Last time, our hero Silver started his journey to challenge the Johto League and stopped Team Rocket's mutilation of the Slowpoke of Azalea Town. Now, he begins his day in hopes of seeing just what exactly Soul, the girl who stole a Chikorita from Professor Elm, has to do with the evil organization!
Chapter 2
Giovanni
"Damn, I missed her! Oh well, come on, Noble let's get moving into Ilex."
Silver sighed and headed out to the west end of town.
"Hey you!"
He turned.
"There you are. I have some questions for-!"
"Shut your mouth! I'm the one who's going to be asking questions around here! Tell me... is it true? Is Team Rocket really back?"
"Oh, don't play dumb with me! Look at you! You're practically wearing their colors! Couple that with your actions and you've got to be with them!" Silver replied.
Soul was about to voice a comeback but Silver interrupted her.
"I'll humor you though. I beat them and they ran along."
She paused before bursting into laughter.
"You beat them! Don't make me laugh!"
"Hey, I'm being serious here! They were pushovers! Now I want to know, why are you so interested in them? How about a battle? If I win you tell me what I want to know."
Silver wasn't one to normally instigate fights, but in this instance he wanted to get any leg up on Team Rocket he could.
"Hmph. Fine! But I won't lose this time! Go, Gastly!"
"Croconaw, you're up! Bite!"
The Pokemon charged Gastly and its jaws became cloaked in black energy as they met Gastly's semisolid form.
The attack knocked out the ghost type.
"Ah! Gr... Go, Bayleef!"
"Get back, Croconaw! Go, Noble! Use Twister!"
The grass type took the attack in stride.
"Bayleef, use PoisonPowder!"
The Pokemon released several violet spores that poisoned Noble.
This wasn't new though.
"Noble, gust attack!"
The Pokemon whipped up a small tornado.
'Geez if this keeps up I might have to stop using this attack!' Silver noted at the strength of the wind.
Bayleef fainted.
Silver treated Noble's poisoning.
"Damn! Zubat! Stop it! Use Bite!"
"Noble, dodge it and use Quick Attack!"
The Pokemon darted past Zubat and struck it from behind.
The bat Pokemon tumbled to the ground.
Soul growled and called it back before heading into the forest.
Silver grabbed her wrist.
"Unhand me!"
She struggled against his firm grip.
"Not until you tell me why you're so interested in Team Rocket's return!"
Soul mumbled something.
"What was that?"
"I said... Giovanni is my father! Are you happy now?"
"Hm... well I don't think he's the one in charge. He might be dead since apparently there's some guy named Proton who was in charge of the Slowpoke Well operation."
This enticed a flood of rage from Soul who pinned him to the ground and started strangling him, leaving Noble confused and uncertain of what to do.
"Take it back! That's impossible! He can't be dead!"
Noble started pecking at Soul's head and that gave Silver the leverage he needed to reverse their positions, except he was holding her arms down.
"Now listen to me! I said he might be dead! I'm just guessing at this point from what I've heard! If you want to look for him, I won't stop you! Just don't get in my way when it comes to stopping those Rockets, understand?"
No answer.
"I said UNDERSTAND?"
She nodded.
Silver stood up and offered a hand, which she slapped away before getting up and starting off.
"...Good luck." Silver said as she entered the gatehouse.
"Come on, Noble. Let's get you healed up real quick."
The Ilex Forest was large, much larger than the Viridian Forest in Kanto.
However, it also kept a very unique shrine within.
Legend had it that a Pokemon watched over this forest that could travel through time.
That wasn't helping Silver's poor sense of navigation though.
Soon night fell and Silver was forced to set up camp.
He started a fire and cracked open some food for his Pokemon before grabbing a can of soup out of his bag and putting it in a metal pot over the open flame.
Suddenly there was a rustling in the leaves and all heads turned in that direction.
"Noble. Scope it out." Silver whispered.
The Pokemon took off and circled the area before diving into the trees...
"GAH! Ow! Get away from me you filthy bird!"
Silver recognized that voice.
"...Soul?"
"Gah! What was your name... Silver, right? Get your mangy Pokemon away from me! Ow!"
"Noble, come back."
The Pokemon flew back over to its perch and continued its meal.
Soul wobbled out of the woods.
"Damn bird..."
"So... you lost too?"
"W-what? Of course not! How could I be lost?"
"Yep, you're lost."
"N-not any more than you!"
Silver sighed.
"Tell me, when was the last time you had something to eat? You know, actual food? You look awful."
