So, I was surprised that so many people liked Vale! It made me really happy. ^.^
Amy47101 does not own pokémon. Only Vale.
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The Adventure Saga;
Enlightening the Soul
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"This is ridiculous." Silver growled out. "There's no way I could lose to a wimp like you!"
"Aw, Silvy, we're dead even!" Lyra said. "If that Flame Wheel of Cyndaquils hadn't have missed, you would've won!" Silver glared angrily as he clutched his pokéball in his hand, as if willing Cyndaquil to be stronger, even though he had already fallen unconscious.
"It's Silver. Silver, not 'Silvy', stupid girl." he growled out. "You only won because my pokémon were weak, got it?"
"But I said we're even! We both got two badges, and we both-"
"We are not even." Silver sneered. "Not even close. You're weak." he crossed his arms and scowled. "I hate the weak. Pokémon, Trainers. It doesn't matter who or what. I hate to see them hanging around. That goes for Team Rocket, too. They think they are big and tough as long as they are in a group. But get them alone, and they're weak. I hate them all."
"Silvy..." Lyra said, but stopped when Silver shot her the coldest look she's ever received from someone her age.
"It's Silver." he spat at her, then moved in close to her face. Lyra swallowed.
"Silver?" she asked.
"You stay out of my way." he growled out. "You won't be an exception if you get in it, got it?" then he shoved her out of his way, without even waiting for an answer. He then stomped off into the Ilex Forest, not even looking back. Lyra blinked, then scooped up Chikorita, cradling her in her right arm, the egg in the other. She began to make her way through the small town to the pokémon center.
After her pokémon were healed and energetic again she walked out. That's when it hit her. Silver didn't even go to the pokémon center after their battle. She did a u-turn and went towards the pokémart, stocking up on double the medical supplies, for her and Silver. Her bad slightly bulging, she turned and began to walk towards the Ilex Forest.
"Alright," she mumbled to herself as she trekked on through the forest. "So we need to meet with Krys and Ethan at his grandparents..." she trailed off, then looked around. "Hey, Chikorita... recognize where we are?" she asked with a nervous giggle. Chikorita looked at her trainer, blinked, then shook her head.
"Chik-a..." she said discouragingly. Lyra sighed, scratching the side of her head.
"Alright then..." she mumbled to herself. "Guess we'll have to do this way!" she spun in a circle with her eyes closed, then opened them, her finger pointing in some random direction. "Aaaaaaannnd go!"
She began running in a random direction, laughing as the branches whipped past her. Chikorita was squeaking it's name out with as much happiness as it's trainer. She continued running till her sides were cramping, then fell over into the grass, breathing heavily.
"Chik-a?" Chikorita nudged at Lyra's face, concerned.
"I'm fine." she said, petting her starter on the head. She felt the egg twitch in her arms, almost as if it, too, was asking if she was alright. She took the egg, and pressed it to her forehead. It felt like a ice pack, almost. "I wonder what you are." she said after a while. "How much longer till you hatch? A day? A week? I'm curious, 'lil guy." There was a pause, and then another twitch. Lyra sat up, looking at it as twitched somemore, cracks forming along the edge.
"GAH!" Lyra exclaimed. "It cracked! Oh, Arceus, please don't let it be broken!" more cracks formed along the lines, and suddenly, the egg was glowing, forming into a triangular shape with tiny feet and hands. Lyra blinked as the glowing faded away, and she was suddenly holding a pokémon.
"Snow! Snorunt!" it exclaimed happily. Lyra beamed, looking at the small pokémon.
"Snorunt! Is that your name, little guy?" Lyra asked, looking at the small pokémon, then at her pokédex. "So you're an ice type, huh? A girl too!"
"Sno!" she nodded happily.
"Aw, welcome to the family!" Lyra exclaimed, pointing to Chikorita. "That's Chikorita, she's really sweet and this," she tossed another pokéball in the air, letting out Mareep. "Is Mareep. She's kinda feisty, so be careful, okay?" the two pokémon greeted themselves by exclaiming their names to their new partner. "My name," Lyra continued, holding up an empty pokéball. "Is Lyra! I'm your trainer."
After exclaiming a few more happy notes between her and her new pokémon, Lyra returned Snorunt and Mareep. She then pushed herself up and stood, deciding to set off again.
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"C'mon, we're almost there!" she shouted, shooting a glance over her shoulder as she practically dragged the eight-year-old behind her. A shiny eevee sat upon one shoulder, while a normal on sat on the other. "So close, Silver! Imagine, sunlight! Freedom! Imagine it, Silver, imagine!"
He could imagine it. He could feel it as if it were real. Yes, his lungs burned. Yes, he was gasping for breath, but with being so close, little things like this didn't faze him. Like she had said, he was close, so, so close to getting through those gates. Those gates to freedom. He could feel his Sneasel beside him-stolen, of course- attacking at the feet of the guards, tripping them up.
