silverhearttrainer-blog

[silverhearttrainer-blog]

Silver went quiet; Leaf's words weighed more heavily on his mind than he would have expected. Did he think she was weak because she let Silver help her out? That question had a complicated answer which was neither 'yes' or 'no'. He was certain, however, that he knew Leaf was a lot stronger than he had thought when they first met.

His own immediate feelings about Leaf's weakness or strength didn't sit well with him. After all, if he didn't think Leaf was weak for allowing Silver to help her out and care for her, then what business did he have acting like it would be a personal failing for him to accept help?

Silver moaned and pulled the blanket over his head. He did not need to be having epiphanies with how ill he felt.

"I'll be fine," he said faintly. "Just let me get some rest."

Disillusion - Leaf & Silver

[silverhearttrainer-blog]

Silver cringed, his cheeks flushing lightly in shame. She was insisting he lean on her as though he were incapable of walking by himself. He didn't want to know what she must have been thinking about him at that moment.

He leaned against her shoulder as they walked slowly to their room. "You don't have to do this," he said. "I'll be fine by myself. I don't need any help. I can take care of myself..."

Leaf helped him ease into bed and Silver curled up into a tight ball. "Don't bother staying," he said. "I mean it. I can take care of myself. I've always been able to take care of myself."

Disillusion - Leaf & Silver

[silverhearttrainer-blog]

As soon as he was seated at the table, Silver folded his arms and rested his head. He hated feeling so sick and weak. He hated that Leaf had to look after him like he was a small child or an invalid. He was supposed to be able to take care of himself, dammit. What sort of Champion-to-be got bowled over by a little seasickness?

The water arrived and Silver drank cautiously, wrinkling his nose at the tinny taste of the metal cup. Leaf pushed the packet of crackers towards him and Silver frowned. "If you say so," he said, picking a cracker up and slowly chewing on it. By the time the packet of crackers was gone, Silver's stomach was aching, although he couldn't tell whether that was because he was still hungry, or because the crackers had upset him.

"I think I need to go lay down" Silver said, standing up abruptly and swaying on his feet. "You don't have to help me back, I know the way to our room. Have fun exploring the ship."

Disillusion - Leaf & Silver

[silverhearttrainer-blog]

Leaf was touching him again. Rubbing his back to help him feel better. That probably would have comforted him if he were in any shape to appreciate the kind gesture. As it was, all Silver could think about was how utterly miserable he felt. Dizzy and nauseated and exhausted and already far too eager to get off the boat which had barely set sail ten minutes ago.

He didn't even pay attention to the sailor who said he had a weak stomach, a true testament to how ill he felt.

"Food," Silver moaned, shuddering at the thought of forcing anything down his throat. "...Don't have much of an appetite, but maybe a drink would help."

Taking one last deep breath, Silver turned away from the rail and grabbed Leaf's arm for support. "Lead the way," he said.

Disillusion - Leaf & Silver

[silverhearttrainer-blog]

When Leaf grabbed Silver's hand and started chirping in his ear about exploring, Silver wanted to slap her hand away and tell her to leave him alone so he could die in peace. But between his nausea and his exhaustion, Silver didn't feel as though he could put his irritation into words, so he gave a dispassionate grunt and forced himself to his feet. 

"We're going to the deck first," Silver murmured, not even bothering to wait for Leaf's approval as he started walking. "I need the fresh air."

Once the two of them were on the deck, Silver made a beeline for the edge. Feeling dizzy, he leaned forward on the railing and closed his eyes, breathing deeply and trying to pretend he was somewhere else.

"I hate...ships," he muttered. "Hate ships. Hate the ocean. Hate this."

Disillusion - Leaf & Silver

[silverhearttrainer-blog]

The floor beneath Silver's feet shifted as the ship set sail, and as Leaf grabbed his shoulder, he felt his stomach flip. But he would have been hard-pressed to say whether that was more from the sudden movement of the ship or from Leaf touching him again. Silver had to bite the inside of his cheek to distract himself from his upset stomach.

"You...feeling alright?" Silver said weakly, not sounding well at all himself.

When Leaf opened a window, he sighed in relief. The fresh air helped a little and he wondered whether it would be feasible to keep the window open during the entirety of their journey. 

"What's so great about the ocean?" Silver muttered as he moved towards the window. To him, the ocean looked big and gray and boring. "Yep. It's an ocean."

