Silver awoke some time later. The first thing he saw was the blue afternoon sky above him. The second thing he saw was Joe's face.

"Whaaa!" He exclaimed jumping almost out of Joe's grip. "What the hell is going on?!" He yelled.

"Oh great. He's awake." Joe muttered, looking at Winter.

"Silver, just stay calm." Winter instructed the grumpy and unkind trainer who was now panicking in their grip. "We're trying to help you. We were making sure you weren't really hurt."

"Put me down!" He shouted at them, trying to break out of Joe's arms. Joe could feel his grip loosening.

"Uh, I wouldn't do that." Joe warned him. "You'll have a rather nasty…" Before he could finish Silver rammed an elbow into his gut, causing him to flinch. Joe let go of Silver. It was at this point that Silver realised how high his body was from the ground. He landed with a sudden and sharp thud onto the road. He exclaimed in pain like a little child.

"Ouch!" Silver lay on the ground for a second, recovering from the fall. Joe was also holding his bruise. Silver had hit him quite hard.

"We did try and warn you." Winter told him. Silver looked up at her.

"Where the hell am I?" He asked, really confused and lost at this point. "How and when did I get here? What time is it? And what are you two doing carrying me down some road in the middle of a field?"

"You were knocked unconscious." Winter explained. "After you punched a shrine of some kind."

"Shrine?" Silver asked.

"Yeah, a wooden one in the forest back there." Joe added in. "It kind of burst with pink light when you hit it, then you were flying backwards." Joe gave a small maliciously entertained smile of his own. Seeing someone like Silver in pain was something he enjoyed to witness.

"Well, we couldn't leave you there." Winter continued. "You could have been really badly hurt." Silver looked up at the two of them. He sat up, rubbing his bruised back.

"Why would either of you want to help me?" He asked. "I thought all you cared about was getting far away from me or teaching me a lesson?" Joe rubbed his head. Clearly he wasn't as keen on it as Winter was, not by a long shot. But he was in this situation now so he'd play along.

"Well we're not monsters." He told him. "We may not exactly like you, but we're not about to leave you when you're injured. We're not that kind of people." Silver was looking at him.

"If I were you, I would have just gone." He told him with a grim face.

"But I'm not." Joe said, giving him his own stern expression. Silver seemed to think about that last part quite deeply. His face showed signs of realisation, but truthfully it wasn't easy to tell what about. After a few seconds he looked back at the two other trainers.

"Well… thank you, I guess." He said quietly and not too keenly.

"Do you need a hand?" Winter asked. Silver shook his head.

"No. No, I can get up myself." Silver told them as he pushed himself painfully to his feet. His body was trying to reboot itself after he was knocked out by a pink light. Most bodies wouldn't know how to deal with that, as this one didn't. He finally got back to his feet, holding his shoulder and his thigh, which were hurting with spasms quite badly at this point. He took a few slow steps forwards. Then he stopped and turned back. "Thank you for looking out for me." He told them, looking a little sheepish about it. Then he turned to go.

"Where are you going?" Winter asked him.

"Anywhere." Silver told her.

"But that way's back towards the forest." She added. Silver stopped, then he turned back around and started walking the other way.

"Ok, now I'm going this way." He muttered to them as he passed.

"Do you need help?" Joe asked.

"No." He told them. Then he stopped again, turning back to look at the two other trainers. "What route is this?" He asked. Joe and Winter thought for a second.

"Route 34." Winter told him. Silver sighed.

"So Goldenrod is ahead." He muttered to himself. Then he turned to them again. "Yeah, I might need a hand."

"What with?" Joe asked. Silver looked at him.

"Well, I'm hardly doing a good job at walking right now, am I?" He told him. "My back aches and my legs move like planks. I need a hand getting there, or I'm gonna fall on my face like a spineless scarecrow." Joe and Winter walked back over to him, as did Ralph who had been watching rather entertained from the side for the whole conversation. "Just help me get moving and stop me from falling over." Silver instructed.

"Okay then." Joe told him. Then he turned away. "Ralph, help carry Silver." Joe instructed.

"Wait, you're getting your giant bat to carry me?" Silver asked suddenly. Ralph flew up behind the redhead trainer, looked at him, thought of a safe way too keep him moving, then set into action. He flew close to Sliver's back and hooked his smaller wings under his arms. "Hey, what are you doing?" Silver asked.

"Careful, Ralph." Joe warned. "Don't drop him." Ralph struggled and strained against Silver's weight, but eventually he gathered enough strength. Silver was not only moving forwards against his will, but now he was also hovering a little. He wasn't too happy by the sound of it.

"Put me back down!" Silver yelled, struggling in Ralph's grip. "I didn't want to fly today." Ralph lowered back towards the ground.

"Put him back down for now, Ralph." Ralph let Silver go as his feet touched concrete again. Ralph gave Silver some space. The irate trainer gave him an angry look from behind his hair.

"I'll walk myself from now on." He muttered, then started trudging forwards with his stiff legs. Joe and Winter followed after him, with Ralph at their side, looking rather displeased by Silver's glare at him.

"Are you sure you can do it?" Winter asked the now walking ahead trainer.

"Yes." Silver called back. He didn't turn to them or even acknowledged them for a while after. He simply kept walking, hoping to find somewhere to rest or get something to make his limbs not seized up. Joe turned to the rather unhappy Ralph.

"Don't worry about him." Joe said to his friend. "He's just a little grumpy." Ralph smiled. Them he gave an unkind glare at the trainer ahead. "I know." Joe told him. "I don't like him either, but we're helping him now, so we'll just have to get through with it. Once we do he'll go away, then we won't ever have to see him again." Ralph smiled happily. That sounded like a good promise.