"What does that matter?"
There was a growling noise; Soul's stomach.
"See? I've got enough food to go around. Why don't you join me? You want to find your old man, I want to stop Team Rocket... our goals aren't entirely separate you know." Silver offered.
Giving in to hunger, Soul kept her distance from Silver but sat by the fire.
There was an awkward silence for some time before Silver decided to make small talk to kill time.
"So... uh... why don't we tell each other a little about ourselves? I have a feeling we'll be seeing a lot of each other in the future."
No reply.
"Okay then, I'll start. My full name's Silver Aigul. Born and raised in New Bark. Up until I left it was just me and my mom. My dad died when I was six. I'm named after a feather my father always had on him. Said it was a lucky charm or something. I was officially trained in a few Martial Arts until I was about twelve. Since then I've just been keeping up with my workouts. I wanted to be able to protect mom from anything. Now... well you know the rest. How about you? What's your story?"
"... My name is Soul Giovanni. Yes, that's the family name. Even I don't know my father's first name. My mother died when I was very, very young, so I don't remember much about her. My father wasn't much of one a lot of the time, dealing with Team Rocket's affairs and such. When he got beat by Red and disbanded Team Rocket he left me behind. Since then I've been just kind of roaming Johto until recently. You know the rest as well."
"Wow... you've been fending for yourself all this time? How did you manage that?"
"I stole what I could, or, failing that, lived off the land. There wasn't much left after Team Rocket was brought down."
"I see... Here."
He handed her a metal mug full of the soup before getting himself some.
"...Good luck finding your old man." Silver sighed. "You know, my dad always had something to say for every situation. But one thing he always told me was my mind was my greatest weapon. I never quite understood what he meant by that."
Silver finished his food and took the pot, now empty, off of the fire.
After it cooled he started packing his things.
"Soul," Silver started.
"What?"
"You go on to sleep. I'll take first guard shift and wake you up when it's your turn."
"Whatever."
The truth was she looked exhausted, so he didn't actually plan on waking her up at all.
"Noble, do a once over of the area around the campsite."
The Pokemon nodded and took off.
It soon returned, and once it signaled everything was in the clear, Silver called it back along with his Croconaw.
As the hours went on he downed a can of caffeinated soda to keep himself awake.
The sun eventually peaked over the horizon, its light filtering through the trees.
It was at this point Silver's body could take no more and he fell asleep on the ground.
A few hours later Soul woke up and noticed the sun in the sky... and Silver passed out on the ground.
'Come to think of it... he never did wake me up... Why?'
She packed up her sleeping bag and, with only the slightest twinge of regret, continued onward.
Silver awoke in late afternoon.
"Geez... I must have passed out... Looks like Soul's gone too. Better get a move on."
He packed up and headed off, Noble roosting on his arm.
However, before he could get to the exit, he encountered a Kimono Girl, similar to the one who he had met in Violet, although he noticed subtle differences like a minor height difference and different eyes.
"Kimono Girl, Kimono Girl, lost and all alone..." she noticed him. "Could you help me get out of these woods?"
"Well, I know the general direction, but aside from that..."
Noble took off and flew over to a nearby path in the trees.
"Oh? Is that the way out? What a smart Pokemon! Thank you both."
The kimono girl went on her way.
Noble returned to Silver's arm.
"Come on, let's go then."
Suddenly there was movement in his backpack.
The egg was hatching.
A Togepi was the end result, Silver soon found out.
He called up Elm.
"Hey, Professor, I'm calling to let you know the egg hatched. It's some little... thing... that looks like the lower three quarters of the egg is still there... with little hands and feet... and a weird spiky head. I have no idea where to begin." Silver said.
"You'll have to show it to me in person!"
"I'll see about getting to you when I can." Silver responded. "Right now I'm headed out of Ilex and I really don't want to backtrack after that trip. Later."
Silver hung up and headed onward.
As he traveled up the next route, he ran into Lyra again.
"Oh hi Silver! Come here, I want you to meet someone!"
She dragged him over to an elderly man next to a large building, causing Noble to take flight to avoid falling to the ground.
"This is my Grandpa! He and my Grandma run the Daycare center!" She released Silver. "Grandpa this is my friend Silver. He's really good at raising Pokemon! Not as much as you though."
She once more grabbed his sleeve.
"Come on!"
"Wait, what-!"
She dragged him into the building.
"Grandma, this is Silver, my friend!"
"Oh yes, your boy... friend."
"Grandmaaaaa! It's not like that at all!"
