"Are you ready yet?" yelled a voice from downstairs. He sounded rather excited with a hint of impatience. A girl stood in front of the mirror with a silver hairpin in her hand. She held it above her left ear to see how it would look against her red hair. Her silver eyes started intensely back at her though the reflection of the mirror.
"Not yet! I am still getting ready," said the red headed girl as she walked towardsv the door and yelled down it. "Look, it isn't like I want to look good for you or anything!"
"Alright, alright. I get it," chuckled the voice from downstairs. "Just take your time, Silver. I can wait for you."
"Hmph! I am being serious, Mistic!" yelled Silver as she walked back to the mirror.
The table beside the mirror was littered with makeup and other beauty products. She looked at them and was reminded that only a few months ago, these things were foreign to her. Silver placed the hairpin on the table and started at herself in the mirror. She wore a purple and white cocktail dress. Something that she would have never wore a year ago. Though, there was one article of clothing that Silver would never let go. Her blackish-purple jacket which was over the dress and unzipped.
"Maybe I could go without it…," unsurely said Silver as she looked at the jacket that has always been with her. Even on the day that they first met.
Silver was stomping though the streets of Olivine City. The girl was pissed about the gym being closed due to at the time what she thought was a stupid reason. She wasn't looking where she was going and had once again crash into something.
"You again! Watch where you are goin-!" yelled Silver as she looked up at what she had hit. Before her was the tall figure of a young man with orange hair. He wore nothing but white swim trunks and jacket that revealed his finely chiseled abs. Something about him had amazed Silver as she slowly dragged out her sentence, "Not…that I wasn't…Looking where I….Was going…or anything…"
"Woah!" said the young man as he took a step back. "Hey, sorry about that. Didn't mean to get in the way of a pretty girl."
It was then that Silver was pulled out of her admiration of the man's body and placed back in reality.
"Hmp! You-you should! And I am not pretty! I am strong and I will be the strongest trainer there ever was!" yelled Silver as she didn't even try to hold back her pride. She had always heard people call her beautiful but the girl hated to hear such things about herself. Silver wanted to be called strong.
"Yeah, I can tell that you are pretty strong too from that push. I like that," said the boy as he eyed Silver for a good while. "How about I take you to-"
"I need to go! Not that I am- I am…I need to go!" yelled Silver as she pushed her way passed the man and ran into a dark alley where her face glowed red.
That was the first time Silver had met Mistic. It was a chance encounter but she had felt so much in those few minutes then she had in a long time. They were feelings that Silver had never felt before and it scared her. Silver may had decided to run away from him like all things that bothered her but a part of her wanted to run back.
"He called me strong…" said Silver as she remembered the words she had said after that encounter.
Those words echoed in her mind as she remember at one point being obsessed with strength. Her goal back then was to be stronger than anybody else. It had blinded her to the point that she didn't care how badly her Pokemon got hurt. Yet, Mistic had called her strong simply after seeing her for one minute and it shocked her. It scared Silver how somebody as impressive and unknown like him could say that about her. Nobody had ever called her strong like that before.
It was not long after that Silver had saw Mistic again. She had eventually moved on to Cianwood City. Things were rough during that time. Silver had just stolen another Pokemon. This time it was a Sneasel from a boastful collector. Silver should have left the city after that but stayed. She had pushed her Feraligatr too hard and the Pokemon was in no condition to swim. So Silver was forced to stay on the island in hiding.
"Hey! I have seen you before!" yelled out a voice.
Silver had jumped in surprised and was about to run off with a bass in her hands. She had thought that the police or the person she stole from had found her. The red headed girl was already up on her legs when she saw it was the young man from Olivine.
"It is you! Not-not that I was surprised or anything!" yelled out Silver as she relaxed a little. Though, her instinct to run was rising as she saw him getting closer.
"Hold on! Don't go anywhere," said Mistic as he ran over. "Let's talk. It isn't every day that I get to find the babe that ran away from me. Then again, most girls don't do that."
"Babe?" said Silver as she was confused on the term. Slang was never something Silver learned as she grew up. "Not that I don't know what that is or anything!"
