Author's Note: Chapter ten is finally done; only a few more chapters before I get to the chapters I already have. After that, I'll be caught up and will be starting off with fresh chapters. Also, I've already changed a few things that will happen later on, changing the whole end of the story. Inspiration came come at any time. -EeveeInHeat

Poll: It's been a while since I had one of these up. So, with the end of "Silver" in sight, at least for me, I've been wondering what idea to work on next. Since I'm unable to decide fully on one or the other, I've put up a poll for my readers to choose what they want. Check it out on my Profile and make your vote.

Silver

- Chapter 10: True Friends -

Silver was floating in a black void. Unlike sleeping, this void seemed actually empty and yet full at the same time. Silver could feel and yet not feel the empty yet full void. He couldn't explain it, but he could. There was no light, but every part of his body was completely visible. The very place seemed to deny reality.

However, Silver recognized this void. Once before, he had fallen from a tree, falling unconscious as he hit the ground. He was in this mysterious void until he had suddenly wakened in his nest, his parents watching him carefully. Silver had forgotten all about it until he was here again.

He was unable to form thoughts as he just drifted there. Without any correlation to time, he did not know how long he was there. Finally, the darkness seemed to fade away. Soon, he was sure that he was able to feel his body again and that his consciousness was coming back.

Silver cracked open an eye, to quickly shut it in pain. The light was too bright at first, but Silver opened his eyes slightly so that they could adjust to the sunlight. It was only then that he felt the pain. His side was aching in pain from the burns; the sand rubbing against it only making it feel worse. There was a slight breeze, though, that cooled him as it hit his side. Silver was sure that there was a winter chill in it.

Deciding to see where he was, he opened his eyes a little further. He could see that he was lying on grass on his side. He was in some kind of clearing, with actual forest trees surrounding it. Other than that, his limited vision didn't see much.

As he laid there, his started to get used to the pains from his burns and pushed them to the back of his mind; he had other things to focus on. Where am I? Silver wondered. Is this the inside of one of those spheres? Am I dead? Silver shivered at the last thought, but pushed it away. He wouldn't still hurt if he was dead, right?

Silver closed his eyes again as he started to get a headache. Not able to do anything else, he just stayed there. It wasn't long before his hunger became apparent. He was also thirsty, though not as much. Plus, sand still covered his body, seeming to coat the side that was against the grass. However, the hunger, thirst, and itch still made his wait harder, as he had nothing to distract himself with and couldn't get the sand off.

Silver's ears twitched as he heard pawsteps. He opened his eyes some to see a Pokemon coming out of the forest area. His eyes opened wider as the Pokemon entered the clearing, even though the light hurt at first. It was an Eevee. Even though he had grown up around a family of Eeveelutions, including his Eevee sister, this one was different, at least to Silver. The Eevee's fur seemed to shine in the sun and flowed around its petite form, the brown a vibrant, rich color. Its tail and mane swished around it as it started coming toward him. Silver was left breathless after seeing it.

The Eevee dropped the berries it had been carrying when it saw Silver. "You're awake," it said, coming over to him. Somehow, Silver thought he recognized the voice, but wasn't sure how. The Eevee looked him over quickly before bringing the berries over. "Eat these."

Silver looked at the berries to see that they were small, blue Oran berries, except for the one lighter blue Rawst berry; good for health and burns. Silver reached forward and grabbed a berry with his mouth. His side flared up in pain slightly as his movements, but he endured it. He slowly began to take small bites out of the Oran berry. Soon, energy was flooding back into his system, the pains in his side leaving. After a while, Silver was able to finish the berries. The pain in his side had completely disappeared, including the burns.

"T-thanks, uh . . ." Silver said, pausing.

The Eevee tilted its head, a small smile on its face. "Eve," she finished.

Then the voice clicked in his head. "Eve!" he exclaimed. "Sorry, I d-didn't recognize you for a s-second."

She continued to smile as she looked down at herself, though she blushed. "I found a lovely pond near here and was able to wash all that off."

Silver looked away nervously as he realized that he was staring. "Uh, where are we?"

"We're back in the edge of the forest," Eve replied.

Silver tried to remember what happened, but all he could remember was the bright red flash. "H-how did I get here?"