When Leaf asked what would happen if they got lost, Silver had to laugh at the absurdity of the thought. "Don't worry, if we get lost, Feraligatr will swim us to shore."

The ship tilted slightly to one side and Silver's stomach flipped again. Moaning, he rest his head against the frame of the window.

"Is the entire trip going to be like this," he hissed through clenched teeth. "This is unbearable."

Disillusion - Leaf & Silver

[silverhearttrainer-blog]

Silver nodded along with everything the captain said, only half-listening. Bathroom. Sparing with the water. Mealtimes. The night without sleep was hitting him hard and standing on the boat, he was already feeling a little nauseated. The ship hadn't even set sail yet, so was he imaging the swaying beneath his feet? 

"It's...not the worst place I've ever stayed in," Silver said, setting his bag down on one of the beds. "I think I once slept in an abandoned building that was less comfortable than this. At the very least, I doubt this ship has a Rattata infestation like that abandoned building did."

He sat down at the bed, frowning at how close to the other bed it was. If he wanted to, he could reach over and touch the occupant in the other bed. "Sure you don't mind being cooped up in here with me for five days?" Silver said with a wry smirk. 

Disillusion - Leaf & Silver

[silverhearttrainer-blog]

"A cargo ship?" Silver raised his eyebrows. "Well...it'll probably be faster than a cruise ship. So long as you don't whine how uncomfortable the accommodations are, I don't have any problems."

As he and Leaf boarded the ship, Silver eyed the crated being loaded. He wondered what the ship was transporting and whether, out of all the goods the ship was no doubt hauling, if the sailors would notice a couple of things missing.

"I don't know if we'll see wild Pokemon," Silver said absently, staring out at the ocean. "I guess it depends on how bold they are. They might want to stay away from such a big ship."

"By the way," Silver said, glancing at the working men again, "we should try to stay out of the way during this trip. Try not to make trouble for the sailors, you know?"

Disillusion - Leaf & Silver

[silverhearttrainer-blog]

Silver was already dressed and packed by the time Leaf woke up. He had to frown when she pointed out that didn't look well--he'd been hoping his poor night of sleep hadn't been obvious.

"Insomnia," he muttered, and was unsure if Leaf even heard him as she caught a glimpse of the clock and pulled him out the door and out of the Pokemon Center.

By the time the two of them arrived at the dock, Silver was feeling more alert. While Leaf talked with the person at the front desk, Silver leaned over and peered down a hallway. He could see an utterly bewildered-looking man sitting at the desk in the records room and Silver had to suppress a snicker;they must have put the files back all wrong!

He turned back to find that Leaf was looking at him brightly. "Uh, sounds good," Silver said, not entirely sure what sort of tickets Leaf had gotten. "We'll take them."

Disillusion - Leaf & Silver

[silverhearttrainer-blog]

Silver's demons always came out at night. He usually had plenty of trouble getting to sleep in his own sleeping bag, so laying in the hard, unfamiliar cot in the Pokemon Center, Silver couldn't do much else but think.

He wondered whether he had made the right decision in offering to take Leaf on their grand adventure. He had thought he understood how Leaf felt about her own father, but perhaps he had been wrong. Perhaps he had taken his own feelings of abandonment and assumed Leaf must have felt exactly the same way. For all Silver knew, this journey of their was doing nothing but dredging up memories and feelings for Leaf which had best been left forgotten.

And what if they never found her father? Was Silver supposed to shrug his shoulders and leave Leaf saddled with the expectations and disappointment the journey had brought her? After everything he had gone through trying to find his mother, he had assumed that finding someone who wasn't actively hiding from him was going to be a cake walk. But he and Leaf were about to travel to the largest city in Unova and Silver didn't have a clue where to begin looking.

And was he even doing all of this for Leaf? Or was he just doing this to comfort himself after his failed search for his mother?

With so many questions and doubts laying heavily on his mind, Silver spent a fitful night tossing in his cot. By the time the sun had risen, he had barely gotten any sleep at all.

Disillusion - Leaf & Silver

[silverhearttrainer-blog]

Silver nodded his thanks to the nurse as she left, then watched Leaf flop down onto her cot. She looked as though she were exhausted, and Silver barely felt tired at all. He could already tell he was in for a long night.

He set his bag down on the floor while Leaf spoke to him. "Don't mention it," Silver said, sitting down on his own cot. "Let's just try to get some rest. We have a long journey ahead of us."

Silver laid down and pulled his too-scratchy blankets up as far as they would go. "Sleep well, Leaf." 

