A/N: Okay, I have nothing interesting to say here except that I'm sorry for any grammar errors. I'm trying my best, but yeah, I know I can screw things up sometimes.

This story has been stuck in my head for months, but I started writing it down just two days ago, and hopefully I'll get to more interesting chapters before I end up bored and disappointed with it. The second chapter is already complete but I still have to fix a bunch of errors that make no sense.

Just so you know: this story does not and will not contain any kind of ship stuff, may it be porn or fluff. HOWEVER. It's still going to be highly emotional. I wish I could promise you won't be disappointed, but I don't want to break such promise, so I'll just shut up for now. Oh, yeah. T will be probably changed to M in the future, since the amount of violence will increase.

"Okay, be careful now." I leaned in a bit more onto Togekiss as he slowly descended, aiming at the DayCare Center's backyard and soon landing gracefully without even the smallest noise. I knew that Goldenrod City was full of Rockets now, and I couldn't afford them seeing me around, so I figured that the safest way would be to land in a private area. The DayCare Center was the only private property close to Goldenrod I knew, and before I left Mahogany Town about an hour ago, I'd called the owners and asked for helping me out a bit.

The older couple almost immediately came outside to greet me, sending me warm smiles though I could tell both of them were worried and probably afraid. I'm perfectly sure they were waiting for me, watching the skies from behind the window, and I unknowingly smiled at the thought as I slid off Togekiss' back.

"Welcome back, Gold." the old man came closer and gently put his hand on my shoulder before turning his attention to my flying type, the white creature cooing at him in delight while having his head petted. After all the old man's face was the first thing Togekiss saw when he hatched, since I panicked a bit when my first Pokemon egg started to move and slowly crack, and luckily I was close to Goldenrod, so I ended up getting help for little Togepi right in this place.

"I got so worried when you called earlier... You said you were going to the Radio Tower, or have I misheard?" the daycare lady gently gripped my arms, her expression almost demanding. I could see in her eyes that she didn't like the idea of a mere fifteen year old stepping right into a nest of Arbok; especially given that fifteen year old was me- someone she'd often call her grandson, despite the fact we weren't real family.

I smiled a little, wanting to somehow reassure her that I would be fine, and that I was grateful for her worry.
"That's exactly what I am here for. And I'm sorry for worrying you so much, I wish I could leave you out of this but I really couldn't risk them seeing me right after I raided their hideout in Mahogany yesterday..."

I almost flinched at small gasps both of the daycare couple let out.
"You did what?"

"It's a long story... I promise I will tell you everything once I'm done in Goldenrod. Thank you for letting me use your backyard." I struggled a little to free from the older woman's grip and I recalled my beloved Togekiss back to his Pokeball. I seriously wasn't used to people being so worried over me.

Before they would ask more questions and try to stop me, I politely thanked them again and left, heading north to Goldenrod.

This will be the end of Team Rocket, I mumbled to myself.
It was enough.

I spent a few hours wandering around the city, and with every few minutes the streets were becoming more and more empty, the citizens apparently not feeling too safe while Team Rocket claimed almost every of the public buildings as their own.
Black uniforms seemed to increase in number the closer to the Radio Tower I was, and I really had no idea how to get inside.

Even if I somehow get inside, what then? Was it seriously possible to battle a dozen of Rockets at once? I don't think they would let me go after winning against them in battle. Surely they wouldn't even care about battling me anymore. I'd end up tied up and locked away in some basement for sure.

Unless they still were complete idiots.

I continued to walk down the street, considering different options I had. Actually, I considered if I have any options at all.

Where were the gym leaders? Elite Four? The champion? Why aren't they fighting?
That made no sense to me.
Unless they were caught up in some incidents that served as distractions to keep them away from the Radio Tower.

I highly doubted it though.

