The island remained silent for several minutes after Green's death. Silver continued to cry for a little longer, but then forced himself to stop sobbing, and wiped his eyes roughly. He stood up, and took in a deep breath in an attempt to calm himself. Just as he began to ponder what his next move should be, with the game completed, a voice suddenly rang out.

"Congratulations, Silver! We all commend you for your victory", Ghetsis said, his voice far too kind for Silver to believe his words. "Since you're the only one alive, your collar has been deactivated. Make your way back to the school, and we'll remove it. Danger zones won't affect you, so don't worry about the path you take. We'd rather you come soon, as there's someone in particular who wants to speak with you. See you soon."

Silver's fingers brushed against his metal collar once more. For the past few days, he had been taking precautions to ensure he wouldn't wind up in a danger zone, or run into any other trouble that would result in his neck being blown to pieces. Although feelings of isolation and loneliness were still much stronger, he felt another emotion begin to build up inside him.

He was finally free.

Once more, he looked back down at Green, and then tore his eyes off the dead body. He began to walk in south-east direction, where the school was located. It felt odd to be walking so freely. The island they were placed on wasn't an area to be divided into zones, and treated like a battle field. After everything that happened, it looked just like another normal island, where people would come to for peace. He almost found it hard to imagine the island was just another home to some people, when it had been used for a fierce battle.

Unlike many of the other participants who observed the island, Silver didn't take the time to admire its beauty. He just kept walking ahead, uncertain of where his feet were taking him. He had almost forgotten what it felt like to simply walk to a certain point, without looking over his shoulder for a lurking opponent. The thought didn't make him feel as relieved as he thought it would.

As he continued walking, he noticed that the amount of trees he had walked past were growing in number. It was the first thing to grab his attention in a while, and he was almost tempted to pull out his map and see if there was a forest marked on it. In the end, he decided against it. He wasn't too keen on taking time out to observe all that he had missed out on during his time on the island. Although he wasn't eager about meeting with the supervisors once more, he did desperately want to get off the island. More than anything, he wanted to go back to Johto. He didn't realize how much he would end up missing the region until the program began.

His thoughts of returning home were interrupted as a clearing between the trees became visible. There appeared to be something hanging onto a tree, and with some dread, he realized it was a body. I've never wanted to be more incorrect before this. I've seen too many dead bodies in one day, he thought, but took shaky steps forward.

As Silver walked closer, his suspicions were confirmed. A hand was pinned against the tree with the help of an arrow, and following the arm downwards, he realized that it was the same person he had battled earlier that day; N. His head hung limply, but the arrow protruding from his neck was still visible. Although it wasn't noticeable from the angle his head was at, Silver was able to make out the bloody slash where N's eye had been.

At first, Silver felt as if N had gotten just as he deserved. He willingly played the game, and appeared to show no regrets about killing the others for his own sake. Those thoughts were quickly replaced, though. Even though N had participated, he still died as a victim of the program, and nothing would change that. I won't forgive him for what he did, but he's still much better than my father or any of those other bastards will ever be, he thought.

Then, after some deliberation, he strode over towards N. With his good hand, he wrapped it around the arrow stuck in the tree. He pulled on it roughly, and it budged. After pulling it a second time with just as much force, the arrow was pulled out of the tree. N fell forward, causing the arrow in his neck to push through further.

Silver was prepared to turn the man onto his back to provide him with some dignity in death, when something caught the corner of his eye. He thought he might have just been imagining things, but he turned around nonetheless. Upon seeing what caught his eye, a part of him wished he hadn't turned around at all.

Yellow's body was curled up at the base of a tree. While her face looked peaceful, the rest of her body was a tattered mess. Gaudy cuts ran up and down her arms and legs, and there was a bloody hole on the right side of her torso.

Forcing himself to calm down, Silver forgot about N and walked over to Yellow. He did feel a little disturbed at the sight of her dead body, but those feelings of disturbance were overtaken by feelings of guilt. When he had been talking to Gold and Green about who to recruit, Yellow barely crossed his mind. It had only been a few years ago when she offered to help him find the identity of his long-lost father, and fought alongside him. Despite that, the thought of starting an alliance with Yellow never crossed his mind.

Since there didn't appear to be anyone nearby, it was safe to assume that she had died alone. That thought helped to intensify his guilt, and he couldn't help but wonder how far she would have gotten if they had all tried harder to recruit her.

He then remembered his last battle with Green. The two of them had fought brutally, and he had killed his ally in cold blood. He decided that maybe it was more fortunate that they didn't find Yellow, in the end.

