Chapter 4

Things do not exactly go according to plan.

First of all, as soon as Gold lands back in Mahogany he realizes he doesn't actually know where he's supposed to go. Just that the Rocket's have supposedly set up some sort of a business as a cover for their operations. Luckily enough, Mahogany is not what you would call "a big city", and the Rockets have never been too inventive with their guises. And just as he's managed to narrow his options down to two shady looking shops a little off the main street, Lance and Pryce land nearby on Lance's dragonite, waving Gold over to them.

Surprisingly, they are soon followed by Kris. The girl hops down gracefully from the back of her newly evolved togekiss and offers Gold a sour grimace. Gold huffs out an uninterested sigh. Not like he expected anything different―he's just glad the girl apparently has enough sense in her to know Gold is right even when she thinks he's being a jerk.

Which he probably is, there's no denying that. At least he's not as self-righteous as Kris and Silver.

"So, I guess Silver's not coming?" Gold says, as conversationally as he's able after storming out of a shouting-match with an audience.

"Your red-haired friend left not soon after you, refusing to answer our calls," Pryce explains, seemingly the only one both disinterested and unaffected by recent events. It must've been something that came with age―he was old as balls, after all. "He had a point, I must say, about not letting snot-nosed brats throw themselves headfirst into danger. But I've lived long enough to know you can't control people like that… if they're so willing to jump under the truck, you gotta let 'em. And sometimes something good will even come out of it."

He fixes Gold a meaningful look, one that makes him swallow any possible retort that might have been dancing on the tip of his tongue. Instead, Gold just nods, glad to have apparently earned some sort of recognition from the man, and turns towards Lance. He's murmuring about something with Kris, casting vary glances towards the souvenir shop across the street.

"This the place?" Gold asks, cocking his head towards the building.

Lance clears his throat. "Yes, it would seem so."

"Than what are we waiting for?"

Kris scoffs. Lance simply chuckles. "It's good to have that fire, but a bit of strategy never hurt anyone," he says. "And knowing Rocket hideouts, simple brute force is not going be enough to carry us all the way."

"You're right on that, lad," Pryce agrees, joining the conversation. "We'll need wit, as well. And it's probably better to work in pairs, because no one knows what those Rockets have planned for possible intruders."

Lance nods. "On that note, I think it's better if you kids stick together. No matter how bad the Rockets may be, I like to believe they won't be as eager to hurt unknown children on their own as they would be to use you against a veteran gym leader and the League Champion."

Gold and Kris share a nervous look. "Uh, I'm… I'm sorry to burst your bubble," Gold says. "But we won't exactly be unknown to them."

"We already messed up one Rocket operation in Azalea Town," Kris adds. "They probably have our faces in their database."

For a moment, Lance simply stares. Then he bursts out laughing, shaking his head disbelievingly. "Okay, I get it," he laughs out. "In that case, Gold you're with me, and Kris with Pryce, okay?"

The two younger trainers nod, grinning all the while.

"Will do," Pryce agrees. "Now, I recall Mr. Champion saying something about hyper beams?"

Lance blinks, then smirks. "Oh yes," he mutters mischievously, guiding his dragonite towards the souvenir shop. "I've got just the thing for you."

At his command, the dragon-type lets out a thundering roar, shooting a tremendous beam of energy out of its mouth. The blast hits the shop with a crash, busting right through the door and shattering the windows like they're made of―well, they are made of glass. Or rather were.

Gold whistles, impressed. "You really don't pull your punches, do ya?"

All around them, people are leaving their houses, running to the streets to see what caused all the ruckus. From within the shop, shouts and curses can be heard, as the employees scramble out. The blast made for quite a scene, but honestly it looks like Lance was holding in. It wasn't like they wanted to kill anyone, after all. And it seems to have worked quite well―the worst damage being the busted veneer and the light injuries, scratches and what not, on the rocket grunts inside the shop.

Yes, rocket grunts, as a few of them are crawling out of the shop in full costume.

Lance laughs, embarrassed by all the attention. "Well… I'm sure glad that we didn't make a mistake," he admits, eyeing the rockets. "Shall we go in? I'm willing to bet my most prized dragonair that there's more to this shop than just the ground floor."