Danning arrived back at the Rocket base. He had expected Crystal to be waiting for him. She'd seemed really nervous and fidgety the last time they'd met. She'd even thought Danning had betrayed her. After that small incident and a simple explanation he was innocent, she had gone away to her room. Danning had expected her to be waiting around for him. But as he got out of his jeep with the rest of his team he realised no one was around. He shrugged. He'd have to find her after he'd met with the boss. He and his team would have to explain why they failed their mission. He sighed and rubbed his head. This wasn't going to be fun.

After a long and painful talking from the boss Danning was let go, with a few new bruises down his arm. The boss had been in a good mood, that's why he hadn't used the knife. He wasn't happy when he left, however. Even though Danning wasn't to blame in this case, the leader had to take it out on someone. Fortunately it wasn't just Danning who was beaten up. The rest of the squad suffered a little too.

As Danning walked out the office and covered up his arm, he looked around at the hallway in front of him. No Crystal. He hadn't exactly been expecting her to be walking around a lot, but he'd hoped he'd have seen her by now. He walked down the hallway and into the main hall. Still he couldn't see her. Where was she? He looked around the base a little. He checked the locker room. She wasn't there. He knocked on her door. No one answered. Where could she be at? He went back to the main hall. A few grunts were walking around, so he asked them.

"Have you seen Crystal Peterson?" He questioned each one in return. Every time he did he got a shrug and a shake of the head.

"No, sorry." Then they all went on their way. Danning sighed. Where could she have gone? Had she left? Was she hiding? If she was he didn't know why. Baxter and his boys would most likely still be on their missions. Another grunt passed by.

"Have you seen Crystal Peterson?" He asked. This time he got a helpful response.

"Do you mean the young girl with the azumarill?" The grunt asked. Danning nodded. "She went out with the last group. They're going to the day care on Route 34."

"She's gone?" Danning asked.

"Yeah, like I said, she's at the day care, stealing some mons." The grunt looked at him. "Why? Were you supposed to go with them?" Danning looked back at him.

"Yes." He lied. The grunt hummed.

"Oh. Well I'm sorry you missed the ride. Don't worry. They'll probably bring you back a souvenir." Then the grunt walked off, humming to himself as he headed for the dormitory rooms. Danning thought to himself.

"Crystal's gone alone." He recounted the details. He was worried about her. She was alone, surrounded by grunts who she didn't know and they didn't know here. He worried about her confidence and about her safety. She could get lost. She could get hurt. "I hope she stays safe out there." He muttered.

The trio of friends and their new companion travelled up route 34 at a slow pace. Silver was struggling to walk a little. His legs seemed to be suffering from free-coming spasms and every now and then he'd stop, unable to move them. Joe asked himself a few times why he was helping this guy, who thought poorly of him and his team. He told himself it was because he was trying to be the better person. But there was something else. Something niggling at the back of his head. He didn't care to think about it right now. Winter gave Silver a hand, which surprised Joe. He hadn't expected her to be so caring towards him. She had seen the way he had been acting and she had been just as disgusted as Joe was. So why was she helping him now? Joe couldn't seem to figure it out, and, evidently, Ralph seemed to think the same. He was looking at Silver like he was some kind of disguised demon. He gave him the same glare he gives to Team Rocket Grunts. A stare of hatred and distrust. Joe couldn't really blame him. He felt the same way.

They walked on for a while, now and then stopping to give Silver a breather. They still had no idea what it was he'd done, or what it was that had hit him in retaliation. Joe still thought it was karma. Silver punched him in the face, so now he gets a psychic blast which does the same thing back. They managed to keep up an okay pace but it was clear Silver was struggling to keep going. They needed to find somewhere to rest, or at least drop him of till he got better so they could continue on to the next town without him. That last part was added by Joe. It got him an annoyed look from both the other trainers. They continued on, trying to keep their spirits up. Then a house came into view, alone and on the side of the road like a shrine to hope and rest. Winter sighed with relief.

"Finally, somewhere we could stop and rest." She hurried up her walk, giving Silver a hand in getting there. Joe and Ralph followed behind.

"Winter, slow down!" He called. "How do we know that these people will help? They may just send us away." She looked back at him.

"We should at least try." She said. She sped up her walk, Silver struggling to move at the same speed. As they got closer the house became clearer. It was a small building, consisting maybe of only two or three rooms, with white outside walls and a brown shingle roof and a dark oak door. Around the back of the house was a long and high standing white picket fence. Behind that was some kind of garden play area. As they got closer they could hear small animal sounds. It seemed that the owners of this house had a few pets, some of them quite big by what they could hear. They walked past it and to door. As they did so a small furry brown head popped out through the fence and watched them. They didn't spot it, but the little creature blinked and wagged its tail hopefully. They finally reached the front of the house. Now all there was to do was knock and seek shelter. Winter reached the door and stood in front of it waiting. Silver stood next to her, leaning on the doorframe. Joe reached them and he stood by Winter's other side, still not looking to sure or happy about it all. Winter then reached up a hand and tapped to doorknocker three times lightly on the wood. From inside there was the sound of high pitch barking. Then there was a following moving of objects and a small hardly audible mutter. Then the door swung open.

"Oh, hello?" An elderly, casually dressed man said, looking surprised to see so many trainers at his door. "Um, how may I help you, uh, three?" He asked. Winter bowed her respect.

"We're sorry to bother you." She told him. "But our friend here" – She looked at Silver – "Has been hurt in battle and he needs somewhere to rest till he gets better. We're too tired to make it to town at the moment. Is it okay if we rest here for a while? We won't be a nuisance." The old man looked confused at each of them in turned. When he saw Ralph floating behind Joe he gave a small gulp.

