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Seth had something in his head that he needed to do. He'd heard a rumor about an old Mission that was in the back of the Filing Cabinet. Something about Unown, and an alternate reality... Sounds interesting... Maybe I should check it out. When he went to the Cabinet, he had to really search for it. Way in the back, there was a leather-bound folder that contained old, yellowed out papers. It read 'What If?' at the top. 'Well... This looks like it's the thing...' He read over it, and then worked his way to the elevator. 'I don't know how well I'll be able to take you guys with me, so why don't you all wait back in my room?' He said as he let his Pokemon out for some air. 'Don't destroy anything, please... Or better yet, go play with Dakota and his Pokemon.' He smiled, knowing his Pokemon would have a fun break with his friend.

Taking the elevator down, Seth found the correct floor, containing the slabs lined up everywhere. 'Unown, I summon your power! I ask of you this question - What would have happened if I hadn't joined Team Snagem?' He felt a slight shake, as his question rang into the stone room. A light appeared, and a single Unown came to him. 'So, you're the one that wants to find something out, then? Alright, come with me.' The Unown spoke in human language, which astounded Seth. Really, both of my missions, and Pokemon are starting to talk to me? Following the Unown into the light that had mysteriously appeared, he found himself back home - back in Mahogany Town. He looked around, and saw the Unown he was supposed to follow. It was shaped like an L. 'So, you want to know what would happen if you never joined Snagem? Well, here's your chance. Why don't you take it?' It glared at him, somehow, and floated in front of him.

Seth went back to what was his house, and found his mother waiting for him. 'Oh, Seth! Honey, I was so worried about you! Where have you been?' She hugged him close, his face becoming buried in overly exposed cleavage. That was one of the reasons he left his home - all of his mother's clothes and all of her one night stands. 'Mom, I'm fine! Jeez, get off me!' He pushed her off, obviously getting annoyed. 'Okay, honey... So, where have you been, then, hmm? You have some explaining to do.' She stood with her hands on her hips. 'Heh, well, Mom, I've... I've been traveling with Rayne.' Rayne had been his best friend for years, but mere days before he'd left and joined Team Snagem, Rayne had been killed by a member of Team Cipher, which had prompted his joining of Snagem. 'I just came back to grab some things before we left again.' He lied to his mother with practised ease, knowing she was gullible enough to believe that. 'Okay baby. Don't be gone too long, now!' She planted a kiss on his forehead, obviously exciting the man who had peeked in the window on his walk by. 'You wanna get going, buddy? We've got stuff to do, and Rayne's waiting out there for you.' The Unown pointed towards the door, meaning his friend must still be alive, and it really had taken him into an alternate reality where he hadn't the reason to join Snagem. 'Alright, Mom, I'll see you sooner or later!' He waved, and left his house again.

Outside, he found his friend Rayne waiting for him. 'Hey, Seth, let's get going! We've got a big day ahead of us!' Rayne laughed and ran off, Seth following closely behind. A few minutes later, they'd left Mahogany Town, and were working their way as best as they could, since neither of them had Pokemon. They avoided any battles as best as they could, but when something tried to attack them, they simply scared it off. After a while, Rayne stopped walking. 'You ever wonder why we were never given Pokemon, Seth?' He turned, and looked kind of sad. But, in a flash, his face turned to anger, to rage. 'We should be given Pokemon too! In fact, we should go steal some. And I know just the place, too...' His eyes glinted with real evil in them, and Seth knew that his friend was more malicious than he'd ever believed. To steal a Pokemon without reason? I know it makes me a hypocrite, but to steal a Pokemon without reason to do so is wrong... But I do it for the greater good.