Together the group enters the shop, hopping over all the rubble and glass shards. Inside it looks like something after a small earthquake, which probably accurately describes the kind of destruction a medium sized dragon could cause. After a moment of snooping around they supposedly find the door to the back, but it actually turns out to be hiding a stairway down to the basement.

"Ah, yes," Lance sighs, peering down the gloomy passage. "Very Team Rocket chic."

Gold snorts. "C'mon."

They descend into the basement, wary of any sort of attack. Nothing bad happens though, and as they step through a door into a surprisingly well lit hallway everything is silent. It's actually kind of eerie.

"Okay," Lance calls out, catching everyone's attention. "There seems to be two ways to go, so I think we'll split up now. Pryce and Kris, you go that way, and me and Gold will head to the lower floor. See if you can find the command center or anything at all related to the radio signal. If you do, call me up. Don't try and take on anyone, unless you know you can win. And if you're unsure, just get us for backup. Oh! Pryce, you have my number, right?"

The older man grunts. "Quit fussin' like a distressed madam," he grumbles. "I wasn't born yesterday, boy, an' I sure as hell don't need you orderin' me 'round, champion or not."

Lance chuckles. "Good. We'll see you soon."

Gold catches Kris' eyes and nods. The girl surprises him with a smile, accompanied by a little wave, and then they're off. Lance sets out towards the elevators in the opposite direction, leaving Gold to tail after him and his flowing cape. Not five steps later, and there's suddenly an alarm blaring out from the speakers.

"Those two must've triggered some switch," Lance warrants a guess, hitting the elevator buttons. "But they can handle themselves, I'm sure."

Gold agrees, and the two ride down in tense silence. Once they get to the lower floor, it turns out there's not much they could've done to help Pryce and Kris, as they've soon got their own hands full with battling Team Rocket grunts and bullying some answers out of them. After half an hour or so, Pryce comms them, telling that they've found the so called generator room, but it's password locked. Cue some more tedious battles, and somehow they manage to get a hold of the correct password, meeting up with Kris and Pryce back in the first floor.

"This place is clear of Rockets, huh?" Gold asks, looking around the vacant hallway as Lance and Pryce work on entering the correct code into the lock.

"Should be," Kris replies. "We really did a number on them, and the last guys went running before we even had the chance to battle them."

With his back still turned to them, Pryce barks out a laugh. "Shows what they're really made of, now don't it?"

The door beeps then and slides open. They step into the generator room, vary and careful. And for a reason, too― as soon as they're all in, the doors slide back shut.

"Shit!" Lance shouts, banging the door. It doesn't budge.

"What's going―" Kris starts to say, worry on her brow, but a voice from the overhead speaker's interrupts them. At the same time, a screen on a console in front of them blinks to life.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" On the screen, a female Team Rocket executive is smirking at them. She's around middle-aged, with neatly cut red-hair and all white clothes. "I've apparently managed to capture a noisy little pack of rats." She laughs at her own joke. Nobody else does though. It's not funny.

"What are you planning to do with us?" Lance asks, almost politely, and Gold really thinks he's far too calm. In situations like these, the guy could get a little more fired up, instead of being all blank faced. He's the champion for Mew's sake, he should act all cool and shit, like he usually did on TV. "You must know, we're not going to stop until we've destroyed whatever's causing that radio signal and harming all the pokémon. And since we're already in here, there's not much you can do to stop us."

"Oh no, my dear champion," the woman swoons, leering evilly. "You're exactly where I want you. See, I don't care that you're going to destroy the transmitter, go ahead and do it! It was all just for practice, after all."

Lance frowns. "What do you mean?"

"I mean," she says, "that we've got something much bigger coming. Not that you'll ever find out what it is." She laughs some more. Gold scoffs. "I'm about to blow the generator, you see. Not like we have any use for it, now that we're finished here. And it just so happens that you're exactly, oh, I would say… five feet from it."

Wait― what?

