Silver reflected on his thoughts as he had done the entire night, simply lying next to the swampert, thinking. It helped him figure out the situation a little more, the only main thing bothering him being the swampert's drastic change in behavior. He tried his best to let it go, but it stayed on his mind.
He listened as the radio continued playing it's music. He enjoyed whatever station it was on, as it played good music. Most notably, he remembered hearing the song "Rocky Mountain High". The radio seemed almost therapeutic to him, helping him keep himself relaxed.
He looked over to the swampert, who was fast asleep. It made him a little happy, seeing her content, as when he first met her she seemed irritable. He couldn't explain her change of tune, but he kind of liked it. He was glad that she found it in her within the past two weeks to be happy.
Lifting his head, he looked over her to see the clock on the wall.
Seven fourteen… Sun should be rising about now.
As the winter season was approaching, the sun rise was normally late. It was a normal pattern.
Setting his head back down, he found himself looking at the swampert once again. He took note of the repetition.
It's not like I have anything to do… Let's see, what is there in here…?
Propping himself up with his arms, he looked around, observing the room. He noticed how dull the room was, noticing nothing but the same clock, as well as a small television across the room, mounted on the wall.
"Lookin' for something…?" he heard the swampert mutter, before letting out a yawn.
He looked to her, seeing her half-open orange eyes look back at him.
"Just looking around…" he said. "It's kind of boring just sitting here, doing nothing."
The swampert snickered. "Welcome to my life." she spoke with a deeper tone than usual. "Or, let me correct that, 9 years of it…"
Silver didn't know what to say in response. He set himself back down on his back, lying down once again. "I bet you need the rest more than I do."
She made a buzzer-like noise, stating that he was wrong. "Incorrect, try again. You don't see me sleeping for two weeks, do ya?"
Silver shrugged. "Point proven, I guess."
He was looking up to the ceiling, seeing a soft glow of orange in his peripheral vision from her eyes. His memories flooded back of him finding out that he didn't have the earpiece in his ear, yet he could understand her.
"By the way," he started. "How can I understand you?" he sat back up, turning his head in her direction.
She let out a soft sigh. "Calm down…" she muttered, apparently still tired. "It's not that big-a-deal…"
"Well, how, then?" he asked intently. "I don't have my earpiece."
"They put the chip from it in your brain or something, I don't know."
Silver was taken aback. "What?"
"I don't know how they do what they do… they did something with that earpiece, and programmed you with it or something…"
Silver shook his head, refusing to accept the idea. "Swampert, you need to stop doing that."
"Doing what?" she didn't know what he meant, but she felt as if she should be offended, according to his tone of voice.
"Stop messing with me!" he said. "It's not funny, and I know I won't be able to live with it!"
The swampert felt anger building in her chest from just the one statement. She closed her eyes, taiking in a deep breath. She was easily irritable, she knew, but she wanted to control herself for once. She felt like blowing up on him, but she stopped herself. There was nothing that could set her off more than being framed for something she didn't do.
"Silver…" she said. "I'm warning you, be careful…"
"Careful?" he repeated. "How can I be careful about something when I don't know if what I'm being told is true or not?"
"…don't do this…"
"How could anyone be expected to live like that?"
"Please…"
"I don't need to live with anyone that's going to do that to me."
"Stop…"
"If you're gonna do that to me, you can just stay here!"
With that, she moved over and grabbed him by the shoulders, shoving him into the mattress. She lifted her own body up, moving over him just like she had the night before, except this time with the intention of scaring him. She moved her face close to his.
"You're making a dangerous mistake." she said, quiet yet assertive. She let all of her weight press into him, watching his face, seeing that her tactic was working. "It wasn't my idea, it wasn't my doing, and it sure as hell wasn't my choice. If you can't learn to avoid attacking others without willing to listen to the whole story, I won't go with you. I've made it through the past nine years on my own just fine, and, from the looks of it, you need me. That ninetales may be smart, but she can't do half the things I'm capable of. And I know that she's definitely capable of killing you."
Silver was having a little trouble breathing evenly, all of her 180 pounds of weight pressing on his body. He said nothing.
