She really, really didn't belong at this party. It was being thrown for accomplished trainers in the Johto and Kanto leagues, and even though Lyra had the eight badges of Johto and was preparing to battle against the Elite Four, she was feeling increasingly out of place.
The guy hosting it was the Viridian City gym leader, Giovanni. Lyra didn't know much about him besides the fact that he was obviously really rich and apparently liked to make things as fancy as possible. It was a good thing she had decided to leave her hat back home, because even with her rhinestone purse and favorite magenta and blue evening gown she felt severely under-dressed. She was only comforted by the fact that most of the other young trainers around her seemed to be feeling the same way.
If only Ethan had agreed to come. He had declined almost right away because, as he claimed, he was in no way interested in dressing up for some stupid party. If he was there things would be so much easier, and she wouldn't have to to laps around the room searching desperately for someone, anyone, that she knew.
On her third trip to the appetizer table, she saw a young man about her age leaning against the wall off on his own. His hair was very red and well groomed, and he was wearing a similarly colored red and navy blue suit. In his hand he held a glass of what looked like wine, which was odd. No way he could be that much older than her... But now that she was looking she could see a bowl of wine red punch on the table right beside her.
After filling herself a glass, she watched him take small sips of his drink until someone behind her coughed softly. She turned to see him motioning at her to get out of the way, and with a sheepish smile she moved away so the man could access the food she had been unintentionally blocking.
Once she was clear of the table she stole a glance back at where the red headed boy had been standing, and was shocked to see that he was no longer there. Confused and maybe a little disappointed, Lyra looked down at her glass and took a small sip.
As she made to circle the room once again, she turned around and abruptly bumped into someone. Instantly she realized that taking some punch had been a bad idea, because it went cascading across the person and caused him to spill his own drink all down the front of his suit.
"I'm sorry!" she said swiftly, nearly gasping as she realized the person was in fact the red headed boy she had only just been watching. "I didn't even see you at all!"
The boy looked angry for a moment but appeared to rein himself in before saying, "It's...alright." He fussed with his jacket helplessly for a moment, sighed, and then said, "Look, you can barely even see it. I'll just go wash this stuff off and get-"
"Oh, do you know where the bathrooms are? I could help you look if you don't," Lyra offered earnestly, figuring she probably should help clean up the mess she had made. And the opportunity to talk to him a little bit more couldn't hurt either..
The boy raised his eyebrows and Lyra suddenly felt flustered, as if he had sensed what she was thinking. "I just mean that this is all my fault so I should probably try and help you out a little," she explained quickly.
Maybe it was just paranoia, but it looked to Lyra as if he wasn't wholly convinced. He didn't try to argue though, instead saying something completely unexpected. "I live here." He shrugged. "I'd like to think I know my way around. Now if you'll excuse me..." He began to walk away, but Lyra sensed an opportunity slipping through her fingers, so she followed slightly behind him.
"Do you?" she asked, and the boy looked over his shoulder at her with an unamused glare. "Live here, I mean!" she said, blushing at how stupid she must have sounded. The boy ignored her and continued walking, while she tried to think of reasons why he would be living here. "Are you Giovanni's...?" She let her question trail off, because truthfully she couldn't think who this boy could possibly be in relation to Giovanni. From what little she had seen in pictures and her small glimpses of the man during the party, he looked very little like the famous gym leader.
"Son. I'm his son," he said, a little sharply, and Lyra sensed that this was a bit of a touchy subject. Maybe nobody ever saw the family resemblance... That or he was still annoyed about her earlier question. "Who are you?" he asked, an unsaid and what are you doing here present at the end of the question.
"Um, I'm Lyra. I guess I'm here because I have eight gym badges, and I'm going to challenge the Elite Four. That's what this party is for, right?"
He hesitated a moment while navigating through the crowds before saying, "Yeah right. My name's Silver. It's.. nice to meet you." Lyra narrowed her eyes but decided not to spend too much time trying to figure out how much of that was sarcasm and what portion was outright lie.
"Yeah you too!" she said as genuinely as possible. "So obviously you're here because you're Giovanni's son, but do you have any badges?" Lyra asked, suddenly feeling much more relaxed now that she hadn't been entirely rejected and was talking to someone who clearly belonged here and wasn't frightfully stuck up looking... Even if he was probably only trying to be polite.
