Crunch...
Ace and Green successfully entered the cave behind the waterfall. Behind them, the circular ice structure that had been frozen was shattered by the water pressure, having served its purpose. Ace recalled his Lapras, and Green sent out her Clefairy.
The light from Clefairy illuminated the dark passage, revealing a long, winding tunnel before them.
"Hidden pretty well," Ace remarked, observing the brick-lined tunnel, which was clearly man-made.
The two quickly walked down the passage. Gradually, the roaring sound of the waterfall behind them faded until, eventually, only their footsteps could be heard in the tunnel. Soon, they reached the end of the passage, where a simple hall appeared before them.
In the center of the hall, a young boy with red hair and silver eyes was kneeling on the ground, breathing heavily. His hands were braced on the floor, and a large amount of sweat was dripping from his face onto the ground.
"Silver!"
Upon seeing the boy, Green immediately rushed forward. The boy on his knees quickly stood up and smiled at Green, saying, "Sister Green..."
Slap!
Before he could finish his sentence, he was met with a slap from Green.
Before Silver could even react to the stinging pain on his cheek, Green hugged him tightly, her voice choked with sobs. "You little rascal, what are you trying to do? Do you have any idea how worried I was about you?!"
After being abducted as a child, she and Silver had relied on each other after escaping their captors. In a way, Silver was her family, so his sudden disappearance had naturally terrified Green.
Feeling Green's trembling body, Silver was momentarily dazed. He then said remorsefully, "I'm sorry, Sister Green. My phone was destroyed when I escaped from Fuchsia City, so I couldn't answer your calls."
"Save the dramatic reunion for later."
Ace walked over, ruining the emotional scene. He said to the two, "Silver, why did you join the Elite Four organization?"
"Who are you?"
Ace's sudden interruption annoyed Silver. However, after getting a clear look at Ace's face, Silver's pupils contracted. Just as he was about to say something, Ace made a shushing gesture.
Green, with her back to Ace, didn't see his action. She quickly took Silver's hand, wiped away her tears, and said to him, "Silver, this is Ace. He's my partner and also a Pokédex Holder. He's the one who helped me find you."
Silver's eyes widened. He instinctively pulled Green away, looking at Ace with suspicion. "Sister Green, what are you talking about?! He's the one that Lance and the others wanted to deal with. The Elite Four organization was destroyed because they went after him!"
"So you're on the Elite Four's side?" Ace narrowed his eyes, already considering whether to "deal with" this "one who got away."
"Silver!"
Green frowned, looking at her brother. She said to Silver seriously, "Ace is our partner. That's not going to change, do you understand? Now, what were you really trying to do by joining the Elite Four organization?!"
"I..." Green's scolding instantly subdued Silver. He hesitated for a moment before weakly saying, "I heard that Lance wanted to take control of a big bird Pokémon, so I wanted to follow the clues to see if it was the same one from back then."
This was Silver's true intention. He would do anything to help Green! Green had already spent too much time trying to find the person who had abducted them all those years ago and to get some closure. Silver saw this and knew how heavy a burden his so-called sister was carrying. So, Silver wanted to help Green as much as possible and lighten her load.
"Looks like he's out of the loop," Ace thought to himself. He decided to observe Silver a little longer.
"You, you rascal..." Hearing Silver's words, Green couldn't bring herself to scold him anymore. After all, from his perspective, Silver's intentions were good, even if his methods were a bit extreme.
"I have a question," Ace said, looking at Silver with a cold tone. "Why did you react that way when you saw me?"
"Don't be stupid. The Elite Four were all defeated by you. How could I not be wary of such a dangerous person being with Sister Green?!" Silver's hackles were raised as he glared at Ace. He said in a sharp voice, "I don't trust you!"
"What about Lance?" Ace suddenly changed the subject. He asked, "After the Elite Four organization disbanded, I only saw Bruno. Where did Lance and the others go?"
Hearing Ace's question, Silver frowned and shook his head. "I don't know. The news of the Elite Four's disbandment was told to us by that guy who came to Fuchsia City. He was also very strong. His Nidoking and Nidoqueen alone were enough to destroy Fuchsia City like that. That's how my communication device was broken."
Ace fell silent. From Silver's words, Ace knew that Silver wasn't lying; he truly didn't know about Lance's situation.
"Have you seen Giovanni?" Green asked Silver. She had a strong impression of the Team Rocket boss they had defeated before.
"No," Silver shook his head. "I only heard about him from others. But then we got separated, and I followed some information to get here."
"Then what were you doing just now?" Green asked, recalling how he looked when they first arrived.
"I was trying to take on this guy, but it seems he's not someone I can handle." Silver sighed, then took out a Poké Ball and handed it to Green.
Green pressed the button, and the top of the Poké Ball became transparent, revealing the Pokémon inside.
"A Larvitar?" Ace was momentarily surprised but quickly realized that this Pokémon must have been one that Lance had recently captured and left here. Silver had come here, saw the Poké Ball, and tried to capture the Pokémon to make it his own. But he had clearly overestimated himself; at only nine years old, his Sneasel was no match for this Larvitar.
Green also recognized the Pokémon. After some thought, she handed the Poké Ball to Ace. "The Elite Four organization is gone anyway, so this Pokémon is essentially ownerless. Ace, you should take it. Out of everyone here, your strength is the highest, and you're the most likely to capture it."
Ace took the Poké Ball, tossed it up and down, and said with a smile, "I won't refuse. Consider it the travel fee for coming all this way with you. Now that we've found him, what are you two going to do next?"
"Go back to Kanto," Green said without hesitation. "This isn't the place to talk."