I hummed to myself as I examined the egg the Miltank from the other day had laid. Her owners were making sure she was okay and healthy before a doctor finally came by after hearing the news and took care of the mother while I had the rights to take care of the egg.

"If it wasn't for you, Miltank would still be crying in the barn" one of the twin girls said as I cleaned the egg and used a stethoscope to listen to the inside of the shells

"Good thing we brought you in last night" the other said. I chuckled and put my attention back on the egg.

"It was a good thing, but it was already getting late. Aren't you scared of getting taken by someone?" I asked.

"Not with our Miltank around! There's literally dozens of them in the field!" I sighed, knowing they weren't getting the point. Well, as long as they have someone to protect them, it's all fine I guess.

"Did you sleep well last night?" They asked at the same time. I sighed and leaned back to lay on the barn wall I slept on last night. I was offered a room to stay for the night in exchange for helping Miltank's egg, but I chose to stay outside when knowing the owner might try to get into the barn and disturb Miltank.

Luckily I wasn't outside all last night. I heard Miltank finally settle down her cries and I was able to help her clean up before informing the owners early in the morning. I got the chance to take a shower and was given breakfast as a thank you, but all I did was help out just a little.

After breakfast was when the doctor finally came to help Miltank and I helped with the egg. There wasn't much I could do anymore in the barn, so once everything was done, I was given a ride to the city by wagon.

"Well, what I got out of that little adventure was witnessing a mother and her egg bond and got breakfast and a shower out of it. It was random, but at least I got a ride!" The driver chuckled at me relaxing by a bundle of hay and dozens of tanks of milk.

"You did some good for us folk here, honey" the farmer's wife said, taking me to the next city "my husband wouldn't even come to bed if it wasn't for you telling him straight up that he's been worrying too much!"

"I never said that, but I guess you can say I said something like that" I relax in the wagon up until it stopped.

"We here, honey!" The wife called out to me as I was about to daze off into sleep. I looked up at a city by the water! "We travel a lot in this here wagon to deliver these here milk! But my favorite is always Olivine city! Beautiful, ain't it?"

"Yes..." I smiled, smelling the ocean breeze "It's been so long since seeing the ocean" I smiled at the woman "thank you again for the ride"

"It's the least I can do! Say, if we have another Miltank that's expecting, will it be appropriate to give yah a call?" I nodded and we exchanged numbers.

"Of course! Anything egg related, I'm your girl!" I smiled "Although I may not get there on time. Please rely on a doctor if I'm not available"

"You gotcha! Bye now!" She waved and headed to another direction while I made my way towards the ocean to enjoy the view.

"It's been so long since we've seen the ocean, huh?" I asked Pichu napping in my bag.

"Pe" she smiled. I pet her head and looked back at the view, feeling my hair blowing in the wind.

"I can remember the first time I went to the beach. I had just turned 7 and I insisted on carrying you the whole trip around Kanto. You hatched on my birthday" I smiled "You came into my life on my birthday" I bit my lips "You came back to my life on my birthday... When Red and I went into the hospital and he paid the bill" I looked down "So much time had passed since that day. I'm 19 years old now..." I pet Pichu's head "That means you're 12 years old" I bit my lips a bit harder "so many years we were apart, I wanted to be with you all this time, but there was a barrier between us. These months that went by happened in a blink of an eye... I only wonder how much time-" Pichu climbed my shoulders and rubbed my cheeks, giving me an assuring smile.

I smiled back and looked at my surroundings "The twins had told me the different things I can do here in Olivine city, but I was hooked when they mentioned a gym leader. Shall we go?" Pichu nodded and went back to the bag to sleep. I scratched her head and went off to look for the gym.

It was fairly close to where I was dropped off. The Olivine City gym was right up the corner. As I approached it, the one and only red head appeared from the inside and looked towards me walking to him.

"What? You again? Isn't there somewhere else you can be where you can fall?" He pocketed his hands.

"My... I didn't think I did anything to you that wishes me dead" I pouted. He flinched and took out his hands "I'm fine. I had just got out the hospital when I went to the burned tower, so I'm sorry for making you worry" he blushed and turned away.

"Why are you apologizing for? It's not like I care!" Sure he doesn't "Anyways, I don't have time for chatting. I'm going to go battle some weaklings while the gym leader gets back"

"They're not here?" He shook his head.

