*~~*Chapter 9: The Night Watch: Silver's Viewpoint*~~*


I watched with slight interest as Kotone picked at her salad, her hearty stew already in her stomach. Her left cheek was puffed out as she purposefully separated the pink Payapa berries from the leafy greens. Since when have you hated a salad?! I stirred the meager remains of my own stew as her mother frowned at her.

"Koto dear, I thought you liked Payapa berries." Pinkish-hazel eyes grew wide as she violently shook her head.

"No way! Those berries are nasty! I'd much rather just have seconds of the stew!" Her mother and I both frowned deeply at her rude behavior. Our dinner had mostly been eaten in silence, excluding the rude remarks from the oddly behaving girl. Our Pokémon had also eaten relatively quietly, both of the teams sticking to their own teammates as they munched on special Pokéfood that looked like actual food rather than the brown pellets such as my team usually ate.

Her mother sighed as she picked out the rest of the pink chunks and fed them to the eagerly waiting Ralts, who ate them and immediately acted dizzy. My eyes grew wide as Kotone's Togetic Joy grabbed the hatchling and held it gently as her starter waddled over, worried and frantically roaring at the mother for feeding the infant Pokémon something off-diet. June the Ampharos came over, shushing the Typhlosion before taking the Feeling Pokémon in her paws and rocking it gently, soothing the bewildered Pokémon.

Kotone and her mother were oblivious to the scene and as I turned my attention back to the table only to find them staring—or in Kotone's case, glaring—at me. "Silver?" Her mother cocked her head at me. "Is something wrong?"

I huffed as I pointed to the still-dizzy Pokémon in June's arms. "Yeah. Ralts doesn't seem to like those Payapa berries too much. He's acting like he's sick." Her green eyes widened as she turned towards the commotion, Kotone motioning across her throat at me frantically. I just raised an eyebrow at her as her mother gasped.

"Oh, dear me! How could I be so foolish?!" She quickly exited her chair and took the still nauseous Ralts from the motherly June. Kotone waved her hands at her mother as if she was begging her not to say anything else. What's your problem, Kotone? "Of course Ralts is acting sick! I can't believe I fed him a Payapa berry!"

"What's wrong with a Payapa berry?" Kotone turned to me with a look of utter fury, her eyes just hateful slits on her face. "I liked it and Kotone used to like them pretty well. I remember she would always snack on one when she came to visit me..." Kotone started to growl at me, making me look at her with a confused face.

"Well, a Payapa berry really has no effect on you or me. As for Pokémon, it lowers the power and abilities of a Psychic Type attack or Pokémon." My eyes grew wide as Kotone acted as if she was about to strangle her mother. "So for Ralts, it was like feeding him poison! Poor little dear!" Kotone suddenly pushed out from the table and stood up, brushing herself off with a grunt. Her mother turned around, startled by the loud sound of wooden legs scraping across the highly polished floors.

"Well, I'm bushed!" Kotone faked a yawn before stretching over her head, exposing her stomach for a few seconds. I found myself staring at the exposed skin, unable to look away before it was quickly hidden once again. "I'm gonna hit the hay!" Her mother raised an eyebrow before nodding at her daughter.

"Alright Koto. I'll see you in the morning, dear~!" Kotone nodded a tad too eagerly before trying to zip past her mother. The woman grabbed the fleeing girl by the arm and clicked her tongue. "Kotone Soul!" I found myself cringing at the sudden use of two names instead of the usual first. I may not have had a mother like Kotone's, but when my father had used my full name a few times...those conversations never ended well. "And just where do you think you're going?!"

Kotone looked at her mother with a look of utter hatred, the mere glare alone making a shiver run down my spine. "Um, I going to bed!" Since when have you been the terrifying one?!

