So, another new update. Most likely dramatic, what with the battle with Ariana and Silver, as well as the final battle with Archer and Lyra.

But then again… Is it really the final battle?

Amy47101 does not own pokémon. She only owns Vale and Sara. All rights go to their respective owners.

o.0.o.0.o

The Adventure Saga

Enlightening the Soul

o.0.o.0.o

Silver's initial reaction was to push this woman away, wanting this filthy Rocket off off of him. Yet something… something was familiar about this situation. Achingly familiar. Longingly familiar.

This woman… he knew this woman.

"Who…?"

Silver was surprised at himself. How was it that he was unable to ask such a simple question? He felt as if his throat was clogging up, eyes burning, yet… he felt oddly elated. This was to weird. To much for him.

"Get off me!" he snapped at her, shoving her away. He wanted to stop feeling this, stop feeling these… weakling emotions. Stop feeling as if he should be somehow dependent on this woman he didn't recognize. Taking a pokéball from his belt, he stumbled back, holding it up threateningly. "I don't know who you think you are, Rocket, but I'll crush you!"

"Hold you ponyta now Silver." Sara suddenly said, arm shooting out in front of him before he could properly attack her. "This one… you might wanna hear her out."

"As if!" Silver snapped. "I would never, in a million years, talk to some blasted Rocket about any-"

"I'm your mother."

The words left Silver's mouth at that point, the pokéball dropping from his hand. Internally, he was scolding himself, eyes only registering the red and white object slowly rolling towards this redheaded woman, until it came to a near perfect stop at the tip of her boot.

"Way to be blunt." Sara mused.

"I didn't know how else to get your attention." she continued, kneeling down and picking up the pokéball, ignoring Sara's comment. "You… seem to be like me in that aspect. Headstrong to the point of being stupid."

His mind was whirling in circles at this point, threatening to explode. His mother couldn't be a… be a member… of Team Rocket…

"Like hell!" he roared, lunging at her. If not for Sara blocking him, he was fairly certain he would have annihilated the woman in front of him. "My mother took me away from Team Rocket! Away from my father! You can't be her! You're an impostor! A fake!"

"Silver, she's not." Sara said sternly, turning to face him. "Look at the similarities, if not, think about why you didn't immediately push her away. I told you to hear her out, now please, just listen."

This did little to ease the bubbling rage Silver felt, though he did shoot this woman another glance. She… did seem to share… a few traits? No, he scolded himself. Don't think like that! Don't!

He was torn. Incredibly torn. All of that childhood longing to actually see his mother again bubbled up, yet the rage he felt towards his father was continuing to push itself forward. He wasn't sure if he should punch this woman or embrace her. He wasn't sure what to feel.

It was to much, to entirely different emotions. One of them have to be dealt with first, so he could at least… think clearly…!

"Fight me!" he shouted, taking another pokéball from his belt. "The man I know as my father would never, never, even glance at a woman he thought was weak! If you're really who you say you are, then battle me and win!"

o.0.o.0.o

Lyra felt as if the playful elevator music seemed ironic, given the situation.

Glancing up, she saw the numbers slowly rise, higher and higher, each number being ticked off with a playful little ding. Glancing back down at her boots, she wondered what she would do after this. Finish the league, obviously. But then what? She wasn't quite sure if she wanted to go back home, she liked the freedom being on her own provided her. On to the next region? Maybe participate in a contest or two?

Maybe she'd simply settle on stalking Leaf or something until she signed her journal.

Silver suddenly popped into her mind, a pang going through her heart. She… wasn't sure she wanted to… continue on if there was no guarantee she would at least see him once again. Even though Silver had always been rather rude and mean to her, she had always been kind to him, and she was fairly certain he was changing for the better. He hadn't called her weak in a while, after all, and plus, he escorted her when she was hurt and saved her more times than she could count. And plus he still had her gifts from way back when she gave them to him in Ecruteak City…

She felt something scratching at her leg, and looked down, seeing Growlith staring up at her, a concerned look flitting across his face. Lyra smiled down reassuringly, shaking her own head.