Gold looks frantically around himself, trying to figure out how they're supposed to escape this situation. Surely there must be some way. He looks up to Lance for guidance, but the dragon tamer is totally lost to him. He's gone pale as a sheet, staring intently at the woman on the screen.

"Say your prayers," she sing-songs. Gold screwed his eyes shut. Maybe it won't be so bad, if he doesn't look. "Cause it's about to get real ug―umph!"

'umph'?

Gold opens his eyes. On the screen, the woman is no longer alone and no longer smiling. Instead, she's been pushed out of her seat and is now standing a bit further from the camera, holding her cheek. And next to him stands…

"Silver?!" Gold yells. The boy doesn't respond, instead glaring at the red-haired woman in front of him. Seeing them next to each other, there's something strangely similar about the two. And it isn't just the hair color or the malicious scowl. Gold feels a trickle of dread run down his spine.

"You―!" The woman screeches. She rather sounds like a character from a horror movie cast, and not one of the innocent blondes that die first, either. It's probably not something that she would be proud of. "How dare you?"

"Step down, Ariana," Silver says. His voice is low and dangerous, unlike anything Gold has heard from him before. He's partially turned away, but from what Gold can gauge of his expression, he seems pissed beyond imagination―so fucking furious, that he's actually calm. "You've done your thing. Let them go. You have thirty seconds to get the fuck out of here, or I won't be held accountable for the consequences."

Ariana, apparently if Silver is to be trusted, grimaces. "Isn't that a bit cold, Silver darling? Greeting your own aunt with a sucker punch and threats?"

Gold's stomach drops.

"Did he just say 'aunt'?" He whispers. Nobody even notices.

Silver snarls, lunging forward. The woman tries to step back, falling down as Silver drags her out of the frame.

"You should be working together with me, Silver!" The woman's voice calls, just a hint of desperation in her tone. "Don't you want to see your family again?"

"After what you did to mom?" Even through the speakers, Silver yell is so full of hatred, so full of pain that Gold feels himself choke up. "After what you did to your sister?"

There are sounds of a scuffle, pokémon being released from their balls into a fight and then―silence.

After a moment that feels like a small eternity, Silver's voice comes once more, broken and quiet, almost too quiet for them to hear.

"No… I've got no family left."

Gold swears then, unabashed and loud. He can't help it―he just suddenly realizes with the force of a thousand rampaging donphans what a raging asshole he's been. No wonder Silver had wanted nothing to do with the Rockets. No wonder he'd been so hell bent on not letting them get involved. And Gold just had to go and act all high and mighty, and preach about protecting those close to you.

Just what the hell did he know?

Silver appears back in the frame, scowling and looking more than a little frazzled, but still in one piece. He does not even look at Gold. "I'll open the lock for you," he says, short and simple, devoid of emotion. "Before you exit, get rid of the electrodes, it's the only way to stop the transmitter without blowing the place up."

"Will do," says Lance.

And after that the screen goes dark.

-x-

As regrettable as the whole process is, discharging the electrodes does go fairly painlessly. Afterwards, they head out of the basement, a ragtag group of tired and somewhat defeated trainers, gym leaders and champions. Outside Lance is first torn from them to negotiate with the local police on what to do with the captured rocket grunts. Then Pryce departs as well, pulled into a debate over the repairs of the wrecked souvenir shop. Gold and Kris keep walking, silently and unanimously heading towards the pokécenter.

There, leaning against a fence, stands Silver. He has a sneasel sitting on his shoulder, like a little black devil. He doesn't appear to be listening to the pokémon though, as little of an consolation as that is, instead deep in thought. He doesn't even notice Gold and Kris approaching, until the sneasel lets out a warning growl.

He raises his eyes, and just like that Gold finds himself locked in a staring match with the redhead. He very much feels like he's losing, too. He grins nervously, raising his hand in a weak wave.

"Hi, Silv?"

Silver's eyes twitch.

"You," he says slowly. Quietly. "Are the most unbelievable, absolutely moronic fucking idiot I have ever met."

Gold winces. Normally he probably would snap back in just as sweet words right about now, but for once he can't really find it in him to get creative with insults. "Yeah," he sighs instead, lowering his head in shame. "I guess that's about right."

