Chapter 25: Another Promise
I knew Lance had had cancer, and that he'd beaten it a few times even. I'd been surprised when he'd texted me out of nowhere one day asking if I could come to his and Silver's home in Viridian. I'd replied sure and been surprised when the meeting place had changed to Blackthorn.
I was half terrified he had decided to finish me off when I'd stepped into the dim, warm, and humid Dragon Den.
Cancer hadn't been kind to Lance, nor Silver truthfully. I didn't see Silver all that often for obvious reasons, but I'd noticed he'd grown so thin when I saw him at meetups for the pokedex holders. He was still beautiful, but it was amazing to see the changes in us as we got older. Lance however was almost delicate, the color completely gone from his previously red hair. He looked like a ghost of the terrifying man that had smashed my face into the ground for dare insulting Silver, or who had smashed his fist across my face for not being there for Silver.
I still knew he could probably still fuck me up though, half standing or not. He was still a terrifying trainer even if he'd physically become weak.
"What's up with the secret creepy meet up?" I complained.
"I'm dying," he stated simply.
"For real this time?"
He snorted in mild amusement. "Yeah. Definitely for real this time."
"Let me guess, you want me to look after Silver?"
He just smirked faintly and nodded. What was with these dying wishes being asked of me? "Yes, as a friend. If he wants something more, you have my blessing for that, too. I don't know how he's going to handle all this."
Probably… not well. I bit my bottom lip, and just shook my head. I could honestly see Silver following Lance…
"He's strong," Lance offered gently.
I sighed feebly, once again feeling outclassed. Lance's and Silver's love was something else. Here he was, telling me his widower would be okay. "Then why did you need to talk with me?"
"Mostly to assure you I won't haunt you," he offered casually. "He's mine, don't forget that, but… I don't want him to be alone."
I anxiously ran my fingers through my hair. "Do you really think Silver would be with me after all the crap I've done? I wasn't the best boyfriend."
Lance just rolled his eyes. "Yes. That's why I messaged you. Gold, it's been decades. He's not holding a grudge. Look, just look after him for me, okay? I know you promised Giovanni that same thing, but now I want the same promise."
Hell. I just bowed my head. Lance had been there more for Silver when Giovanni had died it felt like some days. I'd at least grieved with him, though. I could do that again. "I will."
Lance just nodded. "Later."
I rolled my eyes as he casually left. I couldn't help wondering if Silver was in Blackthorn, too. Honestly, even if he was, I needed to let him be.
xxxxxxx
Silver looked like if the wind blew, he'd break. My mouth was so dry at Lance's funeral, and I found myself fighting the stinging sensation of tears trying to collect in my eyes. Silver was shattered. I think the look in his eyes could have made anyone cry. I tried to stay by his side, so did Blue, and honestly all of the pokedex holders. Even Topaz and Aqua tried to stay by his side.
But Silver was a thousand miles away from any of us.
It wasn't like when Giovanni had passed, or even Weavile.
I was surprised it was Clair whose arms he slipped into. She and her wife Karen just held him tight. I knew Lance and Clair were more like siblings than cousins. I had a feeling she was the only one that knew even a shred of what Silver felt.
I spied Lance's wedding band on a chain around Silver's neck, and I honestly felt sick with grief. I'd made a promise I couldn't keep. I still saw the band on Silver's left ring finger, denying his vows to part at death. Lance hadn't lied, Silver was definitely strong.
Silver vanished after the funeral, and when I finally worked up the nerve to visit him, I discovered he wasn't home. No one knew where he was, not even Blue. Apparently, he'd collected Lance's ashes after his cremation, and had left without a trace. He'd dropped off his earth badge with the league and had told them to pick his successor.
I even went to visit Clair, and she'd shrugged, not seeming worried. "He's probably looking for where he wants to be buried with my brother."
I just stared in wonder. Well, I guess as long as she wasn't worried Lance's grieving widower was on a pilgrimage alone, I shouldn't worry either.
It wasn't until over a year later I got a call from Blue. I had never stopped thinking about Silver.
"Turn on the news," she demanded.
"Hello to you, too. What channel?" I grumbled, looking around for the remote under the counter of the front desk at the daycare.
"Any one of them."
