It wasn't long before Ellie was on her feet once again, having pushed aside whatever sickness that had come over her. Silver assumed it was a terrible mix of fear, anxiety and overexertion, but something odd kept nagging at him- telling him that there were something else going on that he just didn't know about. He, naturally, a very observant person though this was one of the few times where Silver had considered something about another person. The cynical trainer was pretty self-centered overall; he was even well aware of this, and that was what made this even stranger for him.
Now that he thought about it, there were a few times in the past where Ellie just seemed to act strangely for a little while. There was one time while they were eating that she appeared to be sick: a fatigued look in her eyes, barely touching the food in front of her for quite awhile, eating it slowly. There was also a time where the woman just snapped at him out of the blue. There certainly wasn't a reason for it, and the matter that they ended up fighting over was so unimportant that Silver himself even forgot what it even was. And as much he'd like answers to this question, now was certainly not the time to ask.
"How many alleyways are in Goldenrod City are there?" Ellie turned to ask. The wind's force had picked up, whistling through the dark passage, disturbing the clothing lines above and sending litter on a trip across on the old asphalt. The sky, which was pleasant blue this morning, was now covered by ominous gray clouds that hung low; rain was inevitable.
"No clue. More than we can cover in one night. Even narrowing down the possibilities by looking near restaurants won't do us any good. There's just too many. But I guess it makes our chances of running into your crackpot mother slimmer- maybe," the redhead replied with a shrug, brushing some strands of hair out of his face.
Slimmer, but there was still a chance.
"Honestly, with my luck, that would happen. Doesn't matter if the odds are ninety-nine to one."
It was the worst case scenario, and one that they didn't even have a solid plan for. Silver considered the task to be easy at first: find the woman, corner her, defeat her... Except, he came to accept that this was not a normal battle- not against just another trainer, not against some wannabe villain, not against some pathetic Team Rocket grunt with an even more pathetic Zubat. "Look, let's just focus. Where would your Absol have gone when figuring out that she was lost?"
"It usually takes her a long time to figure that out."
"Let's be hypothetical then. She knows she's lost right now. Where's the first place that she would go?"
"Probably to wherever we're staying at, making detours to beg for food along the way." Despite the fact that the Absol was rather skinny with lanky limbs, she was somewhat of a glutton. Eclipse loved food almost as much as she loved her trainer.
"Then we should go back there and see if she finds her way. If not, then we can go to the police about it," Silver replied. He was looking out the entrance of the alley that they were currently was much better than earning stares and hushed remarks from passing strangers. "We don't have to tell them anything else, except that your pokemon is lost, give a description. It's technically not lying, since that is the case."
Ellie had opened her mother speak, but she was cut off by the sudden burst of sound coming from her pocket. It was just her cellphone, Silver assumed before watching the girl fish the small device out of her pocket. Cell phones, or pokecells, were one of the many communication devices that ran on a public service line meant for trainers to keep in touch with others. Silver had upgraded to a pokecell some time ago, after his pokegear finally stopped working. It was probably one of the few friends she had, maybe that white-haired guy that she described as 'a walking meme'.
"We have some trouble..." Her voice was nothing but a weak mumble, the remaining color drained from her face upon seeing the screen. Silver could only assume what that meant, even though it seemed nearly impossible; then again, some things weren't as impossible as they appeared to be. The phone continued to buzz until her thumb hesitantly hit the 'answer' button. "Hello."
"Hello there, my dear daughter."
Silver usually enjoyed being right. This, however, was not one of those moments.
"I think I have something that you want." There was a wave of noise in the background. It sounded like a buzz of electricity, followed by a blood-chilling screech that was nearly unidentifiable- only it was recognizable, even if Silver wished it wasn't... An Absol's cry was simply too distinct. "What a fine Absol... But so incredibly stupid, like a little lost Mareep."
"Eclipse..." Ellie's chest rose and fell as the silence passed through for a moment. Silver could tell that the woman was attempting to keep herself composed, probably because she refused to seem vulnerable, but she could be seen through like a pane of freshly-cleaned glass: the astonishment, the immense worry for her pokemon, the rage. The redhead couldn't recall a time where he had seen Ellie angry. He had not a clue what her anger looked like, but never imagined that it was all that much; she seemed too meek, too soft...
But maybe he was wrong? It turned out that he wrong about a lot of her.
"Of course. I couldn't leave such a fine creature wandering the streets," the voice on the other end of the line spoke once again. Marie's tone was soft, yet it a had a rasp- a menacing element that could make the hairs on the back of one's neck stand. The same droning buzz appeared in the background of the call again, and then another screech followed. Silver won't openly admit it, but it was difficult to listen to; the Absol was definitely in excruciating pain, that was obvious, but he found himself wondering by what. "I'll tell you what to do, honey. Turn around and face the opposite direction, and then walk. Walk until you reach the end. You already know what's waiting." And the call ended.
Both trainers remained where they stood, and neither of them uttered a single word. The only sound that could be heard was the occasional passing of the car, along with the drop of her phone- the sickening crack that indicated a broken screen. For the first time in her life, Ellie couldn't care less about having to pay for a new one.
Disarm. Disarm and hope for the best.
"Her pokemon are her weapons, I guess you could say. They can disable and kill without a second thought. All they need is Her to tell them to. She doesn't even have to lift a finger... But she could have a knife on her. I've seen it a few times, but she's never actually used it on anyone. Never had to, but I bet she would if she needed to."
