Disclaimer: I seriously don't own Pokémon.
A/N Hello again, and welcome back to another chapter! To all the wonderful people who read, reviewed, and/or followed this story, thank you so much! Your support means a lot. Really, thank you. :)
Now, sit back, relax, and enjoy this chapter. Or lean forward. Or stand ramrod straight. Whatever's your style.
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Chapter 3: Gold vs. Silver
When Silver had collided with the unknown passerby, his first emotion had been anger. Who did this guy think he was, not even looking where he was running? Okay, so Silver had been a bit careless as well, but at least he had a fair reason—running from the law required a good deal of concentration. He glared at the stranger furiously. That led to the next emotion—surprise.
He remembered seeing this boy in New Bark. Gold. And judging by the look in his eyes, Gold remembered him too. This was bad. Silver's thoughts raced as he tried to keep a cool head. Maybe he should take out the brat's little pokémon that was with him, then go from there. He wasn't entirely sure what that would accomplish, but it sounded like a plan. Silver was always good at improvising, anyway.
Now, what he intended to do was immediately send out his newly-acquired pokémon and get things over with. Instead, he looked down at the pokémon standing next to the kid, and blurted out the first words that came to his mind.
"You got a pokémon at the lab."
. . . Wow, was his brain-to-mouth filter malfunctioning or what? After a short and uncomfortable silence, during which the black-haired boy gave him an unimpressed look, he added, "What a waste. That's a pokémon that's too good for a wimp like you." There, that sounded better.
Gold just raised an eyebrow, not gracing the insult with a verbal response. Hmph. Rude.
"Don't you get what I'm saying?" There was a short pause. Gold's expression didn't change. Silver scowled. Fine, let's just get this over with. Get ready, you little punk. "Well, I too have a good pokémon. I'll show you what I mean!"
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Mrs. Heart was worried. Not that she didn't do that every day, but this time, she had a very legitimate reason. Her fourteen-year-old son had been gone for hours, with nothing but a small pokémon by his side. Professor Elm had come by shortly after Gold had left to reassure her that there wasn't a single powerful of aggressive wild pokémon anywhere near here, and that the cyndaquil would scare anything off with ease. She was already well aware of that, and hearing it from the Professor himself was comforting, but her stomach was still in knots.
Lyra had offered to stay and keep her company, but Mrs. Heart had declined. The poor girl didn't need to watch her as she paced around the living room and chewed her fingernails. In her defense, she had tried to occupy herself with a couple of books, but her mind wouldn't stop wandering. She was beginning to seriously regret her decision—what kind of mother allowed her son to just go off into the wilderness? Really, how many people did that? Okay, maybe a lot. A whole lot. But still . . .
It was probably a good thing that a knock on the door temporarily distracted her.
"Oh Daaarby! Are you in there?"
Mrs. Heart suddenly had an overwhelming urge to pound her head on the wall. This was not her day at all. Courtney Johnson was perhaps the nosiest, snobbiest, most annoying neighbor in this town. She had the uncanny ability to get on absolutely anyone's nerves, and her favorite activity was giving people advice on how to raise their children. And she was knocking on her door. Mrs. Heart was very tempted to pretend she wasn't there, but her courteous side wouldn't allow it. She sighed in defeat.
"Come on in, Courtney."
And of course, she flounced right in. Hmph. Flounceasaurus. Without preamble, she made a bee-line towards the living room and sat down on the cream-colored couch. Courtney was always good at taking liberties in another person's house and making them too uncomfortable to protest. Yes, she was very good at that—almost as good as she was at talking.
"It's so good to see you again! How are you?" She didn't wait for an answer. "You know, you really ought to stain these floorboards a darker shade, they'd look so much better if you did. And get rid of this green rug! Ugh." She looked at the offending item with distaste. Darby almost felt bad for the rug. Now Courtney was probably going to criticize the coffee table situated on it.
"This coffee table, too." Ha. "It's so old. You should get something more modern. Oh, and sit down already! Don't be so stiff."
