Gloved hands adjusted her sleeve out of habit for what had to have been at least the sixth time that morning. The mission clock was ticking dangerously close to the end of the allotted timeline, and they still had no lead as to where the target had vanished to.

Gritting her teeth, she knew that they were out of time. As bad as the situation is, she wouldn't let the Team become implicated in this incident in any way. It would just be a detriment to any future endeavors.

The radio in her other hand crackled to life, and she brought it to her ear in an instant. "Ma'am, we found something near the far end of the park."

Giving an affirmative, she ran to the other side of the park. There was hardly any time left for them to work with, and she sprinted the distance in moments, trying to save as many seconds as she could. A duo of operatives motioned her over to them.

"Well, what is it?"

"Up there, Ma'am."

One of them pointed a finger into the air and she looked upwards, looking in the direction indicated. There, near the top of the tree, was a wireless camera. It was poorly duct taped to the tree, and the model itself looked to be incredibly archaic, but it was still very much functioning.

And it was looking right at the park.

She cursed under her breath and palmed one of her Pokeballs. A Roserade appeared, waiting for orders, and she pointed out the target to the Pokemon. "Roserade, bring that to me." Nodding at her, Roserade extended her vines upwards. One of them wrapped itself around the camera firmly, while the other worked to free it from the tape. The camera was lowered, and the admin took hold of it. She looked up again, scowling.

"Get rid of the duct tape. We can't leave any evidence for the police to find."

Roserade nodded once more, and the Rockets watched as sharp thorns began to stick out of the vines. Both vines encircled the tape, wrapping tautly around it and forcing the thorns to stick into the bark. Once the Roserade was sure of her grip, she yanked the vines back to her.

The admin couldn't help but savor the results.

The vines trusted around the tree rapidly, and the thorns began its work. Tiny splinters rained down upon them as the section of the tree was completely shredded by the Grass-Type. Once Roserade was satisfied, she withdrew her vines, revealing that part of the tree had been shredded a good half-inch into the bark, leaving the tree's insides exposed.

But Roserade wasn't done yet. Withdrawing her vines, the Roserade then began charging up an Aromatherapy and a Synthesis in unison. Once she was satisfied with the amount she had gathered, her arms shot up and sent the moves flying. The energy detonated above them with a flash of light, and the bark regrew immediately, leaving the tree unmarred. Looking back down, Roserade sent out a Grassy Terrain, covering the majority of the duct tape. A clean-up crew would handle the rest later. Roserade looked back towards her trainer, and the admin acknowledged the work with a curt nod before returning the Pokemon.

She pulled her glove up slightly and looked at the watch once again. They were down to their last two minutes, and she decided to call it now. The radio snapped back to her mouth as she held the transmitter. "All units, we're out of time. Head to exfil."

Multiple affirmatives reached her ears as she clipped the radio back to her waist. Heading towards the prearranged rendezvous, she looked at the camera held in her gloved hands.

Evidence. It was evidence that this was a planned event. She kept her usual exterior, but internally she was livid. After years on this stupid operation, it had fallen apart by a thrid party that had somehow been clued in on their plans.

How had the culprit known? They had been so careful, taken every precaution to make sure this project went smoothly. She had to pose as the brat's mother for however long, paired with the annoyance of an exec that was Petrel.

She'd disagreed from the start with this overly complicated operation. Vividly, she remembered striding into Giovanni's office, asking him if he'd gone mad for suggesting such an approach. He had assured her that everything would go well, and had even guaranteed a big pay raise to sweeten the deal.

Yet here she was, about to pay for the very thing she argued against.

She uttered curses again, looking at the camera. As bad as this situation was, she took solace in the fact that Giovanni wouldn't just leave them to dry. He was a man of many many things, but above all, he was an understanding person. After all, Team Rocket wouldn't be where it was today if it had been run by someone without Giovanni's level-headed nature.

But the worst thing about the situation was the undeniable truth that she'd been duped. Slighted. Deceived. Her, one of the highest ranking Rocket Admin's in the entire group, had been tricked after years on this Arceus-forsaken project. That would not stand, and there was really only one way to rectify the situation.

Domino would simply hunt down the interloper and punish them. Severely.

~0~

Ethan didn't know how long he had been running, but his legs were definitely starting to ache. Silver had already vanished deeper into the forest, and he was now lost within the forest. But considering what he had just seen, maybe staying lost was a good thing.

He stopped to take a breather. What could he even do to survive all alone? He was just a kid; he had no clue how to navigate the woods. He didn't have any skills that could help him in this situation. Catching his breath, he tried thinking of ways that he could find him again. How had he found him before?

Cyndaquil had found him. Facepalming, he sent out his Fire-type again. The young Pokemon in question was covered in scratches from the earlier fight, but was on its feet and alert once it was sent out. It looked around, before looking back at him.

His eyes met the Pokemon, and for a brief moment he was struck with a sense of pride. This was his Pokemon. His partner. They had been together for minutes, and yet the tiny Pokemon had willingly jumped to his defense. But he shelved that thought for later, bringing himself back to the current issue at hand. "Cyndaquil, do you think you can find him again?" He asked, speaking quietly.

The Cyndaquil in question cocked his head.

"I know it sounds dumb, but I need to talk to that kid again. Can you find him?"

Cyndaquil looked at him for a moment before nodding, and sniffed around. For Ethan it felt like an eternity, waiting for his partner to do his thing while he watched. He was scared, expecting the goons he saw on the camera to jump out from behind each and every tree that surrounded him.

