Warnings: Low-level Pokémon battle violence
Between the Stars and the Sea
Chapter 07:
"Cherrygrove City, Outskirts"
Cupped by a bay to the south and west, bordered by nigh impenetrable forest to the north, the eastern edge of Cherrygrove City lay behind the protective rise of a high brick wall. Midway down the wall stood an arch, enormous doors of solid oak propped open to allow unrestricted passage into the Route beyond. The gates rarely shut anymore since the War ended. My mother had told me that on one of our occasional trips to town. Cherrygrove had a more robustly stocked supermarket than did New Bark Town, and Mom needed special root vegetables from Ecruteak to make my favorite kind of stew. Sometimes, Mom said, they shut the gates on spring nights when Pokémon got rowdy and Sentret knocked over too many trash cans, but otherwise they remained open and unbarred.
I was no Sentret, of course. I sprinted through the heart of Cherrygrove and to that massive gate, thirty feet high and daunting but standing open for me, with Hotaru clenched snug under my arm. Her short legs couldn't keep up with even my tilted stride, that awkward half-hopping run made necessary by my prosthetic, so I'd scooped her up and carried her shortly after leaving Mister Pokémon's secluded cottage. She peeped in confusion as we neared the arch, her little body warm against my side—but just as the cold shadow of the gate fell over us, from the gloom of the forest of Route 29 emerged a figure. I skidded to a stop, limb stinging in the socket of my prosthetic, and gently put Hotaru on the ground.
His red hair, brilliant even in darkness, contrasted wildly against the greenery at his back. His dark suit blended with the shade, but as he stepped forward a lance of sunlight speared the canopy of leaves above and crossed his face. Silver eyes narrowed when they lit upon me, their color as cold as brushed steel.
"You again," said Silver, nose wrinkling in disgust.
I scowled back, peeved at the annoyed expression on his face; it wasn't like I'd actually done anything to deserve it. Not yet, at least. I inclined me head and tried to look down my nose when I declared, "Yeah. Me."
Silver huffed, derisive and dismissive and mocking, but I didn't say anything. My fists balled at my side as he came forward, completely into the light, and stopped maybe ten feet from me on the edge of Route 34. We stood in the shadow of the gate, staring at each other, the hum of voices and engines and wind floating up from Cherrygrove City at my back. Silver watched me as if expecting an attack, gaze as shrewd as it was cold, but I didn't budge.
I had a million and one questions to ask him, but breath ran ragged in my heaving chest. Sweat trickled down my neck and onto my chest, cold where it sank into the fabric of my shirt. My prosthetic nearly rattled around my on-fire limb; had the sleeve shifted during my mad dash to get here? No matter the case, I'd have blisters by the time I reached home, I was sure of it. This model wasn't built for sustained running, and I wasn't used to it, and—
Focus, girl.
A million and one questions, remember?
Too bad for me that between the stitch in my side and the fire on my leg, all my questions had fled like leaves scattered by a breeze.
Silver seemed the impatient sort, luckily or unluckily for me. He looked me up and down, eyes lingering on my prosthetic, before looking at Hotaru with equal disdain. At her he sneered, "Get out of my way."
I swallowed, trying to get my breathing under control. "N-no," I said. "I won't."
"Oh-ho." He let out a scornful laugh. "So you're the hero type, huh? And let me guess. You're after this?"
One hand emerged from his pocket.
In his fingers sat a Poke Ball.
It took me a minute to realize what the heck he was talking about, and when it hit me, I resisted the urge to kick myself. As soon as I saw him, I'd remembered the cryptic comment he'd made when we first met, and I'd forgotten about the Elm business. It had just been me and Silver, not to mention my million questions. But Silver, it seemed, had followed canon and had stolen a Pokémon from Elm right on schedule. That was why Elm had called me back, I remembered suddenly, and I needed to keep that in mind.
This world didn't revolve around me. I needed to play my part as best I could.
So, in light of that, I squared my feet (limb smarting) and lifted my chin higher. "You stole that," I said with a nod at the Poké Ball. "Give it to me."