At least Lance could come with me, instead of just going to 'take care of something equally important'. What could be more important than THAT?! Just yesterday he dragged me into some underground hideout in Mahogany Town to help him stop a Gyarados enraging radio signal, and I almost have DIED out there because of the Electrode, just because Lance FORGOT they had tendency to self destruction.
Luckily the hideout was almost empty and the grunts I found there weren't able to even shout 'halt!' before they were disarmed and half conscious. Disabling the transmitter was the hardest part of that mission, and neither Lance nor me had been able find any switch attached to it so he had figured that the only way to deal with it was to chase away the electric Pokemon serving as batteries.
The power of the first self destruction practically swept me off my feet, and I swear I would have been dead by now if I had come closer to use a Pokeball like I planned. Luckily I only ended up with bruises on my back and several cuts thanks to some glass I was showered with after the first explosion.
I think I spent a few minutes either unconscious or completely confused after that, because the next thing I remember is my Persian helping me sit. I had my arm around her neck and the problem is, I don't recall sitting up or her pulling me up at all.
Must've seriously passed out for a moment.

After that I saw Lance coming back to me, obviously done with his part of the Electrode. The look on his face surely meant only one thing: 'oh shit'. The second he saw me, he knew he forgot to mention those freaking living Pokeballs' self destructive nature.

Nevertheless he didn't bother to apologize and admit he screwed up, yet he dared to insist that I was silly for being so surprised by an Electrode whose almost signature move was Self Destruct.

Almost drown in my own thoughts, suddenly I felt how someone grabs my backpack and jerks me backwards, slamming me against the train station building's wall. I immediately felt my heart painfully pound against my ribs, and I instinctively squeezed my eyes shut, expecting some kind of blow or something even worse.

Only it didn't come.

"What the hell are you doing here?!" I heard a hiss, and I instantly recognized who it was. Silver. Oh please...
I was sure I was about to die at the hands of some random Rocket!

I opened my eyes and saw the long haired redhead dangerously close to me, his arms on either side of my head, pressed against the wall, almost as if to protect me. He didn't look at me for a while, scanning the area around us to ensure that we weren't spotted.
He then glared at me, and I swear I could feel his eyes literally stab my soul with some kind of hellish daggers. I hated when he looked at me like this, and I hated how tall he was.

Finally I mustered some more courage to bark at him, I even opened my mouth to speak but then he slapped his hand against my lips and shushed at me shortly. Only then I noticed that we were partially hidden behind some bushes and a tree.
I followed Silver's gaze and noticed another black uniform, obviously patrolling the streets.

"What are you doing here?!" Silver after a couple of minutes finally spoke, leaving me impressed. He was always yelling, but now he managed to do that in a whisper.
I would slow clap into his face for that and for many other things in him that I found hilarious, if it was some other place of course.

"First of all, get off me!" I put both hands on his chest and tried to push him back, but his body stayed unmoved, as if it was made of concrete. He just looked at me unimpressed, and I honestly was thankful that it was only unimpressed expression. I'd feel so much more awkward if he mocked me for not being able to push him back.
But seriously, who let him grow that tall?! He was fifteen, just like me, yet he was a head taller than me, or more!

I felt offended. Very offended.

Much to my surprise he took his arms off the wall and stepped back a bit, finally leaving my personal space. I could breathe freely.

"I'll ask one more time. What are you doing here?"

He was looking down at me. No, I don't mean literally! I mean- yeah, that, too, but he was looking at me the way you would look at some disgusting trash, and probably thinking of me as of someone weak and incapable of fighting on my own; someone who'd only cause problems. Well, duh, he apparently must've forgotten all of the times I've beaten his sorry ass in Pokemon battles. He knew what I'm capable of.

"I could ask you the same question, assface." I muttered low, tensing my every muscle to keep the eye contact. For some reason it was more difficult than it was before.
In that moment I was perfectly sure he'd kick me in face (with those ridiculously long legs of his it would be easy) for the insult I just spat at him, but he surprised me again and only folded his arms across his chest. What was wrong with him?

"I'm here because Team Rocket pisses me off, you already know that. I'm here to finish them. You know all of the executives are at the Radio Tower, right? I finally got all of them in one place. And I won't let you ruin it, so you better-"

"Well I am here for exactly the same reason, so maybe stop playing a hero and let me help you!" I cut him off.
Seriously, this guy was annoying as hell. Playing all cool and almighty, but in fact he was acting like some exaggerating fictional character who'd get their ass beaten and it would still surprise him.

"Help me? I don't need help." he wrinkled his nose a little, oh no, getting someone to help him would be SO disgusting, wouldn't it?

