A/N: GUYS NONE OF THE PREVIOUS CHAPTERS WAS ABOVE 5K WORDS, THIS ONE IS GODDAMN 7K IM SORRY
With every passing hour I regretted joining Team Rocket more and more.
It's been five days since I've become a member, and so far I've gotten into fights with pretty much everyone who have joined the same day I have.
More than that, I've become the target of their torments and they tend to use me as an excuse of everything bad that happens to them.
No food? My bad. Getting yelled at? Of course it's my fault. Boring task? Sure, I'm the one to blame.
And all of this started on the first day.
After I'd received three Pokemon from Jon, I had spent the rest of the day on training and playing with them. The fact of having two identical Murkrow was bugging me and really worrying, but I didn't want to complain. I'd feel bad for one of them if I decided to trade it for another Pokemon, and I'd hate myself for treating it like a tool, not like the actual living being.
My initial plan of releasing the Meowth after it evolves just to replace it with my Persian didn't sound that good either but... That was probably the best thing I could do. For both my own sake and for everyone else.
The Murkrow were surprisingly cheerful and they quickly warmed up to me, unlike Meowth who even now, after almost a week of working together doesn't want to get too close to me. He's loyal and often helps me out when my teammates try to pull a (completely not funny) prank on me. Thanks to him I'd also gotten a few extra snacks he snatched from unaware Rockets.
The group of novices I'd heard so much about on the first day turned out to count only six young guys, and the most hilarious thing about them was the fact of two of them being twins, and younger brothers of the guy who gave me my uniform in the Goldenrod underground. They seemed to be pretending that they're unaware of how similar they were.
I was the shortest and the most quiet one of them all.
They immediately started to pick on me and torment me when I first joined them in our room (actually it was more like a corridor with bunk beds), saying than I am Jon's dog. They assumed I was being favored, just because they found out I've been given three Pokemon instead of one or two.
I swear, I tried to ignore that, but after two nights of getting my bunk "accidentally" flooded, I just had enough.
The first night was terrifying. I couldn't stop myself from overthinking and eventually panicking to the point I barely could breathe and hold tears back, but somehow I managed to keep myself quiet enough to avoid anyone noticing. I hadn't slept at all.
Next day started with Jon once again showing his true face and yelling at us despite having literally no reason to do that. It was like he was angry at us and deeply offended that we dared to join Team Rocket and be inexperienced. I guess he's just a bit unfair and impatient, but whatever...
The worst thing that he could've done was praising me for working hard with my new Pokemon the day before. It was the final blow to my teammates and just then the real hate towards me started.
I don't know why but I get a feeling that Jon did all that on purpose, just to make everyone else angry and determined to work harder. I remember reading something about Pokemon teams used to pulling sleds, and if my memory serves me correctly then the leading Pokemon would be made to be disliked by the rest, but I'm not sure if it's a real thing. It doesn't make any sense to me. But, I feel like Jon has made me that kind of lure-leader (except I'm no leader at all).
No matter what, I don't like it.
Shoving and shoulder bumping started to occur more often, but I never fought back. I knew I was too weak.
I survived almost a week, doing simple jobs like listing all of the newly caught Pokemon, carrying packages to the storage, handing out Potions, patrolling the streets, serving as a backup for some higher ranked grunts keeping an eye on the southern gate of Goldenrod... And training. I was pretty desperate to train my Pokemon, trying to make up with pure strength for lack of strategy and good moves.
On the fourth day (meaning yesterday) Jon ordered me to join him and his group for a small 'hunt', saying that I deserved it as a kind of reward for my hard work and obedience. I wasn't too happy about this, knowing that once other grunts find out about it, then they'll surely try to make me regret being so conscientious. As if I didn't already regret it...
I felt really bad when it turned out that the 'hunt' meant going to Cherrygrove City and steal whatever was steal-able from the tiny Poke Mart I liked so much.
It was about midnight when we arrived in Cherrygrove, and it took three hours to stuff whatever we found into the truck. I was a bit confused at first about why no one was in the Mart, but soon enough I noticed that apparently it was stocktaking time. The clerk must've taken a break for the night.
Jon let me grab three TMs I found under the counter, and I figured that those were the reward he was talking about, not barging in itself.
When we finally got back to Goldenrod and emptied the truck, it was already around four o'clock in the morning so naturally I was exhausted and all I could think of was sleep. I didn't even care about my bunk still being wet from the last time my dear teammates poured a bucket of cold water on me the day before.