As they pushed through the last of the people filling the room and Silver led the way over to a nearby hallway he said, "No. I wasn't ever really interested in becoming a Pokemon Master or anything like that. I guess that's because my father is a gym leader. But I do have six Pokemon, and I like to battle sometimes."
"Oh really? You and I should battle then!" Lyra offered enthusiastically.
He looked over his shoulder at her and laughed slightly. "I don't think so. I don't like to lose very much."
"Who does?" Lyra asked rhetorically, as they finally arrived at what was apparently the correct door. Silver opened it up and Lyra thought she heard a small sigh as he held it out for her to go inside.
It was a pretty spectacular looking bathroom, with nice a nice paint job and shiny tiles, but there wasn't much in it aside from a sink, toilet, and an old but nonetheless expensive looking fainting couch. Why anyone would want to lounge in a bathroom was beyond Lyra, but maybe it was a rich person thing. Silver obviously wasn't phased by it.
They entered together and Silver moved over to the sink, picking a facecloth up off a rack and soaking it slightly with water. He began to dab at the small spots on his jacket, instead of rubbing it like Ethan or any other boy she knew would have done. Someone had clearly told him the right way to get out a stain. Then again, maybe he was just smart. Lyra was under the impression that rich people didn't really do much of their own cleaning.
"So," she said conversationally. "How did you get your first Pokemon? Did your dad give it to you?"
Silver froze for a moment but continued to dab at the stain only a few seconds later. "No. I... Got it on my own," he answered vaguely.
"My first was a Chikorita. He's a Meganium now... Would you like to meet him?" Lyra asked, excited by the idea and already reaching into her purse.
Silver frowned as she pulled out the Pokeball and turned away from her slightly. "I've seen Meganium before," he said, voice suddenly a little cold sounding.
"Okay. I'm sorry, I just thought..." She didn't really know what she had been thinking. Of course he'd seen Meganium before. Why should he care about hers? She put the Pokeball away, but Silver was still frowning so she asked, "Is everything all right?"
He tossed the towel, now stained a light pink, into the sink. It seemed to Lyra that he had just become very tired. "Sorry. You can let your Meganium out if you'd like," he offered, sounding fairly sincere compared to the rest of what Lyra had heard from him before.
Lyra wasn't quite sure what had changed his mind, and he hadn't really answered her question, but she figured she might as well do it. Meganium always made her happy anyway, so maybe he would have the same effect on Silver.
"Meganium, let's go!" she shouted out of habit, grabbing the Pokeball again and throwing it up into the air. Meganium appeared in a flash of light, then crooned happily. Lyra deftly caught the Pokeball again as it fell down, which clearly attracted Silver's attention although he tried not to show it by turning away to her Pokemon.
Meganium looked around the room and then focused his attention on Silver, stepping closer to get a better look at him. The Pokemon sniffed loudly and Silver stumbled back in shock. Lyra giggled slightly as Silver backed farther away, a tinge of red coloring his cheeks.
"This just proves I would never win against you!" he said, trying for a recovery but only making Lyra giggle more instead.
"Why," she teased, "'cause you're scared of my Pokemon?"
"No!" He blushed again, clearly caught off guard, and clenched his hands into fists. "My starter is a water type, that's why!"
"Su-ure." Lyra laughed again at his discomfort and decided she liked him when he was flustered. It was... cute.
There was a loud crashing sound like shattering glass, and then the sound of yelling reached Lyra's ears. She looked in shock to Silver, who looked almost uncomfortable; not the reaction she had been expecting to see and certainly not the way she was feeling at the moment.
"You hear that right?" Lyra asked, unsure of what was going on. Why were people yelling?
"...Yes."
"I don't understand. What's wrong? What's going on out there?" Lyra asked, becoming increasingly frightened by the shouts and screams coming from the party attendees that hadn't been there only moments ago and certainly didn't belong there now.
"I... don't know." Silver looked down and sighed, then cut the air with his hand. "But it's safer in here. Just stay quiet."
