"You've gotta be fucking kidding me."
Me being fairly well off, the fact that I was sponsored, the fact that I ran away from Kanto… My intense hatred for Team Rocket, my fear for Giovanni...
Zorua being my first pokemon.
All of it made sense now. Everything that had confused me before, had been answered with this one revelation.
Silver was the son of Giovanni…
I was this assholes kid.
Silver was Giovanni's kid?! What the hell?! What the actual fuck?!
There's just no way this could be happening to me. Not only was my dad the boss of Team Rocket, he was probably the strongest Gym Leader in the region.
It was no secret that the real strength of Gym Leaders were not accounted by the teams they used in Gym Battles.
Giovanni was no exception. While not quite on the level of the Elite 4, he was still remarkably exceptional.
He was the real deal. Every region had that Gym Leader... Claire, Wallace, Volkner, Drayden...
...Giovanni. And this was my father.
Damn.
If I knew this, I would have stayed my ass in Hoenn. Why the hell would I want to travel through the region where my mafia dad was running shit in the shadow... after I ran away from him?!
Not to mention, for him to personally come seek me out meant that he wanted me back.
Goddamnit, my other half must be so pissed at me (I would know because I'm pissed at me) for coming back to this region! It's not my fault! It's his for hoarding his memories! How was I supposed to know this piece of shit was my dad?
Why didn't I know that?! That seemed like a pretty huge revelation and yet that goddamn important detail completely alluded me until the man himself told me.
"What do you want?" I said harshly, gazing at the Flygon with a deep frown.
That would explain why I didn't want to catch a Flygon. If the utter disgust I felt for this one in particular was indication, I had personal grievances with it.
Actually, that might have explained why I didn't seem to want any ground type in general. Through all my planning of future captures, not a single ground type appealed to me and I was even talking about Pokemon my other half wouldn't have known about before the merging.
That would be a problem for the future. Ground types were useful and I did not want them.
Giovanni raised a brow and looked down at me. "It seems time away has given you quite the bark… Most impressive, son. It's a rare sight to see you standing up to me and I find myself pleased with this progress," he praised, gravely voice filled with an unknown amusement.
The way he called me son… I didn't like it one bit. Was I just some accessory for this bastard? Did he want me to become something special to stroke his ego?
My eyes narrowed. My other half may have been afraid of the man before me, but I refused to let anyone cow me into submission.
Don't you worry, me. I wouldn't let this piece of trash walk all over me no matter who he was.
For some reason a flash of disbelief coursed through my body at that.
I ignored it.
"Thanks so much dad," I sneered at him. "But you must have dirt in your ears, I asked you a question. What do you want?" I pressed, unintimidated by the middle aged man.
Flygon snarled at my tone but Giovanni merely held a hand up, immediately silencing it, and regarded me with an appraising eye.
He looked… genuinely impressed with me.
What a sickening thought.
"Perhaps it was good in hindsight, that you ran away. I was quite skeptical at first, but you managed to learn how to stand up to me and not only that, you managed to beat an Electabuzz and a Raichu with not a badge to your name…"
The gray eyes of my father gazed at me and beyond the cruelness, I couldn't tell what else was behind them.
"You're team, show me it," Giovanni suddenly said.
It was not a question.
My glare deepened drastically.
"Who the fuck do you —"
I cut myself off and took a deep breath, reminding myself that this was still the boss of Team Rocket despite being my father.
Yeah, he could fuck right off with that request. I'd tell him but showing him? Not a chance in hell I'm actually showing him my team.
"Zorua, Bayleef, Feebas, Beldum and Bagon," I said tersely. I doubted he'd do something to me in public but I wouldn't push my luck too much.
Just give him the bare minimum.
"Why are you here?" I asked warily, thinking about how I could bolt if it came down to it.
He probably wouldn't risk just dragging me back home right now. We were in public and someone would hear me struggling because I certainly wasn't going without a fight.
There's also the fact that I was real good at getting away to take into account.
Giovanni's expression gave away nothing but for a slight moment, I saw his eyes widen in interest at some of the names.
Then, they narrowed slightly.
"An impressive team, but you have no use for a Feebas. Discard it and I will give you another water type," Giovanni ordered.
I blinked in surprise, anger melting off momentarily.
Was this asshole… trying to give me advice?
Naturally, the anger came roaring back as I digested the words.
"I went through a lot of stress catching her, you're outta your goddamn mind if you think I'm getting rid of Freyja," I scowled deeply, glaring at him.
Was he going to ever answer the questions I asked? This was so fucking infuriating and I had no clue what the purpose of this visit was, especially considering he hadn't attempted to drag me away yet.
"Freyja? You've nicknamed it?" Giovanni asked in slight surprise. "I suppose your time away has made you somewhat forget my teachings..."
I tensed at that, muscles bunching up in preparation for anything.
If Giovanni noticed he didn't say anything. In the first place, he was far too relaxed for this conversation, as if he weren't speaking to his son that had ran away from home.
Every word came out of his mouth was measured and calm, refusing to reveal any of what his thoughts were.
Not to mention he never raised his voice. He really did remind me of a Godfather who ran the Mafia.
Giovanni's expression did not shift. "I admit, I'm more than impressed by the team you've managed to gather for yourself, but you're forgetting important details."
My biological father shook his head. "It matters little. I am a patient man so I don't mind teaching you again."
"To answer your questions, I'm merely here because I happened to have some business in Vermilion City and since I heard that my own son was here, I decided it wouldn't be too much trouble to come. I'd be remiss to not visit you… Rest assured, I believe every trainer must have their own journey, so I will continue to allow you to explore the region for now," Giovanni said simply.
I clenched my fist, barely holding back my rage at hearing that "for now".
"You don't get to decide the life I live. No one gets to decide the life I live except for me," I snarled in annoyance.