Much to my irritation they woke up when I entered the room, immediately throwing insults and weird questions at me.
Something broke in me when the most irritating of them grabbed my wrist and tried to convince others to undress me and kick out of the room.
Up to this point I've been following the 'don't feed the troll' rule, keeping myself quiet and unimpressed by their antics, but now it was enough.
Before I actually could stop myself I headbutted that jerk straight into his stupid face. It was almost a reflex. I was just defending myself, and it was a well-deserved blow.
He basically fell backwards and whined like a dog while trying to comprehend what just happened, and I couldn't help but feel a bit proud of myself when I saw quite big amount of blood rushing from his nostrils. Serves him right!
He launched himself at me and tried to hit me, luckily his moves were pretty chaotic and he seemed to lag, probably because of the blow he'd gotten from me.
I easily grabbed both of his wrists and used my leg to shove him back.
"You're dead, Ethan! Just you wait till Jon sees my face."
"What, you're going to cry and tell Jon-mama that little Ethan gave you what you were asking for?"
Damn, I wish I was the one who said that.
"What?!"
"Just calm your pants and go to sleep. If I were you, I wouldn't dare to complain to Jon, because it's not a school trip or something, you know? Talk shit, get hit."
I rolled my eyes at whoever was talking; weren't you being an ass too? Why so nice so suddenly.
Much to my surprise I didn't hear anything more except obviously furious growl directed at me, but I shrugged it off and finally lied down on my bottom bunk. I fell asleep instantly.
You'd think that I'd be allowed to sleep for longer- I hoped that the leaders are smart enough to figure that their pawns need to rest every now and then- but no. I was dragged out of my bunk forcefully by my teammates, who decided that it would be rude to leave me passed out like this and to let me get in trouble for not appearing on the first big meeting. How thoughtful of them...
But, it really saved me, so I nodded at the two twin brothers who practically pulled me up to my feet while I still was asleep to thank them in any way.
Damn, that was rough. Luckily I didn't take off my uniform before I went to bed, so I was all ready to leave.
This morning was different than the past few ones, since some of the grunts were ordered to come to a big hall on the Tower's second floor.
I looked around, trying to count how many people were in here. It was pretty easy, given that we stood in a neat array, and no one even dared to turn their head, unlike me. I think there was about ten rows of eight grunts each, and I seriously was impressed with how silent everything was despite the number of people gathered in one place.
Jon stood in front of the first row, eyeing us. Our eyes met for a split second and I immediately felt a wave of cold chills flow through my whole body, knowing that it was probably a mortal mistake to move around while all of the grunts stood stiffly, their hands behind their backs and their heads high.
I could feel Jon's death glare on me but I refused to even blink, burning a hole in someone's back before me. Damn it... I'm one million percent positive I'll get hit for that once the meeting is over.
Speaking of which, suddenly everything felt even more stiff and tense, especially the air I was trying to breathe with while keeping my face somewhat relaxed. Soon enough I figured someone was slowly making their way from behind the rows of grunts, and even though I didn't find it scary or anything, everyone's nervousness affected me quite badly and caused my whole body to sweat. I felt pathetic, but whatever. I had some worse problems than sweating.
Like, visiting my mom. I haven't had any chance to visit her so far, or even give her a call, but I texted her a few times to explain that I am really busy with training and that I won't be visiting this Saturday. I also came up with some excuse regarding my Pokegear being turned off most of the time, saying that the mountains probably block the signal and that's why I'm out of reach basically nonstop. She seemed to understand and luckily she didn't ask questions but I won't be able to keep it that way for any longer than next week. I had to find some way to spend at least one night at home. Preferably without anyone noticing. But that's impossible. Damn it...
I spaced out. Like usual when I'm nervous. I was pulled out of my reverie by someone behind me who gave me a small kick in my ankle, and I looked up, expecting something terrible to happen. By something terrible I mean Jon and whoever was next to him to glare at me while expecting some answer on question I didn't hear.
Luckily, no one was looking at me and I felt like collapsing backwards in relief. Who'd have thought I was so easy to stress out and that I'd let my mind run wild into overthinking stuff in split second.
