•Kanto Ops HQ, Viridian City, Kanto•
•March 5th•
•Amber (Wolfe Alias) POV•
Chapter Forty-Six
The Wager
For the rest of the day, Silver pretty much left me alone. He came in every once in a while, but he pretty much refused to even look at me, much less speak to me. I knew I had pissed him off greatly, but I figured the silence was a nice treat, anyway. I figured that I'd find some way to make the whole teacher-student thing work, even though the possibility of us being even comrades pretty much was slim to none thanks to that last argument.
Still, I enjoyed the rest of the day despite the pain in my ribs. I really felt like moving around, but I figured I'd comply long enough just to spare myself another argument. Sleep that night was dreamless, for once—thankfully.
The next day, I ended up getting out of bed, myself, since by the time I checked my alarm clock, it was already about ten in the morning and there was no sign of Silver. The pain actually wasn't as bad as I carefully stepped out of bed and put weight on my right foot. The pain was sharp at first, but it grew into more of a dull ache as I stretched my stiff body.
I was pretty lucky my body always seemed to heal quickly. I was curious as to see the actual damage of the wound, but I knew better than to unwrap the gauze. I limped over to the wheelchair, contemplated sitting in it, then decided I'd be fine just walking.
The walking process was slow and arduous, but I made it to my room's door. I was actually a bit nervous opening it, since if Silver would have been awake, I'd definitely get a thorough chewing-out. I turned the knob and entered my living room to find it surprisingly empty.
What the hell? Did he escape?
A surge of panic entered my mind as I scanned the room to see it was empty. Silver definitely did a nice job cleaning up the place. It hadn't been that clean in almost a year, which made me feel somewhat like a slob. I shrugged my shoulders before heading back to my wheelchair.
Better go tell Darrius that Silver is missing.
I figured D was in his office, which was quite a walk from quarters.
As I got into my wheelchair, I realized that wheeling myself with the hurt ribs actually hurt worse than walking since I had to use my arm, so, I quickly changed my mind and decided to walk instead, even though that, too, hurt.
I exited quarters and made my way opposite of the hospital wing. From there, I passed a few offices, some classrooms, briefing rooms, and came to the elevator that led to above ground. It was slow work, but I managed. No one seemed to notice as I trudged along with a limp.
I finally approached Darrius' office and stopped short. I heard what I guessed to be a heated argument inside. I couldn't make out the voices through the thick wooden door, but I figured that they were both male, and I figured one was Darrius since naturally, it was his office.
I knocked curtly and waited as I heard both voices stop short. A few seconds later, the door opened a crack, and I saw none other than Silver's red eyes glaring at me. I glared back.
"Who is it?" I heard Darrius.
"It's Wolfe," Silver replied distastefully.
"Let her in."
Silver opened the door, and I limped in and turned my gaze to Darrius, who was sitting behind his oak desk. I could feel Silver's eyes bore into the back of my skull as I made my way to the desk, but I ignored him.
"What are you doing out of bed and walking around, Agent?" Darrius asked me seriously.
"I wanted to report that HE was missing, but I see now that it's all taken care of," I replied a bit harshly as I cut Silver a nasty glare out the corner of my eye.
"I see. Silver, we'll finish our little talk later. Go back to your quarters for now. Wolfe, have a seat." Darrius instructed.
I heard the door practically slam shut as Silver left. I sat down in an office chair opposite of Darrius across the desk. "What was that all about?" I asked.
Darrius sighed. "Can't you two learn how to get along?"
"Let me guess, he was filing a complaint?" I smirked.
"No, more like he was telling me everything you told him… Wolfe, don't make me demote you." There was no play in D's tone.
"Oh," I was caught a bit short.
Crap! He told Darrius that I said I was Amber?!
"Well, what did you want me to do? The pain meds are reacting with my system, D. I keep getting these weird dreams, and I end up talking in my sleep at the end of them. How do I explain THAT to Silver? He's not an idiot. Though he sure tries my patience..." I sighed.
"What patience?" Darrius smirked. "Still, fine, so you want to just suffer without the pain meds?"
"Yes, please. I can't give any more details away. Silver's suspicious of me as it is. It's just getting worse. And we're not getting along, and now I'm holed up with him?!" I grumbled.
Darrius looked at me sternly. "He told me that you said you were Amber. Why'd you say that?"
"Because, if I'd say it, he'd never believe it. And from what I'm guessing, I'm right since he went complain to you." I looked at him exhaustedly.
"He came in here and chewed me out because of what you said. I'm not sure what he's thinking, to be honest. Wolfe, you're risking your life doing this; don't forget that. You can't afford any more slip-ups; otherwise, you're through. Understand me?" Darrius was making direct eye contact.
"I know you wish you could tell him everything, but that can't be the case, no matter what. Quit being selfish and start thinking rationally! And, since I see you're walking around, I want you to start teaching him today. Understood?" He added sternly.
"Today?! What the hell am I supposed to teach him?! I don't have any lesson plans." I bristled.
"Actually, you know what? Better yet, I'll be the instructor. I'll teach you both." He was clearly fed up.