Eve shuffled her paws and looked away. "I-I dragged you here. I saw the battle, and I came to help. After the trainer left, I brought you here," she explained. "If you don't mind me asking, weren't you and that Cyndaquil friends?" she asked, looking back up.

Silver sighed as he remembered the incident. "We found his trainer . . . his trainer wanted to capture me, but I didn't want to be captured. So, Flame and I started to fight." Silver paused for a second, before he finally asked, "How did I not get captured?"

Eve lowered her ears at the question. "I . . . stopped the Pokeball," she said, almost whispering.

It took a moment before he realized what this meant. "Wait, then . . . you're a captured Pokemon?" he asked sadly. After three different experiences with humans, he definitely didn't want to have another one.

Eve nodded silently. After that, an awkward silence appeared between them.

When another cold breeze hit him, Silver shivered. Winter was definitely close. The clouds that were starting to gather on the horizon warned of worse weather. "We should get under some shelter," Silver commented, breaking the silence.

Looking around, he chose a larger tree and moved over in between its roots. Eve hesitantly followed him over to it, though she with a slight distance from him. Silver, still tired, curled down where the two roots met the trunk of the tree. Eve laid down as well, and they rested.

"Eve, thank you for helping me," Silver said sincerely, getting Eve's attention. She nodded in response and they fell silent again.

Silver couldn't rest, though. The sand was still itching pretty badly. Sighing, he sat up and began to groom the sand out. He half closed his eyes in disgust as his tongue rubbed against the sand. The sand tasted horrible on his tongue. He detested the how long the process he used took to get sand out of his fur. He lightly went over the few small patches of fur that had been singed off. From all the heat and pain he had been in, he was surprised that he hadn't lost more fur. By the time he had finally finished, he was sure his tongue would always feel like there was sand covering it.

Sighing in contentment, he curled back up again. It wasn't long after he was done before the dark clouds completely covered the sky. Soon, the clouds released their load of snow. The white little flakes drifted down and fell onto the ground. The snow began to slowly collect on the ground. Silver glanced over at Eve again and was surprised to see that she was far enough out that the snow was landing on part of her.

Silver scooted over a little against the root and pawed the area beside him. "Here, come in out of the snow, Eve," he invited.

Eve hesitated for only a second before coming closer and getting out of the cold snow. There was little space between the roots and as Eve curled up, their pelts slightly touched. However, Silver strangely didn't feel uncomfortable with the contact. Silver fell asleep again quickly, his body glad for the rest.

(0)

Sunlight shifted through the branches of the tree overhead. Silver slowly woke up, though he stayed still with Eve behind him. Opening his eyes, he saw that the snow had stopped falling. There was a small layer of snow on the ground at about an inch. Everything seemed brighter with the sunlight flashing off the white snow.

After a while, he felt Eve start to shift and sat up. Eve slowly got up and stretched. They sat in silence with nothing to do as they watched the snow. Silver didn't know what to do next. He had been traveling with Flame to find his trainer, and that was now accomplished. He could look for his family, but he had no idea where he was or where they were. In fact, there was little chance that he would ever see them again. Where do I go from here? Silver wondered, as he looked out across the snow.

He glanced over at Eve. She was staring at the snow, also, looking lost. Suddenly, he knew what he would do. "Eve?" Silver started, getting her attention.

"Yes, Silver?" Eve responded.

"Well, I . . . I really don't have anything else to do . . . so I was w-wondering if I could help you find your trainer," Silver said.

Eve looked over at him surprised. "R-really?" she asked. When Silver nodded, she jumped forward and nuzzled his cheek. She then pulled back quickly, blushing, as she realized what she was doing. Eve looked away and quickly mumbled, "S-sorry."

Silver could feel blood rushing to his cheeks. To avoid any more awkwardness, Silver stepped out into the snow. Looking around, Silver simply chose a direction and started out.

Eve quickly came out and caught up to him. "Where are we going?" she asked.

"Well, you're trainer is somewhere, so we have to search around. Any direction is an option now," Silver explained.

They walked in silence through the soft snow. As the sun started to rise, the snow began to melt. Luckily, there was only enough snow to wet the ground and not create any slush. Silver's thought drifted off to his friends. He wondered how Ace would be now that he had a trainer. Was his trainer going to be a nice one? From the battle, Silver thought not. Flame was now with the trainer they had looked for so long. Silver's tail lowered some as he remembered the fight with Flame. He had thought they were friends, but then they had fought right before they left.

