Silver's eyes blinked away the grogginess as his vision was temporarily blinded by the sunlight, sitting up and letting out an irritated growl; he hated being disturbed from sleep. 'She forgot to close the curtains...' He knew that he should have just done it himself, like he did practically everything, but was just too tired to be bothered and Ellie was still wide awake when he fell asleep. She mentioned something about having issues with an irregular sleep pattern, which explained why she was often in need of something caffeinated- mainly coffee. He brushed some strands of crimson hair out of his eyes and gave the girl a glance; she was still sleeping, her back turned away from him while her arms were wrapped around an Espeon pokedoll. Her actual pokemon, an a small Umbreon, was curled up at her feet.

Even four days later, it still felt rather awkward having to share a bed with a girl. It wasn't like he was actually attracted to her; Silver didn't recall a time where he was attracted to anyone. He was initially concerned about Ellie possibly making advances on him, though it was cleared up rather quickly. The conversation was still rather fresh in the redhead's mind.

"I don't care about sharing a bed with you, Silver. It's not an issue." She let out a small chuckle, shaking her head. "I'm not gonna try and seduce you in the middle of the night or something. Don't worry. I'm Asexual, meaning that I'm not attracted to anyone in a sexual way. I'm not even interested in anything like that."

"Oh.. Fine then. I didn't know."

"Well, that's not something that you can tell just by looking at someone... I still want to have a strictly romantic relationship, but that's kind of a problem. Finding someone that would want a romance-only relationship... But ya know, I'm not really looking right now anyway."

"Why?"

"Because, if you couldn't figure it out, I can barely handle my life as it is. I don't want to bring someone else into it just yet. You know, my cousin is always looking for her knight in shining amour, even though she hasn't sorted herself out yet. She's always waiting for someone to come along and save her... Not me, I don't expect someone to just swoop in and rescue me."

He let out a light snort. "I guess I can respect that, but you still ended up asking me for help."

"I may have asked you for help, but only because I realized that I was in over my head. And besides, I'm not asking you to save me. I'm asking you to work beside me and help. There's a difference."

However relieved he may have been, Silver was rather reluctant to believe Ellie's words at first; it was always possible that she was just lying to him about it. Lying was a natural reaction of defense in people. Even so, the trainer grew to believe her more with every morning that he woke up without being disturbed. It was a similar scene at this time everyday: there was a little gap of space that separated the two trainers while a couple of their pokemon slept peacefully, usually her Umbreon and his Sneasel. They were small enough to fit on the bed without an issue, though he would be lying if he said that some of his larger pokemon haven't attempted to climb into bed with him.

Silver discarded his current thoughts and decided to focus on other more important matters. His eyes flickered to the small digital clock sitting atop the nearby wooden nightstand; it was currently sixteen minutes after ten in the morning, indicating that they had both overslept. "Ugh, great..." He then turned his attention to Ellie once again. As strange as it may have seemed, they actually had plans to go out today. The girl had spent the past days in this hotel room, recovering from the injury to her shoulder. She had refused to go to a Pokemon Center and see a Nurse Joy about her injury, resulting in Silver righting her shoulder himself. It was a painful experience, needless to say, especially since he had no medical experience beyond the basics. She was feeling better now, even if her shoulder was still paining her from time to time.

"Hey, get up. Now." Ellie did not appear too pleased about receiving a blow to head with a pillow, though Silver didn't know how to actually wake her up. Shaking her shoulder was definitely out of the question. The man watched his companion shift, turning over to face him as a few incoherent mumbles escaped her lips. She buried her face in her own pillow a moment later. "Ellie! We overslept. Now get up!" He hit her with his own pillow once again, a bit harder this time.

"I'm... I'm up..." Ellie raised her head and let out a very drowsy, deep yawn. "No need for hitting... Just gimme a couple minutes..."

"Whatever, just stay awake for Arceus' sake." Silver huffed and tossed his pillow back in its original place before slipping out of bed. He ran a pale hand through his hair in an attempt to smooth down some of the stray strands. The redhead's hair had always been long, which made it difficult to keep up at times, but he had still chosen to let it grow longer as he matured. "I'm going to get ready. We have things to do today."