Cyndaquil could sense his new trainer's nervousness behind him and began focusing on what he thought was the scent. Taking a moment to get a good whiff of the smell, he bounded forwards, with Ethan following closely.

Jumping over another downed branch, the boy in question hoped he was getting close. Silver left too many questions unanswered. He didn't trust him, but from what he saw on the camera, going back would probably be a very bad idea. The idea of him being chased by Team Rocket operatives sounded ridiculous, but something in the back of his mind urged him to keep running.

Cyndaquil slowed down and Ethan could see why. In front of him was civilization, in the form of a small town on the coast. He urged his Cyndaquil to continue and the two walked into the village. A large sign greeted them, declaring that they were entering Cherrygrove City.

Walking along the paved path, he looked down to Cyndaquil. The small creature was moving diligently, but he could tell that he was tired from the earlier battle. Getting the Fire-type's attention, he motioned towards the orange-roofed building. He didn't know much, but even Ethan could recognize a Pokemon Center.

Stepping inside, he saw that the interior was actually much smaller than he expected. There was no one else in the building this early in the morning, and the nurse at the counter perked up slightly when he approached her.

"Hello, how may I help you today?"

He decided to keep it simple, and tried to act like he hadn't just run in from the neighboring town. "I need to heal my Pokemon."

"Well I'll gladly take a look at it. May I see some ID?"

Uh-oh. He knew he didn't have anything of the sort on him. "One second." He put his bag on the ground and reached to open it, stalling while he thought of an excuse.

Before he could even think of a proper response, he spotted a tip of red sticking out of the bag. Pulling it out, he wondered how a Pokedex had even appeared in his bag in the first place. He handed it to the nurse as casually as he could, internally hoping that the nurse wouldn't suspect something was wrong.

Thankfully, the nurse didn't notice that his arm was trembling, and she took it with a smile. She gave the Pokedex a scan before handing it back to him. Looking at her monitor, she looked at him and said, "Thank you Silver. I'll take your Pokemon now." Ethan had been returning his partner when the name registered, and he let out a slight gasp. Had Silver shoved his Pokedex in his bag earlier? Why?

The nurse noticed his hesitation and said, "Everything okay Silver?"

"Fine. I'm fine." Ethan stammered out.

She put the ball on a tray and gave him an odd look, before shrugging. "Okay then. I'll be back in a moment, take a seat wherever." She left the counter and went deeper into the center. Taking her advice, he gazed upon the empty building and picked one of the seats against the wall.

While he waited, he opened his bag to see if anything else had been snuck inside of it. Checking each pocket thoroughly, the only things that he found were the things he had packed earlier, which wasn't much to begin with. Some snacks, his phone and wallet, and his laptop. He opened his wallet and leafed through the pockets. He had a few spare bills, but nothing else.

His thoughts went grim once more. He didn't have his own ID, he never had any use for one. But with earlier events fresh in his mind, he realized that it was just another way for his 'parents' to control aspects of his life.

He closed it and shoved it back into his bag, before pulling out the laptop. Perhaps his disappearance would already be on the news. Opening his browser, typed in the first news site that went through his mind.

What he found was...disheartening.

While the news was definitely covering the earlier theft of the starter, he couldn't find any mention of his name anywhere. It was as if he was never at the lab. As if he had never even existed. Every news site that he checked was running the same story. A Pokemon had been stolen from the lab in New Bark. But not a single one had any mention of his name, or even the fact that he'd ever been there. His thoughts went back to his lack of ID.

Ethan felt sick. Refusing to look any longer, he closed the browser and, seeing a notification, opened his mailbox. Someone had sent him something. Which was odd, because he didn't think anyone had ever sent him anything. There were no labels on the message, and the two words that were splayed on his screen didn't exactly fill him with confidence.

'Good luck'

Was this some kind of sick joke? Who sent this? Popping open the item receiver, he clicked on the attachment without hesitation. Five Pokeballs quickly materialized, and he failed to catch them all. They each fell to the floor with a loud clatter of aluminum, and he scrambled to pick them back up. Who sent these?

"Silver, your Cyndaquil is ready."

He whipped his head up and looked around, before reminding himself that he was Silver. Standing up, he went to the counter and greeted the nurse once more. She handed him the Pokeball with a smile. "He's all better now. Take care out there. And try not to drop anymore Pokeballs, you made me jump a bit there." She chuckled.

"Sorry about that," he said, and the woman just shrugged. He took his Pokeball back, and with a quick thanks, walked out of the building. The sun's rays blinded him briefly, and he put his arm up to shield his eyes. His other arm tossed the Pokeball releasing Cyndaquil again. He looked to be in much better shape now and he looked to Ethan with a smirk.

Outside the Pokemon Center, he took a look around, craning his head in both directions to see if he could spot Silver. A longshot of course, but he couldn't stop searching. Cyndaquil was much faster this time picking out the scent, and Ethan was on the move once again.

He wandered through Cherrygrove, following his starter whose nose was fast to the ground. Weaving through the everyday crowd, their search led them to the outside of a motel. Cyndaquil had no hesitation walking into the motel, and he followed close behind. A male receptionist had his nose buried into a book, and didn't even notice as the two walked by him and toward the stairs.

Going up to the second story of the building an array of rooms stood in front of him. Cyndaquil galloped down the hall, stopping halfway down and looking back towards him. He nudged his head towards the door, and Ethan got the message.