Rayne had begun walking, when Seth put a hand on his shoulder, causing him to turn. When he did, his jaw was slugged with a punch hard enough to knock a normal person out, but Rayne and Seth had been training, so it didn't knock him out. It just hurt a hell of a lot. While Rayne got back up, Seth heard the Unown talking. 'Well, you've got a nice arm. But you just made the wrong choice on the wrong day... Isn't it the worst, when those closest to you end up killing you...?' The Unown confused Seth until he felt something in his gut... Something sharp, and painful. He turned back forward, and saw that his best friend since childhood, Rayne, had stabbed him in the stomach. 'Why...?' He could barely squeak out the word. 'Because I deserve better.' Rayne spat on him as he fell, and then the Unown piped up again. 'Well, that was fun, wasn't it? But it's time I took you home. Your blood loss won't affect you there, but it's taught you quite the lesson, hasn't it?' A bright light appeared again, and Seth found himself once more in the Snagem basement, lying on the floor. He felt his stomach, trying to find the stab wound, but nothing was there. He lifted his shirt, looking for a scar. It was in vain. It was as if it had never happened. 'Well, that was a good workout for me... But, I think it's time for me to go back to sleep. Next time you ask me to do something, bring me something sweet, will you?' the Unown slipped back into the tablet, back to sleep. Seth took the elevator back up to the main area, and began to search for his Pokemon.

Mission Complete!

Objectives Completed: None to complete!

Lessons Learned: Don't fight your friends - they'll kill you, whether physically or emotionally.

Seth, with his newfound rank of Bronze Snagger, went back to the faithful Mission Locker, and searched for something-- 'Ah! This looks interesting. "Press Button... Recieve Pokemon?" Weird. Not the way I'd go about getting myself a good few Pokemon, but hey, people don't know what they don't know.' He looked at his SNAG and noted which Pokemon he'd be taking on this mission - Fang, definitely, since he protects him constantly and slithers around by his side. Afterburner, who was finally beginning to warm up to him. Krypton, who was still as mysterious as the Team Snagem leader who had given the Gastly to him. Zap, the faithful little Magnemite who never ceased to amaze him. Chan Li, the Tyrogue with an indomitable spirit. Each of his Pokemon listened well to the description of the mission, and then each of them, save Fang, went back into their balls. 'Sssseevipah!' Fang hissed, ready to go. 'Don't worry, Fang. I'm ready too.'

He left the base with his head held high, since he'd advanced and was now a full-fledged member of the Snagem team, and headed his way towards Azalea Town, where there had been multiple reports in the past week of Pokemon being stolen. Upon arrival, he began questioning the townsfolk, and Bugsy as well. No one had anything too helpful, but they said that Kurt, the man who made specialty Pokeballs, knew something about the thieves. Thanking them, he went to Kurt's home, and knocked on the door. 'Agh, ragh, what, hold on a second, hold-- Oh, you're a Trainer. Come in, come in!' Kurt changed his mood very quickly, when he saw the young Trainer at his door. He probably thought that he'd be here to have Kurt make some balls for him. Getting right down to business, Seth immediately began to ask questions. 'So, what do you know about the thieves that have been stealing Pokemon around here?' He rested his hands on his hips, and Seviper was coiled behind him, watching intently. 'What do I know? Hah! My grandson is the one who's leading those punks!' Kurt guffawed at the notion that Seth would defeat them, but the Seviper behind him began to change his mind with a sharp glare. 'Alright, so my grandson is leading the thieves. What else do you want?' Seth smiled, glad for Kurt's cooperation. 'Well, Kurt, aside from at some point maybe asking for some specialty Pokeballs...' Kurt's eyes lit up as he said this, and Seth continued. '...Do you know anything about an "EngeCo." with their Pokemon Dispensers?' Kurt spat on the ground when the words "EngeCo." left Seth's mouth. 'Those crooks hired my grandson and his hooligan friends to steal for them! They even gave him an executive position for doing all this for them. He almost stole Poke-poke here too!' He gestured to the Slowpoke behind him, which yawned. 'Yeah... Not a fan of... Thieves.' The Slowpoke spoke! Seth walked over to it and crouched down. 'Poke, do you know where the Thieves are based, still?' The Pokemon nodded, and pointed out the window. 'The thieves were based in the Well, but the company is over in Ecruteak City.' The Slowpoke yawned and succinctly fell asleep. 'Well, you heard it. Go kick my grandson's a** and we'll see what I can do for you.' Kurt nodded and Seth turned on his heels. 'I'll come back soon and I'll bring some Apricorns for you to make Pokeballs out of!' He waved, leaving, with Fang at his side.

