Generation 1: Back Home, a pokémon fanfic

After their victory over Red on Twist Mountain, Leaf and her Pokemon were rather spent. They decided to return to Kanto forthwith, but take a small stop in Johto, due to being short on funds. They stopped in Goldenrod, waiting for the Magnet Train, which would be unavailable for the time being, due to problems with electricity in Kanto.

That was where they met him.

Leaf was waiting in line at the Pokemon center, while all of her Pokemon were out and playing. She saw a young man with crimson hair, wearing a black and red shirt. At first, Leaf was put out by all the red, remembering her encounters with the horrible Trainer. But Silver walked with a Pokemon, a Croconaw, and she could see that while Croconaw's trainer seemed so dark, he clung to the trainer happily. For something like a Croconaw, it was rather happy, and kind of cute, which showed that the trainer wasn't all so bad at all. She decided to put on some courage, and try to talk to the mysterious trainer.

"Hello, my name is Leaf. What's your name?" She smiled at him.

"Hm? Me? I'm... I'm Silver. Um... why are you talking to me?" He asked, bewildered.

"Well, I was wondering... um... do you live around here? I'm visiting on my way back to Kanto."

"Oh really? So you live in Kanto? Is it like everyone says? Apparently the trainers there are really strong." Silver's eyes showed a spark, the spark that any good trainer got when they thought of challenging trainers.

"Mhm! It's really tough, hard to believe how beginner most of us were when I began training." Leaf smiled, strangely giddy talking to the strange man. He seemed to be a good person, but he was so mysterious that she got a thrill talking to him.

Leaf didn't know that she was definitely not supposed to be talking to this person. His life, his secrets, were going to lead her down a path that could lead to a million possible demises, and only one real way of escape. To stop talking to Silver. To never associate with him again. But her youth and ignorance led her to believe that this was an innocent conversation.

"So, you live in Johto? Which part of Johto? What are your parents like?"

Silver shrugged, "I don't specifically live in any single part of Johto. I just drift around, and do my job."

Leaf tilted her head, "Job? What kind of job?"

"You shouldn't need to worry about it."

Correct thought: He's keeping a secret from me. Fine, let him be that way, I don't want to talk to him.

Leaf's hormonal teenager thought? Oooooooooooooooh mysterious! I wanna try to get him to tell me! I won't leave till he does!

"Okay... are there any, specific... places, that you prefer? Like Goldenrod. Do you like this city? Is there anything specifically interesting about it?"

Silver shrugged, his eyes flickering to the door nervously. "I guess, the only really interesting places are the Department store and the Pokeathlon Dome just beyond the city, but I don't go there..."

Leaf giggled, "Why not? It's one of Johto's main attractions."

Silver shook his head, "Listen, I just need to go, alright?"

Correct thought: He wants to be alone. If that's his game, good for him.

Leaf+Hormones thought: You can't get away so easy!

"Fine. But first, you need to do a Pokeathlon. Look, I'll heal my Pokemon, then we'll go. And don't you dare think about leaving cause I have an Espeon and she will track you down and haul you back to me and you will do this Pokeathlon one way or another, understand me, Silver?" She pointed at him in her best 'Don't even think about it' gesture.

Silver gulped, and gave in. "Okay."

Leaf smiled, "Now was that so hard?" She giggled.

Silver mumbled, "Yes..."

Ignoring Silver, Leaf got everyone together, healed them, and got back to Silver, who had patiently waited for her.

"Alright, let's go!"

Silver looked wistfully at the large Radio building, as if he wanted to be there. Leaf looked, and could have sworn she saw a Pokemon Battle going on inside. Oh well, if Silver wanted to watch it was too bad for him. He was hanging out with Leaf, and until she was done with him, he was going NOWHERE.

"Hey, you didn't tell me your name." Silver asked, deciding that he wasn't getting anywhere.

"I'm Leaf, from Pallet town in Kanto! I live there with my Dad, 'cus my Mom died when I was little. She was trying to stop the Rockets, you know? She was super brave, it was even said that she nearly defeated Giovanni, until he called in his other troops who... well... that's all in the past. It would have been nice for my Mom to see me like this, how powerful I've become, and the good that I've done. I imagine her looking down on me, proud to see how well her daughter turned out, even with her Dad off working most of the time." Leaf smiled.

Silver reeled back, "Your mother..."

Leaf held back her tears, "Don't worry about trying to cajole me or anything. I'm good, really. I just hope that she knows how much Dad and I love her, and that we'll see them one day."

Silver opened his mouth to say something, but stopped. He pointed to the large Dome that had began to peek over the horizon. "That way."

Leaf nodded. She took out her Pokedex. "So, Squirtle and Charmander are pretty fast, but Charmander is more oriented to power. Bulbasaur is moderately fast but has more stamina, and Espeon is... whoo! She's really fast! Alright, I think I have a team set up for a Speed competition. You?"

