Well, I have some free time in psychology, so I figured I'd crank out a chapter to a story. Enlightening the Soul is up, and this time around, we're infiltrating Team Rockets base!

Amy47101 does not own pokémon. Only Vale. All rights go to their respective owners.

o.0.o.0.o

The Adventure Saga

Enlightening the Soul

o.0.o.0.o

Silver stopped short as a pigeot shot into the air, catching Lyra on its back. The girl clung to the feathers of the now soaked bird as she was carried to the ground, next to her savior. Slowly, Silver lowered himself to the ground as well. The rain had cleared up by then, and villagers were marvelling at the event. Silver glanced about for the gyrados. Where had it gone? Into hiding?

"Snea!" he glanced over at his Sneasel, proudly holding up the pokéball he had given her earlier. Silver took it, glancing inside through the transparent red part. The tiny form of gyrados glared back up at him, as if annoyed by being captured, yet seemed accepting of her fate.

Saying nothing of praise towards his pokémon, he turned back to the woman who saved Lyra. She was about eighteen year's old with long brown hair. Her clothes were soaked and her hair was plastered to her skin, indicating she had not simply walked in on Lyra falling. She had been watching the entire ordeal. She was running her hand over her pidgeot's feathers in an almost thoughtful manner, keeping her green gaze trainer solely on him.

"Lyra, are you okay?" he finally asked, deciding to ignore the woman.

"A little shaken up, but I'm fine." Lyra said. She was suddenly tackled by a blue streak. Lyra stumbled over, laughing as Dragonair wrapped herself protectively around Lyra. "Dragonair! Dragonair, I'm fine!"

The brunette woman stepped forward, holding out her hand to the Dragonair. Dragonir blinked for a moment, before Lyra nodded, indicating it was okay. The woman ran her hands along the pokémon's scales in a curious manner, as if trying to figure something out.

"Oh my Arceus…" Lyra murmured. Silver rose an eyebrow at her quiet behavior. "OH MY GOSH, you're Leaf Green!"

Aaaaand there it was.

Lyra practically tripped over Dragonair to get to the famous champion. Leaf widened her eyes, taking a step back from the excited girl. Lyra only gripped her hands and began shaking them furiously.

"I don't know if you know this but I am a HUGE fan!" Lyra bubbled, grinning. "You're my role model! I'm a dexholder too, did you know that? Did you know you had juniors? I'll bet you didn't! Anyways," with a quickness that even Silver had trouble comprehending, Lyra whipped her journal out of her bag and practically shoved it under Leaf's nose. "Sign my journal please!"

"Leaf!" Silver turned, and saw a multitude of press and news reporters flocking to them, hoods to their ponchos down as the rain had stopped. Obnoxious reporters began shoving multitudes of microphones and tape recorders under Leaf's nose. Literally, one of them actually bonked her nose.

"What's happened here at the Lake of Rage? Care to comment?"

"Is it true Team Rocket is regrouping? What's your opinion on this?"

"Leaf! Where's Gary? I've heard you've eloped!"

Silver raised an eyebrow as the questions went from inquiries about Team Rocket and their plans to Leaf and her romantic life. Silver, all in all, got shoved aside with Lyra, the reporters much more interested in the person holding the title of youngest champion yet. Leaf looked slightly nervous, and unless you had a trained eye, Silver was sure no one would notice. But the furrow of her brow and glimmer of confusion behind her eyes was enough for him.

Leaf only withstood the barrage of questions thrown at her for a minute longer before she took a hesitant step back, as if alarmed by the onslaught of people. Her brow furrowed for a moment, before she finally just turned and abruptly gestured to her pigeot. The bird squaked, hissing a the reporters and even pecking at the shoes of those who continued to gather around. Satisfied that the reporters were a good distance away, the pokémon flapped it's wings, grabbing Leaf's shoulders with its claws, and flew off.

"Leaf? Leaf!" Lyra exclaimed, looking prepared to chase after her, only for Silver to stop her.

"She obviously wants nothing to do with you right now." he stated bluntly. "So leave her alone."

Lyra pouted for a moment, crossing her arms. Silver glowered at her.

"What were you thinking?"