Lyra didn't pretend to understand what was going on with him, because he had ceased to make any sense. She shook her head defiantly and her hands balled into fists. "People could be getting hurt!"
"Do you want to be one of them?" Silver challenged, stepping closer to her.
"No.. but I can help!" Lyra said, ignoring the slight threat present in Silver's question. She impulsively rushed over to the door, but before grabbing the handle Silver moved in front of the door and shoved her back into Meganium.
Lyra clenched her fists and strengthened her resolve. She was going to help those people. It had been pure instinct before to want to try and help, but now she knew it was simply the right thing to do. "If you don't tell me what's going on or get out of my way, I swear I'll... I'll.. I'll get Meganium to Body Slam you!" After she said it she didn't know how true it was, considering the fact that Body Slam really hurtand she didn't actually want to do that to Silver, but the threat stood all the same and Silver reached under his shirt for his belt, which Lyra was just noticing had six Pokeballs attached.
Fine. If he wanted a battle, he would get a battle! Meganium was more than ready and-
then Silver dropped his hand. "Alright," he said, looking angry. "You really want to know what's going on?"
Lyra nodded, pigtails bobbing furiously.
With gritted teeth Silver said, "This whole party was a setup by my father. The point was to get as many good trainers with strong Pokemon together as possible so that they would be easy to steal from."
There was a moment of silence between them and then Lyra shook her head as if to clear it. "...What?" she asked in disbelief, the words not coming together in her head to form sentences that would make any sort of sense.
"It's the truth, alright? My father is the leader of Team Rocket. I'm sure you've heard of them before!"
Team Rocket? Everyone knew who they were. They were only the most notorious Pokemon thieves in all of Kanto and Johto... So how in the world...?
"But he's a gym leader!" Lyra protested as soon as the thought occurred to her. No way anyone who was a gym leader in the Pokemon League would be involved with a criminal organization like that!
Silver scoffed, shaking his head. "Doesn't matter. You think anyone involved with the Pokemon League knows about this? Even if they did he could bribe them or deal with them some other way. I doubt even the grunts pulling off this job know he's their boss! Only the highest level executives know his identity. And mine."
Lyra struggled for words, completely at a loss for what to say. How was she supposed to be taking this? Hearing that an official gym leader and all around famous guy was also the leader of the largest gang of Pokemon thieves in possibly the whole world... It was unbelievable! She spluttered for a moment while trying to form a coherent sentence, and finally shouted, "And you knew the whole time?"
He gave her a pitying look. "Yes. Of course I did! And believe it or not I was actually very grateful that you bumped into me back there. I needed some sort of excuse to leave. My father isn't carrying any Pokemon so they can't take his, but I was supposed to go along with it and let them take mine. The plan was that I would get them back after, but my father doesn't really care. He even told me he could get me others if mine were misplaced."
Lyra seethed at both the look and the implication that he had used her as some stupid excuse. Of course she would be devastated if her own Pokemon were so callously replaced, but he didn't have to be such a complete and utter jerkabout the entire situation. Not to mention all those trainers who had worked so hard to train their Pokemon and win all their badges were now losing not only everything that they had worked for, but also their best friends!
"I can't believe you!" she shouted, "I don't care what you say, I'm going to help those people! I would be out there too right now if you hadn't deignedto use me as a way out of this mess! It isn't right!"
Silver tried to grab her again as she reached for the door, but Meganium growled and stepped into his way. He tried to push past again as Lyra turned the handle, but Meganium reared back onto his hind legs and Silver swiftly backed away.
The two of them left the room hurriedly, Lyra leading the way back down the hallway to where people continued to fight for their Pokemon. Behind her she heard Silver say something that sounded like an apology, but she didn't particularly care to hear it, and when he didn't join them she continued running at full speed.
Once they were back in the ballroom that had previously been peaceful and boring, all Lyra could see was disaster. Sharp looking men and women wearing black outfits emblazoned with bright red Rs were holding bags full of Pokeballs and fighting with the people who had managed to release their Pokemon before they were stolen. Stray attacks shot out from all directions, and Lyra didn't quite know where to start.
That is, until she felt someone grab her purse and her first instinct was to shout, "Meganium, Magical Leaf!" The petals on Meganium's neck began to glow brightly, and then little leaves shot out, giving the woman small cuts on her face.
