Part XVII: The Embers of Explanation
The bitter cold inside of the hallway gradually warmed back into a suitable temperature, aided by the flames of the previous fight and the great commotion inside of this narrow expanse. Once the tense air died away, I managed to recover our respective belts of Pokémon from the leading Rocket—and perhaps give him a sharp kick to rub it in—and regain my beloved partners. Despite the generally cold airs my rival strived to put on, I managed to catch him smiling at his belt and whispering his greetings.
I turned with a smile as Glaceon stood on my shoulders. The weight was ignored as I smiled at my rival. Of course, I was more than relieved to find him mostly unharmed from my tantrum. When such a volatile rage takes over, I have little to no control over where those blows will land. I was overjoyed that the only mark he had to show for my foolishness was a red splotch on his right cheek.
"Hey," I snapped back to attention as I became painfully aware of my rival's gaze on me. I jolted into a more casual position as to throw off the evidence of my staring. "Are your Pokémon alright?" I almost blinked in confusion as I found his attentions fixated on my Pokémon rather than my outright staring.
"Oh! Yeah, they're all in top shape!" I let out a proud puff of air as my Glaceon simply nuzzled my cheek with his chilled muzzle. "These little powerhouses can handle a bit of a scrape, Silv."
I glanced out of the corner of my eyes and nearly beamed as I found his cheeks heating up. It was a relief to get back some ounce of normalcy after such a battle. "Good," Silver's attention switched to his Sneasel—who had decided to stay out for a while to keep close to his Trainer—on his shoulder. "The last thing we would want is for your Pokémon to be injured with no power for the healing machines." He paused for a moment before shrugging his shoulder. "Not sayin' that my Pokémon need it. My Pokémon are strong enough to handle such a mess."
"That's good to know, redhead." I felt my words lift with a chuckle as he stood there with his usual airs of indifference. It was then that my attention snapped back to his cheek and with it, the events that transpired in this hollow strip of tile. Looks like I need to explain quite a lot of things...Oh Ho-Oh, why did I end up being such a mess? Despite my mental woes, I simply smirked and walked up to my rival.
"Hey, you ready to talk or what?" Silver gave me a baffled look before rolling his eyes in a moment of self-scolding. I just gave him a knowing grin and gently grabbed his arm. Ignoring how my face was warming at the contact—I seriously needed to get that under control—and how Sneasel was currently giving me a smug grin, I just pulled my rival down the hallway and towards the lobby. Of course, the grunts were out cold and would stay that way for quite a while, so I had nothing to worry about on that front.
Once we had finally reached the couch we had left what felt like days ago, I practically shoved my rival down and gave him a hard stare. Once he folded his arms and muttered a few insults, I took a seat beside him with Glaceon on my lap.
"Alright, so you want to know about that crazy crap I did on those grunts, right?" Silver simply raised an eyebrow at me with a pretty irritated look, so I took that as a yes. "Well," I took a deep breath and started petting Glaceon's back for moral support as I started to explain. "Ho-Oh and I are...a little closer than you might think. He's actually more like my boss than even Lance is now, so I've pretty much been bossed around since the first day of my journey..."
You see, my confused rival, that legendary bird of fire isn't exactly as inactive as the Kimono Girls and Morty like to let on to the general public. You see, for the past few years, Ho-Oh has been in a constant state of rage. The full truth is that he absolutely detests the deeds of Team Rocket, and the disappearance of his first chosen one, the girl he wanted to lead the flames of his wrath. Her name was Leaf Flagro, and thanks to her disappearance, suicide, whichever you believe is the truth, Ho-Oh was left without a chosen one.
So, I was chosen as her replacement.
Every since that fateful decision of his, Ho-Oh has been watching over me and making sure that I followed his path of vengeance. This mark on my hand? Pah! He scarred me with this on that horrible day outside of Cherrygrove City. You were there when it happened, remember? That terrible forest fire that sent us scurrying for cover? That was his doing. It was an omen that he gave to prepare me for my destiny.
I know, you thought I was just following you. I was hiding from his flames and the raging storm outside certainly didn't help matters. That was the night that I was marked as a his chosen one, forever. He's told me before that this mark is the mark of Ho-Oh, meaning I'm his chosen one for as long as he sees fit. Which will most likely be until my death, to be honest.
I first noticed that this mark wasn't just a scar when I encountered rumors of Team Rocket in Violet City.
A man was talking to someone on the phone, explaining that Team Rocket had been seen in Azalea Town near the Slowpoke Well. At that exact instant, I felt an intense rage build inside of me, my afflicted hand burning with an overwhelming heat. Seconds later, these sensations were accompanied by flashes of Team Rocket, pictures of their horrors from Kanto. It was in those few seconds that I felt as if I would burst from the anger growing in my mind. I knew then that I had to do something about them.
