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-Your POV-

Time seemed to speed up as Silver took my hand in his, and began to dash out the door, without sparing Ariana another glance, pulling me along with him. I sprinted as far as I could go, pushing all of my energy and stamina into my legs, although I was stumbling and faltering with each limping step. I couldn't match SIlver's hurried pace for long with my weak, unused legs that were increasingly useless and fragile.

Soon, we shoved past the doors and out onto the streets of Mahogany Town. The rutted, dirt paths were lined and the buildings were littered with pebbles that were destined to come in my way. It wasn't long before I fell forward, my foot caught on one of the small stones.

"Ack!" I fall forward, arms out in front of me to catch myself from the fall.

But all my hands fell against... somebody?

I glance up and my cheeks are engulfed in flame that rivaled the person's hair. "I'm so sorry, Silver!" I stammer, eyes darting. He cradled me, expression remaining emotionless, although he caught me from my fall. "I, uh-"

"Don't mention it." Silver grumbles under his breath, then carefully picks me up into his arms, ready to carry me away princess-style.

But before he can take a step, a familiar and usually mellow voice across the air. "What are you doing with (Y/N), punk?!"

I swivel around, nearly breaking out of Silver's grasp. "E-Ethan?" I called out to the raven-haired boy whose quivering honey-gold eyes stared at me, stunned, then shifted to SIlver, and his expression twisted into fury. "Hey, hey, it's fine! He saved me, Ethan!" I protest as Ethan rushes over to my side.

"What did I miss?" He asked, glaring daggers at Silver, who merely turned away from the skeptical, with me still holding onto him for dear life.

"Tch. You're a waste of my time, brat."

"Ugh!" Ethan grits his teeth together.

I pipe up, "You two know each other?" They both instantly glance at me and then sparks fly when they're back at scowling at each other.

"You could say that..." Silver mutters.

"We're rivals!" Ethan beams.

Silver scoffs. "As if you could match me."

"Anyway..." I try to divert their attention, changing the course of the hostile conversation. "I'm glad to see your face again, after all this time, Ethan." It was true. I was relieved to see that they hadn't captured him like they had me.

"Yes, we were very worried about you! I'll have to tell Lance and the Professor!" Ethan takes one of my hands and shuffles around in his backpack with his other, producing a couple of Poke balls. He nestles the capsules into my hands and steps back. "I found your Pokemon discarded outside Giovanni's office and saved them for you." He scratched the back of his head. "I think Bayleef was the most worried for you."

"Thanks so much," I whispered, then tossed up Bayleef's Poke ball. In a flash of light, the Grass-type creature is revealed. I hop out of Silver's arms and kneel down next to my partner, immediately hugging it. "I'm really sorry, Bayleef!" I squeeze it tighter, and it cries happily, nuzzling my cheek with its own.

"Tch. Whatever." Silver's low tone barely reaches my ears. "I'm going now."

When I turn, he's already dashing down the road, not even looking back. "Hey, Silver! Wait!" I raise a hand in one fluid motion, but it drops to my side just as quickly when Silver disappears from my line of sight, ducking around a corner.

"Hey, um, (Y/N)?" Ethan's words snapped me out of the spiral I was falling into.

"...Yeah?" When I stand up to face him, my Bayleef begins to shine with a blaring light. "W-what's going on?"

When the glow fades completely, its exterior is a slightly deeper shade of green and its wreath of leaves is replaced by a vibrant pink flower that seems to be based on a type of hybrid daylily with ruffled edges. Its neck seems longer too but still proportionate to its bigger body.

"It's a Meganium now!" Ethan gasps.

Suddenly, a thought enters my mind. Without time to debate my decisions, I jump onto the back of my newly-evolved Pokemon and shout, "Alright, let's go after Silver!"

While the ride was rocky with each leap Meganium took, it was rather fun, lumbering across the roads, searching for the boy who'd set me free. My partner's bright yellow eyes also scanned the paths, alongside me.

I gripped the enormous flower around Meganium's neck tightly, anxiously searching for a sign of him.

"Where did he go...?" I murmur.

After several minutes of carefully searching each and every corner of the small city of Mahogany Town, I'm forced to give up. Clearly, Silver didn't want to be found. The only thing left to do was go home.

Go home... My apartment in Olivine City was just west of here. I hadn't seen it in the month that I'd been missing, nor had I had any way to pay the bills. Would I still be able to live there? There's no way they'd give it up to someone else, but I do suppose it's true that housing people is always becoming more and more of a pressing matter these days.

"Meganium," I pat its head affectionately. "Let's go home, okay? We'll cross roads again with Silver at some point. Johto is only so big, right?"

It nods and begins trotting away merrily, me still perched atop its back. It wasn't a very long trip to Olivine City, but when I got there, I felt an immense weight lift off my shoulders. Relief was an emotion I was eternally grateful to have, after the entire Team Rocket fiasco.

Maybe, I could return to my somewhat normal life as a Gym Challenger.

The first step was most certainly not to keep dawdling here on the streets. I should catch up with Jasmine! After a month, I'm sure she'd be eager to talk, as we were close friends for ages now.

But when I walked up to the Gym's doors, it was locked and closed. I tried knocking on the door. Nothing. Calling out the Gym Leader's, Jasmine's, name. Nothing.

"Didn't you hear, child?"

I turn around to see one of the citizens standing behind me. "What happened?" I ask urgently, my alarm seeping into my snappy tone. I was stuck wondering if I wasn't the only one held captive.

The woman smiles calmly, "Jasmine's gone off visiting a place called Sunyshore City in Sinnoh. Won't be back for a while, now, I hear. Don't fret, she's fine."

I let out a breath, "I'm so glad."

So, she wasn't kidnapped. My fight-or-flight instincts were still very alive and kicking, it seems. Before I was trapped in Team Rocket's base, I never thought this way. Never thought that everything could go wrong in an instant.

Maybe that's a good thing, that I've got reflexes that can help me suss out the truth, but maybe, it's also prohibiting me from thinking positively.

"Thank you for telling me," I turn to bow my head.

The woman I spoke to nodded, "Of course,"

"I'll be going now. Thanks again!" I wave to her and straddle my Meganium once more.

The next stop was my flat since I'd gotten a bit off track. It was a trio of rooms on a floor next to many other apartments. Aside from the noisy and occasionally rude neighbors, it was a delightful place to stay. Cheap, just big enough to house my Pokemon and me comfortably, and easy to keep my minimal belongings in place.

Fortunately for me, Team Rocket didn't in-depth search my belongings. Meaning, I still had the key to my room in my shoe. I kept it there often, because I constantly lost things, and that was the easiest place to remember it.

With the key in my beaten and worn (f/c) shoes, I could still have access to my flat.

I walked up to the door, hopping on one foot and prying off one shoe simultaneously. "There!" I exclaim, proud and successful. I raised the slim metal key to the door and grinned when I pushed it open with ease. "I'm home~!"

I walked through the entranceway, closing the door behind me, but froze mid-step when I actually got my first look at the interior of the place. Sure, it was almost identical to how I left it — with one rather important and distinguishing thing.

"What're you doing here?"

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Author's Note:

Hello, hello, hello! Congratulations on reading another update!

Ooh- I left you on a cliffhanger, but if you read between the lines a bit and make a logical inference, you likely already know what's going to happen, he he!

As always, I want to express my gratitude to you, Reader, for supporting my fan fiction. Glad to see there are some Silver fanatics out there!

Thanks again,
Lillian

Word count: 1521 words

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