"They'll never catch us, Vale!" he shouted excitedly. "Never, ever!"
"Nope!" exclaimed the ten-year-old with a laugh. Silver smiled, truly smiled since this hell began. Four long years...
"Find them! Find them at any cost!" someone announced over the loud speaker. "Injure them if you must, shoot, just find them!"
"Oh, Arceus..." he heard Vale mutter.
"Vale-!" Silver exclaimed, a hint of fear in his voice.
"We're fine! He won't get you! I'll be damned if either of us go back!" Vale exclaimed. Silver flinched as she swore, but quickly got over it as he saw the door to the gate. He grinned, imagining the dreaded mask off his face, the idea of what the older girl in front of him looked like.
"Vale, I'm excited!" he exclaimed. "I can't wait until we can get these masks off!"
"I know!" Vale said. He could imagine the smile on her face. This brought some form of comfort as the kept running. They heard the stomping of boots behind them, and Vale glanced over her shoulder.
"Sammy! Eve! Swift!" she exclaimed, referring to the two pokémon on each of her shoulders. They obediently leapt off, the glowing attacks illuminating the night and slashing at their enemy.
"Stupid rats!" exclaimed a guard. They heard gunshots.
"Sammy! Eve" Silver heard himself scream.
"They'll be okay. They fired in the air." Vale said, though Silver noticed her voice shaking. He felt tears well up. Despite her being stolen, he cared about the Sneasel that ran obediently beside him. He had trouble imagining life without her.
"Vale..." he sniffled. She tugged him into a darkened corner, out of sight. She pulled her mask off, and he was suddenly staring in the lightest shade of blue he ever saw.
"Listen to me, Silver. I'm going to act as a distraction, you're gonna run out while they're coming after me." she said, surprisingly brave for a ten-year-old girl. Silver widened his eyes, shaking hands reaching up to pull off his own mask.
"B-But Vale-!"
"No." she said, holding his hands. "Listen, okay? Just listen." he nodded, still shaking. "I don't want to see your face, got it? They're going to use me to identify you. But if I don't know your face, and you loose the mask, how are on earth will I identify a person whose face I don't know?" she smirked, and he swallowed.
"He'll kill you." he whispered out, horrified about loosing someone whom he considered a sister. He knew he manipulated her into trying to escape, but still…! She smiled, squeezing his hands.
"He wouldn't. He needs me, and he needs you. That's why he's so desperate to capture us again." she sighed, and in an instant, a spotlight shined on them, and Silver got a full view of her face. She didn't show her fear, but acceptence. In one impressive movement, she shoved him out of the way and slapped the mask back on her face. Silver felt his legs kick in on instinct and running towards the gate, slipping out while the guards were getting a hold on Vale.
He ran. He ran and ran until he couldn't anymore. He didn't know where he was, he didn't even know if Sneasel was still behind him or not. He just ran until he collapsed, heaving up everything in his stomach. He crawled away from his vomit, a good distance away, and then collapsed on his back, staring at the sky as he continued to take deep breaths.
Weak. The word rang in his mind, over and over again. His weakness caused Sammy and Eve to get shot. His weakness caused Vale to get captured. His weakness forced him to rely on her… His weakness caused himself to get torn from his mother all those years ago. His mother... who was she? What did she look like?
Team Rocket. The words rang true in his mind. Who was Team Rocket? Was his mother associated with the them? To long, he decided. To long since he saw his mother. And where was his father? Did he have one?
"Snea? Sneasel?" he turned, and looked at the Sneasel he stole whom knows how long ago. It was shaking his arm, as if trying to check to see if he was alright. Weak, he thought. If he wasn't so kind to Sneasel, then maybe she would've been able to attack the guards instead of attacking at their feet, scaring them off. Maybe if Sneasel had attacked them, Vale would be sitting here, next to him, pointing out the constellations in the sky. He and she would be racing to find three constellations first, see who could do it. He opened his eyes, and looked at the sky.
"One." he mumbled, spotting Draco the Dragonair. "Two." he growled, clenching his fist seeing Corvus the Murkrow. "Three." he stood, finding Lupus the Mightyena. Somehow, he felt slightly calmer, like he always had since Vale had taught him the trick. He got up, shaking Sneasel off, then taking her pokéball from his belt. He pointed it at her, and wordlessly returned her to the device.
He began walking, night hiding his form, and he realized he had come across a city. The base must've been closer to civilization than he realized, or he just ran farther than an average eight-year-old. He believed the latter, considering the extensive training he was forced to go through.
