Note: Once again I bring you a late update, but hopefully it wasn't too agonizing a wait. Life's been stressful, but Follow Me has always been on my mind, day in and day out. So don't think I've forgotten about it. Anyway, enjoy!

Follow Me

A Pokémon Heart Gold/Soul Silver Story

Chapter Thirty-Three

Night Daze

To say the question was difficult to answer was an understatement. He sat quietly for a long moment, contemplating how best to answer. "...I don't know," he said finally, leaning his forehead on his laced fingers.

Soul's eyebrows furrowed. "You don't know? You don't know?" She scoffed and folded her arms. "Well, if your goal was to make an ass of yourself and confuse the heck out of me, then mission accomplished." When he didn't respond to her quip, not even with a body movement, she sighed. "Look, Silver—"

"I came to find you," Silver said, lifting his head to look at her. "I came because..." He sighed and hung his head again. "I came because I needed to ask you something."

Soul sighed. "Well, here I am, so...ask," she said, turning her body to give him her full attention.

Weighing his words, Silver inhaled and then turned to her. "Why did you lie to me?"

It was most certainly not the question she had anticipated, if she'd been anticipating anything at all, which she hadn't. Her confusion registered on her face even in the darkness, and she stumbled with her response. "Wh...What?"

"That day, when we had dinner in Goldenrod, you said that you just happened to run into my father in a cave," Silver said, hardly blinking. "But that was a lie, wasn't it?"

Soul's face darkened in frustration. "Silver, I already told you, I did meet your fath—"

"That's not the part I'm talking about," Silver said, shaking his head. "I know you met him. That much was true. But the story about how you came across him...you lied about that part." He stared intensely at her. "Why didn't you just tell me the truth?"

Mouth ajar, she swallowed to moisten it. "Ho...How did you...?"

Silver sighed and faced forward again, slouching over his interwoven fingers. "...After you left, I took a break from searching, and just wandered through Johto for a while. Without even realizing it, I ended up on Route 31, near Dark Cave." He chuckled lightly. "I'd gone there unconsciously, so..."

Soul caught his meaning and asked with baited breath. "...Did you find anything?"

Silver shook his head. "No signs of anything, at least none that I could see. That was about three weeks ago."

"I'm sorry," Soul said, reaching to touch his arm in comfort but then retracting it and rubbing her own. "I'm sure that was frustrating for you."

"Actually, not as much as you'd think," Silver said with a faint grin. "I searched Dark Cave knowing full well I probably wouldn't find anything. I guess I was just...covering my bases...Anyway, after that, I just walked for a while, not really going anywhere. By chance, I ran into Leaf in Goldenrod Department Store about a week later..."

Silver shuffled through the crowded Goldenrod, people chattering and laughing all around him. The frosty chill in the air only served to further support the numbness in his body, and he slumped his way through the throng, hands in his jacket pockets and a glazed look in his eyes. He made his way into the Department Store, where people bustled about, no doubt buying gifts for their loved ones for the approaching holiday. None of that mattered to Silver. Christmas was always empty for him, just like every other holiday he'd had growing up. As he boarded the elevator, he sighed to himself. What was he doing? What was the point in his wandering any more? He stared at his reflection in the glass as the floors slipped by during his ascension, light splashing across his sullen face with each passing level. He'd been on his own for only two weeks...yet the gaunt look of his face made it seem like it had been much longer. His stomach grumbled sourly at him. When was the last time he had a proper meal that didn't consist of primarily junk food or take-out? Soul had always made sure he ate properly...

He shook his head as the elevator lurched to a halt. Thinking about her would do him no good, so he buried the thought immediately. The elevator pinged as the doors slid open, and he exited onto the top floor and made his way to the vending machines in the corner. Unlike the rest of the store, the 6th floor was mostly vacant, save for a few people enjoying the refreshments at the tables in the vending machine area. He walked over toward them and stood in front of the machine, where he stared blankly at the buttons for a long moment. Thoughts of Soul crept into his mind against his will. Once again, he was alone in life, but instead of feeling relief in his solitude, he felt...empty, hollow, and dare he say...incomplete. The very notion ate away at him. He stood before the vending machine, hand hovering over a selection he wasn't even paying attention to, lost in his internal conflict.

"...Mm-hm, I'm looking forward to our meet-up on Christmas Eve, too," a girl chattered into her PokéGear as she approached and started inserting money into the machine beside Silver's. "Of course I didn't get you a present. Hee, why would I want to do something like that? Although...I could always just buy a bow and put it on my—"

A sharp hissing cut her off, and she turned to the Snivy on her shoulder. "Oh hush, you whiny thing, I'm buying you a Fresh Water right now," she said. The Pokémon hissed again and pointed with his stubby arm, and when she glanced in the direction of his indication, she let out a small gasp. "Oh!"