"Supposedly she's taking care of a sick Pokémon at the light house" he rolled his eyes "humph! Boo-boo! Just let sick Pokémon go!" He turned away "a Pokémon that can't battle is worthless"

"That's not true!" I protest. He looked at me confused "My Pichu cannot battle after an accident that couldn't be prevented, but she's a wonderful supporter and took me this far!" He snorted.

"Whatever you say" he took out his Pokéball "Care to put those words into battle? It'll save me time from waiting" I shook my head at his cocky behavior and set Pichu down on the little battle field we created.

"So you're going to battle with the Pokémon you can't battle with? Are you stupid?" Silver asked after sending out a Gastly.

"I wouldn't say I'm stupid. I did say she was a supporter"

"Supporter for what?" I smirked and yelled out a demand.

"Use Disarming Voice!" Pichu yelled out a very loud sound that knocked Gastly away just a bit "Use sweet kiss!" Pichu climbed my shoulder and blew a kiss at Gastly, confusing it.

"W-What?!" Silver glared "You didn't just get blown away by a little Pokémon like that! Don't make me angry!" He shouted as his Pokémon was still confused. I had sent out Togepi in Pichu's place "another weak little Pokémon!?" Silver yelled at me.

"I don't know who you think you are, but the way you treat your Pokémon is unforgivable! If you aim to be the strongest, how about being nice to your Pokémon!"

"Ha! Showing kindness will only make them weak!"

"Pokémon evolve through friendship!" He paused when I said that "You are despicable and is just as bad as Team Rocket!" His eyes widened.

"H-How dare you compare me to them! Gastly, Use Lick!" Gastly stuck out its tongue and aimed towards Togepi, who covered her eyes and felt Gastly go right through her "What just happened!?"

"You've gone this far in a journey and still don't know that ghost types have no effect on normal types?" I shook my head and flipped my hair "I'll show you what kindness towards your Pokémon really looks like! Come on Togepi! Let's show him who's boss!"

"Toge!" Togepi cried.

"I believe in you! You'll do great!" She frowned at me before accepting my words and nodded, later suddenly started glowing. I watched with wide eyes, watching her tiny form change to a taller Pokémon. She bounced back the glow and looked completely different.

"You evolved!" I gasped. My new Pokémon used the wings she had on her back and flew in the air "Look at you!" I held my hands together in awe "Look at that, Silver! I just proved my point!" Silver just gave me an ugly look and continued the battle.

"Whatever. Use Mean Look!" Gastly snapped out it's confusion and made a scary face that freaked me and my Pokémon out a little. I gulped and rubbed my arms, not liking that face it was making.

"N-N-Nice try... We won't go down so easily!" Silver looked at me confused when I stuttered. I shook it off and yelled out my next command.

"Use Ancient power!" My new Pokémon, who was, from I read before, named Togetic, rocked her arms back and forth, making a motion that made rocks bigger than me appear out of nowhere and hit Gastly to make it fly through Silver's body and fainted. Silver glared, hurried to return his Pokémon, and stared at the Pokéball.

"Worthless!" He took out his next ball and send out his Croconaw. It growled and looked at my Pokémon like she was lunch.

"You really got some nerve to battle me with the Pokémon I let you keep" I crossed my arms "At any given moment, I can report you for stealing, but I never have" Silver didn't respond, just stared at me. I sent out Bayleef and battled against him until the very end. He was silent after returning his Pokémon when losing. I approached him and looked through his hair he was using to hide his face.

"Don't blame your Pokémon for what just happened. We always have room to grow" he snacked his lips and walked away.

"Whatever" I quickly took his shoulder to keep him from going anywhere "What do you want?" He asked without looking at me.

"I've been trying to get the moment when I can just stop and talk to you, but you always slip away" I removed my hand when he turned his shoulder to look at me "Silver Rocket, that's your name from your trainer card, right?" He looked away again.

"That's none of your business"

"I would really want to ask who you really are. I won't ask what relations you have with Team Rocket, but I want to know who you are" He looked at me in the eyes.

