Setting:
•Slowpoke Well, Johto•
•Late February, Night•
•Amber (Wolfe Alias) POV•
Chapter Thirty-Two
Buried Truths
"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" A guy's voice spoke up as we went further into the well.
I noticed a man approach us. He wore the typical black Team Rocket uniform with the red R on his shirt. He also wore a Team Rocket black paperboy hat. From there, his apparel differed. He wore white boots, which his black pants were neatly tucked into. He also wore white long gloves that went to above his elbows, and his sleeves were tucked into those. His hair was a striking teal color, and he had menacing green eyes.
Around his waist he wore a white studded trainer belt. His voice was sugary-sweet and menacing at the same time. He looked a bit older than me, like he was maybe in his mid-twenties. If he didn't look so scary, I would've almost admitted he looked handsome in a strange way.
Before I could make a smart-ass remark to his statement, the guy stopped in front of us, stooped a little forward, and eyed us down Pokémon and all.
"Well, this certainly is an interesting posse. I see a drenched little boy, an overgrown owl, a girl who looks like she's been through a hurricane, a tiny fire lizard, a puny green dinosaur, and more importantly, a prisoner. Hmm. And well, well, that prisoner just so happens to be Ariana's son. I bet I'd get a big bonus check if I brought him to her," he stated thoughtfully.
He approached Silver. "So, Silver, is it? Your mother won't shut up about you. It's really quite annoying. It's always, if Silver would step up and join Team Rocket, blah blah. You know, kid, I already know you're not going to join. But, it's just so good of an opportunity to shut her up."
"As her co-worker, I'm tired of dealing with her stupid schemes. The old Team Rocket is gone; this is our new era! But anyway, you're all wrapped up and ready to send as a gift. I might just make use of that." He acted like he completely forgot about everyone else but Silver.
"No way I'm letting you take him!" I shouted. "He's my prisoner, and I'll be damned if I'd just hand him over to you. "
"Oh, well you see, you must not understand me. My name's Proton, and I just so happen to be the Executive in charge here. Don't underestimate me; I'm not one of those Grunt underlings. Some even say I'm the scariest and cruelest guy in Team Rocket," he grinned a very charming, very evil grin.
"You don't look too scary to me," I replied with a smirk. "Although, I must say, you must be terrifying to those poor Slowpoke. It's about time you end this and leave those poor Pokémon alone!"
"Well, aren't you tenacious? Hmm, that pisses me off just a bit. Grunts, take care of these kids." At his command, another wave of grunts appeared from wherever he came from and sent out multiple Pokémon, AKA, Rattata and Ekans.
I already knew what Proton was up to. He was going to grab Silver and make a run for it. I turned to Lizardus, "Help Gold and Zuku battle."
"Char!" He nodded and began using Flamethrower without my command.
"Zuku! Confusion!" Gold joined in.
I could hear the owl get to work. They were out numbered, but there was no way they were overpowered.
Before Proton could reach Chika, I blocked him.
"Are you serious? Did you come here thinking you could mess with our plans?! You're starting to really get me angry. Fine, I'll battle you if you're that eager. I'm not an Executive for nothing. Koffing, go!" Proton called.
"Espeon, you're up!" I tossed Espeon's ball, and she appeared with a cry.
"Think type advantage is really going to help? We'll just see. Poison Gas!" He spat.
The Koffing, which was a ball-shaped Pokémon with big eyes, two fangs in its grin, a skull shaped emblem on the lower side of its body, and multiple holes in which poisonous gas seeped out, released toxic fumes into the air surrounding Espeon.
"Don't breath it in!" I was already too late, though, as I saw Espeon begin to cough in pain.
"Good, now follow up with your Tackle!" Proton ordered.
The Pokémon launched itself at Espeon and hit her, knocking her down.
"Wish! And Confusion!" Espeon's gem glowed brilliantly for an instant, and then she began to toss the Koffing using psychic powers. The said Koffing hit the wall on the far side.
Proton, Chika who was still holding Silver, and I followed. I looked to see that Gold was in our area, too. We were along the far side of the well, where there was a wall and a huge slab of rock. I looked back at Proton to see him grin maniacally.