Silver turned slowly with a heavy, zombie-like expression, roused from his thoughts.

"Umm, Green, let me call you back..."

A bead of condensation slid down the side of Leaf's can of Lemonade. The two sat cozily at a table in the far section of the mostly-deserted floor, neither speaking to the other. "So, uh..." Leaf said, flicking her can a few times with her fingernail, "you, uh...you look like hell."

"I haven't been sleeping well the past few nights, that's all," Silver grumbled, which was true. He'd had difficulty getting to sleep since Soul's departure, and what sleep he did have was plagued by nightmarish replays of all his past mistakes.

"Oh, is that so..." Leaf said distantly, staring at her Lemonade. She paused for a moment in reflection and then, closing her eyes, sighed. "Look, I know it's none of my business, but—"

"If it's about me and Soul splitting up, I don't wanna talk about it," Silver said darkly as he sipped from his Soda Pop bottle. "It's like you said, it's none of your business."

"Right, right," Leaf said, nodding lightly. The corners of her mouth twitched, and she changed her tactic. "So I guess you won't be wanting to know where she's currently staying, then."

Silver's posture stiffened, but he took a swig of his beverage and feigned disinterest. "Nope."

"And you don't care to know that I spoke with her about a week and a half ago?" she continued casually.

"Not in the slightest," he lied.

"Don't even want to know what we talked about?"

"Not really."

"So you wouldn't have any interest in going to see her over in New Bark Town, would you?"

Silver hesitated, realizing he'd let her pull him into her trap. He glanced across the table at Leaf, who leaned her face on her hand and smiled in such a sweet, devious way that he turned his head in embarrassment. "No, I wouldn't."

"You wouldn't go see her?"

"No."

"Not even if she wanted to see you?"

"She doesn't want to see me."

"And you know that for a fact?"

"Look," Silver said, rising briskly from the table, "I didn't ask you to tell me where she was, and it's none of your damn business whether I go to see her or not. So just stay the hell out of it!" And with that he stormed off toward the elevator.

Leaf ran her finger along the rim of her can and grinned. "You owe me for that one, Souly," she snickered. "I just hope his stubborn streak wears off soon, for your sake...and for his." She looked after him as he boarded the elevator, his hands shoved in his jacket pockets again. "Because he really does look lost without you."

"So that's it, then," Soul said with a nod. "I figured when Leaf was upset I was no longer in New Bark Town, it was because she'd bumped into you and told you my location." She turned to him, fidgeting her hair behind her ear in her usual nervous habit. "Did you go looking for me there?"

Silver turned his head away and coughed. "Only because I needed to talk to you about something."

"But that still doesn't explain how you found out the truth about my meeting with your father..."

"I was just getting to that point," Silver said, weaving his fingers again. "After that, I stayed in Goldenrod for a while, trying to see if I could get any leads on my father. And no, I didn't find anything, before you ask," he said, preempting her query. "For the most part, you cleaned out the majority of Team Rocket during the Radio Tower Incident, but there were still a few stragglers left in the city with connections to the organization. None of them knew anything about Giovanni's whereabouts, though...not that I expected them to. Eventually I reached the conclusion that you were the only one who had any recent connection to him, so I figured I needed to ask you about the full circumstances of your meeting with him. So yesterday, I finally made the trip out to New Bark Town. But..."

"I was already gone," Soul finished.

"Right," Silver nodded. "As luck would have it...well, it's not necessarily good luck, but..." He shook his head at his digression. "In any case, I ran into Gold and Crystal on my way to your house."

"They were in town?" Soul asked, surprised. "When I talked to Crystal last week, they were touring through Kanto together."

"Guess they were home for the holidays, I dunno," Silver said with a shrug. "Anyway, Gold told me that you weren't at home, and through the course of the conversation, we got on the subject of why you and I had been travelling together in the first place."

Soul's body tensed, the realization dawning on her.

"I didn't give him the specifics, just told him you were helping me look for my father...his response surprised me."

"Oh, that's right, your father's a wanted criminal, right?" Gold said in the same sort of casual tone he would have used to describe Silver's father were he a dentist or a lawyer or some such other respectable profession.

Silver's jaw slackened in spite of himself. "Y...How do you...?"

"Gold! That's a horrible thing to say!" Crystal scolded. "You shouldn't joke like that!"

"But I'm not joking," Gold said, still in the same ill-suited, conversational manner. "Sil-Sil's dad is the ex-leader of Team Rocket."

"A...Are you serious?" Crystal said, aghast, hovering her hand near her mouth. "How did you find that out?"

"That's what I'd like to know!" Silver protested, but he was either unheard or ignored.

"Oh, it happened over the summer when Soul and I met that Celebi and went back in time during that incident that Soul told me not to tell Silver abou—" Gold's chattering screeched to a halt. Without moving his head, his eyes slowly drifted toward Silver, whose expression was a mixture of confusion, anger, and incredulity. "...Oops."