"This is not the time to be thinking about this." she muttered, lightly bonking her head before she glanced back up at the elevator, watching as the light dinged on the last floor, indicating she had reached her destination.

Slowly stepping out of the elevator, she glanced around, seeing a large, circular room with floor to ceiling glass windows. The elevator was in the center, and she slowly stepped out.

"Welcome." she jerked back as a blue-haired man spoke to her. In hindsight, she shouldn't have been so surprised, since he was the only other person in the room, but still… "My name is Archer."

"Lyra." Lyra slowly responded, Growlithe taking a defensive position in front of her.

"Lyra." Archer mused. "Ah, yes. One of those… dexholders. You should hear Proton talk about you."

Lyra felt a shiver go up her spine. Was that man… watching her? Watching them?

"Anyways, I wanted to show you something." Lyra blinked as he pulled out a remote and clicked a few buttons, screens suddenly covering the light that shone through the windows. Growlithe immediately began growling, unsettled by the darkness. "Oh, do quiet your pet. This observation deck doubles as a movie theatre. Quite an experience, I've heard."

Lyra simply didn't respond, unsure how to. What was he going to show her? She blinked as, on separate panels, seven people she was very familiar with suddenly appeared. It was the dexholders.

She immediately caught sight of her idol, Leaf, calmly walking through the streets, her powerful Flareon batting aside any grunt that dared to get in her way. Gary, whom she was especially and embarrassingly elated to see, was flying through the sky on his powerful Charizard, most likely spotting for Leaf for fear of an arial attack. Dayna was on a sidewalk, trying to heal the unfortunate street pokémon caught in a fight. Red too, was running around inside Goldenrod, trying his best to help citizens and pokémon alike.

Her friends, too, were there. Ethan was standing on the outskirts of Goldenrod, near his grandfathers house. Krystal was also outside of Goldrod, kicking a pokéball towards a pokémon. Both had worried looks on their faces, continually glancing in what she assumed was the direction of Goldenrod.

Silver was also there, a livid look on his face as he threw his arm out to order and attack. He was fighting that woman who had let her pass. Suddenly, he threw something out to his Sneasel, and suddenly… it evolved. Evolved like that, like he expected it too.

The Weavile nearly slaughtered her opponent.

"Do you see? See how they each have their own special talents? Talents that not only make them dexholders, but define who they are." Archer said gesturing around him grandly. "Except for you."

Lyra blinked, shaking her head.

"I don't…"

"Allow me to point it out." Archer said. "Leaf Green, the young woman who always has a plan before entering a battle. Gary Oak, the young man who trains his pokémon to perfection. Fire Red, the young man who helps one and all, despite the circumstances. Dayna Yellow, the young woman who is capable of creating medication and potions to heal humans and pokémon alike. Krystal Quartz, renowned for her catching abilities. Ethan Hibiki, grandson of region-wide professional breeders, and our very own Silver Sakaki, extensively knowledgeably in evolving pokémon."

Lyra shot him a confused look.

"Your very own… Silver… Sa… Sakaki?" she asked slowly, trying to progress what was going on.

"He never told you? And I was sure the redheaded boy who Leaf Green near gave her life to save was heard by everyone…"

Lyra knew that story well. She reviewed everything she could about the dexholders, so this detail did not get past her. Rumor has it that the young boy simply dropped off the face of the earth after the Final Battle.

"This boy is Giovanni's son, our rightful heir." Archer smirked. Lyra felt her stomach drop for a moment. "Of course, he is aware of this, since he went to Viridian City to seek out his father. Shame he insists on fighting against us…" he tsked, shaking his head. "Such a nuisance."

Lyra refused to respond for a moment, continuing to watch Silver as he battled. Unconsciously, she slowly hugged herself, clutching the jacket she had received from him. She recalled her own awful mother, and immediately thought about horrible it must be for Silver to constantly be related too and compared to a man everyone despises. How would she feel, if everyone compared her to her conniving mother? Not very good, from what she assumed.