"I was thinking about getting her autograph." Lyra whined, still unhappy

"No!" Silver shook his head with a glare. "I meant flying over a lake, fighting an obviously feral pokémon, in the middle of a storm to boot! You could've been killed!"

Lyra flinched at his yelling.

"I was just trying to help!" she exclaimed. "The gyrados was in obvious pain and I was trying to calm it down."

"That's not your job!" Silver shot back. "You're just a trainer! Let someone else handle it, weakling!"

Lyra blinked at him, and Silver was sure she was gonna cry. He did not want to deal with crying Lyra, honestly. He didn't like it when she was crying. Frankly, he didn't like it when she was anything but her happy, bubbly, sickeningly sweet annoying self. He didn't know how to deal with any other emotional state she was in.

He was, dare he say, used to her bubbly attitude.

Instead of crying like he expected her to, she instead shook her head with a laugh.

"When was the last time you called me a weakling, Silver?" she asked. Silver blinked, actually having to think about that. It has been a while, hadn't it?

"That's insignificant." Silver spat with a shake of his head. "We're going to that shop in town and storming it."

Lyra blinked.

"Why?"

"Because it's obviously suspicious." Silver said. Lyra tapped her chin thoughtfully.

"They kicked me out for looking at a golden case. The owner kept saying "This is just a souvenir shop! Nothing suspicious here!"."

"And you just… believed them?" Silver deadpanned, unable to comprehend her moronicness.

"Well, I didn't have any reason to disbelieve them." Lyra mused.

"Just…" Silver shook his head and returned his two pokémon. "Follow me."

o.0.o.0.o

Upon entering the souvenir shop, Lyra expected them to suddenly be shooed out again by the owner. What she did not expect was Leaf, standing ominously in the center of the room, with her Pikachu staring angrily at the man across from them. Without a word, the woman raised her hand and pointed to the man. Pikachu was suddenly enveloped in electricity, crashing into the man and sending him slamming into the wall.

"Leaf!" Lyra exclaimed. Leaf turned, raising her eyebrow, as if asking why they were here. Unconcerned for the man laying unconscious against the wall, she held up her pokégear with the radio app up, nothing but incomprehensible static coming through the speakers. "You got that too?!" Lyra grinned, holding up her own pokégear. "Weird! I thought my gear wasn't getting a signal due to this town being so far out there, but when I saw that tower disguised as a tree out there, I knew that wasn't the case!"

Leaf nodded as Pikachu scrambled up on top her hat. Despite the fluffy creature on her head, she turned and, with seemingly a look, made the other man scramble from the case. She calmly walked forward, hardly paying the cowering man any mind, and shoved the case. Easily, it moved, as if it always had, revealing a stairwell.

"A secret door." mused Silver, glancing over it, then turning to the shop owner. "No wonder you wanted anyone out before they got to close." The shop owner glared, but said nothing. Lyra blinked.

"I'm still confused." she said, rubbing her temples. "What's going on?"

"Trouble." Silver explained, seeing as Leaf's hatted head had already disappeared down the stairs, indicating she was in no mood to explain anything. "I think they were using those radio signals to force the gyrados in the Lake of Rage to evolve."

Lyra gasped, covering her mouth to stifle the sound.

"That's horrible." she said. "No wonder they were in such pain."

"And I think we just figured out that they were coming from this shop."

"You're so smart!" Lyra complimented. Silver stared at her blankly for a moment, but didn't point out the obvious signs that this place was certainly a fraud or cover up. "Now for whether or not it was Team Rocket or the Masked Rockets." she glanced between the electrocuted man against the wall and the cowering one in the corner. "I'm not to sure they're willing to talk."

"Team Rocket." Silver stated simply. "Mask won't go public to experiment on pokémon. Too much attention. He only draws attention to himself when it's necessary. If he wants to experiment, I'm pretty sure he has a lab or something for that."

Lyra furrowed her brow as she and Silver descended the stairs.

"Why? I don't get why they insist on hurting pokémon…"

"For money." Silver responded simply. "I know what happened in Slowpoke Well. No doubt this was just a plan to make more money. Gyrados are pretty powerful pokémon, but no one wants to take the time to train a Magikarp."

