I don't own Pokemon!
Chapter 6: Silver: Rude Boy Or Nice Guy?
Thursday, May 25th
I turned around to look the brunette in the eye.
"What do you mean, 'Uh oh'?" He nervously looked away, until I grabbed his squishy little cheeks and forced him to look at me. While I squished his face. "Answer me!" I demanded, sticking my bottom lip out. The boy managed to spit out a few distorted words, and some, well, spit, before I let his face go and he explained himself.
"Well, you see I was just playing with my little bouncy ball with Weedle, and then I kind of accidentally threw it..."
"And?"
"And never came back..." I gave the boy an incredulous look.
"You just left him alone?" The boy, flushed from guilt, shook his head wildly. I sighed, and put a hand up to my forehead. "It's not your fault. I should've been watching him myself, I was the one who let him stay out in the first place."
"I-it's not totally your fault Lyra! I really am sorry about losing him," I smiled reassuringly at the boy.
"Like I said, it's fine. Now, anybody have any ideas of where Weedle might be?" The majority of the students had gathered around and were now thinking very hard about my question, until finally-
"Ooh, I think I might know!" A girl about nine or so years old with pitch black hair and lively green eyes spoke up. Then stared. With a lovely but clueless smile.
"Soo?" I asked, trying not to lose my patience. It almost never wore thin, but I was not wanting to get in trouble for losing this poor Pokemon. Oh Arceus, he was probably terrified!
"Soo what?" I forced yet another smile.
"Where do think that Weedle might be?"
"Well last month we lost Weedle too, and found him at Sprout Tower. He just loves the taste of the leaves there!"
"It's settled then, we're going to Sprout Tower to find Weedle!" A few cheers could be heard from around the playground before we all went towards the gate in the chain link fence around the playground. It opened up to one of the stone streets of Violet City, and, looking just to the right, Sprout Tower could be seen. The children followed me over to the first bridge, then across it. I made a mental note to come back here again some time, under less stressed circumstances. The water was crystal clear, sparkling, and you could even catch a glimpse of a Goldeen's flowing tail now and then.
After crossing the second bridge, we all looked up at the legendary Sprout Tower. Over one hundred feet tall, swaying back and forth almost rhythmically, it was quite an intimidating sight. Totodile began squirming in my arms, and only then I realized how tight I had been holding it.
"Well?" One of the kids asked. I turned to look at him. "Aren't you going in?" My nervously darted from side to side, and I took a deep breath, nodding.
"Y-yeah, just getting my thoughts together." After another deep breath and two counts to ten, I placed my hand flat on the decorated, wooden door. It didn't latch tightly, and had no locking mechanism, and opened with ease. Taking one last look at the anxious looking children behind me, I smiled in what I hoped to be a reassuring way, and entered the Tower. The door swung shut without a sound, and I looked around the large, open room I had entered.
At the entrance were two large wooden sculptures, hand carved, of Bellsprout. They appeared identical at first glance, but taking a closer look there were many small differences, notches in the wood, cuts at slightly different angles. There was a young woman and an older woman, both in kimonos. The younger woman stood watching the swaying beam of the Tower, while the older one sprinkled crumbs of some sort on the ground, trying to coax some Rattata out of their hiding place.
There were three windows, too high to look out of, on three sides of the room. Bright, warm sunlight filtered through, illuminating the dust in the air.
Near the back of the room was a ladder, and stood beside it, a monk. He as well wore a kimono, one of a gray, almost dull violet color. I gulped and made my way towards him, feeling the stares of both women burning into the back of my skull.
"He-hello!" I nervously waved. The man remained stoic.
"You are a trainer?" He asked monotonously, his dull green eyes full of critical judgment, or, at least that's what I saw.
"Uh, yep!" I smiled, trying to cool the awkwardness I felt. It didn't work.
"Then you must be here to take the challenge,"
"Challenge?" I inquired.
"The Sprout Tower Trainer Challenge?" I shook my head, implying that I didn't know what he was talking about. "The goal of the challenge is to defeat all the monks in the tower, then Elder Li. If you do so, you will be rewarded."
"Well, I'd love to do that and everything, but I don't really have a lot of time-"
"No one climbs the tower if not for the challenge or a previous successful challenger." That was when the monk stepped in front of the ladder and closed himself up like a Mawile. He wouldn't answer anything I said, and I quickly realized that the only way I'd be getting up there to try and find Weedle would be to take this stupid challenge. I puffed out my cheeks and told the monk my decision to partake. He actually smiled at this, which somehow was scarier than his monotonousness from earlier.
