Yay for updates! So, I'm not really sure what to talk about now… So we'll just get moving with the chapter!

Amy47101 does not own pokémon. Only Vale and Sara.

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The Adventure Saga

Enlightening the Soul

o.0.o.0.o

"Um, who is this Ly-rah you speak of?"

That was the first thing to come out of Lyra's mouth, horribly disguised with a terrible foreign accent. But it didn't do much to prove she wasn't Lyra. He would know those big huge eyes and gravity-defying pigtails anywhere! Silver narrowed his gaze. What… What was she doing wearing this uniform?!

"What are you doing here? This is no place for weaklings…" he trailed off, glancing over her outfit again, when it suddenly clicked. How many times had he called her weak? How many times has he showed his distaste for Team Rocket? Was she doing this to get back at him?! "No way…" he murmured aloud. "You think you're strong now that you look like them? That's foolish! You shouldn't wear those things!"

"Silver, listen-"

"Take them off!"

"Wait, what?!"

"Take it off!"

"Are you insane, Silver? Go away! Leave me alone!"

"I said, take it off!" Silver commanded yet again, seeing red as Lyra tried to push him away. I want to be your friend, she said. All her kindness, all that reaching out, all that helping she tried to do… She was no better than anyone else in this Arceus forsaken world! This backstabber! Building up all this hope only to knock him down in the end. Was this what she was planning?! It had to be! He never needed anyone before and he doesn't need anyone now!

But he'll fix this. If she thinks she's getting back at him for all the times he insulted her, then by the pokémon legends he'd fix it so she wouldn't do something like this ever again!

"Take," his hands moved from her shoulders to the front of the shirt. "It," he grabbed the shirt, yanking at it. "OFF!"

Blinded by rage, he tugged the fibers until he heard a loud RIIIIIIIIP. Anger suddenly quelled by destroying the offensive property, Silver let out a sigh. There. He didn't have to look at Lyra in that horrendous outfit anymore. Everything was juuuuuust fi-

"OH MY ARCEUS!" the shriek cleft the air as a ball of orange and brown fur suddenly attached itself to his face. "Growlithe, defend my honor!"

"Crap! Ow, ow, ow, ow! Get him off!" Silver cried out as he felt claws dig into his skin. "Ow!"

He managed to wrench the little thing off his face, the realization of what he did suddenly being pushed to the front of his mind.

"Listen, Lyra, I..." he trailed off as he saw Lyra crouching on the ground, trying to hold the now destroyed shirt closed, though due to the shear tightness the thing originally had, it didn't do much to cover her white bra. Silver had always imagined Lyra as being rather flatchested, he was quickly proven right. But oddly enough, he wasn't entirely bothered by that.

He felt something dribble down his nose, and he was fairly certain it wasn't snot.

His head suddenly snapped to the side as a stinging pain hit his cheek. Slowly, his gaze moved back to Lyra's Bayleef, who retreated her vine back to her, the warning clear. Don't look at her.

"Lyra?" the Rocket grunt, who was watching the entire confrontation without saying a thing, finally said. "Your name's not Soul?! I'll bet," he said angrily at Lyra's betrayal. "You and that other girl isn't even here to join Team Rocket!"

"Of course it's not, you idiot!" Silver shot back to him. "Do you honestly think someone like her would join Team Rocket?!" he pointed to Lyra, who was still trying to desperately cover herself. "No way in hell! Not on my watch!"

"Raticate, go!"

"Quilava, Flamethrower!" Silver ordered just as Lyra called out a Magical Leaf from her Bayleef. The two trainers quickly made work of the raticate. When defeated, the grunt ran off without the two trainers even noticing. Silver scowled as the coward ran, preparing to turn and yell at Lyra about dressing up as a Rocket, only to be near-blinded by a flash of light. Both trainers blinked in surprise as a Meganium and a Typholsion stood before them. Neither trainers got the time to congratulate their partners before

"Why the hell would you dress up as them?!" Silver demanded, simply returning Typholsion while Lyra's Meganium and Growlithe stood protectively in front of her. He tilted his head down to stop the damned nosebleed, hoping she wouldn't notice it.

"Why would you try to s-s-s-s-strip me?!" Lyra exclaimed, crossing her arms over her chest in a last ditch effort to cover herself, barely able to get the word out of her mouth. Silver's face went crimson again. That comment did not help the nosebleed!

"Because you were wearing that awful outfit! It's horrible! Did you join Team Rocket to get back at me for insulting you?!"

"I would never!" Lyra gasped. "I know you don't like Team Rocket, and I don't ei-"

"Then why?!" Silver angrily cut her off.