"Who Silver's father is," she said after a long time, closing her eyes. "Is meaningless."

"Explain." Archer said, sounding confused.

"What I'm saying is that it's not right for you to compare him to Giovanni. He's his own person, regardless of who his parents are. And… he'll always be my friend, regardless o his origins, regardless of his parents."

"How… sickeningly sweet." Archer mused as Lyra opened her eyes again. "But regardless, you see the connection, correct? All these dexholders have some sort of talent, something I've yet to see from you." Lyra refused to respond, refused to let her old insecurities bubble up. "This was something Proton pointed out to me." he continued, turning off the theatre, daylight flooding the room again. "Though Proton is obsessed with you lot since he first encountered Leaf and Gary, I could care less though this observation on his part was… interesting, to say the least."

He sighed, turning to her and holding up a pokéball.

"But since you managed to get this far, you must be quite the trainer. We intended to take over this Radio Tower and officially announce our comeback. That should bring our boss Giovanni back from his solitary training." he smirked darkly, sending out a Golbat. "We are going to regain our former glory… I will not allow you to interfere with our meticulous plans!"

With those words, the Goldbat dove at them.

"Growlithe!" Lyra exclaimed, refusing to let Archer break her. The enthusiastic fire type leapt up, sinking his fangs into the pokémon's wing, humorously dangling from the limb as the Goldbat desperately tried to shake him off.

"Golbat, confuse ray!" Archer ordered. Golbat glared at the Growlithe on his leg, a small, multicolored orb coming from his eyes then twirling around the fire type. The pokémon suddenly released his hold on the Golbat's leg, landing on the ground and chasing his tail.

"Growlith, re-" before Lyra could successfully call back her pokémon, a purple ball slammed into him. Lyra quickly realized it was a sludge bomb, and despite having lumps of the disgusting substance sticking to his fur, Growlithe still attempted to chase his tail.

"Air Cutter!" Archer ordered. Lyra watched as sharp slashes of air suddenly slashed into Growlithe, sending him flying into a wall and knocking him unconscious. Lyra bit her lip, suddenly very aware of just how powerful this guy was. He wasn't like the grunts, or heck, some of the executives she's fought before. He's on a whole other level.

But it wasn't anything she couldn't beat.

"Growlithe, return!" she exclaimed. "Froslass, show 'em who's boss!"

The ice-type came from the pokéball, mockingly holding her fingers to her mouth as she stared at the opponent. Lyra grinned as a moment of confusion passed over Archers face, obviously not recognizing, or at least not familiar with, the pokémon in front of her.

"Froslass, Ice Beam!" she ordered. The ice type complied, moving her limbs in an almost mystic manner as she cast the move. Despite her slow movements, the move shot out quick, striking Golbat in the wing. Something akin to a frost bite seemed to have injured his wing, as he flapped to the ground, hopelessly glancing back at his trainer for some sort of assistance. Archer seemed contemplative for a moment, then he ordered an attack.

"Sludge Bomb." he stated simply, as if testing something against his opponent. Lyra widened her eyes as the attack slammed into Froslass. Lyra knew that she was weak to poison, but despite the attack, she seemed to be holding up strong.

Though the fact that her fingers quivering didn't go unnoticed to Lyra.

"Knock 'em out with Shadow Ball!" Lyra exclaimed. True to her word, the attack did knock Golbat out, sending him hurtling to the ground.

"Houndour!" Lyra flinched as the dark and fire type stood before her Froslass. No way, in her current condition, could the pokémon survive the next attack. Lyra's hand went towards the pokéball.

Froslass suddenly shot a glance over her shoulder and Lyra felt her hand freeze. A glowing orb formed around Froslass as the Houndour darted up behind her, teeth in flames.

"Froslass!" Lyra cried out as she summoned… some sort of attack. Houndour sank his fangs into Froslass's shoulder.

Just as Froslass fell to the ground, Houndour wavered on his feet as well, then toppled to the side. Lyra stared at the field. What move had Froslass used… to knock out Houndour so quickly?