Holy shit. I knew the world championship was starting that day… but… that was Silver. "What's he doing there?" I uttered in horror.
"I don't know!" Blue huffed.
I hadn't seen Silver in over a year since he'd vanished after Lance's death. Other than a few streaks of white, I was surprised how vibrant and long his red hair was. He was still so thin, but he looked much younger than 50, his silver eyes still so sharp and his face free of most winkles. He just looked a touch gaunt, but he was still absolutely gorgeous. My TV at the daycare was total shit, and I desperately wanted a crystal-clear screen. I pulled out my phone and looked up the livestream instead.
I watched him battle the most terrifying trainers in the literal world. Most of them were young spitfires, champions from the various regions. The crowd and announcers were losing their minds as Silver's Dragonite leveled his opponent's team single handedly. Wait, no… that was… that was Lance's Dragonite.
They kept announcing that he was Silver Sakaki, a gym leader from Kanto, and that he had the power to direct the attack hyper beam in any direction he wanted, making it inescapable. The famous move never happened though. I had a sinking feeling that ability had vanished along with Lance. They even showed clips of him and Lance double battling, directing the beams together.
Apparently, he didn't need that ability to kick ass, though. Dragonite even plowed through an ice beam and rock throw, looking completely unfazed.
I had a sinking feeling this was Silver's swansong.
No one else knew why he'd appeared out of nowhere, and how he was able to slice through his opponents like a hot knife through butter. The younger challengers may have had passion and were brimming with energy, but Silver held decades of experience and was being driven by an inexplicable force.
I closed the daycare and just sat around watching his battles, glued to every flick of Silver's wrist or attack he called. I never saw a single emotion on his face, it was almost like he was in a trance. I didn't fail to notice the wedding band on his finger, worn over the top of his gloves as he'd often done. However, the wedding band was on his right ring finger, and not his left ring finger. Lance's band still hung from a chain around Silver's neck.
He commanded Lance's Dragonite, Twister, his red gyarados, a haxorus, a garchomp, and a hydreigon with such terror and precision he quickly became the fan favorite. Raising one dragon was arduous and incredible, and here Silver was with his own personal army. Half of them were raised by Lance, left to Silver, a gift to transcend the plains of life and death that separated them. On top of that, Silver had always had a gift to empower pokemon he wasn't the original trainer of. Oak had named Silver the exchanger.
I watched the weeklong tournament, beyond amazed as Silver made it to the quarterfinals, then the semifinals, and finally to the final. I couldn't believe it as he took the championship. The world championship.
I just stared at the screen in wonder. Wow. That was… quite the swansong alright.
Xxxxxxx
Silver vanished off the face of the earth once more after winning the world championship. I didn't let it deter me as I called up trainers to come grab their pokemon and rejected anymore drop offs. I closed the daycare and set off randomly to try and find Silver.
I stopped by his mansion in Viridian, first. The staff admitted he hadn't been home once since Lance had passed. Thankfully some of the staff recognized me. I tried to track who might be handling the accounts to pay the staff and bills, but that was a brick wall of sheer security. That sort of made sense considering Silver's bank wasn't exactly the casual down the street bank. He was potentially the richest person in the region, and his father had been a mafia boss. There was no way in hell I was going to be able to view the last purchase he'd made on his card.
I even enlisted Blue, and she shook her head. "No good." To deal with Silver's bank, you had to go in person, and they turned both Blue and I away.
She could easily get into his laptop but couldn't trace his phone or bank activity. Silver also hadn't answered his phone in over a year, if he even still had it.
I ran into nothing but brick walls.
So, I gave up and decided to follow the news sites until I finally saw a post about the latest world champion being spotted in Hoenn, Mossdeep city of all places. I took the first flight I could straight there. I would have thought there would have been more posts like that one, but apparently Silver was rather elusive.
Still, it was my only lead, and I was going to take it. It'd been around two years since Silver had vanished.
I searched the whole city for days, hoping and praying I hadn't missed him. That photo in the article had looked like him. I was about to give up after a week of searching until I saw him… sitting at the edge of a cliff around shoal cave, just chilling.
