Torinoko Hall of Games

[Meryck]

So many paces from Route 38 to Route 39. So many paces from Route 39 to the opening of Olivine. And so many- so many- paces from the opening of Olivine to the Center. Every step seemed to drag, every moment seemed to barrage Gold's false serenity- now utterly in place, now hanging by a thread, now somewhere in between- that when the final steps were taken, Gold happily flopped onto a bed, let out a chest-wracking cough, curled up, and tried to sleep.

But not before mumbling his thanks to the redhead.

[Glyph]

Silver simply nodded and sank into a chair, turning his gaze toward one of the little windows, and the distant gleam of the ocean beyond. His arms were crossed, and his eyes were hard, as they had been since he'd taken his first step into the city. From the moment he set foot in Olivine, he'd been on the defensive--a few years ago, before the Hack, he'd thoroughly insulted Jasmine, the residing Gym Leader, and even now, even after defeating her in a Gym Challenge and proving himself, his presence wasn't well received in the port town. If anything, his skin-of-the-teeth victory against the Steel-type leader had only fanned the flames, and he'd gotten several dirty looks from former Lighthouse trainers as they'd headed for the Pokemon Center.

He couldn't really blame them. He'd been an idiot back then--an arrogant, self-centered idiot. Just thinking about it now made Silver want to tear his hair out in frustration. It disgusted him, and he'd accept whatever grudges and insults that were thrown at him as perfectly fair.

Scowl melting into simple irritation, the former-trainer shifted silently in the chair, bangs shadowing his eyes from the last rays of dusk. With so much on his mind--Team Rocket's return and that telling cough Gold was getting back being foremost--he doubted he'd sleep much... but he could try.

[Meryck]

Meanwhile, a small cacophony of noises began outside. At first it was very slight, sounding like a bunch of people complaining about someone reading a map upside-down and getting them lost. However, as the sounds drew closer, the fact that these were the voices of pokemon bitching about another holding the map upside-down became evident. A pause sounded before an Eevee cried out from the group, followed by a questioning noise from what allegedly could be a Quilava. A muffled "conversation" began, ending with multiple shocked and possibly ecstatic whoops an bleats.

A few padding footsteps sounded before a shadow cast outside the room.

[Glyph]

Silver had always been a rather light sleeper--and current events had only made him edgier--and so the moment the noises began outside, his eyes flew open and he was instantly alert.

His stare fixed on the window, narrowing as he listened and pondered--but the moment something passed in front of the glass, the redhead was on his feet. Silent as a shadow, he darted across the room and hovered next to the window, eyes flashing, waiting for it to return.

[Meryck]

However, instead of some monstrous beast, he was greeted with the awesome, shocking, spine-chilling sight of...a baby Lugia. Or, at least rather young, considering she was only Charizard size. She blinked, bemusedly, at the red head before a yelp sounding suspiciously like “What'd'ya see?” came from the ground below. She blinked again before looking down and answering.

And then a Quilava with the Silver Wing on a collar ran up her neck to stare at the ex-trainer, too.

[Glyph]

For a moment, all Silver could do was stare, frozen by the two pairs of eyes peering back at him from the night. Time seemed to still, his breath caught instinctively at the sight of the Legendary, eyes roving back and forth between it and the Quilava perched on its head.

The redhead had managed to keep the amazement from showing on his face, but when the realization dawned on him, his pale eyes snapped wide. There was only one person he knew who'd ever had a Lugia, only one person he'd ever known to find a Silver Wing... and only one person who'd given it to their Pokemon, their Typhlosion, but...

He stared, hard, at the Quilava, before stepping forward and sliding the window up, hardly daring to hope he was right and ignoring the consequences if he was wrong.

"Tethys?" Silver looked at them both, almost fiercely, almost desperately, but mostly just amazed. "... Cindy? Is that really you?"

[Meryck]

Tessie bobbed her head, happy she had not been mistaken, and that it was really Silver glaring at her again. Cindy- after holding on for dear life through the bobbing- let out a affirmative bark before hopping onto the windowsill and staring up at the red head, orange eyes burning brighter than even her fully-evolved body would allow.