"Alright, Koffing. Get up and come back to me!" Proton was standing alongside the wall; he was not as close to the wall as us, though. The ball Pokémon floated in the air to its master. "Now, Tackle!" It flung itself again at Espeon.
"Dodge it!" Espeon dodged, though I could see the poison's effects lingering. The Koffing landed into the wall and was summarily knocked out.
"Fine, Zubat!" Proton shook his head.
"Espeon, take a rest. Mudflaps, you're up!" My Marshtomp appeared with a battle cry as I recalled Espeon.
"Zubat, Leech Life!"
"Blizzard, buddy!" Blizzard overpowered the bat Pokémon, and it fell to the floor frozen before it could ever harm Mud.
Proton then looked at me. "Tch, for a kid to be this good… I didn't expect it. It doesn't really matter where we go, though. There will always be someone who doesn't agree with our plans."
He sighed. "Hmm, I'll give you this warning. A girl broke team Rocket up years ago, but we continued our activities underground. You're nothing more than a small obstacle that we'll deal with later. We already killed the girl who made us disband; I advise you to be very afraid of Team Rocket if you want to keep meddling in our affairs. Koffing, Self-destruct!"
Koffing, who regained consciousness, quickly forced all of its energy into an explosion, causing the two walls we were surrounded by to become unstable. Rocks began tumbling down as I saw Proton running away after recalling his Pokémon. "See ya later, kid! That's if you survive!" He gave an evil laugh that was barely audible over the cascading rocks.
With all the commotion, I knew that I needed to get everyone together where there were no rocks falling so no one would get hurt. I corralled my Pokémon around me and we, along with Gold, huddled together, though Silver just sort of stuck out in the way. He seemed to be lost in his own little world, anyway.
Dust filtered in the air as everything settled down, and all of us were coughing. I looked around to my own horror as fallen rocks trapped us. The rocks from the adjacent walls had tumbled down just perfectly to where we were trapped at the back of the well. On the bright side, it looked like no one was injured, although I was certain Proton had that backup plan all mapped out just in case. He really wasn't an Executive for nothing.
"Everyone alright?" I asked.
"I'm fine," Gold coughed at the dust that filtered all over us.
Mudflaps and Lizardus replied that they were okay, too, and I returned them to their pokeballs.
"What about you, Chika?" I asked my little green friend.
"Chik…" She looked pretty strained from restraining Silver for so long.
"Go ahead and let him go for now. It's not like he can escape, and if he does, then at least we'll have a way out of here." I sighed. Thanks to artificial lighting throughout the well, at least we could all still see just fine.
"I love how you talk about me as though I'm not listening," Silver replied snarkily.
"As far as I'm concerned, I wasn't talking to you." I retorted just as sassily back at him.
"So, are you happy now? You let an Executive escape. At least my plan would have killed him." Silver seemed to rub it in my face.
"Yeah, so he escaped. So what? The Slowpoke are okay now. I'm sure that's not the last I'll see of Team Rocket, anyway." I sighed.
"So, what do we do now?" asked Gold.
"Move the rocks, I guess," I replied.
"Okay," Gold started pushing on a rock around his eye-level.
"Wait! Gold!" I exclaimed as the rock shifted, and the rocks on top of it began to shift as well.
"What?"
"You got to be methodical about it. Otherwise they'll come toppling down on us." I warned. This was far from my first cave-in experience.
"Oh…"
"The smartest move would be to get the rocks at the top of the pile first," Silver stated.
"But none of us can reach that!" Gold replied. The ceiling was a good fifteen feet tall at least.
"Chika!" Chika extended her vines and sure enough, she could reach the ceiling.
"Awesome, Chika! Let's get to work!" I grinned excitedly.
And so began the hard process of removing the rocks from the cave-in; luckily, most of the rocks were small, so Chika could pick them up and place them to the side. It was tedious, but she seemed to be in good cheer about it. I was certain she was happy to feel helpful.
There was one really huge rock, though, that she just couldn't pick up. Frustrated, she pounded her vines on a nearby smaller rock, which sent it tumbling downward. It ended up crashing into Chika, which knocked her out.