Silver sucks in a breath, most likely about to give him a piece of his mind some more.

And then something really fucking weird happens.

Because instead of an insult, a choked sob escapes the boys lips. Gold immediately looks up, and sees Silver, but not the Silver he knows. Because this Silver is shuddering and turning red, and there's water coming out of his eyes, and, gods, he must be sick or something, because what else could explain this?

Kris is much faster than him in reacting, marching over and pulling Silver in for a hug. Or trying to, because instead of accepting, Silver brushes past her shoulder, the gesture firm but surprisingly kind, aiming for Gold. Silver's probably going to hit him, Gold realizes about three seconds before he's proven right. But It's not a real punch, not really, more like warning thud against his chest, and just as soon as that's out of the way, Silver's grabbing his shirt and letting his head fall against Gold's shoulder.

"Silver, I―" Gold starts to say, unsure what he's supposed to be doing.

"Just shut the fuck up," Silver snaps.

And, well, okay. Gold can do that.

The redhead sniffs and idly Gold wonders if he's getting snot all over his favorite red hoodie. Probably. But he really can't be bothered to care about that right now.

"You could've fucking died," Silver says. And right then and there, it finally sinks in. He's right. Gold was this close to actually fucking losing his life.

Suddenly out of breath, he gasps, hands involuntarily coming up, trying to grip a hold of something for support. The only thing they find is Silver.

"Stop," Silver says, and really, not the best way to calm someone on the brink of a panic attack, but, for Arceus knows why, it works. "Just be still. And fucking listen to me."

Gold wheezes, trying to nod. Instead he kinda awkwardly rubs his cheek against the top of Silver's hair. Which, he guesses, is cool too.

"You are never," Silver trembles along with the emotion in his words, "doing anything that stupid ever again."

"I'm not," Gold says. He probably sounds way too unsure, because Silver growls, displeased.

"Again," he demands. "Swear it."

"I promise, I won't pull stupid stunts like that," says Gold. "I'm sorry."

Silver lets out a soft sigh. For a moment longer they stay like that, before the redhead pulls away, looking slightly embarrassed. He's safe though, because Gold must look way worse, with how warm his cheeks feel.

"Finished?" Kris chooses to ask then. She looks a bit miffed, what with how Silver just pushed her out of the way in his haste to hug Gold. Which, wow, he really should not be thinking about it like that.

Silver nods. "Yeah. Let's go eat."

Gold releases a breath he hadn't even realized he was holding. "Oh thank Mew," he whines. "I could eat a whole ponyta right about now."

Silver doesn't snort, not like he usually would've, but his lips quirk up slightly. It's better than nothing.

Unfortunately though, they don't get even as far as the cafeteria. Because as soon as they step in, every single one of the teens realizes that something is terribly wrong. Because every single trainer, nurse and other staff member in the pokécenter is gathered in the back of the lobby, around the sole TV set in the room.

On the screen, the Team Rocket symbol stands menacingly against a simple black background, while a message plays out, over and over again, from the speakers.

"This is Team Rocket speaking to all citizens of Johto and Kanto. Three years ago we we're disbanded, but now we have returned, stronger than ever. We are calling out to out one and only leader, Don Giovanni. Boss, wherever you are, please hear our call and return to us. Together we will make Team Rocket great again!"

"Oh, for fuck's sake," Gold cries out, throwing his hands up.

"They must've taken over the Goldenrod Radio Tower," Kris says, biting her lip. She sometimes does that when she's thinking too hard on something. "There's no other place they could override all broadcasts from."

"Well, good for them!" Gold scoffs. "Now that they've efficiently announced their location to the whole world, all that there's left to do is for the League or Interpol to swoop in and collect them. So much for that come-back, huh?"

He throws Silver a mirthful look, only to find the boy staring at the TV in apparent shock.

"Uh…" Gold drawls. "Silv?"

Silver tears his eyes from the screen, meeting his searching look. His face is blank. Blank.

"I―" he says and suddenly Gold feels like something terrible is about to happen. "I need to go."

And just like that, he's gone.

"What the fuck?!" Gold yells, running after him. "Silver!"