On the road to Ecruteak, Seth was met by two men wearing dark red outfits. They introduced themselves as John and Clarisse. 'So, young man, I'll have to ask you to hand over that Seviper...' John smiled evilly and Clarisse continued, 'You see, we're in a bit of a rush, because we haven't met our quota, so even if we have to... Acquire your Pokemon, through force, we will.' Seth took a defensive position in front of his Seviper, but Fang wouldn't have it. He reared up all the way, and hissed at the thieves. Seth smiled, and then popped out Afterburner from his Pokeball. 'So, you're going to try and take them? You'll have to beat me first, you losers.' He put his SNAG in front of him and pushed a couple of buttons. Nothing would happen, but the thieves looked distraught. 'Rrgh, okay, punk, listen here, we will WIN!' John threw a ball and released a Drowzee, and Clarisse had thrown a ball containing a Koffing.

Seth let Afterburner and Fang take the field. With lightning speed, Fang used his Bite move and Afterburner had fired off a well-timed Ember, at Drowzee and Koffing respectively. The Drowzee took good damage from the bite, and staggered a bit, but the Koffing looked like it had only taken a hit. They returned fire with Psychic and Smog, both attacking Fang. The Smog attack did nothing, but Psychic had thrown him into the air. Being a clever Pokemon, Fang used that to his advantage and used Poison Tail, crashing down on the Drowzee's head. The Psychic-type couldn't take any more punishment after that, so John was forced to stay out of the rest of the battle. Afterburner tackled the Koffing to bring it down, and it tried to use Smokescreen to get away, but the Charmander already had it's sights set on the enemy. With one swift Ember shot at point blank range, the battle was ended. Seth, Fang, and Afterburner were the winners. With a sigh, the thieves had run off, and Seth was ready to keep moving. He tried to return Afterburner to his ball, but was blinded by a flash of light - Afterburner was evolving! A few seconds later, Seth opened his eyes, and was greeted by a dark red Pokemon about the height of his waist. Afterburner was now a Charmeleon.

No longer accepting going in his Pokeball, Afterburner traveled on foot with Fang and Seth now. Seth couldn't say he was ashamed of this, for the two Pokemon made for some very intimidating guards. Now coming into sight of Ecruteak City, Seth picked up the pace with his Pokemon trailing behind. They reached the city, and were assailed with questions about where he got his Pokemon, and if he would trade them for something else, or if they would be given to someone. He gladly explained how he got Afterburner and Fang, but the rest of the questions, he waved off. There would be no way he would give up his two star players. He began asking questions of his own, such as where he could find EngeCo.'s HQ. People scoffed at him and pointed him towards the building. Seth wasted no time, beelining towards the headquarters of his next target.

Inside, he was greeted by a seductively dressed secretary at the front counter, who tried to use her charms on him to make him give up Fang and Afterburner. 'Oh, now, don't you want to hand over those nice, strong Pokemon to me? You look like a tough boy, I think you could handle yourself without them.' She winked, leaning over the desk, and Seth's eyes momentarily drifted southward, but then he caught himself. 'Listen, lady, I know the drill. You try to charm me into giving up Fang and Afterburner here, and I walk out thinking some crazy-hot secretary is into me. Not happening. Now tell me where the executives are!' He would have continued, but she had stood up and pushed a button. The building alarm sounded, and the doors had sealed shut with a large, iron door. She stepped out from behind the desk, and a hologram appeared on the floor. It was a Pokemon Battle field! She sent out a Poliwag first, but Seth could see there were more Pokemon she had, from her necklace.