But Silver just laughed again. "Nah. I don't think I will." He tossed the ball up and down a few times, taunting me, but soon his eyes hardened and he clenched the Ball tight in his fist. "Not get out of my way, or I'll—"
"Lyra," I blurted.
He stopped talking. One red brow lifted. "Hmm?"
Honestly, the name had startled me as much as it had startled him (if it had startled him at all). I hadn't meant to blurt that, but the word had forced itself out of my mouth, anyway. Oh well. No going back now. "When we first met," I said. "You said 'You're not Lyra' when you saw me."
Silver scratched his cheek, eyes traveling skyward. "Did I?" he said.
"Yes," I said, not buying his innocent act even for a second. "Why did you say that to me?"
"No idea." Silver shrugged. "I don't remember."
My jaw dropped, but I recovered quickly enough—and in place of surprise came hot, bright anger. "Bullshit you don't remember," I spat. "Cut the crap and just tell me."
But Silver just shrugged again, lip curling in a smile that did not touch his eyes. "Sorry. Not in the habit of remembering interactions with girls I don't know from Adam."
"I think you know more than you're letting on, actually." Time to go out on a limb. Steeling myself, I looked him dead in the eye and asked, "Are you like me?"
"Ha!" Silver tossed his hair. "I am nothing like a weakling like you."
"Not like that. I mean…" I considered my words with care. Slowly said, each word a choice in and of itself: "Are you not from around here? Are you maybe older than you look?"
Too bad for me, Silver's reaction wasn't easy to read. He just smiled, chin tucking low as he laughed at what had to be a private joke—because I certainly didn't see a reason to grin just then. He chuckled low in his chest before looking back up at me with a muttered, "You really are clueless." His eyes hardened, laughter dying as quickly as it had been birthed. Silver took a step toward me, glaring, and said, "Now move."
But I did not obey. "I'll get out of your way if you stop dodging and tell me what I want to know," I said.
I expected him to yell. Maybe shove me aside, brush past like I was an annoying fly. Instead he gave me a long, measuring stare before smirking and holding his Poké Ball back up again. "How 'bout we make a little wager?" Silver said. "You beat me in a battle, I'll answer one of your stupid questions. Sound good?"
"Sounds great," I growled—but then, with a guilty bite of my lip, I looked down. "Hotaru. Are you up for this?"
Because it wasn't up to me, whether or not we battled today. Hotaru needed to have a choice in this, too, especially after the morning she'd had. If she didn't feel comfortable battling now, or ever, I wouldn't make her. That was too cruel a fate to foist on a living, breathing, sentient creature. I watched with bated breath as Hotaru sat up on her haunches, her head craning in my direction. For a second she didn't reply, but then her mouth open. The beginnings of a peep built in her throat.
The sound faded when, from in front of us, I heard the telltale digital chime of a Poké Ball being activated. I looked up to see a burst of red light congeal into the form of a small, blue Pokémon, a row of red spines running up its back alongside beautiful aquamarine scales shimmering with an opalescent sheen. Although it faced its trainer and not us, I didn't need the Pokédex in my pocket to tell me this was Elm's Totodile—the one I'd nearly picked over Hotaru when choosing my starter.
Guilt, hotter than even Hotaru's internal flames, seized my heart in a vice.
Hotaru didn't need any help recognizing the Pokémon, either. As soon as he popped out of his Ball, she froze. Her eyes widened. Another peep built in her throat, this one uncertain and pitiful and small. She watched without moving as the Totodile toddled forward on its small legs and headed for its trainer, clinging to Silver's leg with its clawed hands like a kid clinging to a parent's calf.
Silver shook his head. He bent and picked his Pokémon up under the armpits. Lifted the Totodile and set it down, facing us. The Totodile kept its eyes locked on Silver all the while, fanged alligator mouth turning down at the corners when Silver pointedly sternly forward, wordlessly telling the Pokémon to get to work.
Hotaru gave another of her tiny, confused peeps.
I bent, leg shifting in my prosthetic's socket with a feeling like hot sandpaper. "Hotaru," I said, reaching for her. "Hotaru, it's OK if you—"
Hotaru didn't wait for me to finish. She hopped forward, out from under my hand, and headed for the Totodile.