"Chika! Are you okay?!" I ran to my Pokémon's side, but she didn't even reply. The rock that hit her was slightly larger than her. I scooped up my injured Pokémon in my arms and sighed, "This isn't good…"
Suddenly, a white light appeared as Hino let himself out of his pokeball, which surprised both Gold and me. "Cynda!" He cried out fiercely.
"But Hino!" Gold protested.
"Quiiilll!" The white light of evolution engulfed the small Pokémon like we knew it would, but instead of fighting it like we thought he would, Hino instead began to change shape. The evolved form looked pretty cute, too.
"Quilava!" Hino cried out, flaring up. His body definitely looked different. The snout-shaped face he had as a Cyndaquil shortened out, and he had tiny triangular ears on the top of his head. His body became elongated, which reminded me a little of a weasel—the way he could scamper on four legs or stand up on two.
Also, he had fierce red eyes. His coloration was the same as Cyndaquil's. Also, instead of the fire being on his back, He appeared to shoot fire from the back of his head and from his lower back.
"Wait! But, I thought you didn't want to evolve!" Gold really was shocked, as I could tell.
I snuck a glance at Silver to see that he was smirking. In my arms, Chika was coming to. She opened an eye to see what the commotion was about. Seeing Hino, she jumped out of my arms and investigated. It appeared that Hino was telling Chika he'd help move the rocks, since Hino got right to work scaling the rocky "wall" to ferret out the smaller boulders. Chika extended her vines again to help, but she appeared to be too weak to even move tiny ones thanks to that head trauma.
Chika stamped her foot in frustration. She just hated feeling useless, I knew.
"It's okay, Chika. Just rest for now." I reassured.
She shook her head defiantly. "Chika!" She replied stomping her foot and swirling the leaf on her head.
And then, she gave me a shock as she then apparently forced herself to evolve. The form that emerged from the white light of evolution was a lot bigger than a Chikorita.
"Bayleef!" Chika replied determinedly.
Her voice had changed a lot. It wasn't high pitched anymore, but it definitely still had a girly quality to it. As for her body, well, she wouldn't be riding on my shoulder any more—that was for certain. She had just about quadrupled in size. Her light green body as a Chikorita turned into a light yellow, and the little seeds that were around her neck formed into some really good smelling leaves, which were curled up. Her neck was much longer, and it looked muscular. Her body was sturdy, as were her legs, and she had larger clawed paws. The leaf on her head grew, too, and it was now somewhat scythe-shaped. As for her size, her head almost reached my elbows when my arms were down.
"Well, this ought to speed things up," I replied enthusiastically. "Let's go, Chika! Help out Hino!"
Chika unleashed her vines, which were much thicker and stronger, and before long, the two Pokémon began clearing out the rocks at a pretty swift pace.
Concerned about Silver running off the first chance he got, I watched him carefully, and he knew it, too, since he kept glaring at me. I checked my pokegear to find that to my surprise, it was almost midnight.
No wonder I feel so tired. Screw the hot shower; I'll just sleep when I get the chance. Though, thanks to Silver, something tells me I won't be going to bed for even longer.
Finally, after another two or so hours, the two Pokémon, worn out—though Hino was more worn out than Chika—finished. Chika regained her hold on Silver before he could escape. With that completed, we began to exit the well.
When we reached the ladder, Silver snarkily remarked, "And how do you plan on getting me up that?"
"Bayleef!!" Chika easily hoisted Silver into the air and placed him firmly on the ground outside with her sturdy vines.
"Wow, you're really strong, Chika!" I replied. Thoroughly, I was impressed by the show of strength.
"Bay!" She replied as she nudged me with her head.
I climbed the ladder first and managed to put Silver into a headlock while Gold climbed up, and I recalled Chika to bring her out again on the grass outside. At least the storm was over and the wind had died down. That freak storm really was crazy.
I looked at Gold and saw just how tired he was. I was certain I looked pretty bad, too, but I wasn't done yet. I did turn to Gold, though. "Gold, go to the Pokémon Center and go to bed. You look really worn."
"What about you? You don't exactly look alert, either." He said with a yawn.