"Think about what you say before you say it." she said. "Next time, you might not get so lucky. You won't. I'll make sure you don't. I'm not afraid of hurting you, and frankly, I'm running out of options."
Silver lifted his hands to his sides as a sign of submission. Seeing this, she slowly moved off of him.
"We'll talk about the situation more later." she said as she lied down the way she did originally. "For your own good, let me sleep first."
Silver remained in the position he was in, save for his arms slowly setting back down to his sides. He was nearly frozen out of fear, as she had reminded him once again of how scary she could be.
The swampert watched him, as he seemed a little too scared for her taste. She felt bad about it.
"I'm sorry…" she said. "Come here." she reached over him with an arm, pulling him towards her. She moved towards him in the process, gently wrapping her arms around him.
Silver didn't know what to think. How sporadically she was acting, it was too much for him to process.
"Don't think I don't care, Silver…" she said near his ear, lowering her chin. "Sometimes, we're like glow sticks. We need to break before we can shine, you know?"
Silver, noting the admittedly good advice, said nothing, as he was unsure of how to react. More than reminded that she could easily hurt him, he decided that it would be best to go with it. Not only that, but needed to make sure she would stay with him, as he knew she was right. He needed her on his team. He was cautious as he slowly put his arms around her in return, deciding that it would be the best move he could make.
"I'm the one that should be apologizing…" he said to her, unsure of what to say. "I tend to freak out when I hear things I can't make sense of, I'm sorry."
"It's okay…" the swampert replied. She was glad he was willing to cooperate, as she was more than familiar with how things went when someone chose not to.
"You know…" Silver muttered. "It's funny. No offense or anything, but I just feel a little uncomfortable with your… advances? Is that a good word? Well, I can't decide if I like you or not because of it. For some strange reason, I just can't describe it..."
The swampert smirked. "Well, whether or not you like me, I've liked you from the start. I know a good person when I see one. I'm just really bad at learning to trust."
Silver understood.
"Once I do get to trust someone, though…" she said. "I get kinda… clingy. I mean, just look at me, I just scared you to death and back, yet I'm grabbing on to you. It's how I am. I hate showing my emotions, but sometimes I need someone I can trust to spill them out to. Someone who'll understand them, you know?"
"Okay…" Silver said awkwardly. He tried his best to be accepting to her ideas, but it didn't make him feel any better about the situation they were in.
"I kinda marked you as that already, though… sorry…" she muttered before letting out a half-hearted chuckle. "You seem to be the kind of guy that's good at that kind of stuff…"
Silver was confused about it. Was he?
"I don't know if you can really… say that..." he said. "But, you know what? If it's really that big of a deal, I might try, if you want..."
The swampert stroked his hair softly with her hand. "Whether or not you're willing to, it's gonna happen either way. But thanks."
"Uh, sure, you're welcome, I guess." he was too close for comfort to her. He much preferred to have his own personal space.
She let out a small sigh through her nose. "You think how I've been acting is weird." she said. "I can tell."
"Well, I kinda said that..." Silver said. He tried to say it as nice as possible without setting her off.
"Sorry…" she said. "I don't usually act like that, I don't know what's gotten into me lately, it's just that I'm just glad you're okay again, that's all."
"That, and as you said, you're 'clingy', right?" Silver suggested.
"Yeah, that." she said. "I tell myself that I'm better off on my own, but if I've learned anything in the past decade, I've learned that it isn't true… I guess I'm just desperate for someone…"
Silver caught on, as the information she was giving to him suddenly clicked together. "You want someone to trust, don't you? Someone you can appreciate, and who'll appreciate you."
"Yeah, that…" she mumbled.
"I know what you're talking about." he said. "I lost my parents in a fire. I was more than lucky to have Spark with me."
"Ninetales told me about that." she said. "I'm sorry for your loss…"
Silver started noticing how often she said that she was sorry. "Why do you keep apologizing? I'm the one that's been rude."
She shook her head. "I don't know, I just feel that it's necessary, that's all."