The Totodile spotted Hotaru, then, too. Its frown faded, eyes curving with a smile as it tromped forward on comically large feet towards my Pokémon. They met midway between Silver and I, Hotaru's pointed nose rising to snuffle at the blue Pokémon's round belly. It beamed at her with a little creaking whine (the sound you'd get if a baby crocodile got crossed with a teddy bear, I reckoned) and patted her head with one if its paws. Hotaru's back-spots flared with heat; she peeped a reply, a happy sound of recognition, hopping forward to get even closer—
"Blue." Silver's voice cracked through the air like a whip. "Get your head in the game, boy."
Blue looked over his shoulder at Silver. Looked back at Hotaru. Gave a sad little grumble, patted Hotaru's head again, and slinked away toward Silver. Hotaru watched him go until he reached Silver's side, then gave a sad little trill of her own and hopped back to me. She hunkered on the ground by my feet as once again I knelt, brushing my hand over her domed head as I tried to comfort her.
"Hey," I said, tone gentle. "I'm sorry—are you two friends?"
Hotaru hesitated... but then she gave a small, affirming peep in answer.
My hand covered my mouth. "Oh. Oh. I see." Being right almost hurt. Watching the two Pokémon interact, there had been nothing but warmth between them—warmth and obvious familiarity—and now they had to fight each other? That didn't seem at all fair. Rubbing her head again, I said, "Really, honey, it's OK if you—"
"Are we gonna battle or what?" Silver barked.
I ignored him. "Hotaru, we don't have to…"
But Hotaru—sweet, gentle, brave Hotaru—shook her head. She peeped. She hopped ahead, out from under my hand, and spread her little feet in an at-ready stance beneath her. A fighting stance, if I've ever seen one. Confident though she looked, I had to wonder if this was really OK. I rose to my feet and tried to read her body language, but all I got from the glowing spots on her back was a sense of determination, not fear or anxiety. Still: Was making her fight her friend the right thing to do? Was her mental state solid enough to survive this encounter? I mean, I didn't have another Pokémon to fall back on, but if she wanted to forfeit ahead of time, I wouldn't hesitate to make that happen.
Unfortunately, Hotaru was not given the opportunity to make that decision, and I never got the chance to act on it—because Silver called out a command, and Blue attacked.
He didn't attack with gusto, mind you. It jogged forward, eyes askance, and aimed a halfhearted swipe of claw at Hotaru, but she dodged backward and out of harm's way before it could connect. The two Pokémon circled from a distance, looking one another up and down, Blue in particular looking like he didn't want to be there at all. He kept making his creaky grumbles and looking at Silver, as if hoping his trainer would give him a reprieve. But Silver just glared, and Blue sighed, and made another lazy grab at Hotaru.
"Give him a tackle, Hotaru," I suggested.
She obeyed. She darted forward and butted Blue with her head, sending him staggering back with a yowl. Silver growled wordlessly before shouting "Scratch!" and in response his Pokémon gave Hotaru another swipe of claw. This one connected, scoring runs in her thick fur without drawing blood. Still, she gave a peep of pain and backed up a pace or two, smoke trailing from her nose in white streamers.
"Hey!" I called. Hotaru looked at me over her shoulder, narrow eyes glittering, as I gestured wildly at my face and mimicked a dragon breathing fire. "Smoke! Use your smoke!"
Her eye widened a tad, but she turned back to the battle with a cough—a cough that turned into a sound like a prolonged sneeze, and from her nose poured a fountain of white vapor, spots on her black flaring nearly maroon with heat. Blue jumped back, eyes bugging from his elongated gator skull, as smoke filled the air and obscured the field between the Pokémon completely. You have to give Hotaru credit: Her aim was good, the envy of vape-users everywhere, and the smoke somehow stayed in a nearly spherical ball over the expanse of the battlefield.
Silver's voice rose above the smoke. "Blue! Blue, where are—?"
Blue gave a garbled, reptilian cry of confusion, and the left side of the smoke-sphere buckled and lost its shape a little, like a cartoon dust cloud distending as people tussled within. Was he over there? I assumed as much and cupped my hands around my mouth to call, "Hotaru, to your left!"