"Hm. How tactical of you, teaching that pokémon Destiny Bond."

Lyra shot her gaze to Archer, who was staring at the battlefield calmly, and rather musingly. She's heard of Destiny Bond. As the name stated, it was a move that shared the users destiny with their opponent, meaning that if the user fainted, so did the opponent. But she always viewed that move as horrible because it would mean she would have to knock out one member of her team in order to properly use it!

Had Froslass somehow learned it without her knowing?

"Your sacrifice was worth it, Froslass." Lyra whispered to the pokéball, staring at the resting pokémon within.

"But no matter how tactical you are," Archer continued, releasing a Wheezing. "You will never beat Team Rocket!"

o.0.o.0.o

"L-Lost…?" Ariana barely whispered.

What had once been a pristine hallway was now littered with scratches, scorch marks, dents, and holes. No doubt that most of them were caused from misaimed or dodged attacks. But here she stood, behind her fallen and final pokémon, her son standing across from her, both human and pokémon standing in an odd mix of pride and disgust.

She couldn't understand. She couldn't understand why he resisted her so! All she ever wanted was to be reunited with him, to talk to him like a mother and child should, and yet he stood defiant, resisting everything she had fought so hard for.

"I don't understand…" Ariana trailed off shaking her head, snapping her gaze back to Silver. "I gave up everything to help you! I became strong and fought for you! And then I gave up everything again to find you and create a happy family! I know having mobsters as a mother and father are less than ideal, but I was backed into a corner and I had no choice!"

"Had no choice?!" Silver seethed, anger suddenly surging forward. "You had plenty of choices!You chose to run back to the bastard who lost to a fourteen-year-old girl! Just like I chose-"

"Your little girlfriend over your own mother?" Ariana hissed at him, averting her gaze. Silver seemed taken aback by this accusation. "Every time you came into the base, every time you fought some of our grunts… I listened to the reports. About that pigtailed nuisance." she spat the word out, snapping her gaze back to him. "What sort of thoughts has she put in your head, huh?! She's just some stupid little girl who couldn't even defend herself without you by her side!"

"That's not true!" Silver shot back, that girl darting out in front of him, Sara or something. "She's stronger than you think, stronger than I am willing to admit! I think my own thoughts, despite Lyra and I running into each other every time! I'm not like you, having some else's dreams and ideals shoved down my throat, and swallowing it!"

"You know nothing about my dreams and ideals!" Ariana countered. "You know nothing! Some little pigtailed girl suddenly shows interest in you, batting her eyelashes and such, and you're wrapped around her finger! You're a puppet!"

"I am no one's puppet!" Silver roared. "Don't bring Lyra into this! Don't you dare! You got into it with Giovanni! You came crawling back under some delusion everything was fine! You work to find a man that's long gone, probably in some other region! YOU ARE THE PUPPET!"

"I did it all for you!" she screamed. "I gave up everything, everything, to bring this family back together, to maybe give you some sort of normalcy! I knew that if I got caught, it would be done for me! I would be facing, what? Ten to twenty years in prison? I just wanted…" her voice cracked as she looked down, finally breaking under all the stress. "My son back…"

"Ghh…" Silver averted his gaze, bowing his head, successfully shading his eyes. Then he turned and bolted down the hallway, red hair billowing behind him.

"Silver-!" Ariana cried out, snapping her head up and watching him go. "Wait, please-!"

"Ariana," she blinked, casting her gaze to Sara, her Ledian still floating sadly next to her. "Just…" she shook her head, bringing her gaze back to hers. "Let him go."

"B-But…" she trailed off, simply sinking to her knees. "Oh, how could this have all gone so… so wrong?"

Sara didn't say anything.

"I didn't want anything special." Ariana continued. "I just wanted to have a happy life with my son. I wanted to find his father and finally live together. And now… I think I've successfully ruined all our lives…"

"No," Sara sighed, closing her eyes. "What really ruined all your lives was the man who took Silver from you to begin with. He's the one to blame. Though," she smiled. "What if he hadn't? Where would Silver be now?"