Darby had been standing near an arm of the couch (the one farthest from where Courtney was seated) during the lecture. She sat down reluctantly, already wishing her pompous neighbor would go away. Courtney had been in here for less than a minute, and was already overstaying her welcome. Mrs. Heart managed a slight upward tug at the sides of her mouth that somewhat resembled a smile. It wasn't very convincing, but she gave herself an A for effort. "So, Courtney, what brings you here? Not that you aren't completely welcome," she lied, "but this is . . . unexpected."
Mrs. Johnson's eyes sparkled—a bad sign. "Well, I just saw something very interesting." Caution—Predator Mode activated. "It just got me really curious. I saw Gilroy running off to Route 29 with a pokémon following him, and I was so shocked—"
"Who?"
"Who what?"
"Who's Gilroy?"
Courtney looked at her as if she had gone mad. "Well, your son is the only Gilroy that I know of. . . ."
Face, meet palm. "His name is Gold," Darby said flatly.
"Oh, that's right! Well, like I said, I saw him run off, and then I started thinking, 'What in the world was Darby thinking, giving him a pokémon and letting him just leave like that?' And then I thought, 'Is he running away?' So I waited a while, and I guessed he hadn't run away, seeing as I never saw you go out to look for him, so you must have allowed him to go, and I've got to say—Darby, what in the world were you thinking?" She said this all very quickly.
This woman . . . "Well, Courtney, first of all, I did not givehim a pokémon. He borrowed it from Professor Elm. Second of all, he is not 'running off.' He's just going out for a little while—admittedly against my better judgment—on an errand for the Professor. That's all there is to it." Why am I defending myself against her?
Courtney seemed a bit affronted. "You don't need to be so snappy, you know. Most people would be touched by my concern. But don't worry," she said, as Darby opened her mouth to speak. "You don't need to apologize. I understand how you feel."
"I wasn't—"
"After all, I know it's very hard for you, raising a hearing-impaired child. And I'm guessing this is your way of trying to give him a little independence. But really? Sending him out into the wild? I thought you knew better than that."
Darby gritted her teeth. "I'm his mother. I'd like to think I know what's best for him."
Once again, Courtney looked like she'd been insulted. "There's no need to turn this into an argument, you know. There's nothing wrong with taking some good advice."
Wait, she was turning this into an argument? "And what good advice is that? Keeping him at home his whole life?"
"Of course not! And calm down, will you? I just think you should make an effort to discourage his interest in anything pokémon-related. Encourage him to look into other activities more suited to a hearing-impaired person's capabilities— "
"Stop calling him hearing-impaired! And he's just as capable as anyone else."
"Oh, calm down, Darby! Do you even hear what you're saying? Look, I know it's hard for you to accept, but there are things your son just shouldn't be doing. What if someone or something came up from behind him?"
Darby grit her teeth. "That's what his pokémon is for. It could be his ears for him—"
Courtney laughed. "Really, Darby? Really?" She leaned back on the couch and crossed her legs. "Well, if that's what you see as safe . . . "
Why was she so good at making anyone feel stupid? "You're acting like he's a trainer. He's on an errand. That's all."
"And when will that little errand turn into a few errands? Then a few more?" She leaned toward Darby and whispered conspiratorially, "Remember Mrs. Bradshaw from four years ago? She and her husband let their son work at the lab too . . . and then go on errands . . . and then go traveling . . . and, well, you remember the rest."
Darby clenched her jaw. "You shouldn't speak of things like that so disrespectfully," she ground out, driving the memories of Teddy Bradshaw's closed-coffin funeral out of her head. "And besides, that was thanks to Team Rocket, and they're gone now."
Courtney sighed and looked at her pityingly. "Well, it's not up to me what you let your son do. But I still say that you shouldn't let him get into trouble." She laughed lightly. "You've him for what, twelve years?"Fourteen, you dimwit. "How do you manage to stay so clueless after all that time?"