"I don't care. You don't want me to help you, then go ahead and get yourself killed. Do whatever you want, but don't try to patronize me or whatever, okay?! I'm going to do whatever I want, just like you!" I shifted my weight a bit and moved my back away from the cold wall, adjusting my backpack.
I was ready to leave when I felt that bastard pull me back again, and he wrapped one arm around me, pressing his free hand over my mouth.
Disgusting. Good job he had a habit of wearing leather gloves, at least I didn't have to taste his sweaty palms.
He leaned in a bit, now having his head beside mine, almost pressing his chin to my shoulder. I looked at him, observing his sharp eyes that slowly followed a dark silhouette moving behind the wall of green that shielded us from the outer world.

Okay, I got it. Stay quiet.
I didn't need him to hold me like this anymore so I elbowed him (although gently) in the ribs but the only reaction I got from him was more pressure put onto my mouth that caused my head to tilt back a bit.

Was he seriously thinking I'm THAT dense? I didn't need him to keep me quiet like this! Just a 'shh' would have been enough!

He let me go after a few minutes that felt like half an hour and I seriously had enough. I didn't even feel like telling him I'm not an idiot and that restraining me like this was uncalled for.

I only glared at him and moved to leave our hiding spot, peeking my head outside first to scan the area and finally I was free.
Thankfully he didn't try to stop me this time.

I ended up going back to the DayCare Center outside Goldenrod, and I spent the rest of the day on trying to come up with some plan.

Silver had said that all of Team Rocket's executives were at the Radio Tower, and for some reason it wasn't something that made me feel any better. Executives meant smarter people, at least smarter than the rest of the team.

My mind was blank. I had no idea how to get inside, and what to do once I'm there.
Because hey, would they really admit they'd been nasty and that they deserve to get sent down to jail just after losing a Pokemon battle? Yeah, sure.

I wondered what exactly was their goal. Besides money, they wanted their founder to come back and do what? Take control over the world? Like in those cheap movies and cartoons?
What for? It made no sense at all.

I looked down at a Pokemon egg in my lap, gently tracing my palm over its smooth surface. Sitting like this in a room full of special shelves filled with eggs was kind of calming, especially that sometimes I think I could hear a soft murmur of the baby Pokemon hearts.
When I was younger my mom would often leave me here when she had work, or when she didn't want to drag me around grocery stores, knowing that I'd nag her for hours to buy me sweets and many different stuff we couldn't afford.
I can't say I didn't like to spend my free time in here, because it was an awesome place to be. I loved to watch the old man helping little offsprings out of the eggs, and then I felt amazing while helping to train some of the Pokemon that trainers left in the daycare couple's hands for many different reasons.

This was definitely my favourite place in the whole world.

"Gold?" a warm voice gently pulled me out of my thoughts and I slowly turned around, realizing it was already dark outside. Damn, thinking was really time consuming.
The old lady stood in the doorway and smiled at me.
"Dinner is ready," she said. Yes, I decided to stay here for the night, but it's not like it was my first time.
"And a friend of yours just came, he says he needs to talk to you but you don't answer any calls."

Wait, what?
I stood up and carefully put the egg away back into an incubator and pulling out my Pokegear from my pocket.
No missed calls.
A friend of mine? Could it be that guy Todd who basically camps outside Goldenrod just to keep an eye on the sales in the Department Store?

I nodded, the old lady sending me another smile as I walked past her towards the front door.
"Invite him over if you want." she said.
I couldn't recall having friends who'd know that I'm often visiting this place, and I actually can't recall calling anyone my friend. Something was off, and I had no idea who was claiming to be my friend.

"Uh, okay."

Maybe it was someone from Team Rocket...

Great.

I'm gonna die.

"Yo," oh no.
In the doorway stood a tall boy, his left hand stuffed in a pocket of his ugly blue pants, while he raised the other and waved at me halfheartedly.

"Silver?" well I expected everyone, even professor Oak himself but not that... that mophead.
I frowned and flung my arm at him, only not to punch him but to press my index finger to his chest accusingly, drawing no reaction from him at all. He only lazily shifted his bored eyes to look at my hand, then looking back at me again.
"Are you following me?! Are you stalking me again?!"

"Again? You're the one who's been following me around, moron..." he muttered, his tone seriously bored. Well, we were through this conversation many times, so I guess it's nothing surprising that he's bored with it.
Damn it, I hate it when he pretends to be some freaking stoic.

