Character Overview:
Silver is probably the darkest main character in the Pokemon Special manga, and has a rather traumatic childhood. At the age of 2, he was kidnapped by Mask Of Ice, who made him one of the 6 Masked Children trained under his strict and harsh regimen. There, he met Blue, who treated him like an elder sister, and while Blue mastered the skills of evolution, Silver became an expert in Pokemon trading, which later earned the name the Trader from Prof. Oak.
After Silver and Blue escaped from Mask Of Ice, Blue returned to Kanto while Silver stayed in Johto. Although the boy made his official debut in the GSC series, he already had cameo appearances in previous sagas. In the RGB series, he was the acquaintance whom Blue talked to on the phone at the Indigo Plateau, and in the Yellow series, his silhouette was seen when he discussed with Blue about Lance's possible relationship to their childhood kidnapping.
Unable to recall his childhood, Silver has no idea about his roots, and developed a very independent personality. With the exception of Blue, he showed a natural coldness towards others, including Lance, who sent him on various missions and gave him information on Mask Of Ice in exchange. Due to the influence of the masked man's training, Silver is highly skilled in battles, and has a tendency to go for power struggles. He is also an adept theft, and has stolen not only Totodile from Elm and a Pokedex from Oak but also the 8 Gym Badges of Johto to gain entry into the 10th Pokemon League Tournament.
On his quest to seek revenge on Mask Of Ice, Silver frequently encountered Gold, who initially chased after him for stealing Totodile, and later became rivals with him. The boys had more than once argued and fought on many occasions, but gradually learnt to live with each other's different ways and became close companions. Along with Crys, the third Johto Pokedex Holder, as well as their Kanto seniors, Gold and Silver shattered the masked man's evil schemes at the end of the GSC series. It wasn't until the FRLG series that Silver learnt of his relationship with Giovanni, and while he strongly rejected the idea at first, he eventually recognized the true love from his father and accepted him.
Apart from Blue and Gold, Green is another Pokedex Holder who had significant interactions with Silver. In the GSC series, Green disapproved of Silver because of his theft of Totodile and the Pokedex, but in the FRLG series, it was Green who made Silver see how much Giovanni cared for him, and he even openly acknowledged the red-haired boy's talent and contribution, making him feel comfortable being one of them.
Silver apparently has one of the strongest minds among all Pokedex Holders. During his petrified state in the Emerald series, he was still able to remain conscious to the happenings around him, and focused his mind on Brinca's metal ring which Gold placed on his wrist. This enabled his Feraligatr to learn the ultimate attack much quicker than any other starter.
Silver's design is based on the antagonistic rival in the second generation Pokemon Gameboy titles, Pokemon Gold and Silver. His outfit is almost exactly the same as his game counterpart except for a pair of black gloves, which were made for him by Blue. He also carries around a handkerchief which has his name sewn on the corner, and is the key to his past.
Silver's outfit more or less remained the same throughout the GSC series, and his hair grew longer when he returned in the FRLG series. After he was seized by the Team Rocket's Beast Trio and taken onto the TR Battle Airship, Storc dressed him up in a long trench coat with a similar design to the TR uniform, which has a big collar and a flowing cape behind. Silver abandoned this extra attire afterwards. In the HGSS series, he adopted an outfit that matches his HGSS game counterpart, although he kept his gloves. His hair also gained length and a pointed tip on top like his game counterpart. Over the years, Silver's eye colour is constantly greyish silver, which is the significance behind his name.
Silver's journey actually began since he escaped from Mask Of Ice, and he has spent most of his time investigating about the masked man, and gearing up himself to seek revenge one day. He made his first appearance in this series at Prof. Elms' science lab, where he stole Totodile and was incidentally caught by Gold, who mistook Silver as the culprit who snatched his bagpack. The two boys got into an intense battle, and Gold was on the verge of winning before the fight was interrupted by Neo Team Rocket, whom Silver managed to defeat after Gold was knocked out.
The truth was, the theft of Totodile was one of the many missions Silver received from Lance, and the young man has promised to reward Silver with information on Mask Of Ice. As fate would have it, Silver encountered Gold in almost every mission of his, and eventually had a showdown with him at Ecruteak City, after which he started to reveal some of his secrets to Gold. At the Lake of Rage, the two boys were defeated and frozen by the masked man following their successful capture of the red Gyarados, but were fortunately rescued by the legendary beast Entei, who took them to the Whirl Islands.
There, they met the third Pokedex Holder, Crys, and together they battled the diving Pokemon Lugia, who was mysteriously captured before they managed to do so. Silver then returned to Lance to claim his promised reward, and Lance finally read from Sneasel's memory that Mask Of Ice was intending to control time. As his final mission, Silver was sent to the Indigo Plateau to uncover the masked man's real identity, where he fatefully encountered Entei again, and battled it alongside Green. While he was there, Silver also came across Blue, who disguised herself as an odd balding man and used Abra's Teleport to send him away, in hopes of protecting him from the danger in their pending showdown with the masked man.
However, Sneasel snatched a Flower Mail from Blue, which stated the final battleground's location, and Silver headed to the Ilex Forest himself. Unfortunately, he was ambushed and held captive by Will and Karen, until Blue arrived and retaliated with the three Kanto legendary birds. While Blue took on Karen, Silver picked Will as his opponent, and eventually defeated him with his full team. Afterwards, Silver entered the voids of time to chase after Pryce with Gold and Crys, and when the crisis was finally over, he began on another journey to search for his roots across the land, just like Blue did.