I had legendaries dragging me to this world for some fucked up purpose, I decided to deal with this worlds calamities even though I really didn't want to, I was putting myself in business that I had no choice but to put myself in...
Giovanni was playing a dangerous fucking game expecting me to follow his whims.
"You are my son, of course I do. You will inherit everything I own in due time," he retorted bluntly, raising a single brow at me.
"I don't want it," I bit out. It was taking everything in my power to not explode.
"You will want and have it all in time because you are my son. Naturally you will have the world when I claim it."
Half of me just wanted to agree with his words out of fear… but the other half wanted nothing more then to wipe his face into the ground right here and now.
"Eventually you will come to appreciate what I'm doing for you, Silver. I am making you strong. You yourself despise the weak. It's something we have in common… but unlike me, you despise even associating with them. You do not wish to use them."
Giovanni shook his head, as if his fucked up way of thinking was the right way to go about things.
"You share many similarities to me, but you share even more with your mother. Learn to control your temperament," he scolded.
"A journey is a great way for you to mature and see things the way you should. It's why I haven't put more effort into searching for you," Giovanni said bluntly.
"You will come back eventually and resume your role as my heir, Silver."
The way he said that… the utter assurance in his tone…
It really pissed me off.
This narcissistic fucking asshole had no idea what he just did. This absolute dumbass named my father had no clue what he just unleashed.
I can't believe that even in a world like this, the villains were prone to monologuing with absolute confidence. The nerve of this guy to confidently tell me to my face, that I'd eventually see things his way.
Oh you fucked up big time. Let it be known, I really hated when someone looked down on me, or assumed I'd do something I had no intention of doing.
If I was the old Silver maybe I would listen to him… but now?
Now we were a new person and that new person had managed to overwhelm his fear with rebellious teen fury that had a proper outlet on what to unleash it on.
Yeah, Team Rocket was done for. I'd make sure of it if it were the last thing I did.
Stupid smug arrogant prick of a father. I would have left Team Rocket alone too for the most part, I was only using Kanto to get stronger.
But now? Oh if this was anything like the games they were so fucked.
"We'll see," I said coolly, hiding my boiling rage as plans began formulating on how I was going to run this organization into the dirt.
Giovanni gazed at me once more, almost checking to see if there was anything wrong with me, before nodding in satisfaction and making his way to Flygon.
"Your mother won't admit it, but she does miss you," he offered me.
"She can go fuck herself," I said harshly, no longer fearing the consequences of my words.
I was far too incensed for that.
He chanced a glance at me in some surprise but merely smirked in amusement.
"I will relay those words to her then. Do not be surprised if she visits you."
I sneered.
"Wait a sec," I called suddenly. "Do I have any siblings?"
I was still stuck on him calling me his favorite son. There had to be a reason for that.
Giovanni actually paused at the question and a dark frown crossed his features, before vanishing as quick as it came.
"You have a younger brother the same age as you from this region. Do not ask anymore about him. He is beneath you. You may meet him on your journey but you two look nothing alike so you won't know."
With that, he beckoned Flygon and the dragon flew off with my father.
"Stupid son of a bitch," I grunted in rage, balling my fist tight and resisting the urge to smash it into a wall.
Giovanni really thought I was gonna mature and realize I was destined to eventually become the boss of Team Rocket?
He could fuck right off with that. All his words did was make me want the role even less.
In what world did Team Rocket Heir sound good to anyone? This was the organization that got smashed by a kid.
Now they were gonna lose to another one because he messed with the wrong one.
In the first place, that narcissist wouldn't give up his role to me until he died. I had no intention of staying in his shadow for the rest of his life.
He should have let me be. Now I was going to make him regret dragging me back into the mix one way or another.
Resolve set on the destruction of Team Rocket, I pondered the other topic of the discussion I had with him.
The one about my sibling.
Truthfully, the only reason I asked him that was because he called me his favorite son.
"You have a brother the same age as you."
I would bet all my money, that my brother was probably Ash Ketchum himself in this timeline. I don't know if this is how it was in every timeline where they both happen to exist but I did know that someone out there was laughing very hard at me right now.
…
I resisted the urge to scream in rage as the reality of the situation hit me and instead, punched the wall of the house I was leaning on, ignoring the cracks on it and the blood on my knuckles.
My dad was the boss of the worst criminal syndicate on the planet currently, my brother was a legendary magnet…
Now that I knew Giovanni was my father, it was easy for me to figure out who that my mom was probably that one girl in the Johto games… Archer?
No that was the guy…
Ariana, that's what it was. She practically looked like a female version of Silver so it wasn't hard to find out.
I felt my anger spike at that name, along with immense disappointment and sadness.
This fucking sucked. This was terrible. I hated this so much.
Kanto was supposed to be the region that gave me the least problems, but it looked like it was going to give me the most.
"Hey Silvy!" A chipper voice called out.
Except the chipper was very strained.
I gazed at Green with unimpressed eyes. "Oddly convenient of you to show up right now," I commented offhandedly.
Evidently, Green was a terrible liar.
She began laughing nervously at that, averting her gaze and rubbing the back of her head.
"W-What do you mean? I just got here at the scheduled time!" Green said with a shaky smile.
I snorted. "I know you saw most of that but I'll let it go for now since you're trying to act normal. C'mon, let's go and we'll discuss it later."
She nodded hastily, relief on her features before she gasped at the sight of my bloody knuckles.
"Are you alright?!" Green asked in concern, grabbing my hand and gauging the injury. "We have to get this wrapped up! Hold on I should have some bandages somewhere..."
I watched with a blank expression as she reached into her bag and pulled out a gauze, before steadily wrapping it around my hand.
