Silver still didn't understand why she was here.

To be honest, he had thought that he was done with her for the day. After all, rivals battle each other and then leave. It's not just customary, it's almost like an unwritten rule. He frowned as he stared at her.

There she was, wrapped up in a pale blue blanket and using her Meganium's neck as some sort of pillow. Her usually-captive-but-now-freed brunette locks were spread so far, it was almost like they weren't attached to her head. To be perfectly honest, it was somewhat irritating that his privacy was thrown out the window.

Everything just happened in a blur. One second, he's changing out of his jacket and turning in for the night. The next thing he knew, she was barging in and spouting off about Lance once again. He didn't even have his shirt on yet, for Lugia's sake! He had to literally throw his jacket at her as a distraction and struggle into a different shirt before she noticed. Thankfully, that had given him enough time to change and look completely unfazed by this sudden entrance.

He still had no idea how becoming someone's rival signed you up for having them come barging in and crashing in your cave without even an ounce of permission.

And to make matters worse, his own Pokémon were getting restless. Sneasel, the smart-mouthed, inconsiderate partner he was, had decided to take it upon himself to talk him through every little detail of sharing a space with a female. About halfway through, Silver had just covered his head with a pillow and groaned for him to shut up. But, the little rascal just kept on blabbing at him, completely ignoring his complaints.

The Pokémon that were currently resting in their Pokéballs were making a fuss, shaking about and going on and on about how they wanted to see her. It was not only irritating that his rival commonly babied his Pokémon, but now they were even getting excited with just the mention of her being around!

Lugia shoot him with an Hydro Pump, please.

"You are such a pest," Silver hissed through his pillow as the back of his head ached. Lying on rocks was starting to really hurt his head. "Why can't you just leave me alone?"

"C'mon Silver!" Sneasel was right at his ear now, smiling as if he was about to receive some sort of treat. "This is a wonderful opportunity! You can finally prove that your social skills are up to par! Imagine how happy she will be to see you being a kind and respectful host." The pause to draw a breath gave the redhead just enough time to roll his eyes and roll to his right as to turn away from this conversation.

"She's basically right in your palm!"

"Will you please just be quiet?" His voice was pretty much a whine, but he was too tired and annoyed to care at this moment. "All I wanted was to sleep. Instead, I get some girl waltzing in here and demanding to stay here."

"Actually, you let her in here." The blasphemous statement earned a growl and a harsh toss of his shield as Sneasel just lifted a single claw. "She said that she was tired of Lance and his standards, and you just nodded along." The redhead sat up with a cringe as he realized where this was going. "The she asked to crash here so Lance wouldn't find her and you nodded at her!"

It was technically true. Silver had been nodding pretty much the whole entire time she was ranting. After all, his dislike of the Dragon Master was still pretty lively after a few comments about being 'a disgrace to Pokémon Trainers everywhere'. After that little speech, the redhead was certain that he would hate that guy for the rest of his life.

When she had asked to stay here, he'll be the first to admit that he had nodded at her. Only, this wasn't a nod of approval. No sir. This was best described as a nod of 'I'm about to fall asleep sitting up. I will agree just to shut you up for now and then I will deal with this in the morning' quality.

"Yeah, but I thought she was talking about staying at the Pokemon Center, or even at the shrine." That was a lie. "I never thought that she meant to stay right at my feet!" And yet another lie slipped off his tongue. Sneasel seemed to notice this, for he shot the Trainer a look of disdain.

"Now Silver, you must be kind to your guests!" Out came the wagging claw that had been driving him crazy since infancy. Silver's eyes just narrowed with a mixed of irritation and exhaustion. "Lyra Soul is not only your rival, but your friend. Even if you're super tired, you can at least show her some respect."

"I am showing her respect." A furious blink and suddenly Sneasel seemed to be a black blur in a sea of blue. "As I give her all that space to herself, I'm showing her respect." A moan of frustration and a slamming of a paw into Sneasel's face reminded him of just how late at night it was.