Disillusion - Leaf & Silver

[silverhearttrainer-blog]

"First time for everything," Silver said, still smirking. "Should I apologize for being a bad influence on you?"

Before he knew it, the two of them had reached the Pokemon Center. As Silver watched Leaf talk to the nurse, he almost wanted to laugh at how nervous she seemed. The poor girl certainly had not been built for a life of crime. 

They followed the nurse and Silver leaned close to Leaf to whisper in her ear. "Hey, don't worry about it. No one got hurt by what we did, and think of how much closer we are to finding your dad."

Disillusion - Leaf & Silver

[silverhearttrainer-blog]

"Sleep?" Silver had entirely forgotten about sleep. And although his instincts were telling him to leave for Castelia City that very instant, he knew this was Leaf's journey and that he should defer to her decisions. He and Leaf were two separate people, after all, and even if he could go entire days without sleep, that didn't mean Leaf should have to do so.

"The Pokemon Center probably has a few cots," he said, looking around the room one last time to make sure nothing was out of place. "Does that sound good to you?"

They snuck out of the building as easily as they snuck into the building, and soon the two of them were out of the port. "I bet you're glad that's over," Silver said, smirking.

Disillusion - Leaf & Silver

[silverhearttrainer-blog]

Silver had to suppress a shudder when Leaf put her chin on his shoulder. She smelled really, really nice...

"Uh..." Silver said and coughed to clear his throat. "Um, I found your father's name on this registry. It says here that he boarded a ship headed for..." He let his voice trail off as he ran his finger up the paper, searching for the ship's destination.

"...Castelia City. Looks like I was right. Just great."

With a long-suffering sigh, Silver started putting away the files. "His ship stopped on an island for a few days to refuel, so if we head straight for Castelia City, we'll be closing the distance. Who knows? Maybe we'll even be lucky enough to catch him while he's still there."

Disillusion - Leaf & Silver

[silverhearttrainer-blog]

Silver huffed to himself as he searched through the files as quickly as he could. "I've heard of a couple of cities, but the only one I really remember anything about is Castelia City. From what I recall, it's supposed to be huge and full of people."

Papers, papers, papers. "Right on the sea, too," Silver said, not bothering to look up from his papers. "If I had to guess, I'd put my money on your father being in Castelia City.

"But don't ask me how we'd find him in such a huge city" Silver muttered under his breath. He leafed through papers and papers and just as he was about to turn the page, a name caught his eye.

"Leaf, come look at this,"  he called. "I think I found something."

Disillusion - Leaf & Silver

[silverhearttrainer-blog]

"They won't just let us see the logs. Big companies like this one have to protect the privacy of their customers, otherwise they'd never get any." Silver spoke gently but firmly. "This is our best bet."

Once Leaf gave her reluctant approval of Silver's plan, Silver smirked and crossed his arms. "Don't worry. I never get caught." Which wasn't entirely true, but he'd only ever been arrested once and he didn't really think that time counted. "Just stick close to me and don't act suspicious."

They made their way through the streets quickly and quietly and were soon at the port. The administration building was dark and the front door was locked. "This is good," Silver said. "Means there won't be anyone inside to catch us." Silver circled around the building until he found a window which had been left unlocked. Once he and Leaf were both inside, he closed it behind them.

Silver was disappointed by the port security. No cameras, no guards, not even those ridiculous motion-sensing statues Team Rocket liked to use. Silver almost felt a little cheated. To the port's credit, the door to the record room was locked, but Silver picked the lock in less than twenty seconds.

"Well, it's gotta be in here." Silver said, pulling open a filing cabinet. "We have to check every passenger ship to Unova that left in the last three weeks, so be thorough."

Disillusion - Leaf & Silver

[silverhearttrainer-blog]

Silver watched the conversation silently, surprised at their stroke of good luck at finding someone who knew Reed so quickly. As the nurse mentioned Unova, Silver's excitement faded. Unova was far away; he and Leaf would have quite a way to travel if they were going to catch her father.

"Well..." Silver's eyes narrowed and he chewed his lip in thought. "We can't just run off to Unova without an idea of where to begin searching. If he left for Unova straight from Olivine, he probably took a ship. And the port would have kept a record of his ticket sale."

Silver paused, glancing from side to side before lowering his voice. "The quickest way to do this would be to break into the records and check the logs for passenger voyages to Unova."

Silver braced himself. Leaf was not going to like that suggestion.

Disillusion - Leaf & Silver