"Everyone's here, right?" Red asked as everyone ran out. 

"Yeah, well except Silver..." I said. "I wonder where Honchkrow took him." 

"We should look around, shouldn't we?" Blue suggested. 

I hate to admit it, but I thought we should. Even after all those hurtful things he said to me...I really should go and help him, to apologize for everything I've done. "Yeah...let's split up at least..." 

Everyone nodded. Gold took out his Pokegear, opening to the map. "So here we are in Celadon. There are 13 of us, and 10 towns or cities in this region...so who's checking where?" 

I took the Pokegear from his hands. "Red can go check out Pallet Town, and Yellow to Viridian. Blue, you can head to Cinnabar, Green can go to Pewter, and Crystal can go to Cerulean. Ruby and Sapphire, stay here and search. Emerald go to Vermillion, and Platina can go to Fuschia. Dia and Pearl, to Lavender Town, and then me and Gold will check out Saffron." I explained. "Any questions?"

"Yeah," Pearl said, raising his hand a bit. "Why do me and Dia have to go to the creepy town?"

"I assigned people to random places, don't complain." I sighed. "If that's it, then lets go." I said, climbing on Dragonite's back. Everyone (except for Ruby and Sapphire, who were staying here) let out their flying Pokemon, and flew to their city or town. Me and Gold took off for Saffron, the city neighboring Celadon. 

"Hey Umber..." Gold started. "Why did you chose me to go with you? Wouldn't you normally want to go alone or something...?"

"I just feel like you're the only one I can trust right now..." I said. "You're the only one that knows I'm-- well was, a Rocket. You understood that I was tricked, and you forgave me. That made me really happy Gold...I thought you'd ignore me like how Silver was..." 

Gold smiled. "Don't worry about him. Once all of this is over, he'll forget about it and forgive you too." 

"After all of this? I...I don't think that'll happen..." 

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"I promised him...that when this was over, I'd leave him forever."

"What? Why would you do that?" Gold was shocked. "That doesn't mean you'll leave Johto or Kanto...right?"

I looked down. "He said he wanted me out of his life...I might have to leave." 

Gold looked hurt. "No Umber...you can't leave. You're one of my best friends..." 

"I'm sorry Gold..." I put on a hopeful smile. "Well maybe it'll be a long time until this whole fight is over..."

He just shrugged. "I don't know Umber...for all we know, this could be done by tomorrow or so." He looked at his Pokegear. "And its midnight...I don't know about you, but I'm exhausted."

"I am too Gold, but I'm not resting until I find Silver. I'm worried about him..."

Gold chuckled a bit. "You really do care...you sure you'll be able to leave him forever?" 

I shrugged. "No, but its what he wants."

"Well alright...just don't forget to call me every now and then." He winked. 

I smiled. "Of course." 

After a short couple minutes, we landed in the center of the city; in front of the Sliph Co. building. 

"Saffron is a huge city. I think we should split up here. You can check the northern part of the city, I'll check the southern. We'll meet back here in an hour, got it?" I explained. Gold nodded, taking off. I turned around the opposite way, running for the southern part of Saffron. 

"Silver...Silver, where are you??" I yelled, hoping for an answer of some sort. "Silver, please, answer me!" Still nothing. It's only been a couple minutes though...and besides, maybe he's not even in Saffron. I sighed. "Please be alright Silver..."