"A-are you okay, Silver?" Eve asked, breaking the silence.

"I was just wondering about Flame. I still don't know why we fought," Silver said, sighing. "I mean, we were friends, but he just attacked me. I only didn't want to be captured. Why would he still hurt me?"

Eve was silent for a second before answering. "Well, bonds for captured Pokemon are usually pretty strong. Maybe his bond with his trainer was just more important."

Silver sighed again. A question immediately started to nag at him, and he finally gave in. "Would you do that for your trainer?" Silver asked quietly, half hoping Eve wouldn't hear him.

When Eve didn't answer at first, Silver thought she hadn't heard. But, just as quietly as he asked, Eve answered, "Not if it was a true friend."

Silence once again reigned as they continued on the now dry ground. Though the sun was now shining directly on their backs, the air was still cold. Now that the snow had started, winter was finally setting in. Berries would stop growing, and the berries already grown would start to shrivel in a few weeks.

Before Silver knew it, the sun was starting to set, signaling the end of the day. Upon silent agreement, Silver and Eve stopped at the next berry bush they came to. The fruit was large and yellow with green circles on it. Silver knew the Aspear berries were a sour kind of berry.

When Silver saw Eve looking at the bush sadly, he sniffed the air. Though the bush let off a distinct sour smell, it didn't block the other scents of berry bushes nearby. Close by, there was a bush of some other berry. Walking around a tree nearby, he saw that there was a Mago berry bush.

"Over here," Silver said. Eve walked over with him to the Mago berries. "These are sweet instead of sour. Would you like them instead?" Silver asked.

Eve looked much happier as Silver told her that they were sweet. Mago berries let off the usual scent of berries, but their sweetness could only be smelt as the skin was pierced. Seeing Eve's expression, Silver reached up and pulled off a few berries for each of them. Eve smiled as he put a few berries in front of her. "Sweet berries are my favorite," she admitted quietly.

Silver smiled back, and they began to eat. The sun had fully set, the light growing scarce, as they finished. Silver and Eve headed over to a nearby large tree. The space between roots was slightly larger, allowing them to curl up without touching this time. The night wasn't kind as a wind started up. The cold, winter air made Silver shiver slightly, especially with the small patched of fur that had been burned off.

Silver looked up as he felt a paw touch his side. Eve was up again and standing next to him. "If y-you're cold, I-I could lie n-next to you," she offered.

Silver nodded, and Eve curled up next to him. Though it was slightly awkward, Silver surprisingly enjoyed the feel of their fur touching. With Eve next to him, the slight chill left him and he fell into a content sleep.

(0)

Silver woke up and smiled as he felt Eve's soft fur against his back. Eventually, they both got up and headed out once again; there was little else to do. The air was still cold even as the sun began to rise. Silver wasn't looking too forward to the coming temperatures and winter weather.

While Silver and Eve didn't converse, there were still noises drifting about. There were Pokemon here and there, most likely doing any last preparations for winter. Even with these Pokemon heading around, Silver and Eve were pretty much ignored by them all.

Near sun high, the wandering Pokemon seemed to disappear as they went back to their dens. Silver wandered for a moment if it was smart to continue searching around as winter set in, but didn't say anything to Eve. He didn't want to make her wait if she didn't want to.

After a while, Eve finally broke the silence between them. "Silver . . . why did you choose to help me? Why didn't you go to look for your family?" she asked. Before Silver could answer, she quickly added, "Oh, do you not have a family?"

"I have a family, but . . . I don't know where they are. I don't ever think I'll see them again," Silver admitted.

Eve came up next to him and touched him lightly on his back with her tail. "I'm sure you'll see them again one day," she said sympathetically.

Silver shook his head a little, but didn't say anything else. Silver's ear twitched as the undergrowth rustled nearby. He glanced over, but didn't see anything. "Did you hear that?" he asked.

Eve nodded her head in agreement. "Do you know what it was?" she whispered.

"I can't see anything, but-" Silver started.

He was interrupted as the creature exploded from the underbrush, and came right at Silver. All Silver could see was a light purple blur, before the Pokemon tackled him in the side with a cry.

"Silver!"