Chapter 3 – A game of cat and mouse

Silver searched Ilex Forest through and through, but found no trace of Rowena or any other ranger anywhere. He was sure there should be ranger's cabins in every location a ranger was stationed, but so far, he hadn't had any luck in finding one. Sneasel was running around looking for clues as well, but hadn't notified it's trainer about anything unusual.

Frustrated, Silver stopped for a moment to think. How could he get in contact with a ranger without having to be attacked by a horde of Zangoose, or potentially damage the forest or the Pokémon in it? All of a sudden, an idea struck him. He called Sneasel who came running towards him.

"Listen…" Silver said, kneeling down and whispering to it. "…pretend you're lost in the forest. Don't come to me even if I call for you. Understood?" Sneasel blinked, not exactly following its trainer's thoughts, but nodded anyway before dashing into the nearest bushes. Silver pretended to keep looking for something else for a while before he got to work.

"Sneasel, we're done here, time to leave!" He called out, looking around. "Sneasel, are you hiding? Come here this instant!" Continuing to call for the not-at-all-lost Pokémon, Silver began walking in the opposite direction of where Sneasel had headed in the first place.

Soon enough, he was successful. A blonde haired man in red with a Johto ranger emblem on his beret was walking towards him, holding Sneasel. The Pokémon appeared joyous seeing its trainer and immediately ran over to Silver, who embraced it and continued the act.

"Sneasel! I was so worried, why did you run off so far? Don't ever do that again." He looked at the ranger, trying to appear thankful. "Thank you, good sir, for bringing Sneasel to me. It's good to have you ranger's stationed around the region it seems."

"You're welcome, young man, and it was no problem at all." The ranger said. "Such things happen quite often here in Ilex Forest."

"On the other hand I'm lucky to have met you, I would need to ask you something." The ranger cocked an eyebrow.

"Go ahead."

"A few days ago, I was attacked by a horde of Zangoose here in the forest, and was rescued by a silver haired female ranger. I'd like to thank her properly for saving me. Would you happen to know where I can find her?"

"Rowena? To be honest I can't for my life understand why you would want to try and find that stone cold woman, let alone try to thank her, but I admit she does her job well, and rescuing you from a horde of Zangoose definitely earns her a good thank you… not that she would accept it. But very well, she's now stationed in Ice Path. The ranger's cabin can be found by the entrance at Route 44."

"Thank you, good sir, and have a good day." Silver said quickly, dashing out of the forest, leaving a confused ranger behind him. She wasn't getting away this time.

~Rowena's POV~

*Bleep, bleep, bleep!*

Rowena pulled out the beeping RangerCom from her pocket and flicked it open. She was greeted by the blonde ranger that had taken over the post in Ilex Forest after her a day earlier. She couldn't remember his name, but since he didn't seem too keen on talking with her anyway, she decided to not even ask.

"Sorry to bother you, Rowena, but I thought I had to notify you of something. Just this afternoon a red-haired guy with a Sneasel came around, saying he was looking for you to thank you from saving him from a horde of Zangoose. He sounded sincere, so I told him of your location, but then it got suspicious. See, he just ran off with a brief thank you. If he's an unwanted guest, you'd better get out of there as soon as possible."

"…I see. Thanks."

"No problem."

Rowena hung up, cursing under her breath. What was that nuisance playing at?

"Khali, come here." She called out to her Absol, which immediately ran over to her. "Listen, Silver is looking for me. I don't know why, but I'm not giving him the satisfaction of finding me easily. We're taking the tent now, not a single night in the same place. He might find me sooner or later, but he's not finding me in this cabin." Khali let out a purr of agreement.

"Let's move."

~Silver's POV~

"Where on earth is that impossible woman?" Silver murmured through gritted teeth, sliding through the second floor of Ice Path for the fourth time that day. He had reached the cavern three days after leaving Ilex Forest, and had now been looking for Rowena for three more days. She wasn't in the cabin, even though he had spent considerable amounts of time waiting for her outside it both at night and at daytime, but she just wasn't there. By now, he was utterly frustrated but not giving up.

He reached the end of the ice floor and stepped out on the gravel, suddenly stopping dead in his tracks. Beneath him, on a well-hidden platform, was a tent. He smirked to himself, moving out of sight.

"Found you."

~Rowena's POV~

"Damn it!" Rowena grabbed her spare backpack, complete with a second tent, a sleeping bag and all the essentials, signaled to Khali to follow her and took a secret path leading her out of the cavern, up on top of it. She took shelter inside the snow covered forest, leaning against a tree, panting. Her adrenaline was pumping. For some reason, she was quite enjoying this…

~Silver's POV~

"You've got to be kidding me!" Silver cursed out loud, finding the tent empty, seemingly abandoned in a hurry. "You can't possibly have seen me…"

He paused, looking down. Sneasel was sniffing the sleeping bag, trying to distinguish the smell of the silver haired woman. Silver smirked. Sneasel didn't have the best sense of smell or tracking in the world, but with such a fresh smell and probably fresh trace, there was actually a chance he could track her down.

"Brilliant, Sneasel." He commended his Pokémon, who was now sniffing the ground, heading out of the tent. "Take me to her, and remain unnoticed."

Running after Sneasel through the tunnel, he felt a rush of adrenaline run through him, mixed with feelings of frustration and… satisfaction?