to go. If anything, he figured, it was a lot easier than going to a gate.

The thickets of tall grass and trees led to a spring which looked serene in the night lighting. There was something beautiful about the overgrown and collapsed nature of the area surrounding the spring. The walls of rock that kept the grove private were covered in ivy and vines. Wes sighed. It was a dead end. No grunts were here. He sat down on a wooden dock. He failed.

Wes looked at the water. The night was nice. He liked the outdoors. But even that couldn't deter the sadness. He closed his eyes, trying to seal away the pain, but it was there full on. He saw Cynthia sit up, signifying that whatever happened earlier had repeated, as if his frustration had startled her. He knew she didn't understand, because he could feel that she didn't.

Afraid of any more issues, he opened his eyes and stared at the spring's water. There was something bobbing in the center. The vigilante set his technology down on the dock, and dove in. He went and grabbed the white thing, and took a look at it. It was a hat with a pink half-pokeball design on it.