"You little bitch!" the grunt shouted, letting go of Lyra's purse. In her other hand she had a clear bag that contained at least twenty Pokeballs, and Lyra directed Meganium at it with another Magical Leaf. The bag didn't tear like she expected it to, and the woman laughed. "You think we'd use cheap plastic that weak Pokemon like yours could just tear through? HAH! Venomoth, Bug Buzz!"
The moth Pokemon descended from the sky on her orders and the blast of sound from its wings hit Meganium full force, sending him down. He bleated sadly and struggled to stand back up.
"No!" Lyra shouted. "Synthesis!" she barked, but the Venomoth was faster and its trainer instructed it to use a second Bug Buzz.
Lyra braced herself for Meganium's imminent fainting, but suddenly a bright beam of blues and yellows shot at the Venomoth, knocking it down out of the sky. Meganium's leaves glowed with bright yellow light like the sun and he stood up, looking stronger and ready to fight again.
Expecting to see a random trainer as her rescuer, she was shocked and surprised by the sight of Silver standing behind a Kadabra who was obviously the source of the Psybeam. Behind him a Golbat fluttered in the air and there was a Sneasel clutching onto his shoulder.
"Silver?" she said, stunned, as the Rocket grunt recalled her Venomoth and began to run.
"Golbat, Confuse Ray!" he shouted, momentarily ignoring her. The greenish yellow ball of light hit the grunt straight on, and she stumbled slightly before falling into a dazed heap on the floor. Silver stormed over to her and snatched away the bag of Pokeballs.
"What made you come?" Lyra asked, still a little shocked by his presence.
"Team Rocket uses mostly poison Pokemon. When I realized you were going to fight them with a grass type I decided I should help you," he explained. It was logically sound, but Lyra didn't totally buy it. Obviously that wasn't the only reason behind his sudden change of heart, but she wasn't about to press him in the middle of a crisis. He had pulled through, after all.
Around them the other fights were ending, with most of the Rockets having run for it after the trainers started to fight back. There were still some people with Pokemon at their sides, but majority were crying or looking devastated by the loss of their Pokemon.
"You're right, I think. Nobody deserves this," he said, surveying the damage.
"You think?" Lyra hissed, but Silver obviously didn't noticed her renewed anger because he was suddenly frozen to the spot staring in horror at something behind Lyra. She was about three seconds away from slapping him across the face, but she couldn't help turning to see what was so horrific. Her stomach did somersaults and her breath caught in her throat upon seeing Giovanni pushing his way swiftly through the crowd in their direction.
"Here take this quick," Silver said, shoving the bag of Pokeballs at her. She was still angry with him, but she took it anyway out of fear for what Giovanni's reaction would be. Silver quickly recalled Kadabra and Golbat but left the Sneasel on his shoulder with it's claws digging slightly into his hair.
And then there he was, Giovanni himself. "Silver," the man said, and maybe it was because she knew the truth about him, but suddenly the expensive black suit looked imposing and scary instead of just fancy. Now all Lyra could see on his face was cruelty and evil. How had anyone ever been fooled before?
Giovanni's eyes narrowed at the bag of Pokeballs in Lyra's hand for a split second before he broke into a smile. "Wonderful! I'm sure some of these trainers will be very grateful that you recovered these. May I?" he asked, holding out a hand to take the bag. For a moment Lyra was afraid that he would just keep them and walk away, but at a severe glare from Silver she realized how stupid a thought that was and handed it over. Of course he wasn't just going to run away in front of all these people!
"Thank you very much," he said with a generous smile that would have been so convincing only a short while ago. "Everyone, may I have your attention? Some of the stolen Pokemon have been recovered, and if anyone else has done the same if you could bring them up here so we can possibly match these back up to their respective trainers, I'm sure some people would greatly appreciate it," Giovanni announced, turning to the crowd and holding up the bag for everyone to see.
As a few other trainers from around the room who weren't currently talking to a recently arrived police squad headed by an Officer Jenny came to Giovanni with their own bags and some scattered Pokeballs, Lyra moved over to Silver.