Her mother clicked her tongue once again, shaking her head at her daughter's rude tone. "Not without a goodnight kiss, young lady!" Her mother gave her a quick peck on the cheek, the action creating a look of disgust flash across her face. "My you're cold, dear! Now, you know how this works. We've had the same bedtime routine since you were just a toddler!" She then pointed to her own cheek, making both Kotone and I raise an eyebrow. Her mother waited before letting out a sigh. "You have to give me a kiss too, little stinker! Honestly, you're acting so off tonight."

Kotone stuck out her tongue before giving the woman a light peck on the cheek, rubbing her mouth frantically after doing so. She turned to dash away when her mother tugged on her arm gently. "Excuse me! Don't you have something for our guest as well, Koto?" My face burned fiercely as her mother suddenly dragged me into this.

"Whoa whoa whoa whoa!" I waved my hands in front of me as her mother simply smiled at my behavior, Kotone's eyes growing wide before becoming daggers at my face. "What are you talking about?!" Is she trying to make Kotone kiss me goodnight?! You've gotta be kidding me! My mind kept on racing, bewildered by her mother's words. ...Do the guests get kisses on the cheek too or do they get one on the forehead? I'm ruling out the nose but Kotone's family seems a tad odd, so maybe that might be still on the table... Wait, what am I thinking?! Why would I want a kiss from her, anyway?! I shook my head furiously, trying to rid myself of these strange thoughts before they poisoned my mind permanently. My feeding Gengar suddenly let out a few laughs behind me—no doubt he had been listening to my thoughts.

Kotone quickly snapped her attention to her mother and acted as if she was going to be sick. "You can't expect me to kiss him! That's just gross!" I suddenly felt offended at her words, making me grunt in slight anger.

Her mother let out a laugh before shaking her head. "Of course not! I meant for you to tell him goodnight and to thank him for rescuing you from that nasty Team Rocket's clutches!"

Kotone stuck out her tongue angrily at me when her mother wasn't looking before spitting out a goodnight and storming off in a hurry. Her mother sighed and shook her head. "I'm so sorry, she's usually much sweeter than this." I nodded in agreement as she went on, "It must have been horrifying for her, being kidnapped like that. It must have rattled her quite a bit." I simply nodded as I gulped down the last of my food; I didn't have the heart to tell her about the hypnosis her beloved daughter had received at the Rocket Headquarters in Viridian City.

"Thank you for the food." I grabbed my bowls and headed for the sink, actually making an effort to be kind to her. "I'll take care of my dishes. I can grab my team's bowls as well if you'd like." I turned to see her laughing, shaking her head at me as I tried to turn on the faucet.

"Oh no, I'll be fine! I'm sure you must be exhausted, Silver! Why don't you just leave the dishes to me and go get some rest. I can handle this. Besides," She suddenly unclipped a Pokéball from her apron, releasing a Chansey—much to my surprise. "I can always ask Luck here for some help!" She smiled at the Egg Pokémon, who gave me a beaming grin of her own.

"Chansey!" The Pokémon gave a salute and suddenly snatched my dishes from my hands, turned on the faucet and set to work. I stood there for a moment, completely off guard that Kotone's mother actually had a Pokémon of her own.

"You...have a Chansey?" I slowly walked back to my team, Weavile rolling his eyes at my foolishness.

"Of course I do!" Kotone's mother laughed at my question, her smile growing wider. "I caught Luck as a young girl, just around when I was ten at back in Kanto. Luck's always ready to help me take care of Kotone when she's sick or just to help with some things around the house." Luck nodded and went back to work washing the dishes.

"Oh. I didn't realize you were a trainer at one point." She shook her head as I absently petted my Pokémon on the head, making them release purrs and rumbles of pleasure.

"Oh, I wasn't!" She picked up Kotone's dishes, scraping the leftovers into a small container and popping it in the fridge. "I used to live in Kanto for a while as a little girl. There was a Tauros stampede once when I was playing in the yard and I was caught up in it. Naturally, I was tossed about and received quite a few injuries. I blacked out after a while and found myself alone in a patch of woods." I winced at the thought of Kotone being attacked by wild Tauros, making me shake my head to clear out the screams.

