CHAPTER TWO
"We're buying you some more clothes when we get out of here."
"I had the uniform, and this. What do you want from me? I didn't exactly have time to pack before blowing up the ship."
She stopped dead. "You blew it up?"
"Mostly just a distraction, I didn't actually blow it up, I just made it… difficult for them to get home."
Keri grabbed his hand as he pushed open the door. "You killed the engine didn't you?"
"They're probably lost in the Sinnoh sea. Someone will find them, eventually. I wouldn't hold my breath." He looked around the hallway… there were pictures made of 'fall things.' A little glass desk that had supplies in it, labeled 'store.' To his left were the doors to the library.
"The office is this way." Keri led him to another door, walking in.
A woman at a desk looked up, holding up a finger as she spoke on the phone… she finally put it down. "Yes?"
"They called me for a meeting today? Keri Fletcher."
The woman nodded. "Yes, you're early… who are you?" She nodded towards Silver.
"This is Sterling's father, Silver." Keri leaned against him, the woman looked confused for a second, then shrugged as the phone rang again.
The bell rang, and the students appeared in he hall, filling it up. Keri watched them walk along, led by teachers out to the rangers. The rangers walked the students home when parents couldn't come to pick them up. Mr. Dale walked out of his office to make sure everything was okay in the hall, and seemed surprised to see Keri standing there. "Miss Fletcher?"
She turned around, smiling, "that would be me."
"You're early, thank you for coming. Who is the man with you?" He had a feeling he knew, but didn't want to be rude…
Sterling walked up to the office door, looking around a little nervously… She pushed it open, grinning. "Mommy!" She ran over and hugged her, then let go and hugged Silver around the knees… "You brought Daddy with you too!"
Silver looked down at her, a little surprised… he knelt down and wrapped his arms around her… "Of course I came with. You're my daughter…" His daughter… "I love you…" It was like nothing he had ever felt before… Team Rocket had kept him from her… she was the most beautiful thing in the world…
"Daddy, this is my teacher, Mrs. Bradely."
Silver picked her up and looked at the woman, a calm expression on his face… "Hello…"
"We weren't aware that her father was around…" She looked at the man, he was obviously her father, there was no mistaking that, but on the form Miss Fletcher had written single parent…
"Why don't we go into my office." Mr. Dale waved them over, and they walked down a short hallway into the office. Keri sat down in one of the chairs opposite his on the other side of the desk, Silver cautiously took the other, Sterling sitting on his lap.
The teachers began talking, Silver couldn't help just looking at Sterling, every little part of her animated, sometimes a little frown, a grin… "Silver, what do you think?"
"She's the most beautiful thing I have ever seen in my life…" He said, almost a whisper…
Everyone stared at him for a couple seconds, and he looked up, completely composed. "I'm sorry, what were you talking about?"
Mr. Dale looked to Keri… "How long have you two been together?" The man had been looking at Sterling like he'd only just seen her for the first time in his life.
"About six years ago there were some… problems, and he couldn't come here with me-"
"Mommy said that Daddy saved her life but then couldn't come with because Team Rocket made him stay, but the bad guys are gone now, so he can stay with us!" She grinned, then looked confused as the two teachers glanced worriedly at each other.
Keri blushed a little… "He met her yesterday…"
"Well… We want to do a couple of tests on your daughter… She finished her entire math book today, and has been reading ahead." Mrs. Bradely said, still a little shocked. She handed him the math workbook.
Sterling crawled down from his lap as he flipped through the pages… "What does coun-sel-or mean?"
Mr. Dale looked at her… "It can mean many different things, some counselors are people who are in charge of a group of other people, and are usually part of a team. There are others who talk to people about how they feel. A Counselor is someone who gives counsel, or advice."
"Counsel sounds like console…" She said, walking around and looking at things in the office. "Console makes people feel better…"
"Where did you learn Console?"
"One of the third graders in the library talks while he works. So counselors make people feel better?"
Silver set the problem book on the desk…
"Yes, sometimes."