"Sure. Come on in and put your feet up for a while." He told them. "We get quite a few trainers here."

"Thank you." Winter said. The group walked in.

"What did he mean by that?" Joe wandered.

"They are in the middle of nowhere." Winter told him quietly. "It's likely they'll get tired trainers passing." They stepped inside. There wasn't a terrible amount to see. Apart from a small TV, grey sofa, side table, small dog bed and a water and food bowl there was little in the main room at all. The walls were the same colour of white and the carpet was a light green, though not the flash bright kind. The room right in front of them, however was very different. It had a brown and grey checker tiled floor and at the far end a counter, with an elderly woman behind it. To the right was a trainer PC. There was a small door behind the counter out into the garden. They could hear small barks and woofs and purrs and yaps from the doorway as they entered in. The old lady waved at them.

"Hello and welcome to the Johto Pokémon Day Care. How can we help you?" The three trainers looked at each other.

"This explains a lot." Joe muttered, more to himself then the others. The old man closed the door behind them.

"Like I said. We get a lot of trainers passing by." He winked at them and walked over to the counter. "Now is there anything that my dear partner and I can do for you?" He asked of them. "You asked for rest, but do you have any pokémon you wish to leave with us for a while?" The three trainers looked at each other, all a little confused.

"Uh, no. We're good on that front, thanks." Joe spoke up.

"Actually, if you have anything to drink, say a nice cold bottle of Coca-Cola, I'd be happy to relieve you of it." Silver butted in his own opinion. "I haven't drunk anything for the last two hours!" The old man hooted a hearty chuckle.

"Well, I don't know about any licenced products." He told him. "But I'll see what I can find." He walked out of the room, moving slowly with one foot over the other as if his lower body were a hydraulic machine. The old women smiled at the children, looking over her glasses and the counter to see them all.

"Please do take a seat." She told them, gesturing a shaking, wrinkled hand to the small tables and foam seats on the right side of the room. "You look like you need them."

"Thank you." Winter told her. The four newcomers walked with fast pace to the chairs and one by one sat down, resting their feet and bodies from the walk. Joe placed his bag by his feet and lifted out the now awake but, thankfully, not crying Casey. He held the little baby egg in his arms as the young togepi cooed happily. Joe smiled adoringly, secretly feeling exhausted. They were all relatively tired, but for different reasons. Joe and Ralph had been up a lot of the night taking care of Casey, Winter had been up because she couldn't sleep over the racket Casey was making, Casey had been up because he was crying and Silver was down because he'd been knocked out by a large blast of psychic energy. Now that they were able to sit down they were able to rest and recuperate from the day so far. Silver seemed to be especially grateful for it. He was so far into his seat he was nearly lying down flat. The old man came back in with a few drinks in his hands.

"I'm sorry, but we don't appear to have any 'Coca-Cola', I'm afraid." He said as he entered. "The best I could conjure up was a glass of water. I hope it is good enough for you." There was a hardly hidden groan from Silver as he sat up again.

"Really? Alright." He snatched the cup from the man's hand and glugged it down in three large gulps. He placed the cup heavily back on the table, causing the glass to clank and the table to shake. The old man looked at him.

"Blimmy." He muttered, quite surprised at the speed Silver finished his drink. "Looks like you were thirsty too." He passed the drinks to Winter and Joe now. They took them.

"Thank you very much." They both said as they took a small sip and placed their drink on the table.

"Would you like anything for the baby?" The old man asked Joe now. Joe looked down at Casey who was blowing bubbles. He looked back up.

"I don't know?" He told him. The old man smiled.

"A new parent, are you?" He asked. Joe shrugged. Technically speaking he wasn't the parent. It was impossible for a human to be the biological parent of a pokémon. At least so far as people knew. According to some mythology it had happened a few times before. Thankfully not in this case. No, Joe was Casey's foster father. God knows what that made Winter. A guardian? Could she technically be a foster mother if she and Joe didn't have a marital relationship?

"Yes." Joe said finally, sounding relatively tired and rather unsure. The old man smiled kindly to him.

"That's fine." He said wisely. "Many of the trainers who come here either are parents or become parents to their own pokémon. It's becoming more common in this region, and in other regions too, I hear. I think it's the government wanting young trainers to learn about child rearing before they become old enough to have their own kids. Smart idea, if you ask me, though pokémon are different to people in quite a lot of ways."

"Yet not so different in others." His wife added, joining his side and putting a warm arm on his shoulder. They smiled at each other, looking lovingly into each other's face. It was sweet that feelings like that could last well into old age.

"We can give you a small hand and a bit of rearing advice while you rest, if you want." The old man added. Joe nodded gratefully. Then he heard his stomach growl. He felt a little embarrassed. Then he heard Ralph's stomach rumble and his face turn pink. Then Casey's stomach began to rumble. Joe hoped he wouldn't start crying. He'd only been quiet for a few hours. The old man's smile grew wider. "First we'll get you all something to eat." He turned to his wife. "Sort out some sandwiches for our guests, please dear." He instructed quietly. The wife nodded.

"Yes, dear." She said. She took the empty cups and walked out into the kitchen. The old man pulled up his own seat and sat in front of the group of three children and two pokémon. He held out his hands to Joe.

"Could I hold your togepi for a second?" He asked. Joe was automatically suspicious. He backed away a little. The old man smiled disarmingly. "Don't worry. I only want to see him." Joe hesitated. He looked down at the smiling Casey in his arms. Then, gently, he passed him to the day care man. Casey lay in his arms, no longer giggling or laughing. Now he looked rather upset. He didn't like being in this new person's arms. His eyes puffed a little as he looked confused and unsure at Joe

"Pii?" He murmured, sounding confused and a little scared. The old man held him in his arms, cradling him close. Casey still looked quite afraid and on the verge of crying.