I hate this feeling, whenever I am stressed everything around me feels like it's slowed down like in some movie, while I, on the other hand, get some acceleration, or rather my brain, and I immediately see a few different ways my near future can go. All of them are ridiculous and negative, but I can't help it. I don't really know if that means something important, I mean my panic attacks in such moments. Because it really feels like serious panic attacks, only they last for literally one second.
I slightly shifted my eyes to look for Jon and soon found him next to the first row of grunts, facing the same direction as everyone else.
The steps I heard earlier disappeared; whoever it was, stopped in front of us (not that I could see who it was, being 160cm tall and standing among a crowd of adult men wasn't really helpful) and the tension melted away a bit. Only a bit.
"Why am I even bothering to explain anything to you." I heard a familiar voice, and I felt every hair on my body stand up and my blood freeze.
Holy. Shit.
"We're closer to fulfilling another part of our plan, and that's probably all you should know for now. You're doing good so far. But, don't you dare to rest on laurels. We're not done yet. Taking over Goldenrod was only the first, less important step. All you have to focus on is money, and bringing us Pokemon eggs. Those two matters are essential to our research, and we can't afford to waste any more time."
Oh no. Don't talk about stealing eggs. Do not. Get the idea. Of raiding. My Daycare.
"The Daycare just outside Goldenrod has some useful eggs and young Pokemon, just like the one on Sevii Islands in Kanto. These two are now the main objectives of the resources squad."
Fuck. Fuck you. Fuck me. Fuck everything!
What am I supposed to do now? I have to somehow warn the old couple...
"Bring as many eggs as you can."
I scowled a little, already hating the voice I'd gotten to know a few weeks back. It's rather impossible to forget such voice, smooth and deep, and…sly? But still somewhat warm, which was seriously pissing me off as nothing else.
Proton. The man I'd run into in the Slowpoke Well while he and some of his underlings were busy with cutting off freaking tails of Slowpoke, and having fun with it. There was no way I'd ever be able to forget that sight, and Proton's sadistically warm smile when he saw me.
Oh shit no.
He. Proton. He saw me. We were standing face to face for good ten minutes and then battling, and he basically kicked me in stomach when he heard the Police sirens and attempted to escape.
This... This is impossible for him to forget me. I am so, so dead.
I instinctively bowed my head at the realization and my whole body tensed painfull.
Where was my brain when Jon mentioned Proton on my first day here? Where the fuck. Was my brain when I was throwing myself into this hell? I knew Proton is a twisted sadist and an executive, yet... I am an idiot.
I can't even breathe anymore. Grinding my teeth together and trying to stop my jaw from clenching any tighter I almost start hyperventilating through my nose, drawing sharp and deep breaths without any control over my body.
Shit. Shit shit shit! If I draw his attention now I'm seriously dead. Even Jon would happily join Proton in beating me to a pulp for whatever excuse he would come up with.
I can't help it and my breaths grow louder. I am shaking and the sweat is now dripping from the tip of my nose and down my chin. I feel hot and cold at the same time, my eyes burn and my stomach feels empty. The emptiness suddenly spreads up to my head and down to my legs, and I can't see anything anymore.
I'm falling.
...
Where's the floor?
I force my eyes open but they're still shielded with black cloud-like shapes and I try to raise my arms but I can't.
My head feels heavy and my skin burns, but this time it burns from cold.
I want to raise my hands and reach out for anything, or to at least find the floor.
Someone is talking to me, and I can understand the words perfectly, but for some reason I don't bother to listen carefully or answer.
I feel sick, and I get even more nervous when I feel my stomach jump and basically try to get out through my throat. Thankfully I managed to hold my breath and it settled down, letting me relax a bit in relief.
After that I feel a bit better and the black patches slowly disappear from before my eyes, and I realize that I'm still standing on my feet.
The two grunts standing next to me were holding me by the waistband of my pants; someone was propping my back with their hand to keep me vertical, and the reason behind my inability of raising my arms was another person, standing in front of me and holding my wrists behind their back.
They all seemed to want to be sneaky about this situation, so I said nothing, even though the confusion I still felt made me want to ask some unnecessary questions like what was happening while I was half conscious.
I heard a small whisper saying "you're welcome" and all of the hands keeping me up slowly moved away from me, forcing me to stand on my own which felt like the most difficult thing I had to perform at the moment.
My body was all sweaty and stiff, and my skin still felt like it was whipped with some Icy Wind, only that there was no ice, no wind, and no Pokemon blowing its freezing breath at me.