I opened my mouth to say something more when he pushed my hand away from his chest, and interrupted me before I even managed to make any sound.

"I'm here to warn you." he stuffed both of his hands into his pockets and averted his gaze, almost as if he wanted to run away but he still kept his bored attitude.

"You've already warned me earlier, I don't need to hear that again. You're not going to stop me."

He frowned and looked back at me with those sharp eyes again, making me tense a bit. He was about to say something when the old man walked out of the kitchen and spoke.

"Gold, invite your friend inside." he urged.

"Um, he's not my friend. And he's leaving already." yeah, because that conversation ended before it even started. Because I say so.

"Gold for fuck's sake..." Silver hissed, lowering his tone so the daycare man didn't hear it.
"Stop being a child, it's about Team Rocket. I want to tell you something that might be useful to you. Interested now?"

I wasn't sure if I wanted to hear it. It was probably some stuff I've already heard from him, and he surely wanted to just make me stay away. Because he was stupid and he thought that he'll be able to destroy Team Rocket alone, and that it's his task. Idiot.

But, calling me a child was just plain rude, I wasn't being childish! I'm just careful and I don't let freaks like him into my territory. That's all.

And he said it might be useful. So maybe he won't try to convince me to stay away

Okay, I didn't want to cause any scenes in front of the daycare couple, so I just stepped aside and let Silver inside, locking the door behind him.

I regretted it almost immediately when the old lady started to ask him questions about how we've met, how old is he ("Aww I can't believe you two are the same age, Gold looks a lot younger!") and other stuff he obviously didn't want to answer, so for his sake I excused both of us and dragged him away into the room with incubators and shelves of eggs.

He looked around slowly when I turned the light on, and I grabbed his wrist just in case he wanted to practice his thievery in here.

"Hey, I know what's on your mind, so stop looking around like this." I growled, and he gave me a bit puzzled look before wriggling his arm away from my grip.

"You're calling me a thief?!"

"Well, duh. You are a thief, Silver."

"No, I'm not!"

"Dude, you barged into professor Elm's laboratory and stole Totodile and Chikorita, and then some guy tells me that someone stole his Sneasel! And from what he said, the thief was rude, and mean, and had long red hair, and I know only ONE person matching this description! He was so scared that you'd come back for his Shuckle that he asked me to keep it an-"

The tension building in Silver's body was clearly visible and he finally snapped, grabbing my face with his glowed hand.

"Shut up!" he roared. Finally, his imitation of stoic self was gone.
He pushed me back then, letting me go. I staggered, and even though my cheeks went red from his grip, I was pleased with drawing such reaction from him.

It's not that I enjoyed humiliating him, because I didn't. I was just stating the truth, and his outburst was a proof that his actions were bothering him. Serves him right, he should feel sorry and burdened.

"Nevermind, you better shut up and listen to what I have to say or I will murder you with this." he pulled a book from his bag I noticed just now and tossed it to me.

"Uwaah, scary."

"Shut. Your. Mouth."

I rolled my eyes in defeat. No fun.

"Now focus, and listen carefully. Team Rocket has no greater goals other than money and high position in hierarchy, at least for now. All they want is to become rich and feared, or respected. Whatever. They want to stay an organization, and they're mostly doing it just because that's the only thing they are somewhat good at."

"Well, surprise, I already know that, genius. Took you long enough to figure."

"Gold I swear I'll choke you if you won't shut up!"

So touchy...

He continued, and I kinda didn't want to listen to him anymore, so I looked at the worn out book in my hands and opened it, but Silver slammed his hand onto it so I couldn't even take a peek inside.

"They have no idea what to do next, that's why they want Giovanni to come back. They think he'll lead them to glory, and they're stupid enough to think that they have to show him how strong they've become in order to encourage him to return.

"They're getting worse and worse, and they're crossing almost every boundary they had previously. They aren't afraid of kidnapping and killing people anymore. That's one of many reasons of why you should stay away. They'll kill you the moment you anger the guards around the Radio Tower."

I frowned at that. I was aware of everything Silver was telling me, but I didn't like how he was patronizing me.

"You say all those things yet you mess around with them too. If you didn't know, you're going to die if you piss them off, too. Besides, you sound like you have some plan, but I don't think you have one!"

