"Silver & Saphy's Excellent Adventure" – Prince Kiba
This chapter will have a sequel.
The doors to Violet City swung for them. Silver and Trainer Saphire were greeted with ancestral architecture and friendly faces. It was as if they had stepped into the page of a history book, with all the old construction of past eras in Japan.
"Oh, wow..." Saphire's pupils dilated, excited by the sheer magnitude of Violet's impressiveness. With no conscious control of her body, she sped down the street, unsure of why she was running, but she didn't care. She loved it, and she wouldn't be stopped just because she might be embarrassed.
Silver silently strode up to Saphire, whom was halted by her curiosity of a leaf. When she had been running a moment earlier, something beneath the dirt by the trees had winked at her, successfully stealing her short-spanned attention. Wondering what she had taken a glimpse of, she slowly—almost cautiously, Silver had noted—took small steps toward it. She brushed aside dirt, and picked up her find. It was a golden leaf. It must have been special, for it was only Spring. She showed it to Silver, then put it in her pack. Oddly enough, all prior enthusiasm had been transformed into something unbeknownst to her. It was a weird feeling; even she was unsure how to feel. Silver decided to snap her out of it. "Saphire," he called. "Hey, we're going to the Sprout Tower over there." He took her wrist and pulled her in a new direction to get her restarted; he let go after a couple seconds.
After minutes of silence between the two, they had made it to the pagoda. Silver opened the doors for Saphire, and walked in behind her. "Hm, a lot of monks in here," Silver commented. He powerfully strode past people admiring the tower's first floor, mainly the pillar in the center that carried through to the roof of the building. He seemed to be indifferent to such a thing.
A youth with blood-red hair ascended the staircase. The monk standing by it suddenly acquired a terrible chill. The boy's energy was so overwhelming it scared him. "Mmm... This place really gives me a sense of self-peace…" Saphire closed her eyes and hugged herself. Silver examined the latter gesture. He was familiar with the true reason why people did that. He wanted to say something, but his mouth refused to open for such words. He was pained by that. Nevertheless, they continued onward.
Somewhere close to the second flight of stairs, a monk had appeared, apparently wanting to challenge them. Silver's pent-up self-anger was ready to be released.
"I am Sage Nico," the monk said. "You may pass only if you defeat me."
Silver glowered and muttered, "I'll do more than defeat you..."
"Look around you," Nico requested. "However hard we battle, the tower will stand strong. Is this pillar not inspiring? The flexible pillar protects the tower, even from earthquakes." Although Saphire was left marveling, Silver was indifferent to the wonder behind him. He forcibly threw his Pokéball against the wood floor. His opponent did the same, but without anger in his action. It was Chikorita vs. Bellsprout, a wiry plant creature. Silver called to his Chikorita, "Tackle it...! Now!" His sudden cry had startled Saphire. Was something wrong...?
Chikorita sensed Silver's inner conflict. It felt sympathy for its master. Chikorita went to charge the Bellsprout, but with grace like the tower's pillar, it evaded with a sidestep. It countered Chikorita with a kick to its side, shoving it a few feet away. It was angry now as well. It did a barrel roll and surprised Bellsprout with a powerful tackle from behind. It knocked it to the floor, continuously slamming its head into Bellsprout's. After a few headbutts, the Bellsprout finally gave, and collapsed. Chikorita was victorious.
Silver returned Chikorita to its Pokéball. He turned a degree to where his front side was in the others' congruent blind spot. In that security he held the Pokéball to his cheek. It was hard to believe, but it seemed as if he were nuzzling with it. The truth was, Silver was famished—starving for affection. Yet his resentment had snowballed for so long that he could no longer reach out to others.
The monk, too, could sense Silver's inner struggle. "Young one..."
Silver turned to the source of the voice.
"Your aura tells me you're undergoing great internal turmoil. What ails you, son?"