"Excellent. I wish you good luck." He stepped away, and I climbed up the sturdy ladder to the next floor. This room was divided with, um, bamboo dividers. On them were paintings of various men and grass type Pokemon, mostly Bellsprout. Yeah, surprise, surprise. There were also several square openings in the floor around the beam, preventing anyone from getting near it. The only way to go was to the right, and I could already see the first monk who I was apparently supposed to defeat in battle.
The man quickly engaged me in battle, I with Totodile (of course), and he with three different Bellsprout. You'd think that a single water type such as Totodile wouldn't stand a chance against three grass types, but not only were they all fairly weak, their only known move was Vine Whip. And although that is a grass type move, Totodile was easily able to take care of it with Bite and Scratch.
After beating the first monk, he stepped back in defeat revealing the wooden ladder which lead back to the first floor. I was somewhat relieved, heights were not on my list of loved things.
I walked down another long, dark corridor, illuminated only by the thin windows which I couldn't even reach from my height. The sunlight was bright, but couldn't well light this area of the tower.
Rounding the corner, I was surprised by another monk, who looked almost exactly like the others I'd already seen. They all looked the same, except for the slight differences in the shapes of their faces, and their eyes. This man had a long face with sharp features, along with almond shaped and colored eyes.
"Hello."
"Hi..." I nervously waved, softly dropping Totodile to the ground for battle.
"I assume you are here for the challenge?" I nodded, and he did so back.
"I am Sage Chow. We monks and sages stand guard in this tower. In doing so, we also express our gratitude for all living creatures. Now, with my beloved partners, I will test you to see if you do so as well, and are worthy of our respect." I nodded once more, and the man released his first Pokemon. He also was a fan of the Bellsprout, having once again three but these ones being slightly stronger and knowing a second move, Wrap. It was more difficult than our first battle, but we still prevailed in the end, and this time, Sage Chow even healed Totodile.
Just past him was another ladder, leading back to the blocked off side of the second floor, which I had previously only been able to see from behind the main beam of the tower.
This time was the same as before, I battled and defeated a monk, then proceeded on to the third floor. The only thing which was different was that the ladder was extremely tall, too tall. It played on my fear of heights, climbing at least fifteen feet to the next floor. The next few floors, three or so, were eerily empty, open rooms, each featuring only a single statue of a Bellsprout in a different position on each floor.
When I came to the sixth floor, I was very anxious, wanting to retrieve Weedle and get out of there, with or without my prize from the elder. I was searching every nook and cranny for the small orange bug Pokemon, but I couldn't find him. My fear was that he was hiding on the final floor, or worse yet, the roof.
After finally defeating the last few monks, only one of which surprised me by having a Hoothoot on his team, I made my way around the swaying beam of Sprout Tower, careful to keep my distance from the large opening in the floor around it, only to stop when I heard loud voices in the open room beyond. Correction, one loud voice. At least loud for the quiet of the tower.
"You have showed us your power young one, and it is indeed good..." The elder spoke to a young boy, barely older than I, with unforgettable long, red hair. "Take your prize." I was going nuts trying to remember the boy's name. He snatched what looked like a technical machine from the elder's palm. Sam? Soo, Sa, Suum, ummm... Simon? No, he didn't really look like a Simon.
"However young man, you should care more about the well being of your Pokemon. The way you treat them is too harsh..." The elder sounded sad, as if he not only cared deeply for the boy's Pokemon, but also pitied the boy himself.
"Remember, Pokemon are not tools of war, but friends with which we share our lives..." The boy turned away, apparently thinking of what the elder had said to him. But I was wrong in thinking that. He only smiled cruelly and laughed.
"Please old man, you call yourself the elder, but you weren't even a match for me! Everyone lectures about how you need to be nice to Pokemon, but none of them can defeat me." The boy's face grew dark. "All I care about are strong Pokemon. Nothing else matters." Suddenly I wondered about the boy, and what had happened to him that he would think this way. But I didn't have time to think long.
Three Pidgey flew along the ceiling, ducking and flying around the many support beams, and snapping at something unseen, until a familiar, small orange Pokemon, began falling, falling, falling, down towards the area around the swaying pillar, where there was nothing to stop his fall for one hundred feet.
I'm not quite sure what it was, instinct, reflex, or just the fact that I couldn't let an innocent Pokemon have such a fate, but without skipping a beat, I ran out from where I had been hiding behind a wooden statue. Both the elder and the boy turned to look at me with wide, surprised eyes, not that I really noticed.
At the edge of the opening, I reached my arms out, my finger tips just barely brushing the fuzzy orange skin of Weedle's. That was when my feet left the floor. I pulled the bug type into my arms, holding him tightly. I caught just a glimpse of the ground, a hundred feet below, and it was enough to make me tightly shut my eyes while turning my body to face the ceiling.
