Nearly two weeks had passed since Silver was brought to the remote campsite somewhere in the middle of Mount Lanakila's snowy weather. He was surprised that there could be constant snow in a place that was always so hot, but he was thankful for the familiar conditions.

        At first, Gold thought that Silver might have found the cold weather uncomfortable, but Silver had explained to him how he'd spent two of his five months on the run living in the cold of Mt. Silver, as ironic as that might have been.

        Back then, Mewtwo had been with him, but now his Feraligatr and Murkrow were there to keep him company until he could see Gold and (y/n) again today. As promised, the girl he had become so fond of was allowed to help Gold bring him the supplies he needed to continue living in the middle of the snow. Silver already wondered what her reaction might be when she came to see him a second time. He had thought of something to try with her and was eager to test the theory. (Y/n) had been just as eager to share news about how she and the others were doing during her last visit, so he felt like he needed to have something of his own to tell her. However, Silver noticed that Gold had gotten closer to the girl. That was something he would have to talk to the junior detective about just to be clear.

       Silver exited his tent and let free a breath of air just so he could watch it condense and vanish. When this was all over, he'd definitely come back to visit this mountain. It gave him a sense of familiarity and filled any gaps in his heart that might have been made by homesickness. He did at times miss Johto more than anything, but Kanto was not a place he wanted to return to. There was nothing wrong with the region, but he had more bad memories there than good ones.

        Silver set his Murkrow free and the little pokémon gave a happy cry before circling around him. He cherished this pokémon a little more than he would admit because of the bird's origins. Afterall, Murkrow was a gift from his father before he vanished. The little bird sat on his shoulder as he began to start the fire for the day. Silver had been provided with enough wood to last him two weeks, so he was running low now.

        Once the fire was started, he was about to head back into the tent, but stopped when Murkrow suddenly began to screech. "What's wrong?" he asked him. Silver watched the pokémon shoot from his shoulder and go on the attack. He flinched when he saw that there was a Machamp hiding just a few meters away from his campsite. "Wait, do Machamps live up here on-?"

        Silver whirled around and caught the metal pipe that had been aimed for his head. He hadn't been paying enough attention. Everything had been safe up until now, so he hadn't been on alert.

        The boy went pale when he saw the face of his attacker. "Long time no see, Scarlett. Or should I call you Silver?" Phillip said in the same cheerful tone as always while trying to force the boy to the ground. Silver was too confused and shocked to make any sense of what was going on. A hurt cry from his Murkrow had him faltering which gave Philip just enough time to knock Silver to the ground. "Grab him, Machamp."

        Any form of protecting himself was immediately taken from him as Philip's Machamp yanked Silver up from the ground and held his arms behind his back. Even so, Silver struggled and fought despite its futility. His thoughts could not stay focused enough for him to form words. Logic had been thrown out of the window as soon as a single thought finally broke through. "I'm about to die."

        "Whoa there, Scarlett. Calm down pal," Phillip flashed him a friendly smile and placed a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Deep breaths, come on," he instructed. Silver didn't listen at first, but once he figured that Phillip was not going to move on until he listened to the instructions, he did his best to calm his breathing. "There you go. Good job," Phillip praised. "You're shaking so bad that I can hear the fear in your breathing even though you're calm now." Now Silver could see that Phillip was not being friendly at all. These were twisted smiles of pure evil being directed at him.

        "Phillip...why? Why are you doing this?" Silver managed to ask. He could definitely hear the trembling of his own voice. Machamp's grip on him tightened as he tried once more to free himself.

        "I'll get to that part. Just be patient. It was patient, and you see how far that got me, you know." Phillip threw his hands up in their air as a gesture. Just then, Silver's Murkrow flew at the man like a dart. Phillip yelped in pain from the scratch that now ran across the side of his face. All Silver could do was watch in horror as his pokémon took one good hit from the metal pipe in Phillip's hand. "You little-"

        "Don't hurt him!" Silver yelled. Phillip froze just before he attacked the struggling bird. He looked back at Silver and grinned. His intent was obvious.

        By sheer force of will, Feraligatr made an appearance in that moment and broke free of his pokéball. The tent that had served as Silver's temporary shelter was easily torn through as Feraligatr went on the assault. The pokémon was so angry that he was acting in a blind rage.

        The sequence of events happened rather quickly. Philip shouted in pain, and Silver was thrown aside. By the time Silver was on his feet again, Feraligatr was lashing out at Machamp without mercy. The two pokémon were locked in a vicious battle while Silver was left to face Philip and save his Murkrow. Phillip was wounded from Feraligat's initial escape. The gash ran along his arm which left him in no condition to put up a fight against Silver.

        It all would have gone in Silver's favor if it hadn't been for the midnight form Lycanroc that Philip released with his uninjured arm. "You aren't the only one who's been preparing for this, Scarlett, " the man hissed. "I've been on your trail for this long. There's no way I'm letting you escape just because of a few unaccounted for variables."

        Silver stood his ground. "This guy is insane!!" There wasn't much he could do against a pokémon like this one, but Silver sure was about to try. He turned tail and ran, but not because he was a coward. Lycanroc followed just as he expected. Just when the pokémon lunged at him, Silver turned around, landed back first into the snow, and used his remaining momentum to flip the unsuspecting Lycanroc over his head. The rock type was just as heavy as Silver had expected, but it was not his first time flipping a Lycanroc thanks to a certain professor.

        Without wasting any time, he got up and ran back towards Phillip and the battling pokémon. Feraligatr was winning, overwhelmingly so. None of that mattered. Although Silver's plan had worked, he was not faster than an angry Lycanroc. He found himself being tackled to the snow from behind and promptly attacked. That was all it took for things to fall apart from there.

        Out of concern for Silver, Feraligatr left his fight to attack the Lycanroc. The rock type was thrown off the boy without a problem.

        "Call off your pokémon, right now!" Phillip demanded. Silver saw that Machamp had taken Murkrow as a hostage. The dirty tactic had Silver seething, but he could see that there wasn't much he could do. Now that Feraligatr was near him, there was no way to get back to Machamp before Murkrow came to any irreversible harm. "Do it! Send it back!" Phillip snapped.

        Not wanting to risk the harm of his Murkrow, Silver had Feraligatr calm down. "I'm going to need you to go back to your pokéball." He recieved a growl of defiance from his pokémon which was perfectly understandable given the circumstances. "Please, for Murkrow? For me?" That had been enough to convince Feraligatr who returned to his pokéball with reluctance. Phillip held his hand out for the pokéball.

        "See, that wasn't so hard," Phillip said. "Since you were well behaved, I'll let the little guy go free." Machamp placed Murkrow down next to the fire and placed Feraligatr's pokéball next to it as well. "They'll be nice and cozy while you face your sins against Johto by my hands." There was nowhere else for Silver to go. With a Lycanroc behind him, Machamp in front, and Phillip at the side, he would be caught even if he did run. Of course, that didn't stop him from trying, but it wasn't his goal to truly get away.

        It wasn't how he intended to try it, but Silver had no choice but to use his surprise for (y/n). Hopefully it worked because if it didn't, he was doomed. He charged at Phillip, tackling him into the snow and slipped the tag into the pocket of Phillip's coat while he wasn't paying attention. The next thing he knew, he was being pulled by the back of his shirt and the world suddenly went dark.
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Until next time you amazing readers!