"I… Think that the tests… would be a good idea… but only if Keri does…" he looked at her, then at Sterling…
Keri was shocked, he sounded completely unsure, Silver was never unsure… "It sounds like a good idea, what exactly are they going to be doing?"
"Things like putting together puzzles, games. Incidentally, there's another student that we may be testing tomorrow too, Emily Creed. She's in the same class, we still need to discuss it with her parents…
"Silver..? Could you come here, I have some games I want to play with you…"
"Can I finish coloring my picture?"
"Of course…"
"Right now this is just to see what level she's at, we're not going to be making any huge changes…"
"What are these? I've never seen them before…"
"It's a puzzle…"
"Can I get some air?" Silver stood up, backing towards the door a little.
"You have to do it yourself, take your time…"
"Of course, why don't-" the counselor started, but Silver was already out the door.
"Silver..!" Keri stood up and followed him, Sterling ran after.
He stopped outside, taking deep breaths of air… "Silver, are you okay?" She put a hand on his shoulder… earlier he'd been completely unsure, now he'd just run out like there was fire behind him… "What's wrong?"
"My mother had me tested… I'm fine, just needed to get out for a second…"
Sterling ran over, standing next to him… "Daddy, are you okay?"
"I'm fine Sterling… We should go back and finish talking to the teachers. Why don't we all go get some ice cream when we're done?" He smiled at Keri. She grinned at him… Petalburg…
The teachers stood by the door… "Is everything okay?"
"Yes… It's… personal. Should we go back inside..?" He motioned to the doors.
"No, we're almost done anyway. If it's okay with you, we could do the tests tomorrow at about ten. If you would like to come, just stop by the office and we'll tell you where to go."
Keri nodded, Silver turned around as he heard some gravel crunch slightly…
"Hello…" The woman stared for a second, holding onto her daughters hand… "Keri! If I'd known you moved out here…"
"Viox! How is Michael?"
"Last I herd he was okay… He stops by from time to time. Where are you living?"
"Our apartment is close to the park… I'm sorry I haven't been in contact with you at all… Have you heard from Kat and Dominic?"
"No, not since we found you. I understand why you couldn't try to call…" She looked at Silver… "Are you sure it's safe now?"
"Nothing is safe." They said it at the same time, startling each other slightly.
The two teachers were a little confused at the conversation… They knew each other? Obviously there was some sort of past between them.
Sterling watched Emily, who watched her, silently. They were standing a couple feet away from the adults. Finally Sterling spoke… "It was nice of you to help Ethan with his problems."
Emily blinked, then smiled. "Sorry I hit you with the rubber band…"
"It's neat how you bent the paperclip like that, can I see?"
She pulled it out of her pocket… "See, if you bend it like this, they fly further because there isn't anything in the way…"
"Since there's two of them you can aim better!"
"Yeah! Watch, I can hit that tree."
Emily loaded a small rubber band into it, releasing and hitting the tree. "Piece of cake, I could hit further… uh-oh…"
The tree turned, glaring at the two… "Sudowoodo!" It ran forward, arms out… "Woodo!" Emily screamed and ducked-
"Crunch! Throw it!"
Silver was in front of the two girls before anyone else had been able to respond. "Double team, confuse it!"
As the rock type his the ground, the silver and black Hyena had surrounded it, snarling. The pokemon backed up, not sure where to run… it darted through the illusions back to the little group of trees. "Return, thank you Mightyena."
He returned the Pokéball to his pocket, staring in the direction the Pokemon had run… he followed, stepping silently. He disappeared into the trees…
"We should… have our meeting…" The Mrs. Bradely said, staring in shock as he went after the Pokemon.
Viox and Keri ran over and picked up their daughters… "Are you okay? What happened?"
"I was showing how I could shoot the rubber bands and the tree attacked us!" Emily pointed.
"It was a Pokemon! Like Geodude, it hid by looking like something else!" Sterling wriggled from Keris arms, jumping down and running after Silver.
Suddenly sterling felt herself lifted off the ground, and wiggled… "Shh…" She looked up to see her father with a finger to his lips, he was staring at something…
"It has a nest, don't make a sound."