"I know dear, I was just having my fun."
"Silver! You can leave up to two of your Pokemon here and my Grandma will take care of them for you!"
"Really? In that case, could you hang on to this little guy for a while?"
Silver handed the elderly woman Togepi's Pokeball.
"Of course."
She took the Pokeball and headed into the back room.
"Silver, we should trade Pokegear numbers! That way I can call you when something interesting happens!"
"Okay, why not?"
The two traded numbers and Lyra ran off, with Silver short behind.
He headed up to the next city, Noble resting on his arm once more.
After a quick trip to the Pokemon Center he decided he'd check out some of the finer points of the city, starting with the underground.
However, he was met by Lyra once more here.
"Silver! There's a place in the tunnel that you can dress up with your Pokemon and take pictures! Here, take this to put accessories in for you Pokemon!"
She handed him a Prop Case.
"Uh... thanks..."
"Bye-bye!"
Lyra ran off with her Marril once more.
Silver continued into the tunnel and found it had some unique things set up within, including a small boutique and a stand that sold herbal medicine.
He decided to drop in the boutique, a very small shop.
"Hi! I'm the elder of the Haircut Brothers. Of course that's just a nickname; we groom Pokemon. I'm the more experienced of the two of us, and I can groom your Pokemon for only P500. How about it?"
Silver had some extra cash, so he shrugged his shoulders.
"Why not?"
"Great! Which Pokemon would you like me to groom?"
"How about Noble here?"
The Pokemon seemed a bit hesitant.
"Okay then! Just have it roost over here at this station and I'll begin!"
Silver nodded and shook his arm a little before Noble grudgingly fluttered over to the perch.
Several minutes later the young man was finished with his work.
"Viola! Well? Is it to you liking?"
Noble seemed less pissed off than when the groomer had started, and his feathers had a brilliant sheen to them, the hair-like ones on its skull neatly combed back.
"Very much so."
Silver handed the man the cash and Noble flew over and landed on Silver's arm again before they exited the tunnel.
Their next stop was an out-of-the-way store: A bike shop.
Now, Silver knew he had a snowball's chance in hell of ever actually being able to afford one of the things, but it couldn't hurt to look... right?
However, it seemed today was his lucky day.
He entered the shop and began browsing the bikes.
"Oh! A customer?"
Silver turned to the man with an apologetic look on his face.
"Sorry, I have nowhere near the cash to afford one of these. You don't seem like things are going too well. Care to elaborate?"
"Darn... well ever since I opened this branch in Johto business has been poor." the man had an idea. "I know! Why don't I lend you one of my bikes! Then you can ride it around to advertise my shop!"
"For real? Okay, I'm in on that!"
"Great! Just let me have your name and Pokegear Number."
Silver gave the man the information and received a bicycle in return.
After his adventure there, he headed for the tallest building in town, the Radio Tower.
"Welcome! We're having a contest today!" greeted the receptionist. "Answer five questions correct and get a free Radio Card for your Pokegear!"
"Sounds simple enough. Why not?"
The quiz was absurdly easy.
Silver clicked the Radio Card into his Pokegear and the function fuzzed to life.
Silver tested tuning it before shutting it off.
Suddenly he was approached by a girl about his age with pink hair.
"Wow you actually did it! I thought the answer to the third question was surely apricots!"
Silver raised an eyebrow.
He could tell that this girl wasn't exactly that bright.
"Uh... right..."
She looked over his shoulder at a clock on the wall.
"Oh I'm running late! I have to get back to the gym!"
With that she ran off.
Silver just sighed and headed for the Department Store.
The building loomed over Silver.
He entered and checked what floor had exactly what; this building was confusing, and he'd come here once or twice as a little kid with his parents, usually for a birthday but sometimes for other things.
Silver headed up to the second floor and purchased some healing items for his Pokemon, some higher-powered Great and Ultra balls, and general supplies.
Then he headed to the fifth floor and purchased a TM, Headbutt, and taught it to his Croconaw.
He had something he wanted to try.
His business concluded at the store for now, he headed off to the route prior to town.
He had a very certain Pokemon he was hunting, one he'd actually wanted since he was a kid:
Heracross.
Thankfully his Croconaw had a hard head, because it took several tries (and a comical experience with a Spearow flock) to find the Pokemon he wanted.
"Okay, let's go! Croconaw, Water Gun!"
The attack hit its foe but did mediocre damage.
The bug and fighting type rammed Croconaw with its horn and sent it rolling to Silver's feet, but it was still capable of fighting.