"To sneak into the base!" Lyra shouted to him, suddenly bursting into tears. "And this wasn't even my idea! It was Sara's! I knew you wouldn't like it, but if I knew it would have made you hate me…!"

Silver scowled slightly, staring down at the ground, cursing his irrational thinking. It's just, whenever he sees those damned Rockets… All he sees is red. And to see Lyra wearing that uniform…

"I don't hate you." he finally said, unzipping his jacket and throwing it over her head, simply because he didn't want to see her cry. "I just hate Team Rocket. I really, really hate Team Rocket. And when I saw you in their uniform… Something just… snapped." he turned his head away. "Now cover yourself."

He waited until he heard the familiar sound of a zipper before he turned his head back to Lyra, who was holding out a few tissues to him.

"For the nosebleed." she said, looking down. "And I… suppose I understand." Lyra murmured. "I guess it was a stupid plan anyways, trying to sneak in." she sighed.

"In my defense," Silver said back, holding the tissues to his nose. "I had no clue you were trying to be sneaky. And you could have just worn your normal clothes underneath or something."

"In a mini skirt?" Silver glanced down at her exposed legs, only for her Growlithe to latch onto his face again.

"AAAAARGH!"

"Growlithe, no! No!"

o.0.o.0.o

Ariana found herself wiping away a stray tear as she monitored the security systems. After so many years… Her dream, her own personal dream, was coming true. Surely, Giovanni would listen to her plea. If not Team Rockets, surely, hers. And Silver… oh, she hasn't seen him in years.

"My, my, is that a tear I see?"

"Go away, Archer." Ariana said. She tapped her finger on the security screen. "'Already broken family', you said."

Archer glanced over her shoulder, rolling his eyes.

"I'm fairly certain he's not here to see you. What's the deal with that girl?" his voice took on a defensive tone. "If he's planning on hurting our younger recruits…"

"Please," Ariana said. "He's got morals, Archer. That girl is his friend or something." she narrowed her eyes. "She's filling his head with self-righteous ideas of defeating the team. She's making me look like the bad guy."

"You're a Team Rocket executive." Archer said plainly. "You are the bad guy." Ariana glared at him, then focused her gaze back on Silver.

"Whatever," Ariana said. "I'll just eliminate her before she can push him further away from me."

"Whatever you think is best." Archer said with another eye roll. Ariana pushed her chair back furiously, glaring at her current boss.

"Are you mocking me?" she said after a long pause.

"What was your plan, Ariana?" Archer smirked. "Get Giovanni back, find your son, and buy a lovely little two bedroom cottage on the hills of New Bark Town? Maybe you would be frolicking through the fields and splashing in the water while the town gathered around in celebration of the newcomers."

"Don't mock me, Archer." Ariana hissed as she bowed her head, successfully shading her eyes.

"You know, there's a reason I'm lead executive," Archer grinned.

"Archer…!"

"Because Giovanni couldn't care less about you or his son."

Before the security monitor could make contact, Archer was already out of the room. The thing landed with a loud crash, the screen cracked a miscellaneous parts scattering across the floor. Ariana stared at the mess, watching as grunts hurried into the room, some hooking up a new monitor, others cleaning up the mess. She clenched her fists, angrily staring at the ground. It wasn't like she wanted to leave, but she gave Giovanni an ultimatum; Stay or go. He chose his mob over his family. That wasn't her fault.

So what if Archer had a higher position. So what if he thought Giovanni didn't care. If he didn't care, he wouldn't have began this family. He wouldn't have named his own son. He understood why she left. She had to leave.

"Executive Ariana?" she glanced at a grunt, who was staring at her worriedly. "Is everything okay?"

"I'm fine." she glanced at the monitor, back at her son, trying to focus back on what was happening. Regardless of the fact that Silver and that girl were sitting there, someone had still managed to infiltrate their operations.

"Executive Ariana?" she blinked, turning to look over her shoulder, seeing two of her grunts. "A new recruit. Her name is Blitz."

Ariana watched as the other grunt, leaving her with Blitz. The young woman kept her head down, though Ariana could see her gaze was on the camera's.

"Never would've expected him to throw our plan off." she mused. "I don't think that I really need to keep up this ruse anymore." she lifted the brim of her hat. "Sara, aka, Agent Blitz. Lead investigator in the Hoenn disappearances."

The executive remains silent as Sara's Ledian hovered around her. Sara walked closer to the security systems, pointing to Silver.

"Your son?"

"And what if he is?"

"He's got your hair." Sara laughed, looking over her shoulder at her. "Your eyes, too."