Clueless?! Darby sprang up from the couch and glared down at Courtney, her eyes smoldering and her fists clenched. "Oh, I'm clueless?" she whispered venomously. "Tell me, why is it that you always seem to know what's best for everyone? All your decision-making didn't seem to go over well with your daughter, did it?" Courtney's face turned red. "So, how long has she been living with her father, now?"
That last remark was enough to make Courtney rise to her feet as well "You . . . how dare you!" she spat. "Are you suggesting that I know nothing about making decisions?"
"Yes, I am! You always talk about what other people should and shouldn't do, but you never seem to follow your own advice! Almost every time you open your mouth, it's to make some mean-spirited remark about how someone doesn't know how to run his of her own life. I'm sick and tired of it, and it's time somebody stood up to you, Mrs. Johnson."
If looks could kill, Darby would be nothing but a bloody, disemboweled corpse by now. "Mrs. Heart, you are taking this too far! All I do is remind you of your child's capabilities, and you . . . act like this! And you know what? Do what you want! Just don't complain when things turn out badly for you—and they will!"
Darby had had enough. She walked up to neighbor until they were almost nose-to-nose. "Believe it or not," she said menacingly, "I know what my own son can and cannot do. I know how to be a parent to my own child, believe it or not. And I will handle my own life, if you don't mind. Now," she said, "I suggest you leave."
With one last venomous glare, Mrs. Johnson stormed away, purposely knocking the coffee table askew on her way out. Several seconds later, Darby heard the door slam shut.
Slowly, she sank back down into the couch, cradling her head in her hands.
Darby sighed deeply as she wondered if nasty neighbors posed more of a threat to anyone than wild pokémon did. The thought of that actually made her chuckle a little as she pictured a twenty-foot-tall Courtney Johnson lumbering around town, spewing fire from her mouth as the locals scattered in terror. That image made sending Gold out to face regular old pokémon sound almost reasonable. Maybe Gold could handle himself in the real world, she thought, but then mentally shook her head and thought about all the things that could get him into trouble.
Gold was smart, sure, but he was also reckless, short-tempered, and seemed to take pleasure in picking fights with other kids. She'd lost track of all the times he had come home with a black eye, scraped knuckles, or skinned knees. She remembered the time about nine years go when Gold had gotten dozens of bruises after he had tried to slide down the banister—while standing on it. When he was thirteen, he'd actually broken two of his fingers after punching some sixteen-year-old 'slimy twerp' (his words, not hers) who had been bullying Lyra. Said slimy twerp had tackled him to the ground and ended up dislocating Gold's shoulder. Neither events were what you could exactly call freak incidences—things like that happened practically on a weekly basis.
It seemed that, no matter what she did, Gold attracted trouble, and lots of it.
No matter what.
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Gold watched as Rude Guy struggled for a second to pull something out of his jacket pocket—the gloves he was wearing probably hindered him a bit. But he finally managed it. Rude Guy backed away several feet and held the object in front of himself. It was a pokéball, as Gold had a feeling it was going to be. He frowned. He would have been happy to be having his first ever trainer battle if he hadn't been on an important mission! Rude Guy was certainly living up to his nickname.
Ooh, I wonder what's in the ball? Hey buddy, you dropped your trainer card!
Cyndaquil, stay focused!
That was as far as their conversation went before the Rude Guy launched his pokéball. In a flash of light, the ball opened to reveal—
Hiya Gold, hi Cyndaquil! Totodile waved at them, then turned around to face the red-head. Hey, is this my new trainer? Haha, look at his hair!
The stranger then shouted something at Totodile that made him twirl around to face the others.He's kind of rude, I think. But anyway, he says I have to battle you guys. He hopped in excitement. This is gonna be fun!
Yeah, fun, Gold replied sarcastically. Cyndaquil, you ready?
No! I mean yes!
Just then, Totodile ran forward with surprising speed and slashed wildly at his opponent. Cyndaquil reeled back as the reptile's claws slashed across her face.
Use tackle! Cyndaquil jumped and bashed her head into Totodile's middle and sent him sprawling into the grass. Tackle again!
Totodile rolled out of the way just in time. He rose to his feet, panting.
