Silver first appears, lurking outside of 's lab, looking through the window. When talked to, he will deny everything and push the player away. During the player's journey to 's house, Silver makes his move, stealing one of Elm's two remainings (coincidentally always the one that is strong against the player's choice). He will meet with the player on the outskirts, battling to get through. A policeman will later ask for the name of the rival, and the rival will be called the name the player gives for the rest of the game.
Silver shows a strong dislike. He considers them to be weak and vows to take them, as well as any other weak Trainer, down. He steals a Pokémon from a Trainer and while // attempts to take down Team Rocket and , he interferes to prove himself. It is in the Mahogany hideout that he meets with, of the at. Silver challenges Lance and is easily defeated by the dragon Trainer, who then proceeds to berate Silver for his callous ways of training Pokémon. Though Silver is outraged for losing to someone with such an attitude, the loss and Lance's words ultimately set him on the path to becoming a better person. In HeartGold and SoulSilver, when Team Rocket takes over the, Silver first blows the player's Team Rocket disguise, unaware of the player's plan to sneak in by pretending to be a member of Team Rocket. He later follows the player to the Goldenrod underground and they battle Team Rocket, hoping that Lance will reappear and he can request a rematch.
By the time the player reaches, Silver battles against the player not out of malice, but to prove that he is a good Trainer. He is defeated and departs to continue training. The player battles Silver, and though he loses he claims he can feel his Pokémon getting stronger, and resolves to train at .
After the player has become , Silver can indeed be found training in the Dragon's Den on Tuesday and Thursday, where he cannot be battled. On Monday and Wednesday, he will appear at and will challenge the player to a battle if they appear there. He does not appear at all on Friday or the weekends, indicating that he may in fact take the day off, resting his Pokémon. When battled this seventh and final time at Indigo Plateau, Silver seems to have finally learned to care for his Pokémon properly, as his has evolved to , which only occurs when Golbat is very . This is further expressed in Generation IV when his starts to , much like the player's Pokémon; Professor Elm even expressly states that Silver's Pokémon have come to trust him when Silver returns to the lab, presumably to return the starter he stole. In , Lance and will appear in the Dragon's Den and challenge the player and Silver to a following the battle at giving him the chance to avenge his loss from earlier.
In terms of personality, Silver is initially the darkest of the rivals in the series. While most other rivals are generally good-natured, or at least zestful enough to crack a joke at the player, Silver is (at first) cruel, hateful, power-obsessed, and even physically abusive, pushing the character around several times. Even after he starts to become kinder, he remains a rather serious individual. He does, however, express genuine happiness when Elm allows him to keep the Pokémon he stole.
Giovanni and Silver's relationship is first alluded to in , when Team Rocket at the on asks Red if he is "Giovanni's kid" but concludes he is not, saying that "Giovanni's kid has red hair." More information is revealed in Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver when a is brought to : Celebi takes the player three years to witness Giovanni abandoning Silver to go into seclusion because of his defeat at the hands of . Silver's hate for Team Rocket apparently stems from the failure of his father.