Ethan went to knock on the door when the door swung open. A hand shot out and grabbed the collar of his shirt, yanking him inside. Cyndaquil scurried in behind him, ready to defend.

"You still have my Pokedex?" A familiar voice spoke, and relief washed through his system. Ethan nodded and handed it to Silver, who took it out of his hands and slid it into his jacket pocket. He took a moment to look around the room.

It was about then when he realized that something had changed about Silver, namely his hair. When he had been tackled before, Silver's hair had been a jet-black color, like the professor had mentioned. But now, his hair was sporting a new shade of deep scarlet. Looking closely, he could see that his hair was still slightly wet. Silver leaned his back against the wall and faced him. "Heh. Took you long enough. For a second I thought you weren't gonna show."

He huffed. "Yeah? Well, I'm here. I have some questions for you."

The redhead chuckled. "I'm sure you do. Ask away, we're safe for now."

Ehtan started with what was at the forefront of his thoughts. "Did you dye your hair?"

SIlver opened his mouth for a moment, before chuckling. "Yeah, I did."

"W-why?" Ethan asked, sounding almost exasperated at yet another thing that he could add to the pile of strangeness from this morning.

"Because I'm paranoid, really. I'm going to explain in a moment, but in a nutshell, changing my appearance is going to help us hide from Team Rocket. Their appearance might not have been on the news, but I'm sure they'll have something, especially with all of those agents we saw earlier."

Ethan nodded slightly, not really satisfied with the answer, but he would press later. Multiple questions jumped to his mind and he spat a few of the more prominent ones out. "What do you mean, us? Who are you, really? And why did you attack me?"

"My name is Silver. Obviously that isn't my real name, but I don't go by my old one anymore. Don't ask me what my real name is, I won't tell you. As for the attack, well, how else could I have gotten you alone, make sure you didn't shout immediately, and convince you enough to trust me? All in the span of a few minutes? I know it sounds bad, but seriously, could you think of another way to manage that?"

Ethan pondered the question for a moment, before admitting to himself that he couldn't think of a better plan. "...No. I'm still mad about it though. And you didn't answer my other question.

A nod. "I'll get to that in a moment. And, yeah, there probably was a better way to go about it, but I just can't think of it. In any case, I was a test subject like you. I escaped from a Team Rocket Lab because of sheer luck. A power outage had occurred and the backup generator never came back on. Looking back, the base was probably getting raided by police. I never found out if that was true though." He looked lost in thought for a moment, before continuing.

"The room I was being kept in was breached from an explosion above. The guards outside the cell were knocked out by the shockwave, and it opened a gap in the wall big enough that I could slip through. Once I got out, I ran. I was lucky, I managed to run right into an exit. It led outside, to an alleyway in Goldenrod. I kept running until I was out of the city."

Ethan stopped himself from asking another question on the rapidly growing list, opting to let Silver continue. "And after that?"

"I had to teach myself how to survive. I had no money and I didn't have any way to defend myself. I started sneaking into the library in Azalea town, where I ended up. I would read all night, trying to figure out what I should do, and where I should go."

Ethan's curiosity was peaked. "What were Team Rocket testing?"

"I wish I knew. They weren't allowed to talk to me, so I was left with picking at the small bits of conversation that I overheard. They constantly took blood samples, and there are big gaps in my memory. I assume that they had me drugged constantly. Everytime I woke up, I would be in pain all over. That, plus all the scars I was covered in, makes it pretty clear that they were experimenting on me personally.

Ethan felt sick. Again. "Scars?"

Silver merely nodded, and pulled up a bit of his shirt. Ethan winced. Sure enough, there was clear scar tissue along his sides, too straight and calculated for it to be anything but a deliberate wound. Silver lowered his shirt again, and let him gather his thoughts.

That was proof. Proof that Silver wasn't lying about what was going on. If Silver wasn't lying about who he was, then it was an easy jump to make that he wasn't lying about him as well. He swallowed, letting the realization sink in that he had been living a lie. Steadying his breath, Ethan continued asking questions.

"If-if they never spoke to you, how did you know that there were other test subjects? How did you know that I was a test subject?"

"I…" Silver hesitated, trying to find the words. After a full minute of silence, he tried again. "I went through the same experience as you. Living in a mansion, not a care in the world. A few months passed after my escape, and I decided to sneak back to the house where I had been before." His voice wavered at the last bit, and his breath hitched slightly. "And then I saw you, in the same scenario I'd been in. It was easy to piece together what was happening. They didn't care that I'd escaped, and were going to continue their experiments with you."

"I hung around the mansion grounds, trying to think of a plan. I wasn't going to just leave you there to go through what I did. But then, I caught a break. They..." Silver looked unsure of his phrasing again. "I was lucky. One evening, I overheard them talking about how you were going to be brought in for testing. I couldn't let that happen."

Ethan interrupted. "Wait. So this entire thing was based on you hearing a chance conversation?"

Silver's hand went to scratch his head but he stopped himself, not wanting his hand to touch the wet dye. "Yeah, pretty much." After a moment, he pointed at Ethan. "But don't hold that against me, I was right! I got you out of there and saved you from whatever they were going to do to you! You saw the camera, you know I'm not lying to you."

"How did you even get a camera in the first place? And for that matter, what about the Pokedex? The hair dye?"

The redhead cringed at the questions, before hopping off the bed. Reaching downwards, his hand stretched underneath his bed before pulling out a duffel bag. Zipping it open, he revealed its contents to Ethan.

"What…?"