"Well…" Silver started. "I appreciate it and all, it's just… strange…"
"I know, I know…" she said. "I'm acting different, I get it. You might as well get used to it. You're my 'emotional scapegoat' now, if you will."
Silver rolled his eyes. "If you say so..." He didn't know how to feel about being an 'emotional scapegoat', but he knew he was ought to find out.
They were both quiet for a little while. Silver thought it was kind of weird to almost get in a fight with the swampert, only for them to hold each other for some reason, but the swampert seemed to enjoy it, so he didn't fight it. Even if he did, he knew that if she didn't want him to move, he wasn't going anywhere.
Doing just about nothing, Silver started thinking of another way to keep the swampert content without having her grab all over him. He wanted something a lot simpler. Something that would work long-term, something that wouldn't get old.
Thinking of something, he soon thought of a good idea. She's a water type, so she has to like water, right? It would be stupid if she didn't.
"Swampert." he tried getting her attention.
"Hmm?" he hadn't noticed that she had fallen half asleep.
"You're good at battling, right?"
"No, not at all." she said sarcastically. She squeezed him uncomfortably tight, aiming to prove her point. "There's no way I'm strong enough for that."
"Okay, okay, I get it." he said. "I'm allergic to dying, so if you'd be a little more gentle..." she loosened her grip on him before he finished his thought.
"What makes you ask?"
"Well, if you can help win some battles, I just might use some of that money to get you… I don't know, a nice gift, or something."
She snorted. "I hate materialized gifts. What could you possibly get me that would be good enough to pass as some sort of gift?"
"Oh, I don't know…" he said facetiously. "Try, I don't know… I was thinking, one we got to my house, I could get, I don't know… an in-ground pool?"
Hearing that made her snap wide awake. She pulled her head back and looked him in the eye.
Bingo.
She seemed almost speechless, merely given the idea.
"…You're serious?" she said it less as a question, more as a statement.
Silver smirked. He knew he won. "Do we have a deal?"
She smiled. "How could I say no? That would be awesome!"
She squeezed him a little too tightly as she hugged him out of excitement. She quickly released him as she heard a few popping sounds coming from his back, scaring her. Silver coughed as she released him. She didn't remember to be careful to him.
"Sorry!" she said as she realized that he wasn't meant to take that kind of pressure. "I didn't hurt you too badly, did I?"
"…you're cool…" he mumbled. He seemed a little dizzy. "Just… don't do that…"
"You okay?" she asked.
"Yeah… I'm good." he said, seemingly regaining his composure. "I wouldn't say the same about my back…"
"Here, let me help." she said. She reached over to him, slowly lifting him so he was sitting up, her moving with him in the process. She moved his arms so they crossed his chest, grabbed his elbows, and lifted him, quickly dropping him and lifting him in repetition, his back popping some more. She set him back down after she heard him sigh in relief.
"Thanks…" he said. Admittedly, his back felt better than it had the whole time. He lied himself back down, the swampert doing the same.
"Yeah… sorry, though… got a little excited there…" she said. She felt bad for hurting him. "You wouldn't believe how long it's been since I've felt water on my skin like that…"
"I… I'm sure…" Silver said slowly. "That's why I said it…"
They both lied there, next to each other. The swampert held onto her head with both of her hands, trying to burn the thought of 'don't squeeze people' into her brain.
As she was in the middle of doing so, she noticed a nice shade of light coming out of the window closest to her.
She got up and made her way off of the bed before getting up on her hind legs to reach the blinds, opening them, one at a time. The sunrise was visible out the window.
"Looks nice outside." she said. "If you're feelin' up to it, you should come see."
"Maybe in a moment." he said. "First, let me make sure I remember to never get you excited about anything while I'm in arms-reach of you."
"I said I'm sorry." she groaned. "I mean, I did fix your back for you." she turned around, getting back down on all fours. She made her way around the bed, going over to the side Silver was on.
She watched him sit up, starting to wonder what his house looked like. She quickly became curious as to how it looked.
"I should be out soon, right?" Silver asked, hoping she would know.
"Pfft."
Silver took that as a sign that she didn't know and accepted it.