Without warning, he dashed towards Cyndaquil and scratched her again. She curled up, trying to shield herself.
Fall back! And just keep dodging until I tell you stop. Gold gritted his teeth as the two pokémon ran around in front of him. The fact that he couldn't hear Rude Guy's commands made things harder. But then again, neither the red-head nor Totodile could hear him, either.
Get down!
Without question, the fire-type immediately dropped to the ground. Totodile, still running, tripped over her and landed on his face. He scrambled to his feet and hopped around in pain, now sporting a bloody nose.
Cyndaquil ran back to Gold and waited for her next orders. Gold looked at the stranger and saw him yelling something at Totodile, but he was too far away to tell what he was saying.
Tackle him while he's distracted! Aim for the chin. Hopefully, that would cause a fair amount of damage. This battle was going to be a short one, he could tell—both pokémon were flagging.
Totodile had now regained his composure and tried to attack again, but he had barely raised his claws before Cyndaquil rammed into his chin in a full-body version of an uppercut. The lizard's head snapped back, and his eyes glazed over. He stumbled around for a moment, then collapsed on his back. The battle was over.
Gold picked up the weary cyndaquil with the arm that wasn't holding the egg. Great job, partner.
Cyndaquil heaved herself up on Gold's shoulder and slumped there. Yeah. That was really scary. . . .
The stranger returned his fainted pokémon with a nasty scowl. He walked up to Gold and leveled him with a glare. "Are you happy you won?"
Hell yeah. Gold felt a smirk grace his features.
Rude Guy was clearly not pleased with the 'reply.' "Do you want to know who I am?"
Not really.
"I'm going to be the world's greatest pokémon trainer."
Gold coughed lightly and rolled his eyes. Could this dude get any more melodramatic? Probably.
Rude Guy brushed past him and stormed away. Cyndaquil stared at the ground.
Hey look, he left his card here. Silly.
Gold stooped to pick it up. Then he grinned. Just look at his picture! It looks like a mug shot. He examined it further. Aw, what the heck? Our names match.
What do you mean? What's his name?
Silver.
Ha! Gold and Silver! Poor you. Hey, heads up.
Gold looked up to find that Silver had returned. "Give that back!" He snatched the trainer card from Gold's hand, then shoved him back for the second time that day. Silver then stormed away.
Geesh, what a prick, Gold remarked, scowling. Anyway, let's hurry back. We have a mile left to go.
Aye aye, captain.
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They were back at their starting point fifteen minutes later (Gold really needed to work on his stamina). When they entered the lab, Gold saw Professor Elm slumped in a chair, looking drawn and haggard. Standing in front of him and talking was . . . a policeman? The young cop - probably no more than twenty-five years old—looked up as Gold approached them. The cop stared at him questionably.
"Who are you?" The cop didn't give him time to answer. "We are investigating the case—" But he was the only cop here. . . . "—of a missing pokémon."
Wait.
The policeman held up a finger, apparently about to say something important. "Rule number one! Whoever did it will come back to the site." At least, that's what Gold thought he said. The dude talked fast to really be able tell.
Then the man's jaw dropped, and he stared into space for a space for a moment. He then looked at Gold in shock. "Oh my . . . so you must be . . . the one who did it?
Elm rose from his seat and started to say something, but he just looked past Gold's shoulder in mild surprise. Lyra had unexpectedly come up from behind him (Gold was beginning to think she could teleport), and was giving the cop her best evil eye. "Hold on a second! He has nothing to do with it!" She was talking and signing very fast. "There was a red-haired guy looking into the building a while ago it could've been him."
Red-haired guy? 'What pokémon was taken?' he asked Lyra, while the cop looked on in befuddlement.
"Totodile," she replied.
Damn it! He could have tried to stop him!'I battled him just a little while ago!' he told the others.
Lyra's mouth hung slightly open, but she quickly composed herself and relayed the information to the adults.
"What? He battled a boy like that?" the cop asked Lyra, acting like Gold was no longer there.
