Watching Wes's face was a lot more entertaining than watching Cipher Peons as he scanned the small village.

"Where-" She hummed.

"You've never been here?" He shook his head as they dismounted their bikes and walked into the calm area.

"My whole life was wandering the desert. Even Snagem didn't let me leave the sands." He looked around, taking in every detail. "Is this place always so... lifeful?" He paused, almost trying to find the right word as that wasn't it. "Full of life?" She giggled.

"Yeah. Now come on." He glanced at her as she led him to a house. She knocked before a voice called out.

"Go away Cipher!" She scoffed as he gave a look.

"You'll like my offer of a hug and gossip!" He frowned before the door opened and an elder poked his head out. A smile followed.

"Rui!" They hugged before he pulled away to scan Wes, who instantly showed discomfort. "And you are?" Silence followed as Rui sighed.

"This is Wes, a runaway from Snagem. Can we come in, Grampa?" The elder nodded before Umbreon tugged on his arm, guiding the snagger inside as the others went in.

~

Rui chuckled as she watched her grandmother open the runaway up, getting him to eat something that wasn't the breadsticks and fries that he had over the last couple of hours (she had kept trying to get him to eat something that would actually fill his stomach, but he turned down her offers.) (He had also stolen the breadsticks from her.) Life filled his face as he slowly ate the soup that he was offered while listening to the elderly woman talk about the village, which actually held his attention while Rui showed her grandfather what she had stolen from Cipher. He hummed.

"Ok... this is good to have." He then glanced at the other former villain, who was still listening to the woman's voice. "What about him? Does he have anything?" She hummed.

"Nothing that I don't have. Snagem and Cipher had a deal. Snagem did all the dirty work while Cipher did all the technical work. So not really." She hummed. "He did grab the snag machine that's on his arm before he left. Which can work in our favor." Her grandfather nodded.

"What about his pokemon?"

"He saved them. He purified the Umbreon when it was still an Eevee and helped the other, which is now the Espeon, regain strength. Those are two very loyal pokemon." The elderly male glanced at her.

"Purified?" She nodded.

"There's a Shadow Eevee in the system, but no record of what happened to it. Nothing to say it was given to a trainer. I have to assume that the Umbreon was the Shadow Eevee before. He purified it. He went into withdrawal afterwards, but he has the power to do it. He just would need to recover after every purification." The elder paused.

"Unless we find a way to avoid it." She glanced at him. "It sounds like he doesn't have the energy to see through the process. And an Eevee is quite small, so that may be the biggest Shadow Essence he can take on." She hummed.

"You're right... I never tried to get him to purify anything big yet. So I don't know what his strength is." She smiled. "Thanks. I'll be back to figure out his power level." He nodded before she went over, in which Wes had finished the soup. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but come on." Wes blinked. "Oh, we'll be back. We need to check something. Come on."

~

Wes paused as they arrived back in Pyrite Town. They left her bike at Agave Village for reasons he didn't understand. They approached someone as she smiled.

"Cail!" A green haired male turned to them as a police officer was talking to him.

"Hold on, missy. I'm in the middle of something." She frowned as he turned back to the officer, who seemed grateful to have regained his attention. There was some back and forth before a shout filled the air, forcing the officer to leave the conversation. He sighed before turning to them. "Alright. What do you want?" She purred.

"I didn't see you trying to stop us at the entrance before. Is your record catching up?" He narrowed his eyes.

"Wait... you passed through my gate without a fight?"

"Twice, buddy." His eyes flashed this time.

~

Wes took shaky breaths as Rui helped onto the motorbike. Cail happened to have a Shadow Furret, and that purification alone sucked him dry. She also learned that it wasn't fully purified either. He slept the entire ride back, only supplying soft breaths to mark that he was alive. She carried him back so that she and her grandparents could talk. Her grandmother hummed as she rubbed his back, relaxing him, while Rui gave her thought process.

"I believe the Eevee he purified, which is now Umbreon, had escaped with his sister seconds after he was corrupted. Something happened that caused the other Eevee to get hurt before they stumbled across Wes, who rescued them." She hummed. "It would explain how he was able to purify the Eevee. I always thought it was weird how he could do it years ago but not recently. It's not the fact that he lost touch with his abilities or anything like that. It's about the pokemon." She scanned Furret's new pokeball. "Furret's been a Shadow Pokemon for 4 years. Eevee was only a Shadow Pokemon for a few hours. I wonder if that's the key." Her grandfather hummed.

"That means he will need help to purify them. I have just the idea." He brought over a flute. She paused.

"You think so?"

"It's worth the attempt."

~

Wes, after regaining strength, followed the family to the back of the nearby cave. He gasped as he scanned the rock in the middle. Rui smiled as he gulped.

"So... what are we doing?" She handed him the Flute and Furret's pokeball, which got him confused.

"Go up to the stone, place the pokeball in the center and play the flute." He paused.

"Is... there anything specific?" That got a giggle from the elder before his wife wacked him over the head.

"Just go with the flow." Wes seemed more content with that answer than the laugh, so he went forward. He followed the direction before a soft sound filled the air. It was clear that Wes didn't have a tune in mind as he played a very unsteady set of notes. A soft green glow surrounded the ball before something flew around him, throwing him off. He paused before the light faded and something landed on the highest part of the rock. The Pokemon there gave him a gentle nod before vanishing. Rui smiled before going over and picking up the pokeball. The Shadow Essence had vanished, which was the goal. Wes hadn't said a word before Rui grabbed him.

~

They left Wes to silently eat some soup while they discussed what happened.

"That might be what it is. He's opening the pokemon's hearts, which allows Celebi to purify better." Rui hummed at her grandfather's words.

"I'm sure he is doing some purifying himself. But he's not strong enough to do it anymore." She paused. "Time... I believe that's the key. Shadow Pokemon that have been running around since Wes joined Snagem will be too strong for him. But anything newer won't have the time to build up strength. I'll have to monitor that for his purification." She smiled. "Thanks. Now it's time to show these lab rats that Orre will no longer be their testing grounds."