Chapter Ten: The Pokémon Clubhouse

Morning light blazed over my face and woke me from a deep sleep, filled with colorful and terrifying dreams. I roll over and wonder what time it is, this room has no clock and is completely bare, it's almost depressing.

I force myself out from under the warmth of the blanket and stagger out into the kitchen. I'm greeted by the smell of brewing black tea and berries.

Silver is sitting at the table, eating chunks of cut up mago berries in a bowl of Miltank Cream. A steaming mug placed off to the side while he pours over something on a tablet in his hand.

"Good morning," I offer as I pour myself a mug of tea and portion some fruit into my bowl. I grab the cream and hope that he checked it, since the night before he was worried his food had spoiled.

"Morning." He says curtly, all remains of what happened last night seemed to have evaporated while we slept. "Make sure you're ready in the next hour so we can head out."

I look up at Slowpoke clock and note that it's 7:30 in the morning. I chew on the sweet fruit and find joy in how delicious the simple combination is.

"If you have a sick sweet tooth there's Honey on the table too." He stands and clears his spot, "I'm going to take a shower before we go. Feel free to do whatever."

I chose to pour some Honey into my bowl, I do have a sick sweet tooth. Delight spreads through me as I devour what's left in and rinse my dish. I gulp the rest of my tea and head back to my room so that I can change.

I button my dress up over leggings and tie my hair back to keep it out of my face. Excitement blazes in me as I strap my belt on and walk into the living room.

Silver is already waiting, pouring water into a thermos and screwing the lid on tight. He's doing so while looking at the Slowpoke clock, I also glance and see that it's 8:15.

"Ready?" He asks, snatching a set of keys off of a small hook, which I hadn't noticed before. A Dhelmise, that one I thought was really cute and I grinned. "Why are you smiling?" He demands.

"I actually really like your key hook," I point at it and grin again.

He blushes briefly and stuffs the keys in his pocket, "we should go." Without looking at me he heads towards the door and I scurry after him.

He opens the door and after I step out he shuts it behind me, locking it and cleaning what looks like a Wailmer Pail.

"It's a camera in the eye," he mentions when he notices me watching him.

It makes sense that he's paranoid, I am too. I always have been and especially since I had made my escape. It was strange to think that was a month ago. I felt like I hadn't made much progress, yet a lot had changed. I had slacked on my training the last couple of days.

Silver climbed into a silvery blue, square car. There wasn't a roof on it and it sported beige bucket seats. Delight coursed through me as I opened the door and seated myself in the sun warmed vehicle. It smelled of the outdoors and orange. A smell that kept repeating itself around Silver.

I pushed a dark bit of hair that had worked itself from my hair-tie behind my left ear and peered out at the road ahead of us. Paved in a yellowish gravel and winding, cloaked in the hanging fog that was the essence of Lavender Town.

Scenery flickered past me and I drank it in with wonder. Trees spun past, a blur as they faded one into the next. Eventually woods gave way into brown and grey rocky crags, spattered here and there with green foliage.

Everything raced by in a quick gallop; wind blew through my hair and traced my face as the scent of dust mixed with the sweet smell of my perfume. I hadn't said a single word, just stared in awe at how beautiful the world was from down here.

Eventually I could smell water and leaned forwards towards the windshield to see the frothing depths ahead.

I look over at Silver for the first time since we've left and notice that he's smiling while staring straight ahead.

"Are we almost there?" I ask, feeling like a child and not really caring all that much in this moment.

We are, the sign is right coming into view and he points.

The sign reads 'Vermilion City' "The Port of exquisite sunsets."

I feel myself trembling as we drive into town, the air coming off the coast is brisk and smells delicious. We've slowed down to a crawl as we drive through town and find a spot to park near the docks. Silver looks worried as he tucks the keys into his pocket and glances around the area.

"You must have insurance, so if it gets stolen it's no big deal." I shrug to try and lighten his mood. "I'll pay for the cab back to Lavender Town if it happens."

He looks even less assured than before I spoke and we walk away from the docks, I follow a few paces behind him since I have no idea where we're going.

Finally I see a yellow building looming in the distance and decide that must we where we're heading. I can make out that there's a sign in the front but I'm unable to read what it says from where I stand.

As we gain ground I can make out the words "Pokémon Clubhouse."

I look at Silver inquisitively, he seems to be moving straight forwards towards this clubhouse.

"Are we going into the clubhouse?" I ask, unable to keep the surprise out of my voice.

"We are, I promise that it'll be worth it. This is why we came here." He seems determined and I decide not to question it.