As he tried to cast out all thoughts of possible 'what if' scenarios, he approached her body, and looked down at her face once more. She looked at peace, particularly compared to some of the other bodies he had seen on the island. There was nothing he could have done for her by then.

Once he was certain there was nothing to do, he stood up once more. The last thing Silver needed was to engrave the images of the deceased into his mind. Nevertheless, he cast one last look at N, who still laid facing downwards, and then started to move through the trees once more. The journey out of the small forest was much quicker than the journey in, and he found himself back on plain, flat land in no time.

In the distance, he was able to see the school. A part of him wanted to take his time, and delay his inevitable confrontation with the supervisors, but he also wanted to hurry back as quickly as possible. The sooner he got back to the school, the sooner he could finally leave. In the end, his wish to go home won, and he started walking at a much quicker pace. Also, he wanted to get as far away from the forest as possible, with the images of those two dead bodies still raw in his mind.

Silver refused to dwell on anything during the second half of his walk. He had already thought too much about what he had lost, and what could come after he won. Instead, he concentrated only on walking. His pace had only slowed down once throughout his walk. At one point, he saw silhouettes in the distance, walking in an opposite direction from him.

He felt as if his heart had leapt into his throat. There was no way anybody else should be walking around the island. He froze in place, and held his breath as he tried to get a closer look at who was standing there. After a few seconds, one of the girls turned in his direction, and he felt himself calm down. He spotted a red "R" stitched into one girl's uniform, and he realized that they were grunts. Although he was curious about why they were roaming the island, he knew that looking into it would be pointless.

Instead, Silver stood up once more, brushed himself down, and resumed his original route towards the school. The rest of the journey had been quiet, and he tried to keep his head down. He was afraid that if he looked up, he would see another dead body, or encounter another scenario similar to the one he faced minutes before.

He made his way to the front of the school, where the doors were wide open. The five supervisors stood at the door, with Giovanni in the middle. Another man stood there as well, but Silver couldn't recall seeing him in the classroom. Judging by the tool-like objects the man was holding, he reckoned that he was the person in charge of the collars.

"Welcome back, Silver. Come in", Giovanni spoke warmly, extending his arms.

Silver glared up at him, despising his father's warm way of speaking. There were many things he thought of doing. He could have attempted to strangle him as he nearly did with Green, or yell out every thought he had been repressing ever since he was announced as the winner. He didn't do any of that, though.

Instead, he obeyed Giovanni's request. He pushed past the other supervisors, and went back inside the school.


The supervisors had escorted him to a room adjacent to the classroom. Judging by the layout of it, the room appeared to be used as the teacher's lounge. Lysandre escorted Silver over to one of the plush chairs. Opposite his chair was a small coffee table, and another singular armchair. He looked up Lysandre suspiciously.

"We aren't waiting around, Silver. The four of us need to start preparing the boat for departure. Giovanni requested to speak with you in private, and we've decided to allow it. Make your conversation quick, if you can. We'd much prefer to leave before the sun fully sets", he explained calmly.

Silver didn't respond, but he sat forward slightly. He looked over at Colress, who still held tools in his hands. When they made eye contact, the man flinched slightly, and turned toward Ghetsis. After a few seconds of talking quietly, Colress looked back over at Silver, smiled warmly, and proceeded to walk over towards him.

"I take it you're ready to have your collar taken off?" he asked, his tone overly polite.

Upon hearing his tone, Silver felt like scowling. After having a collar wrapped around his neck for two days, he was more than ready to see it come off. He didn't understand why the scientist would need to ask such an obvious question, but he decided not to ask why. Instead, he stood up silently, and opened the top button of his jacket. The collar came fully into view, after it had been concealed for the past few days.

Colress turned him around, and pushed his hair out of the way, providing him a clear view of the metallic collar. He pressed the tip of a mini-screwdriver into a hole, which was minuscule, and easily looked over by many of the contestants. After fiddling for a few seconds, it became loose, and he took away a rectangular piece of the collar. Several wires of different colours were revealed. Colress replaced his screwdriver for a pair of tweezers, and separated the wires from one another. Previously hidden by several wires, a small, black latch was revealed at the base of the collar. He pulled back the little latch, and the collar opened. I truly created a complex weapon. Who knows how this game would have turned out if it wasn't for this invention?, he couldn't help but smile, feeling a little proud.

Throughout the entire process, Silver only listened to the sound of Colress fiddling with the collar, but upon feeling the object loosen around his neck, he stood up straight. He only noticed how much suffocating the collar had been when the collar was taken off. Instinctively, he touched his neck, defined by the imprinting that the collar left behind. As he did so, Colress removed it fully, and turned Silver around once more, dangling the collar in front of him.