"Go back inside," Silver yells back, digging out a pokéball. "This doesn't fucking concern you!"

Gold follows suite, calling out his noctowl just as Silver climbs onto his golbat's back. "Excuse me? After that whole moment or whatever the fuck we just had― I think it does!"

Silver throws him a scathing look, Golbat spreading its wings and taking off. "Get lost, Gold!"

"No fucking way!" Gold shouts, trying to make himself heard in the wind only to get all kinds of dirt in his mouth. There's a reason people normally never talked while flying. "Not if you don't tell me where the hell you're even going!"

Silver lets out a shout that despite the sound of wind blocking his ears reaches Gold, loud and clear. It's a near primal roar of anger and sorrow and everything dark. In his chest, Gold's heart constricts painfully.

Silver turns on Golbat's back, but does not slow the pokémon down. His eyes are once again full of tears. "I'm going to fucking kill Giovanni!"He screams.

And there is nothing Gold can do, then, but watch him fly off on his naturally faster pokémon, disappearing further and further away.

"Not like I wanted to know why," he mutters bitterly into the wind.

There is no response.

-x-

Riding on Noctowl towards Goldenrod, Gold has some time to just sit back and think. Well, not really sit back and think, since he's hanging onto the bird pokémon for his dear life, but it isn't like he could use the time for anything else.

So think he does.

The day has been so full of shocking turns he almost doesn't know where to begin. First meeting Lance and capturing the red gyarados, saving Silver from drowning, yelling at him for being a pussy, and then getting his own ass rescued from certain death. And the glimpse into Silver's past.

So, the redhead's mother had been―what, killed by the Rockets, despite being the sister of one of the higher ranking executives? Even with the scene they witnessed in the basement, there are too few facts and too many unresolved questions to go by. What he really needs is for Silver to tell him everything. But the guy really didn't seem willing to sit down and do just that. Instead he had to go running off, clearly distraught by the Rockets' newest stunt with the radio broadcast, and proclaim he would be killing Giovanni.

Did the ex-Rocket boss kill his mom? Who even knows.

Gold sighs and tightens his grip on Noctowl's feathers. No use in falling to his death, no matter how much frustration Silver was causing him.

He wonders what Silver's childhood must've been like. Pretty bad, all things considered, he guesses. But there must've been some good things as well, seeing how much Silver seemed to miss his mom. And thinking of that, it's no wonder why the boy is so fucked up. Arceus only knows how bad Gold would be if he'd lost his mother.

And it's not like Silver's all bad, he supposes. No, Silver was―

Silver is

He groans, shaking his head. He has no idea what to think of the boy. On one hand, he finds him frustrating beyond belief. Like, for real, the guy is a grade A asshole. But on the other, he kinda, maybe really… likes the guy. For whatever reason. He enjoys his crooked sense of humor, and though the way he deals with even the slightest failure is questionable at best, he is undoubtedly an excellent tactician with a great natural capacity for battling.

During the past few weeks they've been growing closer and closer in ways Gold never could've imagined back when they first started out. So maybe they are friends now? But even that feels off, somehow. Like it doesn't fit completely. The feeling he has around Silver is not the same kind of feeling he has with Lyra, where he just enjoys the girl's energy and is always really happy to be with her. It's not even the same as his undoubtedly shaky relationship with Kris, where they would both snark at each other one day, and get along seamlessly the next. It's kind of similar, but with Silver it's almost as if there's some sort of a freaky pull, dragging him towards the boy, and no matter how badly they fight, they somehow always end up back together.

Putting it like that almost sounds like they're a bickering couple, and that is enough to make him pause.

It… wasn't like that, was it? No, it really couldn't be. Right?

Cheeks burning, he thinks back on the few times Silver has been unconditionally nice, like when on the route to Mahogany he gave Gold the black apricot he'd found, because Gold could use it more. Or like when in Cianwood he barely laughed when Gold got caught off guard by a wild krabby and fell on his ass in the sea, never mentioning the embarrassing moment to Kris. And he recalls Silver's smiles, all the soft, barely there ones when he is looking at his pokémon and doesn't think anyone will notice him being sentimental, and all the little smirks and challenging grins when Gold has done something he actually considered funny or whenever he's won a match. He thinks of Silver's hair, about how long it is and how soft it always looks like when he has just brushed it, and how much Gold has always liked the color. And then he thinks of Silver's personality and his freaky mood swings and all his cryptic little comments and secrets and basically all the things that made up to him.