Silver smiled, "Sneasel, Golbat, and Croconaw. They're lightning fast!"

Leaf smiled, "Alright! I'm ready for this! Race you there!"

She broke into a run.

Silver laughed, seeming almost surprised to hear the sound coming out of his mouth. "You... you won't beat me!"

He seemed so awkward, it was kinda cute, "We'll see about that, Silver!"

Soon, they were neck and neck, "C'mon, Leaf! We're only halfway there!"

Leaf laughed, "I'm not even trying!"

Silver kept beside her the whole way, and their Pokemon followed behind.

Soon they were at the Pokeathlon Dome. "Alright, so here we are!" Silver rasped, catching his breath.

"Ya know... It's getting kinda late... Is there anywhere... that we could stay?" Leaf asked.

"Yea, just inside there's a place we could stop the night."

Leaf nodded, and put her hand to her forehead. "I'm... kinda... dizzy."

She fell back, and Silver caught her.

She looked up as she succumbed to her fatigue. Silver picked her up, and as her vision faded, she felt him kick the huge doors open on pure strength.

The last she heard was, "Stay with me, Leaf? You hear me? Stay awa-"

Things got strange after that. Her vision blurred, and everything seemed to move with a trail following behind it. She couldn't hear anything, and though Silver yelled, all she could register was the movement of his mouth. Then... Blackness.

She awoke with a doctor standing over her. "Leaf? Do you hear me? You've suffered a heatstroke, Leaf. You're very lucky that you were with this young man, he brought you just in time to be treated. He also seems to have acted as a focal point for your mind, allowing it to operate for longer. In a way, his very presence saved your life."

She turned to see another bed. Silver laid in it, and she turned to the doctor, concerned. "Is he going to be okay?"

"He'll be fine. He stayed up all day and all night, watching the treatment. A real guardian angel, right there. So ironic, considering who he is."

"Who he is?" Leaf asked.

"Yes, he isn't the best character you know."

For whatever reason, this got her mad, "Don't say that about him. I think..."

She turned to Silver's sleeping form. "I think that he's a good person. The best character in this room, probably."

As if unconciously hearing her compliment, he turned, and gave a smile. It seemed like he was already so different from when she first met him, even in sparse hours.

A man opened the door, "Leaf?"

"Dad? But you... you were in Hoenn! Silph's merger with Devon..."

"Failed. I left early, and the replacement was a flying blunder. Friggin' nationalists. But I don't care, because now I know you're okay."

Leaf smiled, and jumped from the hospital bed. "Um, Leaf, you shouldn't..." The doctor frowned.

"Shut up." She pulled her father's arm.

"Dad, this is Silver! He's my new friend. He got me help when it happened. Sure it happened cause I was running with him, I guess I wasn't entirely used to the temperature change from Twist Mountain to Goldenrod City, but that doesn't mean anything. He's from Johto."

Her father smiled mischievously. "Do you like him?"

"DAD!"

He gave a booming laugh, "Just wondering if I'm looking at my future son in law."

"DA-AD!"

"Hahahahahaha! I love messing with you, Leaf."

Leaf's face went red, partly from the embarassment and partly from the thought of marrying Silver. "Not cool, Dad."

His face still showed the lines of the smile. Leaf ignored him, and went to wake Silver. "Hey, Silver, I'm awake! I'm still up for that Pokeathlon."

Silver's eyes slowly opened. "Hm? Leaf?"

His eyes snapped wide, and, seemingly on impulse, stood and pulled her into a tight embrace. He quickly broke apart, and his face seemed to be less pale, somehow. "G-glad to see you're awake."

Leaf smiled, and on her own impulse, hugged him. This time, they spent a lot longer holding each other before separating.

When they finally did, Leaf caught her father making a wide smile. He mouthed: Yup. Son in law.

She gave him a deep frown, hoping Silver hadn't caught it. She looked to him, and he was unfortunately looking straight at her father. He mouthed something himself, but too fast for Leaf to read.

"Oi! Whatchu sayin'?" Leaf asked.

Silver laughed, "Nothing."

Leaf held up her finger in his face, "I'll give you a freebee, but if you guys are saying anything stupid..."

Her father snorted, "She never gives me freebees. She must like you alot!"

Silver and Leaf flushed. "C'mon Dad..."

He waved his arm, "Alright, I'll let up for now. But don't forget..."

He walked to her and whispered into her ear, "If you don't end up with this guy I'll never let you hear the end of it."

"Grrr, DAD!" Leaf yelled.

Later, as they stood again in front of the Pokeathlon Dome, Leaf looked at Silver. "Um... What... What exactly did you tell my Dad?"

Silver smiled, "You wouldn't stick around if I didn't have secrets, Leaf."

Leaf tilted her head, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Silver took her chin, and looked into her eyes. "Don't worry about it."

Leaf gulped, barely managing to shut her mouth.