Keri ran after Sterling, slowing to a silent walk as she saw them… "Silver…"
"Look."
She looked through the trees where he was pointing, two Sudowoodo standing guard over two Bonsly. A third Bonsly came into view a second later, toddling on two little legs. The Sudowoodo ignored it, taking care of the other two.
"What's wrong with that one? Why won't they take care of it?" Sterling whispered.
"I don't know…" He carefully watched it. The Pokemon just toddled around, looking lost. It sat down on the ground, staring around. Finally one of the Sudowoodo took notice of it, walking over and shouting angrily. The Bonsly began to cry… The larger Pokemon shoved at it with its arms, growling…
"Leave it alone!" Sterling was suddenly in the little clearing, hands on her hips, in front of the Pokemon…
"Sudowoodo!" It growled at her…
"I said leave it alone!" She glared at the Pokemon, eyes flashing dangerously…
Silver threw out his Pokéball…. "Feraligatr! Don't let it touch her!"
Keri ran forward, scooping up Sterling and holding her close as the Pokemon growled…
"Don't attack, just keep it away. We don't want to hurt them."
The Sudowoodo backed off, running to the Bonsly that had begun to cry at the sight of the giant Pokemon… Keri ran a wiggling Sterling out of the small group of trees, setting her down in the road… "What were you thinking!"
"It wasn't right! They were going to hurt her and she hadn't done anything to them!" Keri blinked in surprise… Sterling was holding the Pokemon. "I'm not letting them hurt her!" She stomped her foot, hugging the Bonsly.
Silver soon appeared behind them… "You could have gotten hurt too…"
"But I didn't. You sent out your big Pokemon… I thought you would send out the black one like before, but you still sent one out, and they didn't hurt her!" Sterling grinned…
Silver crouched down, looking into her eyes… "Never ever make a plan like that without telling mommy or daddy first. If that Pokemon was stronger than mine you could have gotten hurt… Promise me, you won't just run in like that again."
"What if you aren't there?" She pouted… the Pokemon in her arms just looked around.
"Then you go and find someone, you never just step between two Pokemon. Sterling…"
"I promise, I won't step between Pokemon like that again… I just didn't want her to get hurt…"
Silver wrapped his arms around her… "I don't want you to get hurt either."
Keri watched him… He cared so much about her, she could hear how worried her was, see that he was holding so much back… she could tell that he wanted to yell… He met her eyes… "Keri, I…" he sighed and shut his eyes…
.~.~.~.~.~
Jason crouched in the tree, just above the little nest of Pokemon… "You there?" he muttered into his Styler.
"No, my Styler was eaten by an Oddish, they're holding me hostage."
"So you're talking to an Oddish?"
"No you idiot! I'm stuck at the base. What is it?"
"I have my report for him filled out, got some footage too… We've been watching them for years now, what does he expect to happen?"
Grant sighed… being a double agent was rough, but Giovanni had trusted him with this… "I don't know Jason, just do your job. Send the footage and your report to file B so it can be sent. After that come back to the base so you can receive further instruction."
"Alright, sending it now… you know, I'm glad that Team Rocket is out of this region, no offense, but most of you guys are jerks."
"I'm just glad that you agreed to help me with this. Since Jen can't be here right now… You know you would have to turn in your Styler if you got caught."
"Don't worry bro. Your Giovanni is a lot softer than you think… This is his granddaughter right? It doesn't matter how much the boy hates his dad, he's still his dad. Something had me worried though, there's something in the air with these Pokemon, they're acting strange again bro… it's getting rough."
"J… this had better not be another of your games."
"I'm not joking Grant, something ain't right about the air. There's a real storm coming. And whatever it is, you had better bet that it involves your friends down there…" Grant could hear him struggling…
"Jason…" He didn't answer… "Jason!? Are you there!?"