"Like what?"

"Are you serious? We planned this out, remember?" Silver's eyes fell on the floor next to Ellie's side of the bed, focused on the pair of boots that were tossed there carelessly. He never mentioned how many details that were actually noticed by him, even if they were a bit trivial, but it was a habit that the red-haired trainer could never break. As soon as he took note of the footwear, he could tell immediately that they were beyond walked through. "We're going out to train, and we're getting you new shoes. It's no wonder that you were bitching about your feet hurting."

Ellie sighed softly while shifting herself into a sitting position, turning her head to look at Silver; her pale eyes were still hazy with drowsiness. "I don't have the money for shoes, Silver..."

"I'll pay for them, especially if means that you'll stop complaining about it."

The rest of the morning passed by in a rather quiet manner. After both of them were dressed and ready, Silver had been the one to take hold of the lead while Ellie simply followed; he was making the decisions as to where they would go or what they were going to do. Silver didn't mind since he tended to be more assertive in general, and was actually pretty content with the girl simply agreeing to what he deemed to be the best course of action. There was little friction. After purchasing some late breakfast and coffee at a nearby cafe, Silver had literally dragged Ellie by the wrist to a shop with the intention of buying her some new boots.

Of course, she had attempted to refuse multiple times but Silver was very, very stubborn. It had always been difficult to change his mind once it was set. She eventually gave in and allowed him to pay for a pair of quality knee high boots, black just like her old ankle length ones. Ellie wasn't insane for questioning why he would insist upon doing this, as Silver was quite aware that he wasn't exactly the most generous person in the world, but he explained it the same as he did to everyone: he could help someone out if he chose to, even if he wasn't a soup or kitchen or something of the like.

Afterwards, Silver was keen on bringing her to an area where they could train practically undisturbed: The National Park, which was a located a small distance away from the bustling city. It was primarily a very large expanse of land that humans worked to preserve with many freshly-groomed gardens, stretches of tall grass that housed a variety of wild pokemon, all safely enclosed by a thick wild forest. There was a slight breeze that rustled the transitioning treetops, fallen leaves sailing through the air until they finally reach the grass below; it made a quite nice carpet of oranges, reds and browns below their feet, crunching quietly with each step.

"What a nice place... I guess it's gonna be getting colder soon too..." Ellie's eyes were focused on the trees as they approached the a small clearing free of any tall grass patches, yet still a good distance away from the park benches and walkways. Silver watched as she tripped over a stick lying in the way and almost fell. However, he didn't bother to saying anything; he just wondered how she could not pay attention at times.

"This should work." He finally stopped when they reached a large patch of short grass, which was bordered by the forest on two sides and a line of tall grass on another; it was near the park's outskirts. "You should know what to do."

"Know what to do?"

Silver let out a brief sigh, crossing his arms and shaking his head. "I told you that we were going to be practicing. You're the one who managed to explain in detail how 'frightening' your mother is. And if we're going to get rid of her, then we need to remain sharp. And you've been out of the game for a little while now."

"It was only a few days..." However, she didn't oppose the idea and crossed the battlefield without another word. There was a bit reluctance in her movements, he noted, though couldn't figure out why.

"Alright, let's begin. Treat this like an actual battle. We can heal out pokemon at the Pokemon Center." Silver's fingers were wrapped around one of the pokeballs he had taken form his belt, eyeing the girl from a moment before releasing the pokemon from inside: His Crobat. He climbed into the sky before hovering in the middle of the clearing expectantly. The bat pokemon gave his trainer a glance before looking back to Ellie, who simply stood there and did not send out a pokemon.

Her thin fingers were lightly clenched into fists, her eyes on the ground for a few moments before looking back to Silver. "I can't do this right now..."

"What do you mean that 'you can't do this'?" The man raised an eyebrow, gaze narrowing as he attempted to make sense of what she was saying. What could that enigma of a girl even mean by that? She seemed perfectly fine these past few days, yet her behavior had completely shifted at the mention of battling. "Come on! This is important!"

"I don't want to fight right now, Silver. I don't feel comfortable doing that."

"Why?"

