Distance

The scratching of Lyra's pen was the only sound that filled the room, illuminated solely by the desk lamp. She shook her head at the notes Professor Elm had given her to transcribe, his handwriting was atrocious.

She was the only one awake in the house, it was getting close to 2:00 a.m. and even her Chikorita was asleep on her bed, the music Lyra was listening to entering her ears through a set of headphones. She stopped briefly to rub her eye before continuing, fatigue was starting to get to her. Elm hadn't given her a deadline when he handed her the notes to transcribe when she'd left for home that day, but she wanted to get them done as quickly as possible.

Her eye was caught by her laptop screen notifying her that she was receiving a video call, she turned her music off, pulled down her headphones so they were around her neck and clicked to accept the call.

"Hey Lyra!"

Lyra smiled as the face of her boyfriend appeared on the screen, he was standing at the video phone of a Pokémon Centre in Sinnoh, he'd been calling her on them every time he reached a new town. His trusty Cyndaquil was perched on his shoulder and he had a Hoothoot on the other.

"Is that a new Pokémon?" Lyra asked as she continued her transcribing.

"Yeah, Kaepora helped us get through Eterna Forest when we got lost," Ethan answered, "That's why we got to Eterna City so late, it's past eleven now. Lucas and Dawn have already gone to bed."

"I bet they're wondering how a veteran traveller like you could manage to get lost," Lyra smirked, setting down her pen to regard him fully as he recalled Kaepora to his Pokéball.

Ethan was the most recent winner of the Johto League, having rejected the Champion seat upon defeating Lance so he could continue to travel. Lyra had joined him through Johto and was planning on joining him through Sinnoh when Professor Elm had offered to take her under his wing and help her achieve her goal of becoming a Pokémon Researcher. He wasn't travelling through Sinnoh on his own though, he'd been joined by two rookie trainers, Lucas and Dawn.

"You were the one who handled all of the navigation when we travelled through Johto," he grinned, "If I was on my own, I'd probably be in Hoenn by now."

She shrugged, a wry smile on her face, "You're not wrong."

"How's things with the Professor then?" Ethan asked.

"Hard work, but I knew that when I accepted his offer. He's so disorganised though, I dread having to go into his office for anything. I'd much rather take on a Tyranitar with nothing but a stick."

Ethan chuckled, "Honestly, you're such a hothead that you'd probably scare it away."

Lyra rolled her eyes, but the smile on her face couldn't hide how much she enjoyed falling into their easy banter, something they had even before they started going out, and were just best friends.

Although, she had to cut it short.

"So," she started, her expression becoming much more serious, "Have you seen that Team Galactic you told me about when you reached Floaroma Town?"

"Well…" Ethan started sheepishly, "We may have encountered them again…"

"May have?" Lyra raised an eyebrow.

"But only because they kidnapped a young girl's dad," Ethan tried to explain, "I couldn't just leave her upset by the side of the road, Cynder's more than strong enough to take anything they can throw at me."

"Ethan," Lyra cut across him, "You did a great thing for that girl, but you need to be careful. You're just putting a target on your back. We got lucky that Team Rocket was a shadow of its former self, groups like that don't hesitate to remove the people who go against them."

"Don't worry about that Lyra," Ethan waved a hand dismissively.

"I can't help but worry!" Lyra exclaimed, then listened quickly to ensure that she hadn't woken anyone up, "These people don't mess around, they're not going to battle if they really want you gone."

Ethan went silent.

"I know that I can't stop you," Lyra sighed, "And I know that you're going to act rashly, that's just who you are, who you always have been. But please, just be careful."

Ethan nodded, "I will."

Lyra leaned back in her chair, "It's not the same when you're not around here, I can't grab you by the hood when you're about to run into danger."

Ethan smiled at that, it was always her go-to way of stopping him in his tracks.

"So," he decided to change the subject, "I'm challenging the Eterna City Gym tomorrow, it feels like forever since I won my first badge."

"Good luck, but I doubt you'll need it. What type does the Gym Leader use?"

"No idea!" Ethan gave a confident grin, "But I'm ready for anything they can throw at me."

Lyra shook her head, "It's not as if they can hold a candle to Lance."

"Probably not. But, not battling seriously just because I've beaten Lance is a recipe for an upset."

"True," Lyra conceded, "I expect to see your badge tomorrow then."

Ethan smiled, "Definitely. Besides, not as if you can go more than a day without seeing this pretty face."

Lyra rolled her eyes. Although, his words were closer to the truth than she was letting on.

"I'm not hearing a denial," he said in a sing-song tone of voice.

"Fuck off," Lyra replied, but Ethan had never failed to put a smile on her face.

They lapsed into a short silence, ended when Lyra released a large yawn.

"Get some sleep Ly."

"I still have those notes to finish," Lyra said, wiping the tears that came to her eyes as a result of the yawn.

"Fuck 'em," Ethan said, "It's really late over there. I'll be back tomorrow to show you my new badge."

Lyra mock-sighed, "Okay, goodnight Ethan."

"Night Lyra."

Ethan was about to disconnect the call when he hesitated.

"Oh, and Lyra?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

Lyra smiled, "I love you too."

Ethan disconnected the call and she closed her laptop without shutting it down.

She began to change into her pyjamas, pulling the hair bobbles that held her hair into pigtails as she did so. She'd spent every day of her life with Ethan by her side until he'd gone to Sinnoh, and both of them avoided speaking properly about how much they missed the other.

She missed him a lot.

Her Chikorita chirped irritably as Lyra shifted her so she could get into bed.

"Go back to sleep Flora."

The day he won the Sinnoh League and came home couldn't come soon enough for her.

She was really looking forward to the call tomorrow.