My eyes started drooping a bit, and I couldn't hold back my yawns. My running decreased to a sluggish walk. I could barely utter a word without yawning. I had to sit down and take a break. Maybe get a few seconds of some shut eye...

~~~

I opened my eyes again, stretching a bit. I looked around to take in my surroundings. I remembered sitting down on a bench in Saffron, but now I found myself in a room that I knew well...considering it was in the Pokemon Center. I wasn't hospitalized, which was good. I was just sitting in a regular room for the night. 

I looked out the window to the right and saw the bright morning sun peaking through the blinds, lighting the room enough for me to see.  Then I looked to my left, and nearly had a heart attack. 

"Gold, what are you doing here?" I asked. "And why are you shirtless?" Well, he was just standing there without a shirt or his hat on, and it barely looks like he did anything with his hair. 

"Well last night I saw you sleeping on a bench, so I decided to take you here to rest for the rest of the night." He replied. "And I was changing...why? You like it?" He smirked.

"N-No! Nothing like that!" I yelled, looking away. 

 I heard him chuckle with his footsteps right after. He wrapped his arms around me, pulling me into a tight hug. 

"Hey! What are you doing??" I tried pushing him away. 

"Hugging you, silly. After everything that's happened, I think you need one..." 

"Why? I-I'm fine..." 

"No, you're being uptight and stressed...and you were hurt. You need someone..." He said. "Besides, you like me shirtless!"

I sighed. I didn't like to admit it, but he was right, well about the hurt part. I didn't give a damn about his bare chest. "You know me too well...but not about the shirtless part." I replied, wrapping my arms around him as well. I laid my head against his chest, inhaling his scent, which kinda smelled like outdoors. I felt him rub my back a little, and he put his chin on my head. 

"Like I said before, Silver would never do this, would he?" Gold said.

I gasped, pushing Gold away. "Silver! Where is he??" 

"Relax, he's in the Pokemon Center here; I found him in the city last night." He said, calming me down a bit.

"He's ok, right?" I asked, still a bit worried. 

"They're trying to fix his eyes the best they can...Umber, please calm down."

"But its all my fault! He wouldn't be there now if it wasn't for me!"

"Stop blaming yourself!" Gold yelled, surprising me a bit. "You didn't mean to! You were tricked and used, so cut it out!" 

I would have kept arguing with him (let's face it, it was my fault anyways) but I knew when to stop. 

I looked down. "Do you know how bad his injuries are?" 

"The acid on Crobat's tongue burned his eyes...who knows how long it'll take until he's better..."

"Can...um, can I go see him?" I asked.

Gold shook his head no. "He can't have any visitors today...he's getting a bunch of tests done." 

I sighed. "Then what are we gonna do?" 

"Me and the other DexHolders are going to find out more information for Team Rocket's attack on Sliph, while you, Green, and Red go train."

I looked up. "Huh? Train for what?" 

"We decided that Red and Green should help with your battling and training skills...so when we meet up with them, you three are heading to Blackthorn." 

"You really expect me to be able to focus on battling when Silver is--"

"Umber, I said calm down. He'll be fine..." Gold said, chuckling a little afterwards. 

"What? What are you laughing about?" 

"You really do love and care for him, don't you?" 

I felt my heart stop a little. "W-What are you talking about? I don't like him like that!" I pouted, crossing my arms. 

"Don't lie to me, I know you really like him." He said. "Besides, why would you still want to help him after everything he said to you?"

"You know how I feel right now?! You know how it feels to fall for someone and for them to crush your heart?! Yeah, that's right, I actually had feelings for you but now you can forget it!"

I stared at the ground. He really did love me, and now...

"I will never love a Rocket! I hate you!! I hate everything about you!!"

"Umber? You ok?"

"I'm fine...um, I'm just gonna go eat and get to Blackthorn, so the other two aren't waiting." I said, walking past Gold and out of the room. 

"Hey!" I heard Gold behind me. I turned and saw him pulling his shirt on, and he caught up with me. "You can relax a bit. They said they'll be ready at noon. Why don't we go spend some time together, huh?" 

"What time is it?"

"Around 9...we can go look around the city or something, have some fun..."

"Is this all you can think about? Fun? Team Rocket is going to attack soon, and you're taking this so lightly..."

"No, you just need to loosen up." He held my hand. "Come on...we can go anywhere you want. In Kanto...in Johto...anywhere..."

"Hm...well there's this one place..."

Gold smiled. "Then let's go."