I'LL CALL YOU
SILVER
[[Chapter 3: Training]]
Author's Note: Hoo-wee, in this chapter we get a totally new character. Warning to those with virgin eyes, this new character swears. A lot. If you can't handle it, turn your ass back right now ya fuckin' crybaby- GET OUT OF THE AUTHOR'S NOTES MAGGIE.
When Silver opened his eyes, he realized that he was not in free fall any longer; in fact, he was not falling at all. But he still felt himself to be mid-air, and that caused him to be confused – another layer of mind-clouding sensation to the fear he had been feeling for the past several moments.
"Are you fucking stupid?"
It was then he realized what he was standing on: he'd heard of the battle strategy before, but he had never seen it in action until today. In front of him was a massive green creature, flapping its wings to stay afloat. Bug eyes stared at him intently. On top of the creature, which Silver believed to be called a "Flygon", were two more objects: the thing that had saved him – a Mr. Mime that had formed a barrier around him – , and a human female.
She stared at him with oceanic blue eyes, black hair reaching down to her shoulders. Her upper body, the only portion Silver could see of her, was donned in a black sleeveless shirt and a red vest, a "U" printed upon the right breast of the vest.
"She- you don't understand..." Silver tried to explain, only to find himself cut off.
"I understand well enough, idiot," she said. "You risked your life for something that probably wasn't going to happen. Barrierre, bring him over here."
Silver watched as Barrierre the Mr. Mime waved his slim hands, and he felt the psychic field beneath him shift forward until the tiny little sphere he was stuck in now stood directly beside Flygon and the mysterious woman.
"I'm UNBHA," she stated matter of factly. As if she were expecting him to know what the flying feathers that was – or as if she were expecting him to give a damn. Karen was getting away, and this girl had a mode of aerial transportation probably much faster than Murkrow could ever be. "You're Silver, aren't you?"
"... What's it to you?" he asked coldly.
"I fucking told you, bastard. I'm UNBHA- oh, that's right, you're natively Kantonian, aren't you?" she muttered. Her already temperamental attitude seemed to be spiked further by the fact that she had to explain something apparently so simple to an ignorant Kantonian such as himself. "It's Unova National Bounty Hunters Association. I'm a bounty hunter, and you're going to help me get my catch."
"I'm busy-"
"Yeah, I know. My catch IS your target, just for your information." she snarled, before thrusting her arm out and sending out another Pokemon, a ugly little creature with a blue body, two huge wings and a spiked tail. The spikes and its head were both a bloody red. The sphere around Silver suddenly disappeared, and he fell onto the creature's back. "Keep up with us, Crims."
"Now have some fuckin' patience, will ya? I hate bastards that are rude like you. We're gonna fly down to camp and I'll explain it all to ya then," she muttered. And so Silver would be quiet for now, letting himself be absorbed into his own thoughts and memories.
… YOU KNOW NOTHING OF US …
WE HAUNT YOUR NIGHTMARES
… WE ARE THE ONES WHO WILL MAKE YOU A HOLLOW LIFELESS SHELL
AND TAKE YOU TO THE GRAVE ON THE WINGS OF A BLACK BIRD
HER BREAST ABLAZE WITH THOUGHTS OF MALICE
Silver jolted awake, letting loose a howl of fright off of a source which he knew nothing of. He remembered he had a nightmare and that was it; perhaps the staring, obviously annoyed, woman in front of him would have some answers on that part. Probably not.
"Lazy bones is awake, is he?" she said. "Good. You were tossing and turning ever since you fell asleep on Crims-"
"I fell asleep? Crap, crap, where is Karen?" he screamed, leaping up to his feet only to fall down once again. A sigh echoed through his ears, and he now remembered the situation he was in. He sat up, glaring at her.
"Let him go, Nattie."
The Pokemon which had snagged him to force him down uncoiled its green vine-like arm from his leg and returned it toward its top-like, spiky body.
"Now, Silver – you up to listenin' to me, or do you wanna take another fuckin' nap?" she muttered.
"A nap would be-"
"Too bad. Listen up and listen good. First of all, my name is Margaret Panthe, and I'm from the Unova region. As I've told you, I'm a bounty hunter. I'm here to hunt a Unovan Criminal who's escaped to here – to initiate the restating of Neo Team Rocket into a Johtovian position of power. I figured it best to fight her alongside someone who knows the Neo Team Rocket heads better than me."
"... Karen, Shum, Cart, and Will?"
"And Blue, Silver. This woman, called Raven, is regathering all of the Masked Children."
"... Which means she wanted me too?" Silver asked.
"Yep. But you beat the person meant to bring you to her. Karen. Now, what she's +doing to regather them, we don't know. We imagine the four you mentioned joined of their own free will, but Blue is a bit of a strange case, considering the past shared between you two. Wouldn't you agree?"