Ariana didn't respond, taking a closer look at Silver. It was blatantly obvious that he had gotten her hair. As Ariana looked closer, she began to pick up other things about him. He definitely got his fathers eyebrows and nose. That scowl was also a Giovanni signature…

"Why'd you join Team Rocket?" Sara asked, attention going back to the systems. "I've done extensive research on these missing kids and their family. You're a fighter. Maybe married the wrong guy, sure, but a good woman. Beat cancer to the ground, took her child away from a dangerous mob, only to loose him to a kidnapper and run back to the mob. Why? Why not come to the police? Why seek help from people who could care less?"

Ariana stared at the young detective, who seemed genuinely concerned and curious. But still a bit defensive, and not willing to look like a weakling in front her, she answered with a question.

"Why would the police help a mobster? Can you answer that, Miss Detective?"

A soft look crossed Sara's face.

"The police might not, Miss Ariana, but I do. One of my very dear friends went missing, and now I highly suspect it was by the same person who took your son." she looked down. "You see, this is all connected, starting with Felicity and Nathaniel in Hoenn. It branched out, to the missing sisters in Sinnoh, to the triplets in Unova, to your son, from Johto." she musingly stared at the monitor, as if reminiscing. "To have someone so precious to you ripped from your life, sons, daughters, sisters, brothers… It's unfair, isn't it?"

"… It is." Ariana admitted.

"I guess I can't blame you for choosing this," Sara sighed. "You felt backed in a corner, and went running back to the only people you thought would help you."

Ariana didn't respond.

"But despite my mission to reconnect these families to their missing children, it's also my sworn duty as a police detective to take down evil organizations."

"Are going to fight me now, Miss Detective?" Ariana asked, hands flicking to her pokéball.

"Nah," Sara shook her head. "I'll save the honor for someone else." she glanced at the security systems again. "But I will do this," she released an Absol. "Saigai, Thunderbolt!"

Ariana watched in slight horror as the girl single-handedly destroyed the security system, making all the camera's in the building utterly useless.

o.0.o.0.o

"Stop that." Silver grunted, crossing his arms and ducking away from Lyra as she attempted to put a Hello-Meowth bandaid on his face. "A stupid band-aid is not going to fix the scratches your demon-pokémon gave me."

Growlithe, the pokémon now following Lyra, simply grinned, wagging his tail enthusiastically, as if proud of his accomplishment.

"I know, but I feel bad." Lyra pouted, his sleeves pooling around her arms as she tried to reach for his face again. The jacket was to big for her, the sleeves hanging past her hands. Though it didn't entirely match, Lyra had tossed aside the black hat in favor of her favorite white one. "If I hadn't yelled, he wouldn't have attacked."

Silver wasn't going to admit that if he hadn't had torn her shirt off, she wouldn't have yelled.

"Just get changed or something." Silver muttered.

"I can't now." Lyra shook her head. "If I leave now, they'll never let me back in. Plus on top of that, we're in the middle of the lobby. I'm not changing in the middle of the lobby."

Scowling, Silver jerked his head back as Lyra tried to put the bandaid on his face again.

"Just let it go Lyra." he hissed sharply. Lyra blinked, then slowly lowered her hands.

"I really am sorry, Silver." she murmured. "I knew you'd be disappointed, but I didn't think it would make you so mad."

"It's old news." Silver scowled, standing up. Turning back to Lyra, he held out a hand, which Lyra accepted. "You said Sara was in here too?"

"Yeah. They took her to see Ariana. I think she'll be fine, but maybe we should try to catch up with her?"

"No." Silver shook his head, turning and going up the stairs with his Sneasel behind him, Lyra still holding Growlithe. "We should try to take down the executives. Sara's with the police, remember? As crappy as the police may be in this country, she's from a company that's meant to train professionals. Sara won't be taken down so easily."

"A-Alright…" Lyra said as they turned to the final stair landing, the last one before entering the second floor, and no doubt a slew of enemies. They both paused, staring at the last six steps to their final battle. "Should we take them down together or split up?"

"Split up, but remain within each other's sights." Silver responded. "Don't wander off on your own."

"Got it!" Lyra grinned. Silver took the lead, climbing the six steps with Lyra behind him, reaching for the doorknob only to suddenly stiffened as he felt someone hug him from behind. He relaxed only a little when he heard Lyra speak.

"Remember back in the Ruins of Alph, when I said I thought my Papa followed me as an angel?"

It was a soft voice, quiet, barely above a whisper. She was shaking, yet she sounded contemplative, as if she were musing over her words before she spoke them. Silver, unsure how to respond, simply did not, leaving the girl to her own musings.

"I just…" a shuddery sigh. Lyra suddenly, and rather abruptly, dropped her arms. "Just stay safe, okay?"