So, against my better judgment, I headed straight for that Slowpoke Well.
After taking out plenty of grunts, I came face-to-face with the monster that was Proton. He was ruthless, a true monster in battle and off the field. With his Pokémon, he managed to defeat all of my team—Pidge, Sen-Sen, Ree—with only Chiko standing before me. My poor partner was on his last legs, panting and grasping for any type of chance at victory. I was left in a corner, fighting for breath and trying desperately to get up.
Proton advanced on us, not with his Pokémon, but with his knife. I looked at my poor Chiko and felt a surge of pain flood my mind. This was all my fault. My poor, innocent Pokémon was trying to protect me, even if it cost him his life. All I could do was watch on and pray for a swift end. At that exact moment, Chiko burst with energy, glowing a harsh blue until the explosion of energy sent Proton and Koffing flying into a wall. Even with his evolution into a Bayleaf, Bay couldn't take another step. He fell to the floor with wide, crimson eyes that pierced my core.
That was my first rage moment.
I found myself flinging myself at that man without an ounce of fear, the desire to rip him apart the only thing in my mind. From the moment he stood up and looked at me with wide eyes, everything faded in and out of consciousness. I was fighting, that much I knew. What I was fighting, why I was fighting and exactly what I was doing, I had no idea. It was like being asleep but getting small glimpses of the things going on outside.
It was like taking a single snapshot with an old-style camera and waiting for the film to be exposed to air. By the time the image had reached my mind, the event was long over. It was a nightmare, a living nightmare.
After that, I found that any and all encounters with Team Rocket resulted in me losing control and becoming the direct puppet of Ho-Oh—
Yes, Silver...I'm being serious. Ho-Oh literally takes control and fills my mind with his desire of vengeance for all of the wrongs Team Rocket has committed. He is a cruel master, Silver. Being his chosen one is not about calming his rage and letting him live on in peace. It is about ridding the world of his enemies and fighting all dark stains until not a trace remains. It's like looking in the mirror and forgetting who you are. It's as if you know who you were, you know who you want to be, but for some reason, that face in the mirror now is unknown to you.
...But, that's the life I'm forced to lead. With Team Rocket gone, things have calmed down. I'm not constantly entering a state of blinded rage and anger anymore. I'm actually learning how to block him out now. He still can reach me in moments of true distress such as in the hallway, but for the most part, I'm free of his influence.
"'Moments of true distress'?" I looked up from the Glaceon on my lap to find my rival holding his Sneasel close to his chest. His eyes narrowed as he gulped down some foreign emotion. "You mean, that moment back there was...a moment of distress? What do you mean?"
I took a deep breath and tried to hide the pain I felt in my chest grow. This was my moment of truth. If I lost my rival now, I don't know how I could live with that. But, I promised. I swallowed down the rising fear and looked my rival in the eyes.
"I was scared, Silver. I'm going to admit that right now. I was scared for myself, my Pokémon and...for you."
He immediately jolted straight up with bright cheeks, holding Sneasel close to his chest. "You were sc-scared about me?! Why would you be scared about me?" His eyes swirled with a mixture of shock, confusion and what appeared to some sort of warm emotion. I had no idea what this last one could be, so I ended up looking away and trying to regain some dignity.
"I-I thought that they might hurt you, alright?!" I found a frustrated yell escaping my mouth as my face burned. There. I had just admitted something so stupid, that I was probably going to receive one heck of a tease for that one. Instead of the laughter I expected, my rival simply sat there in silence. I stole a glance out of the corner of my eyes to find to my utter confusion that he was sitting there with a face as red as his hair.
"...You're so stupid sometimes, Marshmallow-Head." Despite the wording, the sentence was filled with amusement instead of bitterness. I found myself tilting my head towards him with a smug grin as he just let out a chuckle. "Honestly, I've taken care of myself for a long time. Besides, I've saved your butt plenty of times. I could handle some thugs like them."
My little moment of bliss faded away as I once again found my eyes locking on to that burn on his cheek. Every time I looked at it, I felt a harsh rock of regret hit my stomach. My smile died as my rival just laughed on, his eyes closed in a rare moment of enjoyment.
Before I could stop myself, I found myself leaning towards him and placing a hand on the burn. The contact abruptly pulled him out of his little moment and switched to flustered hissing. I just focused on the burn and tried to figure out how bad it was.
"M-Mind explaining your lack of personal space?" Silver's tone was an embarrassed sputter as I prodded and poked that nefarious red blotch. "Be-Because this is-isn't accepted rival be-behavior!"