"There, it's done. It must feel good to have it off!" Colress said.

When he was met with a glare, his smile faded a little, and he took a step back. He looked over at Ghetsis, who was still standing in the doorway. His attention was briefly distracted from Colress when Giovanni pushed through the other supervisors, and made his way over to Silver.

"Ignore his attitude. I assume that the last thing you need is to be around a person like him right now. Would you wish to sit back down? We might not have very long, but I'd still like to talk to you", Giovanni offered. He sat down in the seat opposite Silver's, and watched him expectantly. Silver paused for a minute, and then slowly sat down.

"Sure", he said quietly. It was the first time he had spoken since killing Green. His throat still felt dry, and his croaky tone didn't go unnoticed.

"Colress, before you leave, making some coffee for the father and son, would you?" Ghetsis prompted, causing Colress to freeze in his footsteps.

He nodded, turned around, and began to walk towards the small kitchenette, when Silver suddenly stood up once more. All of the other men turned towards him, surprised by his sudden movement. Once he straightened himself up, he spoke up.

"I can do it if you need to get onto the boat", he offered quietly.

"Really? I find it rather strange that you're-" Ghetsis began, but was cut off.

"It's only coffee. I can do that much", Silver mumbled, averting his gaze elsewhere.

Ghetsis watched him cautiously as he stood up and walked towards the kitchenette. Colress stepped back, and rejoined the other supervisors. Silver pulled out two coffee mugs, carefully attempting to take care of his injured hand. As he started to boil water, Colress turned to Ghetsis and shrugged. Ghetsis watched him for a few more seconds, and then turned on his heel.

"Such an obedient child! We'll leave you to it, Giovanni", he said, and walked out of the teacher's lounge. The other supervisors, who had watched quietly, followed him. Pryce lingered in the doorway for a moment, and then followed too, leaving Giovanni and Silver alone.

Giovanni occasionally glanced over at his son, but eventually relaxed into the armchair, and took in the pleasant aroma of coffee that was beginning to waft through the air. His eyes were beginning to close, but when he heard footsteps approach once more, he opened his eyes and sat up.

"Here", Silver said, and placed a mug of coffee on Giovanni's side of the table. The man noticed how he seemed to struggle with putting the mug down, considering he was using the hand that had been hit.

He then walked over to the other armchair, and placed his own mug on the table as well. Giovanni uttered a quick thank you, and picked up the mug. His lips barely touched the mug when Silver suddenly spoke up once more.

"Wait a minute. Let's start talking first. There has to be something you want to talk about, right?" he said, his tone firm.

Giovanni glanced up at him, and was almost surprised by how intensely Silver was glaring at him. It was the look of a boy who had been through far too much, and Giovanni couldn't help but feel slightly guilty, considering he had been the one to put his son through all of that. Even though he had wanted Silver to live, he knew that there would be a strong possibility that his son would want to see him dead.

"Hmm? Alright, if that's what you want. Firstly, I have something to give you", Giovanni said, and placed the coffee mug down on the table. Silver briefly lost his intimidating look, and raised his eyebrows questioningly.

Feeling a little more at ease, Giovanni reached into his coat pocket, and pulled out a wooden box. He slid it across the table. Silver was quick to grab it, but hesitated before opening it. When he finally decided to, his eyes widened upon seeing what was inside.

Placed inside six little slots were Pokeballs. It didn't take Silver long to notice that they were his Pokemon. He was slightly ashamed of the fact that he barely wondered where they were, and how they were doing, during his time on the island. He put aside his guilt upon seeing how much Weaville's Pokeball was shaking, as the small creature demanded to be let out.

He took the Pokeball out, and pressed the button in the center to release him. Weaville popped out, and promptly wrapped its arms around Silver's neck, carefully trying to avoid scratching him with its claws. As Silver attempted to close the case, he almost felt happy to have his Weaville back. It occurred to him just how much he ended up missing his Pokemon throughout his time on the island.

Once the case was closed, he settled Weaville down on his lap, and looked at Giovanni expectantly. Giovanni had been watching his reunion with his Pokemon with some feeling of warmth, which he quickly tried to hide once Silver looked up. He already knew that the boy wouldn't tolerate any warm behaviour from any of the supervisors, right then.

"I suppose I should start talking, shouldn't I? Green was right. I do care about you, Silver. Throughout the program, I was rooting for you to win. I don't know how much my words mean to you, but I hope you know that putting you in this game never meant I don't care for you any longer", he said slowly.