"Poor Magikarp." Lyra murmured as they reached the bottom of the steps. She blinked, seeing nothing but a plain hallway with a bunch of persian statues. Leaf was staring at the statues, as if unable to go forward.

"It's a trap." Silver crossed his arms. Lyra turned to him. "These obviously are set to detect certain passes. Anyone who doesn't have a pass will set off the alarm."

Leaf hardly seemed to care, as she just pointed to the statue, and Pikachu smashed it with Iron Tail. This continued with all the statues. Lyra saw Silver facepalm.

"I'm not sure if she's the smartest person in the room or the most reckless." he muttered, glancing back up at Leaf. "Maybe she just doesn't give a shit."

"She's Leaf." Lyra shrugged, as if this justified it.

"Let's find a way to disable the security." Silver said. "And maybe wipe the memory. I don't want Team Rocket to have any evidence of me near them."

Unsure of a better idea, Lyra simply nodded, chirping out an okay.

o.0.o.0.o

It didn't really take Silver long to find the security switch, as even Lyra knew it was foolish for the Rocket grunts to leave an open laptop with the security system active.

"And that should do it." Silver stated after he disabled the system. He then promptly shut the computer, slammed it onto the ground, then let out his Nidoking. Pointing at the laptop, Silver gave a simple order. "Destroy it."

A few stomps later, the computer was but nothing but crumbled remains.

"Now what?" Lyra asked, glancing at Silver. Silver, in response turned to the scientist he had beaten up earlier.

"Well?" he asked, grabbing him by his jacket collar. "What next?"

"Eek! In order to unlock the door to the radio transmitter, you need the voice of a certain person. The name of the person is Petrel, the Team Rocket Executive! I have he is hiding in their leader's office! Unfortunately though, that room is also protected with a password…"

"What's the password?"

"Eeeeek! I don't know! I don't know! Only the executives and the boss know the password!"

Silver rolled his eyes, shoving him into the wall.

"Cowardly and useless."

"What're we supposed to do?" Lyra asked, cocking her head.

"We split up." Silver said. "And beat the password out of the Rockets."

"Okay!" Lyra nodded. "Stay safe, Silver!"

Silver watched as she jogged down the hallway, pigtails bouncing almost innocently as she moved. Sneasel let out a low growl of disapproval. He glanced at her, wondering, briefly, why he kept the pokémon out, but thought nothing of it. In case of a surprise attack, he reasoned.

"What?" he asked. Sneasel turned her head towards the direction Lyra went. "She'll be fine." He continued down the hallway. Team Rocket was no threat. Lyra was a decent trainer.

But what if she got attacked from behind? Or it came to a fist fight? Or a hoard of grunts attacked her? She may have improved, but she's not strong enough to take on a slew of rockets!

Suddenly changing his mind, something he seldom did, he rushed back in the direction Lyra went, cursing his stupidity for letting her go alone. Split up, he thought. How stupid was he?! This was like those annoying shows or movies where people split up! It never ends well because someone ends up getting chased or killed!

The readhead bolted around the corner, stopping short as he spotted Lyra talking to Leaf.

"Leaf," Lyra said after a straight three minutes of chattering. "Why are you fighting Team Rocket?"

"...What an odd question." Silver was surprised that Leaf actually responded. Lyra seemed surprised too, but equally delighted to have her idol talking to her. "Why? There are many reasons why. Why are you fighting Team Rocket?"

"I dunno. Because it seemed like the right thing to do." Lyra shrugged. "I mean, Team Rocket has always made Silver mad. Sometimes, I wonder if I got rid of Team Rocket, if he'd be less of a grump, you know?"

Silver widened his eyes in surprise. That was her reasoning? Because it might make him happy? What the everliving fuck was wrong with this girl?! How could someone care so much about someone who hates her, despises her presence, hurts her, and wants her gone?! How could one person care that much?! He knew he his rage was radiating off him in full force, but somewhere, deeeeeeeep in the depths of the black hole he calls a heart, he had to admit that someone putting themselves into dangerous situations simply for his sake felt… nice. In a way.

"That's a noble wish." Leaf murmured. "I'm a selfish person in comparison to you."

"That's silly!" Lyra exclaimed. "You're Leaf Green, the noble, beautiful, wonderful, powerful, Leaf Green!"