"What?! You've got to be kidding me, D! You're the boss man, not the teacher man. Besides, I'll behave, I promise." I knew I had screwed up.
"Too late for that. You need to learn to get along with him. I think this is the best opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. You and he will learn to get along, and he'll learn the ropes of being an Op. Today I think I'll start with a tag battle." His mind was clearly made up.
"Tag battle? As in we're battling you? We don't really do that in normal class…" I pointed out.
"No, but it'll teach you how to work as a team, which is essential for this mission." He explained.
"Oh, right… So it'll be me and him versus you?" I asked curiously.
"Actually, your friend, Dex dropped by earlier. He's still in a wheelchair, but he'll be my battle partner. We'll each use three Pokémon. And, I want you to use your actual Pokémon, not Repede. Understood?" Darrius said sternly.
"Yes sir," I replied a little glumly.
"I've never seen you so unenthused for a battle before in my life," Darrius chuckled. His tone dropped its seriousness, which meant the lecture was over.
I sighed. "Well, I'm not looking forward to working with Silver for this."
Darrius smiled. "Keep your head up, Agent. This will show you both just how much you need to work on your teamwork. And, how about I add a bonus wager, since I know how much you like betting things."
"What's that?" He had my attention.
"You two win, I'll let you be the teacher again. I win, you two will have to complete the Kanto Op survival course—with no Pokémon. Sound like a deal?" He acted like he was handing me a treat instead of a potential death sentence. I heard horror stories about the notorious Kanto Op Challenge.
"Damn, D! That's a bit unfair! But fine, fine. Whatever. What time will we battle?" I agreed anyway.
"How about we all eat breakfast, and then we head to the underground stadium?" He suggested.
"Alright, it's a deal." I tried to stand up, but the pain was rearing its nasty head.
Darrius tsked me. "I'll carry you back since you're so rash. We'll head to your quarters to put you in your wheelchair and pick up Silver. Then we'll go get Dex and head to the mess hall."
"Okay," I said as Darrius lifted me out of the chair.
I felt like a kid as the burly man carried me back to my quarters. I noticed we got quite a few stares from other Ops and people in general, but I figured that was natural since he was the boss and there he was carrying his top agent back to her room because she was too injured to walk.
When we finally got to my quarters, Darrius easily opened the door and dropped me off in my wheel chair in my room. I ignored Silver, who was doing who knows what on his sofa in my living room. Apparently, Darrius explained everything that was going on to Silver because next thing I knew, Silver vehemently refused to push me around—until Darrius got on his case. And so, with that, the three of us left our quarters and headed to the men's quarters, where we'd get Dex.
I felt Silver's eyes bore into the back of my skull again as he pushed my chair, and if I had eyes in the back of my head, I was certain I would have been using them to glare right back at him. I had my bag situated on my lap, and Silver had his pokeballs at his waist as well.
At least when we got Dex, I was a little bit happier since Darrius ended up pushing him alongside me, so the two of us chatted happily about how each of us were faring. He looked like he was feeling much better, so I was glad.
We all ate in silence after we got our food in the mess hall. Dex and I sat by each other, and Darrius and Silver sat across the table from us. I felt Silver's eyes bore into my skull once more as we ate, but I ignored him. Breakfast was decent, and soon enough, we were all finished eating. We all let our Pokémon out to eat as we ate, and everyone seemed to be happy to have their stomachs filled. I recalled my team first, and Darrius and Dex followed.
Silver then recalled his Pokémon, which I noted he had quite a few new ones since I last saw him—including a green Zubat, which I thought were normally dark blue in color. When he got to Sneasel, though, we were all in for a bit of a shock as the dark Pokémon vehemently shook his head. Silver then began to berate the poor thing, and Sneasel stomped his foot and started chattering back. Dex, Darrius, and I all watched as the scene between the two started to draw attention from others.
Suddenly, Sneasel stopped and sniffed the air. He then looked at me as his eyes went wide, and the next thing I knew, he jumped onto my lap, which startled me and somewhat hurt since he wasn't exactly wary of my ribs. Silver's face looked like a mix of disgust and shock as Sneasel then happily began chatting to me in his own species' language.
He recognizes my scent, doesn't he? I can't fool Sneasel, he's a Pokémon. He knows me too well. Time for some serious improvising before Silver becomes suspicious.
I started to pet Sneasel's head as I broke out into a smile. I then glared at Silver. "You should be more kind to Sneasel, you know. You might just end up losing him. He seems to have taken a liking to me; maybe it's because he knows a nice trainer when he sees one."
Sneasel looked at me with a curious expression, since obviously he had no clue why I was fussing at his trainer.
Silver glared back at me. "And maybe you just need to keep your nose out of my business."
"Alright, break it up you two." Darrius stepped in.
Silver and I glared at each other, and Sneasel looked at both of us with a concerned expression. "Sneasel, I said return," Silver managed to recall the Pokémon back to his ball while his guard was down, and the black Pokémon disappeared from my lap.
Dex turned to Darrius. "Something tells me we're going to win this…" He said quietly.
"I think you might be right, Dex," Darrius replied with a shake of his head.
After that close call and with us nowhere closer to calling a truce, I had a feeling this battle was likely doomed from the start as well.