I felt weak, not only literally but weak as in pathetic. I felt humiliated by passing out like that just because I was scared.
Then again, I was legitimately scared of slow and painful death... I think there was some better way to deal with that kind of emotional burden, especially that I was fully aware of my panic's most likely effect of drawing everyone's, Proton included, attention towards me. But it's not like I can control panic, right?
I tried to focus on the voice still speaking, and damn was I glad it wasn't Proton anymore. But before I could make my brain work to comprehend what was going on exactly, I was startled by the squad's deep roar ("Yes, sir!") that once again made me feel like passing out because I really wasn't expecting it.
Nevertheless, I was glad I was alive, and we were dismissed so I could just go and recover from the most terrifying moment of my life.
Everyone began to slowly shuffle in the exit's direction, walking past me and much to my surprise, shock, confusion and terror, some of the grunts patted my back and congratulated me for becoming their little star.
What the hell was that even supposed to mean?
I looked around the hall to see if Proton was anywhere near, only to meet Jon's gaze. And it certainly wasn't a friendly one.
He stood with his back pressed against a wall and his arms folded across his chest, just glaring at me as if I'd done something wrong.
What was his problem?
He pointed at the door everyone have already left through and I realized I was left behind, quickly turning and dashing away to avoid any further contact with him.
Really, I should stop with that spacing out... If Proton had been there beside Jon, I'd have already been noticed and crushed.
Melt into the crowd, melt into the crowd, melt into the frickin crowd and stay there damnit!
Just then I had an opportunity to see what time it was, a big wall clock on the Tower's first floor flashing eight thirteen in the morning. So, I've been asleep for about three or four hours... I don't know how long was the meeting, thanks to my oh so dramatic fainting I've lost sense of time for a while, so I really couldn't tell if it was only ten minutes or half an hour long.
Finally back in my room I scowled at two of my teammates performing a poor act of sissy fainting just to mock me, earning cheeky grins from them.
Don't tell me everyone saw that... I hope not. If Jon had seen all this, he would've already asked questions or yelled at me. Same goes for Proton. Except he certainly wouldn't have come down to yelling only.
I don't even want to think what could've happened anymore... It was terrifying.
I retrieved my three Pokeballs and a snack I've hidden under my mattress two days prior, deciding to make use of it now since I still felt terrible and I heard that after you pass out you're supposed to eat something sweet.
A chocolate bar should be enough, I think.
Leaving my dear teammates' snickers behind I headed upstairs to the first floor, lazily taking a small bite of my treat and looking around at people chatting away. The atmosphere around was weirdly relaxing, and for a while I felt like I was at school. You know. A lot of people you know from just seeing each other in the corridors, strangers who won't turn hostile towards you without any good reason, chit-chats everywhere melting into one, almost static noise.
Everyone were at ease, and I wondered why. Was it because Proton had actually said something that made their morale go up? Or maybe was it because he actually didn't kill anyone?
Right... Just now I remembered the main reason of why I was here in the first place.
I was supposed to get any details of Team Rocket's plans, but instead of listening I got so terrified of losing my life that I forgot to even listen to what Proton and then Jon were saying.
I'd slow clap at myself if I wasn't busy with my chocolate.
"Hey Ethan." I almost choked when I heard someone running up next to me and calling me by my fake name, mindlessly squeezing one of the Pokeballs I still didn't attach to my belt. I must've pressed the button by accident and my trusty Murkrow gracefully jumped out of the device and began to circle under the ceiling before landing on my shoulder and stealing the last bite of my sweet breakfast.
Ugh.
I turned my attention to whoever was calling out to me, now standing face to face with one of the twins from my group.
"Are you alright?" he asked; of course at first I didn't even know what to say, his concern seeming to be genuine that it gave me creeps. I nodded slowly, unsure if he was even expecting my answer.
"Good, because, you know, I saw you fainting during the meeting. You still look pale."
Wait, why was he so worried? 'cause... he was, wasn't he?
"Are you trying to be nice right now?" I asked, pouting slightly and frowning at the blue eyed Rocket next to me. I swear he looked hurt for a second.
"I'm just asking if you're okay now. If you're not, then you're going to have to stay here while we go get eggs."
Oh, right.
I shrugged, wanting to give him an inaudible 'whatever' as a final response.
Scratching my Murkrow's neck I let my thoughts wander off to the place around Bill's house where I had my backpack hidden, already imagining myself going there and texting the daycare couple to warn them about the raid Team Rocket had planned.