"You should go," he said, looking much the same as he had when Lyra had first seen him leaning against the wall at the beginning of the party. Calm, cool, and collected. Nothing like his flustered self after being sniffed by Meganium.
"No way! What am I supposed to do now that I know the truth?" she asked, while Sneasel blinked curiously at her, his claws still digging gently into Silver's hair.
Silver glared at her and hissed out, "Nothing! You can't do anything. Don't you understand?" His voice dropped down to a whisper and he said, "If he finds out that you know-"
"I can't just let this happen over and over!" Lyra interrupted. "I know the dangers, but you and I can stop it!" she whispered back. Behind them Giovanni was releasing Pokemon one at a time so their owners could come up and claim them. Currently he had out a Flaaffy and a girl a few years older than Lyra was running up to claim it.
"No. Team Rocket is too big an organization. Two people can't take it on by themselves!"
"But you know things! You can help!"
Silver looked very cold for a moment, and his resemblance to Giovanni was suddenly very clear. It made Lyra want to take a step back, but the look passed and then he gently scratched Sneasel under the chin. He seemed deep in thought for a moment before saying, "There was a boy once, three years ago, who tried to stop my father and bring down Team Rocket."
This was news to Lyra. Team Rocket and their escapades weren't very high on the list of her things to know, but as far as she knew they were just always there, lurking around in the dangerous parts of cities where you weren't supposed to go if you knew what was good for you. "What happened to him?"
"He succeeded. I don't know the entire story, but he must have done something right. Team Rocket fell apart, but my father's involvement was never discovered."
"I don't understand. If he stopped Team Rocket then...?"
"It was brought back. About a year ago, some executives revived it, and my father resumed his role as boss."
"But this boy... If I find him, do you think he would help us stop it again? For good?"
Silver shrugged, glancing back to his father. "Possibly. If you can find him. He was very famous here in Kanto, but I haven't heard anything about him in a long time. Maybe some of the gym leaders know where he is."
"Will you come with me? To look for him?"
"No. I can't. But if you're serious about this-" Lyra gave him a dark look "-which you obviously are, then you're going to need my help. In which case I'll be your man on the inside. You do have a Pokegear don't you?"
"Of course!" Lyra said, and pulled the little device from her purse, handing it over to him as he took his own from his belt.
They traded numbers and Silver nodded in satisfaction. "I'll call you if anything big is about to happen."
"You can call other times too," Lyra said, blushing slightly after realizing how she must sound.
Silver either chose to ignore it or was entirely oblivious because he simply re-clipped his Pokegear without responding to her offer.
Meganium made a melancholy sound and Lyra realized that she was feeling much the same as her Pokemon at the thought of leaving Silver. She wanted to challenge the Elite Four and then take things from there, not go straight into a new quest here in Kanto. Especially not without her new found ally. But this Red boy... Would he even want to help her if she found him? She hoped so. He was apparently the only other one who knew the truth about Giovanni.
"Excuse me, but I'm going to need both of you to make a statement about what you witnessed here tonight," a young officer holding a pad of paper and a pen said, looking expectantly at the two of them.
Silver glared at him with what was probably a learned mistrust for police officers, and said, "Just a second, if you don't mind."
"Not at all," the officer said, smiling and nodding to him. He backed away slightly and Lyra realized that this was it.
"I guess this is goodbye," she said, smiling sadly.
"We'll keep in touch," Silver said, sounding unconcerned. "Good luck."
"Thanks." Lyra giggled slightly as Meganium leaned over and licked Sneasel on the face, then turned back to the officer so she could give her statement.
When she had finished she looked over her shoulder at Silver, now standing at his father's side, reuniting a gentleman with his Noctowl. Giovanni had one hand on his shoulder, and as Lyra watched she noticed that the hand never left, keeping Silver close by even as he tried to hand people back their Pokeballs.
Meganium made a troubled little sound, and Lyra patted his back reassuringly. "Don't worry Meganium. I'm going to find this Red kid and stop Team Rocket... For all of us." She then recalled the Pokemon and placed the ball in her purse.
First stop, home to New Bark Town to pack her things. Then, figuring it would be as good a place to start as any, Pewter City.
Team Rocket here I come.