"You'd have to ask those weird doctor people, wherever they may be." she said. "I wouldn't know where to find them, though. One of 'em oughta turn up eventually."
Silver silently acknowledged her with a small nod, before turning, draping his legs down the side of the mattress. He felt a sharp pain in his left ankle as he did so, regretting his quick movements.
"Oh, yeah…" the swampert said. "You also sprained your ankle, forgot to tell you about that…"
"Well, thanks for the warning…" he said sarcastically.
"Well, sorry…" she said.
Silver looked at her. "How sorry are you, today?" he joked.
"Very, apparently." she said. "I'm ssss…"
Silver gave her a funny look as she made nothing but a hissing sound as she corrected herself from saying the word 'sorry' again.
"…ssssstraannge." she couldn't think of a way to finish. She decided that saying that she was strange worked, as he called her strange a moment before.
Silver snickered. "You're telling me."
She shook her head. "I'm sorry, I just didn't know how to end that."
Silver gave her a playful glare.
She looked at the ground. "I'm bad at this…"
"It's fine." Silver laughed. "Don't worry about it."
"I'll have to work on that..." She sighed, disappointed in herself. She looked back up to him. "For now, I guess I'll go get some food." she said. "I'll try to get someone to come back with something for you."
"Well, thanks." he said.
"I'll be back, don't worry." she laughed.
"I wasn't… worried…" he said, confused. She gave him a goofy smile before leaving.
Why would I be worried…? What reason would I have to…?
He quickly dismissed the thought, finding it pointless.
He sat there on the side of his bed, the moment not being any more eventful than the majority of night was. He did nothing but wait patiently for her return, or for anything else to happen.
He started wondering about how if he was unconscious for two weeks, how was he fed? He was sure that the doctors knew how to do that stuff without any issues, but it made him curious nonetheless. He had a lot to wonder about, and he felt almost disappointed in himself for thinking about that one specific detail.
He soon started thinking about the whole idea of having a chip in his brain or whatever it was that he was told. The idea scared him, as not only did he not understand the concept, but he had no idea whether it was or wasn't done to him.
He cleared his mind, focusing on the radio. He recognized it, but he didn't remember the name. It was an older song.
He sat rather still, simply waiting patiently for the swampert's return.
The room was quiet for a few moments before he heard footsteps coming down the hall. It was Kristie, his neighbor, followed by the swampert.
"Hey," he heard Kristie say as the two of them entered the room. She was carrying a tray with food on it. "Your Pokémon told me that she was getting food for you, so I decided to help out."
"Well, thanks." Silver said as she handed the tray to him. "I appreciate it."
"You're good." she said, taking but a step back from him, standing in front of him. "I don't have a problem with helping out a friend."
"Even if you did," the swampert joined the conversation. "You know you'd have to take care of him, anyways."
Kristie didn't respond to the swampert, as, Silver knew, she couldn't understand her. On the topic, Silver though about the whole ordeal about the earpiece once again.
"So, where'd my earpiece go?" he asked Kristie simply. She froze. Silver knew, then, that she knew something.
She remained in thought for a moment. "Oh… the earpiece?"
"Yup."
She nodded slowly, looking behind her to the swampert and back. The swampert did nothing but watch intently, seemingly entertained by the situation.
"Well…" she said. "First of all, it wasn't my idea. I just want to get that across."
"She," Silver nodded his head towards the swampert. "said something about it being implemented into my brain. Know anything about that?"
She was quiet. "Well, I… I do…"
Silver listened intently, eager to be given information.
"I had nothing to do with the operation." she said uncomfortably. "If I'm not mistaken, it was your luxray's idea."
Silver was quiet, mentally rejecting the idea of Spark being the reason for this. He didn't like how she turned the blame onto his best friend.
The swampert saw the look on his face, and knew he was thinking this.
"It was." she said. "Everything she's telling you, from what I know, is the truth. Don't be mad at her for it, she's trying to help you out."
Silver was still for a moment more. He didn't know what to think, but it was two versus one. He looked to the ground, loosening the tension in his muscles. "Sorry if I made you uncomfortable, I just really need to her this cleared up."