I heard someone screaming at me, and I slowly opened my chocolate brown eyes back up again. The ceiling revealed nothing, but in front of me was the boy in his black and red jacket. His silver eyes were big and angry, but also something else. Concern? Desperation? I couldn't know. I'd never been very good at reading people.
I think he was telling me something, but I'd become distracted. Some light pink and white flower petals had come loose from my braid and now floated by me as I began to fall, almost as if we were in slow motion. I reached my left hand out towards them, using my right to continue holding Weedle close to my chest. Then, another hand, a tad paler than my own, was grasping my thin wrist and yanking me forward, hard.
The last thing I saw before everything went black was those brilliant silver eyes again, and I finally remembered his name. Silver. Duh.
Oh, and before you get too confused, when I said that everything went black, I only meant that I was pressed into Silver's jacket, and could only see the black material. I wasn't unconscious or anything like that thank goodness. But, I was on top of Silver, who was lying flat on the ground, with me clutching his jacket.
Suddenly I was too afraid to move. I dreaded looking Silver in the eye after he'd just saved my life, I mean, I thought he'd been a jerk, but this proved otherwise. There just had to be something in this boy that was kind, or at least a little nice.
Silver pushed both himself and me up with his arms, using them to support the two of us. Then again there was silence until Weedle, squashed in between the two of us, began to squirm.
"Uh.. um...I..." I tensed. Silver was trying to figure out what to say, and he was going to yell at me. Then I would have to stand up and face him, then the elder who was more than likely still watching the two of us.
"Hey..." He finally started. "You can get up now." I slowly lifted my head, and somehow managed to look Silver in the eye. Our faces were way too close, and both were crimson. I suddenly jumped backwards, landing on my butt and scooting away from the teen of similar age.
Weedle, now on the ground, shook himself off then began to wobble away, but I quickly took hold of him tightly in my arms, preventing him from becoming lost yet again. I couldn't look Silver in the eye again.
Suddenly though, he was up off the ground and headed back from where I'd come from, down the tower.
"Wa-wait!" I called to him, unsure of what I was even planning on saying. He didn't answer, only tensed and walked faster. Jumping up, I continued to clutch Weedle to my chest but ran after Silver and grabbed at the hem of his jacket.
"What do you want!?" The boy whirled around, looking waay more embarrassed than angry, like I'd expected him to be. HIs face was still burning red, whereas my blush had faded at this point.
"I just- I..."
"Don't touch my jacket!" Silver pulled the material from my hand and once again turned away from me, walking briskly towards the ladder, and then he was gone. For whatever reason, I was disappointed.
"Thank you..." I told him softly, though I knew he was unable to hear me. Why couldn't I have said that before? It was just two small words, how hard was that? My head was swimming, and I'd completely forgotten about my goals here, until the elder finally spoke up.
"Well... Ah hem! So good of you to come here child!" Yeah, awkward right?
Silver's POV
Stupid, stupid, stupid, you stupid redhead! My head was still screwed up from what had happened with her. I couldn't think straight, I couldn't get away fast enough, and even I could tell that my face was still very obviously red.
Why, of all people, did it have to be her? I mean, she's irritating, loud, and nauseatingly nice. Oh Arceus, why couldn't I have just let her fall to her death and just go through all that crap with the cops!?
'Well, either you're just weak or you're not a completely heartless jerk.' Replied that irritating other voice in my head. It wasn't really there, just my conscious arguing with my personality. I knew I couldn't have let her die like that, I would've had to do something, but why oh god why did it have to end like that with her on top of me and my face as red as a shiny Gyarados?
"Life hates me doesn't it..." I mumbled grumpily to myself as I made my way out of Sprout Tower, pushing my way through a stupid group of kids waiting at the entrance. Then, I headed towards the Gym.
Lyra's POV
Elder Li and I had been introduced, and we'd talked for a moment before he gave me this 'final test'. Mostly about how he felt bad for Silver and his Pokemon. Silver couldn't see how Pokemon were our friends and family, and the elder felt that because of this both him and his Pokemon were missing something very important in their lives. I couldn't really do any deep thinking then, my mind was elsewhere.
Finally though, we got to our battle.
"Hoothoot!"
"Totodile, you're up!" I was kind of worried about the battle, Totodile had battled a lot today, and though it had made him stronger, he was near exhaustion. I wasn't sure if he could successfully defeat all three of the elder's Pokemon.
"Hoothoot, start out with Hypnosis!"
"Dodge it and use Leer!"