"Yes. And when someone is talking to you, you're supposed to talk to him too, not whoever happens to be standing next to him. That's rude."
"Uh, erm, sorry." He tugged at his shirt collar. He then awkwardly turned to Gold, who had an eyebrow raised. "Um, did you happen to get his name?"
'Just his first name. Silver. And I saw him running down Route 29.' Lyra then interpreted for the cop, and the man nodded and wrote the information down in his notebook.
"Ah, well, that's better than nothing. Thanks for, um, helping with the investigation." He then said something to the Professor, who nodded. Without further ado, the man walked out the building.
Elm ran his hand through his hair and sighed. "This is just terrible." He rubbed the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes for a second. He opened his eyes again and noticed the object Gold was holding. "Oh, yes, you have the egg, I see," he said, looking much less excited than he usually would "I'll take it off your hands now." Gold handed the egg over and the Professor briefly examined it, running his hands across the surface and scrutinizing its shell. "Well, I'll just put it in the incubator for now." He went through one of the doors near the back of the lab, disappearing from sight.
"Really weird day, huh, Gold?" Lyra remarked.
'You can say that again.'
"Really weird day—"
'Very funny, Gold said dryly, but he couldn't grin hold back a slight grin. 'Oh yeah, guess what I got!'
Elm came back to the main room just in time to see Gold show off his Pokédex to Lyra, who had her hands clasped in excitement. Cyndaquil, still sitting on Gold's shoulder, looked rather bored and vaguely annoyed.
Walking closer, Elm recognized the object. "What?" He stepped closer. "Professor Oak gave you a Pokédex!" It wasn't a question.
Lyra signed the message, and Gold replied with a grin.
Elm smiled broadly, forgetting about his troubles for a moment. "That's incredible! You know," he said, "Professor Oak is superb at seeing the potential of people as trainers." He grinned slyly. "That might be something you should to tell your mom. She'd probably want to know."
Lyra, who had been signing for Gold during this time, got the hint. "Yeah, Gold! You should really tell her. Right now. Text her or something! Now!"
'Okay, okay, I'll run home and tell her. Geez.' He smirked slightly and made to leave the lab, until Lyra grabbed his shoulder.
"Wait, I thought of something. Don't move." Gold watched as Lyra faced the Professor, her back to him. She began what looked like an intense discussion with him, if her flailing arms were any indication (then again, Gold had seen her do that after she'd simply remarked that it was cloudy outside). Gold felt a little irritated at being left out. Cyndaquil, who had the advantage of having functioning eardrums, looked excited.
Hey Gold, when Professor Elm asks you something—he's gonna ask a really big something!—can you please say yes? Pleeeeeeeease? You won't regret it! Pretty pretty beautiful amazing please?
I don't even know what they're saying, Cyndaquil. But fine! he said, before she could butt in. I'll say yes I guess.
Yay! It'll be so cool!
When Lyra and the Professor were both facing him again, Gold wondered if he ought to be excited or something. Apparently, Elm was going to ask him a question, and apparently, saying 'yes' would result in cool things. Which was nice, he supposed.
Elm cut right to the chase. "I'm in a bit of a situation. Now that Chikorita has been taken in by a new trainer, and Totodile is missing, Cyndaquil won't have anyone to keep her company. Do you think you could keep her?"
Keep? Like keep keep? Why was he even bothering to ask?'Are you kidding me? Of course I'll keep her!' His mom actually agreeing to that posed a problem, but he'd find a solution to that later.
"Wonderful! That's one less thing I have to worry about."
"Hey, now our pokémon can play with each other," said Lyra. "Oh, and just so you know, I sent your mom a text just a minute ago. I told her that you got a new—uh—oh. She sent a text back. "
'You told her?' Gold asked, incredulous.Why did you do that? I was going to bring it up carefully and tactfully! What does the text say?'
"Yes. Because I wanted to save you from more harm than necessary. I didn't know that. It says, 'Tell Gold to stay right where he is. We are going to have a very serious talk.'" Lyra cringed. "Sorry. But maybe all three of us can—"
The lab door swung open, and Mrs. Heart stormed in, eyes blazing. She spotted the trio (plus Cyndaquil) and marched towards them.