What if...
Shit, not again.
What if someone sees me with my Pokegear?
I was reckless enough to text my mother. What if someone saw me then? I'd have to explain a lot and I'd lose Team Rocket's trust for sure. Maybe they'd kick me out... Or worse.
And what if someone finds out I warned the old couple?
Instant death. I am sure of it.
Letting myself space out I automatically let my guard down, and even a loud "hey!" wasn't enough to pull me back to reality, not even stomping of someone's feet growing louder was enough.
Murkrow screeched right next to my ear and flapped his wings, raising his body into the air right when I caught a glimpse of red and got roughly shoved back for two or three meters. I didn't expect anyone to push me like this, forcing me to practically jog backwards. And yes, it turns out I suck at jogging backwards because my feet got tangled and I fell, pulling the attacker with myself and making him awkwardly land on his knees between my legs.
The impact from hitting my back against the floor made my lungs feel like they were about to implode and I couldn't inhale for a few seconds, but it got back to normal when I was pulled up to sitting position by my uniform.
"What. The fuck."
If I wasn't terrified, I'd answer to that with disgusted "uuugh". But, I was terrified.
As if I haven't had enough for today.
I cracked one eye open to confirm that the voice I just heard was Silver's, sending him a small glare, or at least I thought it was a glare. My eyes surely expressed something more like please, please you fucking assface shut your mouth or they will kill me if you let them find out I am actually against them, shut up shut up shut UP but Silver being dense as he is didn't notice anything at all.
Or maybe he noticed and understood, but he decided that he didn't fucking care.
"What the fuck G-" Bang.
SHUT YOUR FUCKING MOUTH YOU ASSHOLE.
I grabbed him tightly by his face, digging my fingers into his cheeks to somehow, somehow shut him up and give him any easier to read sign that he was about to kill me with his words.
Everyone were already staring at us. Everyone.
I once again tried to look into the redhead's sharp eyes to beg him for silence but he only responded with his death glare and ripped my hand off his face. He was panting with fury, letting me know that it was one of those moments he had no idea what he was doing, meaning I should expect the worst and the most unexpected.
"Hey, what are you-"
Silver turned sharply to glare at my even more concerned now teammate, the poor guy going silent immediately.
So weak.
And then, as if to make everything worse and give me a heart failure, Jon trotted over from the stairs, gently pushing the blue eyed Rocket out of his way to look down at Silver.
The redhead bared his teeth at the resources squad leader, none of them saying anything. They seemed to want to try and kill each other with their glares, leaving me kind of alone for a moment. When I only twitched Silver immediately turned his attention to me and I swear he was fucking readying himself to lean in and bite me in the face, luckily Jon distracted him again.
"What do you want this time?"
"Fuck you, mind your own business." ough, such words directed to Jon? And not even bothering to spare him a glance? If it was me barking like that, I'd probably already have my head separated from the rest of my body.
Silver continued to glare straight into my eyes and I glared back although not so aggressively. I was glad that no one said anything more, but having Jon and the rest of Team Rocket stare at us like that felt like letting a Muk slowly swallow you whole.
"Ethan, what's the matter? Do you two have met before?" Jon asked after a longer while and I saw Silver cringe and whisper "Ethan?", some kind of disgust mixed with confusion showing on his face.
Fearing that Silver would now betray me, I quickly shrugged and blurted out;
"I-I don't know, I don't know him."
Silver then chuckled dryly and stood up, dragging me up to my feet by my clothes.
"Oh really."
Jon let Silver shove me towards the stairs and then he almost pushed me off them, forcing me to go down into the corridor I've already known so well.
"You don't know me, yeah?" he hissed behind me, shoving me further into the hallway. I decided to stay silent. Getting into discussion with him when others could still hear everything wasn't the wisest idea.
I think he really enjoyed shoving me and kicking because he did that a lot, even when it was unnecessary. What an ass.
Finally we arrived at some more secluded area, a spacious part of the corridor where the grunts would often spend free time eating together and watching tv if it worked (and from what I heard it was a rare occurrence).
"Gold," his voice was quiet and calm which automatically made me feel like it was a bad omen, and I really didn't need to wait too long to get confirmation of that.
I turned around to face him but before I could even think about readying for any attack, he violently shoved me back right into chairs and a table.