Before Silver even had a chance to turn around, the girl had already bolted around him and opened the door.

o.0.o.0.o

As Lyra fought the Rocket grunts, her impulsive actions from earlier fogged her mind, even though she kept desperately reminding herself that she had to focus on her the battles at hand.

She hadn't intended to hug Silver earlier, truly, she hadn't! But something inside her moved when she watched him reach for that door, and for a moment, before they went into the fighting. She didn't know what to say, she just acted out of impulse. Why she had brought up her words from the Ruins of Alph… Why, all she could think about was Team Rocket, all the crimes they've committed, the brutal murder of Obsidian Green so many years ago… It was as if she had finally registered, finally realized just what she was fighting. A mob. A mob who has killed, hurt, even tortured people.

She was about to enter a whole other world were rules were but words on paper, supposed to be followed, but not. Lyra's life hasn't been very stable ever since her father's death, always afraid of another one of her mother's blow-ups, on the verge of a fearful tears and trying to always be the pleasing daughter that even she knew, deep down in her heart, that even her own mother would never accept. The most stability she's ever had in her life was leaving for her journey, earning her own money, catching her own pokémon and caring for herself.

And perhaps, in the unconsciousness of her mind, the symbol of said stability was Silver. After all, when she got herself stuck in a situation in which, surely, she would have broke under pressure, Silver swooped in and kept a cool head, unintentionally saving her from a mental breakdown.

But you've hugged Ethan before. Her mind kept reasoning. What was so different between hugging a boy you've known forever and a boy you've only known about a year, tops?

As she shouted another oder to her Growlithe, who happily complied to scorching his opponents, Lyra's gaze trailed to her redheaded companion. He was across the room, ordering his Sneasel and Typholsion in battle. His head was cool and focused, hardly bothered by what was going on around him. Instead of feeling calm, rather, Lyra felt her heart pound even further.

… Who knew her rival was so built under this sweatshirt?

"Focus, Lyra, focus!" she muttered to herself. Even though she tried to battle properly, her thoughts kept drifting back to Silver. What was so special about a boy who was so mean to her? Admittedly, he had grown past all the insults, perhaps even nice at some points. Cold was probably a better word.

They met up at the stairwell and climbed to the third floor. Shooting him a smile, in which he returned with a roll of his eyes, they split up again, Silver taking the left half of the room and her the right. Despite the battles raging around her, Lyra's thoughts drifted back to their original train of thought.

On the other hand, she thought, Silver always seemed to put himself on the line to keep her safe. So did he care too? How she wished she could read minds like a psychic type! She hardly knows anything about Silver, but despite his coldness, she very well may be developing a certain likeness that was more than friendship.

"Sneasel!" Lyra squeaked as a flash of blue fur shot past her ear, viciously attacking a grunt who was making a grab for her. Silver came up to her as the grunt screamed at the Sneasel, who was still clawing at his face. Satisfied that the grunt wasn't going to harm either of them, the Sneasel obediently climbed back onto Silver's shoulder. "Are you alright?" he asked, surveying the fleeing grunts on her side of the room and the unconscious grunts on his.

"I-I'm fine!" Lyra responded. "Just a little distracted…"

"Now's a fine time to be distracted." Silver muttered as they climbed to the fourth floor. Going down the hallways, both trainers found it odd that it was void of grunts. It was only until they reached the radio directors office that they realized why.

Inside, a Sara, still wearing the Rocket uniform, only with the hat replaced by her signature goggles. Off to the side was a handcuffed Petrel, wearing a brown suit and a brown fedora off to the side.

"Hey, Lyra!" Sara raised her hand in a happy wave. "Heard there was some trouble on the lower floors. Were you able to deal with it okay?"

"Fine." Silver spat. "Where were you? We were getting attacked from all sides by grunts."

"Aw, Mr. Hotshot had a hard time?" Sara cooed.

"Not at all. But you're the police. Shouldn't you have been fighting too?"

"Hey, be grateful!" Sara shot back. "While you were downstairs stripping Lyra, I was disabling the security system!"

"For the last time, I said I was sorry!" Silver shot back. Lyra looked around worriedly, finally asking a question that has been nagging at the back of her mind.

"Where's all the employees?"

"Hidden in the underground tunnel." Sara said, shooting a glance to Petrel. "They took the one's who didn't flee captive and hid them away. This guy took the director's place and tried to impersonate him." Sara grinned, turning to Petrel. "Props for the disguise, but if you can't even match the voice, let alone personality, it's bust!" she turned back to Lyra and Silver. "He easy to beat!"

"The civilians…" Lyra trailed off.