"Watch this." The man instructed. Joe watched him closely, unsure what he was going to do. The old man sat Casey on his lap gently, making sure Casey didn't try to struggle or get upset. Casey was still looking afraid. His little eyes were bulging, ready for tears at the slightest threat. Then the old man placed his now free hand on Casey's head and began to rub in between the spikes. Casey's expression fell a little. He suddenly looked a lot calmer and less likely to cry, but still rather confused at what was going on. Then the old man began to scratch behind the spikes. Casey began to burble a quiet laugh. His eyes crossed and a pleasured smile crossed his face as the old man soothed his tough head and calmed him down. Joe looked at him.

"How are you doing that?" He asked. The old man just smiled.

"Togepi sensory points." He explained. "They like a massage on the back of their spikes. It seems to help them relax." As he said so Casey began to yawn. He shut his eyes slowly and began to snore, lying back in the day care man's lap and curling up into his shell. The old man smiled at the little baby pokémon. "There you are." He explained. "He's now fast asleep. That method should help you get him to sleep if he's trouble at night." Joe looked quite amazed.

"Th-thanks." He stuttered. The old man waved a hand.

"Don't mention it." He told him. "I'm just glad to help." The old woman came back in now, holding a couple of plates with a few simple ham and cheese sandwiches on them.

"Here we are." She said as she walked in. She placed the plates on the table, giving one to each trainer and a spare to Ralph who dug in immediately. Later on he spat the cheese back out when no one was looking. What did she think he was, a mouse? The three trainers also tucked into their own food, feeling quite glad to get something to eat after the long walk there. They sat in silence for a while, chatting a bit about their journey, about their pokémon, about the job of running a day-care. Then they day care couple left the trainers to rest, heading out back to take care of the pokémon. Joe and his friends zoned out. They had nothing to talk about. Silver even let his Totodile out for a bit, just so it could get a bit of a walk about. They were all silent for a while, except for Totodile, who was running about the place like a maniac, and Silver, who was trying to stop Totodile and get it to shut up.

Winter sighed, resting her head against the table. Then she felt something tug her trouser leg. She looked down under the table. A small young brown-eyed eevee was looking back at her, her trouser leg in its mouth and paw. It smiled at her, and Winter found herself smiling back.

"Hello there." She said in a cutesy voice. The eevee tilted its head, its ears flopping to the side, a beaming smile on its face. Winter moved her seat back. The eevee moved out from under the table and sat in front of her, wagging its fluffy bushy tail. Winter found her smile widening as it gave her puppy dog eyes. "Where did you come from then?" She asked it. The little eevee pointed its nose to the right of her. Winter followed its stair and saw it looking at the doorway to the garden from behind the counter. "So you're a day-care pokémon, are you?" She asked it. Eevee nodded its head. "How long is your trainer leaving you here for, then?" She questioned. Eevee gave her a sad face and lulled its head to the side. Winter looked at it. "Do you not have a trainer?" She asked. Eevee shook its head sadly. Its tail drooped as it looked at the floor, feeling saddened. Winter stroked behind its ears, leading it to look up and smile a little again. "Who'd want to leave you behind, hey?" She asked, speaking in a cutest flap lip voice. Eevee smiled back, purring in a mixed dog-cat-fox yap.

"Please don't say you're building a bond with this little thing, are you." Silver moaned from his seat. We was lying back into his seat, looking at Winter though the hand on his face. "I can't stand that whimsical soppy crap. Life doesn't work that way. You don't just suddenly befriend a pokémon. They're just animals. They don't think or act that way, so why would you even try?"

"You've never had a pet before, have you, Silver?" Joe asked in an unkind tone. Silver looked at him.

"I never had a home for one to live in." He said back, spitefully. "I'm an orphan, not that it's important to you." Joe fell quiet. That was a sudden piece of information to learn about someone, yet Silver's tone had deterred him from asking anything about it. He had no idea how to react. Should he apologise? Should he ask him about it? He didn't know. Instead both he and Winter decided to drop the conversation. Silver clearly wasn't the kind of person who liked talking about themselves, so, to avoid an argument or another fight, they decided not to persist it. Joe sat in his seat, thinking to himself and slowly rocking Casey in his arms. Ralph perched next to him, trying to hold his eyes open but failing. Winter was happily petting the attentive eevee at her lap. Silver was lying back, his arms against the back of his head, his eyes shut, his head up. The group rested there for now, waiting as the hours passed and rain began to pour again outside.

Not long later they were woken up by the sudden sound of cars approaching, doors slamming and footsteps approaching across the road and grass. The group sat up. They look around. Someone knocked on the door.

"Another passing trainer?" Silver wondered. The day care couple came in now, their faces grim and worried. They headed for the door. They seemed to be muttering about something and, whatever it was it was serious and about whoever it was outside.

"Who is it?" Joe asked as they passed. The two elders turned to the trainers, grim faced.

"It's… Team Rocket." The old man explained. Joe's expression hardened.

"What!" He growled, staring now at the door.

"Do you have anywhere we can hide from them?" Winter asked.

"What?" Joe asked, suddenly surprised.

"I'm sorry?" Silver questioned, also hearing what she had said.

"Go round the back." The day care lady told her. "Go round the counter and out the back door. Hopefully they'll just pass on by." Winter grabbed Joe by the arm and Silver by the collar and pulled them through the doorway and into the kitchen.

"Winter, what are you…?" Joe protested.

"Come on!" She told him sharply, pulling him against his will through the doorway. She dragged her friends and… Silver, through the kitchen and back behind the counter. There she shoved them down under it and his herself. She, Joe, Ralph, Silver and Casey all hid there, waiting patiently.