"Use Headbutt!"
Croconaw returned the favor and sent Heracross flying into a tree.
"Alright... Let's catch this!"
Silver drew an Ultra Ball and tossed it.
It clicked shut.
"Alright, nice work! Come on, let's head back to the Pokemon Center then get some food before he head to the gym."
After healing his Pokemon, Silver headed out to find a place to eat.
However he literally ran into none other than Soul on the way out.
"Ow..."
"Watch where you're going..."
The two looked at one another, both now standing once again.
"Soul?"
"Silver?"
"What are you doing here?" they asked simultaneously.
"I was just about to get something to eat." Silver said.
"I was coming back from the gym... that stupid Miltank... Hmph! Never mind! Get out of my way."
She shoved past Silver who just sighed and wandered off to find somewhere to eat.
Once he finished his meal he headed for the Gym.
The design was odd, a large wall rising up in a vaguely circular pattern with various pillars and walls within that circle.
Silver approached the battlefield and saw a somewhat familiar face.
"You! You're that girl from the Radio Tower!"
"Oh it's you! Hi!"
"Wait... you're the gym leader?"
"Yep! There was some really mean red haired girl here a little while ago who was really tough! Introductions though! I'm Whitney, and I love normal type Pokemon, but cute Pokemon are my favorite! Don't underestimate me though!"
"I could say the same!"
"Go, Clefairy!"
Whitney sent out the small pink Pokemon.
"Kros, go get em'! Brick Break!"
The bug type appeared and sped at the normal type, its arm glowing brick red and white.
The attack hit home and Knocked out Clefairy.
"Noooo! Clefairy! Fine! Go, Miltank! Rollout!"
The attack sent Kros flying.
"Kros! Get ready for the next round."
The normal type spun in place and turned around, heading for Kros again.
"Now, Kros, Counter!"
The white Pokemon was caught by Kros and the bug type punched the normal type, sending it crashing to the ground on the other end of the field.
But it stood up.
"Miltank, Rollout, again!"
"Kros, Counter!"
The pattern repeated another time before the normal type gave out.
Whitney was silent for a moment... before breaking down into tears and slumping to the ground.
"H-hey! W-what about my..."
She ignored him.
"Fine. Let's go Kros. We'll come back later when you've stopped being a crybaby."
Silver started off but was stopped before he got to far.
"Oh no... you made Whitney cry... Don't worry, she does this a lot. She'll stop soon."
Silver and Kros had deadpan expressions on their faces.
"Seriously?"
The girl nodded.
"I'm sorry about all this, I really am."
Silver leaned against the wall and sighed.
"Geez, does the Pokemon League even have standards anymore?" he muttered under his breath.
Soon the bawling quieted down to sniffles.
Silver walked back over to the girl.
"Ahem."
"..W-what do you want?"
"My badge. I beat you, fair and square. Now I want. My. Badge."
Silver was losing his patience, which was something he barely had normally.
"F-fine! You big...meanie! Here!"
She handed him the small item.
Satisfied, Silver headed off again.
After healing Kros, he called Noble back out to roost on his arm.
Silver headed north and noted that there were two paths he could take:
He could go through the National Park and take a short walk to the next town from there... or he could take the longer, more difficult route where he could give his Pokemon some experience.
He chose the latter.
However he soon came across the girl who'd spoken to him at the gym next to a tree.
"Oh, hey. What's up?" Silver asked.
"This tree... don't you agree it looks weird?"
Silver looked at the tree.
"Yeah... what's the problem?"
"Well, the bushes around it have thorns so I can't very well go through those, and I want to head to Violet to meet a friend of mine. I got here and this was in the way. It wasn't here a couple of weeks ago though. I heard rumors of course about it."
'Of course.. girls and their rumors...' Silver rolled his eyes. "So what did you hear?"
"I heard it hates water. Rumor has it that one guy tried to water it and it attacked him! That's why I'm scared to do anything about it..." the girl replied, somewhat embarrassed.
"Stand back, let me and Croconaw give it a go. Croconaw, low force water gun!" Silver called out the Pokemon and it complied.
Suddenly the tree started moving.
"What the-!"
The thing attacked him with a Low Kick.
He hopped to dodge it.
"Geez! That isn't a tree..."
He pulled out his Pokedex.
"That's a Pokemon! Croconaw, Water Gun, normal strength!"
The attack pained the Pokemon.
However, it was full of surprises.