Shit, that hurt, and I still felt kinda weak since that fainting earlier. I landed on the table with my back, slowly trying to prop myself on my elbows and pull my head back up (damn it seriously felt heavy), and then... Wait, shit, what the fuck is he doing?!
"Take that off, moron!" he growled, forcing my gloves off my hands before pulling on the hem of the upper part of my uniform, pushing the shirt upwards while his other hand wandered lower to get rid of my white belt.
Is he for real...?!
"Silver, what the f-" I tried to grab his wrists but he was faster and pulled me off the table and then dragged down against his knee, the blow so strong that I once again couldn't breathe or see properly.
He let me go.
And I fell to the floor face first, curling up and desperately wheezing for air.
"I said take that off."
I had to use every bit of my willpower to force my body to move a little and look up at him with one eye, coughing a few times.
He didn't seem to be furious anymore. His face was emotionless, but it didn't mean it was any better.
He slowly crouched down next to me and turned me onto my back and made me sit up, this time properly pulling my uniform over my head. I couldn't resist him anymore, my stomach felt like it was ripped or something...
"Do you like Team Rocket that much?" his eyes narrowed slightly, his sharp gaze once again piercing through my soul.
"What are you even thinking you idiot?!"
All I could do was still only wrapping my arms around my stomach, trembling and letting out muffled sounds of pain. I tried to answer him but my lungs felt like they were completely empty so the sound that left my throat was a mere groan before I slowly lied down on my side, pressing my forehead against the cold floor.
"Did you read the letter?"
Wait, what letter?
I looked up at him questioningly and at the exact moment he let out an irritated growl, clawing on his face. Seriously, so overdramatic.
"You fucking... dense dickhead!"
There he goes again.
His hands landed on my neck and wrapped themselves around on throat tightly but not to choke me. Silver only pulled me upwards by my neck, holding me like this just to shake me every now and then while hissing through his clenched teeth, his face dangerously close to mine.
"You fucking didn't even open that goddamn book I gave you, did you?!" I shook my head slightly, grimacing at discomfort and the distance between our noses.
"You have no idea how much I want to kill you right now!" finally he threw me to the floor again, luckily it wasn't that bad because I still was basically lying on it.
"You are about to do that, y'know." finally, I can breathe and talk.
"If you don't shut up, they'll figure out things I don't want them to know."
"Like what, you playing a superhero? Are you seriously thinking that you're clever trying to be sneaky?!"
"Silver, shut. Up."
"Did you seriously think that they won't kill you if you join them?!"
I gave him a small kick (I had to restrain myself to avoid killing him I swear) into his stomach, now having my ankle gripped by him but at least he shut up for a while. I used my other leg to slam the heel of my boot against his fingers to make him back away which he did, cursing under his breath and throwing at me some random death threats.
I sat up and reached out to grab my uniform before putting it on again. Being half naked wasn't so fun right now.
"Asshole!" he hissed and I presented him my middle finger in answer, once I was sure that I'm far enough to avoid getting hit or kicked again.
"You're already dead, Gold. And for a while I seriously thought that maybe you're not that brainless."
"Well, thank you very much for your concern, I'll be fine if you take your leave now without letting everyone know what's really going on!"
"Gold, do you even realize what you've gotten yourself into? You're going to jail if you get through this alive. There's no excuse. But you most likely won't make it through."
"Oh yeah, just watch me."
He sighed heavily and slowly stood up, pinching the bridge of his nose in defeat. For some reason he looked like he was at his breaking point, and I don't mean his rage that normally would follow. He actually looked like he was tired and overwhelmed, wanting all of this to end.
"Did you read that letter or not?" he asked calmly.
Wow.
"No, I didn't. I told you that already."
He exhaled once again and looked down at me before offering me a hand.
Silver. Wanting to help me up. Right after he beat me up.
What's going on, I don't even...
I hesitated for a moment but decided to trust him again, expecting it to actually end up being some kind of trap leading to another portion of beating, but no. He seriously pulled me up to my feet.
"I left a note for you in that book. I hoped you'd read it and keep away from stupid, heroic ideas."
"I know that already, but I didn't read it. So maybe tell me what it was about if it's that important?"
He looked away for a while, his face doing that weird thing I've never expected to see from him- he looked conflicted.
"It was about why I am allowed to fuck around with Team Rocket without any consequences."
"So? Is it really important?"