[Glyph]

Silver's eyes burned, too, but their expression was made unreadable by the small, tired smirk that tugged at his lips. For an instant, his face softened, just a bit--but it was enough to smooth the lines and chase away the shadows, and, for a single, rare instant, Silver looked his age.

He dropped a hand to the Quilava's head in rueful, weary greeting, and then the moment had passed. The former-trainer took his hand away and stuck his head out the window, back to business, back to the cool, calculating mask he almost knew better than his own reflection.

Silver peered down through the darkness at the shapes moving next to Tessie--the grumpy Eevee, the flustered Abra, the Togepi and the flailing Mareep--and he recognized them instantly. He had, after all, battled them tooth-and-claw for over a year and a half, and later become good friends with their trainer; they were nearly as familiar to him as his own team, the absence of which he was acutely, painfully aware.

"You've been busy," he said softly, glancing at Cindy. There was no disappointment on his face; just that same, thoughtful smirk. "... and they're going to wake all of Olivine if they keep that racket up." ... only to find a creature of myth with her head stuck in the top-floor window of a Pokemon Center... bad.

[Meryck]

Cindy glanced behind her and nodded before leaning over the sill and barking something that sounded suspiciously like "Shove it!" The noise on the ground plane instantly halted, and Cindy straightened her collar and looked back at Silver, glancing at Tessie meaningfully.

So what am I supposed to do about HER?

[Glyph]

Silver was already pondering that question--all they needed was for someone to look out their window and see the equivalent of an ocean god lounging in the street. The redhead's eyes narrowed carefully, calculating, and he cast a swift glance at the shadowed room behind him, where Gold lay asleep.

For a moment, he considered looking for the Lugia's Pokeball--he knew that Gold still carried it around, just like he still carried his team's... not that he'd ever mentioned anything about it.

But, no, he wasn't too keen on the idea of rifling through Gold's belongings. He glanced at Cindy, then at Tessie, and managed to keep the weariness out of his eyes. Besides, it wouldn't be right to put her away the moment they'd found their Trainer. How long had it been since the Hacks? How long had it been since Silver had seen his own team--and he meant his team, not those six, blank strangers he'd traveled with during that hell.

No, that would be nothing short of cruel.

"... first we need to get everyone else in here," he cast another glance down at the bunch on the lawn, then back at the two in the window. There was another on the opposite side of the room, near the bed--their room was on the far side of the Center, and it faced the woods; hopefully it'd provide better cover for Tessie. "Then we can move you around back."

[Meryck]

((OOC: FIRST POST IN MONTHS AND IT'S TORINOKO. I BLAME AMY.))


Cindy nodded, then turned on the windowsill and made a small, ordering bark to Tessie. The baby Lugia blinked, groaned with a Do I have to? before lowering her head, effectively becoming a ramp which Cindy proceeded to scramble down to bark and point at the others. Wendy, having put the map away into Dolly's wool, nodded and, as all Abras are famous for, Teleported up to the room-- but not before scooping up Abel and ingoring the Togepi's annoyied squeaks.

All of which died the moment they entered and saw the husk of their trainer.

Startled by the sudden cut-off of Abel's usual bitching about being treated like a baby, Cindy-- with Styx at her heels and Dolly flailing her little Mareep feet as fast as she could to keep up-- bounded back the Lugia's neck, leaping into the room and thus, no longer being blocked by Silver's body, saw the crumpled form of Gold on the bed, paled, fevered, and noted by any pokemon worth there merit to no longer be...well. Gold.

Cindy's expression was that of a stunned mother's, slowly stumbling up to the bed before hopping up and curling up by her poor little trainer's head, letting out a pittiful, saddened moan. Dolly, upon finally making it up, was scarily still, bleating only once at Tessie's small cry of worry to tell her to move around back before slowly plodding over and plopping next to the bed, right by Gold's hand. Upon fluttering and scuffling as quietly as possible to the other window, Tethys saw the fuss and pressed her nose, quietly against the window to be let in again.

But Styx merely looked up as Silver, studyingly, before rubbing against him in apology.