The "T" on its head glowed and it fired a water gun back.
"Dodge it!" Croconaw dodged and the high pressure attack headed straight for the girl.
Water attacks varied in strength based on how pressurized the water was.
While water gun was a low-end attack, nothing like Hydro Pump, coming from the right Pokemon it could crush rocks.
And it was coming from that Pokemon.
"Move!"
The girl was frozen in fear.
"Damnit..."
Silver broke into a sprint and shoved the girl aside, the attack hitting him and sending him slamming into a tree.
He ached like crazy, but not from the water attack, from the impact.
His jacket was mostly dry, aside from a few spots.
"What... I should be almost dead..."
He felt his chest and abdomen to make sure he wasn't imagining things.
"What the hell...?" He shook his head. No time for that now.
He sprung back to his feet and took up a position along side Croconaw.
"You okay?" He asked the girl.
"Y-yeah... but...how..."
"Croconaw, use Water Gun again!"
The blue Pokemon sprayed down the rock type once more, weakening it.
"Okay, time to catch it!"
Silver lobbed a Great Ball at it.
The device wobbled a few times before clicking shut.
"Alright, that's four! Croconaw, return."
Silver called back his Pokemon and helped the girl up.
"How are you okay after that?"
"I... don't know. It's like a barrier or something blocked the attack. Well, I"m headed north to Ecruteak. Later."
"Th-Thanks again! D-do you think you'll be coming back to Goldenrod any time soon?"
"Maybe. That Department Store had some useful Tms that I just can't afford right now, so I'll probably roll back into town eventually."
"O-oh! Well, bye!"
The two parted ways.
After healing his Pokemon, Silver decided he'd have Sowo, his Sudowoodo, follow him.
The Pokemon wasn't very agreeable at all; it obeyed him without problem in battle, it just kind of was... well an asshole. He was cocky, and somewhat of a wannabe badass... Something Silver hoped to break him of in the near future.
He noticed a half destroyed tower on the west end of town and decided to check it out.
Soon after he walked in he was greeted by a man in a violet suit with lavender diamonds on it and a white cape.
His dirty blonde hair was slicked back and he had a red tie around his neck.
"Hello! My name is Eusine."
"Uh... hi... my name's Silver. This is Sowo."
The Pokemon crossed its arms and nodded with a smug expression on its face.
"Silver... what an interesting name. Might I inquire where you got it?"
"You may. My late father once had a silver feather he carried all the time. That's where my name came from."
"I see... Well, I'm sure you're wondering why I've introduced myself to you. I am here following the Legendary Beast Suicune. Please, come with me if you would."
Silver shrugged his shoulders and the two headed to a massive hole in the center of the room.
"Look below! Those are the Legendary Beasts, forged from the slain bodies of three Pokemon in the Sacred Ash of Ho-Oh into these magnificent creatures! However, the most magnificent of them all is Suicune."
"So which one is your Suicune?" Silver asked.
"Ah, you're young, so you must not have the refined senses for these things yet. The one that is the color of the most beautiful waters, the one with the flowing violet mane, that is Suicune!"
"You don't say? So they're legendary Pokemon?"
"Yes they are. Each is extremely powerful... and extremely elusive and fast. Every time I've attempted to get close, they've run off!"
Eusine continued on about his "glorious Suicune", but Silver was lost in thought.
'Well it would be nice to have all three, but Suicune is a water type, and I have Croconaw. The other two however...'
He noted Entei first.
'That one looks like a fire type, maybe rock type too. I could use one of those.'
He looked to Raikou second.
'That one is, without a doubt, an electric type. Definitely could do for one of those on my team.'
"So... Eusine, right? You don't mind if I take the other two off your hands, do you?"
"If you can manage to capture them, go right ahead!"
Silver headed with Sowo further into the ruined building and ran into Soul again.
"Oh. It's you. What're you doing here?" Silver asked, somewhat annoyed.
He had a lot on his mind right now, and honestly wasn't sure what kind of reaction to expect from the young lady.
Okay, lady was a stretch, he thought, but he'd at least keep somewhat courteous.
With his recent event with Sowo and the Mimic attack, and the prospect of capturing two of the Legendary Beasts as Eusine had called them, he didn't want to put up with bullshit from Soul right now.
"I could as you the same question. Let me guess, here to catch the legendary Pokemon to make yourself look tough?"
"What if I am here for them?"
"That's only a dream! They're only suited for a trainer like me who's decided to be the strongest trainer ever!"