Suddenly, traveling with Green wasn't a bad idea. I was hellbent on destroying Team Rocket now to secure my freedom, so using her in my war was cruel but something I had no qualms doing.
...It also made my life feel at least somewhat normal for the moment.
"This is terrible, have you ever wrapped a gauze around anything?" I said, utterly unimpressed by her work.
Green flushed red at her shoddy job. "N-No! But I'm trying!"
I sighed and let it be, shoving my injured hand in my pocket.
"Sometimes, that's all you can do, Leaf."
----------------------------------------
Diglett Cave, was a cave that was dug out by a practical army of Digletts.
It connected Pewter City and Vermilion City together, after the humans decided to personally put interest into the cave.
It was nice for people who didn't want to slog through Mt. Moon and cut down what would normally be a very long trip.
After some work, they made the caves traversable to human beings by renovating and adjusting it a bit.
It was very convenient and if there was one thing this world was good at, it was allowing convenience of travel on foot.
But the cave itself was very dull. Like its namesake, only Digletts and Dugtrios really inhabited the cave. Apparently any other pokemon who tried to make residence there were either driven out or killed by them.
Pretty harsh. Digletts did not mess around.
"Got a bike?" I asked Green.
She blinked and shook her head no. "No… they are a bit expensive… but I got a bike voucher while in Vermilion! This sweet old man was talking to me about his pokemon before giving me one! I can exchange it in Cerulean!"
Of course she did.
"You can use my bike for the time being then," I grunted, pulling my skates out and placing them on, before handing over my bike to her.
"R-Really?!" She asked in surprise.
I blinked at her. "Yeah, we only have two weeks. We gotta be quick about this and I don't need you slowing me down, just use it until we make it to Cerulean and you get your own."
Her eyes lit up and she nodded vigorously, accepting my black and red bike.
Then we began navigating through the cave at a pace we both agreed on.
Green and I were occasionally attacked by the Digletts and Dugtrio there, but they proved no problem to us and we progressed through about half the cave in a pretty good amount of time before deciding to take a break.
"So how much did you hear?" I asked, absentmindedly swatting the Togepi trying to steal more snacks from me.
Annoying bugger.
Green choked on her rice at that and Ivysaur brought out a vine to pat her back.
My team looked at her with unimpressed eyes, munching their specialized meals as they listened into the conversation.
Judging by the depressed expression on Freyja's face, they probably heard that conversation with Giovanni too.
I temporarily ignored the recovering Green for a moment and grabbed Freyja, much to her surprise.
"You guys heard what he said, right?" I asked softly, gazing at the defeated Feebas with a small frown.
My team nodded hesitantly. In particular, Loki had a frown like mine, recognizing exactly who I was talking to.
"I said everything I meant, Freyja. I don't care what anyone says, I captured you for a reason and I'll be damned if anyone convinces me to release you, got that?" I demanded.
"Of all the water types I could have picked, I chose you and I will not regret my decision. You gotta stop letting others get to your head because they aren't me," I chastised.
I rubbed her scales affectionately. "Ignore the haters, they'll be in awe of you soon enough, got that?"
Freyja looked up and met my stern gaze. She looked doubtful of my claims but nodded all the same and I sighed.
There was only one way to show her I was serious. I'd have to beat one of the Pewter Gym Leaders pokemon with her to boost her confidence.
Easy work. I planned on doing that regardless. Making Freyja believe in herself, was the key to evolving her so I'd make her see it herself when we won our battle.
"You done choking?" I asked Green with a raised brow. "You can stop being nervous about it."
My words did not reassure her at all. In fact, she got even more nervous.
She probably understood I preferred my secrets so my companion was justifiably wary at having been caught peeping.
"I know you're type. You'll die if you don't get the questions out," I urged, with a roll of my eyes.
I didn't really care. It's not like Giovanni mentioned anything extremely incriminating and we were talking quite low to each other.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
We were in public after all. Wouldn't be great if anyone overheard us.
Green nodded reluctantly and took a deep breath.
"I didn't hear anything… but were you talking to Giovanni, the Viridian Gym leader?" She asked, unable to hide her curiosity.
I nodded. "He's my sponsor. He got me Zorua," I said bluntly.
I wasn't sure if that was true, but it probably was. I also had no intention of revealing that he was my father.
My traveling companion nodded at that, half expecting that response but her face looked troubled. "You didn't… look very happy speaking to him and well, you nearly punched a hole into the wall... you're very strong by the way," she pointed out.
I shrugged, despite the less than savory thoughts going through my head about what I wanted to do to Team Rocket.
"He has expectations for me that I have no interest in following. Unfortunately, he doesn't take no for an answer and that really pisses me off," I said darkly, clenching my fist at the thought of Giovanni.
Despite his "praise" for me, Giovanni still looked down on me. He didn't take me serious.
He called me his heir, he had high hopes for me… yet despite that, he still only saw me as some foolish kid.
I was going to make him regret that. He was going to learn the hard way how vindictive I could be.
"Ah so you wanna do your own thing, but he wants you to do something else?" Green asked curiously, an indecipherable emotion in her eyes.
"Yep," I said calmly, finishing off my bowl of rice (this was one of the few things I could actually make edible at the moment!) and placing it up.
Green polished off her own rice (I made too much and she didn't complain about the taste) and stood up.
We both began packing our respective things up in our nonsense bags and repeated the same with our Pokemon.
"So what do you want to do?" Green asked curiously, returning her team. "I guess Giovanni wants you to become a Gym Leader like him… but you don't specialize in a type so what?"
"I dunno," I grunted, returning my team. "But I want the freedom to make the decision when I finally do know what I want to do. I'm not going to let anyone chain me down with their expectations."
I dusted the remaining dirt off my pants and placed my skates back on, ready to finish this trip before afternoon hit.