"Don't worry about me. Let me finish some business here with this criminal, and I'll be on my way." I replied tiredly.
"Well, alright. Night, Wolfe," Gold took off down the road that led into Azalea Town with Hino draped around his shoulders like a scarf.
I then turned to Silver. "So, now all that remains is to take care of you. Sooner I do that, sooner I get some sleep. I've been up since around four, and it's been a really hectic day. I'm going to be an adult about it, though, and not blame you for making me lose even more sleep."
"How touching," he replied sarcastically. "Just get it over with already, and you won't have to complain at all." He grumbled.
"Fine," I took out my pokegear and dialed Darrius' number. I knew I'd be bothering him, but he'd deal with it. This was definitely something I needed to go straight to my boss about.
Darrius looked after Silver when Silver was a kid who had escaped from Team Rocket. Even though he was kinda young back then, Darrius was already a top police officer who worked undercover to gather information about Team Rocket. He also took me in for some time when I left Team Rocket. My dad trusted him, and I trusted him as well.
DS, or Darrius Surge, was the younger brother of the Vermillion City's Gym Leader, Lt. Surge. Darrius was a lot like his older brother; they both shared a love for electric Pokémon. Darrius was a rocker though, and he'd rather use his Pokémon to play music than battle, though he was a damn good trainer, too. He was always mature for his age, and often times I'd forget he was about ten years older than me because I almost looked at him like a brother figure.
The phone rang three times before I heard his annoyed voice on the other line. "Wolfe?! What the hell are you calling me at three in the morning for?! You know some of us wake up at normal times, right?" He joked.
I had forgotten about the hour ahead in Kanto time and felt a little bad about waking him, but not bad enough to apologize.
"Psh, save it Darrius. I didn't even get to sleep yet. I've been up for almost a full twenty-four hours. I have a lot to report, and I suggest you debrief me later in a secure location." I chided.
"Oh really? Where are you now?" He changed his tune.
"Outside of Slowpoke Well near Azalea Town." I supplied.
"You sure it isn't secure? I mean, how many people would visit the well at two in the morning?" He asked skeptically as I heard him yawn.
"One, and his name is Silver," I replied.
"Oh," Darrius' voice changed instantly. "You shouldn't be using my name, then, should you?"
"Shit…" I replied knowing I slipped up—and badly since Silver probably could have placed the voice—but now he knew the name to go along with it. "Look, I'm sorry. I'm tired…"
"I know, remember though…" Darrius trailed off.
"Yes, I know!" I exclaimed. The last thing I needed then and there was a lecture. Darrius was notorious for his lectures.
"So, where exactly is my old disciple?"
"Being restrained by my Bayleef's Vine Whip." I explained.
"Oh? You have him captured?" I could tell he wasn't expecting that.
"Debrief me, and I'll explain it in detail. Just know he was planning on collapsing the well to kill everyone inside it—people and Pokémon alike. I stopped him." I said quietly.
"Really? Hard to imagine Silver would do such a thing. He's bold, but he's harmless." Darrius seemed to dismiss the threat.
"Don't lecture me about his personality, Darrius," I warned.
"I know. You don't need to be told about that given you've already had a few run-ins with him. Well, what do you want me to do with him?" D asked.
"You're my boss. I thought you'd know what to do with him." I replied.
"He's your prisoner. You're not supposed to be allowed to make arrests since you aren't exactly a certified police officer, but I'll make this an exception." Darrius seemed to decide.
"Not certified?! What the hell do you mean not certified?! I didn't waste all that time for nothing!" I damn near growled.
"No, you didn't. And you know you didn't waste that time. You do not have a police badge, however. Plus, you're not even in Kanto." He pointed out.
"I'm not allowed to have a badge…" I trailed off. Just because I was in the military police, it didn't give me the same authority as a real police officer.
"Exactly. Carrying around a Kanto Police badge would be too fishy for someone in Johto. Besides, you don't live in Kanto, so you wouldn't be part of the force, anyway." Darrius tried to explain.
"Well, whatever. By the way, speaking of watching your dialogue, Silver is like, two feet away. He can hear everything we're saying, and I'm certain he's analyzing it all. I mean you are his former mentor." I glanced at my ex-best friend who smirked. He definitely was listening in on everything. I could only wonder what he was thinking.
