Silver

I woke up as morning light beamed in my face through the window I didn't notice the night before. I got up and stretched my back in a huge yawn. I feel well rested and ready for the day.

I walk out of the little back room I slept in last night to find a pile of various berries on the floor next to the door with a note on top.

 "Silver,

Thanks again for saving Wanda. We are very grateful! Please enjoy your breakfast and let me know if you need anything else during your stay!

~Ms.Lisa"

I read the note aloud to myself.

My stomach suddenly growled reminding me that it's been nearly 2 days since I'd last eaten. I quickly scarfed down the berries.

Once I finished my meal, I examined the note once more. What did Ms.Lisa mean by "during your stay"? Did she mean until I leave today? Or was she expecting me to stay longer? I shook my head. Oh well, I'm probably just over thinking it.

I walked out of Nina's store and went to the main road. I wanted to go to the town hall to tell Ms. Lisa that I was leaving and ask for some berries for the road. It would be nice not to have to steal from every town!

As I walked down the road, it looked like a normal day in any town. But something was off. I just couldn't tell what! 

I started to stare at my feet as I walked, trying to pin down what was different from yesterday. Suddenly I felt my head clash into something. I looked up and saw Bill! That Baltoy who owns the berry shop. 

"Oh I am sorry! I wasn't looking! I didn't mean to bump into you, are you ok?" I quickly apologized and began to approach him to make sure he wasn't harmed. 

"O-oh, I'm fine, Goodbye." He muttered quickly and rushed off before I could get another word in. He moved quickly and with his head down, as if he was nervous.. or maybe.. afraid?

Was he afraid of me?

I looked around and noticed no one looked at me. No staring awkwardly, not even slight glances as I passed by them. 

Everyone was looking at their feet, like they were scared to make eye contact with anyone. 

Why are they scared? Is it because of me? Or something else? 

The whole town cheered for me and thanked me yesterday. I saved one of their children! If that didn't prove I wasn't a threat, I don't know what would!

I lower my head and set a brisk pace to the town hall. If they wanted to be afraid of my, that was their problem. It's not like I wasn't used to it. I made the mistake of letting this town get to me. A mistake I won't make again.

I eventually make it to the town hall. I walk in and see a Kecleon behind a desk doing some kind of paper work.

A little name plaque placed in the front of the desk read "Emmett" I assumed that was the Kecleon's name. 

I walked up to Emmett's desk. He didn't even look up. "Ahem." I attempted to get his attention.

He briefly glanced at me before saying "Are you here to see Ms. Lisa?" 

"Yes, I am." I replied getting slightly agitated at his 'I-don't-like-my-job-so-I'll-make-it-hard-for-everyone-else' attitude.

"She's busy, so you'll have to wait 'til she's done." he said, not looking at me again.

"Thanks" I muttered as I went to sit next to a table in the corner, obviously made for waiting.

I waited for only a few minutes before a pair of double doors opened and Ms. Lisa came out.

"Ah! Our little She-Eevee hero! Come in, come in! Let us talk!" She smiled and gestured me through the doors. 

I walked into a giant study-looking place. There was a huge desk right in the middle of the back wall, and almost every inch of wall space was filled with books of every kind.  The desk had papers scattered all over it, and pieces of charcoal next to it. It had a stack of books on the corner. The book shelves were tall and took almost all of the available wall space. in the small place above the large double doors that wasn't covered in bookshelf, held a framed drawing. It was of Ms. Lisa and a female Eevee. 

 Before I could get a better look at the drawing, Ms. Lisa ushered me towards the desk before she sat down in the chair. She folded her hands on the desk and leaned forward. 

"I'm so happy you came to see me, I actually wanted to speak to the both of you, so this is perfect!" She gestured to me and my left.

I looked and noticed for the first time that Ren stood, looking at his feet, trying not to make eye contact.

I felt hurt, suddenly. I don't know why, but the fact that Ren didn't look at me made me sad. It hurt me. I stared at him for a moment, hoping he would look up and smile. Hoping he would go back to being the clueless idiot I had met in the cave. I stared longer, hoping he would just look at me.

"Did you enjoy your breakfast?" Ms. Lisa's voice broke my concentration on Ren. I shook my head and looked at her. "U-um Yeah, It was good, thank you." I replied softly.

"I'm glad. So, to business then. I need to write a report on your little adventure in the dungeon yesterday. So I'll need all of the details. I'll ask some questions and you'll answer and then we'll be done! Is that ok?" She asked. I simply nodded.

"Ok, first thing's first. I'm going to need a name. Unless you'd rather be referred to as "She-Eevee hero"" She chuckled at her own joke,

A name. I looked at Ren and said "My name is Silver." 