Kristie stepped forward and put a hand on his shoulder.
"You're fine." she said to him. "You'll have to talk to your luxray about it. I'm sorry no one told you about it."
"She did." Silver reminded her, gesturing to the swampert once more.
"Right…" she said, partially embarrassed from the fact that she forgot as quickly as she did. "Well, good thing you have her as a friend."
Silver nodded, looking over to the swampert with his eyes, his head remaining in its fixed position. "Good thing, indeed…"
The swampert tilted her head slightly to the side as Silver looked back to Kristie.
Kristie backed up a little bit rather quickly. "I've got stuff that I need to take care of." she said. "You should be out by tonight. We were planning on having you out of here last week, but we had to wait since you were still in a coma."
She turned to the swampert, who seemed frozen, staring Silver down. Kristie turned back to Silver. "I have to go. Me, or someone else will come in here to check on you in a while."
She then turned and left the room. Silver looked over, only just noticing how the swampert was looking at him. She seemed almost lost in thought, watching him, motionless. Silver found himself staring back, wondering why she was looking at him the way she was.
"What you said…" she said softly. "Did you mean that?"
"Did I mean what?" was the first thing that came out of Silver's mouth. He was confused.
She shook her head, looking towards the ground. "Forget it."
Silver gave her a confused, yet concerned look. "You okay?" he didn't know what else to say.
"I'm fine, I'm just…" she paused without finishing.
Silver waited for an answer, but didn't get one. "You're just…?"
She looked up to him. "Nothing."
Dismissing the thought best he could, Silver picked up the fork off of the tray he was given, taking a bite of food.
"I'm complicated, my thoughts don't work the same way anyone else's do." she said. "Not even Ninetales can figure me out. You know about her being able to read minds and all, right?"
Silver huffed through his nose as he chewed his food. "I know enough about it."
The swampert nodded, looking back down to the floor. "Right… well, she told me that she can't read my mind."
Silver paused for a moment, before he continued eating. He said nothing.
"I'm just too… different." she told him. "I don't know what it is, it's just that… I don't know…"
"There's nothing wrong with that." Silver said. "Just because you're different, doesn't mean you're wrong."
"Yeah, I guess…" she said. "Doesn't mean I can't be wrong, though."
"Doesn't mean you are, Swampert. Don't get the two confused." Silver insisted.
They were both quiet. After a moment, the swampert made her way towards him, jumping up onto the bed, turning around to sit beside him, lying herself down on her stomach.
"Sorry for being weird and all…" she said. "There's a reason I have trouble getting along with most…"
"You're fine." Silver said. "Everyone's weird in their own way, myself included."
The swampert let out a sigh. "Yeah…"
Silver eventually finished eating his meal, setting the empty tray onto the table next to him. He scooted himself backwards onto the bed a little bit. Trying his best to comfort the swampert, he set his hand on her head, softly rubbing her skin.
"Ninetales told me that you might name us." she said out of nowhere. "Have you thought about it?"
Silver was taken off guard. "Huh?"
"Have you?" she asked. She was fixing to look at him, but something about feeling his hand on her head felt nice to her. She would rather have that.
"I…" Silver thought, wondering why the ninetales would tell her that. Maybe she was making a guess, or suggesting the idea, and maybe she didn't hear it correctly. He didn't know what to think of it.
"What kind of name would you give me?" she asked.
Silver didn't feel any different about the situation.
"And please don't say 'Kipper', that name's overused and annoying."
"I don't know…" Silver said. "I never said anything about naming either of you."
The swampert said nothing, apparently thinking for herself. She was still, as Silver still had his hand on top of her head. She seemed to enjoy it.
"Well…" she said. "The idea's out there for you, now. Might as well think about it, right?"
Silver was, yet again, taken off guard, yet he almost felt obliged to think about it. "You… want me to name you?"
The swampert shrugged. "Well, I bet it'd be nice to have a name… it's better than being labeled like an object, don't you think?"