"Why are we under the counter?" Silver asked.

"So we don't cause a problem." Winter explained.

"Why would we be a problem?" Silver persisted. Winter thought of how to explain it to him.

"We're not exactly on good terms with the Rockets." She told him. "Joe and I got into a couple of fights with them. They didn't go down well, for them at least." Silver looked impressed.

"Wait, you two are on Team Rocket's bad side?" He repeated her words in a sentence he could understand. Winter nodded. Silver chuckled. "And I thought you two were prissy and cowards." He muttered, still quite impressed by what she'd told him. Then his expression became confused. "Well if that's the case why are we hiding back here?" He asked. He stood up. "Let's go kick some rocket arse!" He yelled. Winter pulled him back down immediately before he could be seen or heard.

"No!" She snapped. "These people are just pokémon raisers. They're not fighters. We can't bring our battle to them. It's not fair. They might get hurt from it." Silver shrugged.

"So?" He told her. "It's not our problem. If Team Rocket are here to cause trouble I say we bring it to them."

"He's right." Joe joined in. Winter looked at him, stunned.

"Not you too." She muttered.

"Winter, those men out there wouldn't give a damn if they saw every pokémon here exterminated with gas. They're soulless monsters, all of them. Think of what they've done to us and the people we know in the past. Think of…" Joe stopped. There were two people he thought off here. One was Sting. The other was his father. Winter didn't know about him. It was better that way. And, fortunately, she hadn't picked up he was referring to him. Instead she thought he was thinking back to the one pokémon he had lost. She sighed.

"Joe, if you go seeking revenge for him, then all you're going to do is destroy yourself in the process." Her words of wisdom were unheard by her friend. Joe thumped his fist on the floor.

"I'm going to go and confront them." Joe told them, placing his bag next to him and gently shoving Casey into the top where he could stay safe. He crawled over to the open doorway into the bag garden. The pokémon there were cowering in fear. They were cowering under play sets and slides and whatever they could get under, clearly knowing that a bunch of harmful criminals were nearby. It was interesting how animal instincts worked like that when they sensed danger. Joe turned back to the other two. "You can come if you want." Winter looked at him, her head slant with disappointment. He ignored her and hurried out of the door, rushing through the light rain and over to the fence, vaulting over it with a small boost from pushing against the posts. Winter got up to.

"I'd better go make sure he doesn't do anything stupid." She muttered to herself as Ralph also got up and shot past her, heading after Joe without needing to vault the fence. She stopped at the door and turned to Silver. "Are you going to lend us a hand?" She asked. Silver went to stand up when, quite suddenly, he felt his legs go weak as his tiredness suddenly came back.

"You go on ahead." He told her. "I'll catch up later." Winter rolled her eyes.

"Suit yourself." Then she left, following after Joe and Ralph, vaulting the fence and nearly catching her hair on the wooden planks. Silver sat back, stretching his legs out. He saw Casey looking at him from the corner of his eye. He turned his head and looked back. The baby togepi's head was poking out of the top of the bag like a shell crown out of a tall orange rock. Silver gave him a questioning stare.

"What do you want?" He asked.

"Togi." Casey said, gurgling with a small giggle and a few bubble blows.

"Ha. That's rich." Silver muttered. "You're just a baby. Why are you surprised you're not doing anything to help?" Casey just blew bubbles. Silver rolled his eyes. Now he was talking to a baby.

"I'm sorry but we don't have any pokémon to give away." The old man said as the Rocket Grunt at the door stared him down. Behind him the other grunts shifted their feet impatiently.

"Now come on, sir." The grunt said in a mildly insidious voice. "This is a day care home right?"

"Of course." The day care man told him. The grunt nodded.

"Then surely you have some pokémon you can give away for free." The grunt persuaded, but the old man stayed adamant.

"I'm sorry but I can't just give away my pokémon, especially to you." He explained. The grunt was getting annoyed now. He crossed his arms.

"Sir, I'm asking nicely." He told him. "Either you hand over all the pokémon you care for here, or we burn your lovely little house to the ground." He tilted his head. "Which do you prefer we do?" The old man stood quiet.

Meanwhile Joe, Winter and Ralph had snuck down the side of the house and were planning what to do.

"We should jump them now!" Joe was saying.

"Don't be stupid!" Winter hissed. "What are you going to jump them with? They're several feet away from us."

"Then we need to do something. Didn't you hear them? They're going to burn the house down if we don't act."

"They don't even know we're here." Winter reminded him. "We should wait for the right time then surprise them. If we can take them down before they even release a pokémon then we could get rid of them without a fight."

"You're no fun sometimes." Joe muttered to himself. He glanced back around the wall. "Hang on a second." He said.

"What?" Winter asked. Joe looked back around, his face all confused.

"There's only three of them now." Joe told her. "There were six before. What happened to the other three?"

Silver sat back against the counter, lulling his head with tiredness. Then he heard something climbing over the fence, quite clumsily. He sat up.

"What was that?" He wondered. Casey woke again, looking on the verge of tears. "Oh god please don't cry." Silver shushed him. Casey only just kept calm for the moment. Silver crawled forwards and peeked his head round the door. He saw a small group of grunts climbing over the left side of the fence, whispering to each other and then tiptoeing carefully towards the pokémon, holding nets and traps in their arms. Silver groaned. "Great." He thought. "Now I'm going to have to take care of them." He unclipped a pokeball and looked back at Casey. "You. Stay quiet and stay here!" He instructed. Casey nodded as if he understood. Silver turned and crept forwards, hiding in the doorframe and waiting for the grunts to pass nearby.