Elm bravely stepped forward. "Mrs. Heart—"
"Don't. Say. A word," she hissed at the unfortunate Professor. "That goes for you too," she said to Lyra. "And you!" She pointed at Gold. He gulped (and so did Cyndaquil). This didn't look like it would end well. "You go miles from home, through the woods, with that" (Cyndaquil looked miffed) "as your only company. You, most likely, purposely went searching something to battle on your way. And now," she said, and pointed at Elm, "he decides that giving you fire-breathing pokémon is a good idea."
'Mom—'
"I'm not finished yet." Mrs. Heart took several deep breaths. "Do you still honestly want to be a trainer?"
Gold straightened his back and locked eyes with her. 'Yes.'
There was a tense pause.
"Okay."
What?'Wait, you're letting me?' This was inconceivable. He had to have misunderstood. There was just no way.
Lyra and the Professor looked just as surprised as he felt. Gold's mother shook her head at three of them.
"Yes, I'm letting you. I don't know what I'm getting myself into, but I don't want to hold you back anymore. You can have the pokémon, and you can take that gym challenge you're always talking about."
All three people (and Cyndaquil) stared at her in amazement, and Mrs. Heart almost laughed. She turned to Gold again and put on a stern countenance. "Now go pack before I change my mind!"
And so, forty-five minutes, ten hugs from Lyra and his mom, one handshake from the professor, and one wave goodbye later, Gold and Cyndaquil began their new adventure, striding away in dignity and disappearing into the sunset.
Okay, so it was more like dashing off back through Route 29 and trying to get to Cherrygrove before one 'o clock, but hey, it was the thought that counted.
So, how does it feel, getting to travel all over and take on new challenges? asked Gold.
Well, so far, it feels pretty awesome. You?
Same, same. I can't wait to challenge the gym leaders. They won't know what hit them!
Wait, you're gonna hit them?
It's an expression, Cyndaquil. . . .
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Silver jogged along the dirt trail of Route 30, keeping a steady pace. After suffering a humiliating defeat to some random kid, he had wanted to beat him to a bloody pulp. And break that egg he had with him. But the punk's Cyndaquil was still alive and kicking, and he really didn't want to be set on fire. That and the fact that he had to get far away from New Bark Town as quickly as possible. He needed any investigators involved to lose any trace of him.
He hoped that's what would happen, but would require actually getting a bit of good fortune. To bad he never seemed to have any. He'd gotten the pokémon he had initially wanted, but it's stupid jolly personality was toeing the line between obnoxious and unbearable. He was also fairly well away from the crime scene, but the chances that he had made a clean escape were practically nil. Who knew what other unfortunate events would come his way? Arceus, what did I ever do to you?
But he had no time to mull things over. He'd do that later. After getting safely away—and after whipping his idiotic dancing lizard into shape.
He really wished he's gotten the fire-type instead. But of course that's not what happened. Gold just had to pick the only good one.
Thinking of Gold made his insides squirm. That kid hadn't said a word during the entire battle. He'd just stood there, following the events of the battle with an intense gaze. And he had won. Was he telepathic? he wondered. Something like that was rare, but not unheard of.
Whatever was going on, Silver had a strange feeling that that wasn't the last time he would be seeing him.
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A/N Oh, Silver. Believe me, you will certainly be seeing Gold again. Anyway, how did you like the chapter? I know not a good deal of things happened, but hey, Gold finally gets to start his adventure! So really, what did you think? I love getting feedback.
Anyway, I have a question for you. Yes, YOU. *points at you* How would like if I devoted some chapters to flashbacks of different characters? If you're interested in anyone's past and you want to read about it, comment below and let me know! C'mon, you know you want to. :D Or maybe you don't want to into anyone's dark and mysterious past. Either way, feel free to tell me! I don't bite, I promise.
Whatever you choose to do, thank you once again for taking the time read this. Bye, y'all!