Silver

“I...suppose in a situation like that, you would need to try and reason with them. Obviously they aren’t the most reasonable if they are holding you at gunpoint in the first place, but if you can’t comply with whatever their demands are, try and make them see reason as calmly and firmly as possible, without outright talking down to them.”

“Possible… Partially. Some memories are locked because of a trauma, or the Pokémon keeps them hidden, and I don’t find ethic forcing them to show them, nor remember them if they don’t want to. And some of them just happened too long ago for them to remember.” Reading memories was something he still had to improve. Not half as good as he was at healing, at least.

“Of course he is”  Silver replied, taking out a Pokeball and calling out Sneasel. “Right?” There was little to no hint of uncertainty in Silver’s voice, but the Pokemon looked a tad nervous. For a moment, he looked silently between Silver and Lance, seemingly weighing the situation despite his nervousness. 

Of course, when Zaltis saw the direction the redhead’s speech was taking, - confirming his idea that he was just yet another kid pretending to be a hero - he couldn’t stay idle and wait for the enemy to try anything funny.

The second Silver drew out his Poke Ball, Zaltis quickly analyzed the situation and nudged one of his own Poke Ball off his belt. Sounded like the boy had tried to set a trap for him… The second the Ball touched the ground, Zaltis’s Arbok came out and quickly wrapped itself around its owner, shielding him from the Sneasel’s assault.

The Arbok turned itself around, hissing at the creature that gave it a nasty cut on its tail as it released its owner from its embrace. Zaltis smirked, shaking his head before looking at the kid taking off with his Murkrow.

“So, you are criticizing my method, but you don’t mind playing dirty yourself, right? To attack someone from behind… Isn’t it what they call “hypocrisy”, Mister Hero?”

He tapped the back of the snake’s head, and pointed at Silver and his flying Pokemon.

“Acid Spray.“

The Murkrow dodged the attack, moving Silver out of the way of the acid spray as well, but it was far closer than he would have liked.  “I’m no hero” he corrected, “and I never said I play fair. People like you just disgust me. Sneasel! Icy Wind, followed by Feint Attack!”

Now he was blathering about what seemed like a laundry list of excuses for his actions, but Clair wouldn’t have it. Just as she was about to teach this guy a lesson, her disgust was slightly extinguished by perplexity when Silver mentioned the Masked Man. Clair took a step back in shock.

“The Masked Man kidnapped me and several other children many years ago. I was only two at the time, so my memory of my family prior was all but non-existent. For many years, my only real ‘family’ was the partner I had assigned to me, an older girl by the name of ‘Blue’. Even that was a complex relationship though, because all other factors aside, we knew saw each other’s faces. I barely knew what my own looked like, considering that we had to wear those masks all the time.“

“After about six years of training under him, I escaped with my partner. Although I was finally able to discard my mask, I came to discover that I had no real identity underneath. The more I learned, the more I became bitter about my captor, so I eventually sought revenge on my own. Of course, to do that, I had to find him first, which was no easy task. I did what I needed to further that goal though, including teaming up with a man called Lance. He was a dragon master much like yourself, and had his own...agenda. But he promised me information on the Masked Man’s whereabouts in exchange for the completion of a series of tasks assigned to me. Stealing the badges in particular was something I did upon learning that the Masked Man was going to be at the Pokemon League. I was not anywhere near strong enough to challenge the gyms at the time, but I needed all eight badges to ensure my entry. From there, I slowly learned more about him, and eventually faced him. The events that followed kept me...quite busy for a while, thus my lateness in returning your badge.”

Nils, however, had turned his back to the ordeal with the red haired boy. He’d made the mistake of assuming that the grunts could handle things on their own. Judging from the fact that the boy wasn’t already on the ground or running away, the doctor had to conclude that everyone he worked with was useless.

He half turned, staring back at the red head. “Tsk, tsk.” He waved a finger disapprovingly. “I’m afraid that’s not… how this works, boy. This Pokemon… is necessary to further… research, and as such… will not be leaving anytime… soon. You, however, need… to be gone.” Nils grinned wide, for a moment looking somewhat mad. He didn’t seem to care about the well being of the lab or the equipment inside. 

Turning back to the tank, he called out to the grunts. “The first one to… put the trainer down will… get a promotion. More money, more power.” Ooh, now there was a decent motivator. The grunts all grinned. Maybe they were willing to find out if this kid was strong, after all.

Another day, another mission. Zaltis was to bring some kid’s unusually strong Rhyperior to his higher ups. Of course, once again, the agent proved that his reputation as the Team’s perfect Capturer was entirely justified.

In a matter of minutes, he had gotten the large creature to willingly let itself be sealed inside one of the Team’s special Poke Balls, and all it had taken was for the man to threaten to have his Arbok choke its owner.

His job done, Zaltis made sure to knock the kid unconscious so that they couldn’t follow him, and he began heading back to the closest of the Team’s stations. He needed to have that big one transferred to Lady Ariana as soon as possible. Then, he would just get ready for his next assignment.

Well, that was how his day was supposed to go, if it wasn’t for that other annoyance that was now stepping into his sight.

“Even considering what you are, your tactics are appalling” Silver began, ignoring the less than warm greeting.  “To steal another’s Pokemon like that....it’s something I can’t ignore. Sneasel! Murkrow!” Despite calling out two names, the boy only tossed forward a single Pokeball. The Pokemon that emerged from it was the latter, and the redhead immediately grabbed onto the bird’s leg. 

“Someone, go stop… him. I don’t… have time for this… nonsense.” The Doctor waved a hand and turned his attention back to his work. The boy struck him as familiar, but… eh. He was just in the way; it didn’t really matter who he was. 

More than a few people withdrew Pokeballs and released the creatures inside to get the boy out of the lab. They were all simple Pokemon, really. Koffing, Zubat, a Raticate… It was all standard Rocket fare. 

“I’m afraid it’s not his to play with” he replied cooly, though with a definite bitter edge to his tone. Without taking his eyes off of the others, he sent out his Feraligatr with no more than a flick of his wrist. 

“The equipment in here looks expensive, it’d be a shame for it to sustain collateral damage in an unnecessary battle.” Despite his obvious youth. the boy spoke with a commanding tone befitting someone of an authority he clearly didn’t have in this situation. Silver didn’t even bother pointing out the damage that would come to their Pokemon during such an encounter, having little faith in how much of an impact such a threat would have.

It came to her surprise when the redhead revealed that he wasn’t here to pursue her risingbadge. Most strangers didn’t pay a visit unless they either requested to partake in some of the training held at the gym, or demanded a badge, in which case they would be kindly escorted out the door by her Gyarados.

{~ⅅragoness} “Very well. I won’t battle you until you’re truly ready.” The dragoness assumed that perhaps Silver was here to request training with Blackthorn’s finest regiment of elders before he took her on.