And he realizes that he's undeniably in love with the fucking asshole.

"Fuck me," Gold whispers, unable to stop the flood of thoughts—and the unwanted images due to the not that well thought out profanity—that follows.

He is gay now, or something. He remembers Kris joking about it in Olivine and feels embarrassment wash over him like warm water. It isn't like he has any problem with his supposed new orientation or anything, because to be perfectly honest Gold never had any interest in girls before either and he's always kind of had this idol crush on Red, so it's not that big of a shock. What he finds surprising, is that apparently he has appalling taste in potential love interests, because honestly. Silver.

Gold groans, burrowing his head into Noctowl's neck. The bird lets out a questioning craw, flying steadily as ever even as Gold is experiencing some sort of an existential crisis. It's a good thing he can at least rely on his pokémon, because his brain doesn't feel like much to count on in the current situation.

How the hell did this even happen? Gold keeps pondering the question for the remaining duration of the flight, coming to no other conclusion except that he must be some sort of a masochist. Why in the name anything anywhere ever would he want to bang a dude whose main source of amusement seems to be insulting Gold and everything he loves?

He winces at the thought. Oh god, does he really want to bang Silver? What the hell is wrong with him?

He lands into Goldenrod still trying to come to terms with the idea, but with all the hustle and bustle in the city such thoughts are soon forgotten. Policemen, Rocket grunts, and trainers alike are running up and down the streets with their pokémon, as if everyone wants to be everywhere at once. At one corner, a police lady is beating up three rockets simultaneously in a seriously inspiring show of valor. In another, a young girl is crying, holding her beaten up farfetch'd in her arms. Gold chucks some potions at her, pointing and yelling her the directions to the pokécenter through the noise. Above all the panic and disorder looms the radio tower, like a shadow of misfortune upon them all.

Gold grits his teeth and starts running, calling out his quilava to run alongside him. As they make their way closer to the radio tower it becomes much too obvious that there is no chance of getting through—at least not via the main roads. A barricade of closer to four dozen rocket grunts is standing guard with their teams up and ready to kick some ass, and the trainers and police fighting back are way underpowered and much too disorganized in their attempts to deal any real damage. Whenever one Rocket falls another one just pops up and replaces them.

Gold slows down, peering around as he keeps walking. He doesn't see Silver anywhere, and given how driven he was there is no way he would have just given up. So there must be some other route to the radio tower, some hidden pathway that the people are overlooking in all this chaos. But where?

Just then, he spots a familiar face amidst the crowd, his heart nearly skipping a beat.

"Lyra!" Gold yells, his voice disappearing into all the ruckus around them. "Oh, for fucks— LYRA! LY! "

Finally his voice seems to reach the girl's ears, her head perking up and turning wildly around until spotting Gold.

"Gold!" She yells in response running towards him. Gold notices then she at least has Marill with her—not that the mouse pokémon would be use in a real fight, being more used to using its baby-doll eyes for acquiring behind-the-ear rubs than battling. "Gold, I'm so glad I found you!"

"Well, I'm definitely not!" Gold exclaims, probably sounding very nearly hysterical. "What the fuck are you doing here, Ly? It's dangerous!"

For a second she looks at him like she can't quite believe he's yelling at her (and honestly, neither can Gold, but then again he's pretty sure he lost at least two years from his life when he spotted Lyra in the middle of the freaking battlefield, so at least it's a bit justified), but the expression soon morphs into a sheepish grin. "Well, as it happens, your other girlfriend called me."

Even despite the situation they're in, Gold takes the moment to let his jaw fall open as a shrill cry of "What?!" escapes his mouth.

"Your friend Kris, who's a girl? The only other girl I've ever seen or heard you hang out with?"