"How many does boss need?" One grunt asked.

"As many as you can carry." Another responded.

"Why does he even need such weakling pokémon?" The first grunt asked.

"I dunno, because it's his whim I suppose." The second replied. "He doesn't really need them, I don't think.

"If we don't do it, it'll be our hides that pay for it. Quite seriously!" both grunts shuddered at the thought. The third grunt had wandered away from them, trying to get a rather terrified jigglypuff to come out from behind the slide. He was smaller than the other two, and a lot thinner. Hopefully he would be distracted long enough for Silver to take out the other two. Then he would be no problem after. The two grunts passed by the door, not noticing Silver and he quietly released his Gastly and slid on his silver glowing ring.

"Fade up behind that first guy and give him a high fall." Silver whispered. Gastly nodded and evaporated. Silver turned back to the two grunts, a small smile growing on his face. The two grunts were still talking, though now they were also working, so neither of them saw the ghost pokémon appear behind the first grunt.

"Do you feel that?" He asked.

"What?" The second one asked.

"That sudden cold spike." The first told him.

"Must be the weather." The second told him. "Cold temperatures often come with rain. And it is October after all."

"Hmm." They went back to their work. "Did you hear that?" The first grunt asked now.

"No?" The second grunt asked.

"It sounded like someone laughing quietly." The first one told him.

"It's your imagination." The second one told him.

"Maybe." They went back to their work. "Ok, now that's really weird."

"What is?" The second grunt asking, without looking at his team member.

"It feels like I'm slowly flying up. The floors getting smaller." The second grunt looked up.

"That's a weird thing to thing." He told him, turning around. "How do you even perceive… What!?" The first grunt was floating twenty feet above the ground. A small black ball was holding him by the collar.

"What?" The first grunt asked, clearly unaware of what was going on around him.

"You're flying!" The second grunt shouted.

"What?" The first grunt asked.

"You're hovering above the ground!" The second grunt repeated. "At a large distance, too." The first grunt looked down.

"Oh Christ!" He exclaimed, grabbing his suit and holding onto it tight. It was the only thing around to grab.

"How are you doing that?" The second grunt asked.

"I don't know!" The first responded. He heard a small chuckle behind him. He slowly looked around. His face stared directly into another, one that belonged to a small, spherical, gas made ghost. Gastly smiled. The first grunt cried in fear.

Silver came rushing out from the building at lightning speed. The second grunt saw him and turned, but not quick enough.

"Hey, who are…?" He said, but was stopped mid-sentence by Silver's first. His ring flashed blue on impact and the grunt hit the floor, his consciousness switching of like a light. Silver turned to the hovering grunt held in Gastly's mouth.

"Drop him!" He instructed. The first grunt was suddenly falling. He fell to earth with a terrified yell, till finally he landed. He bumped his head on the floor and he too was sent to the land of dreams and memories (A.K.A: Sleep). Silver released the rest of his pokémon. Totodile yapped happily and began dragging the two unconscious bodies into a pile. Hoothoot tried to help out, as did Gastly. Silver smiled to himself. "A job well done." He thought. Then he remembered the third grunt. He turned and narrowly avoided a flying punch. He ducked and grabbed the third grunt by the outstretched arm, pulling them forwards. They yelled in surprise. Silver knocked his feet out and raised his ringed fist to the sky, ready to knock him out too.

"Let go of my arm!" He exclaimed in a high tone voice. Silver growled.

"No way." He said in an almost laughing voice. The grunt looked up. Silver gasped. It wasn't just some grunt who he was attacking. This grunt was a girl. Not even a woman, a girl, around the same age as him. He let go of her arm. "I'm so sorry." He explained quickly. "I-I didn't… I thought you were with them."

"I am." The girl told him.

"Oh." Silver said. There was an awkward pause. The girl was reaching for a pokeball. "Uh…" Silver tried to say. For some reason his throat was sticking. He was finding it hard to make coherent sentences. "W-why are you…?" He asked.

"With Team Rocket?" The girl asked.

"Yeah." Silver said, nodding.

"Because I am." She told him, defensively. "What's it to you?"

"Oh… well…" Silver struggled to come up with words. "It's just… I didn't expect someone as… someone like you to be… well…" The girl narrowed her eyebrows.

"Who are you?" She asked. "Are you that guy who's been messing with Team Rocket for the last few months? The one with the crobat?"

"No!" Silver said, a little too quickly. "No." He told her. "He's…" He stopped. "A friend." He finished. The girl looked at him.

"Really?" she questioned. Silver nodded his head. The girl lowered her defences suddenly. "What's your name?" She asked.

"Silver." Silver told her, without thinking. The girl took her hat of, letting her long brown hair flow out over her shoulders.

"I'm crystal." She told him. Silver smiled slightly.

"That's a lov… um… That's a nice name." He told her, bashfully. She chuckled a little, too, seeing his nervous expression and shy stance. From behind her Silver could see Totodile sneaking up to surprise her. "No!" He shouted suddenly. Crystal jumped at his yell. Then she turned around. Totodile jumped up at her.

"Aagh!" She screamed.

"Bad Totodile!" Silver yelled. Totodile smiled up at him with big reptilian eyes. "Very bad! Don't do that to the nice girl!" Totodile continued to smile, clearly carefree about what its master said to it.

"Is he your pokémon?" Crystal asked him. Silver looked at her.

"Yes?" He said, unsure how to say it or what expression to give. His head was not much more than cotton and fluff at the moment. He couldn't think of good words to use. Crystal smiled.

"He's kind of sweet." She said.

"He is?" Silver asked.