"If you really cared about me, then why did I end up in this stupid game in the first place?!" Silver snapped, causing his Weaville to flinch and look up at him confusedly. He had much more to say, but he couldn't find a way to get it all out at once. Instead, he decided he'd handle each question one at a time.

"I had no choice! In our preliminary meetings, I protested against your entry into the program several times, but our primary goal was to punish all the Pokedex holders. If we made you an exception, it might have made all of our plans null and void. I did fight for you, but the decision made was final. Ghetsis even offered up his own son to be put in the program to appease me. Think what you will, but I certainly hope you understand that I do care about you."

Silver clenched his fists tightly, and visibly began to tremble. He opened and closed his mouth, as if he couldn't decide on what to say. Internally, he was completely conflicted. It was easy to believe that Giovanni did fight to keep him out of the program, but that didn't mean he deserved to be forgiven. He was still willing to let Blue, Gold and Kris fight to the death, and that was something he refused to overlook.

"Silver? Do you have something to say?" Giovanni questioned, trying to prompt the boy to speak. After thinking it over for a few moments, Silver looked up.

"Why?" he asked softly. His voice was much calmer than either of them expected it to be.

"What do you mean by that? Be more specific."

"Why did all of this happen? If you allowed everyone to die, there better be a good reason for it.I won't accept the idea that all of this was for nothing. I want to know everything", Silver murmured, running his fingers absentmindedly through Weaville's fur.

Giovanni sighed, and sat back in his chair. Silver glanced up at him suspiciously. His father didn't look back at him, and instead looked down thoughtfully, as if he were carefully deliberating his words. Finally, he looked back at Silver.

"If you want to know everything, I should tell you. As the winner, you deserve that much. What we told you in the classroom was true; we were sick of young teenagers defeating us, particularly after so much work went into our plans. We all had enough. I heard that Team Plasma were defeated, but in the progress of trying to get back up on their feet, and I contacted their leader, Ghetsis. I have to say, his attitude annoyed me at first, but he did have good ideas. We decided to get in contact with other group leaders, and eventually, we decided on the program.

"It wasn't my idea. Lysandre was the one who suggested it. We were all originally skeptical, but he was also the only team leader who had yet to be defeated by any of your lot. He wanted to ensure it stayed that way, and the only way to ensure it was to hold a competition like this. He was concerned that a Kalos Pokedex holder would prove to be victorious, but those fears were quenched quickly."

Briefly, he stopped to take in a deep breath. Silver and Weaville watched him intently. The man smirked a little upon seeing his son's intrigued look, and continued.

"Also, we agreed that this was the punishment which came with the most long-term effects. Soon, the families of the deceased are going to hear about what happened on this island. That information will travel quickly, and professors will be too terrified to recruit talented children any longer. Our goal was to instill fear, Silver. If people are terrified, they won't come near us. It was the cruelest possible punishment we could think of, but it's effective. As organizations, we can't let ourselves keep falling at the hands of teenagers. We had to do whatever we needed to ensure our plans thrived", Giovanni explained, trying to keep his tone calm and collected.

Silver stared up at his father in disbelief. Weaville looked up at its owner questioningly as the redhead's hands began to tremble. Biting his lip, he tried to think of a suitable response, but realized that there was no point in trying to be rational any longer. Keeping a tight hold on his Weaville, he lunged forward, almost knocking over his cup of coffee.

"You did all this because you were scared of a bunch of children?! You're all cowards! How is that any way to justify killing teenagers?! How could you?!" he yelled, no longer trying to keep himself calm.

Giovanni flinched, but tried not to show that he was intimidated by his son's sudden show of anger in any way. He did expect Silver to show disdain towards their plans. Once again, he tried to remind himself to simply be relieved that Silver was still alive.

"I can understand why you're angry. Try to think of our reasoning more when your grief lessens. Besides, do you think taking out your anger on me will really bring back your dead friends?" he quizzed.

Silver glanced down, and grimaced. He knew that arguing with Giovanni wouldn't bring them back, but he still found it necessary to get across just how awful the concept of the program had been. Once more, he glanced up at Giovanni, but instead of responding, he simply picked up his cup of coffee, and took a sip from it.

Seeing Silver take a sip had reminded Giovanni of his own drink. For a moment, he waited to see if Silver would respond, but his son remained silent. Once he was certain the boy wouldn't start talking until he did, Giovanni picked up his own mug, and took a sip of coffee. The lukewarm liquid tasted strong, but there was a slightly acidic taste to it as well.