Seth sent out Zap, his Magnemite, and told him to use Thundershock. The Poliwag got out of the way and tried to use Splash, but everyone knows that's a useless move, so it did nothing. With another Thundershock, the weak Poliwag was down, and the secretary had sent out a Pidgeotto. Seth switched out Zap for Krypton at this point, eager to see the reaction on the woman's face when he won. The Pidgeotto used Aerial Ace, hitting Krypton pretty hard, but the Pokemon withstood it, and was able to use Confuse Ray. The Pidgeotto began flying around in circles, and when it tried to use another Aerial Ace, it flew into the iron door, hurting itself. Krypton then used Psychic and threw it against the opposite wall, taking it down to size. 'Gaastly, Gaaaaaas...' The Pidgeotto had knocked itself out, flying into the door again. The secretary was down to her last Pokemon, but she smiled and clapped. 'Alright, I give. You win. If you want to fight my last Pokemon, I'll send her out, but she's rather weak. I'd prefer she not get hurt.' She shrugged, trying to bluff him into letting her go. Her last Pokemon was one that her superiors did not know she had, and she didn't want to be caught with a Persian. 'Fine. Open the doors, and take your Pokemon. In fact, I think you should wait for me outside. I'll take you to a place where you can stay, and you can do some good for the world, instead of... Well, this.' He raised his arms, gesturing to the whole building. She bowed, and thanked him. 'Yes, I'll wait for you. But first, the executives are up three floors. You'll have to go through a couple of Scientists, and maybe another EngeCo. Executive before you get to Donovan... He's the one who brought the thieves here in the first place.' She gave him a hug, and then pressed the button, raising the doors and shutting off the alarm. That would help, because the others would think he'd been defeated.

He went up the first flight of stairs, and all was well on the second floor. There weren't any people around, but he saw that there were Pokemon in cages. Those fiends. Caging Pokemon isn't how you hold them. That's what Pokeballs are for. He thought furiously to himself as he went up the second flight of stairs. On the third floor, there were some scientists in his way, and one of them caught sight of him as he tried to sneak by. 'Hey, you! What are you doing?! This is a private area! Authorized personnel only!' The scientist saw his Pokemon and sent out his own, a Growlithe. Seth sent Fang over to fight him. The battle didn't last long, but it attracted some attention. Fang had used Bite and Poison Tail to take down the Growlithe with no problems, since it had only used Tail Whip. Another Scientist came over and took over the battle, sending out a Snorunt. It used Powder Snow, and Fang got a quick case of the chills. Seth switched him out for Afterburner, and quickly dispatched the Ice type with Ember. One final scientist came over, and he had the look of a boss around him. He sent out an Electabuzz, and it used Shockwave to hit Afterburner. It connected, but Afterburner, being the fighter he is, powered through it, and fired off Emb-- No, that wasn't Ember! That was Flamethrower! Afterburner was definitely getting stronger, because the Electabuzz took the hit, and one of his head antennae lit on fire. The Pokemon frantically tried to put it out, but he'd used enough time that Afterburner was able to fire off another shot of Flamethrower. The scientists were appalled at how they'd been defeated by a teenager. Each of them slumped away, with the sweatdrop effect implied on them.

Seth ascended the final flight of stairs, and reached the 4th floor. Upon entry, he was greeted by a door that was locked. A voice played on a speaker, and he recognized the secretary. 'Snagger, I'll open the door for you, in return for your kindness. I came back after I saw you'd left, to help you. I've been watching, and the scientists came down and offered to come with us as well when I explained what was going on.' He could hear the scientists agree in the background. 'My name is Sarah, by the way... Good luck.' With that, the door's keypad light turned green, and he was granted entry to the final floor. He saw three doors, one which led to a casual lounge, one that led to the office of the CEO, and one that led to the "Product Manager's Office". Seth would try that door, to find it locked. Not wanting to fail his mission after coming so far, he kicked in the door. Inside, there was a teenager of about his age, maybe a little older, who was sitting and playing video games. 'I knew you'd come eventually, Seth. I've been waiting for this day, for a long time, ever since you decided to run off and join that Team Snagem, instead of come steal the Professor's Pokemon with me. We would have been an amazing team...' The chair swiveled around, and who would be sitting there but Rayne, Seth's old best friend, who he knew would have stabbed him, killing him. 'You son of a... WHY?!' Seth was aghast at the exploits of who he had once called something like a brother. 'Oh, Seth, don't you know? It's much more fun being on the winning side...' Rayne laughed maniacally, and Seth brought up his bracer with his Pokeballs. Rayne's eyebrow raised at this. 'Oh, a Pokemon battle? And just how many of them are actually YOUR Pokemon? You know, being a Snagger is just the same thing as what I do, except more vigilante, more... Oh, we'll call it moral.' He brought up three balls. 'I'll let you pick who I start with in this fight. My Bayleef, my Electrike, or my Nidorina.' He gestured to the balls, now on the table. Seth pointed to the middle ball. 'So, it's Nidorina to start with? Alright, let's go.' He picked up all three balls, opened Nidorina's ball, and the other two were in his belt, all within two seconds. The table lowered to create an ideal battle space.