He looked shocked for a second as he lifted his head and looked me in the eyes. Finally. He looked at me. I smiled softly, even though he looked at me with eyes full of fear. There was a hint of something else, too. Worry? Why would he be worried? I mean, fear I'm guessing because of the same reason of everyone else, whether that be me or something else, but worry? 

"Ahh such a pretty name! Ok, Silver, tell me how many pokemon you fought in the dungeon." Ms. Lisa's voice, once again, brought me back to reality. She seemed to bring Ren back, too, because he shook his head and returned his gaze back to his feet.

" Oh, Uh, I can't be sure of an exact number, but if I were to estimate, I'd say about 20-30 pokemon." I said. She nodded and wrote something down on a piece of paper.

" That's quite a lot for such a little pokemon! Where did you learn to fight?" She asked. I growled a little. "You learn a thing or two when being cursed in the wild." I said lowly.

"Cursed?" She asked. "Yes, my silver fur?" I responded with a trace of sarcasm. "Oh, my poor, poor Silver. That is no curse. That is a blessing that not many pokemon get. You should feel lucky!" She said with too much enthusiasm for my taste.

"Right, it's such a blessing! I've only been abandoned by my mother practically the moment she could leave me, I've been mercilessly beaten and abused for the strange coloring of my fur. I've been stolen from and betrayed simply because I have silver fur, not to mention all of the towns I've passed through where the children run in fear and the store clerks are so afraid of me they won't let me in. But you're probably right, you know, because you're also shiny and have lived a life full of abandonment, betrayal, hate, and discrimination, right? Oh, wait, you're not. So why don't you be careful on what you call a blessing and a curse?" I said, venom and sarcasm practically dripping from every word. I gave Ren a slight glance and notice his eyes widened in horror, and he was slightly shivering in fear.

She grunted lightly and looked back at her paper. "What types of pokemon?" Ms. Lisa asked, continuing as if nothing happened

"Growlithe, a lot of Growlithe. They were pretty easy, though. And Ponyta. They weren't as easy and there weren't as many of them." I said. Continuing as well. I heard Ren breathe a sigh of relief. 

Ms. Lisa asked a few more questions about our rescue mission, mainly about how we got out and how we found Wanda. She was very curious about every detail. 

"Alright, that was the last question, I should be able to make a report with this information." Ms. Lisa said. "Now, Silver, Ren has brought it to my attention that you were planning to leave this morning. The town will be sad to see you go, but we thank you and wish you safe travels. Ren will escort you out of town, and please take a bag from Nina's shop and whatever else you like, on us." She smiled and stood, waving us towards the door to be on our way. 

Ren began walking towards the large double doors, gaze to the ground, with a fast pace. He looked so sad and unhappy. I remembered a moment back in the cave, when he started crying. He mentioned how he wanted to be an adventurer like his father. With the details we gave, and how inexperienced he was at caves, he had a small chance if any of being chosen like that again. I also thought back to the town, how everyone kept to themselves as if they were to afraid to make eye contact with anyone. I remembered, also, how Ren had suddenly changed personalities around Ms. Lisa and the town, how he had shivered when I stood up to her. All of these thoughts swirling in my mind all of the sudden, as I watched Ren walk away. All of them came to the same conclusion, however.

Something was going on. 

And I'm too much of a good person to just ignore a scream for help.

"Actually," I started. Ms. Lisa's smile fell and Ren stopped in his tracks. He looked dead at me with a flicker of hope in his eyes. I smiled sweetly and said,

"I think I'll stay four a while, if that's alright." I looked back at Ms. Lisa who had recovered and smiled again. 

"Of course, Silver! We'd love to have you!" Was her response.  I smiled and made my way towards the door, followed closely by Ren. 

I stepped onto the main road and breathed a deep breath. I looked to my right and saw Ren's smile. Not his small, scared smile. His funny, goofy, smile. The smile I saw in the cave. I nearly sighed in relief knowing that that side of Ren wasn't just my imagination. I gave him a smile and headed off down the road. 

If I was going to stay here, I was going to need a source of income. 

And I was going to stay here. There was something going on. Something that has the whole town afraid to look at each other. Something that makes people hide who they are and who they want to be. Something that screamed that they needed help, and I'm not going to ignore a cry for help. 

I continued down the road, determination and stubbornness across my features as I set off to find the Sheriff's office. I was going to get a job.

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Hey my lovely readers! I just wanted to say sorry for the slow updates, but stuff has been going on in my personal life and I find myself losing motivation. So please, if you enjoyed the chapter or this book or anything like that please vote and/or comment! Even if 1 person does it, it will let me know that people like my writing and give me the inspiration I need! Thank you and KEEP READING MY LOVELY READERS!!!