crystalloides:

     She didn’t just trust people without basis, though. That kind of struggle, between a power-hungry father and his son, she would never fully understand. She’d never get it, it was a concept not on her plane of existence or understanding. She just… wanted Silver to see that the chance for him to change was definitely there.

     Perhaps she was tugging at strings that shouldn’t be touched; Team Rocket was almost taboo to speak of in the whole of the continent, in both Kanto and Johto, and she’s certain the tale of the villainous gym leader has spread as far as Hoenn and Unova by now. Sinnoh was almost directly involved in the issue too, but they were combating their own demons. She didn’t want to think that a single man could be that coldhearted.

     She’s never experienced what Silver has, never had a father that cruel, never had to deal with the masked man, never had to cope with any of the struggles he has, let alone anything relative to that amount of stress. She feels like she’s completely out of her place, but she still reaches forward and gently places a hand on his shoulder, frowning.

     “He’s.. obviously not good right now. He seems to be trying, though. Trying to do what, I’m not sure, but…” Her words trail off, and she shakes her head again, dispelling her thoughts and trying to straighten her words.

     “Why he brought this with him into Johto, I’ll never understand. The power struggle was contained in Kanto, it was none of this region’s business…” A sigh leaves thin lips, and she frowns once more, moving to pull the other into a hug, nose pressed gently against red hair, eyes closed.

     “… I’m sure you’ll be able to set him straight, though. He seems like he does care a lot about your well being, the reason for Team Rocket’s existence aside. I mean, if he didn’t step in, who knows what would have happened to us? If he didn’t care, if he wasn’t concerned, Silver, he wouldn’t have came. If he was concerned about you being the heir, too, wouldn’t he have bargained your life instead of offering you a position?”

’ As grateful as I am he has saved my life twice… I don’t know if I can agree. ‘

Was Giovanni trying? Silver couldn’t make a confident judgement on such a thing when he had no idea where his father was right now. Since the incident at the Sinjoh ruins and having to train under two of his former masters, he hadn’t given much thought as to where the man was. ( After all, it was Team Rocket. It wasn’t hard to find out where they were if they had plans, and surely the man knew this. )

Though the heir did not know his father, he knew at the very least that the leader of Team Rocket was training to become stronger just as he was. He had no intention of giving up something he had worked on for years– And perhaps the man already created the organization before Silver was born. Had he not been taken by Pryce, perhaps in this moment his life would’ve been very different.

Truly, a terrifying thought.

‘ When you’re powerful, you will always want to gain more power. You won’t ever be satisfied. It’s a very self-destructive thing to have. ‘ He had been around power-hungry people far too much in his life. Pryce, Giovanni, even Lance– Even if the man had turned over a new leaf at the time he took the Exchanger under his wing.

Mercurial hues widened a bit at the embrace, his body tensing for only a moment before arms lifted to return the action, bringing Crystal’s body closer to his own and exhaling softly. Lips pursed at her words, as if trying to find some crack in her wording; to find some way of saying he couldn’t be a good person. No matter how bad a person was, for their child, could they be good–? Was that a thing?

He would probably never know.

‘ I don’t know. ‘ He admitted at last. ‘ Maybe he still will when I try to take him down. I won’t know until later when that time comes, Crystal… ‘