"They murdered my father." Leaf said bluntly. "And I'm taking them down to avenge him."

A pause.

"I watched him die. I later listened to a recording of what happened. It was horrible. I hated what I saw, what I was incapable of stopping. I hated what they did to my family, how it tore my mother apart

His eyes widened in shock and horror. He had always assumed the greatest crime of these pointless group of wannabe criminals was robbing trainers of their pokémon. He never assumed that they actually would go to the limit of killing someone, let alone in front of a kid. He was vaguely aware of Leafs father, after all, a few years back, that was all people could talk about.

It all suddenly made sense as to why Leaf was fighting these bastards. She wasn't fighting against Team Rocket as a hobby or for some self-righteous 'duty' for being the strongest champion; she fought to avenge her fathers death. He knew that Leaf saw him in what notoriously went down as 'The Final Battle', hell, she even took a hyper beam for him.

Leaf was a smart woman. It was only a matter of time before she connected the dots and figured out who he really was. No doubt she'll spread the news to the other dexholders, including Lyra. What on earth would she think?

"Lyra cannot find out." Silver muttered, clenching his fists. He peeked back at the two, and saw Leaf staring thoughtfully at Lyra's back, watching the younger girl climb some stairs to another corridor. No way he could talk Leaf out of keeping who he was a secret.

He'd just have to scare her into telling no one.

o.0.o.0.o

Leaf moved through the Rocket hideout much like one would take a stroll in the park. Defeating the Rocket Grunts were easy. She didn't even have to switch from Pikachu yet.

"Hey, you!"

Leaf paused, then turned to see who had called out to her. Recgonizign the scowl and the hair, Leaf recalled him being at the Lake of Rage, his Sneasel having captured the shiny gyrados. Unsure how to handle the situation at hand, Leaf chose to say nothing at all. The redheads face flushed in anger.

"Say something why don't you! I saw you talking to Lyra, so you aren't completely mute, Leaf Green!"

Confusion flickered in Leafs mind. She knew this boy wasn't a part of Team Rocket, so he couldn't be a serious threat. After all, why would a Rocket put a stop to their own plans? Why would he infiltrate his own base.

"We're battling. Now!" he glared, unleashing the gyrados. Leaf stared up at in unblinking. "I saw you rescue Lyra. That was my job!" He seethed angrily.

Now Leaf felt even more confused. This boy was obviously acquainted with Lyra. Now the true question was whether he was being overprotective or possessive over her. Either way, Leaf did not feel comfortable knowing this boy was spending time around the innocent brunette girl.

"You should be grateful I rescued your friend." she finally said. "I don't have time to deal with children. Now, leave before you get both of us caught."

"Children-?!" he exclaimed angrily unleashing two of his pokémon, a Nidoking and Gyrados. "That's it! Let's battle, right here, right-!" Leaf hardly batted an eye as frenzied fines smashed into the two pokémon, effectively knocking them out. The redhead glanced over his shoulder as the vines retreated back to her Venusaur, utterly baffled as to the one hit KO she had just dealt him. "Damn you!" he cried out to the two fallen beasts, bringing out more pokémon, this time a Quilava, a Golbat, a Gengar, and his sneasel.

Even with a type disadvantage, Leaf easily swatted his team aside. There was a long silence as he returned his pokémon to his pokéballs, scowling.

"I've never lost to anyone but Lyra…" he trailed off, snapping his head up with a glare. "You only won because my pokémon are weak." he said defensively.

"Fool." Leaf shot back. "You lost because you're a horrible trainer." He snapped his gaze up at her. "They way you treat them… Your pokémon fought to the best of their ability, but you're holding them back. By berating and belittling them with every little mistake, it's stunting their growth. Refusing to give them the love and attention they deserve… you're the weak one."

"I'm not weak." Silver spat.

"They're more afraid of you then they are of their opponent in battle. You don't trust them and they, in turn, do not trust you. For that reason, they hesitate, and for that reason, you lose."

"What do you know?" Silver shot back, glaring at her. Leaf kept her gaze steady.

"Did this happen to you when you were little? Did someone constantly tell you how stupid and weak you were, and how you wouldn't amount to anything? How you're useless?"

"Shut up." Silver growled out.