"It's three in the morning; give me a break! You woke me up. But, you're right. Let me talk to him." Darrius sighed.
"Oh-kayy…" I said uncertainly. I put the pokegear closer to Silver.
"Silver, I don't know what you're doing, but you better stop it. I can't have my agent babysitting you all the time. You've been bugging her ever since she arrived in Johto for her mission." D started.
"Uh, thanks Darrius…" I interrupted.
"What? It's pretty obvious you were just moving to New Bark anyway, Wolfe."
"Yeah, but you're making it seem like I'm from a different region. For a boss, you're pretty lax on your own rules…" I groaned.
"It's three in the morning!"
"Sorry to interrupt, just talk to him already." I groaned again.
"Now, as I was saying, I don't know what you're doing or why you're doing it, but I'm very disappointed in you. You know, I look at you like a younger brother. I know I was a harsh mentor at times, but I turned you into a fine guitarist, and you and that Sneasel were pretty strong." Darrius continued.
"First you resort to petty theft of a Professor's Pokémon. Now murder? What the hell is wrong with you, young man?! If I hear of you doing anything like that again, you can be certain I'll personally deal with you. Understand me?" Darrius threatened.
"Hmph. It's all talk, Darrius. When's the last time you've seen me? A few years ago? You really call that being close to someone? I'd rather not have ties with anyone. Makes life simpler. You can threaten me all you like. You're not my mentor any more." Silver replied coldly.
"You still wear that jacket I gave you, don't you?" I saw Silver flinch at Darrius' words.
"Wait, you gave him that damn jacket?!" It was a total slip-up on my part, but I was finally getting the truth of Silver's favorite jacket. He never told me how he got it or why he always wore it no matter how much I had asked.
"Yeah. You should've seen him when I first gave it to him. It floated on him. It's made out of my own Mareep's wool. You see, most Mareep have yellow wool. Mine had black, so I made a jacket from its fleece the summer before it evolved. The jacket is the softest you'd ever find. It keeps in heat and at times it has a weak electric current running through it, which actually regulates body temperature in case it gets too hot or vice versa." Darrius explained somewhat proudly.
"Hm, so that's why he's always wearing it… Man, I could use one of those!" I said thoughtfully. I saw Silver looked to be gritting his teeth, and his fists were balled.
"Wolfe!" Darrius reprimanded.
"Gah! What? It's no surprise to anyone that I like wearing jackets. Hell, I'm in one now." I shrugged.
"Well, whatever. I'd make you a jacket, too, but that Mareep evolved into my Ampharos." Darrius dismissed the topic.
"Now, anyways, Silver. As long as you wear that jacket, it means part of you really is just saying all that stuff to say it. You can talk as much smack as you want. Your actions have to reflect your words," Darrius turned the conversation back to Silver.
"Hmph. Maybe I just wear the jacket because it does its job. Like I'd hold on to sentimental values on objects. That's not my style, Darrius. You should know that." Silver sounded one hundred percent defensive.
"Right, of course you don't. Keep telling yourself that. If you're not into sentimental stuff, then why are you pursuing Team Rocket?" D cut right to the chase.
"Who told you that was my goal?" Silver actually sounded shocked.
"I have my informants, and they do really good jobs when they try." That was a compliment inadvertently for me.
"Well, whatever. I'm doing it for Amber, Darrius. That's a different matter, and you and I both know it. Not like you care; you didn't even show up for her funeral. Some friend you were," he replied bitterly.
The whole talk of my funeral with me being right there felt really strange, but I guessed after the harrowing day I just had, I should have been used to it.
"I had my reasons for not attending. I'm certain Amber would have understood. I did hear you did a good job with it, though, so that's what matters. Why don't you just find closure and move on with life, Silver?" Darrius asked calmly.
Yeah, his reason for not attending was because he was chewing my ass out in training. I didn't know I had a funeral, though. That sort of information didn't reach me.
I guessed in a sense, I was out of the loop in my own death. Already, things weren't adding up.