"Idiot!" A humph and a flick of the eyes certainly helped to silence the Sharp Claw Pokemon. "Fine! If you won't be nice, I will!" And before the teen could do a single thing, Sneasel waltzed over to the slumbering Trainer and nuzzled her cheek.

Warm horror rushed to his face as his Pokémon cooed and snuggled closer to the girl's side. The self-appointed guardian, Meganium, woke up with a start and looked around for any sign of the intruder. When he spotted Sneasel resting in the crook of the brunette's elbow, it was heck to pay.

"Gani!" A mighty roar—which was actually like a loud squeak—rumbled down up his throat, rising his Trainer into action. The girl was up in a matter of seconds, flailing her arms and roaring out in a dazed panic. Silver could only watch with amusement as the girl grabbed her belt and unclipped a Pokéball.

That amusement died when she released her whole party into the small nook.

A Milotic, Skarmory, Mismagius, Togekiss and worst of all, Glaceon appeared in the room with their most powerful moves at the ready. Deciding quickly that playtime was officially over, Silver rushed to the center of the commotion and grabbed the girl by the shoulders.

Bad idea.

His rival, still in a half-awake trance, let out a scream that left his ears ringing. All six of her Pokémon took this as their cue, and launched their weapons. It was a disaster! A Surf attack made the water's near the shrine swell and crash into the red beams, drenching anything within the whole island. A Thunderbolt raced from the sky and startled all of the slumbering Zubat, causing the famous nuisances to flutter around with high-pitched screams. Air Slash nearly tore his hair off his head with such violent gales, while the launched Aura Sphere crashed into the walls and exploded somewhere in the south end of the cavern. Oh, and Lyra's Glaceon shot him in the leg with an Ice Beam.

He was certain that the last one was on purpose.

"Feeling better now?" He didn't even wince as the girl snapped her head up to look at her supposed attacker. "Because in all honesty, I think you woke up every living thing in this cave with that one." A faint blush of embarrassment covered her cheeks in a healthy shade of red.

"Sorry," She snapped her fingers and gave her Pokemon some sort of signal that looked like a flick of the wrist, a tap on her temple with her index finger and a bashful smile. Whatever that meant, her Pokémon plopped down in a sit—even the stinkin' Milotic—and gave her a nod. "I get a little jumpy at night."

"Yeah, I can tell." Sneasel had somehow managed to escape the friendly fire by hiding behind the girl who caused it, and just now decided to come out of hiding. "You were acting like you were dying or something."

An awkward laugh made a bit of regret rise in his stomach, but not much. Lyra gave him a sheepish smile before shaking her head. "Just a rough night, that's all." Silver raised an eyebrow as he found her hiking her shoulders up defensively.

"Are you kidding me?" Sarcasm, his well-oiled machine, was revving its engine at this moment. "You were the definition of calm. I've never seen someone so relaxed and centered."

"Very funny," A sharp glare—admittingly lacking the usual edge—proved that she wasn't completely distraught. "It was just a nightmare, genius." The second the words were out of her mouth, she jolted in horror. Silver may not be the most observant of social cues, but he was sure that her following gesture of covering her mouth and scolding herself under her breath meant that she hadn't meant to say that.

"What was that?" A smirk formed before he could stop it, and a hand raised to his ear to further the effect. He knew well what she had said, but he wanted to make sure that he wasn't just imaging this. He knew that making fun was the last thing she wanted at this point, but he had no idea what to do with this delicious tidbit other than his usual behavior. "Could you repeat that?"

The frustrated look on her face was something that he almost felt guilty about enjoying—almost. "I just..." She struggled to find the words as those sharp eyes seemed to stare right through her. "It's just that I.." An angry growl and a shake of the head proved that she was officially tongue-tied.

"I had a nightmare, alright?!"

Author's Note: Mini-series/four-shot thing I'm writing for Tumblr.

You're welcome.