She slowly picked up the bowls left by Kotone's Pokémon, which had left relatively close to their trainer, stacking the empty dishes in her right arm. "When I stopped crying for a while, a wild Chansey came out of the undergrowth and offered me her egg. I eagerly ate the food while she cleaned up a gash on my arm. After a few days, the Chansey lead me back into town where I was found by my parents. The Egg Pokémon came to live with me and so I named her Luck, for without her, I probably wouldn't be here today." She carried the dishes to Luck and started cleaning them as well, smiling at the pink Pokémon.

"Wow." I stopped petting Gengar's head and slowly lowered my hand towards my awaiting Magnezone. "That's pretty amazing—OWCH!" I pulled my hand away and frowned at the Magnet Area Pokémon who had unwillingly shocked me yet again as I had petted his head a little too roughly.

Kotone's mother spun around nearly the second after the scream of pain had left my mouth, a worried expression on her face. "Are you alright, dear?" I gave her a nod and tried to hold back a yawn. We both jumped as the clock struck midnight. "You should really get some sleep; Kotone's quite the early riser, so breakfast will be pretty early." I nodded and slowly headed towards the stairs, my shoulders drooping with exhaustion and my knees screaming at me for climbing up another flight of stairs. "Goodnight, Silver."

"Uh huh. 'Night." I slowly climbed the stairs, Feraligator right behind me and my Growlithe bringing up the rear. I sighed as I dragged my feet across the floor, not looking forward to climbing the last flight of stairs. I had just stepped onto the first step when Weavile let out a laugh behind me. I turned and glared at him to find my team peeking into the last door on the right. "What are you idiots doing? The attic's this way."

Weavile smirked at me and pointed inside the room. "Yeah, but Kotone's bedroom is in here~!" My cheeks felt warm as I sighed and walked over towards them, glaring at them.

"Stop peeping on her and let's go. I'm tired, in case you haven't noticed." Honchcrow laughed while Feraligatr lumbered into the attic, eager to rest as much as I was.

"Admit it~! You want to see what her room looks like~!" I growled at him as my face grew warmer. I quickly shoved them out of the way so I could close the door.

"I do not want to see how..." My voice faded as I could just make out Kotone's figure curled up sweetly in her bed, creating a little lump in the flowery blankets. Curiosity got the better of me as I slowly tiptoed into the room, making Honchcrow laugh at me once again. I tripped over a beanbag chair, making me let out a small grunt as I found myself on the floor. My eyes narrowed to try to locate her Typhlosion only to find not a single Pokémon was out of their balls, leaving her completely alone in the room. That's odd... She always lets her Pokémon out at night. I lifted myself up and slowly made my way to her bedside, squinting to see her face in the darkness. After a while, I found her face resting against her pillow, a serene look upon it as she nuzzled a small Totodile plushie in her sleep. I felt a small smile grow across my face as I reached out my right arm to brush a stray lock of hair out of her mouth, tucking it behind her ear.

"...Goodnight, Kotone..." I slowly turned back towards the way I came, walking quieter than the day I had stolen my Totodile a little more than a year ago. I slowly shut the door behind me, my smile fading as I found my Pokemon—even Feraligatr who had apparently came back down once he found himself alone—crowding around the door, breathlessly smiling at me.

"What are you all looking at?" I folded my arms at them, unhappy that my whole team had been spying on me.

Finally, Feraligatr smiled at me even wider, his sharp teeth exposed in their gleaming rows. "We just wanted to watch you, that's all. You seemed to be so nice to her when she was sleeping, although if you want to be allowed in her nest you'll have to ask her." My face burst into an all-consuming red as I shook my head furiously.

"I don't want to sleep next to her, alright?! Now, get in the attic before I make you all sleep in your Pokéballs tonight!" I shooed them with both of my hands, herding them to the staircase as I tried to remove the image of lying next to Kotone from my head.