He walked into the town, and almost immediately an old piece of paper fluttered across his step. A poster of a missing child. He blinked, swiping it from the ground and studying it in the lamplight. He saw a picture of a young redhaired child holding a pokémon plush of a Cyndaquil. He honestly believed the child, with huge, innocent gray-silver eyes and a small smile, was a girl with the longish red hair until he read the information underneath it.
Name: Silver Sakaki
Gender: Male
Age: Three
Hair Color: Red
Eye Color: Silver
Skin Tone: Pale
DOB: 12/24
Date Missing: 1/5
Hometown: Viridian City, Kanto
Last Seen With: Mother, Ariana (Athena)Sakaki.
Contact Info: Ariana (Athena)Sakaki(mother)- 834-2342
Giovanni Sakaki(father)- 873-9098
TR(father's business)- 865-5736
"Well, they are certainly extensive..." Silver mumbled, looking at it again. He blinked, reading it over again. Red hair, silver eyes, and pale skin. Was this him? Was this his family? His mother and father? He squinted at the picture again. He couldn't tell wether or not this child was himself or someone else. Slowly, his eyes wandered down to the contact info. He moved to a payphone, and dug through his pockets for some change. Thankfully, he managed to pull up some change. He put the money in, and typed in the number for the mother.
"I'm sorry, this number is unavailable. Please contact-" he hung up the phone, the money dropping into the change bin. Mother was a no-go. He tried the father.
"You have reached the number of Giovanni Sakaki. I am currently unavailable, but please leave a message-" Father a no-go. He sighed, took his change, and tried the buisness 'TR'. It rang, once, twice, three times...
"Hello, you have reached the Team Rocket headquarters. May I interest you in a position to join?" a female asked on the other end.
"No, I'm doing a school project." Silver answered smoothly. "I'm supposed to call numbers at random and question the bosses of business's about their family life. May I speak to the boss of this business?"
"Well, no... but I can offer you any information you need." she responded.
"What is your boss's name?"
"Oh, Mr. Giovanni Sakaki!" she responded cheerfully.
"Is Mr. Sakaki married?"
"Oh, he was, but his wife, Ms. Ariana, has become sickly with cancer, and left him for cancer treatment."
"Did they have any children?"
"Oh, yes! Young Silver was his name! Ariana took him with her, but recently, he disappeared."
"Disappeared?" Silver questioned.
"Yes, like he was scooped up by a bird or something! Ariana called crying and sobbing about him, despite her condition! Now Mr. Sakaki is throwing himself in his work. I guess it's to forget that his wife is in stage three breast cancer and his son has disappeared."
"Now, where would Mr. Sakaki say is the ideal place to raise a family?"
"Hm... I would say Viridian City, Kanto. It's where he runs his business, you know, and he always loved the Viridian Forest. Always used to rant with his friend, Obsidian, that they were going to raise their kids , I remember-"
"So are you saying it's possible to find and meet Mr. Sakaki in Viridian?" a pause.
"Why yes, I believe so. Between you and me, he actually inherited Obsidians Gym. Why?"
"I have to go now." Silver said, not even bothering to thank the woman for her time. He simply hung up the phone, and walked out of the payphone booth. He moved to one of those twenty-four hour convenience store and glanced at the half asleep store clerk. He moved to the maps, snagged one, and hid it in his jacket sleeve.
"Excuse me." he said, just barely tall enough to look over the counter.
"Huh?" the clerk asked, looking around.
"Down here." Silver grumbled out.
"Oh? Why are you out so late, little one?"
"I'm eight, and I have a pokémon. What city am I in?" the clerk blinked.
"Violet City. Why?"
"Thank you." Silver turned and walked out of the store, the alarms not even going off with the map he had stolen. Once a good distance away, he pulled out the map, and traced the best route to Viridian. He'd have to build some sort of raft or steal another pokémon. He wasn't a fool. He knew that if he wanted to bring down the man whom kidnapped him, he'd also have to get the help of an adult.
And what better adult than his father, the gym leader?
o.0.o.0.o
Silver jerked himself awake, almost immediately looking to the sky for constellations.
"Stupid," he groaned, slamming his head back down. "It's the middle of the day." Now he was even more irritated. When did he fall asleep? Did he collapse? Unlikely, due to his personality, but very likely considering he barely got a wink of sleep last night.
Vale.
Why were they back? It's been nearly six years since he heard from those masked wannabes, six years since he got away. And Vale, the girl who planted the seed of escape in his mind, was blindly following them. Who was she now? Was she still his 'sister', or did she morph into another one of those masked wannabes?
And his parents... Arceus, he hated his parents. His mother, for giving up, for never being there. His father... He hated that man even more. Giovanni Sakaki was not his father. He wasn't any sort of man, being defeated by a fourteen-year-old girl. He remembered her face, that Leaf Green as she stupidly protected him and her enemy. Why would she do that, he always wondered. Protecting a man whom as her enemy, a child she didn't know. Why?