"Yeah, I guess so." Silver agreed. He knew that he probably wouldn't enjoy living without a name. It would make things a little more difficult. He decided that he might try to name them, for their sake.
"I'll try to, if that's okay." he suggested.
"That'd be good." she said. "A nice change."
Silver thought about it, and he agreed. Putting himself in her position, he could partially see how it would be a good change.
Silver heard the swampert make an 'ooo' sound as he stopped rubbing her head, starting to scratch it. It was almost funny to him.
She pushed her head up against his hand as he scratched her head, almost in a hypnotic state from it.
Silver chuckled at her reaction to him scratching her. It was funny to see her act the way she did.
The swampert was too distracted to say something about him laughing, as she was too busy enjoying the wonderful sensation that took place on the top of her head.
"That feels good..." she muttered as he continued to scratch her. Silver couldn't help but laugh. He started rubbing her head again rather than scratching, her almost instantly becoming calm again.
She let out a small sigh through her nose, and Silver wasn't sure if it was out of disappointment or not.
"Overreaction, much?" Silver joked. She turned her head to look at him, causing his hand to start petting her upper back.
"Huh?" she questioned. She hadn't realized that she had acted the way she did. She then remembered as quickly as she had forgotten, leaving her to do nothing but shake her head, turning her head forward again.
They were both quiet a moment more, simply enjoying each other's company.
"Where are the other two?" Silver asked. He had seen the ninetales for only a moment the night before, but he hadn't seen anything else of them since.
"Oh, they're just doing their own thing." she said. "They're around."
Silver felt a little worried, but he decided that they would be fine.
She let out another soft sigh through her nose. "Now, if you'd not pet me, I'd appreciate it. I'm not a cat."
Silver complied, stopping. "You were enjoying it, weren't you?" he teased.
She was quiet for a moment. "That's not the point."
Shaking his head, Silver pushed himself more onto the bed, moving his legs back up. The swampert saw this, silently obliging to get out of the way.
She moved over to his side as he made himself more comfortable, wary of his ankle. The swampert set herself beside him.
Silver noticed this, and thought it was rather strange how close she seemed to want to be to him.
"What makes you want to be so close to me, lately?" he asked, replaying his thoughts into a sentence.
She said nothing for a few moments, thinking of how to say what she was going to say. She didn't really think about how she was doing so, but being close to someone made her feel more comfortable.
"I guess…" she started. "I guess it might have something to do with you saving us back when we got in that wreck."
Silver was confused. "What do you mean? You're the one that saved me."
She shook her head. "No, that's not what I'm talking about. The others didn't see it, but I did. You turned the car so you'd get hit instead of us."
He quickly remembered what she was talking about at the thought. He hadn't really thought about what he was doing at the time, it just sort of happened. He did it naturally without thinking through his actions.
"I noticed that." she said. "That's why I trust you so much now. That's why I've been acting the way I've been acting towards you."
Silver didn't know what to think. She had been throwing so many strange ideas at him, and now this. At least, unlike the other things she had been telling him, this one made some sense. It took him off guard yet again.
"Well, okay…" he said. "It wasn't that big of a deal, what's your point?"
She gave him an incredulous look. "It was a big deal. A huge deal. If it wasn't for that, we might not still be alive, and that's because of you."
Silver didn't know where she was going with it.
"The reason I'm acting the way I am is because you saved my life, and for two weeks I was scared that you were going to die. I'm acting this way because I don't know how to act. I've never been as happy about something as I am right now."
Silver said nothing, his only acknowledgement being a slow nod. He jumped in surprise when he felt her hug on to him.
"I have a reason to cling on to you." she said. "And I'm happy with it."
Silver froze, doing nothing about the creature's arms wrapping around him, as he knew there was nothing he really could do. He didn't see it coming, but he wasn't surprised that she did so.
She didn't let go of him, continuing to hold him in a hug. "As little as we know each other, thank you for everything."
"And, yeah. You said it yourself, there." Silver said quickly. "The part where you said 'as little as we know each other', that's what I've been talking about the whole time." Unsurprisingly, he was ignored.
