"I want a little brother!" Gold had proclaimed. "For my birthday, I want a little brother."

His mom had told him she didn't have a husband to make a baby brother with, but there was an orphanage in Violet City if he wanted to go see later on. He'd grinned and accepted this proposal.

It takes a few years from that sparkling, sunny day, but as he's reaching the responsible age of twelve he's finally going to Violet City. Gold wonders what kind of brother he'd be getting. A nice one? A mean one? Younger, of course, but he probably wouldn't mind someone around the same age... Or if they were a girl. They wouldn't be half as fun because he can't push girls around, but it'd be okay. He bounces on his heels as he and his mom make the trip on foot, leaving their Pokémon at home in the care of a trusted neighbor, and can't sleep when they stop in Cherrygrove for the night.

The girl who meets them outside is pretty. Around his age but slightly taller, developing quite nicely (or so his budding hormones tell him as they tighten his throat and send warmth across his body), but her earrings catch his attention not a moment after. Shining stars. Her name is Crystal, but they can call her Crys. She has a nice smile, though it looks kind of tired.

She invites them in and asks if they have any preferences on who to meet. Gold's mom looks down at him and nods.

"... Uh. Not really? Guess someone younger than me, but not too young..." He drawls out, leaning against the wall and glancing around. This place was kind of a dump. Huh. Wasn't it supposed to part time as a school too? "Around my age is fine too. I'm twelve, by the way. And the name's Gold."

"I see... Well, there's some kids playing outside if you want to meet them, and there's a few upstairs that I can call down for you." Crys smiles and Gold grins back slowly. She really is something pretty. He hears his mom giggle from beside him and he pivots to looking outside.

"Thanks. That'd be neat."

Crys leaves to go do so and he groans, smacking his head against the glass. Neat. He said neat. Of all the things to describe it as, he said neat. He closes eyes and sighs.

There's a bang at the window and when he opens his eyes, he's staring down at a pair of silver ones. He steps back quickly and studies the kid. About his age, maybe, can't tell if they're the same height because of the floor difference... Red hair, silver eyes, kind of pretty actually. But somewhat boyish. So a dude. Maybe. The long hair makes it hard to tell, but face claims boy.

The red haired teen leans against the window, apparently curious, and a pink feather twitches from behind him.

"They let them keep Pokémon here?" He asks his mom, though the boy apparently read his lips or something because he hides the Sneasel as fast as he can. Mom looks back and smiles at the silver eyed youth.

"Well, isn't he cute? He looks kind of quiet, too... I'm not sure if they're allowed to keep Pokémon, but I don't see why not as long as they're old enough to take care of them."

Gold hums a little, studying the teen, and shrugs. They can ask Crys about it when she comes back.

They go through a lot of potentials, all of who like Gold and who Gold likes back, but he keeps thinking about the guy outside the window. With his Sneasel. So, when the last of them are gone, he asks her about him.

"You saw Silver?" She seems surprised. "He doesn't usually approach others. Even I had a hard time getting him to come around at first... He does have a Sneasel, but only because he gets jittery without him around. They're practically inseparable."

Then, she leans closer and Gold can feel his throat tighten. "I'm a little worried. He showed up here a while ago, but he still hasn't been adopted for a number of reasons. Could you... you know, try and be his friend? It'll be nice if he has a friend besides me."

The only thing that connects in his mind that if he's friends with Silver, then Crys'll be his friend too. Cool. Okay. He grins, says it's no problem, and races outside to to go find him. Can't be that hard to find a red haired kid with a Sneasel, right?