"You are pretty funny!" laughed Mistic as he took a seat next to Silver.
"I am not!" yelled Silver as she stay standing.
"Alright. Alright," chuckled Mistic. He then noticed the bass guitar in Silver's arms. "So, you play the bass?"
"I do," said Silver as she held on firmly to musical instrument in her arms. "I practice it because music can help focus the mind and make it stronger. What is it to you?"
"Nothing. That is pretty cool. Mind playing something for me?" asked Mistic as he lean back.
"Really?" replied Silver who was taken aback by this. She had never played for anybody before. Usually she played alone or for an audience of her Pokemon.
"Yeah. If you don't mind," said Mistic as he gave Silver a smile.
A light blush was on Silver's face as she saw Mistic's smile. She thought it was cute but Silver would never admit it. Even now.
She played for what seems like hours to Mistic. Some of the songs she repeated over and over again in hopes that it would keep Mistic from leaving. They eventually talked and Silver found out that Mistic was a gym leader from Kanto. He was on vacation in Johto to do some swimming and other outdoor sports. Something about that impressed Silver. That somebody as strong as Mistic was able to enjoy themselves.
The only problem was that Silver couldn't afford to do that. She had a mission and she must push herself to become stronger than everybody else.
Silver couldn't believe that such rage and obsession had blinded her at the time. Though, it was some boy who had given her peace even if it was for a little bit. Silver then looked at herself in the mirror. A strand of red hair was in face. She simply moved it out of the way. Silver wonder when her hair got so long. It was shorter before but then again, it didn't bother her. Either way, it reminded Silver that she needed to decide if she wanted to put on the hairclip. Maybe it was when Silver had hit rock bottom that she had unconsciously decided to grow her hair longer.
After her defeat by the Dragon Champion in Mahogany Town, Silver had ran rampant with thoughts of becoming stronger. She had forgotten all about Mistic. Then the final blow had happen. Gold, the girl that had kept getting in her way. The girl that stole Silver's chance of defeating Team Rocket had finally cracked Silver's ego. The red headed trainer was confident that she would defeat Gold at Victory Road but instead Gold had defeated Silver's team of Pokemon and her spirit.
As Gold progressed to battle the Champion with radiant spirits, Silver was left with a clearer understanding and a dulled ambition. The Champion's words echoed in her head. She lacked something that kept her from becoming strong and thus it weakened her Pokemon. Silver had to start over but had no idea on how to do that. So the only natural thing for her to do was to get as far away from Johto as she could. The question was where.
It was then that Silver remembered Mistic. He had told her that he lived in Cerulean City. Maybe she should try to go and see him. It was better than being left alone in the cave that she had emptied out.
Silver remembered feeling confident as she traveled to Cerulean City. Then along the way to Cerulean City, Silver began to sense nervousness within her. Silver realized that nothing had been accomplished since she last saw Mistic. She hid on Mt. Moon and decided to train there. She was close enough to Mistic and it was a place to grow with her Pokemon. It was just her and them in a small cave and that was fine. Eventually Gold had found her there and they battled. Once again, Silver was defeated by the girl but it wasn't so bad. She still had her Pokemon and they tried their best.
Silver didn't want to see Mistic face to face just yet. She wanted to become better for the sake of her Pokémon and him. Sometimes Silver would go train in the Dragons Den to better understand what the Champion had told her. Eventually traveling became easier as her Golbat evolved into a Crobat due to her studies there and training at Mt. Moon. Though, every time she made that trip, Silver would think about Mistic.
"But he found me," said Silver as she started to lean against the desk and looked up at the ceiling. It was careless of her as Silver knew that she shouldn't have ventured into the city during the day. She had walked by the Cerulean Gym and Mistic was on his way out. Silver remembered the lie she had said.
"It is not like I wanted to see the gym or anything! I was just passing by!" repeated Silver to herself.
In reality, she wanted to see the Gym with hopes to see him. She had done it a few times when she does errands. This time it was her way to gather food. She was walked by it and he had just walked out of the gym. Before Silver knew what had happen, she and Mistic were in the middle of having a meal together.