So, according to Silver, there was a charred body, and he held a funeral? Why isn't Darrius telling me this?
"I don't need a lecture from you, Darrius," Silver replied.
Ah, he stole my line…
"I'm not going to give you a lecture. I'm giving advice. Amber is dead. Deal with it. She is never coming back. It's a tragedy, but that's life. Life is full of tragedy. Leave the crime fighting to us. My agent and I are getting rid of Team Rocket by using humane means. Think of it this way. If you were to kill Team Rocket, you'd be no better than them." Darrius pointed out.
"At least they wouldn't be burnt alive. And the irony of it all was how Amber loved fire Pokémon the best. That's like killing a rock-type user with his own Onix. If I had the choice, I'd kill every last member of Team Rocket regardless of what you say." Silver spat venomously.
"You know, that's the kind of stuff that started the crusades…" Darrius started up.
"Say what you will. I'm doing this because I think it's the right thing. I'm defending Amber's name. For being one of the strongest trainers in Kanto, she was taken down too easily. I'll make Team Rocket pay for that." Silver said stubbornly.
"So you are doing it for her dignity?" D confirmed.
"Whatever."
"Hmm, that certainly isn't the Silver I remember. The Silver I knew didn't care too much about dignity or image."
"Well maybe that's because that Silver didn't find his best friend's charred body in a burnt down building that he had built from scratch for her!" He retorted hotly.
I could sense a fight brewing if this continued.
"Boys, boys, please stop. Look, Darrius, you're just pissing him off, and I have to deal with him in person," I turned to Silver. "Look, Silver, you're arguing about a dead person. I mean, Amber Shmamber—whatever. She's dead. She was 'defeated' for good if you want to put it that way."
"And yeah, I know I'm pissing you off. I can see it in your eyes. You need to learn to get a grip on all that hate you got inside of you. And now I just sound like a damn therapist!"
"Look, Silver do something good for yourself and think things through. You can't go around with all that hate; it destroys a person over time. It eats away at you, and I feel like I'm rambling. CAN I PLEASE JUST GO TO BED?!" I grumbled.
I heard Darrius chuckle on the line. "Ah, Wolfe, some things you just can't change. So, back to my earlier question, what are you going to do with him?"
I had just realized I had another Amber slip-up. Luckily, Silver was too pissed off to care.
"I can arrest him?" I asked.
"Go for it. Maybe being locked away for some time would do him some good. He's got a warrant, so I'll get the paperwork started on my end." Darrius decided.
"Who do I call?"
"Call Mr. Neilstone. He'll take it from there." D instructed.
This caused me to raise an eyebrow. The last person I wanted to see Silver like this was Dad. Dad was always protective of me, and he only allowed the whole schoolhouse thing because Silver was my student and other students came and went from the guest rooms as they pleased. Dad liked Silver. Silver actually impressed him. That image would get shattered soon enough.
"Yes sir. Wolfe Out," I hung up and sighed.
Silver looked at me strangely. "Who the hell are you?" He asked in an actually sincere voice.
"I told you. I'm Wolfe. With an E at the end, if you want the details. Since you know so much already, fine. I'm an agent working under Mr. Darrius to bring down Team Rocket. I didn't arrest you because you were my lead. Now that you are a threat, I'll have to get rid of you." I sighed tiredly.
"So you were using me all this time…" Silver said quietly.
"Yeah, you can look at it that way. You're an interesting person, though. I really didn't know your full story until today. I knew you knew Mr. Neilstone's daughter. Though I didn't realize you were the one to take care of the funeral arrangements. When you mentioned the name Amber earlier, it did pique my interest." I said quietly. This was as close to the truth as I could go on my end.
Damn, it was hard to keep up that façade around him.Talking about myself as though I were a different person is just plain weird…
I then dialed the number for home hoping Dad would be home. I also knew that it would have a chance of blowing my cover. I just hoped Dad would come through for me.
The phone rang, and I thought no one would answer, but finally a sleepy Mom replied, "Hello?"
"Yes, is Mr. Neilstone home?" I asked all business-like. Hopefully she wouldn't recognize my voice since she was sleeping.