Diglett Cave didn't even have anything worth having a detour. What a lame cave. At least the path was fairly linear and only took a few hours on bike/skate.
Green was gazing at me with shining eyes.
"You're so cool, Silvy!" She gushed, slinging her bag back on and climbing atop my bike.
I rolled my eyes, stamping down the slight embarrassment at that. "Shut up and ride the bike."
Green's eyes turned mischievous on the spot and I groaned in annoyance.
"Oh? Is Silvy embarrassed at a little praise?! Is it because a cute girl like me is the one praising you?! Hey, stop ignoring me! HEY WAIT UP, WHY ARE YOU SKATING SO FAST?!"
----------------------------------------
"I thought it would have taken way longer to make it to Pewter but you don't waste anytime, Silvy!" Green awed, looking at her clock and seeing that it was only 3 pm.
I grunted, thankful for once at my unruly hair covering my eyes because the light after leaving a fairly dark cave, was a little jarring.
When I left Rusturf Tunnel, the sun hadn't been shining both times and it was the same with Meteor Falls.
I wasn't as fortunate for Diglett Cave but my hair more than made up for it as it protected one of my eyes from the beaming sun.
Kanto wasn't as dominating in terms of weather in comparison to Hoenn.
Whatever weather state Hoenn was in, whether it was hot or raining, it made sure to impose that weather onto you. The heat was scalding, the rain was heavy and it rarely ever got cold.
Kanto was far more standard. It cycled through the weather like a normal place. It could get cold, it could get hot, it could rain, it could snow.
Sure it could get bad, but it wasn't on the level of a place like Hoenn or say, Sinnoh, which was infamously known for being frigid levels of cold.
I was not looking forward to traveling through Sinnoh. I despised the cold.
But Kanto was nice. It was hot right now but compared to Hoenn, it was practically a light breeze.
Pewter City was boring. Maybe Hoenn really had spoiled me because every city I went too in that region was just outright incredible.
Especially Fortree. I really needed to go to Fortree again. Joy had taken to sending me pictures of interesting sights in between moderating my vital status.
But Kanto was as basic as the games and that was its charm. Pewter City had a slate gray theme about it, with granite floors, an assortment of buildings and even a museum that was full of Fossils.
They're lucky I wasn't interested in any fossils. I guarantee I would have been able to commit a heist and get away with it.
Hmm, maybe if I was bored, I'd get that Old Amber. It's not like I wanted it… but an Aerodactyl was kinda cool.
Okay Silver, let's not just steal for fun. Only steal when I benefit from it and though I'd benefit from an Aerodactyl… I didn't really want one.
I'd be a good thief for now and take it easy.
"Alright, take me to the gym," I said, gazing in interest at the happenings of the city.
The people mingled about and rock types seemed to especially populate the area, as well as basic pokemon you'd encounter in the earlier routes.
As we headed towards the gym, Green chatted my ear off as usual and I listened silently, occasionally nodding at things she said, while plotting what I was planning on doing against the Gym Leader.
"I could have sworn I saw some of these people when I was battling Flint," Green muttered in interest.
"Challengers?" I muttered back, sneering at someone whose gaze I caught. "You're telling me they couldn't even beat this guy and are stuck here? Isn't this your first badge? How long ago was that?"
Green scratched her head and laughed nervously. "About… a month or two ago?"
I snorted and walked through the automatic doors.
"They should quit then. This sport isn't for them."
It was expected that not everyone was meant to do gym challenges but some people were stubborn and really thought they could do it if they kept trying.
Some lost their first few gym battles and went off to try to get a badge from another gym leader that they might have a bigger advantage against.
Others thought that they could beat the gym leader after enough tries and remained in one spot for who knows how long. Sometimes they gave up and moved on to another gym, sometimes they gave up on gym challenges in general.
Pokemon Battling was an extreme sport here and like every sport, there were those who did it casually and those who eventually did it professionally.
Gym Challenges were meant to slowly weed the casuals out. It was a fairly ruthless tactic but it made sense. People who could beat 8 Gym Leaders could earn themselves a well paying job at the league.
People who could compete in the big leagues of the Pokemon League, earned very valuable spots. It was a tantalizing offer, one that few would turn away.
But not everyone was meant to do it.
"Cruel… but not wrong," Green admitted, patting Togepi's head affectionately.
I side eyed her for a moment as I walked up to the receptionist there.
Green was very used to my less than stellar personality, probably attributed to the fact that she was friends with Blue...
But she was also unknowingly beginning to pick up on it too. Made sense, she was a kid at the end of the day and kids were easily impressionable.
Even I wasn't exempt from that. After all, despite my maturity, I still didn't see myself as anything but 12 and I was a growing… kid.
What a thought.
"Welcome to the Pewter Gym!" The receptionist smiled politely. "Would you like to schedule a gym battle?"
"Yeah," I said shortly. "Silver. One badge."
She blinked, caught off guard by the fact that I answered every question without her asking but she nodded, typing something on the keyboard.
The receptionist blinked, before her eyes went wide and she gazed back up at me.
"W-Wow, you managed to get your first badge from Surge… one day ago?!" She asked in shock, gazing at me.
"Yeah," I said blandly, ignoring the gaze of everyone in the gym and narrowing my eyes at the receptionist.
It was no secret that Surge was going around crushing everyone who challenged him. The fact that I managed to beat him without a single gym badge… was downright incredible, especially considering the fact that I was a new trainer.
Whispers were going around and I idly shoved the giggling Green, making her yelp loudly instead. Togepi let out a startled yell as well and glared at me venomously, to which I completely ignored.
The receptionist flinched at my unamused gaze and had the decency to look apologetic.
She typed on the keyboard a bit more before looking up at me with a small reserved smile.
