amaratuitor:

Had he heard right a moment ago? Did Silver just say that he considered gym challenges a waste of time? Oh, how wonderful! Finally a person with common sense, what a joy! Of course he still had to mention those obnoxious trainers that intended to become champion, but it was a beginning! It indeed encouraged the brunet to show a more relaxed smile as he continued to take the lead, guiding Silver through the outskirts of Mistralton. Houses became less and less, where as the sound of planes took up more space — such was to be expected if you passed by the airport, right? It was one of the more interesting things this city had to offer; aside from the dangerous cannons of the gym. She still had cannons, right…? Or did Skyla actually change the layout of her gym? Hm, maybe he should keep an eye out for information like that. It never hurt to know what the stupid gym leaders were up to. Either way, Touya hummed quietly before he offered the stoic redhead a short nod. “I agree! The gyms get way too much importance, anyway. They shouldn’t be that important,” he uttered quickly, all the while keeping his gaze on the road.

Could he voice more of his thoughts without being dubbed an idiot? A maniac and crazy person? It had happened so many times in the past, because no one liked to admit that they were in the wrong. The trainers were unwilling to accept the truth for what it was, that they were forcing their Pokémon — their friends — to battle when some of them didn’t even want to do that. It was disgusting, upsetting and in need of change. Yes, he needed to urge his Lord to finally make a move again! They needed to become active if they wanted to change things… He was sick of working in the shadows, only causing passive damage that didn’t matter in the long run anyway.

“To be honest, I tried to challenge the gyms when I was younger. But… It just wasn’t my thing,” Touya shrugged with a deep sigh, still feeling some guilt whenever he thought about it. “I mean— My friends got hurt in battles. For a selfish thing I wanted, right? Trainers rarely ever ask their friends what they want and just expect them to battle every single time they’re released from the confinement of the pokéball.” Disgusting and annoying. If only pokéballs didn’t exist, maybe people would come to realise that they weren’t needed in the first place. But ah, he better shut up now before Silver thought anything weird about him! ♪ Fortunately, he didn’t need to think long for a change of subject, for they had reached the end of town. Nice, he could already see the entrance to Chargestone Cave! Hopefully there wouldn’t be too many trainers lurking about… Especially the ace trainers could be so annoying since they never accepted a no for an answer. Awfully pushy people, huh?

“Ah, look— That’s the entrance to Chargestone Cave! I suppose the easy part is over now. ♪” he laughed ever so cheerfully, glancing over his shoulder to catch a glimpse of the redhead. “Try to avoid trainers. They’re really pesky and won’t stop bugging you once they’ve seen you.” Just a fair warning to the foreigner, right? Whatever the case, the boy made no intention to stop now. While he liked the cave for what it was, he sure as hell wasn’t looking forward to possible battles that awaited the there.

Gyms did indeed get too much importance, Silver could agree with that; especially with the Pokemon Association that managed them all. Granted the president could only do so much since he was only one person, the Exchanger thought that they could’ve done things better in terms of the gym leaders that got involved in criminal affairs and what they were up to. Gym leaders were held too highly, forgiven too often because they were lacking in people to replace them that were just as skilled as the people they had to get rid of because they weren’t doing what they were supposed to and obeying the laws that put limits on them. He was thinking about three certain gym leaders, of course; one of which had disappeared, he had heard, while the other two remained gym leaders for their respective gyms. Giovanni had been the leader of Team Rocket and no one seemed to suspect a thing until he had it in the open, thus leaving Green to be the gym leader in the meantime. From what he heard from Blue, it was Red who was originally supposed to be the gym leader… But then things went down with Lance and the elite four. Elite four and gym leaders alike got too much credit because of their status, bit wasn’t that how humans went? If they were above them on a completely different status, all they could do was think good of them even when there might have been signs there to show they were bad people. Silver knew things like this easily because he had been raised by one of those overly privileged gym leaders that lied in their faces, so at this point it was easy to tell who was really a friend or foe of the Association… Not that he ever said anything. It wasn’t his place, but it was assured he would be a bit more wary around them if alone.

Ah, there he was referring to his pokemon as friends again… It was a little odd to hear, the heir was willing to admit. Partners was something he heard and what he called his own team of pokemon, but things like family and friends sounded a bit off. While he had little friends, the ones he had he took pride in (though he wouldn’t usually express his feelings particularly well outside of his stoicism) because it assured him he wasn’t completely alone as he used to be. He had changed and evolved, and while he was inept with people still and usually was rather independent, there was an effort there surely. Gold considered his pokemon family, however, so he couldn’t complain or judge the brunet beside him. His words that accompanied such a term was something he only half agreed with. Hm, that was certainly a first that he heard something like that, that was for sure. “Some trainers are like that, yes.” he agreed. “There are people out there that only use pokemon as tools for their own greed; to make themselves feel better under the illusion they’re powerful when in truth they’re hiding behind a pokemon–” Like Team Rocket, for example. “Some of them enjoy being as ruthless as their trainers because that’s how they receive praise, and it’s the very same with gym challenging… But it’s not just the pokemon having to battle. The trainer also has to go under pressure.”

“‘What if we lose?’, 'Will they look to me?’, 'Is it my fault because I didn’t prepare them enough?’– Humans will often blame themselves if they lose if they’re not in the former category where ruthlessness and absolute power equals praise.” Meaning the good people, the good trainers that weren’t abusive or like that of Team Rocket that only took and hurt others. “If they’re really your friends, I’m sure they’d tell you if they didn’t want to do it anymore like friends usually do, don’t you think?” There was a moment of silence after his words as if he himself had to take them in, just now realizing the extensiveness he dared to speak for once, metallic hues blinking slowly to look at the other beside him before focusing on the road ahead of them.

“But that’s just words, isn’t it…” he mused. “I’m not in any place to tell people what they can and can’t do. If your pokemon are content, then people should consider your actions laudable.”

His gaze shifted ahead of them towards Chargestone cave when the brunet spoke up moments later, taking in his words with that same general uncaring expression– though a nod of confirmation was given to show he was listening. In the past, the heir had dealt with trainers like that… But luckily his aura seemed to push them off more often than not, thankfully. He always had a schedule to keep, he had things that were important to do, and if people that wasted their time in a cave waiting for people to pass couldn’t understand that, he wasn’t going to waste his time on them anyways. “I’ll try to keep that in mind when we’re inside, Touya.” Silver answered, continuing to follow after him as they neared the cave.

(Source: rocketheir-blog)