"Probably hunted by Archer, in search for Giovanni's heir." Ariana chuckled. "Though as much that man hates my ideals, he'll do anything to keep Team Rocket going, even if it means hunting down my child and keeping him prisoner until he became Team Rockets new leader." she stood, wiping her eyes, then holding out her hands. Sara gave her an amused look. "Well then? Going to slap the cuffs on me, Agent Blitz?"

"Do you want to see your son in a few years?" Sara asked. Ariana flinched, averting her gaze.

"If he will want to see me…"

"Then cooperate with the police." Sara responded. "Give me the information I need, and I might be able to convince lawyers to reduce you're looming sentence." Ariana contemplated this for a minute.

"I… suppose I really don't have anything to loose." Ariana sighed, figuring this was the best possible option out of everything.

"Good." Sara said, grinning proudly. A moment passed. "And you shouldn't really look down on Lyra so much."

"Lyra?" Ariana asked.

"The pigtailed nuisance." Sara responded. "Because if things keep going the way I think they'll go, that girl will probably be the only thing that will convince Silver to reconcile." she turned her attention to the elevator in which Lyra had gone down earlier. "At least… maybe a little."

o.0.o.0.o

Meganium stood next to Lyra, defending her trainer as Archer stared at the battlefield in silent disbelief. Lyra stood, waiting for another pokémon to come out, only for Archer to speak.

"How could this be…?" he wondered, staring at the girl across from him. He sighed, shaking his head.

"Like Giovanni before you," Lyra blinked as Sara came through the elevator, still donning her Rocket uniform. "You got defeated by a trainer younger than you, but surpasses you in many aspects." Behind her, several policemen came from the elevator. "Your subordinates have been taken into custody. It's over, Archer. Team Rocket is done."

Archer seemed contemplative for a moment, taking in the young agents words.

"It seems our dreams have come to naught. I was not up to the task after all." he sighed, removing his pokéball belt and dropping it on the ground. As the officers approached him, reading him his rights, he said only one single sentence.

"Like Giovanni has done before me, I will disband Team Rocket here today."

And with that, Archer refused to speak anymore. The officers took him away. With that gone, Sara turned to Lyra.

"Hey, you must be pretty good to have outdone an executive."

"Nothing that a dexholder wouldn't do!" Lyra replied cheerfully. She looked around cautiously. "But… where's Silver?"

"He ran off." Sara said, averting her gaze. Lyra lowered her gaze. Why would he run off? She understood if he didn't want the attention on him, he was never much of an attention seeker. But to suddenly abandon her… "Don't worry though, he'll come back, I'm sure."

"His battle with Ariana… What happened, Sara?" she stared at the windows around them, almost imagining the screens coming back down again. "I saw a video of him mid battle. He looked… angry. And confused…"

"… That woman he was fighting is his mother." Sara finally said.

"Really?!" Lyra exclaimed.

"Yeah." Sara sighed. "I don't think Silver knew that was his mother… Not until she tild him anyway…"

Lyra, though curious about why Silver wouldn't recognize or know his own mother, was overwhelmed with joy for her friend.

"Oh, wow! That's so cool! Was he surprised? Was he happy?"

"… He wasn't… entirely happy… What with her being in Team Rocket and all…"

"… Was she happy to see him?"

"Overjoyed." Sara smiled. "She wanted nothing more than to see her son again. She really, really cares for him."

Lyra smiled, happy for Silver.

"If she loves him, then that's enough." Lyra said, crossing her arms and turning on her heel to look fully at Sara. "Everything will turn out fine!"

"Such an optimist." Sara laughed, shaking her head. She seemed contemplative for a moment, then reached into her bag, pulling out something, carefully wrapped in a towel. "I've been thinking about this for a while, but I think it's only right for you to take this."

"What is it?" Lyra asked, eyes lighting up like a child as she unfolded the towel, seeing a rainbow hued feather dangling from a gold chain. "Oh, wow! It's pretty!"