"Your gym battle against Flint is scheduled for tomorrow at noon!" She exclaimed and I raised a brow.
"Tomorrow? A bit fast isn't it?" I muttered curiously, storing the info away.
"Not many people have matches scheduled because there is a cooldown period for battling gym leaders. If you lose, you're prohibited from battling for a few days. You have to wait," she explained to me and I nodded.
That made a lot of sense. I'd be pissed if I stomped some kid and he came back the next day to get stomped again. It'd be really annoying.
This world was surprisingly well thought out.
"So all these people already lost?" I asked, before snorting loudly at the thought.
Yeah, nothing else needed to be said. That was just embarrassing. There were a healthy amount of people in here.
Maybe Surge's method was really effective. He probably scared all the losers away because his gym had been barren.
"Guess you weren't wrong Green, you did see these people before," I smirked, making my way out of the gym with a cocky gait.
Green balked at me. "S-Silvy! Not so loud!" She hissed, but it was too late.
"Hey! Battle me!" A voice called out, causing my smirk to widen.
There was just something about being antagonistic that was really fun.
"You sure you can handle a battle?" I said derisively, looking at the fuming teen with innocent eyes. "However many losses you had against this guy is already embarrassing enough… you sure you want me to add another one?" I asked innocently.
"Silvy!" Green groaned in annoyance.
Why was he such a prick sometimes?
Now everyone in the gym looked poised to battle the duo (she didn't even do anything!) and the Pallet Town native let out a sigh.
At least they'd get some battles before the gym.
----------------------------------------
"Zen Headbutt, wrap it up," I instructed calmly.
Beldum followed my command to a ruthless degree, shooting forward with a psychic sheen on his steel temple.
"Oh no, dodge Gloom!" My opponent shouted frantically.
It was not to be, Gloom had been pressed the entire match by Beldum and we were finally going in for the kill.
Beldum crashed into Gloom with expert precision and sent the grass type sprawling with a pained cry.
"C'mon Gloom! Get back up!" Its trainer yelled desperately.
Gloom did not move, unconscious and blissfully unaware of its trainers calls.
"And that's that," I announced, beckoning Beldum over to my side with a pleased smirk.
I gazed at my steel type with searching eyes. "How often have you been training while we sleep?" I asked curiously, noticing how easier they were using their moves.
"Bel," Beldum intoned.
So basically everyday. It was clearly helping them out because Beldum was not as weak as it once was. It's psychic energy especially, seemed to be harnessed at an easier level.
The trainers in that gym had proven that they needed more time to battle Flint because I had not lost a single battle to them.
And they really tried too. I chose to accept one on ones against them in preparation for my battle tomorrow and it worked out exceedingly well for me.
Everyone wanted to put the arrogant prick in his place so they sent out their bests… only for them to all fail.
Even in matches where I should have had the disadvantage, I came out on top of because they simply lacked the sheer amount of knowledge I had amassed.
Turns out, my dominant half did have a lot to offer in this body. My prior knowledge did wonders with my natural abilities in battling… and these guys just didn't have what it took to make it very far in the gym circuit challenge. I couldn't afford to lose to them.
"Alright Leaf, I'm done here. It was easy but my team is probably still tired so I wanna visit a Center," I said dismissively, watching no one else step up to battle me. They all avoided eye contact and I rolled my eyes.
Props to my team for not faltering at the amount of people who wanted a piece of me. They just held their own and won their battles.
Gaia, Loki and Ares handled a majority of my battles because I didn't want to exhaust Beldum and Freyja.
Gaia would fight the ones who looked a tad more experienced and people were quickly learning that my Bayleef was the biggest menace on the team.
She was crushing it. Ever since that victory against Raichu, she had been stepping up even further and I was proud, because my team refused to let her keep the lead she suddenly gained.
If there was one thing my team and I shared, it was their competitiveness and that even translated to against each other.
They were teammates first but that didn't stop them all from trying to be the best on the team.
I loved it. I encouraged the competition.
But I digress, the trainers in this gym weren't good. Flint/Brock, were well known for being one of the easiest gyms to complete in the Kanto Gym Circuit no matter how many badges you challenged them with.
If you were stuck here… bad news.
Green sighed at my antics and nodded. "You're so mean," she pointed out.
"We established this the first day you met me," I replied with a roll of my eyes. "There's a reason I prefer to travel alone. There's a reason I didn't want to travel with you. I'm kind of a dick."
"Yeah, you are," my companion muttered, shaking her head in exasperation.
"Green?!"
We both paused at that and turned towards the voice.
It was an unassuming and short boy, with brown hair and big brown eyes.
I didn't recognize him at all. Probably not anyone important.
"Oh! Mason!" Green waved happily. "Silvy! This is Mason, he's the one I was telling you about!"
I blinked slowly and gazed at the boy my age with a bored expression. "Leaf, you probably don't realize... but you talk a shit ton. I have no idea who this is supposed to be."
She looked confused for a minute and scratched her messy brown hair. "He's one of the Oak sponsors! We got our starters at the same time!"
Ohhh. This was the one whose name I couldn't even remember.
Mason flinched at my sharp gaze and nervously gazed at his friend. "Um… Green, are you really traveling with this guy?"
Green's look of confusion came back. "Yeah, I am! Why are you so surprised about that?" she mused, cupping her chin.
I rolled my eyes. "Because of the conversation we just had… about how I'm "really mean". Let's use our heads here Leaf," I explained, utterly unimpressed with both of them.
She immediately rounded on me with an indignant glare. "That's the third time in a row you called me Leaf! It's Greeeeen! Why do you refuse to call me Green?!"
"Third time? I've never once called you Green. Your name is Leaf so that's what I call you," I smirked, pushing the insistent finger out of my face.