Seth sent out Chan Li to fight Nidorina, and the Tyrogue was definitely raring to go, after seeing his friends fight and not being able to himself. 'Tyrogue! Tyrogue!' Chan wasted no time in using Low Kick, hitting the Nidorina in a weak spot. It returned with Slam, hitting Chan Li into a wall, and taking damage from the impact itself. Chan wavered for a second, but when he shook his head, he was back to fighting. He used Focus Energy to charge up for a Hi Jump Kick, but he didn't get the chance to use it, because with another Slam from Nidorina, Chan Li was out cold. Seth switched him out with Fang, and Fang immediately used Poison Tail, taking out Nidorina without any problems. Rayne then sent out his Electrike. It used Growl to try and make Fang cower, but it returned with Scary Face, lowering the speed of the Electrike. Fang would now be able to move first, so he used Bite to begin whittling down the opponent. It looked like a decent hit, but the Electrike further lowered Fang's attack with Growl. The battle continued the same way until Fang finally used Poison Tail to finish it, almost doing no damage, yet finishing off Electrike. Having been heavily wounded, Seth switched out Fang for Afterburner. 'Chah-meleon!' The Charmeleon was ready for battle, and Rayne looked somewhat worried. 'Well, this is a pickle...' Seth heard him mutter under his breath as he let out the Bayleef. 'What, Meowth got your tongue?' He smirked and Afterburner used Flamethrower, giving Bayleef a reason to cry. Some serious damage was done, and Rayne freaked out. 'No, no, no! Don't hurt her anymore!' He moved in front of his Pokemon, tears forming in his eyes. 'I only started stealing because I knew I'd be going all over - I thought I would find you and I could leave! But then Andrew came along and offered me all this...' He lowered his head and closed his eyes for a moment longer than a standard blink, and then he was crying. 'Rayne, you know I can't let this go on. Where is Richards?' He pointed to the CEO office door, and Seth nodded. 'Sarah is coming with me, along with some scientists. Maybe you could come along as well?' He extended his hand to the crying boy, who looked up, and smiled, taking his hand and standing up, wiping his tears away. 'Definitely. They're all waiting, downstairs, aren't they?' Seth nodded again, and Rayne put Bayleef back in her Pokeball. 'I hope the Snaggers will be good to us all...' Rayne left his old office, eager to join with Seth and the Snaggers.

Mere moments passed between Rayne's exit and Seth discovering Andrew Richards, CEO of EngeCo. in his office, cowering behind his desk. 'I-I don't have any Pokemon! Please, spare me! I was only trying to help other people!' He begged at Seth's feet when he entered the office. 'You're going to close down EngeCo. and you're going to turn yourself in to the authorities.' The corrupt CEO nodded, and gave him a key. 'This is the key to the building. You'll be in charge of it... I'll go turn myself in now.' He sighed, and began walking. Seth was behind him, making sure he'd leave the building, and head to the police station, which was right across the street. When he was safely in the hands of the law, he turned around to face the secretary, Sarah, his regained friend, Rayne, and the three scientists who he had defeated. 'So, off to the Snaggers, then?' He smiled, and they all followed him back, intent on joining and now doing good for the world, and everyone in it.

Mission Completed!

Objectives Completed:
-Stop EngeCo. from stealing Pokemon

Extra Personal Objectives Completed:
-Find Rayne
-Recruit Rayne, Sarah, Scientists

(Holy bajeezus that took a long f****ng time to type. xD total time was around 4 hours.)