The inside of the bag was full to the brim with various items. There was a clear gap between the two sides of the stuff, and Ethan's eyes went wide when he realized what he was looking at. There was a set of fresh clothes tucked away on both sides, with a brand new Xtranceiver resting on top of the left pile. Next to the clothes were various Pokemon medicines, basic things like potions, but there was a decent amount of them.

And sitting smack in the middle of the gap was a brand new Pokedex.

"I don't understand it either." Silver said, staring at the ground. His hands were in his lap as he sat with his legs hanging off the side of his bed, deep in thought. "I mean, it's just...strange. It appeared where I had set up camp a few weeks ago. No explanation. I woke up, and saw it next to my campfire." He pointed towards the right side of the bag. "It has stuff for both of us. Fresh clothes for me, along with the camera that I'd set up and a Pokedex of my own."

Now that was a head-scratcher. Ethan has believed what Silver has said so far, but a free Pokedex of all things was not something that anyone just came across. Even he knew that. Before he continued with another question, he froze with realization.

"Wait!" He kneeled down and unslung his own backpack, unzipping it. Rifling through the pockets, he pulled out the Pokeballs that he had received earlier, letting them bounce onto the carpeted floor. Silver looked at him with a cautious expression. "Where did you get those? Did you visit a Pokemart on the way here?"

"I got an email while I was at the Pokemon Center. Or, maybe I got the email earlier, and just never checked. In any case, there was no sender labelled, and all the message said was good luck. These were attached."

Silver picked one up off the ground, inspecting it, before handing it back to him. "They're all empty?"

Ethan nodded, standing back up and sitting down on the bed.

Silver bent over to pick up another one of the Pokeballs when the first sentence registered fully in his mind. He slowly turned towards Ethan, trepidation in his eyes. "Why were you at the Pokemon Center?"

"To heal my Cyndaquil, obviously. You did attack us, and I took a moment to look at the news. It's weird, all the sites that are reporting me missing don't have any ment-"

"How did you heal Cyndaquil? How?" He asked, the nervousness in his voice rising. He glanced downwards towards the fire-type, who had stayed silent since entering the room.

"I went to the desk and asked to have him healed. The nurse took the Pokedex and…..oh." Ethan realized his blunder. "Pokemon Center's keep logs of who's been in there, don't they? That means…"

Silver pinched the bridge of his nose, letting out a sigh. "It means that we shouldn't risk the night staying here. I'll go speak to reception, tell him we're leaving. Get ready." Without waiting, Silver steeped out of the room, leaving Ethan alone. Kneeling down once more, Ethan shoved his new clothes into his bag, before picking up the Pokedex. Opening it briefly, he glanced at the screen which displayed the words, 'Register User?'. Ethan closed it, opting to examine it thoroughly another time.

He finished putting the rest of the gear away and stood up walking to the window. He slid it open and immediately regretted it, getting hit with a freezing gust of autumn wind. Slamming it shut, he opened the bag again and pulled out the new coat that he'd been provided with. It fit him snug, and he zipped it up before turning around at the sound of footsteps.

The door swung open and Silver stepped inside. Ethan gave him a glance, and his eyes narrowed at the sight of another bag.

"Where'd that come from?" He questioned.

"It was leaned against the door outside." Silver shut the door and noticed what Ethan was wearing, nodding in approval. He set the new bag down with a thud, and went to put on a coat of his own. Ethan pulled the new bag to him and took a peek inside. Five more pokeballs laid at the bottom, along with some cooking gear. Two sleeping bags were also tucked inside of it. Strapped to the top of the bag was a smaller bag that held a folded up tent. Unlike his own backpack, this was more akin to a hiking bag, and had much more free space within it. He gave it a look-over, before looking back at his own.

Ethan suspected that he needed the space.

Once he finished moving all of his things into a different bag again, Ethan deemed himself ready. Slinging the hiking bag onto his back, he looked at Silver, who had finished putting his own coat on and was picking up the duffel bag that now held his own things. Ethan looked at his old bag, and after a moment of thinking, decided to just shove it underneath the bed. Finally, Ethan grabbed Cyndaquil's Pokeball and returned the 'mon. Silver nodded at him and the two stepped outside the room.

They quietly stepped out and after making sure the hallway was empty, scurried down the stairs. He followed Silver out the door, giving the receptionist a friendly nod on the way out. Silver stepped outside and briefly oriented himself, before motioning for him to follow.

Cutting through citizens once more, the two headed north towards the wilderness. Once again he looked around the busy city, keeping an eye out for any Team Rocket members. He wasn't sure how far they'd go to try and get him back, and was worried about the chance that they would happen upon them. His head snapped back and forth, looking to spot anyone that seemed suspicious.

His mind couldn't help but wander towards the chance that he would see his parents again, and that this was just a bad dream. But thinking about it, he rarely had any dreams at all. If this is what a nightmare was like, he wanted out. His mind wandered to his waking moments. Now that he was thinking about it, he had definitely heard something in his head. It had been something about luck, but that was all he could recall.

Wait, didn't the email say something like that?

Ethan was so lost in this epiphany that he nearly knocked Silver over, who had slowed his pace now that they were on the border of the town. Silver looked over his shoulder at him.

"Chill, dude. We're here."

He shook himself up and looked out towards the forest. The treeline was dense, the sheer amount of them producing a significant amount of shade on the path ahead. Silver seemed to have other plans, walking towards a little pop-up cart on the side and looked at the merchandise. Ethan joined him, and an old man popped up from behind the counter. He sported short white hair, with a thick beard and wire-rim glasses.