She peeped, and the smoke buckled and kicked up again. There came a meaty thud, Blue warbling in surprise and pain, and then Hotaru gave an uncomfortable cry of her own. But soon there came another thud, and another, and then one more, and the Totodile made one last strangled gasp of—
"Hotaru, that's enough!" I said.
"That's not up to you to decide!" Silver shot back from the other side of the smoke sphere, but I didn't pay him any mind and instead dashed into the heart of the fog.
The vapors reeked of cinnamon and ash, cloyingly sweet and almost too thick to inhale as I half-jogged, half-scooted through the cloud to Hotaru's side. She wasn't hard to find once I entered the miasma, spots on her back glowing brightly enough to spot from several feet away. When I got to her I stopped and openly stared, though, eyes stinging and streaming even though the smoke had started to clear when I ran through and disturbed it—because what in the world…?
Hotaru lay next to Blue with her chin on his belly, one paw resting protectively atop his chest. Blue sprawled out with eyes closed, tail curled under him, a few purple-tinted bruises spreading across his pale scales, and with a gasp I started to assume the worst—but then I saw the slow rise and fall of his chest, the faint flicker behind his scaly lids. I breathed a sigh of relief. If I hadn't known they'd just been battling, I might have assumed they'd cuddled up to take a nap, they looked so cozy. But why had Hotaru—?
The smoke thinned, rippling and paring around the form of Silver. He strode through it like a bull through a china shop until he spotted me; his eyes flashed as he came to a stop and said, "You don't get to decide we're done, dammit!"
"You're right. It's not up to me." I pointed at Blue and Hotaru. "It's up to them."
He followed my point with his eyes until he saw his Pokémon lying sedate on the ground. At that Silver let out a low, frustrated sound, teeth baring as his lips pulled back in a grimace. Hotaru started to stand at the sight of him, but one of her back legs buckled and she sat down heavily once more.
For the first time, I noticed the two deep rivets carved into her flank. They oozed blood, though not much of it, but it appeared that a bit of her navy fur had been shaved clean off to reveal pale skin beneath. I went to her and scooped her up as the last of the smoke dissipated, the forest swimming back into view around us like TV picture finding better reception.
"Look at them," I said as Hotaru cuddled into my chest, a tiny squeak of discomfort eking from her throat. "They need to get to a Pokémon center. Hotaru and Blue, both."
Silver's chin tucked close to his chest as he harrumphed—but to my surprise, he didn't tell me to get lost or that I was stupid or whatever. He didn't even recall his Pokémon and stalk off without a word. Instead, he knelt next to Blue and put his hand on Blue's stomach, holding it there as if testing if the Pokémon was OK, feeling his breath as he lay there in a stunned daze. My lungs clenched, drawing down a gulp of stunned air at this display of tenderness, but Silver's unexpected act of care didn't last long. Soon he stood and pulled a Poké Ball from his pocket; he held it out and a beam of light shot out from the white button in the front, connecting with Blue and recalling the creature in a burst of scarlet light.
I swallowed. "How do you know about Lyra?"
Silver shot me a look of annoyance as he stood. "You're still on about that?"
"Um. Yeah." I hushed Hotaru, stroking her fur when she gave another tiny cry of distress. "You said you'd answer my question if I won. And I did. So?"
He harrumphed again, tossing his Poké Ball up and catching it again with a smack of metal on flesh. After a moment's silent consideration Silver said, "A little birdie told me to keep an eye out for her. So I did."
"OK." He'd technically answered my question, unfortunate emphasis on 'technically.' "But what the hell does that even—?"
He held up the Poké Ball, index finger extended. "I said one question, dumbass."
My jaw dropped. "But—!"
"Beat me again and maybe I'll answer another."
"But you didn't even answer my first one!"
"Yes, I did." A derisive chuff of air exited his nose. "You could answer it for yourself if you pulled your head out of your ass."
"Hey!"