My team ultimately listened, allowing me to finally reach the attic. It was quite the large space, a large bed with a red comforter and soft-looking pillows. There was a dark oak dresser on the far wall with a vanity mirror on top, allowing me to see just how bloodshot my eyes were. I growled and turned my attention to the small, crimson sofa that my teammates were arguing over. Growlithe had found the television and was attempting to bark at it, trying to get it to turn on. I grabbed the bridge of my nose and sighed, the strange nose getting their attention fairly easily.

"Look, I've been up since two in the morning and I want to get some stinking sleep before I have to roll out of that bed at the crack of dawn! Now, stop your whining and go to sleep!" I watched with a smirk as the Pokémon quickly found a place to lay down and closed their eyes. "Finally. Someone listens to me the first time!" I pulled out my Pokégear before I unzipped my jacket and flung it on the back of the couch, knowing I'd be too warm under the mountain of blankets. I sat on the bedside and kicked off my shoes, placed my Pokégear on the nightstand beside me before crawling into the bed and releasing a content sigh. This is much softer than a Pokémon Center's cot! So happy I managed to score a room here.

All was quiet in the darkness, lulling me to sleep with ease. "Silver?" I snapped my eyes open to find Weavile crouched on my chest, staring at me sheepishly.

"What is it? I was almost asleep." I simply grumbled as the Sharp Claw Pokémon crawled under the blankets beside me.

"I wanna sleep up here too, please." I stared at him for a while as he batted his eyelashes at me. I finally just rolled over towards the small oak nightstand and sighed.

"Fine. Just give me some space, alright?" A happy purr rumbled beside me as I rubbed my cheek against the pillow, trying to get comfortable sleeping on my side.

I had just closed my eyes again when Weavile poked my back. I growled and looked over my shoulder to find him frowning at me. "What is it now, Weavile?!"

He pointed towards the nightstand, his long claws gleaming in the small streaks of moonlight that entered the lone window. "You never called that Green guy."

"Crap!" I quickly scooped up my Pokégear, dialing the number Ethan had punched into my Pokégear what seemed like eons ago. I rolled over onto my back as I waited for him to pick up, nearly squashing Weavile as I moved. It rang only once before being snatched up.

"YOU!" I quickly held the device away from my ear as an obviously enraged Green Oak gave me the what-for. "You where supposed to call me hours ago! What happened to you?!"

"Look," I rubbed my right eye as it threatened to close again, making it droop even more. "I was returning the bird, explaining to Ethan what happened, buried alive under a stack of towels, trying to figure out what Kotone's up to, eating diner with Kotone and her mother and finally, I was trying to sleep! In case you didn't know, I've been up for quite a long time!" I could hear Weavile groan behind me, most likely mad at my rude tone.

"Well, excuse me for caring about you two!" Green's voice was loaded not only with its usual snarky attitude, but also with a dash of hurt. He let out a sigh before he went on, his voice thoughtful and calmer than what I've heard from the snotty Gym Leader so far. "Proton gave up chasing me when I hit the ocean around Cinnabar Island, I have no idea if he tried to follow you instead..." His voice trailed off as I recalled the last time I had been to Cinnabar Island, before the volcano had erupted and left it just a chunk of black asphalt. That was before I knew who my father really was, before everything sank below the Kanto Ocean. He suddenly snapped back as if he sat on a Donphan's tusk. "What do you mean 'trying to figure out what Kotone's up to'?!"

I sighed before retelling the strange behavior of the girl, Green grunting every now and again to prove he was listening. "...Keep a good eye on her. She's never acted so rude and so...violent before. What's she doing right now?"

I rolled my eyes. "Sleeping. Like I want to be doing." Green simply groaned as he rummaged through what sounded like old papers and books.

"Well, I'm going to think about what happened over there. I might be able to find some sort of pattern in her mood swings. As for you, you should go check on her one last time. I have a bad feeling about her." I groaned; the last thing I wanted to do was to leave the comfort of this bed and walk back down another flight of stairs, only to ultimately climb back up and crawl back into bed.