I only noticed him because of the two massive dragonites just chilling with him, one of them an unimaginable shimmering emerald green. I was panting by the time I reached him from the hiking paths. I wasn't as young as I had been! He just glanced back at me, not really looking surprised. "Hey."
"Hey?" I uttered in dismay.
Silver was as gorgeous as I remembered. He was sitting there, the sky framing him with storm clouds, the wind ruffling his long, stunning hair. It was to his waist at this point, still bright red with a few streaks of white. Up close, I realized the white was actually a soft rose blond. He still had an attractive face, just a little thin and sunken with some light forehead lines. His eyes were so beautiful, matching the storm clouds surrounding us. He had on a black open duster, the high collar reminding me of the one I'd seen him wear when I'd met with him in a coffee shop to tell him I still loved him.
That had been so long ago, over a quarter of a century…
"Silver," I uttered, flushing for some reason from his name alone. It felt so good to say. "Are you planning to just wander around not letting your friends know where you are?"
He didn't respond at first, just looking a bit uneasy. "I'm not ready yet…"
"It's been two years," I stressed gently. "You don't have to come home if you're not ready, but you could at least let someone know you're alive. I… have you buried Lance?"
Silver shook his head. "I know where, but I… I just wanted a little longer…"
I swallowed, struggling a bit to do so. My eyes widened at the urn Silver removed from his bag. That sterling silver urn held the charred remains of a man I'd chatted to two years ago. It was a bit surreal.
"Has it been two years since you've been touched?" I asked softly, regretting how awkward the question was. The vision of Silver, completely alone, wrapped around that cold urn sobbing was haunting me.
Silver flushed and averted his eyes. "N-no…" he admitted shyly, and I smiled faintly. That was good at least. I didn't ask for any details, I was just thankful that maybe he'd had something as simple as a hug from a pair of warm arms.
"Do you have your phone?"
He still didn't make eye contact. "It's… I lost it."
I tried not to snort. Thankfully I felt the atmosphere lighten considerably. Silver was an absolute scatter brain about misplacing stuff. I usually knew where he'd left his pokegear when we'd dated, because Silver usually did not.
"Hold still," I stated without explanation, snapping a picture without his consent. He just looked a bit surprised. He looked amazing, not even posing. I promptly sent the picture to the pokedex holder group chat we always had, adding the message that I'd found Silver and he was alive. It immediately blew up with messages, worried about him.
I handed my phone to him, and he flushed. "I know," he uttered softly, the pink looking amazing along his cheekbones.
"Then how about we get you a new phone?"
"Fine…" he mumbled childishly, slipping Lance's urn back into his bag.
He jumped up on Lance's dragonite like it was muscle memory to him and gazed at me expectantly. I peered back with wide eyes. "Uh."
"Come on," Silver replied, patting behind him. "I know you probably don't have any flying types…"
I swallowed and nodded. I had Explotaro, and he wasn't even a battler anymore. All my other pokemon had passed at this point, most of them having such short lives. I had other pokemon, more so house pets that helped around the daycare though. At least Silver wasn't going to be losing those terrifying dragons in his lifetime.
Getting up on a dragonite was… interesting.
"Step on his arm," Silver stated, looking amused.
"It feels rude."
"His scales are armor; you're not going to hurt him."
Dragonite glanced over at me, grunting his soft agreement.
Well, there was no other obvious way up. I stepped onto the orange dragon's arm and settled behind Silver. "Whoa. He's huge."
"Uh-huh," Silver chuckled. "You get used to it. Lance usually traveled on Aerodactyl because it was easier."
And Silver was… Shit. I was pressed right up against him, my chest to his back. His waterproof clothes stopped me from feeling his body heat at least. That didn't mean just touching him had me coming undone though. So, I still… Yeah…
"You're going to need to hang on," Silver stated, his voice soft and so damn alluring.
I just took the opportunity to wrap my arms around him, and his breath caught. I wasn't just grabbing his hips; it was a clear intimate embrace. My eyes darted to the messenger bag at Silver's side he was wearing crossbody. Lance had totally promised not to haunt me. I should have gotten him to sign that agreement in blood.
"Let's head to the city," Silver uttered softly to Dragonite.