My indignant bark only made him laugh, however, steely eyes glittering against his pale skin and flaming hair. "You're fun, I'll give you that," he said—but the smile faded when his eyes traveled to Hotaru. Unexpected urgency colored his voice as he said, "Now get out of here. Your Pokémon needs to go to a center."
I started to tell him to go to hell and mind his own business, but before the words could leave my mouth, Hotaru gave another weak burble. A tremor rippled through her, warm body trembling against my skin like a flickering space heater. "Shit," I said, holding her close. To Silver I added (with a heaping helping of glare on the side): "This isn't over."
"It better not be." He tossed his hair and grinned a grin with perhaps too many teeth. "See ya 'round."
It was inconvenient and stupid and ugh, but if I really was in HeartGold or SoulSilver, I would be seeing (and kicking the ass of) Silver again, and soon. I could ask more questions then, when perhaps Hotaru wasn't in pain, and in pain on a day she'd also suffered emotional trauma. I held her awkwardly in one arm as I shrugged out of my leather jacket and tried to wrap her up in it. She was a fire Pokémon; something told me keeping warm would bring her comfort, although I didn't have any concrete evidence with which to back that assertion up. Silver walked past me as I struggled to cover her in my coat, stuffing Blue's Poké Ball into his pocket as he came near. Just as he stepped out of my line of sight, however, I heard a small 'plop'; I turned around as I looped the last bit of jacket around Hotaru, eyes catching on a small, black object lying on the ground. Even though Silver was an ass, my manners took hold. I snatched the object off the ground and started to call after him, tell him he'd forgotten something and he should come back and get it.
I stopped before the words could leave my mouth.
In my hand I held his wallet.
It was impossible to stop myself, what I did then, but canon dictated that I should do it, so I did it. I flipped open the wallet to reveal an ID card, one with a blue background and a border of Poké Balls. Mine had different colors and a different layout, oddly, but I knew what the card was even before I saw the small photograph of Silver in the upper left corner.
I didn't pay the photograph much mind, however. I was too busy staring at the name embossed across the top of the card, because… well. It just wasn't what I expected, now was it?
"'Argento Riva.'" The words slipped from my mouth as I read them, and at their sound the crunch of Silver's footsteps on the path fell quiet. "'Argento Riva,'" I repeated. "That's your name?"
There was a pause—and then his feet crunched across the ground again. They came fast and in my direction; I looked up just in time to see him barreling toward me, but before I could flinch back, he came to a stop only inches from where I stood. We looked at each other, nose to nose, for what felt like an eon. I could count the lashes framing his bright eyes, we stood so close, and I tried my damndest not to crack under the pressure of his intense, searching gaze. Before I could blink or tell him to back up or make a comment about taking a picture because they last longer, his mouth moved.
"Yeah," he murmured. "It is." And with that he snatched his wallet back and cracked a crooked grin, one I didn't understand but would carry with me until the next time we crossed paths. "That's my name—but most people call me Silver."
NOTES
Silver has many secrets.
So, canonically, Silver is the son of Team Rocket leader Giovanni. Giovanni was never given a canon surname, so I picked "Riva" (which means "river") as that family's surname for my story. "Argento," meanwhile, means "silver" in Italian. I picked that name both for its meaning and because it's Italian, like Giovanni's name, and I figured Giovanni would probably name his son something Italian. Being literally named "Silver" just doesn't seem likely/realistic given the family from which Silver hails.
I mean… I know Italy doesn't exist in this world, technically, but many in-Pokémon-universe locations and characters are influenced by locations/cultures from our world, so… I'm running with the Italian thing as far as Giovanni and his progeny are concerned. Everybody just go with it, pleeeease. ;) He's still going to be called "Silver" in this story, so the "real name" aspect won't come into play much.
Hoshiko will reflect on the whole "there is no Italy and yet someone has an Italian name" thing eventually, BTW. It'll just take a little while to get there.
In the battle against Silver, we didn't have much trouble. Totodile kept missing thanks to "smokescreen" and Hotaru took him down with a few tackles, though she sustained damage in return. Hopefully the battle description worked and was engaging!
MANY THANKS to you for reviewing, my dear friends: Deamachi, Sky65, and C S Stars! You ROCK!