"Hello youngsters! Are you about to start your journey?"

Ethan hesitated, and Silver jumped in for him.

"Yeah! We grew up here, and want to explore the region!" He said, fake excitement in his voice.

"Well good for you! My name is Malde and the whole reason I set up shot here is to help youngsters like you to get out there. It makes me smile every year when new trainers begin their adventure. Not only that, but you wouldn't believe how many kids wander into the forest with only some junk food in their bag. Are you two well equipped?"

"I think so. Why, what are you offering?"

"Well let me show you! Besides all of the equipment you see in front of you, I have a few pre made survival kits, from yours truly. It has the essentials, such as a knife, rope, first aid kit, and y'know what? Here! Take a look inside, then tell me if you're as geared as you say."

Malde handed one of his kits over to Silver, who looked inside and nodded approvingly. He handed it to him so he could see the interior as well. The satchel was filled nearly to the brim with a hatchet, knives, rope, first aid kit, tent, and plenty of other gear, all folded neatly to the sides. He also spotted a glimpse of paper in one of the pockets and pulled it out.

"Aye, put that back! That paper is full of notes and helpful tips that I've gathered over my years as a trainer. You have to buy something if you want that, I need to make a profit somehow!" Ethan's ears were filled with his hale laughter.

Ethan put the sheet of paper back in the bag's pocket and handed it back to Malde. He took it and put it back behind the counter. "Now then! Are you still well equipped?" He asked, looking between the two of them.

They looked at each other.

"No, we're not. How much is one of those kits?"

Malde froze for a moment, before leaning forwards. "...Tell you what, kid. It's on me." He turned and picked up the kit, handing it to Ethan. He held the bag gingerly.

"Are you sure, sir?" Ethan was shocked, and Silver looked the same.

"Yeah sure. You two seem responsible enough."

"But, didn't you say you needed to make-"

"Thank you very much sir," Silver jumped in front of him. "We'll be sure to make good use of it."

"Of course, of course. That's all the help you'll need from me, for now." He blinked. "Now you better hurry. You'll want to find a good place to set up camp before dark. You don't want to be pitching a tent in the cold."

"You got it sir!" Silver waved and grabbed Ethan's arm, and they both headed towards the forest. Malde waved goodbye as they vanished deeper into the brush. He pulled Ethan along for a good ten minutes, before they stopped in a moss covered clearing.

"Did you see that?" He asked, his voice clearly sounding worried.

"See what?"

His eyes! They changed colors! They were green before, but when he said that it was free, they were gold!"

"I-I wasn't paying attention. Are you sure they changed color?" He cocked his head.

"Definitely. They were a greenish color when he first peeked out to look at us." Silver shook his head. "Something's wrong. I can feel it. We should've paid for that kit, but something happened."

"What was-?"

"I have no idea. But I'm scared. Someone, or something out there knows about our predicament, and is actively trying to help us. Otherwise," he sighed, "we honestly shouldn't have even made it this far." Silver put his hands on his head in contemplation.

"Hey, listen. Look at me." Ethan shook Silver's side, and persisted until he finally looked back towards him. He looked Silver right in his grey eyes.

"Don't think like that."

"Wha-?"

"Silver, stop. You probably just saved my life. I believe you about all of the Team Rocket stuff. Really, I do. These past few hours of just being on the run, in the city alone has shown me that whatever life I had before, was wrong. Artificial. Life isn't supposed to be like the boring one I had been living." He coughed. "So, uh, thanks for getting me out of there."

Silver couldn't help but snicker slightly at the tone shift. "Very tact."

"Shut up. I'm not the fanciest with my language."

"The word you're looking for there is eloquent."

"Whatever. The point is, if you managed to get me all the way to the next town over, the reason is not because we have some crazy stalker trying to help us. It's because you managed to set up, and finish a plan to get me out yourself. So please stop freaking out, because I have no idea where we should go from here, and if you can't help me set up a tent or something, we're screwed." He paused to take a breath, then muttered, "Because I don't actually know how to set up a tent."

SIlver started laughing harder. Ethan tried to keep a straight face, but couldn't hold it as he collapsed to the dirt, rolling with laughter as well. They kept laughing for a good minute, before Silver finally stood up, swiping the dirt off his pants.

"Alright. You make a good point. We've made it this far, they'll never catch us. Maybe we'll get more help along the way too." Silver said, getting the last couple of chuckles out of his system. "And I suppose I do have to teach you how to set up a tent." His tone shifted back to the serious tone that Ethan had started to get used to. "But we can't stay here, we're still way too close to Cherrygrove. Lets go."

He started heading deeper into the forest, and Ethan followed close behind. They had only been going for a few minutes before Ethan asked another question. "Do you know where we're actually going?"

"Yeah."

"We're definitely not on the path. Are you sure?"

"I'm sure."

They were deep into the woods now. Everywhere he looked was dark, the trees overhead not letting much of the sun reach them. But Ethan wasn't entirely focused on what he could was focused on what he could hear.

The forest was awake, with Pokemon scurrying through the bushes around them, and sometimes right past them. Looking up above, he saw more flying overhead, off to wherever they resided. He caught a glimpse of a brown blur jumping around on his right, but the Pokemon vanished before he could get a good look at it.

And as he followed Silver, he had to walk with the realization that he would be totally lost without Silver's help. If he was all alone out here, he would be doomed. He didn't know how to cook or swim, he was never taught how to nor did he ever feel motivated to learn how to do these things. Heck, he hardly knew the names of the Pokemon around him. Ethan knew that he'd be lost without Silver's help.