"Sweet fucking Arceus, Lyra, don't put it like that!" Gold yells, running a hand through his hair. "I thought—" he stops himself, suddenly mortified. He did not just think of Silver, when Lyra said 'girlfriend'. It's not even logical—Silver's not a girl, and they're not dating, for fucks sake. He really needs to get a grip of himself. "Argh, never mind what I thought!" He continues, annoyed at himself, Lyra, and the whole situation all at once. "That still doesn't explain anything!"

"Well," Lyra began, tugging Gold along with her as they began to inch away from the barricade, "as she explained it, both you and the angry redhead had sprinted off as soon as you heard the Rocket broadcast, not bothering to alert any real help—which, by the way Goldie, not a smart move…" She trails off to waggle her finger at Gold disapprovingly. "But anyway, she wanted me to run over to Whitney's and get her to alert the closest gym leaders, so that they could all meet up when she and the champion would arrive. And since I was here, I thought to myself: 'where would Gold most likely go in this situation?', and the first answer that came to me was: 'head first into danger'! So here I am and here you are, and I was freaking right, so don't you lecture me about staying safe, mister!" Lyra finished her explanation with a satisfied huff.

Gold, feeling a bit lost for words for more than one reason, manages to mumble out: "Why didn't they just call Whitney, then?" After a heartbeat, he adds: "And how does Kris even have your number?"

Lyra looks at him like he's a bit simple, but it's okay because she likes him. Gold would feel offended, but at this point he's quite frankly too confused to even care.

"All telecommunications in Goldenrod City are down," she says. "But luckily, our place is juuuust a little too far from whatever the heck is causing all that, so we're fine communications-wise. And the gym leaders have their own system, but apparently it has sucky reach, so they couldn't contact Whitney straight from Mahogany."

"Oh," Gold says dumbly.

Lyra snorts. "And as to your other question, we traded numbers when we met, more specifically, while you and the angry redhead were too busy having your little hissy fit. Duh!"

Huh, well that explains it. And also reveals that despite what she said on the phone, Lyra still isn't quite over Silver being a twat. Not that Gold is sure he himself is over that, but―he has… other interests now.

"Silver," he says, correcting Lyra's rude-ish nickname. "His name is Silver. Also, where are we going now?"

"Bill Sonezaki's house!" Lyra replies cheerily. "You met him before, right? At least Kris told me you did. He's the guy who invented the pokémon storage system, and well, the house is not his as much as his parents' actually, but Goldenrodians are proud of him and like to remember him by… Whitney appointed it as our base of operations, because it was close to something she wanted to check out, or something?"

"A secret passage way to the radio tower?" Gold guesses. It's what he would be looking for―and had been, before his run-in with Lyra.

"I don't― ohhh!" Lyra starts, gasping mid-way through with realization. "The Goldenrod Tunnel! The radio tower, much like almost every large public building in the city, has a built-in emergency passageway leading there!"

"And that's probably what Silver used to sneak in," Gold realizes, biting his lip in worry. "Fuck… let's hurry!"

He takes off with a brisk jog, wondering about the whole thing. The Rockets making their comeback and calling for Giovanni's return… what even was Silver's role in all that? If Gold never finds him before he A) kills someone or B) gets himself killed, he will never likely find out.

Or maybe Kris will tell him. She probably knows everything.

Gold suppresses the irrational surge of jealousy. He'll have more time for that later―what he needs to do right now is concentrate on saving Silver's sorry ass, preferably without having the tables turned on him again. And then he can― well. He doesn't know. Half of him feels like he wants to kick Silver's ass, and the other half would very much like to something completely different with the said body part. He grits his teeth, fighting back the beginnings of an embarrassed flush.

As he and Lyra continue on their way, ducking into a less used alleyway, he thinks that there is a high chance that this crush will be the death of him, but really― for Silver he's willing to take the risk.

-x-

-x-

A/N: omg.

No but seriously, my favorite part was writing Gold's not-exactly-gay panic. I've focused on many different characters' insecurities about their own sexuality in past stories, so it was refreshing to have Gold just accept that part with a shrug.

Overall, we are about half-way through. Thanks for all the feedback until now, I'm glad you all seem to be enjoying the story!