"Well yeah, it is. Actually now it isn't, because you've already gotten yourself into some big shit but maybe you'll make use of that knowledge to save yourself at some point."
"Well? Will you tell me already? Because you know, dragging me down here is already suspicious enough, and I know I'm going to be asked many difficult questions. Thanks, by the way."
Well, yeah, exactly! It really looked like Silver and I were some good buddies, or at least enemies- whichever it was it meant we knew each other; despite that I lied I didn't know him. What should I use as an excuse if someone asks why Silver dragged me down here? Hm?
"Just tell them I wanted your personal info and ID number. They'll buy it."
"Yeah, sure..."
"They will. Trust me on this one. They trust me too."
"Are you shitting me right now Silver? How are they trusting you?"
Ugh I don't get this guy.
There was a longer while of silence between us, Silver thoughtfully looking to the side again.
"I'm Giovanni's son. They treat me like a spoiled child that can't do shit to them. They don't bother to take me seriously. Or anything I do or say. I could blow up the whole Radio Tower, and they would only shrug and pretend they don't mind it. I'm powerless, but I still can save your sorry ass from here."
...
He looked back at me and scowled in disgust, probably in answer to my wide, disbelieving eyes.
"Are you being serious right now?" I asked, getting only another glare in response, and I knew he was serious.
Silver... That stupid, super angry stomping his foot kid was Giovanni's son? What? Was that even possible? How?
I mean, doesn't matter how, but, what the hell Silver's life looked like? What does exactly mean for him having such father?
"...I didn't... I expected everything but not that." I didn't actually know what to say. Just. Wow. It was too much. My brain refused to work because it still couldn't process the information Silver gave me.
"Whatever." he hissed at me again, and I could tell he was already itching to run away. Well, nothing surprising. I'd probably feel the same if my father was the most wanted criminalist out there and I just admitted it to someone I was obsessively rivaling with.
"And... You're seriously telling me...something like this...just to save me?"
"Do you want me to kick you in face?" he mocked my tone. Ouch, I forgot he'd never admit anything like wanting to help someone to be true. But I knew him well enough to know that all of this had no hidden motives, and that he genuinely wanted nothing more but to somehow raise the success rate of my 'stay-alive' mission.
Probably not because he didn't want me to die, but because he didn't want to regret something and see me in his nightmares.
"I still hate you for having literally no pride and honor, and for sinking to Team Rocket's level. Disgusting trash."
"Rude. Period head."
"Ugh."
Ha, this is like... Twenty-one to five for me. He'll never get over getting called 'period-head', and I know it's mean but I just can't resist. The disgust on his face is always so real... And his brain shuts off no matter what. Serves him right.
I flinched at the sound of quick steps, my eyes widening as I turned my head expecting Jon or any of the Rockets running to punish me for actually knowing Silver and lying about it.
Silver chuckled dryly in amusement as he watched me, my shoulders slumping in relief as the sound turned out to be flapping of friendly wings, not steps heralding my end coming near. It was just my Murkrow…
He landed on my shoulder and eyed Silver carefully.
Well, at least now I have someone willing to save me from Silver's eventual beating.
I looked at my Flying type and then back up at Silver again, seeing him adjust his leather gloves while watching me. I hated him for being taller than me. I could forgive him anything, but not that.
Suddenly he flung his arm at me and I squeezed my eyes closed and curled up slightly, expecting to get hit again but all I felt was a not-so-terrible slap on my cheek and slight pressure since he apparently didn't take his hand away from my face.
I opened my eyes and hesitantly glanced at him, seeing him frown a bit while he stared straight into my eyes with his own, more scolding (and shit was it sympathetic?) than hateful gaze. What the hell was that supposed to mean?
"I'll get you out of here if you want."
There he goes again with running away, that…coward.
"Silver, I'm not backing away now. Instead of trying to run away, you should join me. You said you hate Team Rocket, and that you want them out of this world, so why aren't you doing anything to achieve this?"
He frowned more and slowly took his hand away from my cheek.
"Sometimes staying away and alive is the only rational thing to do." And with that he took two steps backwards before turning around and taking his leave before I could even call out to him.
Well, whatever… I knew what to do.
…
Kind of.
A/N: I feel like I screwed up. My brain doesn't work properly uhh... I hope this chapter wasn't too confusing or "heavy".
In the next chapter Gold will get into some trouble haha! Some serious trouble mwahhahahacoughcough