"I know for a fact that neither of us are strong enough on our own to fight her off directly, but together we have a better chance. Maybe if we can get her pokemon off of her somehow, she won't have much to attack us with-except for, maybe, a that knife. You have an Alakazam, I have a Delphox, a Swoobat, and an Umbreon with telekinesis... Maybe, I don't know. It could work."
That was only two days ago. But now, there were no 'maybes' or 'could works'; what inklings of a plan they did have needed to work now, or neither one of them would see the end of this storm. Silver's eyes were focused straight forward, even as the rain began to pound on his head. The cold droplets coated the lenses of his glasses and distorted the world around them, unless and discarded. At least his jacket was serving its purpose and kept most his body from the shoulders down dry. Ellie must have had it much worse, because she didn't have any kind of rain protection- not that it actually mattered right now. She was probably too busy thinking about Eclipse, and what that wretched woman was doing to her.
His past self would have sneered and thought it ridiculous. Present Silver knew better, and understood. He was secretly glad that he understood.
The alleyway grew darker as they progressed, all of the remaining light from the main drag disappearing behind them. There were a few miscellaneous lights that dotted the shadows here and there, but they were far and few in between. It wouldn't be all that bad if the clouds were masking the remaining daylight. Silver didn't even know where this path led to, but he could only assume that it was a dead end; it seemed very fitting, at least for one of them... The question was: Which one?
The narrow path just seemed to stretch onward forever with no end in sight, or perhaps the anticipation made time slow down. Silver was expecting something to attack somewhere. Every faint rustle or trivial sound set off the alarms in head, but that was nothing unusual. He even found himself lashing out when he felt something carefully grab his hand.
"Calm down... Just me," Ellie replied in a whisper. He could see the vague shape of her close by. "She's gonna try and separate us. I know it... We need to say together."
"...Fine." Silver left his arm drop once again and felt the girl's hand carefully grab onto his. It felt strange, actually, because he could never recall a time when someone held his hand; the tall trainer also couldn't tell if this strangeness was uncomfortable. He didn't believe that holding hands was going to be very effective in keeping them together, but Silver didn't say anything about it... Perhaps, she was just looking for some kind of comfort- even if she didn't want to admit it... Okay, thinking of it like that make him feel uncomfortable...
They continued onward through the curtain of rain, which became denser as time went on, and another light flickered through the droplets. It was a much larger light that shone down like ones placed on the main street. And as the two approached, Silver had noticed the silhouette of a figure standing underneath of it; just the sight of it caused his blood to run cold, and he found himself holding onto Ellie's hand much tighter.
He couldn't even tell if it was human, until it- she- had spoken. "Well, bravo. You made it here in one piece... Come into the light, why don't you?" It was the same voice that came through the phone speaker what seemed like ages ago. He knew it, only it was more chilling with the eerie patter of the rain.
Silver didn't know if Ellie was ready to do as she was told, but he found his hand being tugged forward. There was nothing he could do but follow until the shadows on his form were washed away. The older woman before hi was short- shorter than Ellie for certain, body covered by a long gray coat with a hood. She was wearing baggy gray pants and boots as well, but those where the only distinguishable features. Marie Crossdale's face was hidden behind the large hood well.
"I'm here. Now what do you want?" It was Ellie who had spoken up this time, her form waterlogged to the core though still standing tall. Her face displayed nothing as usual. It was her eyes that spoke for her; they were crisp and alight, and could kill if that were possible.
"Hasn't that loser in Kalos taught you any manners?" Even if Silver could not see her face, he knew that she was eyeing him. "It seems like you brought a friend. Why don't introduce them? I've seen them lingering around, but I didn't know that they were friends with you."
Ellie's gaze flickered to the red-haired trainer for a moment, though focused back on the hooded woman. "Who he is none of your business. What's going on is between you and-"
"-except you brought him, fully knowing what you were doing. So obviously..." Marie stepped closer to the man, hand outstretched as her fingers gently brushed his chin. "This involves him now."
Her hand was smacked away reflexively. "Don't touch me." The very sight and touch of Marie disgusted him. He didn't even want her near him or Ellie. "You don't need to know I am. It doesn't matter."
"Feisty, hm?" The hunter let out a rasping chuckle before pulling her gigantic hood down, letting the meager amounts of light and copious amounts of rain kiss her skin. The resemblance of Ellie was there, even if they looked quite different. She had the same defined rosy cheeks and doll-like eyes. Marie's straight hair was peppered with silver-gray, though roughly chopped into a medium-length cut. If Silver had guess, she cut her own hair out of fear of being recognized; she was meticulous and intelligent, knowing that small things can leave a paper trail if one was trying to stay under the radar. "You look vaguely familiar though..." Marie's eyes remained on him, a searching glimmer within them. "Ah, now I remember... You're Giovanni's kid, aren't you?"
"How do you.. How do you know that?!" If there was one thing that Silver truly feared, it was being recognized- being trapped in the shadow of a man that he despised. He didn't even resemble his father in the slightest, but this woman was still able to pin him like some vibrant sticky note to a cork board. And he could feel that fear washing over his body, causing his heart to hammer in his chest, his mind to reel.
And he responded with anger.
"How the fuck do you know that?! Answer me!"
The hunter simply shook her head. She appeared to be rather amused by Silver's outburst, but he didn't care. "I used to do some work for your father a time long ago. Ancient history, boy. You were only a couple of years old at the time. I met your mother too... A very pretty woman, and you were such an adorable child," Marie responded in a sweeter tone, almost sickly-sweet, a small smile appearing on her lips. "And you look just like her... So pretty."
Silver hadn't responded with a single word. Instead, he used his free hand to reach for the pokeball containing his Feraligatr.