It was a cold, starless night. The clouds overhead covered the sky like an oppressive blanket, denying light the freedom to shine down onto the frosted earth below. Wind currents began to make their way to the south, persuading the clouds to move ever so slightly. Gradually, moonbeams began to leak out from behind the cloudy canopy, until at last the ground below was illuminated by a soft, silver light.
Though the moonlight had succeeded in permeating the clouds, it would fail to make it though the dense foliage just west of Azalea Town. The tress that made up Ilex Forest grew so close together that they plunged the entire area into a state of perpetual darkness.
A figure was running through the forest, filled with apprehension. Though it was pitch black, the figure made no signs of slowing down; on the contrary, the darkness seemed to encourage the figure to move faster and more recklessly, as though any hesitation would break the figure's spirit and cause it to give up its journey entirely. For what seemed like hours the figure cut noisily through the undergrowth, disturbing the nocturnal habitats of Pokémon as it went. A wild Venonat jumped out of the way to avoid being trampled, buzzing and screeching angrily in the figure's wake.
On and on the figure went, blasting through the forest, until quite suddenly it stopped. An infinitesimally small patch of light was shining just up ahead. The figure resumed its pilgrimage in the direction of the light, though now it was moving incredibly cautiously and slowly. The trees began to thin slightly as the figure approached a clearing. A small circle of moonlit sky could be seen through a hole in the foliage, and in the middle of the clearing sat a rickety old shrine.
The figure stopped at the threshold of the clearing, still obscured by the forest's darkness. The silhouette of its head moved from side to side, as though it was inspecting the clearing for any signs of intruders. When nothing shifted or stirred for several minutes, the figure moved into the moonlit clearing.
The light of the moon fell upon a young man, whose face wore a mixed expression of determination and trepidation. He began to walk slowly towards the small shrine, his shoulder-length red hair billowing behind him in the slight breeze of the forest clearing. When he was within arm's reach of the shrine, he stopped, staring intently at the structure before him; it was a finely crafted wooden structure with a small amount of space in the middle, enough space to lay down small offerings, or perhaps enough space for a small Pokémon to reside within...
Minutes passed and nothing happened. The young man neither moved nor spoke. The only sound that could be heard was the loud rustling of the trees in the wind. The young man closed his eyes. The minutes continued to pass without consequence, and the young man's composure finally began to slip. He frowned slightly, his eyes snapping open. He knelt down next to the shrine, running his hand along the empty space inside.
"I knew this would be a waste of time..." he muttered.
Behind him, a twig snapped. Incredibly startled but poised for battle, the young man jumped up, heart in his throat and Poké Ball in his hand. He stood aiming the ball at the source of the noise, which had come from the darkness directly behind him.
"Who's there?" the young man demanded.
There was a soft thud of metal on grass, a moment of silence, then a wizened voice called out from the darkness, "Hold your fire, hold your fire!"
The young man was slightly taken aback by the sound of such an old voice. He lowered his arm slightly and said in a harsh voice, "Show yourself! NOW!"
There was a rustling of leaves, then an elderly man emerged from the shadows with his hands over his head. He wore traditional-looking clothing, and his white hair came down straight behind his head to his shoulders.
"Relax there, sonny," the old man said calmly. "I'm not meaning ya any harm."
The young man took in the old man's appearance, and concluded this to be the truth. He lowered his arm completely, then turned back towards the shrine without apology.
The old man sighed in relief and lowered his arms, cricking his neck as he did. "Good thing, too," he said to himself, as he turned round towards the undergrowth to retrieve what he'd dropped. "These old bones can't stay held up for very long."
The old man straightened up, now holding a medium-sized mallet in his hands. He took a few steps towards the red-haired youth, eyeing him curiously.
"Well now, I'm surprised to find anyone else this far into forest so late at night!" the old man said to the boy's back. "You mind telling me what you're doing here so late, sonny?"
The young man said nothing. There was silence for several more seconds.
WHACK.
The old man had brought his mallet down on the boy's head. The red-haired youth spun round, enraged. "HEY! What do you think you're - "
WHACK.
The old man brought the mallet down on the boy's head a second time. The boy stopped talking immediately.
"Don't you be obstinate with me, boy," the old man said grumpily, as the boy stood rubbing the welt on his head. "Now, let's try this again, shall we? My name is Kurt... and you are?"
The boy said nothing. Kurt raised his mallet a third time, and the boy flinched. "Silver," he said, a little more loudly than he meant to do. "My name is Silver."
Silver grimaced and redirected his gaze at the ground. Kurt lowered his mallet and smiled.
"Pleased to meet you, Silver," Kurt said politely, gripping the mallet head like a walking stick and walking towards Silver. Silver didn't flinch as Kurt approached, but eyed the mallet apprehensively, his grimace still firmly cemented on his face.
"You didn't have to smash me over the head with that thing, old man..."
"...and you didn't need to bark orders at me, young boy," Kurt interrupted, "you nearly scared what little life I've got left out of me!"
Silver looked slightly sheepish, but his grimace remained. "You scared me too, you know," he said defensively. "I wasn't expecting anyone else to come this far into the forest so late at night."
"Ah, well, perhaps I too acted a tad rashly out of surprise," Kurt admitted. "I'm sorry for the battering I gave ya."
Silver's grimace softened slightly, but he quickly replaced it and turned round to look at the shrine again. "Whatever, it's fine," he mumbled. "I'm over it already."