The power of the beast was… immense. He was huge, and the way he climbed into the air by sheer force was amazing. I was thankful I was clutching Silver. The way Silver naturally shifted his body had me going a bit weak. His ass was pressing against my groin, and I wasn't sure if he was leaning flat against his pokemon just as a counterbalance measure or if he was teasing me.
I'd fallen in love with Silver when we'd been practically kids. When I'd been a teen, I couldn't help confessing my feelings. I'd always been the one-track mind type. When I'd actually gotten to date him… life had felt complete. I knew now I'd made a lot of mistakes, but we'd been teenagers. It'd been extra difficult with Silver's inability to just… let go or communicate. Once we'd actually had sex though, he'd been more that a bit eager to get off all that sexual frustration. I grinned at those memories. I'd always tried to initiate, always trying to give him an excuse to get off. He'd accepted more than I'd thought often enough.
"Gold," Silver whispered, and my eyes snapped open in surprise.
My breath caught. I was uh… I was pretty much grinding up on the poor redhead. I'd just been remembering the way he'd moved and moaned. Shit…
"We can have sex if you want," Silver snorted, sounding a bit amused.
Cocky! Holy shit, who was this cocky guy? "Seriously?!"
Silver shrugged. "I mean, we've had sex before. Honestly, I uh… Look, it's been a while. You're not dating anyone are you?"
"Silver, it's been going on over a year since I've gotten laid," I practically hissed. It had been! I mean, I was always busy with the daycare, or my two obnoxious brats. I tried to be a bit more… respectable for my daughters, too. I certainly didn't go around chasing women… or men for that matter. Yeah, sometimes it kind of happened, and I certainly didn't reject any advances, but I was in my 50's, and I wasn't quite the horndog I'd been in my youth. Usually it was Whitney I hooked up with, but she'd finally remarried thankfully.
Silver practically turned around on Dragonite to look at me in surprise. "What?!"
"I'm divorced and busy," I huffed. "I have a hand."
Silver looked so damn amused. "I have uh, a bit more than just a hand, and even I get a bit…"
Right. "Have you been tested by the way, since I think we're about to hook up and all…? I'm clean."
Silver paused. "Uh. No… I haven't… I mean, yeah, I guess I probably should still now that you mention it…"
"Oral?" I asked casually.
"Uh-huh…"
I snorted. "Condoms it is, then. No anal?"
Silver just shook his head, looking shy. I couldn't help myself from clutching him a bit tighter and kissing his neck, he tasted like the sea. "Gold," he warned, sounding more than a bit bothered.
I smirked. Wow. This was… This was amazing.
We'd dated for seven years in our primes, young attractive twenty somethings… Those years had been sheer bliss. Yeah, I'd overcompensated a bit, treating Silver more submissive than he would have liked in public. We'd actually chatted about it casually over coffee. I'd noticed Lance didn't really conduct much PDA and I had casually brought it up. I'd try not to make that same mistake, but I had a feeling Silver wouldn't let me regardless. The two of them together in public had clearly been a couple, but not handsy in the least.
I wanted to kiss Silver so bad. Maybe we should grab a hotel room first and worry about shopping after. I offered the suggestion to the redhead and smirked when he agreed. I tried to behave myself as we landed in the city, outside the nicest hotel in Mossdeep. I was a touch surprised given Silver had probably slept in the woods last night (I'd picked a few leaves out of his hair after I'd stopped grinding up on him). We'd had money when I'd dated Silver, but Silver had never been one to flaunt it.
Clearly, he was over that. I stepped into, maybe not the penthouse, but definitely an executive suite. I pretty much immediately tried to rip Silver's clothes off and he huffed, batting my hands off him. "Have some respect for the dead," he complained, setting his bag gingerly on the counter.
I paused. Hm. This was an odd one. It felt a bit wrong fucking Lance's widower with Lance kind of theoretically in the room. Somehow, that didn't deter me… much. Hopefully he'd uh, give us a bit of privacy. I was about to go back to jumping Silver but he just held up his hand and sighed in clear dismay.
"I've been a recluse in Shoal Cave for three days. I need a shower."
Honestly, I could use one, too. "Alright. Care if I join?"
Silver flushed and smirked. "Sure."
AN: Not the end :'D
There are 27 chapters, and I'll set the story to complete (fucking finally hah) once it's done!