"Why do you care who I am? You let me go after I stole the Pokémon from the lab and let me go at anytime you saw me cause trouble" he narrowed his eyes "What can you possibly want from me? You wouldn't want me to return the Pokémon if you keep letting me go every time"

"I want to know who you really are" I repeated "Would it make you feel better if I tell you who I am first?" He looked away again, not responding "In that case, my name is Valerie Zoe" he quickly looked at me, surprised "What?"

"Nothing... I just often hear TR grunts say that name" I sighed, knowing that was the case.

"Anyways... I was born in Kanto into a family whose father grew up as a monk and a mother that had a whole dozens of generations who specializes in Pokémon eggs" Silver glared at nothing in particular "When I was 7, my parents died in a fire and burned in the house I grew up in. I survived with Pichu here" I pet Pichu's head "Wandering in the streets by myself, I was wondering how I was going to help Pichu, since she was hurt the most. Two men came to me asking me to go with them to somewhere safe. I wasn't stupid and knew I shouldn't, but I agreed to follow them if they promised to save Pichu. They promised and they took me away after Pichu was getting help. I was so young, and they forced me to be their slave" I closed my eyes at the same time Silver looked back at me "I spend 6 years of my life cleaning after them and the rest of those years as a..." I cleared my throat "As a worker who made little to no money. I was always sick and couldn't support Pichu's hospital bills. I was mistreated and bullied by those who took me away from a normal childhood" I looked away "Those two guys were part of Team Rocket and only planned on keeping me in their place until their boss was ready to see me"

"W-What?" Silver stuttered. I still wouldn't look at him.

"I couldn't tell you how much I suffered, yet had so many others that cared for me. I had no choice but to stay. Pichu would suffer if I didn't obey. I don't care if you say it was my fault and I should had let Pichu go, but it's not that simple. Pichu was all I had and I was alone in the world. I can see you saying even more cruel things, but you and I are not the same. The boss of Team Rocket had wanted to see me for a purpose I don't even know, but the story goes way further than that. When I was 4, my mom had disappeared for an entire year. When she came back, she wasn't the same person. She told us that Giovanni had kidnapped her" I bit my lips.

"Even after all these years, I remember those moments without my mother. I still remembered who hurt her... I will never forget what those people did to me and my family. I hate them with a burning passion, and aim to take them down no matter how much my health keeps me from doing it" I looked at Silver's pale face looking at me like he had seen a ghost.

"Team Rocket had always been idiots..." Silver said, glaring and shaking a bit "They're so annoying and think they can do what they want. One can't stand a chance by themselves, so being in the group makes others afraid of them. My father left me because of them... he works for Team Rocket" he turned his back "I was alone in Kanto after he moved to Johto. I was only around 12 at the time with no mother or even money. I lived in the streets for 3 years, alone..." he looked down "This happened after Team Rocket has disbanded by some trainer. Because of this, dad abandoned me and I almost starved to death if I didn't remind myself that my dad was a thief himself, so I got around with stealing to survive. Soon enough, I decided for myself that I didn't want to be weak. I want to become strong so I don't have to rely on anyone, not even my father"

"Silver..."

"I don't have time for the weak... I don't have time to be nice to my Pokémon. It'll keep them weak. I don't care what you have to say about me" he glared at me "I will never be weak! I don't need anyone-" I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him in for a hug "W-What are you..?" He froze in my arms.

"I can't tell you how many times I've starved so much... They would never feed me. If only I got to choose your path instead of staying with them. Pichu was all I cared about. If I didn't have her, you and I would had been in the same situation. But even so, we struggled the same" he stayed there as long as I kept my arms around him. I didn't know how to hug, but I tried my best "I wanted to ask you something important, but I think it's better to ask once Team Rocket is out of the picture" I let go of him and walked pass him "Silver... maybe you and I aren't that different after all. We have different mindsets, but we grew pretty similar"

"No" I looked back at him looking at me with a unreadable face "We did not grow up the same. You had a roof over your head..." he looked down "But you didn't have money or food. I can see why you compare our lives" he looked back at me "I don't fully understand you at all, but strangely enough, I'll admit, the moment I first faced you up front, I felt like I shouldn't treat you like I treat anyone else, and it's not because you let me go... It's because..." his eyes softened a little "You looked... Just like her" my eyes widened fast. Before I could say anything, he dashed off until I couldn't see him anymore.

"Silver..." I frowned. What did he mean when he said... I looked just like her?