"I like spending time with you, Leaf. But... For now... I've got to go. See, there's a person I must defeat. He always beats me, so I want to one day become strong enough to stop him. I would love to see you again one day, but this is my current goal, kay?"

Leaf nodded, "If you- No, not if, WHEN you win, find me. I'll be in Pallet town."

Silver smiled, and held out his pinky, in a gesture that she knew. "I promise."

She intertwined her own sleek finger with his. "I trust you."

Silver slowly walked away. "Hm. I'll tell you now, that might be very ill-advised."

Leaf laughed, "Well maybe I'm just a stupid girl."

Silver smiled wistfully, and shook his head, "No. Not stupid, just naive. But... That's what I like about you, Leaf."

Leaf nodded. As he turned away, she remembered where she knew the gesture from. It was her mother's gesture. It was the gesture that she had made as she had...

Leaf's heart dropped, but she let him go. Just as she had let her mother go. All those years in the past, when her mother had been sitting, mortally wounded, on her bed at home.

It was the last thing her mother had ever done.

Leaf smiled. Up until this time, she had not been able to remember her last moments with her mother. And her mother's promise... it was the same one as Silver's. That they would meet again. In the same way she was certain that Silver would honor his promise, she knew that she would also see her mother again.

"Thank you, Silver."

Though certainly too far by now for the small whisper to reach the red haired boy's ears, Silver turned to her. He waved his hand. She waved back. It was more than a wave, it was a message, too deep for any one person to understand and decipher. The message?

You'd better return.

Leaf sang a song to herself, a song that her father had told her about as his mother had left to her fateful battle against team Rocket.

I don't know, where you're going
Or when you're coming home
I left the keys under the mat to our front door
For one more chance to hold you close
I don't know, where you're going
Just get your a** back home

We both knew this type of life didn't come with instructions
So I'm trying to do my best to make something out of nothing
And sometimes it gets downright shitty in fact
When you call and I don't know what city I'm in at
Or what day of the week in the middle of the month
In a year I don't recall
It's like my life's on repeat and the last time we spoke
I told you I wouldn't be long,
That was last november, now december's almost gone
I'd apologize but I don't realize what I'm doing wrong

And you've been nothing but amazing
And I never take that for granted
Half of these birds would have flew the coop
But you, you truly understand it
And the fact you stood beside me,
Every time you heard some bogusness
You deserve a standing o 'cause they'd a just been over it
Let em talk, let em talk, let em talk, let em talk
Like we don't hear what they saying
Let em walk, let em walk, let em walk, let em walk
We'll just drive by and keep waving
Cause you and I above all that
Just let them wallow in it
Now they all choked up, yuck
Cause they be swallowing it

No one hold me down like you do sweetheart
You keep doing that, I keep doing this
We'll be alright in the end
Trust that
We put the us in trust, baby
Let's go

I don't care what you're after
As long as I'm the one, no
I don't care why you're leaving
You'll miss me when you're gone

Originally, I meant to make a songfic with Squirtle. To finish off all three starters. But, unable to find a fitting plotline for her to sing to, and frustrating amounts of thought, I figured that instead of that (Sorry Squirtle! /hit with water gun) I would go with a songfic focusing on Leaf returning to Kanto. And while this is another 'Generation 1' story, I figured that the fellow 8-bit generation would make as much sense as any. Especially since Kanto and Johto are my two favorite regions (I found a site where it actually said 'If you can be considered worse than the Johto starters...' I was like 'CHIKORITA USE SOLAR BEAM!' xD)

Who wants another Q&A?

1. Why would the song you used have explicit lyrics? Couldn't you have found a cleaner one?

No, it fit the situation the most. And I actually really like the flow of the song. I did decide to cover it though, as you see. It's still gonna be T rated though.

2. SilverXLeaf? Why not Gold and Leaf? And if you're going with Generation 1, why use the Generation 3 name, Leaf?

Well, see, SilverXLeaf is based off of the manga relationship between Silver and Green, whom was going to be the female character in Red and Blue, but was scrapped because the decision engine wasn't that advanced. Not until Crystal was the engine fully workable enough to make the character choice possible. But Green and Leaf are actually very different, with their relationship resembling the relationship between Crystal and Lyra, minus the fact that Green was only canon in the manga. And GoldXLeaf doesn't make much sense to me. I guess I'm just a GoldXCrystal guy.

3. What was up with Leaf's Dad?

Leaf's Dad really was meant for comic relief, actually. And he helped bring out the topic of Leaf and Silver's feelings quite nicely.

4. When exactly was this set?

During G/S/C. You can guess who Silver wanted to defeat.

5. When is this gonna be over?

WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO ASK A REAL QUESTION?

6. -_-; fine...

IS THAT SUPPOSED TO BE A QUESTION?

7. Um... Wouldn't Silver be like three years younger than Leaf? That is the way the time is set up.

Hm... All I can say is love finds a way~