"Yeah," Silver responded. A bit of confusion was evident in his voice. "But I can tell you one thing, Margaret-"
"Go ahead and call me Maggie. Easier to say."
"Yeah, Maggie – you chose the right guy to fight with on this. I could give less of a damn about the rest. But if it means saving Blue, I'm more than willing to die."
"Good, because you might do just that."
"You think so?"
"I know so. This girl has avoided twenty years of capture for a reason."
"Twenty years?"
"Yep. She's been wanted for twenty years, ever since a murder in Unova of a mister 'Derick Belle'."
"... Jeez."
"Now, what's going to happen is that we're going to need to train," Maggie said. "Because Derick Belle was the champion of the Unova Pokemon League, and widely regarded as the strongest trainer of Unovan History. If Raven was able to take him down that long ago, I'd hate to think how good she is now."
"... Right," Silver said. "Whenever you want to start."
"Tomorrow. You may have gotten a nice little nap, but I've seen about three days without sleep. Now, let's eat and then get some rest – we'll need it. Tomorrow is gonna be pretty fucked up."
"Just the way I like things," Silver responded with a smirk.
On the wings of a black bird, Silver soared through the skies until he felt the compelling need to leep down off of it. He landed with a soft thud into his memories.
"A good girl is one who listens to her father," the man crooned. "I love you dearly, my child. And this will hurt me much more than it will hurt you."
"Liar!" Silver suddenly screamed, and the man glared down toward him. Silver had done the unthinkable here, and ripped off his mask to show his hatred of this terrifying man who was now dragging off his best friend toward the kitchen, where she would be beaten in front of her brothers and sisters to prove a point. It seemed Silver would soon join her, but he would prefer that.
"Silver! B-be quiet..." Blue whimpered, fear evident in her voice. Concern. "He'll hit you too..."
"I don't care! I'm not gonna stand back against this anymore! Go, Sneasel!" Silver said, tossing his arm forward only to have it met by the frigid touch of the Masked Man he knew and hated.
"Rebellion? How dare you, you impotent child! Fine! If you want to play heroics, I'll beat you within an inch of your life in exchange for Blue! Blue, watch and learn the true costs of this foolishness!" the Masked Man roared in fury.
"Silver, no! T-take me instead, p-puh-please-" Blue protested.
"Silver has already made his decision! He'll take the beating for his good friend, now won't he?"
Silver simply nodded, a braveness evident about him. He could tell simply from the aura exerted by the Masked Man that he intended to wipe that smugness away and replace it with obedience.
"Good boy. Now we will go – Blue, follow."
The Masked Man dragged Silver through the door, not letting him walk on his own; inflicting pain even now, only as a teaser for what Silver knew to be drawing close. A fear burst through his veins, but he dared not show it – for the pain would be worth it.
For Blue.
And then he found himself leaping up again, facing the black bird face to face. The Raven, with her bloody red eyes, held Blue clasped in her beak. She struggled with what seemed to be all of her might to move away, but her labor was fruitless – and so was the reaching forward Silver did with his hand, as he seemed to be pulled away, taunted by just having his fingers inches from the beak of the bird so that he would be able to help the love of his life.
The two of them dropped into another memory.
"Promise me," Silver said, his hands on Blue's shoulders. The darkness of the night enveloped them, and he could barely see her in front of him. But he could feel her shaky breath, her trembling figure and he knew she could feel the same things from him. The two children were close to the breaking point. "That you'll die before you go back with him."
"Silver, let's not talk about that-" Blue tried to say, but Silver cut her off with a stern voice that took quite a bit of effort to muster.
"Promise! Please, Blue..."
"... Will you too?"
"Yes," Silver said. "I'd rather die than go back with him."
"... Then me too."
They had escaped from his grasp and both of them were determined they would never go back.
Then he was lifted up once more, and he did not see The Raven this time, but continued to lift until he ascended out of his dreams.
The first rays of the morning sun met his eyes as they slowly peeled open. He pulled himself out of his sleeping bag and up to his feet, slipping the past the still sleeping bounty hunter next to him and toward a more open area. He yawned and looked toward the sky.
"Eat first, Silver. You'll need the energy." Maggie said, sitting up in her own sleeping bag. "Glad to see yer eager, though..."
Silver threw a glance over his shoulder at her, and then turned back and nodded. He let a smile cross his lips.
"More eager than I've ever been in my life."
Author's Ending Notes: Yay for relatively uneventful chapters! These are always fun to write, believe it or not. Anyways, we get the introduction of a totally new character this chapter, as well as the introduction of our antagonist – a Unovan fugitive called Raven. Who is she? What does she want with the Masked Children? WHAT WILL SILVER HAVE FOR BREAKFAST? FIND OUT NEXT TIME, ON...
I'LL CALL YOU
SILVER
Next time:
"Oh, really? You're a lot better than I thought you'd be. Ya still need some work, though..."
"Well isn't that what we're training for?"
"Good point..."
"... Duh."