They had to have been walking for hours at this point when a gap in the trees opened up to reveal the afternoon sky, and the forest was temporarily bathed in a brilliant orange glow.

"Hey Silver?"

"Hmm?" The redhead turned slightly to acknowledge him.

Ethan asked his question. "The sun is setting, are we gonna set up a campsite or what?"

"We're almost there."

"Where?" He pressed.

"I found an empty house in the woods when I first travelled down here. We'll stay there for the night." He said, not turning to face him as he spoke.

Ethan's eyes narrowed. "Isn't that risky?"

"No. it didn't look too lived in, and whoever the owner is probably hasn't been there in a while."

"Probably?"

"The apricorns outside the carbon were rotting on their plants. Judging by how it looked when I saw it, the only thing that has been picking at them are wild Pokemon. No one's been around for a while if the Apricorns are rotting.

"I guess that makes sense. I still don't think this is a good idea." He trailed behind Silver for a bit longer, watching the sun begin its descent. The trees around him changed hues to a much cooler bluish color, and Ethan could've sworn that the temperature dipped.

Silver shook him out of his musings. "We're here."

Sure enough, the cabin looked abandoned. No lights were on inside, and the trees still held the dead apricorns that he'd mentioned. However, as they approached the door, Silver took a look at the note that had been posted on the door, and read it aloud.

"Oak, I don't know when you'll read this, but give me a call when you get here. It should be unlocked, but if not, you know where the key is. -Mr. P."

Ethan frowned. "Was this here last time you came?"

He shook his head. "...No, it wasn't. But we don't have a choice."

"We have a tent, so actually, we do have a choice." Ethan countered.

"I mean, we're already here. And no one is here yet, the apricorns still haven't been touched."

"Why does that matter? I wouldn't want to touch those rotted things out either." He huffed, slightly miffed. "And why do people even grow Apricorns? We can't eat them, right?"

Silver nodded Yeah, they're inedible to us. People grow them because they can make Pokeballs."

That got Ethan's attention. "Really! How?"

He shrugged "I don't know. But that's what they're used for."

He pulled an empty Pokeball out of his bag and opened it, looking inside. "I don't mean to be rude, but I don't think an apricorn is the only ingredient. There's obviously lots of electronics in here." Silver resisted the urge to facepalm. "Again, I don't know. Let's go inside, it's getting cold." Silver went to reach for the doorknob when Ethan stepped forwards, putting his arm on the boy's shoulder.

"Silver, stop. I have a really bad feeling about this." he pleaded. "Let's just set up camp nearby and we can check it out tomorrow."

Silver glanced inside, then looked back to him. He sighed. "Alright. Let's go find a clearing and set up." He closed the wooden door behind him and started heading away from the cabin. The sun was beginning to hide behind the horizon, and from what Ethan could tell, there were only a few minutes of daylight left.

Luckily, there was a sizable opening in the trees within eyesight of the cabin. Claiming the area as their own, setting the bags down. "Come here." Silver called for him. "You need to learn how to put up a tent." He took the tent off the hiking bag, and Ethan sauntered over to him.

"First open it up. Get all of the parts and lay them out." Silver ordered.

He did so, pulling the tent out of its own bag and laying it down. He then pulled out the other things in the bag. A large tarp came out, along with some smaller bags. Opening these smaller bags, he found some metal spikes and poles, which he also put on the ground.

"I know you've never put up a tent before, but don't worry. It's not as hard as you think." He said reassuringly. He grabbed the tent and unfurled it, rolling it out flat on the ground. "After you lay the tent flat on the ground, you need to build its structure. Grab those aluminum poles."

"Which ones?"

"Grab the longest ones. Judging by the structure of the tent, there should be three of them."

The poles weren't properly connected to each other yet, but after examining them for a moment, he figured out which ones were the correct poles and handed them over.

"What you want to do is put the poles together so it reaches max length." He started snapping one of them together until it was fully extended in front of him. "Then, you thread it through the loops already on the tent, like so." He slowly pushed the tip of the pole through the loops spread across the tent. Then he threw one of the poles back at him and said, "You do one."

Ethan caught it and started to snap it together. He put it together and followed his lead, threading it through the holes before pulling it through completely. Looking up, he saw that Silver had already done the last pole.

"Now, grab that corner pole and help me lift it up" He went to the other side of the tent and followed his motions, bending the pole and slowly raising the tent in the air. Once it got to a certain point, Silver bent over and said, "Clip it into that little metal thingy near the base." He looked down and saw it half buried in the dirt. Keeping the tension on the pole, he bent over and managed to clip them together. He looked up and saw Silver doing the same thing with the other poles, so he followed suit. Soon all the poles were clipped together.

"Now for the easy part. Take those stakes and hammer them through the loops at the base. I'll put up the raincover."

He grabbed them and looked for said loops. Sure enough, there were little loops on each corner. He realized there was no hammer that came with the tent and improvised, pushing the stakes into the earth with his shoe. Silver had finished with the raincover and motioned for him to follow.

"Good job on the tent. Now let's get started on the fire."

Silver hurried to start building a fire. He put some stones in a ring and motioned for him to follow. He did so, and Silver walked back to the cabin. Specifically, they headed towards the backside of the house, where he could make out a stack of firewood leaned against the cabin. Silver practically ran to the cabin and Ethan kept up with him as best he could. His eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"Why are you rushing so much?" He asked.