"Right, I forgot about you hating this 'Neo Team Rocket' because they're a bunch of wimps or whatever. Doesn't change the fact I've kicked your ass twice already."
"Enough talk! Let's battle! Go, Zubat!"
"Sowo, you're up. Rock Throw." Silver said with a sigh.
"Dodge it Zubat and use bite!"
The flying type dodged the rock that Sowo had dug up from the floor and dove in.
However, the shadow-cloaked fangs were unable to penetrate Sowo's tough hide.
"Sowo, Sucker Punch!"
The Pokemon delivered a solid blow to the flying type, sending it hurdling through the air.
"Zubat! Use Astonish!"
The flying type swooped in and let out a screech.
Sowo was unaffected.
"Sowo, Hammer Arm!"
The Pokemon's arm glowed and it slammed into the flying type, KO'ing it.
"Gah! Not again! Go, Bayleef!"
"Okay Sowo, get back! Go, Noble!"
Silver called back Sowo and sent in Noble.
"Noble, use Gust!"
The flying type whipped up a strong twister that sent Silver's hat flying off to the floor below.
"Aww man! This is your fault, Soul! Noble, Quick attack!"
The Pokemon was easily outmaneuvering the sluggish grass type and put it down in a timely fashion.
"Damn it! Go, Magnemite! Thundershock!"
The Pokemon took Noble down in one strike.
"Crap, Noble... Go, Kros! Use Brick Break!"
The bug type entered battle and delivered a powerful blow to the Magnemite, Knocking it out.
"This is... do the job, Gastly! Use Mean Look!"
Kros's Pokeball sparked violet.
"Crap... This can't end well... Kros, Aerial Ace!"
The Pokemon swung at the ghost type but missed.
"Gastly... Curse."
The Pokemon grinned wider as a nail drove itself into the Pokemon.
Then Kros shuddered as his strength was sapped.
"Not good... Uh... Heracross... come on, you were obsessed with this thing as a kid... Oh yeah! Night Slash!"
The Pokemon's arm flickered with black shadow that licked at the appendage before it made contact with Gastly knocking it out.
"AGAIN! Why do I keep losing?"
"Your methods are flawed. That's why."
"Just shut up! I don't need your bleeding heart bullcrap! I'm out of here!"
As she stormed off Silver grabbed her wrist.
"Hang on."
"Let go of me!"
"I said hang on! This is about Team Rocket!"
That got her attention.
"You saw him too, right?"
"What?"
"In Goldenrod, outside of the Radio Tower... there was a grunt. He was just standing there, watching the tower. We should start working together instead of this... nonsense... every time we meet."
"No thanks, I don't need your help!"
"Soul, don't deny it! Team Rocket could become a real threat! If they're numerous then they have that edge should we decide to go our separate ways." Silver reasoned.
"I'll beat them myself!"
Soul wouldn't buy it.
"How about we make a deal? You agree to work with me and put this petty rivalry aside for now and I'll let you talk to Red."
That got her attention.
"How would you do that?"
"I've got Oak's Pokegear number. If anyone has Red's number, it'll be him. I'll just ask him for it."
Soul looked away in thought for a moment, then answered:
"...Meet me at the Pokemon Center in ten minutes. I'll give you my answer."
"Okay then. Hey, why don't we trade Pokegear numbers too?"
"...Fine."
The two traded numbers and Soul ran off.
Silver called back all his Pokemon and slid down the ladder.
He slowly approached the three Pokemon in the basement.
Raikou made eye contact with him and he froze.
Then Raikou and Entei took off.
Suicune however, vanished and reappeared inches from his face, surprising him.
"I do believe you lost this," The Pokemon had his hat in its mouth.
"W...what? First magical barriers blocking attacks, now talking Pokemon? I must be losing my mind."
"Of course some of us are capable of speech, just not the majority, Son of the Sea. We will meet again."
Suicune dropped the hat in Silver's hand and ran off.
"Silver!"
It was Eusine.
"That was-!"
"Yes, it was Suicune. Tell me, in all your years of obsessing over that thing, have you ever heard it talk?"
"Talk? What are you saying? Pokemon can't talk."
"It can. It brought me back my hat and said something about us meeting again... and called me something very strange."
"What?"
"Son of the Sea..."
It appears Suicune has reason to be interested in Silver. Many questions are unanswered: What does "Son of the Sea" refer to? Why did Suicune give Silver this title? How will Silver's Negotiations with Soul go over?Next time, the story begins to further unfold and the plot itself begins to thicken.