Silver

Silver in Pokémon: HeartGold and SoulSilver Versions.
Silver
Species	Human
Hair color	Red
Eye color	Red
Relatives	Giovanni (father)
Debut	Pokémon: Gold Version/Pokemon: Silver Version

Silver is a the rival character of Pokémon Gold, Silver, Crystal Versions, HeartGold and SoulSilver Versions.

Background

Silver was the son of Giovanni, the criminal mastermind in charge of Team Rocket. He was around the same age as Ethan/Lyra, but his upbringing led to him becoming a more cold-hearted trainer. As seen in a flashback of HeartGold and SoulSilver, after Giovanni's loss to Red, Silver was surprised and annoyed that his father, with his entire organization, had lost to a child. Giovanni left to train alone, but Silver refused to be like him and did not want to depend on weaklings. So he left to begin achieving his dreams of being the best Pokémon trainer while treating his Pokémon as weapons of war (briefly bumping into a time-traveling Ethan/Lyra in their true first meeting). Silver despised those whom he considered to be the weak, Pokémon and trainers alike, and sought strength above all so that he could wipe out the weak.

As shown in Gold, Silver, Crystal, HeartGold and SoulSilver, Silver got his first Pokémon (one with a type advantage over Ethan/Lyra's) when he broke into the lab of Professor Elm and stole it. As he passed through Cherrygrove City, he met with Ethan/Lyra and battled them. Whether or not he lost, Silver then told the trainer his name and ambition before passing along. Ethan/Lyra next encountered him at the Sprout Tower, where he had brutally defeated the Pokémon of the elder Li in order to receive HM 01: Flash. Li complied with the deal, but also warned him against dealing harshly with his Pokémon. Silver ignored his advice, called him weak and left.

Silver then confronted Ethan/Lyra by the gate to the Ilex Forest after hearing that Team Rocket had returned. Silver harbored his own hatred for Team Rocket and said that their members were all weak individually, so he was eager to defeat them. After Ethan/Lyra claimed to have beaten the local Team Rocket members, Silver battled them to test his strength. He lost and blamed this defeat on his Pokémon being weak. Silver wanted Ethan/Lyra to stay out of his way so he could take down Team Rocket. They then met at the Burned Tower in Ecruteak City, where Silver was hoping to find a legendary Pokémon. Finding Ethan/Lyra there, he assumed that they were also after the legendary Pokémon and battled them again to see who was more worthy. After being beaten again, he claimed that Ethan/Lyra would never be able to catch a legendary Pokémon anyway and left.

Silver's original Gold/Silver art.

Ethan/Lyra ran into Silver as he left the Olivine Gym, finding it empty due to the gym leader Jasmine taking care of a sick Ampharos. Silver expressed frustration at this, as from his point of view a Pokémon that could not battle was worthless, and weak Pokémon should just be let go. He also suggested Ethan/Lyra train at the lighthouse to become less weak, which coincidentally turned out to be where Jasmine was. Silver then sought to fulfill his vendetta against Team Rocket and fought his way through their base in Mahogany Town. However, he was easily defeated by Lance this time and met with Ethan/Lyra on his way out. He was haunted by Lance's words that he didn't love and trust his Pokémon enough.

Silver later followed Ethan/Lyra into the Team Rocket base at Goldenrod City and then prepared to defeat the trainer so that they would not get in the way during his battle with Team Rocket. In HeartGold/SoulSilver, he was actually following Ethan/Lyra to find Lance in an attempt to get a rematch with him, and when he saw the trainer trying to disguise their self as a Team Rocket member, he forced them to take off the uniform, exposing the trainer to Team Rocket. When Silver confronted Ethan/Lyra again in the underground warehouse, he challenged them to another battle. Chalking his previous losses up to being flukes, he wanted to repay his debts. Silver lost again to Ethan/Lyra and began to wonder if Lance was right, but he stil remained committed to his dreams of becoming the greatest Pokémon trainer.

In HeartGold and SoulSilver, he was also seen leaving the Kimono Girls' home after being defeated by them. Silver did not meet Ethan/Lyra again until he approached the Indigo Plateau to take on the Pokémon League challenge. Silver said it was impossible due to Ethan/Lyra being so much weaker than him and claimed that his Pokémon had become invincible since their last battle. The following defeat caused Silver to have a full epiphany, and he left to find out what he lacked. Silver swore to still become the strongest trainer and then defeat Ethan/Lyra.

Silver next battled Ethan/Lyra at the entrance to Mt. Moon after making his way to Kanto. Despite another loss, Silver this time admitted defeat and demonstrated humility before he departed for further training. However, his dialogue is altered in HeartGold/SoulSilver to undo his having a full epiphany yet; he still blamed his loss on his Pokémon being weak, although he also admitted that they were getting stronger after each battle, and he decided to train them at the Dragon's Den.