"I'm trying to see how bad the burn is." I ignored the small space between us, that small six inches of distance that kept us apart. Instead, I focused on the hot spot on his face and tried to forgot that I was foolishly in love with my rival and far too close to keep myself sane. "So stop your squirming, Silver." Ignore the pounding of your heart, perhaps he won't notice. Just pretend that this is Ethan Gold and he's scraped himself up again. But that idea would never work.
For this was not Ethan Gold and I knew that so well that it hurt. This was not my once-friend-now-estranged-best-friend, this was my stubborn, mysterious, cold, secretly caring rival. He did not have his warm yet distancing ambers that made me squirm. He had those hypnotizing silver pools that caught me in a trace and held me captivated. He did not have his sharp black hair. He had his own vibrant scarlets locks that seemed to be his inner fire on proud display.
And because he was not Ethan Gold, I felt my heart race that much faster.
All I could focus on was the shrinking space between us and how my heart felt as if it was about to explode in my chest under this pressure. All I could think was how much I wanted to erase this façade of mine and just finish all of this hiding. All I felt like doing was taking a page out of some cheesy romance novel and kiss my rival.
"Uh, Lyra...what in the name of Lugia are you doing?" My rival's voice oh so calmly alert me that I was subconsciously leaning in and already rubbing noses with my rival. I completely froze as my rival just sat there acting a little off-put. "Do you need a magnifying glass for that burn, or are you going to fix it already?" Before I could pull away, a sudden intruder appeared.
Just my luck.
"Oh my goodness! That was quiet a scare!" My rival and I both flinched as we found Nurse Joy standing behind the couch with a lantern in hand. "Are you two all right back here—" It was at that exact moment that she realized our position. And it was also in that moment that I noticed my position.
Not only was I nose-to-nose with my rival, but I still had a hand on his face and my other hand was right next to his side. His hands had somehow managed to get on my shoulders, leaving me to think that he was seconds away from shoving me off. However, to the newest arrival, this looked like something completely different.
"Oh my! How cute!" Silver and I both let out flustered sputters at her obvious joy. She placed the lantern down on the back of the sofa and then clasped her hands together with a smile. "You two look so cute together! I had no idea that you two were actually a couple when you came here! That explains everything!"
"No no no no no!" I tried to push away, but my rival's default reaction to shock was something like rigor mortis and therefore I was trapped in his grasp. "We're not! I mean, I'm not—" My burning face did nothing for my case as I couldn't even get out of my rival's grip. By the glassy look in his eyes, I'm pretty sure he was in some strange state of disbelief. Either that, or she scared him to death with such a devious suggestion.
Oh Ho-Oh I hoped it wasn't that.
"You know what," She waved us on with a grin as she went on. "You two just pretend that I was never here. You just continue with what you were doing, and I'll go restore the generator!" Before I could find some retort for such a evil, downright villainous idea, she was off with hurried footsteps.
Somewhere between my rival's Sneasel letting out another...er, colorful suggestion and my Glaceon barking out in disgust, I ended up blacking out on my rival's chest and passing out. Well, I knew it would happen eventually. After all, that's what always happens after a bought of Ho-Oh's famous rage attacks. I just prayed that when I came to, Silver was somewhat sane and back to normal.
This was by far the freakiest two days of my life.
Author's Note: CURSE YOU, NURSE JOY! Why do you insist on ruining a perfect moment like that?! (As her movie selection revealed, Nurse Joy is a hopeless romantic. That horror movie? Yeah, Silvon and Leera get together in the end...so, yeah.)
Well, we have some backstory on Lyra in this chapter! Hurray for explanations and interrupted explanations! (Also, a bit of LeafGreenHeadcanon!Leaf is mentioned in this one. If you're interested in figuring out why Lyra said 'disappearance, suicide, whichever one you believe' as to her whereabouts, I have a one-shot up called "Remember Me" that explains where this thought division originates. LeafGreenHeadcanon! is the predecessor to HeartGoldHeadcanon!, as we have seen by a few hints about Leaf instead of Red. But that's something for another time.
Hey guys! I'm running a contest at the moment to see which of my works is the most popular of this year! The winner gets a New Years themed one-shot (and a kiss scene because it is standard) and a New Years themed art-work on my Deviant Art account! Voting ends on December 13th, so cast your votes now! Currently, "Irritation" is tied for the lead with "The Pains of Being in Charge". Cast your vote and break the tie for your favorite series!
(For your information, we're nearing the end. /cue the sadness of the many amazing people who are following this series./ However, if this continues to do so well, I'll write a sequel for you guys set after the Kanto adventures! It will be more of the romance and humor you love, only with the EndGame!Silver. In other words, the Silver who's more emotional. Yay!)