After three years of wondering, Silver figured the girl, that Leaf Green, believed the situation reminded her of something else. The emotion was raw and written on her face. She wasn't seeing Giovanni or a masked twelve-year-old. No, something else. Another man. Another child.
But being beaten by her, and then fleeing... he was a coward. Silver swore to never be like him. Strong with many, but beaten so many time by one person... Then running. Leaving. Abandoning him after it took him so many years to actually find him. Was he happy that his son had returned? Not in the slightest. He wouldn't even listen to him, didn't even care to see his face. It was then Silver knew that he would never get the help he needed to rescue Vale.
But seeing her now... It didn't matter, he had decided. Vale didn't matter. His father didn't matter, his mother didn't matter, Leaf Green didn't matter. Yet he remembered quite vividly that night and that day. The day he escaped, the day Leaf saved his life. He swore he wouldn't be weak, he changed himself. He would forget those days he was weak, and he did.
He shut his eyes and let out a sigh. He was not weak. He was not like Giovanni.
"Silvy! Hey!" the second time that day, Silver jerked awake, slamming his forehead into something else about as hard. He grunted in pain as stars danced in front of him and whomever was standing over him fell back with a wine. "Ooooow. You're jumpy, aren't you?"
"What the-?" Silver asked, sitting up and rubbing his eyes, blinking away the stars.
"It's me! Lyra!"
"Oh, Arceus." he groaned, about ready to flop back down onto the ground. But he didn't, instead glancing at the brunette beside him, wondering what on earth she wanted now. "What do you want?" she responded by shoving a plastic bag in his lap. He glanced at it, then back at her.
"Your pokémon!" she said happily. "They fainted, and you didn't go to the pokémon center. So I went and bought some potions and stuff with some money and came in here to find you! Then we slammed heads..." she trailed off, grinning while Silver rummaged through the bag. He pulled out his pokéballs, letting out his Cyndaquil, Zubat, and Sneasel. Zubat let out a weak cry while Cyndaquil and Sneasel remained silent. He tossed the bag to Lyra. She glanced at the bag, then back at him.
"Well?" he said, gesturing at them. "Do your little potion healing thing or whatever."
o.0.o.0.o
"And then Ethan fell into the water, sopping wet! When he came up, a Magikarp was flopping around on his head!" Lyra exclaimed laughing. Silver tried, and failed, to hide the smile forming on his lips. After Lyra had worked at healing up his three pokémon, she absolutely insisted on bringing him to her next stop, some breeding house.
Shoving his hands in his pockets, he begrudgingly agreed. He knew that she knew that she had all the information to turn him in and have him arrested for thievery. Plus, he technically owed her for healing up his pokémon, and Arceus knows what would happen if he owed her a favor. He was already thinking up a million possibilities that this girl could think of, half of them not to particularly enjoyable to him.
Now he was listening to Lyra babble on and on about childhood memories, and he had to honestly admit that the idea of Ethan sitting in a lakebed with a magikarp on top of him was amazingly humorous. Strangely enough, he also found that he was enjoying her constant chatter. If it was anyone else, he would've probably punched him or her in the face by now. But somehow, it was satisfying listening to her go on and on and on about absolutely nothing that was important to him.
"Ah, Lyra!" exclaimed an elderly man in front of a building. Lyra turned, a huge grin breaking out on her face.
"Papa!" exclaimed Lyra, throwing her arms around his neck. Silver stood awkwardly to the side, not sure how to address himself. "Silver, this is Ethan's grandfather, but everyone calls him Papa or gramps or something like that."
"Nice to meet you, ma boy!" exclaimed the elderly breeder, shaking his hand to a point of nearly wrenching his arm off. Silver grunted in response. "Come on inside now, Lyra! My wife should be nearly done with dinner! You can introduce Silver to Helen and Ethan, then catch me up on all the new stuff going around lately and how your journey is going!"
Lyra half led half dragged him through the door, where he was immediately bombarded by the scents of a homecooked meal. He heard the chatter of people, and immediately recognized Ethan and Krystal's voices. If it weren't for the elderly man behind him and Lyra beside him, he was sure that he would've turned and bolted.
"Ethan! Lyra is here! And she has a boy with her!" cue the clatter of whatever was going on to be dropped.
"A boy?!" exclaimed Krys as she momentarily lost her serious composure and walked out to greet her cousin. When her gaze landed on Silver, however, her eyes narrowed accusingly. "Gin?"
"Gin?" Lyra asked, looking at Silver. "Silver, who's Gin?" Silver could think of a thousand ways to explain away this, to escape this situation, but one word managed to ring true in his mind.
Shit.
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Tired... review, please...
Amy47101 signing off! ^.^