Then I turned towards the pallet native with a sneer. "If you wanna take her off my hands, feel free… I'm not gonna complain, but she's probably not traveling with you because for some reason, you're still in Pewter City."
Mason flinched back and I sneered.
"Instead of worrying about my business, worry about how after about two months, you probably still don't have a single badge," I said bluntly, eyes narrowed at the annoyance.
Stupid little kid, trying to infer that Green shouldn't be traveling with me.
Don't get me wrong, she absolutely shouldn't be… I even thought she should be traveling alone, but when someone stuck their nose into my business when their opinion wasn't wanted or needed, it would annoy me to no end.
So even if this kid said something I agreed with, he should have fucked off and kept it to himself.
"Silver! You're totally out of line and he's not rude like Blue," Green said firmly, staring seriously at me. "I get you don't like people being nosy, but Mason's my friend! You don't have to be so mean to him."
I stared at her in disinterest, utterly unmoved. "Whatever. I'm going to the Center and then I'm off to prepare. Feel free to catch up with your friend but I'm not interested in hearing what he has to say. I have better things to worry about."
With that, I was off.
"Wait!"
I paused and glanced back, silver eyes boring into the Mason guy with a warning look.
Mason flinched, before steeling himself.
"B-Battle me!" He demanded, clutching a Pokeball in his hands.
"...Are you sure about that?" I asked calmly.
"Yeah, maybe you shouldn't battle him, Mason!" Green suggested with a nervous laugh. "He beat Blue in a battle! Silver's real tough!"
I snorted loudly.
If one thing remained universal, it was that a boy would never want himself to be embarrassed in front of a girl, especially a girl that they thought was cute.
And this Mason kid clearly had a crush on Green.
"Let's battle!" Mason said surely.
"…" I said nothing for a bit, glancing at Green with a curious eye.
Her expression was practically pleading with me to refuse the offer. She clearly knew that Mason was out of his league here and this would only end one way.
Unfortunately for Green, Mason had managed to overstep his nonexistent boundaries and I was properly annoyed that he had the audacity to battle me after watching what just took place.
"Your funeral," I shrugged. "Leaf, referee. It'll be quick then you two can catch up."
Green let out a sigh and nodded reluctantly.
"Just one on one," she requested.
"That's the plan," I replied easily. "I said I'd make it quick didn't I?"
Green sighed again.
----------------------------------------
"Ares," I said calmly, sending out my fierce Bagon.
"C-Charmeleon let's do this!" Mason shouted, sending out his starter with a look of determination.
The light coalesced into the middle staged evolution of Charmander and I gazed at it curiously.
Bipedal, with red scales that contrasted from the burnt orange of its evolution and first form… a long snout and a single horn on its head.
Charizard wasn't a pokemon I myself was vastly interested in. As a kid, I loved it to death but as I got older, I began to appreciate others more.
My favorite fire starter was Blaziken… but Charizard was still plenty cool.
I didn't particularly want one though. It's not something I would outright reject, but I'd pick a few fire types before I picked Charizard.
The Charmeleon before me looked as violent as its reputation stated and it's sharp blue eyes immediately locked onto Ares, who grinned fiercely at the challenge.
"Charmeleon, use Dragon Rage!" Mason ordered, pointing a finger at Bagon.
For a moment, I saw it glance back at its trainer and saw a flash of dissatisfaction cross its feature before it reluctantly followed the demand.
"Dragon Breath," I countered easily.
Ares didn't even hesitate unlike the Charmeleon, opening her mouth and belching out our current favorite move to use.
Much to Mason's surprise, Dragon Breath overpowered Dragon Rage and Charmeleon hastily moved to the right to dodge the line of dragon fire.
"Look at that, Ares," I mused. "This fake dragon thinks it can use dragon techniques better than you. Isn't that a sight?"
Ares let out a scoff, eyes narrowed at that and as if to prove Charmeleon wrong, she opened her mouth and shot out another Dragon Breath.
"Charmeleon, get out of there!" Mason shouted frantically.
Charmeleon didn't need to be told twice, scrambling to continue moving as Ares attempted to wash him in the draconic flames.
"Try Ember!" My opponent instructed.
I rolled my eyes. "Rage. Absorb it. Then use Dragon Dance. Let's wrap this up quick."
A red tint entered Ares' eyes and she easily weathered the bouts of ember coming from Charmeleon's mouth.
Then, she began doing her moving her head to a beat that only she could hear, draconic energies roiling off her body.
"Headbutt."
Mason and Charmeleon's eyes widened in disbelief, as Ares launched herself forward with a new surge of speed.
The fire type attempted to move out of the way, but my battle hungry Bagon was not having it. She swiftly closed the gap, tucked her head in and slammed the Headbutt directly into Charmeleon's sternum.
"Charmeleon!" Mason shouted in concern, watching the fire type get launched away by Ares' ridiculously tough skull. "Quick! Up and use —"
"Dragon Breath."
Mason's words died on his lips, as the powered up Dragon Breath crashed into Charmeleon's form with pinpoint accuracy.
"And that's that," I said with a roll of my eyes, listening to Ares let out a satisfied roar. "You've got stamina for days, Ares. Aren't you tired?"
"Gon!" Ares snorted, ducking her head in front of me.
I affectionately pat her skull with a small smirk and tossed a snack into her mouth.
Ares was the one I was trying to use the most because I didn't have many plans to use her in this battle… and probably not for Cerulean either.
I also didn't want to rely on Gaia too much for those. With her, I have no doubt the badges would be a breeze to get but I wasn't a brute like Green who just slammed everyone with that stupid Ivysaur.
I wanted my entire team to get experience in these gyms. Gaia would be a last resort if I was brought to one pokemon in this gym and the next.
She was a safety net for me to go a bit wild.