"Peck Hoothoot!" Totodile was forcefully knocked to the ground by the bird Pokemon's enlarged, glowing beak.
"Totodile!" I was terrified that just from this one attack, Totodile would be knocked out. "Totodile, are you alright buddy?!"
"Mmgrr," Totodile mumble growled, shaking as he got to his feet. He nearly fell back down, and as a reflex I took a step forward, ready to catch the water type in my arms as soon as he needed it. But he didn't, not yet anyways. The Pokemon righted himself and stood waiting for my next order.
"Bite Totodile!"
"Fly out of his reach Hoothoot!"
"You're not getting away that easily! Use Water Gun!" The water type attack knocked the flying type off balance, and sent Hoothoot pummeling towards the wooden floors. "Now use Bite Totodile!" Totodile had enough strength to run at Hoothoot, catching the side of the bird Pokemon in his mouth and throwing him into one of the many Bellsprout statues in the building. After a moment it was realized that Hoothoot would be unable to battle.
Elder Li, after returning Hoothoot to his Pokeball, mumbled some kind words to his Pokemon. "For such a young girl, you are already an accomplished trainer. I look forward to the rest of our battle Lyra." I smiled proudly, determinedly.
"Me too."
"Bellsprout my friend, you are next!" I smiled tightly and tried not to roll my eyes. Just how many Bellsprout do these people need? I mean, honestly, a trainer with a flying or fire type could just come in here and destroy the place. "Growth!"
"Bite Totodile!" It was fairly easy for the big jaw Pokemon to lift up and toss the light grass type, but Bellsprout easily landed quite gracefully back on the floor.
"Vine Whip!"
"Counter with Scratch!" Totodile managed to destroy the vines coming at him, and landed a well placed hit on Bellsprout.
"Vine Whip again!" This time, Totodile was too close to avoid Bellsprout's attack, and skidded across the wooden floor towards me.
"You alright buddy?" The water starter made a gurgling growl noise, shakily lifting himself up off the ground. "Alright, finish this up with a Scratch and Bite!"
"Jump up and use Vine Whip!" Bellsprout leapt into the air, but not until Totodile had latched onto Bellsprout tightly with his teeth. The grass type's vines wrapped around Totodile, pulling and throwing him to the ground, only both Pokemon went down. Both were unconscious.
"Bellsprout, you did well," I could only stare at my tiny blue Pokemon, unsure of my next move. Technically, I'd just lost. I didn't have any other Pokemon besides Totodile. But... I looked over on my shoulder, where Weedle was wobbling around, peering curiously around the room. Weedle was not my Pokemon, and I didn't even have his Pokeball with me, but he would listen to me in battle. I could still win this with Weedle's help.
"Weedle?" The small orange bug turned to look at me. "Would you mind helping us with this battle?" The Pokemon squealed with joy, and quickly made his way down from my shoulder and out in front of me. I returned Totodile to his Pokeball, and by that time Elder Li had sent out his final Pokemon, another Bellsprout.
"Use Vine Whip Bellsprout!"
"Poison Sting!" Poison Sting easily countered Vine Whip and did lots of damage to Bellsprout, even poisoning the grass type. "Now use Bug Bite!"
"Dodge and use Growth!"
"String Shot!" Bellsprout was wrapped in the sticky substance and fell the the floor. I then commanded Weedle to once again use Bug Bite, and of course he didn't miss. String Shot was chewed off of the elder's Pokemon, but it was too late. They'd lost.
"Hmm," Elder Li began after returning the last of his beloved Pokemon. "You battle quite elegantly child." I bowed respectively, causing Weedle who had once more climbed up to rest on my shoulder to wobble.
"Thank you. And you're a powerful opponent Elder." The old man smiled wisely and bowed as well.
"As are you. I wouldn't be surprised if you'd be able to defeat Falkner, if of course you were to challenge him." I grinned.
"I was planning on it."
"Take this as well Lyra," I took a small machine, which I recognized as a TM from television, from his hand. "It's your reward for defeating me. It is the technical machine known as flash. Use it well."
"Thanks Elder Li!"
"Of course child, and good luck with your upcoming Gym Battle!"
"Thanks again, and see you around!" A large smile was plastered on my face as I skipped my way through the many corridors and down the ladders of the tower, not even recalling my previous fear of being up this high.
The children cheered as I reappeared, but just as we turned around to head back to the Trainer's School-
"Children! Have you been where?!" We almost got away with it. Almost.
Thursday, May 25th
ARCEUS I GOT SO BORED WRITING THIS. I need to come up with more twists. Anyways, please review everyone! Thanks for reading!