"I've never been to a Pokémon Clubhouse," curiosity is getting the best of me now.

Silver doesn't respond, just strides up to the door and raps on it three times. There's a momentary pause, then an eyepiece slides forwards and reveals a shining pair of sunglasses. The sunglasses bob up and now in what appears to be excitement and I hear the sound of locks being undone.

"Sukizo!" Silver greets a man kindly when the door opens.

The man is a little taller than Silver, sporting a thick grey beard speckled with silver and white. Sunglasses cover his eyes and he's wearing a stone colored hat with a matching suit. There's something endearing about him and I find that I instantly like him.

"Come in," Sukizo beckons with his hand in a rapid motion and shuts the door quickly behind us. "Who's this?" He asks, looking at me with a tinge of distrust across his brow.

"I should have called, I apologize." Silver wipes his hand on the dark blue jeans he's wearing and then runs it through his crimson hair. "This is my sister, Jun."

Sukizo pulled his sunglasses down, revealing widened eyes and says nothing.

I notice a beautiful Rapidash painting hung in his living room and a Fearow by whom appeared to be the same artist. Adjacent from each other they gave the room an interesting contrast that I approved of.

Silver cleared his throat and continued, "I came in hopes that you might have my list."

I turn my attention to him and Sukizo, who is stroking his beard thoughtfully. He nods eventually and scurries away towards a desk piled with papers. The sound of shuffling and crinkling can be heard filling the silent space.

This building came off as a giant lobby; three overstuffed green couches surrounded a large rectangular table. We were the only three people inside and the large room was feeling rather strange.

Sukizo returns from the desk that he has shoved in the corner, clutching a manila envelope in his hand. Silver reaches for it and Sukizo pulls it back abruptly while shaking his head.

Silver looks annoyed and pulls his billfold out, offering the man a few crisp bills.

Sukizo taps his cane on the ground a few times and then snatches the money from Silver, shoving the envelope into his hands in turn. Sukizo sure doesn't say much. Which I found strange but Silver was calm so I didn't let my concern show.

Looking satisfied Silver motions for me to follow him and we take our leave silently.

"What the fuck was that?" I said once we had put ground between ourselves and the Pokémon Clubhouse.

"He doesn't say much but he has a lot of information. One of the gifts of staying quiet is that people hate silence, so it makes them divulge things within it." Silver smirks and looks down at the envelope, I can tell he's burning to open it.

I'm starving at this point and glance around, wanting something to eat. "Can we go to the Pokémon Center? I'm starving!" I beg. This morning's Mago berries and cream had worn thin at this hour.

We grab a couple of box lunches from the Pokémon Center and climb into Silver's car. I sit silently, watching in awe again as the landscape races by. Holding both of our lunches in my lap and running a finger over the grooves on my car door.

We arrive back at his house around an hour after the sun had sunk down past the horizon. Lavender Town and it's eerie mist press down on the windowless car and I shiver.

Unlocking the door we clamor inside and Silver tosses himself at the kitchen table with the envelope. He opens it carefully while I unpack our lunches and fill a pitcher with water in the center of the table.

Slowpoke clock reads 8:30.

I sit next to Silver so I can see what was inside the envelope. His hands are shaking as he reads whatever it is and the rushes away, pulling a pen and notepad from a drawer before plopping into his chair.

"Can I see?" I press, leaning closer to him.

He rolls his eyes and turns himself so that I can see the paper.

"You need to eat," I push his food towards him. I'm already almost finished with my first rice ball and am reaching for another one.

"I thought you wanted to see," he smacks me with the paper and holds it back in front of us.

"All I can see are names, addresses and phone numbers." I complain, the reveal was extremely anticlimactic.

"Yeah there are almost a hundred names here," Silver whispers while furiously writing math on the notepad he had retrieved.

I'm pretty uneducated, honestly so the math he's writing looks like a foreign language. I can read and write or whatever but I'm ignorant to history and all but simple math.

"So what do the names mean?" I need answers and he isn't talking enough. I'm finishing my third rice ball and he hasn't even touched his first one. "Eat." I command.

He glares and picks up a ball, stuffing most of it into his mouth in one bite and chewing before he answered me. "They're the rebels we're looking for," he gulps water greedily and wipes his lips with a sleeve.

Dubious, I look at the list again but still had no idea who any of the people were.

"How do you know that? Sukizo never even spoke while we were there, except to question who I was!" I proclaim.

"Because I've been wanting it for awhile, he's been compiling it over a course of time." Silver scribbled down a few more things onto the notepad and started on another rice ball.