"Yeah." She told him. "He's just trying to defend his master. He's adorable." She knelt down and reached out a hand to stroke Totodile. He nearly bit it. Crystal pulled away. Silver had no idea what was going on. He had no idea what to do in this situation. Here he was, talking to a member of team rocket, who turned out to be a teenage girl, a rather pretty teenage girl at that, and he was just standing there like a lemon. His instinct told him to scare her away, to send her packing back to her master. But his heart and his head told him otherwise.

"Do you… have any pokémon of your own?" Silver asked shyly. Crystal looked back at him.

"Yes." She told him. Then she looked past Silver. "Come on, Azi." She called. Silver turned. A rather timid looking azumarill climbed over the fence, walking nervously towards its trainer and her new friend. "This is Azi." Crystal said as Azi reached them. She patted him gently and stroked his head.

"He's… yours?" Silver asked.

"Of course." Crystal told him. He looked back at her, for a second meeting eye to eye. She had amazing eyes, he realised. They shone in the daylight like lighthouse beams. Crystal blushed a little. Silver looked away again.

"I was expecting a member of Team Rocket to have more… well… powerful and dangerous pokémon." Crystal shrugged.

"To be honest I don't enjoy being in Team Rocket that much." She told him. "They're all so gruff and unkind. It's all so much nasty, criminal work. I'm not that kind of person really."

"Then why are you in it?" Silver asked. Crystal fell quiet.

"I don't know." She told him, speaking truthfully.

Cutting back to Joe and Winter's perspective, the three grunts at the door were getting impatient. The one talking was tapping his foot now, clearly wanting to get inside, but the day care man was proving to be immovable.

"Now look, sir." The grunt was saying, patting his fists together. "You can either let us in or we'll bash you aside. We're not afraid to do that." He warned him. The day care man held his ground.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not letting you inside with an attitude like that." He said sternly. "I'm not giving up any pokémon here, no matter how much you threaten me. Not to you or your boss." This was the final straw for the grunt. He turned to his friends.

"This isn't going anywhere." He told them. "Move him by force." The grunts stepped forwards. Then they heard a terrified yell from behind the house. They stopped.

"That sounded like our boys in trouble." One of the grunts said.

"Well don't just stand there." The middle one told him. "Go round and investigate!"

"They've been distracted by that cry." Joe thought. He turned back to Winter. "I say we strike now." He told her. "While they're not looking this way." Sadly Winter found herself agreeing.

"Alright, but let's not go too far. We only want to scare them away, not kill them."

"Right." Joe agreed. He looked past the wall to see two of the grunts stepping away cautiously to peek around and see what the problem was. "I have an Idea." He told her, turning back round. Winter nodded.

"Ok. What is it?" She asked. Joe pointed to her belt.

"Get your pokémon out." He instructed quietly.

The first grunt stayed in his place, still trying to break down the old man and force him to move aside. His two group mates walked around the corner, searching for what the sound was. They suspected what it had been. Their other three team members. The ones they had sent round the back to round up the pokémon while the couple living here were distracted. They hadn't expected someone to shout out. A cry for help was not something they'd been expecting to hear. They walked close to the wall. Unbeknown to them a couple of figures watched close from above. They lay prone on the thick dry shingles and looked down over the hanging gutter, waiting for the dumb criminals to walk under. When they did, the young girl, the bulky toad, the torrential starfish and the gripping seahorse dropped down, making their move.

There were another couple of cries. The last remaining grunt turned in shock. That was the sound of his men. He looked at the corner wall, looking for any signs of life or movement or anything positive.

"Jerome? Paxton?" He called. No response. The old man stepped back inside and shut the door. He knew what was coming. His aged intuition recognised a fight when it approached. The grunt turned to the sound of the wood slab slamming shut. He began bashing a fist on the wood, shouting at the couple inside. "Hey! Open Up! Let us inside!" He roared through the keyhole. Inside the couple stepped back as a large winged figure rose up outside. The grunt felt cold breath on his neck. It was slow and malicious, full of abhorrence and persistent on retribution. Slowly, turning like a china doll on a music box rotation key, the grunt spun to face the thing behind him. He stepped back into the door at the sight of the beast in his face. Ralph growled, lowering his brow and revealing his sharp fangs in a growl. His yellow eyes glared through the soul of the grunt. Then his wings were on him, grabbing the hapless grunt by the shoulders and placing him perfectly still in front of him. "Eek!" The grunt dropped a brick. Ralph stared at him, becoming fiercer by the second. His eyes slowly shifted to his left. The grunt followed his gaze. A boy was standing, watching calmly, his arms folded and seemingly holding a grudge. The boy nodded once and sluggishly.

"Ralph…" He instructed. The crobat waited. The grunt panicked. "Throw him!" He finished. The grunt gulped. Then suddenly he was being thrown backwards through the air as Ralph, the crobat, spun him around and hurled him through the air with the strength of his wings. The grunt went flying, screaming through the air like a black clothed shot put. He hit the ground like a cannon ball, creating a huge digging skid mark through the grass, leaving turned up dirt till he touched the road. Joe stepped over to his friend. "Good throw." He said, considerately. Ralph bowed a finale. There was an angry growl that came from the hurled grunt.

"Damn meddling kid!" He muttered. The grunt rolled over and sat up, his face covered with mud and steaming with anger. He reached for a pokémon. "Gonna mess about with pokémon, are we?" He asked, rhetorically, speaking with the most malice filled tone Joe had heard all day. "Alright then. You've messed with the wrong grunt today, boy." He got to his feet, releasing his two pokeballs. They released a Raticate and a Koffing. "Get 'im!" The grunt shouted.