He herd some static, then laughing…. "A real storm… we haven't had one for years… This'll be fun!" Grant stared at the Styler… suddenly he heard a screech, a crunch…
"Ranger down by school road!" Oh God oh God please not again…
.~.~.~.~.~
Silver stood, looking in the mirror… "I look ridiculous."
Sterling giggled. "Try this one on!" She handed him another hat.
Keri grinned, sitting on a chair beside the mirror… He glanced at her, a half glare, a half smile… "Okay." He rolled his eyes as he put it on his head. "Hey, this one isn't half bad!" He grinned at Sterling as she burst into giggles, she'd given him a bright orange cowboy hat.
He picked her up and put it on her head, "hey! That's too big for me!"
He began laughing… Keri stood up and pulled it off Sterling's head. "How about me!" the brim tilted over her face.
"I don't like it nearly as much on you…" He grinned…
"Why?"
He lifted the brim… "I can't see your eyes…" He gave her a short kiss. "We should get out of here and find a place to get ice cream."
"There's a lady in the park who sells some!" Silver set Sterling down, and she hopped up and down… "Me and mommy got some and we sat and watched the Pokemon and there was a man feeding the birds and there's a fountain that people throw coins in and then you make a wish and…" She grabbed Silvers hand and began leading him towards the door of the store, just talking the entire time.
The woman at the counter raised an eyebrow at Keri… "It's good to see you with a boy finally, you've been coming in here for five years…" She sounded worried.
"It's okay Mrs. Jan, Silver is good, all the way through." She paid for the clothes.
"It's not that, I've just never seen him before, but you three act like a family already… That daughter of yours… He's her father, right?"
Keri blushed slightly… "Yes… he is…"
"Well I'm just glad he's back, you've been hurting for too long. Now go and get those two before Sterling gets him lost."
"Goodbye Mrs. Jan…" Had it really been that obvious? The whole time?
She began walking down the street, towards the park. Brook wouldn't let them pass over without her. She smiled as she walked up to the bridge, laughing as she heard Brook…
"Keri is coming, Sterling dragged me out of the store…"
Brook had a suspicious look on his face, tapping his foot… "I've never seen you around before, how do I know you aren't just up to something?"
"Brook, if Silver were up to something he wouldn't have let you stop him." She laughed as he jumped, surprised.
"Mom, Brook said we couldn't go without you! Come on I wanna go get ice cream and show daddy the rest of the park!" She was practically bouncing…
Brook moved, raising his eyebrows at Keri. "You said you weren't in touch."
"We weren't… it's a little complicated. Maybe someday someone will explain it to you, but not today. We have some ice cream to get and a park to explore. Bye Brook." She waved and walked across the bridge, grabbing Silvers hand.
"Who was that?"
"An over enthusiastic gate keeper named Brook. He keeps an eye out for people… And asks too many questions."
"And he pretends to be a ranger when no one is looking… Except if you look right you can see him out the windows in the lunch room at school, because the lunch room is on the second floor." Sterling hummed…
Keri glanced at Silver… "You know… She's exactly like you."
He frowned a little… "Keri… What if… What if I screw up? I don't know…" He watched Sterling, skipping ahead, smiling… she was just so… sometimes she got that flash in her eyes… "Keri… I'm scared."
XOX
… And all of his confidence has now been crushed by a slightly hyperactive Five-year-old. I think I really love what I've done with Silver, although he would never admit to being afraid of anything to anyone else.
Mostly the point of this chapter was to get the ball rolling on a couple things. I was aware when I wrote the first chapter that it was a little boring, but that happens. I just wanted to get things moving smoothly again, and sometimes you have to start off a little slow to do that.
I'm also going to be updating every third day instead of every second for now, until I get ahead a few more chapters. Shouldn't take long, I just thought I would let you know. I hope everyone had a happy Easter, and if you don't celebrate Easter, I hope I didn't offend you.
Thanks to RedHerring1290 for reviewing Chapter One.
Thanks to Dodectron for reviewing Chapter One.
Thanks to reaperstarsoulluvr for reviewing Chapter One.
I also offer my thanks to Farla, despite her unnecessary rudeness, for reviewing Chapter One.