Silver shrugged. "It'll be night soon."

"Cyndaquil can probably start a fire faster than you. I feel like there's a different reason for this."

Silver stopped and put the firewood he was carrying next to the firepit, before releasing a loud sigh. "Yeah, there is. I don't know how long we'll be able to last. On the run I mean. I want to teach you stuff like this in the off chance we get separated. Hopefully it doesn't happen, but you should at least be somewhat prepared."

Ethan pondered this for a moment. "That's fair, I guess." He looked down and kept walking to the circle. "Thank you."

"Not a problem. And, yeah, you're right. Cyndaquil will always be a better firestarter than both of us combined. But the fire needs wood to burn, and I don't want to chop trees right now."

They both shared a laugh and placed the firewood down. SIlver started stacking it in a square shape, and he helped him. Silver put one more on the stack and said "That should do for now." He turned behind him and pulled the duffel bag towards him. He unzipped it, pulling out a newspaper. "I grabbed this as we were leaving the motel. Stuff like paper can be used as kindling, it'll help start fires easier." He crumpled a few pieces of paper and tossed them into the center of the firepit, before turning towards him and nodding in the direction of his Pokeball.

Releasing Cyndaquil, Ethan asked his Pokemon, "Do you think you can manage an Ember?" The fire-type nodded confidently and sauntered over to the firepit. Taking a deep breath, Cyndaquil released a flurry of embers at the base of the firewood. The paper caught, and soon a small fire started burning merrily. Cyndaquil wasn't finished though, stepping onto one of the logs and blowing more embers everywhere. He blew repeatedly until there was more fire than dry wood. Satisfied, he hopped down and stepped back towards Ethan.

Cyndaquil settled into Ethan's lab and the group watched as the fire started picking up. Before long, it started providing them with a steady heat source. Light returned to the general area as their faces were lit up with the warm glow of the fire. "Thanks Cyndaquil." He looked down and patted his partner's head. Cyndaquil didn't move from his lap, enjoying his new trainer's company.

Silver turned in his seat and reached for one of the bags. "I'm going to cook some food quickly. It's getting late."

"Sounds good. I'm going to wait in the tent, let me know when it's ready."

Ethan went inside the tent. He had to crouch down, with the ceiling being as low as it was. He put his bag down and rolled out his sleeping bag. Realizing he didn't have a pillow, he took out one of the hoodies in his bag and laid his head on that. He pulled his laptop out of his bag and opened it again. As he opened it, the email returned to his memory.

He immediately opened it to confirm his suspicions. The only text was 'Good luck.', and the attachment that he got earlier. He remembered the first thing he heard that morning. "Luck." He said it aloud.

Whoever sent the email was responsible for his earlier dream. How that was possible, he had no idea, but to him it just sounded like the right answer. He closed his laptop and put it away before looking up to the ceiling of the tent.

This was his life now. On the run, hunted by criminals. No more of the life he had been living. No more comfy bed. No more watching reruns of old league battles.

No more parents.

Now that he finally had a moment for it to sink in, he started to shudder. He was grateful to Silver, of course, but he didn't really trust the kid yet. Though, Ethan supposed that he really didn't have a choice anymore.

He didn't know when it started, but the wetness on his cheeks was becoming too much to ignore. He sniffled slightly, before wiping them away. Cyndaquil wandered over to him and leaned himself against Ethan's body, and he couldn't help but pull Cyndaquil closer to him.

And there he lay, forgetting about Silver outside, forgetting about his dreams, forgetting about everything that had transpired, except for what he had lost. With tears still streaming down his face, and his Cyndaquil nuzzled up next to him, he drifted into an uncomfortable sleep.

~0~

Brendan was very late to his own project proposal.

He had been running towards the building since he had gotten off the train. He kept running, nearly trampling the passerby in his path. He thought of his friend May back in Hoenn.

Brendan had seen the picture May had sent of her new Eevee on the ride here, but he couldn't answer her message yet. Mainly because he didn't actually have an answer for her. He needed to convince his boss to give him permission for the project.

But first, he had to give a good excuse for being a half-hour late.

He flew up the stairs of the building and allowed himself to get a little excited. If he actually got the go-ahead, he would be able to get started on a huge project that he'd been wanting to do for a while. Sure, others had also attempted to do the same idea as him, but he knew he would succeed. Besides, if he failed, he knew what was waiting for him. His supervisor at The Leader was tough, but he had a feeling if he was caught, that would be the least of his worries.

He reached his floor and hurried over to the secretary desk.

"I'm here to see Ms. Vale!"

The secretary looked up with an apathetic expression." You're late for your appointment. She's waiting for you in her office."

"Thank you!" He reduced his pace to a speedwalk, and hurried down the hall. He paused for just a moment, before opening the door and entering her office.

The first thing that caught his attention was the window. The far wall was made up of one giant window that let Ms. Vale gaze upon the city below. The city was bathed in a brilliant orange glow, and he could see the ocean from this high up. Silhouetted in front of these windows was her desk and chair. The walls on his left and right were covered in various different newspaper clippings that had been framed.

The chair in front of him spun around, and he was met with his supervisor. Ms. Vale was dressed for work, sporting a fancy looking suit and her usual short cut hair. She gave him a look. "Hello Brendan. Care to explain why you were so late?"

He nearly took a step back, but held himself steady. "The train was held up, and I.."

"Forget it." The words died in Brendan's throat. "It's Okay. Please tell me about this idea of yours. I already looked at the basics, but I wanted to hear it from you."