"Go Quill! Go Leaf! Take this rocket mass out!" Joe yelled, throwing two of his own pokeballs. His two Johto starter pokémon appeared out to battle, Leaf flicking his head leaf and Quill flaring up the flames on his back. Raticate lunged, jumping at Leaf, buck teeth fangs snapping sharply. Leaf dodged aside, leaving Raticate to skid across the floor and make a scrabbling turn to return to the fight. Koffing puffed towards Quill slowly, releasing measured levels of noxious gas to raise and lower its height in the air. It looked at Quill, and he looked back. Koffing suddenly burst forward with a large expulsion of gas, flying bulk ahead at Quill's small form. The cyndaquil was in no danger, however. He spat a small ember at Koffing at the right time and at the right area. Koffing puffed up as the gas inside it ignited with the small spark. It coughed and choked, unable to fix the new problem racking its gaseous form. Then it was flying backwards, releasing a horrible flapping, rupturing sound, the kind you hear from releasing gas from a balloon. When it stopped, Koffing landed as a shell, its eyes glazed over as its ability to fight vanquished to its inability to become not ignitable. Quill smiled to himself. That had been an easy fight. He had clearly learned from the last Koffing he'd faced. Leaf on the other hand wasn't doing as good. Raticate was proving to be a challenge. Leaf could just about dodge or avoid most of its attacks, but the trouble wasn't there. The trouble was getting his own attacks to land. He tried use razor leaf but Raticate would just dart aside. He tried to use poison powder but, thanks to the direction of the wind, the poison particles were scattered and carried away from the battle, leaving the attack useless. He had smartly used reflect, which at least weakened Raticate's attacks, giving him longer to fight back, but it could only do so much and eventually it would wear off.

"Take it down!" The grunt yelled. "Take them both down! Take them all down!" Raticate gnarled and lunged, throwing itself at Leaf like an insane, rat like, rabid hound. Joe had an idea, but it was not only risky, it was practically suicidal. But it was a last resort in this case.

"Leaf, face it head on!" He called. "Tackle it." Leaf looked at him, confused. "Just do it! Trust me!" Leaf obeyed. He turned his head, causing his leaf to flail. He stared down the quickly approaching Raticate, its eyes red with excitement and destructive strength. It was a beast of power now, and, without a direct hit to a weak spot, it wouldn't stop. Leaf scrapped a plant made foot across the floor, preparing his run. Then he charged, his head lowered, ready to meet the foe, literally head on. Raticate stampeded. Leaf bolted. Both met in the middle, crashing skulls. There was an explosion of energy around them. Green energy. And, to everyone's surprise, leaf was not sent flying back in pain. Instead he held his ground, pushing back Raticate with his round skull. Raticate pushed against him, but could do nothing. Leaf's legs were rooting into the ground. His green skin began to glow florescent with solar energy. His leaf on his head extended and grew out, becoming sharped and more fearsome yet more beautiful. As all this happened his body became covered with petals and leaves, shrouding him in a flowery tornado. Raticate looked both surprised and terrified. It could see Leaf's eyes glowing and shapeshifting, becoming bigger and more intimidating. Yet still it pressed its head into him, standing exactly where it had been. Then it was flung back, as Leaf shoved his head powerfully forwards. The tornado of plant matter erupted in a flutter of petals and leaf matter. The transformation was complete. Leaf was made anew. Joe and Ralph stared in awe at what had once been a young, timid and weak chikorita. Leaf had changed so much in one second. Now he was taller, older looking, more intimidating looking and a lot more powerful. Raticate cowered as the newly evolved Bayleef reared up in its face. The grunt could only groan.

"Why does this unlucky stuff always happen to me?" He muttered. Joe pumped a fist.

"Alright!" He yelled. "Leaf, you beast!" Leaf bowed his head, not taking his eyes of his opponent. Raticate was still cowering from him. It was funny to watch. Joe and Ralph smiled to each other, cunningly, eyes gleaming with excitement. "Let's see what you can do now." Joe instructed. Leaf decided that now was the time to try out something new. He flicked his leaf as it began to glow bright. Light was absorbed into it, restoring his strength and giving him more power to his whim. Leaf returned to the fight and readied a running strike. The grunt scuttled back, his Raticate close to his side. Leaf charged. The grunt barely made it close to the jeep.

Silver and Crystal froze as they heard the sound of fighting. Their hands fell apart. Crystal suddenly became nervous, stepping away from the cute boy she had just met and rubbing her arm with nerves.

"That's my team in trouble." She told him, stepping back. "I'm sorry but I've got to go and help them."

"Don't go!" Silver cried, holding his arm out. She shook her head. He could see in her eyes the sudden raw fear. A fear of what, though? Did she fear him?

"You don't understand." She told him. "If they see me talking with some other trainer who just took out two of my team mates, I'll be in deep trouble." She shivered. "They'll send me to the boss. He's not exactly understanding."

"Wait!" Silver called. But the girl was gone, running past the fence as the two grunts Silver had taken out began to get back up. "Crystal." He whispered. The grunts stood up, looked up at him, and shuffled away, trying to get as far away as possible from this demon child with a champion punch. Silver watched them run like chickens, desperately trying to get out of the coop till finally they co-ordinated their way over the white picket fence and away to their other team mates. Silver glared at them. His mind was set into a confused state. He had no idea what was wrong with him. All his thoughts of anger and revenge and control and annihilation of all those smaller then him vanished from his mind. The only thing he could see was her. The girl. Crystal. She was… amazing. He clenched a fist. "I swear by all the gods in the sky or in the oceans or atop the mountains that I will find you again!" He yelled at the top of his heart. "I will see you again!" He looked at the floor, seeing the small piece of paper she had dropped. On it he saw a small collection of words. A name. Crystal Peterson. "I will find you again." He whispered.