"You share this trait with the Rocket grunts, who push and punish their pokémon to the point of near brainwashing. And in my eyes, you're not better than them."

I said SHUT UP!" Silver finally roared. "I don't need some lecture from a hermit who lives on a mountain! You think you're some noble hero? That's a load of shit and you know it! You're selfish! You're just hunting down the group who killed your dear old Pop and you could care less about those under you!"

Leaf was silent for a moment.

"I will admit," she finally said. "That my intentions are less than noble or heroic. But I have my strength because I trust my partners. And I use that strength to protect those I care about. All my strength and glory?" she scoffed. "Meaningless, if I can't even protect those I hold close." her emerald gaze caught his silver one, both stared hard and cold like the respective mineral. "If you think you're so strong, then tell me this: Would you have made it in time to save Lyra had I not been there?"

And like that, Leaf knew she had struck a cord with the younger boy. He looked utterly baffled, then a look of doubt mixed with worry crossed his face. Finally, he bowed his head, shading his eyes. Leaf lowered her gaze, returning her Venusaur. Passing him, she dropped an item by his feet, an item that would allow him to heal his entire team.

"Learn from your mistakes, boy, or else you will become something you truly despise."

And with that last piece of advice, Leaf left him standing in that hallway, continuing on her mission to put a stop to Team Rocket.

o.0.o.0.o

Silver had too much pride to use the potion that Leaf gave him, so he decided to wander around with fainted pokémon.

"Score! This must be it, Dragonair!" he heard a familiar voice exclaim. Turning the corner, he saw Lyra talking to her Dragonair. She looked just about ready to punch in the passwords to the door, when she blinked, turning to him. I bright smile lit up her face as she approached him. "Silver!"

"Humph, you must really like Team Rocket so much to be messing with them every other week." he said, crossing his arms, though speaking as if he cared. "... It seems that girl really was Leaf Green."

"Of course it was!" Lyra smiled. Silver felt his eye twitch at her enthusiasm.

"My Pokémon were no match at all." he huffed. "I don't care that I lost. I can beat her by getting stronger Pokémon. It's what she said that bothers me… " he trailed off, catching Lyra's curious gaze. "She told me that I don't love and trust my Pokémon enough."

His honesty there surprised him for a moment. Lyra had always been pretty open and truthful about everything to him, even telling him of her obviously hard and painful past, while she knew literally nothing of him.

"I'm furious that I lost to a bleeding heart like her. I hate that said bleeding heart is somehow the greatest champion of this century. I hate it all."

"Silver…" Lyra trailed off, reaching out for him. Silver felt his temper flare at that. She only pitied him. That was it. She thought he was some lonely, abandoned, sad little boy who was confused and lost and she pitied him for it. He didn't want, nor need, her stupid, pointless, pity…!

"I don't have time for the likes of you!" he snarled at her, shoving her back. Lyra visibly flinched at his tone, retracting her hand to her chest as if he burned her or something. The moment the words left his mouth and entered her ears he regretted it.

I use my strength to protect those I care about.

To protect those we love…

Would you have made it in time to save Lyra had I not been there?

Learn from your mistakes, boy, or else you will become something you truly despise.

Leafs words still rung like a bell in his head. It was all to overwhelming, those haunting words coupled with Lyra's hurt look…

So he turned and ran. Just as Mask would have. Just as his own father would have.

o.0.o.0.o

Lyra felt a pang of hurt and sorrow as Silver shoved her away. Tears bubbled in her eyes, threatening to spill as she bowed her head down. Why did he push her away? Hadn't they gotten closer? Hadn't they bridged the gap? Why the sudden hostility? How could they go from getting along mutually to suddenly being worlds apart?

Had… Had she done something wrong?

Dragonair whined in concern, nuzzling her snout into Lyra's cheek. Lyra smiled, wiping away any tears that did dare to fall, and comfortingly patted her pokémon.

"It's okay, Dragonair." she said. "I'm fine. Let's go." She turned back to the keypad and typed in the two passwords that she had gotten off of grunts. The door slid open, and Lyra walked into the room.

"Alright, executive!" she said, pointing heroically at the executive. "You're going down!" A man sitting at a desk across from them had poorly slicked back purple hair and dark droopy eyes. He seemed to be hunched over, even while sitting.