I bet Gaia would love to hear how much I was relying on her. She sure did love my attention.
"Alright, let's get to the center. You guys fought a lot today and we've got another one tomorrow so we'll just relax until then," I muttered, placing Ares back in her ball and standing up.
"I'm headed back, Leaf. I'm gonna chill for the rest of the day."
Green looked stunned by the sudden turn of events and nodded without really thinking about it.
"A-Alright… I'll catch up in a bit," she mumbled.
I inclined my head and made my way to the Pokemon Center, walking past the frozen Mason in the process.
This fight wasn't even slightly challenging so I lost whatever interest I had in this entire exchange. It wasn't even worth acknowledging anymore.
But still…
"Word of advice, if you ever evolve that Charmeleon into a Charizard, it's probably going to kill you. He will never acknowledge you as his trainer, Jason," I advised in a low voice, marching past the heartbroken kid.
Mason flinched horribly at my blunt words, turning wide eyes towards me but I just ignored it and continued my gait.
That wasn't even me trying to be rude. He was just a kid and no matter how antagonistic I was, I didn't think a kid deserved to die.
But at this rate, even the Charmeleon might throw caution to the wind and attack his trainer.
Certain pokemon needed to be raised different from others. That's why despite being so infamously strong, not everyone owned a dragon.
Though, maybe he wouldn't die since this was an Oak raised starter. If it were a Charmeleon from the wild, Jason would have been dead or severely injured already.
Charizard's may not be dragon types, but they didn't look like dragons for fun. Dragons were one of the most difficult types to raise because you had to be at a certain standard to earn their respect.
It varied, but I doubted much dragons would want this Jason guy as their trainer. He wasn't bad… but he wasn't good and that might be fatal in the long run.
Charizards were still prideful after all and losing against this guy repeatedly, would be a serious blow to its pride that it may never forget.
But oh well, that wasn't for me to worry about besides my one bit of advice. My dragon already deemed me worthy so I was safe up until she turned into an ultra violent Salamence.
Bah, that was for future me to worry about.
Green winced as she watched the soul crushing look on Mason's face.
That fight had been a completely one-sided affair. Not once did it look like Mason was going to win that battle and the worst part… was how dismissive Silver had been after winning.
He didn't even glance at Mason once… to her traveling companion, her fellow Pallet Town resident wasn't even worth the time.
"I'm sorry about him," Green apologized, putting a hand on Mason's shoulder and frowning slightly. "He's a bit… harsh and I wish I could say he's not all that bad… but that's not the case for everyone."
Despite his bad manners, Silver was far nicer to her, than the people they encountered.
He… valued strength quite a bit and if you were weak, he wouldn't give you an ounce of his attention, all while being as rude as possible about it.
Her friend sure was a strange one…
"Don't think too much about what he says. He's really rude and I don't think he's capable of complimenting people… you're doing great, Mason! You'll beat Flint eventually," Green reassured, patting his shoulder.
"Now, I'm gonna go tell Silvy off for being so rude all the time. It was nice seeing you again, Mason! Good luck out there!" She waved.
"Y-Yeah… you too Green!" Mason replied louder than normal, resisting the urge to cry.
That Silver guy was so mean… h-he did have what it took to be a trainer...
----------------------------------------
"Hey, Jas. You actually look alive today," I greeted in the comfort of my room.
"Silver!" Jasmine beamed, looking far less tired than the last time I saw her.
Good. She should only be exhausted because I was tormenting her, not because of anyone else causing her stress.
"I decided to focus on my health after our talk! I actually spoke to Champion Lance the other day about my inquiries and stressed the importance of not telling anyone."
I perked a brow at that and nodded. "What did he say?"
"Well he thanked me and when I did tell him, it's almost like I could see the gears turning in his head! I think your advice really helped and I'm sure we'll make a lot of progress!"
I nodded, pleased by that. Now that I head figured out everything I did, I would ensure that my bastard of a father regret all his decisions and take out his organization by any means possible.
I had no interest in aligning with the League to do so, but if they upped the pressure on Team Rocket, they'd make my life easier.
"Champion Lance was so impressed by your foresight, that he wanted to meet you!"
…
Huh?
"Huh?" I said dumbly, gazing at my best friend with a blank gaze.
Obviously Jasmine and I had been talking for enough time for her to pick up on some of my cues, so her happy expression immediately shifted into one of confusion and she gazed worriedly at me.
"Did you just say… Champion Lance wants to meet me?" I asked her slowly.
She nodded slowly. "He asked me how I came to this conclusion… and I told him a friend opened my eyes to that possibility."
Jasmine paused in confusion at my loud groan.
Why was she so honest? It was unreal for someone to be this nice.
"I wouldn't have minded if you took the credit, really," I sighed with a shake of my head.
"I could never! You're the one who thought of it and I'd feel terrible taking credit for something you thought of!"
I rolled my eyes. "You're too nice Jas. Seriously, I wouldn't have cared even a little…" I informed her.
Talking to Champion Lance, was the last thing I wanted. I actually didn't want that at all. I didn't want to talk to a single champion in this world.
Eh. Oh well, I would just roll with the punches then.
"You might be the only person not eager to speak to Champion Lance," Jasmine mused with a hint of exasperation and amusement.
"You know me Jas. There's no one on this planet I'm eager to speak to but you," I rolled my eyes.
Predictably, she lit up red at my compliment and began stammering.
Honestly, it was too easy.
"Did he ever mention when he wanted to meet me?" I asked curiously.
How did she even know I was in Kanto? Was little Jas keeping track of me?
I guess it was the same way Giovanni did… by keeping track of my gym battles.
Should I stop doing the Gym Challenge?
...Nah. This was a fast way to getting stronger. Not to mention, that fight with Surge was really exciting and it helped me out a ton too.