Silver shot the monk a glare filled with utter odium. "Mind your own business..." he commanded in a low, threatening voice. The monk respected his wish, and moved to allow him access to the staircase down to another section of the first floor which was blocked off by statues and wooden walls. Saphire tagged behind him, but was now curious as well.
'I wonder if I could get it out of him...'
They were now on the first floor's hidden hallway. They could hear people from the other side, but could not see them. Saphire openly stated that she felt like a ninja.
Walking down, they were suddenly spooked by an eerie feeling in the air. Unsure of what it was, they felt their limbs contracting to their centers, giving them a sense of protection. Then, out of thin air, a black circle appeared without warning in front of their faces to surprise them. It turned out to be a Gastly, a ghost Pokémon tailed by a visible purple aura. Saphire jumped; Silver was startled, but kept his head. He stared it down. A moment passed. The Gastly licked him with a giant tongue just to irritate him. He grew annoyed. He tried punching it, but it made its body intangible for a moment, and Silver's arm passed through it. The gases of its "body" burned his arm like it was fire. He automatically pulled it out, in pain from the strange sensation he had just experienced. He wasn't sure what one would consider burning from noxious gases to be, so he just sprayed a Full Heal from Saphire's pack on his arm. The pain instantly cooled. He held his left arm, unconsciously wanting to protect it. He glared at his tormentor. Staring into its malevolent eyes, he got an idea.
"Saphire," he said, not looking away from Gastly. "Let me borrow your Totodile."
"Oh? Okay..." She sent out her little blue alligator. "Totodile, listen to him for now." Totodile hesitated, but then reluctantly nodded and turned toward Silver with unease.
"Totodile. Attack that Gastly," he ordered. Totodile proceeded to release water from ducts inside its body into its mouth. After sufficient water accumulation, it forcefully propelled the liquid from its mouth, and shoved Gastly against the wooden wall. Its eyes stabbed at Totodile. It gave it a mean look, mentally paralyzing it, until Silver called to it. "I said attack!" The abused alligator had mixed emotions at the moment. It did as Silver said, though, and went to bite the ghost. It managed to land a hit, and it was also too much for the Gastly. It fainted from exhaustion.
Silver stepped up to it. "It's definitely weak," he criticized. "However, it's tactful. It froze this worthless Pokémon of yours where it stood just by glaring at it," Silver smirked. "I'll take it." He violently threw a Pokéball to capture it.
Down at the end of the hall was another monk. He, too, wouldn't allow Silver to pass without a challenge to test him. "We stand guard in this tower," the bald sage explained. "Here, we express our gratitude to show our respect for all Pokémon." Saphire nodded in approval.
"Humph. Pokémon are nothing more than tools of war," Silver argued. "Only the strongest win." He looked at his Pokéball. "You're up," he said to himself, releasing his Gastly and giving it a Revive spray medicine. "Now fight," he commanded. Gastly stuck its tongue out to mock him. It flew out of his reach, laughing to itself. Saphire giggled, and Silver seethed with frustration.
The sage sent out a Bellsprout. "Humph, how predictable," Silver commented. "Gastly, go." The ghost returned. It stared down the dancing Bellsprout. It began to get a little dizzy. "Hey, what are you waiting for?" Silver called out. Gastly snapped back into focus. It decided to play mind games itself. The Gastly flew through the wall, only its eyes remaining visible. It glared at Bellsprout, and caused it to freeze up just as Totodile had. Then, Gastly attempted to hypnotize it. Being locked in one spot, this was without difficulty, and soon Bellsprout fell into a deep trance. It started dancing to what appeared to be a samba. Saphire giggled, wanting to copy its strange and haphazard foot movement. Gastly proceeded to move its body over the Bellsprout's head. Its noxious gases enveloped Bellsprout, and blocked oxygen from getting through to Bellsprout's lungs by forcing it to only breathe in poisonous gases. Bellsprout was immediately poisoned. Its oxygen had stopped flowing in and from this point on, only flowed out. The Bellsprout died from asphyxiation. Silver smirked. "Good job," he congratulated proudly. –End of Chapter!