Then, his hand began to tremble violently, and the ceramic mug fell to the floor. It smashed to pieces instantly, causing the rest of the coffee to spill out onto the floor. He pressed his hand against his throat, and began to cough violently.

Silver stood up, still cradling his Weaville. Glaring down at his father, he reached into his pocket, and pulled out a small, orange bottle, which had been recently opened. He pushed it in front of Giovanni's face, but he barely showed any reaction. As he continued coughing, his eyes became bloodshot.

"Do you remember assigning this? The first person I killed said to do the right thing with this. At the time, I had no idea what he was talking about. Even now, I mightn't know, but I think this is the best possible thing I could do", he said, and shoved the bottle back in his pocket.

Giovanni's coughing became less frequent, and quickly turned into wheezing. Saliva formed on his lips, and dribbled down his chin, but he hardly noticed. His attempt to cough out the poisonous cyanide had been useless, and he was quickly running out of breath. He desperately tried to take in as much air as he could manage.

Eventually, his breathing came to a complete stop, and he slumped back in his chair. Silver silently watched the entire scene play out in front of him. He had become incredibly adjusted to people dying around him that it was difficult to feel terror or regret at the scene in front of him. It almost scared him.

He stood up, and let out a long sigh, as if he had been holding it in throughout their conversation. He remembered how Green's primary concern about Silver's potential victory was his possible inability to see through the task of killing Giovanni. Well, it's done. I know there were more men involved, but I'm done with the most difficult part, he thought, I hope, at least.

As Silver stared at Giovanni's dead body, he began to feel guilt well up inside him. He recalled his father's words about how he had wanted Silver to win above everyone else, and had fought to keep him out of the program. Shaking his head quickly, he stood up, grabbed his box of Pokemon, and strode away from the little seating area.

Approaching the door, he couldn't help but stop, and take one last look back over his shoulder. It was difficult to believe how simple it had been, and the lack of emotion he felt over his father's death. He decided to just be relieved that the task was done. Besides, he had dealt with enough grief in the space of one day to last him a lifetime.

Finally, he exited the exited the teacher's lounge, and strode down the hallway. A few grunts were waiting down at the end of the hallway, and they looked confused upon seeing Silver return to the front of the school alone. A well-built, intimidating man stepped forward, looking down at the new winner of the program.

"Where's Giovanni? He was in there with you, wasn't he?" the grunt quizzed, staring at Silver skeptically.

Silver opened his mouth slightly, but immediately closed it. He felt a huge wave of nausea roll over him, and he knew if he even attempted to speak, nothing would come out. Killing Giovanni had taken a larger toll on him than he expected, and he finally understood Green's worries.

Nevertheless, he was still determined to go on.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?!" the grunt barked as Silver pushed past him.

Once again, Silver ignored him. The few grunts stared onwards for a few moments, and after exchanging looks with one another, they rushed into the teacher's lounge, which led Silver to run out the school doors. He heard surprised cries from the room, and knew he didn't have long. It occurred to him then that he barely knew what his next move was going to be. He had wanted nothing more than to get revenge at that moment, particularly against his father for partaking in such a horrid plan.

I'll figure something out. Now that I've taken care of the most important task on the top of my list, I need time to think about what my next move will-

His train of thought came to a sudden halt when he felt a hand grip the back of his shoulder. Weaville cried out as it was snatched out of Silver's arms. The boy craned his neck to get a glimpse of who had taken hold of him, and raised his eyebrows upon seeing who it was.

"I warned Lysandre several times about how it would come to this. You truly were desperate to carry out your revenge, weren't you?" Pryce sneered.

The gym leader was frowning deeply. Upon meeting Silver's eyes, his grip around the back of his neck tightened slightly, and given the way Weaville cried out, Silver assumed that Pryce had tightened his grip around the creature as well. He almost felt like laughing. Of course the one person to catch him would be the same man who ruined his life at an early age.

"Now, don't get ahead of yourself. I know what you're thinking, and I don't have a firm decision about what to do with you yet. We'll decide once we get back to the mainland. For now, you're coming with us. Come on, we're ready for departure", he commanded, hoisting Silver forward.

As much as Silver wanted to resist, or take out his anger on Pryce, he decided against it. His life was on the line at that moment, and he wasn't in the mood to push it more than he already had. Instead, he walked in a south-east direction, until a ship came into view. He recognized it as the SS Aqua, which had been put out of recreational use. Pryce pushed Silver forward forcefully, causing the boy to almost stumble. Once he had found his balance once more, he walked towards the boat, which would finally take him away from the island he had spent the previous two days on.