"Um, I'm not sure. He just mentioned that he wanted to meet you!"
"Helpful," I replied dryly.
Jasmine laughed a bit. "I did tell him you aren't very easy to talk to and believe it or not, I mentioned that Silver might not care about his champion status. I think that just excited him more."
I snorted at that. She really did know me very well. If she wasn't there, I wouldn't have given Lance even a second of my time, regardless of his status.
Well whatever. I'd deal with it as it came. Nothing to be done about it.
"You still haven't made any other friends? I'm not making you more confident for no reason you know," I chided.
My friend flushed at that and ducked her head. "Well… I'm fine with just you being my friend. The other Gym Leaders have noticed my changes a bit though… Whitney asked me if I wanted to hang out with her and I said yes! I'm even becoming a better battler!"
I couldn't stop the proud smile at that. "A little confidence goes a long way —"
"YOU CAN SMILE?!"
Jasmine jumped, eyes wide at the loud volume and I couldn't blame her because I must have reacted like a wild cat.
Green was gaping at me with wide eyes, somehow managing to get into my room without me noticing.
How the hell… did she actually possess innate espionage skills like me?
My Pokemon, who were lazing about, glanced at Green but at this point, they were used to her antics and continued their affairs.
"Why the hell are you screaming, Leaf?" I asked in annoyance, narrowing my eyes at her.
"Why?!" She balked. "I just saw you smile! I didn't think that was possible! Can you do it again? I wanna take a picture of it!"
I rolled my eyes. "Get outta my room, Leaf."
"Silver, who is that?" Jasmine asked suddenly, a curious look in her eye.
Green perked up at that and her mouth opened in surprise.
Without any hesitation, she rushed over and threw herself atop my bed, practically shoving her face into the camera.
It was a miracle that I hadn't yet grown tired of Green because holy shit this girl was annoying.
"You have a friend?!" Green gasped, gazing at Jasmine over the phone.
"You made a friend?!" Jasmine gasped as well, eyes lighting up at not seeing me throttle Green immediately for invading my personal space.
"Shut up," I demanded harshly, eyes narrowed in annoyance. "Leaf is not my friend. We are traveling companions."
"We so are friends!" Green disagreed immediately, beaming to Jasmine over the line. "It's nice to meet you! I'm Leaf Green, but you can call me Green! Me and Silvy have been hanging out with each other for a few days so we're totally friends!"
Unlike me, my fellow introvert Jasmine, had absolutely no problems with Green's larger than life personality and just returned a big smile herself.
Huh, guess my confidence training really was working out for her.
"Hello Green!" Jasmine greeted happily. "I'm very pleased to meet you! It might be a bit hasty of me to say, but considering we're both friends of Silver, I think we'll end up being great friends ourselves!"
"Totally! You're so nice and I don't know how you managed to become friends with Silvy!" Green beamed. "Here hold on, let's exchange numbers and we can message each other!"
"What the fuck?" I thought to myself in confusion, watching the two chat it up.
Y'know what, whatever. As long as Jasmine was making more friends… and as long as Green's attention was focused on someone else besides me.
I flicked open my Pokedex and began scrolling, zoning out the two chatting with a startling amount of skill.
"Hey wait a sec! You only said I wasn't your friend but you didn't say anything about Jas!" Green pointed out.
"Because Jasmine is my friend," I said idly as I continued scrolling through my Pokedex.
"Oh don't listen to him, Green! If Silver really didn't like you at all, you probably wouldn't even be in his room right now! He can really be quite rude…"
I groaned and shut my Pokedex.
Never mind, I was just gonna take a nap.
----------------------------------------
"Loki."
Loki perked up at that, gazing at Gaia, along with the rest of the team, with a curious eye.
Silver was currently asleep, managing to not make a sound even during slumber.
"What is it?" Loki asked, peering at his allies with an interested eye.
Ares stepped forward.
"You know the most about our vassal correct? Explain the contents of that conversation he had with his creator!"
Gaia sighed at how blunt Ares was. "You were with Silver for a really long time so we thought you'd know... he didn't seem very happy with that man."
"I guess even Silver has problems..." Freyja muttered in shock.
Loki frowned slightly. "I don't know if it's right for me to say everything. Silver will tell you all eventually but we've been together for a long time. He hatched me."
"That man is named Giovanni... he's given Silver a lot of problems growing up. It... turned him cruel."
And that extended to everyone, even Loki himself.
"Silver didn't use to be this nice. He was a lot angrier and didn't care about anything," Loki admitted. "He's still angry and still Silver but... he doesn't direct it to everything. Just most thing."
His team listened with raptured attention.
"I've never seen Silver as happy as he is now and I think he will get happier... but we need to make sure he doesn't go back to Giovanni," Loki said firmly.
"So that guy is really bad news..." Gaia muttered. That would explain why Silver stole her. That guy probably taught him that...
"If my vassal desires war against that man, then I will lead the charge," Ares said bluntly with a scowl. "He is not someone who will ever answer to anyone but me! I will not have him submit!"
"For once, I agree with the brute... and Silver defended me against that guy! I'll become strong and teach him a lesson," Freyja scowled.
Loki gazed at them and nodded proudly. "So we're all in agreement to stop that guy... What about you, Beldum?"
Beldum barely spared him a glance.
"Refrain from asking such ridiculous questions, trickster. My goals align with the blight, therefore I will ensure that they are not jeopardized."
That was the best he was going to get from Beldum.
At least they were all in agreement... the last thing Loki wanted, was for Silver to go back into Giovanni's hands...
He might end up like the old Silver again...
Loki's eyes narrowed at that.
He couldn't let that happen. It was his job to protect his trainer so that's what he'd do.
He'd bring him back to the Silver who had been so happy to have hatched his first pokemon.