"It's classified as the Rainbow Wing." Sara explained, looking around musingly. "There used to be a tower right here. When the tower was replaced with the Radio Tower, that Rainbow Wing was found at the top of the tower. Do you know the legend?"

"Legend?" Lyra asked. Sara waved her hand through the air.

"That a legendary pokémon will appear before a trainer with a pure heart or something. I heard from someone in the agency that you can summon the legend with the Rainbow Wing if you're worthy enough to climb the tower."

"Wow! That would be so cool!" Lyra exclaimed, putting the chain around her neck. "Are you sure… I deserve it?"

"Your courageous actions have saved Pokémon nationwide." Sara chuckled, patting her on the head. "You are well worth this. Take it. I have no interest in the legends, and I'm in no way pure hearted enough to actually summon the pokémon."

"Aaaw, thank you!" Lyra smiled. She paused. "Now what? Will we run into each other again?"

"Maybe." Sara shrugged. "This was just a side mission, really. I'm just here to locate missing kids and get them back to their families. My job… takes me to multiple places." sighing, she pulled out a cigarette, then lit it. "But considering this, we might run into each other, at least once more. But just in case," she pulled out a pokégear, smiling. "Lets exchange numbers."

o.0.o.0.o

Silver was sitting in some random place in the Ilex forest, wheezing as he tried to not cry. He knew he shouldn't be this upset over finding out that Ariana was his mother. He just wished that she wasn't a member of Team Rocket. Because as much as he hated to admit it, he wanted to have met his mother, see her, and maybe… catch up with her.

He didn't want to find out this woman was heading to jail.

He didn't want to find out this woman was Rocket.

He didn't want to know that all his efforts for finding her was for nothing but crushing disappointment.

But then again, everything in his life seemed to be crushing disappointment. Everything.

"Silver?"

"Go away." he hissed to Lyra as he approached her.

She didn't.

Go figure.

A long silence as he sat under some random tree in the Ilex forest, Lyra standing across from him. He must have looked pathetic, curled with his knees to his chest, head against his knees. He hasn't felt this weak since… since Vale forced him to leave without her.

He must have looked pathetic.

He was pathetic.

"No you're not."

Had he said that aloud?

"You did."

Her voice was laced with a bit of laughter. He slowly looked up at her. She was in her normal clothes again, Espeon next to her. That must have been how she had found him.

"I… Well, I don't know what to say." Lyra finally said. "You did really well in the battle, and I'm thankful you helped me." she glanced up at the sky. "I'm not going to ask if you want to talk, because I know you're not going too. But," she stepped forward, holding out his jacket to him. "I'm here to return this."

He didn't take it, so she set it down next to him. Silver refused to meet her gaze.

"I want you to know… that you're not really alone anymore, okay? I'll always be around. Somewhere, I'm sure."

She stepped back, arms crossed behind her back.

"Well, see you around."

Silver slowly looked up, watching her walk away.

Go talk to her stupid!

Tell her! She's willing to listen!

Silver slowly stood.

That's it!

Suddenly, he was across the field, gripping her wrist. Not in a threatening manner, really, but more desperate. He didn't know what he was thinking as she turned back to him. Slowly, he opened his mouth.

"I was kidnapped when I was three, and just found out that my mother was a mobster."

And suddenly he was spilling everything to her. About the kidnapping, growing up with Mask, Vale being the only kindness he's ever known, loosing Vale, finding out his father was also a mobster, though he made sure to not specify that his father was Giovanni, finding out the mother he yearned for was Ariana…

At some point, they had sat on the ground. At some point, he was unwilling to admit that he may have even cried.

Lyra didn't judge or tease.

She simply held onto his hand, telling him everything would be okay.

And somehow, Silver had a feeling that, despite never trusting people who said it was okay, Lyra truly meant it.

o.0.o.0.o

I don't even know what I was thinking at the end there. Baaaaaasically i was like "If I suddenly found out the mother i barely knew was really a mobster all while trying to defeat said mob, what would I do?"

I'd probably break down.

But this is Silver, so I had to think of something different. I just hope it's good!

Amy47101 signing off! ^.^