After that, Silver found herself at the gym more and more. Mistic said that Silver was good enough to become a gym trainer if she wanted. That made her feel good for some reason.
Her nights of sleeping on Mt. Moon lessen as she found herself in Mistic's home. Either she slept on the floor or in his bed. She found no problem in the latter. Though, Silver was not going to let herself to be in debt to his kindness. She found out that Mistic didn't know how to cook so Silver started to do that for him. Being trained in survival skills had made her into a decent cook.
It was then that Gold had found out where Silver had been. Silver had discovered the girl was boy crazy and heard all about the men that resided in Kanto and Johto that Gold wanted to kiss. Some of them included the gym leaders from Goldenrod, Olivine, Celadon and places Silver had never heard of. Silver thought it was ridiculous but it made her wonder about Mistic. Gold had told her that Mistic was something that they call a playboy.
That made Silver worry if she was just one of those girls. The rumors and girls were there but Silver tried to ignore them. She had never seen Mistic pursue them but it made her worry if he would leave her for them. Some of them had tried to attack her but Feraligatr was more than happy to clear them away for Silver. Though, Mistic was still with her and she still wanted him.
Either way, Silver soon thought that it would be best to keep Gold away from him. The last thing she wanted was for Gold to take Mistic her own. That didn't last too long and it just made Gold jest if Mistic was Silver's secret boyfriend. That made the embarrassed Silver yell at Gold. Mistic on the other hand gave a nervous chuckle at this.
"And now we are here…" said Silver as she held the silver hairclip in her hand. Mistic had given it to Silver for her birthday. It was the first time she had ever celebrated her birthday properly with the friends and person she loved.
"It is silver and pretty. Just like your eyes," said Mistic as he stood in the doorway.
"Mistic!" yelled Silver as she bumped into the desk. Her beauty products shook on the desk a bit from her jump. "Not that you surprised me or anything!"
"Sorry about that. I figure I would come up and see what was taking you so long," said Mistic as he laughed at her. "You look beautiful."
"Of-of-of course! It-it is because-!" stuttered Silver as she tried to compose herself.
"You are strong," finished Mistic as he walked towards her. "That is what makes you so great. Are you going to put it on?"
"May-maybe…," said Silver as she turned away from him. Silver couldn't believe that she was doing this again. They have been together for this long and this man was making her feel uneasy.
"I think you should. Especially for today. It is our one year anniversary after all," said Mistic as he gave Silver a hug. "It would look pretty on you."
"I-I-I know that!" struggled Silver as she tried to break out of his hug. Then again, it wasn't as if she was actually trying. They both knew that she wanted this. Though, Silver was going to pretend she didn't. "You are lucky that you are so strong….Not that I care or anything!"
"Do you promise to put it on?" asked Mistic as he still held on to Silver.
"I will," said Silver as she stood there in silence. Her mind was beginning to think about something else. "Now, could you let go of me?"
"Yeah. Alright," said Mistic as he lean forward and gave Silver a kiss on the lips. "Mwah. See you downstairs."
Silver was as red as her hair after Mistic gave her that kiss. She tried to say something but Silver was still flustered from the kiss. Instead, Silver just watched as Mistic ran down the stairs.
"Whatever!" shouted Silver as she went back to stare at her reflection in the mirror. So many things have changed and there were going to be more. She still wanted to become stronger but not for the sake of defeating somebody or something. Silver was going to become stronger for the sake of her Pokemon. Hopefully Mistic will help her as he has so far.
"I just need to not be afraid. Tonight…," said Silver as she imagine herself wearing a bikini under her jacket. Her mind formed pictures of Mistic teaching her how to tend to her Pokemon and use new battle strategies. This was going to be a reality because she wanted to be with Mistic every day to become stronger. Silver felt a little scared but she didn't want to run away this time. Silver placed the silver hairclip in her hair. The girl then adjusted her jacket and ran out the door. "Tonight I am going to accept that offer."