A/N: Recently reread the Pokemon Adventures manga and I fell in love with it all over again! This is a couple that caught my eye. And there's NOTHING about them. Like nothing, anywhere. So, I decided to write some, even if I know it might not get many reads.

BUT, if you do read it, please review, so I know I'm not the only fan of this couple out there! Thanks!

Words: 992
Characters: Eusine, Crystal
Time: Right after the ending of the GSC saga
Genre: Friendship

Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to whoever actually owns the characters. Not me.

"Chris! Chris?! Where are you? Are you alright?!"

Edges of sharp stone tore at his hands, but he didn't really care; all that mattered was finding that young girl. Ever since he had seen her on Suicune's back – flying off into battle, disappearing into glassy danger – he had not been able to drive the worry for her out of his mind.

No, he corrected himself, ever since he had first met her – a rival and a friend in his search for Suicune – he had not been able to drive the worries away. They were quaint, unbidden, and at times, irritating, but they were all too determinedly present.

He tripped over his cloak and swore. With heart-wrenching effort, he ripped the cloth from between two heavy rocks and continued on. He shoved his hand into his pocket and closed his fingers around the invisible bell; its icy chill was somehow comforting. Pulling it out, he waved it through the air in one final, desperate attempt – perhaps, if Chris was still with Suicune –

"Eusine! Is that you?!"

He barely had time to marvel, as always, at the bell's glorious, impossibly clear and melodic twinkle before a small avalanche seemed to hurtle headlong into him. He staggered backwards a few paces, but years of maintaining his ever-so-suave air kept him on his feet, though just barely. He picked up the avalanche that had crashed into him, only to find – shockingly – that it was not, in fact, an avalanche.

It was Chris. She was laughing and hugging him so forcefully that he thought he might pop like a balloon. When at last she released him, her smile was so radiant that Eusine almost forgot to catch his breath again.

"Where the hell have you been?" he gasped, a hand pressed dramatically over his heart. "What's happened? Where's the ice dude? Where's Suicune?"

At the last question, the sparkles in Chris's eyes seemed to fade a little bit; she glanced away at the low horizon. "Suicune's gone. Resting, for good this time."

Eusine stared at her, and then at the bell in his fist. Blankly. His lifelong dream… gone, just like that. Suicune was gone, and Eusine had never done more than glimpse the beautiful Pokémon. What would he do now, now that he could no longer chase his dream of finding Suicune? What else had he ever wanted?

When he looked up, Chris was smiling again, though bittersweetly. "But it's all right, Eusine. It's better this way, really. And Pryce – the masked man – he's back to his old self. Everything's done!"

"And you?" asked Eusine, suddenly remembering himself. There was more to his life to Suicune, now. He touched Chris's face with his hands, the bell's ribbon caught between his fingers as he traced over a few cuts and bruises he hadn't noticed a minute ago. "Are you alright? You're not hurt, are you? Not badly? If you need anything - "

"Eusine, I'm fine, I'm fine, really."

"So am I, too, thanks for asking," said a rough, boyish voice from somewhere behind Chris. It was Gold, a broad grin on his face. All of a sudden Eusine noticed the crowd – six kids, who had to be the other Pokedex holders; quite a few of the gym leaders from both Kanto and Johto, supporting each other with tired arms around tired shoulders; and what seemed like hundreds of others, bystanders and spectators and the like. Quickly Eusine dropped his hands from Chris's face.

But no one seemed to have noticed; they were all too distracted by Indigo Stadium's general bedlam and dysfunctionality. With the deft skill of a Pokémon catcher, Chris caught Eusine's hands before he drew them too far away and flipped them over, so that his palms faced the sky. She touched the tiny bell, then the tender, bleeding scratches left over from his scrabble among the rubble. Her eyes were wide with concern.

"What happened to you?"

"Absolutely nothing," he said breezily, putting his hands – and the bell – back in his pockets. "Come, dear Chris. We have much to talk about. You must tell me everything – everything you learned about Suicune! Even if I can no longer meet him – you did! Suicune picked you!"

"I'm sorry, Eusine – I know how badly you wanted to catch Suicune, and I wish - "

"There is no point in lingering over wishes," said Eusine, nudging her with his elbow. Her eyes were painted with regret. The sight brought back all his bothersome little worries, so much so that, on a brilliant impulse, he pulled the little bell out of his pocket and tied it, dangling from its bright ribbon, around her neck. "It looks beautiful on you, Chris. Now, Suicune will always be with you, will he not?"

"Eusine, I couldn't – the bell was meant for you. You keep it, you never even got to meet Suicune."

Eusine winced. "Don't keep saying that, my dear. It pains me every second. But all the same, I think the bell belongs with you."

"I'm sorry," murmured Chris, though she stared wonderingly at the crystalline bell around her neck. She looked back at Eusine with sparkling eyes again, then threw her arms over his shoulders once more. "Thank you!"

Caught only mildly by surprise this time, Eusine hugged her back, suddenly blissfully unaware of the hundreds of people around them. No, he corrected himself again - he knew they were quite present, but he just didn't care. Chris's laugh made him smile again, the truest smile he had experienced in quite some time.

When she fell back to the ground, he lifted her hand and kissed it like he had shortly after they had first met, missing her faint blush as he did so. She wrapped her fingers around his and led him through the stadium's wreckage, just a few steps behind the majority of the crowd.

Without hesitation, he followed, strangely yet immensely appreciative of her touch.