"What?!" he exclaimed. " Who are you? This is the office of our leader, Giovanni."

"Giovanni is gone!" Lyra declared. "Leaf defeated him years ago, with Gary, Fire, and Dayna! Why are you even back?" The man stroked his chin in thought as he stood.

"Excellent question, my dear. You see, since disbanding Team Rocket three years ago, he has been in training. But we are certain he will be back some day to assume command again. That's why we're making a comeback! It's all in an effort to make sure Giovanni has something worth coming back too. I, Petrel won't let anyone disturb this place!"

And with that, Petrel sent out a Raticate, a Zubat, and Koffing. Lyra raised her eyebrows at the rather underleveled pokémon, and giggled slightly as Dragonair easily sweeped the team. Petrel pathetically whimpered.

"G-Giovanni… I couldn't do a thing… Please forgive me!" then he bolted out the door. As Lyra turned to glance after him, he saw Leaf standing in the doorway, eyes fixed on the fleeing executive.

"Leaf! What are we going to do? I think the door is voice protected, and we can't get through!"

"Then we break it down." Leaf stated simply, gesturing for Lyra to follow. Without missing a beat, Lyra jogged after Leaf. Oddly enough the entire base seemed empty, devoid of grunts that seemed to populate the hallways. Lyra kept up with her idol until they reached the front room. Leaf studied it for a moment.

"Electronic." she said simply. Her pikachu, still sitting idly on her head. "Override it."

Pikachu nodded, hopping off her hat and giving her and Lyra a chance to back up. Once they were a good distance away, the electric type let out a jolt of electricity, causing the lock to explode. Leaf stepped forward, pushing it open with her bare hands. Her eyes flicked about the room, a confused look on her face.

"What is it?" Lyra asked, ducking under her arm. Her face was slightly shocked to see what was on the other side.

A young man, judging from his physique, in a gray hoodie with his hood up. He was gently running his hands over the Electrodes. The generator had stopped, and everything seemed, oddly enough, peaceful.

"Hey!" Lyra suddenly snapped her fingers, pointing at him. "You're that guy who saved Silver!"

The young man glanced up, looking confused for a moment.

"Who?"

"Silver? You know, red hair, falling from hovercraft, all that? You were with Vale?"

"Oh, him." the young man turned back to the Electrode. "These guys were trapped in capsules, unable to move, only able to provide their electricity for Team Rockets' own needs." he shook his head. "Despicable."

"So you're helping us? That's great!" Lyra grinned.

"I suppose so." the hooded boy said. "I'm going to release these guys to the wild. They don't deserve to be here any longer than possible."

Leaf and Lyra watched as the young man lead the pokémon out the door. While Leaf seemed to be eyeing him up suspiciously, Lyra seemed happy to have him around.

"Leaf, isn't it good to have such a good person on our side?"

Leaf shot her a long glance, then moved her gaze back to where the young man was, deciding to not respond.

o.0.o.0.o

"Tch," a redheaded woman muttered annoyingly as she reviewed the security tape. Her fingers reached up and flicked a certain pigtailed brunette. "You really are strong. It's too bad. If you were to join Team Rocket, you could become an Executive." her eyes flicked to Leaf. "You were holding back. Do you see her spark too?"

Her eyes flicked to a certain camera, to a certain image of a certain young man with red hair and an odd spike on his head.

"But that's fine. The broadcast experiment was a total success. It doesn't matter what happens to this hideout now. We have much bigger plans." she sighed eyes flicking between the two younger trainers. "How long are you going to obsess over that girl? And how long are you going to play with his emotions? Do either of you realize what you're doing to the other?"

A pause.

"Whatever. You'll come to appreciate Team Rocket's true power soon enough, my son. Soon, we'll find your father and we can be happy and together again, just like we were supposed too." her gaze flicked to Lyra. "And as for you... Enjoy yourself while you can. Once I reclaim my boy, you'll be nothing but a distant memory. Hee hee hee…."

o.0.o.0.o

Well, well, well. That was a pretty good chapter if you ask me. I'm happy with it. Leaf lectured Silver, we got some life lessons, Hood appeared, and a mysterious ending.

Alls well that ends well!

Amy47101 signing off! ^.^