"Oh, Am—"
"Please just answer yes or no, ma'am," I cut her off before she ruined the entire cover-up.
"Why are you acting so weird? I'm your mother; don't act all distant." Mom scolded.
I wanted to groan so badly. Silver was looking at me strangely.
"Ma'am, listen, I'm Wolfe with the Kanto Police. I wanted to know if Mr. Neilstone was home. I have direct orders to talk to him immediately. It's of an urgent matter." I said never breaking character.
"Oh, let me go get him, then." She finally caught on.
I heard the phone be put on hold, to my own relief. I could practically see questions form in Silver's mind, so I improvised. "Poor Mrs. Neilstone. Still very upset about losing her daughter. She always seems to think I'm her. It's pretty unnerving."
"Oh." Silver replied. That seemed to shut him up, and so I waited for Dad to finally get to the phone.
"Okay, I'm here. What's up?" Dad answered the line casually.
With everything going on tonight, I either looked really suspicious to Silver, or the Kanto Police looked like a laughing stock with all the casualness to our talking.
"Yes, Mr. Neilstone?" I asked.
"Oh, Agent Wolfe." Dad caught my drift at least.
"I need you to make an arrest." I said business-like.
"At two thirty in the morning? Can't the local department handle it?" He asked curiously.
"It's a special situation, sir. This prisoner is crucial to our operation." I explained.
"Oh?"
"His name is Silver. He is the son of Team Rocket's boss, Giovanni. He also was the main lead in the investigation, until he, err…"
I really didn't want to tell Dad that Silver was planning to be a murderer. Petty theft was one thing, but murder was inexcusable. I swore if I'd ever get to be myself again, I would never let Silver live it down. The last thing I needed was a crusade in my name.
"I'm sorry I didn't catch the last part," Dad said.
"He tried interfering with our plans. I'd like to have him locked away for the time being." I said delicately.
"Interfering?"
"Chika, you got it for now?" I asked my Pokémon.
"Bay, Baylee!" She replied happily.
I then walked a distance away so I could talk in private. "Dad, Silver is really messed up."
"What do you mean?" He asked quietly.
"He wanted to kill those Team Rocket people…" I trailed off.
"What?!" I could tell I took him by surprise.
"I know it's bad of him, but, he said some stuff that has me worried, Dad. Can I tell you this without you telling anyone else?" I asked in a whisper.
"You know you can, sweetie. What's wrong?"
"Did you know Silver held a funeral for me?" I asked.
"Why, no, I didn't. Though I'm so caught up in work all the time, I wouldn't have noticed since you aren't actually dead." He added.
"I didn't know about it either, though, Dad."
"Don't worry so much about it, sweetie. It shouldn't even really matter since you are alive, right?"
"I guess, but Dad..."
"Yes?"
"There's another thing. And this one really does scare me."
"What's that?"
"Silver said he found my body…" I said in slight horror.
"Well, we did plant evidence to suggest that you were killed in the fire. I'm sure he found a bone or whatever that was planted in that ballistics body." Dad said calmly.
"No, Dad. He found a real human body."
There was silence on the other end of the line before Dad replied. "That can't be. I helped make the ballistics body myself. Though you know I didn't plant it. It's preposterous to think that there was a real person inside of that fire."
"I don't know. Things aren't adding up. And Silver's all messed up because of this. I'm starting to feel like it was a bad idea. I mean, I ruined my best friend's life, I can't be myself, and things are getting creepy." I grimaced.
"Just hang in there, Ammby. You're doing a lot by agreeing to this plan. Darrius has it all under control. You'll see. So, anyway, where do I make the arrest?" Dad tried to keep me calm.
"I'm in Azalea Town right now."
"Okay, just hold on. I'll be there in a jiffy!" He hung up.
That last statement scared me. I had a feeling that Repede would be the one bringing him there…which meant my cover would be either blown completely, or I'd look less credible. Still though, Silver found my "body" so I doubted he'd think I was alive.
But even then, if I were in his shoes, if there were even a remote possibility that I'd be alive, I'd hold on to it, even if it defied the evidence.
Man, this day just gets worse and worse. I sighed as I knew Dad would be soon on his way from New Bark to pick up Silver.