When he had poured over the list to his content he sat back and finished his last rice ball.

I open the fridge and see that rather than spoiled food inside there's nothing aside from a few cans of lemonade, 3 mago berries and a large bottle of wine. Shrugging I pull out the wine and dig for a proper glass.

"You aren't old enough," he admonishes.

"Like I care," I pour the red liquid into a crystal glass and look over at him, raising the bottle questioningly.

"Why not?" He sighs, retiring to the idea of having a drink.

I grab another glass and fill it up for him, the acrid smell wafted up to me and I winced. Walking over and handing him the glass. He took a long swig as I collected the lunch boxes and tossed them into recycling.

Silver pulled out a box from a drawer I didn't know his table had. Opening it he revealed what appeared to be cigarettes lined up in a row. Pulling one out he lit it and inhaled deeply.

"You smoke?" I exclaim.

"Only when I drink," he grimaces as a tendril of smoke wafts it's way into his eyes.

I take a sip of the wine, it doesn't taste as sweet as I thought it would.

Silver chuckles as we imbibe together for the first time. "Is it bitter?" He asks.

I make a face before taking another drink of it.

Silver stands and pulls a Mago Berry from the fridge, swiftly cutting it he squeezes some into my glass and places the rest into a pitcher. He then adds a little of the honey on the table and pours the bottle of wine over the mixture. He opens the freezer and removes frozen cubed Custap Berries and throws them in.

I drink what's left in my glass, which has been improved by the Mago Juice and serve myself a glass of his concoction. It's much better and within the hour we've finished it all.

"Wanna have a battle?" He asks through his inebriated state.

I'm trying to focus on a single thing while the room spins around me and I hold my head. "I'm not sure I can," I admit.

"Haven't you ever drank before?" Silver wipes his brow with a blue sleeve, his cheeks are red and a sloppy grin is plastered on his face.

"I haven't," I feel really sick now.

He stands up and pours a glass of water for me, opening a cabinet above the sink he pulls out a bottle.

"This will help you not feel like shit," he opens the bottle and taps whatever is in the bottle into the glass. "Drink." Pushing it towards me he turns and begins rinsing out the empty pitcher. "We can battle tomorrow," he adds as he inspects my morose face.

I take a hesitant sip from my glass and sigh in relief when I'm met with a mild lemon flavor. I finish the glass easily and Silver fills it once more with plain water, which I guzzle.

"If you can manage to take a shower before you go to sleep you should," he looks at me thoughtfully. "It'll help you as well."

I nod and stand up, almost toppling into the counter. Silver is by my side quickly and guides me to my room. Once there he goes into the closet and retrieves a small plastic stool which he brings into the bathroom. I hear water turn on and steam starts to leak into the bedroom.

"There's a stool in the tub. Sit on it so you don't fall over while you're in there. When you're finished make sure you put clothes on so I can come make sure you haven't died."

Embarrassment floods over me in my stupor and I lay on the bed until he leaves. Shakily I get up and make my way into the bathroom, stripping off my clothes I stagger into the shower. I'm met by a blast of hot water that takes my breath away. I feel foolish sitting on the stool but nobody's here to judge me for it.

After a very long time my dizziness started to wane and I excused myself from the shower, quickly drying and dressing into my pajamas. Shivering I braid my hair since it's wet and crawl into bed.

I pull the covers up to my chin, I feel much better than I had before I took the shower and drank whatever Silver had given me.

I open my eyes and blink in confusion. Had I fallen asleep? Sunlight bathed my room and I sat up in bed, braids looking frazzled. What time is it?

Groaning I push myself out of bed and into the bathroom, afterwards I make my way into the kitchen. Silver is sitting at the table, eating a Mago berry whole and looking at me as I enter the room.

"Finally awake?" He chides, a devilish grin vanishes as soon as it emerged.

I look at Slowpoke clock and see that it's 9:30 in the morning. "Oh shit," I mutter while rubbing sleep from my eyes.

"I made sure you were breathing," he has the list open again with his phone sitting in front of him. "I've been making arrangements while you were asleep."

"Did you sleep?" I wonder out loud.

He nods and goes to the sink to wash his hands. "I think our main focus needs to be bringing down Giovanni, Cleyera and anyone else in the Grand Room at the base. Then once we've seized control we can work to undo everything that we can, before relinquishing the organization to the police."

The Grand Room was an area at Team Rocket headquarters where Giovanni held meetings with his top Team Rocket members.

The plan makes sense but it's extremely dangerous. I'm ready to start though, ready to build an army and seize control.

This will be our moment.