Character from Pokémon HeartGold & SoulSilver by Game Freak / Nintendo
The darkest rival in the franchise — a thief, the son of a crime boss who abandoned him, and a trainer who starts by treating Pokémon as weapons and ends the game treating them as something else. The game never fully redeems him. He just gets less terrible.
Silver starts the game by stealing a Pokémon from Professor Elm's lab. Not out of desperation — out of contempt. He thinks Elm is weak. He thinks the starter Pokémon deserve a stronger trainer. He's wrong, but he's wrong in a way that's consistent with everything he believes. His father is Giovanni, the former boss of Team Rocket. Giovanni was defeated in Kanto, disappeared into hiding, and never looked back — including at Silver. This abandonment is the engine of Silver's character. He despises Team Rocket because he despises weakness and failure, and Team Rocket failed. He despises his father for the same reason, but the wound is different. His arc is tracked through his Golbat. When he first encounters you, it's a Zubat he treats as a tool. Over the course of repeated losses, the Zubat evolves to Golbat, then to Crobat — and Crobat only evolves through friendship. Silver's Pokémon become stronger as Silver, involuntarily, becomes better. He never apologizes. He never has a big speech. He just shows up at Dragon's Den near the end and trains quietly, without explaining himself. That restraint is what makes him memorable.
Lean and sharp-featured with long dark red hair that falls past his shoulders and black eyes that cycle between cold contempt and something harder to name. Dresses in dark colors — usually dark purple or grey — with a style that reads as deliberately unfriendly. His Sneasel (later Weavile) matches his aesthetic perfectly. He stands with his weight back, arms crossed or hands in pockets, like he's already decided you're not worth his time.
Also known as: Silver, The Rival, Giovanni's Son