Try as he might, the pitch he had been practicing on the train escaped his thoughts. He had to wing it.

"Well, You are aware of the rise in hostile organizations throughout the region right?"

"Of course."

"My idea is to get a completely different view of how these groups operate. I want to go undercover and infiltrate an organization to see how they tick. I would report on otherwise unobtainable information and at the end of the stint, I would forward it all to you."

One of her eyebrows shot up, unimpressed. "Others have tried this exact attempt. How will you succeed?"

"I'm a fresh, young reporter with no stories to my name. To them, I would look like another clueless recruit. I would work in utmost secrecy; no one will know what I'm doing to lower my risk of being caught.

She looked doubtful, but continued. "You are aware of what has happened to past reporters, yes?"

"Of course. I will face the consequences if I'm caught."

"I'm worried you don't exactly realize what the consequences are. If they don't kill you on the spot, you will be captured, and, well, who knows what would happen to you at that point"

"I know."

"And you still want to do it?"

"Yes."

Brendan held his head down and heard her sigh. He listened as she paced the room for a bit, before turning back to him.

"Let it be known that I am very against this plan. However, a few minutes before you came in, I received reports of an appearance by Team Rocket in Kanto. They've attacked the Pokemon Center in Viridian City. Do you know who reported it first?" She asked, glaring at him.

He shook his head, trying to ignore her stare.

She stopped glowering and sat back down, hand adjusting her glasses. "Jubilife TV is showing it right now for the evening news. And that means that they have an undercover reporter. There is no way they could've known about it that soon. Kanto is our domain, not theirs." She growled.

She calmed herself down, and looked back at Brendan. "We can't let them be ahead of us. So, against my better judgement, I'm giving you permission to go undercover. Any findings you have go right to me. I'll give you some leeway and listen to your requests, considering you're putting your life on the line. If you don't want to run anything in the news, fine. If you find something really important that needs to get out, fine. Tell me and I'll help you."

"Thank you!"

He had mostly tuned out what she said after hearing her reluctant approval, and he fought furiously to keep the dumb grin off his face. Ms. Vale did not seem to share the same level of excitement.

"Brendan! I understand you're a young man that wants to leave his mark on the world, but have some sense. You need to understand that you're risking your life on an undertaking that most don't come back from. If anything, I should pick someone else instead. I should. I really should and I know I'm going to regret it later. But we're short on staff, so I have no other choice."

"Please be careful. If you want to call this off for any reason, I won't hold it against you."

"Thank you Ms. Vale. I promise the second things get hairy, I'll back out."

"Good, Good. Now go. Leave before I change my mind. I don't know where you'd even start on a project like this. Good luck."

"Thank you!"

He ran out of the office, leaving his boss to her own devices. He ran down the stairs, out the door, and into the bustling nightlife of Goldenrod.

Now, how to answer May...

~0~

Professor Oak was tired.

After he had flown on Dragonite for a bit over an hour, he made landfall in New Bark Town, and headed directly towards Elm's Lab. The situation hadn't changed much from what he'd heard on the phone. A Totodile had been stolen from the lab on one of its busiest days of the year. After arriving, he had ended up helping Neil with the police for the next few hours.

After that, he had to then help deal with the sudden influx of new trainers that had formed a sizable line outside. There were much more people here than he had dealt with this morning, with only a few dozen trainers coming in after his grandson. But now, the day was over, and he was free to rest.

Flying on Dragonite once more, he directed the dragon north of Cherrygrove, where Mr. Pokemon's cabin lay hidden in the forest. Spotting a trail of smoke in the vicinity of the house, Oak became briefly worried that the cabin had caught fire. As Dragonite approached though, he exhaled in quiet relief. Someone had set up a campfire nearby. He had Dragonite set down in front of the house. Climbing off, he went to try the door.

Locked.

Sighing, he walked around to the back of the house, where he knew the spare key was located. Taking it from its hiding spot wedged between a few rocks, he looked towards the campfire. He didn't see any movement.

Slightly curious, he walked towards it. He stepped into the outskirts of the campground and saw that no one was actually tending to the fire, which was terribly irresponsible. Perhaps whoever was sleeping in the tents were younger trainers?

In any case, leaving a fire unattended was terribly unsafe. Turning to face his old partner that had flown up behind him, he asked, "Dragonite, could you please put this fire out? Preferably while being quiet?"

Dragonite nodded, and opted for a simple approach. Taking a step forward, he brought his foot down upon the fire. The small fire lapped at his scales to no effect, and he smothered the flame. Then, he charged an Aqua Tail, and let the water splash onto the fire pit, ensuring that it wouldn't reignite.

"Thank you." Dragonite nodded and Oak recalled the dragon, putting the ball back into his satchel.

Satisfied, he headed back to Mr. Pokemon's home. If he saw whoever the camp belonged to in the morning, he would give them a firm reminder about leaving a fire unattended.

But that was for tomorrow. For now, he unlocked the door and stepped inside. He needed some sleep.

~0~

AN: I'm back again with another chapter! I would like to apologize once again for taking so long to get them out to you. As a fellow reader, I understand the pain that is waiting for the next chapter of that one fic you've been following. In the future, I do hope that I am able to produce more chapters at a faster rate, mainly because I know how much some people want to read, but also because it is good practice for when I need to write with a deadline looming over my head.

Feel free to leave a fav, follow, or a review if you're enjoying the fic. See you next chapter!