Kurt nodded and continued towards Silver, coming to stand beside him. He looked forward at the shrine, just as Silver was doing.
"So..." Kurt asked, "Don't tell me you came all this way just to stare at a mouldy old pile of wood? What are you doing in the heart of Ilex Forest, in the dead of night?"
Silver continued to say nothing. Kurt gave a look of feigned resignation and turned away from Silver, taking a few steps towards the trees.
"Very well then. I guess I'll just go back home, and make my offering to Celebi another time..."
There was a sharp intake of breath from Silver's direction. Kurt smirked and turned back to face the boy, who remained staring at the shrine.
"I just..." Silver said through gritted teeth, "I just thought that if I could meet this fabled Pokémon, it might be able to take me back... Then I could tell him..."
"Ah, I see," Kurt said with genuine understanding. "There's someone from your past whom you miss dearly, with whom you want to make amends?"
Silver turned towards Kurt, an expression of deep loathing on his face. "Make amends?" he spat. "I have no intention of 'making amends' with that man. He made his choice when up and left all those years ago. He thought that he needed other people to be strong, that he needed to be surrounded by subordinates in order to be powerful. But I knew he was a fool. I knew that you should never rely on hundreds of followers, you should just rely on yourself. I vowed that I would never end up like him. I would make my own path, create my own strength. All this time I've made it on my own, doing things my way, together with my Pokémon..."
"Well then, you're not truly alone, are you?" Kurt said, eyeing Silver intently. "Not if you've got your Pokémon with you."
Silver turned back towards the shrine, glancing down at the Poké Ball still clutched in his hand. "My Pokémon... are strong like me..." he said softly, showing a small smile for the first time. "We complement each other perfectly..." Silver's frown returned, and he looked at Kurt. "What I can't stand is weak people and weak Pokémon, the weak relying on the weak. That's what he did. He put his faith in weaklings, and became one himself."
"If you detest this person so much," Kurt asked solemnly, "Why is it so important to you to see him again?"
Silver grimaced harder than he had all night. He closed his eyes and once again turned towards the shrine, summoning the strength to speak.
"Years ago, my old man disappeared without a trace. He said that he needed to be alone, so that he could create a stronger organization. I tried to convince him that all you need is yourself, that you don't need to rely on others. But I was young and inexperienced, and he dismissed me. Now..." Silver clutched his Poké Ball tighter, "I'm stronger than my old man ever was, all because I relied on my own strength. If I could just go back and tell him, show him that I was right, maybe..." Silver swallowed hard and closed his eyes, "maybe then he wouldn't have left..."
The wind continued to rustle the leaves on the forest trees. Kurt averted his eyes respectfully as Silver wiped his nose on the edge of his sleeve. When Silver had rearranged his face into a grimace once again and resumed his stony silence in front of the shrine, Kurt made his way back over to the boy.
"I don't know your old man," Kurt said reassuringly, "but I think if you were given the chance, you'd do fine job convincing him."
"Thanks," Silver muttered, his expression unchanged. Kurt was slightly taken aback by this sudden display of gratitude, but he closed his eyes and smiled. The smile was short-lived however, as Kurt sighed and said, "I'm afraid that you probably won't be given that chance, though."
Silver shot Kurt a puzzled look, as the old man reached into his breast pocket. "That's what I'm doing out here," Kurt said, ruffling around in his pocket. "At least, that's what I'm trying to do: get Celebi back."
Kurt brought his hand back out of his pocket. In it he held a strange Poké Ball; the usual red-and-white exterior was replaced with a gold-and-silver decor. Kurt placed his mallet down and knelt in front of the shrine, holding the GS Ball in both hands. "I've noticed that Ilex Forest has been restless for quite some time," he told Silver as he descended. "More than likely, it's because something has happened to the forest guardian, Celebi. I've heard rumours that a GS Ball such as this one will quell the restlessness..." He placed the GS Ball in the small opening of the shrine and waited, with Silver standing over him. Several seconds came and went, but nothing happened.
"Darn," Kurt sighed, getting to his feet and picking up the GS Ball and his mallet.
"So what does that mean?" Silver asked. "Does it mean that Celebi isn't here anymore?"
"Could be," Kurt said, frowning, "but it could be a whole host of other things. Could be that the GS Ball knock-off I made isn't up to Celebi's standards. Could even be that the restlessness is all in my head, and Celebi is just a myth after all..." He gave another sign and patted Silver on the arm, then started to make his way out of the clearing. "Don't stay here too much longer," he told Silver paternally. "You'll catch a dreadful cold if you do, and you'll be house-ridden for days... Like I was when I fell down that well!"
Kurt laughed at his own joke, unaware of the irony that the men who caused him said injury were some of the very men who were once employed by Silver's father years ago.
Silver did not respond, but rather continued to stand mutely by the shrine.
Kurt's laughter subsided. "Anyway, you're free to do what you will. As for me, I'm going to take a crack at making another GS Ball, see if that fixes the problem. Maybe next time I'll make a 'Hi-Gloss, Super-Special' Ball..?"
Kurt continued to mutter to himself as he exited the clearing. After a few minutes, his voice died down entirely, and Silver was once again left alone with nothing but the sound of the wind. Eventually, Silver followed suit and walked out of the clearing, leaving the shrine standing innocently in his wake.
The silence in the heart of Ilex Forest was absolute once more. Small, glistening cracks of white light started to make their way up the sides of the shrine.