He then traveled to the Dragon's Den and began training there, but he was disappointed that the Master of the dragon clan refused to teach him anything. The first time that Ethan/Lyra visited him there in HeartGold/SoulSilver, Lance and Clair showed up, and Silver immediately challenged Lance to a battle. Lance proposed a double battle with him and Ethan/Lyra against Silver and Clair, but Silver refused to work with Clair because of her embarrassing costume. Thus it became a double battle with Ethan/Lyra and Silver working together against Lance and Clair. After they won, Silver felt that it was not supposed to go that way and promised that he would defeat Ethan/Lyra by training both his Pokémon and his heart.

In all versions, Silver was ultimately found training in the Dragon's Den every Tuesday and Thursday, but he made sure not to push his Pokémon too hard. Every Monday and Wednesday, Silver would appear at the Indigo Plateau to challenge Ethan/Lyra again, showing humility each time he was defeated.

Pokémon Roster

Throughout the seven battles with Silver in the game, he uses the following Pokémon:

• Chikorita/Bayleef/Meganium, Cyndaquil/Quilava/Typhlosion, or Totodile/Croconaw/Feraligatr - Silver's stolen starter Pokémon. He picks whichever Pokémon has a type advantage against the one chosen by the player. This starter Pokémon first evolves prior to the Ilex Forest battle and then again before the Goldenrod battle (although Quilava instead evolves before the Victory Road battle).
• Gastly/Haunter/Gengar - Blue first uses Gastly during the Ilex battle. It evolves into Haunter by the Burned Tower battle and Gengar by the Mt. Moon battle.
• Zubat/Golbat/Crobat - Silver first uses this Pokémon during the Ilex Forest battle. It evolves into Golbat by the Goldenrod City battle and into Crobat only before the Indigo Plateau rematches. This seems to be a subtle acknowledgment of Silver treating his Pokémon better, as Golbat evolves through happiness.
• Magnemite/Magneton - First used during the Burned Tower battle. It becomes a Magneton by the Victory Road battle.
• Sneasel - First used during the Goldenrod City battle.
• Kadabra/Alakazam - First used during the Victory Road battle. It evolves by the Mt. Moon battle.

Other Pokémon Games

Silver appears in Pokémon Stadium 2 as the final boss of the Gym Leader's Castle in all modes. Referred to as simply the Rival, his Pokémon roster in this game consists only of the legendary Pokémon Mewtwo, Ho-Oh and Lugia.

Other Appearances

Other Media

• Within the Pokémon anime, Silver has only made a cameo appearance in the Japanese opening for the Pokémon Chronicles episode "Legend of Thunder", where Jimmy (the anime version of Gold) was seen looking up angrily at Silver after Silver had defeated his Cyndaquil with a Nidoking. It is also believed that Paul, a rival character for Ash in the Diamond and Pearl series, was loosely based on Silver due to similar battling attitudes and somewhat similar physical appearances.
• In the Pokémon Adventures manga, Silver is originally featured in the Gold/Silver/Crystal arc after making a foreshadowing cameo in the last chapter of the Yellow arc. It is later revealed that as a child he had been captured by the Mask of Ice with Lugia and raised with other children to serve as his heartless servants. He was paired with Green, but the two were able to escape him. Afterwards they remained in contact as they sought the truths about their parents as well as seeking to bring down the Mask of Ice. He steals Professor Elm's Totodile as part of this and makes his way across Johto, while being pursued by Gold, although eventually they begin to befriend each other until they are attacked by the Mask of Ice and nearly killed. However, Entei is able to bring them to safety until Chrystal saves them, and the three unite for the final battles against the Mask of Ice and Team Rocket, with Silver taking down Will, another of children raised by the Mask of Ice. Silver reappears in FireRed/LeafGreen, where Yellow brings Silver to Viridian City to find his parents, knowing that he must have come from there by scanning the memory of the Sneasel Silver had since childhood. Giovanni is ultimately revealed as Silver's father, and although Silver is initially disgusted by this, Giovanni seemingly sacrifices himself holding Silver above burning wreckage later, with Giovanni's final fate unknown. This causes Silver to begin respecting his father. At the end of the arc he is turned into stone with the other Pokédex-bearing trainers until they are all revived by a wish on Jirachi at the end of the Emerald arc, at which point all the Pokédex trainers team up against Archie and the fake Kyogre. He later played a large role in the HeartGold/SoulSilver arc. Out of the ten Pokédex trainers, Silver is shown to specialize in Pokémon training.
• In the Pokémon Generations anime, Silver was featured in one episode where Looker questioned him about Giovanni's whereabouts. This appearance included a flashback to Silver and Giovanni's conversation from HeartGold/SoulSilver.

Trivia

• Like the previous rival, his name is chosen by the player. His canon name is not confirmed, but the name of Silver is taken from his default names in Gold and Crystal. Another popular fan name for him is Kamon, which is taken from the possible names for the male player character in HeartGold/SoulSilver.
• Silver was first implied to be Giovanni's son in FireRed and LeafGreen Versions, where a scientist mentions that Giovanni's son has red hair, which was accompanied by the Adventures adaptation of those games directly showing Silver being Giovanni's son. This was finally confirmed for game canon in HeartGold/SoulSilver.