Silver had yet to know what to think as he felt her set her chin on the top of his head. He quietly made a list in his head of things he shouldn't do in order to make sure she wouldn't hurt him.
"I'm glad you found me." she said. "I'm the luckiest swampert in the world…"
"Uh, yeah, sure." Silver said. "Now, would you mind letting me go before you squeeze the food I just ate back out of me? Thanks."
She held him for a few seconds longer before releasing him. She felt that she couldn't show her gratitude to him enough.
"Where're the other two at?" he asked again.
"I don't know…" she said. "I… can look for them, if you want."
"That'd be great." he said. "Thanks."
She then made her way off of the bed, quickly making her way out of the room.
Man, what is up with her? She's so sporadic, she won't get off of me… maybe she's just that emotional of a character…
Sitting in a simple lobby chair, the ninetales watched the small, simple television in front of her, bored and dissatisfied. There was nothing on but a news crew reporting whatever, talking about weather and whatnot. Spark sat in a chair beside her, half asleep, participating in the same simple activity.
They were both quiet, doing nothing but watching the small box flash colors and make noise. They were both disinterested, but neither could find anything more worth doing.
The ninetales turned her head to the hallway, wondering if the swampert would ever show up. She watched for a few moments before turning her head back towards the television.
The news cast then started talking about a tournament of some sort, taking place in a week or so, accepting entries to 'credible' battlers.
Seeing this, the ninetales looked over to the Luxray. "Hey, Spark." she tried to get his attention.
"Hmm?"
"Do you and Silver battle, at all?" she asked him. Spark noticed what was on the screen, getting the feeling she was going to ask him about it.
"We used to…" he said. "We're really out of practice, though… it's been a while…"
The ninetales nodded. She listened intently to the information being given from the broadcast, memorizing every last detail that was given, as she had a great memory, feeling that it would somehow come in handy later on.
"Hey." the swampert greeted the two, entering the otherwise empty lobby.
"Hey!" the ninetales piped up, getting up as the advertisement ceased, seeing her friend. "How was last night?"
"I slept well, for once." she said. "Silver's doing fine, too."
"Good to hear." the ninetales said. "That's for sure."
Spark looked over to the swampert, still only partially awake. "How are you?"
"Fine." she said. "Silver's asking to see you two."
"Cool." the ninetales responded. Spark slowly rose out of the chair he was sitting in, fixing to follow them.
The three started to make their way down the hallway, towards the elevator that would bring them to the room Silver was in.
"So, what exactly were you doing with - or, I should say, to - Silver last night?" the ninetales asked the swampert out of the blue.
Spark listened to the conversation, curious as to what she was talking about. He hadn't heard of this.
The swampert let out a soft sigh as they made their way into the elevator.
She pressed the button to go to the third floor, remaining calm as she spoke. "What happened last night between Silver and I stays between Silver and I."
The ninetales froze, absolutely clueless as to how to process what she was told.
"I mean, there's nothing wrong with you telling me, is there?"
The swampert turned towards her. "I said what I said."
The ninetales was quiet for a few seconds. "You're not trying to hide something, are you?"
The swampert shook her head. She didn't want to have a debate, nor was she going to.
"Are you?" the ninetales insisted. "You didn't try to… hurt him or anything, did you-?"
"No." the swampert said, cutting her off, an assertive tone present in her voice. She pressed the button to bring them to the third floor again rather harshly. "You know that that's not how I am. Quit jumping to conclusions."
The ninetales left it as it was, not bothering to pester her further. She knew that no matter what she said, the swampert could drown her out. Quite literally, at that.
The door to the elevator closed, and they soon started moving upwards. Spark was looking back and forth between the two, a strong feeling of concern coming over him. He didn't understand females very well, so he decided that the best move was to leave the two of them be.
The elevator chimed as it came to a stop, the door sliding open shortly after.
The three left the elevator, the swampert leading the way down the hall to the room Silver was kept. It was fairly close to the elevator, making for a short trip.
The three entered the room, Silver looking up towards them, noticing their presence.
"Well, hey!" he greeted. They all made their greetings to him in return.