"No. I don't have any plan yet. But we're different when it comes to getting killed. I won't die even if I go there now and throw mud into their faces."

Silver slowly took his hand away from the book and straightened his back a bit, his eyes shifting to the side. I followed his sight but saw nothing interesting besides eggs, so I looked back at him.

"Hah? What do you mean? Why would you be so sure of it?" I asked.
I don't know why but for a while I was sure I saw uneasiness in his expression, his brow furrowed a little in kind of... sadness? I wasn't sure what all this meant.

"That's because they know me."

Oh. Oh, right. He's a thief, after all.
Wait.

"Wait, you're-"

"No! No, I'm not with them. And never was. I'm... I'm just someone they are not allowed to even touch, okay? That's all you should know."
He said it as if he was angry at me for that. Shouldn't he be thankful for being safe, whatever was the reason?

I wonder what rendered things for him like this, by the way.
But it didn't sound good. It made me feel like I was talking to one of them. He was obviously involved, and... Wasn't it weird that he was attempting to destroy them and they were forbidden from fighting back?
Something wasn't right. And I really didn't like it.

I decided not to ask questions now though, since he already seemed to be on edge, and he was barely forcing himself to talk to me, I could tell. He willingly came to me to warn me, I should appreciate that a bit, I guess. Just a tiny bit.

"The book I gave you is one of the oldest books about legendary and mythical Pokemon that exists, and I managed to snatch it before they did it. Considering they've been interested in such stuff lately, I think their next objective is to catch those Pokemon, and I think it's not even about power anymore. They probably want to gain people's respect, not to scare them, which is quite easy that way, given that Johto basically overflows with fairy tales maniacs. It wouldn't be that easy in Kanto."

He continued. I tried to process everything he just told me, but in the end my mind once again went blank. I thought he would help me to come up with some plan, but all he did was only making me more worried and anxious, and on top of that I realized that there's no time to sit and think. I had to act.
Everyone had to.

"If I were you, I'd just go home and stay away from this. You can't fight them, just like you can't fight a mountain."

I sighed, silently admitting that he was right.
But, I still didn't want to let this happen.
Then, it hit me.

"Silver! I know-! I-I mean..." I bit my tongue, shutting myself up. No, I won't tell him. He'd only try to ruin my plans.
Well, I could hardly call it a plan, it was just something obvious I realized. I had to find a way to render myself untouchable to Team Rocket, but it still was something better than having my mind completely blank, wasn't it?
It was the first step of the first phase of my plan that was slowly materializing before me, and it was enough for me to regain some of the positivity and self-confidence.

"I mean, I know, you don't have to tell me that. I have no idea what to do anyway, even if somehow I get inside the Radio Tower. So don't worry."

"I'm not worried."

I held the book out to him, but he didn't take it, pushing it back towards me.

"I'm giving you this book because it can help you figure out how to find the legendary Pokemon. You surely want to protect them from those scumbags, right? So keep it, read it, and make use of it if you're smart enough. But stay away from Team Rocket."

The old lady almost forced Silver to stay and eat dinner with me, instead of just letting him leave. It was the most awkward fifteen minutes long dinner of my life.
None of us said anything, and we didn't even look at each other when he finished and left. For that I was thankful, though. There was that silent agreement between us, that we do not talk about it no matter what.

I went to sleep after taking a shower, but it didn't seem like my mind was kind enough to let me rest this night.

I wanted to come up with a way to make myself untouchable, just like Silver was to Team Rocket.
He didn't tell me any details, and I seriously started to regret that I didn't ask him anything more. I could've tried, at least...

There was a lot of people corrupted by Team Rocket, helping them out for their own profit and some kind of safety. But those people usually were useful to Team Rocket, and I don't think that Silver was useful.
After all, he was trying to spoil their plans several times, right?

My head and chest began to hurt from all that hard thinking and stressing, so I decided to try harder and sleep.
I couldn't help but think that Silver must have been a kind of key to the whole Team Rocket thing, but I couldn't figure out what exactly was his role in all that. What was his objective? Why was he so determined to destroy Team Rocket? Why was he so important that they weren't allowed to hurt him? Could he be...their real leader?
Ugh.

Note to self- punch the period-head in the face for making me think and worry about him.