"I really would rather not-"

"-So, you won't fight me yet you won't explain why?" This was beyond irritating- annoying and befuddling on many levels; that was apparent within his expression. Silver felt that he was going out of his way to help her- to save her life, actually. The least that Ellie could for him was cooperate, or at least provide an explanation as to why she could not! "What, are you scared? Don't be a fucking wimp!" Silver was, in truth, very frightened: of the inevitable confrontation with such a menacing force, of the possible outcomes, of how far this wretched woman could go. Ellie stated that Marie Crossdale had no limits. She was out for the blood of anyone who dared to cross her, and would kill without hesitation. The circumstances were grave, very grave. And whenever Silver felt an inkling of fear, he always responded with anger- even if he didn't intend to.

"You know what, fine!" With one swift movement, the girl plucked a pokeball- a Premier Ball- from her belt and released the pokemon. An oddly-colored Delphox stood in front of her trainer, observing her surroundings for a moment before taking a battle stance; the pokemon was obviously prepared. The battle had immediately began when the Poison Type swooped down, his large razor-like wings glowing as he prepared to attack his opponent. Crobat's upper wings sliced the air in the shape an 'X' yet they did not make contact with anything; the Delphox had already evaded the attack and was on the move.

A glimmer could be seen within Ellie's eyes, though there was some indescribable element that made it slightly unsettling. Silver couldn't help but feel suspicious; it sent a series of chills down his spine, though he could not place the feeling. It was cold, he knew, but there was something welse...

"Autumn, Psychic!" Ellie called out to her pokemon, her tone sharp and powerful. It was definitely a contrast to her tone during the last battle they had three months ago, and almost took Silver by surprise. He watched as Crobat climbed into the air again in order to prepare another attack. However, there was no escaping the psychic energy that surrounded the purple bat; it caused Crobat to freeze in place before a wave of energy hit, the otherworldly grip on the creature gone in an instant. Needless to say, the Poison Type did not make it it though an attack with such strength and plummeted towards the ground.

Silver was quick to return his pokemin to his pokeball before hitting the ground, though it was difficult to contain his shock. Never before had his Crobat been outpaced by the Delphox, and he could tell- even from a distance- that the attack powerful. Powerful and painful. He was even worried that it was strong enough to kill... If it weren't for the fact that Crobat returned to his pokeball, the redhead would have stopped right there. "That was fast, and strong."

"You seem surprised." Ellie replied almost immediately, her lips pulled together tightly. Silver certainly didn't like how this was going. It wasn't because he was currently loosing, being down one pokemon already, but he felt concerned; he didn't want to send out another one of his pokemon, not while she was looking at him like that. The redhead just felt compelled to protect his pokemon from her.

"Ellie- What happened?" Were the only words that could leave his lips, slowly clipping the pokeball back to his belt while his eyes remained on her. "That attack... That could have seriously hurt my pokemon. It could have killed him!"

"What? You asked me to fight, didn't you?"

"Not like some kind of classless savage- not your mother!"

"I'm nothing like my mother!"

"Oh really? Why do I feel l'm putting my pokemon's lives in danger right now? Why do I feel suspicious just by looking at you then?! Can you explain that?!"

Ellie opened her mouth to reply, yet no words came from her. "Return." She called her Delphox back to her pokeball and shoved it into her bag. A heavy silence fell over the clearing with only the faint rustling of the treetops to be heard. It remained like this for what felt like an eternity, yet neither of the trainers moved from their place. It was woman that eventually spoke up. "You're right. You're definitely right." Her tone was strained and hushed, gaze softening as he spoke. "But this is why I didn't want to fight. I've had some bad habits burned into me, Silver. Into all of us, and we're just trying to work through it."

With that, she turned and walked away from the battlefield without another word. Silver watched her leave for one of the park benches, sitting down and leaning against the back. It was true: He hadn't realized the type of effect that her experiences could have had on her. However, it made sense. He remembered distinctly how Ellie described some of the events she had been apart of.

"I was the one who cornered that trainer... She sent her pokemon after him. I would tell you want happened, but I looked away because I couldn't bare to see it myself. I will say that he never walked out of that alleyway."