2 years following the Mask Of Ice incident, Blue has successfully located her parents on One Island, but Silver was still on his search across the land. The clues he gathered eventually led him to Viridian City, which image actually flashed across his mind when Blue's Abra sent him 'home' with Teleport at the Indigo Plateau during the GSC series. On arrival, he encountered Yellow, who managed to read a fragment of Sneasel's memory featuring the gym statue of Giovanni, the previous Viridian Gymleader, further supporting Silver's postulation that he has spent his early days in the city.
However, the boy's real surprise came when he was confronted by Storc and Oca of the TR Beast Trio. Following a tag battle in which Silver partnered up with Yellow, Storc revealed the shocking truth that Silver was the long lost son of the Team Rocket leader, Giovanni. Silver fainted upon hearing the news, and was snatched away by Storc onto the TR Battle Airship to reunite with Giovanni. Silver later found himself in the same room with an unconscious Giovanni, and mocked at the irony and unfairness of life, refusing to recognize the man as his father.
Afterwards, Deoxys Individual 2 sent Giovanni and Silver away with its black hole, which exit accidentally led them to a crash ground with burning flames. Giovanni risked his life to protect Silver, who was unconscious, and ended up severely injuring himself. Silver finally came to terms with his past and accepted Giovanni after Green pointed out the facts that he has neglected all along, and joined the other Pokedex Holders to provide steering support for Red in controlling the TR Battle Airship. At the end, Silver suffered the unfortunate fate of being turned into stone by Storc along with Red, Green, Blue and Yellow.
2 months later, Mr. Briney shipped the five petrified Dex Holders, Red, Green, Blue, Yellow and Silver, via the S.S. Tidal to the Battle Frontier. The five were placed on the top floor of the Battle Tower at the Pokedex Holders' corner in the disguise of actual statues. From a report Brinca snatched from Team Rocket at the Trainer Tower, Prof. Oak learnt of the wishing powers of the mirage Pokemon Jirachi, which appeared to be the only way to revive the Dex Holders. Emerald, Ruby, Sapphire, Gold and Crys were dispatched to the Battle Frontier in stages to capture Jirachi and safeguard it from the evil Guile Hideout, who was also after the wishing Pokemon. Emerald eventually managed to come to terms with his own feelings with Pokemon, and channelled his wish to Jirachi, reversing the petrifaction of the five seniors.
After regaining mobility, Silver's Feraligatr quickly inherited the ultimate water attack from Brinca's metal ring, and teamed up with other starters to fire off a combined attack to defeat the giant sea monster summoned by Guile Hideout. It unleashed the Triple Hydro Cannon with Blue's Turtley and Ruby's Zuzu.
3 years after the Sevii Islands event, incidents reminiscent of Neo Team Rocket's past deeds were being deliberately repeated in Johto. Silver rationalized that the evil organization was being resurrected again, and was in fear that his father, Giovanni, might be involved as he has disappeared after the Hoenn Battle Frontier battle. He paid a visit to his teacher, Lance, at the Whirl Islands, but unfortunately, the man has gone missing. From Clair, Silver learnt that Lance was onto something related to Arceus, Plates and the newly opened Safari Zone. Paying a visit to the park, Silver was ambushed by Petrel of the Four Generals, but was able to learn that there were a total of 16 Plates. Silver also met Crys, who later joined him on his quest to Ecruteak City to get help from Morty. They were ambushed by Ariana, however, on their way, and after flooring Ariana's Pokemon with the Rhyperior he traded from Green, he continued on his way to Ecruteak while Crys stayed behind to fight. When he finally met Morty, who happened to be in Gold's company, the Alpha Pokemon Arceus landed on Ecruteak and destroyed the Gym, knocking Silver unconscious in the process.
Arceus was already gone when Silver came around, and with Morty's help as well as Weavile's networking, he quickly gathered the 16 Plates across Johto. He found Crys, who was knocked down from the sky by Arceus, and together they headed to the Ruins of Alph to join Gold. A synchrony between the Alpha Pokemon and the 16 Plates sent everyone to the Sinjoh Ruins, where Arceus was chained and controlled by the Four Generals. Silver was forced to hand over the Plates, and after overwhelming the trio with Arceus's Multitype ability, Archer got it to start the creation of Dialga, Palkia and Giratina. It turned out that everything the Four Generals did was aimed at getting Giovanni to return. Yet, Petrel had a personal agenda and blinded Silver with his Golbat's Lick. Silver refused to give in, and threw himself out onto the Mystri Stage to distract the Generals, giving Gold and Crys the chance to unleash the three starters' ultimate attacks, which vaporized the dragon trio and allowed Arceus to regain the 16 Plates. Crys healed Silver's eyes with Parapeon, but soon enough, they realized that the dragons have materialized once more, and to Silver's shock, Giovanni suddenly arrived with Lance and Pryce, his two former teachers. The three men brought news of the catastrophic future that would happen if the dragons were not stopped, and the fact that Arceus acted on its will all along. Gold eventually managed to pacify Arceus's rage, and Giovanni's illness was finally healed by Celebi. However, the former Team Rocket boss decided to resurrect his organization, and parted ways with Silver again, who still wished to dissolve Team Rocket with his own hands one day.
Pokémon on his Active Team
Pokémon he has had or been partnered with
