Redemption

Chapter 12

        Silver didn't take his eyes off of her for even a moment. "I trusted you." Those words replayed in his head along with the pain behind them. It left behind a degree of guilt that he hadn't felt in quite a while.

        He recalled back when he had first stolen Totodile how the small pokémon would cry after his insults towards it. He hadn't been bothered by the pokémon's behavior until one day, a particular trainer caught him berating Totodile after their loss. "You keep blaming your pokémon for not being strong, but you're actually the weak one. A pokémon can't be strong for someone they can't even rely on. What good do you think talking to them like that brings?"

        Silver remembered throwing hands with that particular trainer, losing, and then feeling what his own pokemon had felt as the trainer talked down on him while pressing his face into the dirt. It was...an experience to say the least. He became a stronger trainer because of it and came to know the importance of respect and trust. That's why it was sickening for him to have seemingly turned on someone who had given him their own trust, and maybe even respect, after knowing him for just a little over a week.

        "Silver." Hau had been trying to catch his attention for the past minute. "Hey, you did what you could. I don't blame you for what happened, so don't be so hard on yourself." The green haired boy had known him for even less time and already felt that Silver couldn't have harmed his friend on purpose. It confused him more than anything how these people found no fault in him. True, Silver had explained the situation after carrying (y/n) to the pokémon center, but he expected some sort of backlash. This type of forgiveness was making him feel worse.

        "I know," Silver quietly spoke, still not taking his eyes off the unconcious girl in front of him. He hadn't left her room nor her side after the pokémon center's nurse had taken her in. Although her injuries had been taken care of, she had not broken from her slumber despite the sun having already set just moments ago.

        Hau had only recently returned. He was the island's Kahuna and had to delegate his responsibilities to others for the afternoon before coming back to check on his friend. It was Hau that had gathered (y/n)'s fainted pokémon in their pokéballs and called the pokémon center in advance. The only ones who hadn't arrived yet after being called were...

        Gladion threw open the room's door and marched right over to Silver. "Why did you let this happen?" Gladion demanded as he lifted Silver from his seat by the collar of his shirt and threw him against the wall. Silver found himself unable to speak in the wake of Gladion's anger. He had just barely missed the window to their left, which was a relief because Silver definitely didn't want to be thrown through a window.

        "Hey, calm down, Gladion." Hau put a hand firmly onto Gladion's shoulder. "He's the one that called me and brought her here. If he wanted to hurt her, then he wouldn't have helped her."

        "Get off me Hau," Gladion hissed, still not taking his eyes off Silver's. "I left her in your care thinking you would be able to handle looking after her for a bit, and this is what you cause?"

        Hau's grip on Gladion's shoulder tightened. "Gladion. That's enough."

        "I said get off me," Gladion warned.

        Silver reached up to take hold of Gladion's wrist, slightly tugging it away. "She wanted me to meet Tapu Koko. I didn't know any of this would happen." He spoke as calmly as he could, his own agitation beginning to grow. He did ask for backlash, but this was a little bit more than he had bargained for.

        Gladion, very reluctantly, let him go and began to walk away. "The least you could have done was control your own pokémon," he remarked. That struck a nerve.