"How are things going?" the ninetales was the first to converse.
"Perfectly fine." he responded.
"That's good." Spark was the one to speak this time. "Glad to see you're hanging on."
Silver nodded as a sign of gratitude. "I had a question for the three of you." he said. "Though, I think I might have already mentioned it to you at one point." he looked to the swampert.
The three listened intently.
"So," he started. "What do you guys think about battling?"
The three had different reactions to the question, but not one of them said anything. The swampert had a slight grin on her face, the ninetales didn't really mind the idea, and Spark was rather uneasy.
They were all quiet. "Well?" Silver asked.
"Sure." the ninetales was, again, the first to speak. "I wouldn't mind. Could be fun."
Silver looked to the other two. "What about you, Spark?"
Spark was hesitant. "I… don't know…" he said. "You remember what happened the last time we battled someone?"
Silver shook his head. "Spark, I know what happened. Those things happen sometimes. Sometimes, you just have to move on."
"Wait, what happened?" the swampert piped up.
"I almost died is what happened." Spark said. "That was the day we learned why ground types are so significant."
The swampert snorted. The ninetales glared at her, and she lost her grin, understanding that it wasn't appropriate.
"Well, now I've done my research." Silver said. "We're more prepared than ever for that. Not only do I have a better understanding of it, we also have a team of three."
Spark looked to the floor. "I guess I'll do it, then…" He looked to the other two. "But if something happens, you two better have my back."
"No problem." the ninetales said.
"We'll see." was the swampert's response.
Spark looked over to her. "I can hurt you just as bad as you can hurt me. You'd realize that, if only your brain was as big as one of those little logs on your hand you call fingers..."
She shook her head at him, laughing, her small smirk back on her face. She couldn't believe how little he knew. "We can bet on that if you want, kitty cat."
"Hide behind your fat little arms all you want, you're not shaking me."
"Why would I need to 'shake' you when you're light enough for me to throw?"
A few volts of electricity were visible flashing on Spark's fur coat as they locked eyes.
"Guys, just relax. There's plenty of time for that later." Silver said, the two refusing to break eye contact.
A few more seconds passed before the two's heads abruptly butt into each other, both of them complaining from the unpleasant experience.
"You've got to remember that I'm still here, you two. Calm it down." the ninetales barked.
The other two Pokémon looked at her in an irritated fashion before looking back at Silver.
"So you can use telekinesis, too?" Silver said. "You're not a psychic type."
"Telling me I'm a certain 'type' of anything is doing nothing but giving me a label." she said. "I've had more years of experience practicing doing just that than you all have had weeks of being alive. Combined."
"Or so you say." the swampert retaliated. "I'd bet you're wrong about that."
"Swampert, if I got a minute older for every time you made a smart remark like that, I'd be dead by now, I swear."
"Guys, please, just get along." Silver said. "Is it really that hard?"
"We're not arguing, they're just scared of me." the swampert said facetiously.
"Give it up." Spark said. "I don't need a lot of meat on me to be threatening."
"You look like you're made of nothing but fur." the swampert said back to him. "And I thought grandma over here was furry."
"Can you guys just shut up already?" the ninetales said.
"I could tear you both up before you'd be able to realize it if I wanted to." Spark challenged.
"You're nothing but a twig." the swampert snapped back at him.
"I don't need to say that I'm better in order for you two to know it." the ninetales said. "Actions speak louder than words, guys, we'll settle it later."
The three silently agreed to this, looking back to Silver soon after.
"Okay…" Silver said, not sure what to think. "Well… I guess… it's… settled…?"
Spark sat up straight abruptly.
"Ninetales." he said. "What was that thing you saw on the TV earlier?"
The ninetales' posture straightened as she remembered precisely what he was talking about. "That's right, there's going to be a tournament soon."
Silver was quickly interested. "You mean a battling tournament?"
"Yeah, there's supposed to be a lot of people there." she replied. "There are openings still. You should sign us up."
The other two nodded quickly in agreement, the whole group seemingly getting themselves excited at the thought of the opportunity.
"Alright." Silver said. "Let's do it."