"Looker's already there, searching for them." Sara said. "And I sent a broadcast out that we were in the midst of taking care of Team Rocket, but all civilians in Goldenrod and surrounding towns should remain in their homes or another safe place for their own safety."

"What a relief." Lyra sighed.

"I also ran into another executive. Proton, I think?" Sara shook her head. "He ran off before I could properly arrest him, though."

"Probably went to save his own skin." Silver muttered.

"Not surprising." everyone turned to Petrel, who had his eyes bitterly pasted to the floor. "He's sadistic as hell, but when his own skin's on the line, he's running out the door."

"Do you have any idea where he could be?" Sara asked. Petrel shrugged.

"Who knows? He's probably going to lay low for a bit, but it won't be long. He's got this… thing, you know."

"… Thing?" Silver questioned.

"… More like an obsession. Started back when he first fought with Leaf Green, yeah?"

"He's got an obsession with Leaf?" Lyra cocked her head.

"More like an obsession with the dexholders." Petrel corrected. "I'm not even sure what he means when he talks about them half the time. I think only he could properly explain it, so…"

No one said anything after he trailed off so cryptically.

"Why are you telling us this?" Sara finally asked.

"To get off easier, to warn you… Who knows? I may have pushed Dayna Yellow over a railing, but I didn't capture Fire Red's parents and attach a machine meant to control a legendary pokémon to his head." he scowled. "In other words, I may be a bad guy, but I'm not as bad as him. Lugia knows what he's capable of, after what he's done to some of the grunts…" Petrel trailed off, looking off in the distance.

"Thank you." Lyra finally said with a small smile.

"Don't go thanking me!" Petrel snapped. "I said I was a bad guy, remember?"

"I'll put a B.O.L.O. out on Proton." Sara said, dialing a number on her pokégear and ignoring Petrel's last sentence. "We've got police on the way to arrest grunts, most of them are on the outskirts, battling, well, grunts. But we've still got two executives." Sara finally said. "Archer and Ariana."

"We can handle it!" Lyra exclaimed. Sara shot her a smile as the gear in her hands rung.

"I have no doubts about that." Sara said with a shake of her head. Glancing over her shoulder, the dark brunette girl waved to Petrel. "Thanks for the info on Proton!"

Petrel scoffed, looking away as the three continued down the hallway, Sara a few steps behind as she spoke. It didn't take long before they encountered another important-looking woman. Lyra, at first, was immediately caught off guard by the striking similarity this woman shared with Silver. Sure, there were differences, but Lyra immediately had a feeling, simply based on the hair alone, that she was somehow related to him.

But judging by the way Silver was glaring at her, there was hardly a bit of recognition. Just his signature glare he gave to all Rockets, a glare of hate and distaste for the criminal organization that he considered to be weak.

"Lyra, go ahead." Sara said, glancing at the younger girl. Lyra blinked, trying to keep her Growlithe from lunging at the woman.

"What about the executive?" she asked.

"We'll handle it." Sara said, obviously done with her call, putting a hand on Silver's shoulder to punctuate her words. Silver, in response, shrugged her hand off with a sound of distaste. Sara rolled her eyes, then urged Lyra forward.

"I'll be fine." Silver suddenly said, as if to put all her worries at ease. Lyra blinked, then smiled.

"I trust you, Silver." she said. Glancing down at her Growlithe, she smiled. "Let's go, Growlithe!"

She broke into a jog towards the elevator, surprised that the redheaded woman let her pass. Rather than an expression of distaste for being outnumbered, she seemed to have donned a rather… longing look, a small smile on her face.

Before Lyra had a chance to comprehend the look, the elevator opened, beckoning her to go and face whatever was above her.

o.0.o.0.o

"Executive Ariana." Sara nodded to the woman, taking a step back. Silver shot the young woman a look, wondering why she wasn't calling out her pokémon to fight. Whatever, he decided as he reached for another pokéball. If detective prodigy over there won't fight this Rocket, he sure as hell will.

"So you're another one of their executives?" Silver shot to the redheaded woman across from him. The woman hardly said a word. Instead of calling out a pokémon for battle, she began to cross the room, a slightly urgent pace, if anything. Silver blinked. What was this woman doing? Was she going to fight him physically? Did she have a weapon hidden somewhere?

"What the hell-" his sentence was cut off as Ariana did something he hardly expected. In fact, it was the last thing she expected.

She crossed the room, stooped down, and hugged him.

o.0.o.0.o

Well, after all this slacking, I decide to further punish you readers by ending with a dramatic cliffhanger. Happy New Year!

Last update of the year, though, so… to a new year, everyone!

Amy47101 signing off! ^.^