"Fine! I'll check on stupid Kotone! You try waking up at two in the morning and staying up for twenty-four hours!" He simply laughed like a Murkrow as I went on, "It's no picnic, Sandslash head!" His laughing ceased the instant I spat out the insult, the line growing into an eerie silence. I waited for a while before I felt a slight burst of panic when I couldn't even hear him breathing. "Green?! You still there?"

"What? Oh, yeah...I'm here..." His voice sounded distant as he spoke, I could hear a very faint crinkling noise on his end, similar to the sound of a small piece of paper. "I'm sorry, you just reminded me of someone for a moment there."

I raised an eyebrow, not really noticing the small snoring from Weavile and the fact that he was holding my left arm in his grasp as he slept. Odd. I wonder what made him zone out on me? "Well, I better go check on her." I slowly sat up and maneuvered myself to sitting on the edge of the bed, dragging the still sleeping Pokémon with me. I growled as I ripped my arm from his grasp; he just stayed asleep in a jumbled heap, oblivious to the fact I was getting up. He's been up just as long as I have... If he didn't nap inside of his Pokéball or something.

"Good idea." I heard the crinkling again and the sound of a zipper before he cleared his throat. "Well, I'll let you go for now; I have a few things left to do before hitting the sack myself. You call me in the morning, alright?"

"Alright, see ya' later." I went to hang up, pulling the device away from my ear slowly.

"Smell ya' later, Grouch~!" His voice rang out loud and clear before he clicked off the line. I groaned as I did the same.

I lazily tossed the device on the nightstand, the Pokégear barely landing on the edge of the table. I slowly pushed myself off of the bed and trudged to the door. I had just barely opened the door when I heard heavy footsteps behind me. I turned to make out Feraligatr in the low light, his teeth and eyes shining in the pale streaks of light, making him seem far more ferocious than he truly was.

"Silver?" My name came out as I yawn, allowing his many sharp teeth the chance to bask in the moonlight. "Where are you going?"

I patted him on the head, making him smile at me. "I'm just going to check on Kotone. I'll be right back."

I could see him cock his head. "You worried about her?"

I slowly shook my head. "I'm just checking on her for Green. I'd much rather be sleeping right now."

He righted his head and smiled wider at me. "You don't have to make excuses, you can admit to being worried about her. It just means you care, that's all."

I opened my mouth to yell but ended up closing it with a heavy sigh. "Look, I'm too tired to argue with you right now over stupid stuff like this. Just go back to sleep, I'm going to check on her." I gave him a short nod before turning out the door, groping the way ahead of me in the darkness. It took a while, but I finally located Kotone's bedroom door. I slowly turned the knob, my eyes still heavy with the prospect of soon sleeping.

"Kotone?!" My eyes were wide awake as I raced into the room, moonlight pouring in from an open window, her curtains flapping madly about. I searched her room; she wasn't here, neither was her belt which I had returned to her mother before eating dinner. Her red pajamas lay on the floor, an empty hanger tossed against a wall. I turned my attention to her bed and found a small note beside her Totodile doll. Expecting it to be a ransom note from Proton or perhaps even one to brag about taking her twice, I found the scrawl to be an all-too familiar female hand.

'Nice try, traitor. It takes more than an overprotective mother and a stupid boy like you to hold the Queen of Team Rocket captive!

See ya' never, Queen Kotone'

Kotone had left of her own accord...and I had let her slip out from under my very nose.


Author's Note: DUN DUN DAAAA! And the drama continues! Lots of stuff happened in here, didn't it? There was even some fluff for you guys~

And headcanon notice: Red would call Green "Sandslash Head" when he got upset with his best friend/rival, I mean the hair is just like one! Oh and the crinkling of paper...another headcanon that Green keeps a picture of Leaf, Red and himself on him at all times and will commonly pull it out of one of his many pockets to look at it.