Soul covered her face with her hand and sighed dismally. "Oh, Gold..." She peeked between her fingers at Silver, who was staring sternly at her. "I was going to tell you the truth eventually, but..."

"But...?"

She sighed. "I was worried you'd think the story was too...outlandish if I told you the whole truth. I worried you would have thought I made the whole thing up."

Silver closed his eyes and chuckled a bit with the first genuine smile he'd had in weeks. "Soul, after everything I've been through with you, I'd believe just about anything. Weird stuff follows you around everywhere you go."

Soul paused and then smiled a little as well. "You say that like it's a good thing." The two chuckled a bit, and then Soul looked at her lap. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner. I meant to, but..."

"Don't beat yourself up about it too much," Silver said, shaking his head. "I got over my anger yesterday. But...there is one thing."

"Nn?"

"That day we had dinner in Goldenrod, you said you'd seen him about three months prior, right?"

"Right," Soul said, nodding.

"So that was...around the end of July, then?"

"Yeah, I think so. It was shortly after our double-battle against Lance and Clair."

"But then you and Gold travelled back in time from that point, right? Because of the Celebi?"

"Well, yes..."

"And you wound up in the cave with my father during all that, correct?"

"Yes, Silver, but I don't see what you're getting a—"

"Gold said there was a radio playing in the cave," Silver said, his gaze more serious than ever. "Do you remember what was playing on it?"

"Mmm..." Soul mumbled, thinking. "It was a man talking...It sounded like..."

"Archer's broadcast during the Radio Tower Incident?"

Soul turned to him, the realization visible on her face. "H...How did I not notice that before?"

"The Celebi took you to where my father was at the time Team Rocket was wreaking havoc in Goldenrod, last December," Silver said, leaning forward. "That means while you were battling Team Rocket in Goldenrod, you were also battling against my father in another part of the world. Essentially, you were in two places at once."

Soul leaned back against the couch, shocked. "It...It never even occurred to me to think of it that way." She shook her head and held her forehead. "Oy vey, time travelling sure makes a mess of things."

Silver chuckled. "No kidding. But...that means that instead of five months, it's been a whole year since you saw him." Silver sunk darkly into his laced fingers. "Our whole trip was doomed from the start."

"Well, even with three months, it was a long-shot...but yeah, it's even worse with that in view," Soul agreed, slumping her shoulders.

They sat for a moment in grim silence, the clock on the wall droning rhythmically in the background, filling the void. So that was it then. Soul imagined Silver would give up his hunt for his father. After all, any sane person would realize the futility of the venture. It was completely foolish to consider continuing. She hung her head, eyelids heavy.

"Even still..." Silver said suddenly, rousing Soul from her thoughts. He paused, and then repeated even quieter, "Even still..." He drummed his fingers together for a moment, pondering. "Even still, I'd like to take a look at the place you saw him. You said it was a cave, but you never told me where it was." He looked up at her. "That's why I came looking for you in the first place. Gold said he didn't know where it was, so..."

Soul scrunched her features in thought. "I don't..." Her eyebrows twitched as the epiphany hit her. "The radio...! When...When I was travelling to the Elite Four, I had to pass through Tohjo Falls on my way to Kanto," she explained, excitement growing in her voice. "While I was passing through, I came across a small cave, and inside it was a radio! The same radio Giovanni was listening to! It didn't mean anything to me at the time because I hadn't faced him yet, but now...!"

"Gold said he remembered hearing running water in the distance during your battle," Silver said, joining her enthusiasm. "That's got to be it!"

The two of them leapt to their feet and made to hug each other, but then realization registered on both of their faces simultaneously, and they halted and turned in opposite directions, playing it off as coincidence.

"So..." Silver said, massaging the back of his neck.

"Right..." Soul mumbled, rubbing her arm.

Silver coughed and turned. "I guess I'll be heading for Tohjo Falls in the morning." He paused, then added, "Thank-you, Soul."

She turned to him and shook her head, smiling. "Mm, no problem." She glanced at the clock and warmed her shoulders. "Well, it's late, and I'm cold, so I'm heading back to bed. You coming, too?"

"Mm...I'll be along. You go ahead."

"All right," she said, nodding. "Good night, Silver."

"Yeah...good night." Silver watched as she swiveled on her heel and headed toward the hallway. Clenching his jaw slightly, he drew in a breath. "You could come with me, you know. If...If you wanted to, that is." He stared at the floor and scratched the back of his head. "I wouldn't mind having you along for just this one last trip."

Soul hesitated at the threshold, holding onto the frame as she thought in silence. After a long, agonizing moment, she softly replied, "...I"ll think about it." She then retreated into the hallway, leaving him alone once more in the Center lobby.

Selected quote from the next chapter:

"Well, Soul...take care of yourself."