Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. But I do have a job that pays a little more than minimum wage so that's good...right?
It had been yet another long day of training on the Ice Path, and Lyra felt as though her bones were going to crumble to dust if she took yet another step. She couldn't even begin to imagine how her Pokémon felt; her Typhlosion lagged behind her as they exited the Ice Path and continued onward to Blackthorn City. "You did great today," she told him, smiling back at him.
Typhlosion grinned back at her. His red tongue hung limply from his spread jaws. She chuckled and reached for his Pokeball. "All right. I get the message. Return." Sucked up in the red beam of light, her partner vanished. Lyra smiled and stuffed the Pokeball in her bag. In the quiet evening, she continued her trek alone to Blackthorn City.
The small, ancient-looking city was nearly silent when Lyra arrived; a thin dusting of snow coated the ground and crunched beneath her shoes. Doesn't Silver train here often? She thought, trotting to the Pokémon Center to get her party healed. That chilly redheaded rival of hers frequented the Dragon's Den on the other side of town…perhaps she could drop in for a visit? They hadn't battled recently. With her team in its exhausted state, though, visiting Silver would likely be a social meeting—that is, if Silver could manage the act of socializing.
Upon receiving her Pokeballs, Lyra jogged from the Pokémon Center. Regardless of what happened, it would just be nice to see her rival.
Silver always looked so solemn to Lyra, even now that he had opened up to her and began to treat his Pokémon as equals. His brow was constantly furrowed, his dark red eyebrows rumpled with something like worry or concealed anger. Even at peace, he seemed stormy. That evening, as he rested against the railing of the house in the Dragon's Den, he looked as broody as ever, even from as Lyra surfed to him on the back of her Lapras.
When she drew close enough, she waved. "Hi, Silver!" she shouted.
He didn't seem particularly startled, although he did turn quite quickly to look at her. "Lyra," he acknowledged as she hopped off of Lapras's back and scrambled over the railing.
She smiled at him. Leaning against the railing beside him, she peered out over the waters. A Dratini's head surfaced, blinking deep brown eyes before diving back into the depths again. Lyra smiled. "For all of the battling and arguing we used to do down here, it really is a peaceful place."
Silver nodded. Glancing down at her, he asked, "Are you here to battle or what?"
"More like working on your social skills, I think," Lyra remarked. When Silver looked at her with a blank expression, she groaned. "Arceus it's like you've never held a conversation before half of the time."
"Sorry," he muttered, jamming his hands in his pockets. A draft ruffled his hair, hiding his odd, silvery irises.
They were quiet for a time. Lapras demanded attention; Lyra leaned over the railing to pet her horn. She wondered if she should just challenge Silver to a battle. That's clearly what he expected from her, right? Turning to Silver, she put on her best princess face and smiled a syrupy smile. She squealed, "Silvy, let's battle! Let me show you my love for my Pokémon!"
He snorted. "Silvy?"
She couldn't help but laugh herself. "I don't know. It sounded really stupid in my head, and it sounded stupider out loud. Making your name into some stupid farce like that. Hah."
He sighed. Looking steadily down at Lyra, he scratched at his jaw. "Silver isn't my name."
Cocking her head, she gazed at him in confusion. "Uh…yeah it is…isn't it? I mean, that's what I've been calling you ever since I was ten."
"Keywords: what you've been calling me," he repeated back at her, smirking just the slightest bit. His expression turned serious once more and he leaned against the railing once more, beside Lyra. "You gave my name to the police as Silver after I stole my Pokémon."
She frowned, but it was coming back to her. Years of referring to him as Silver had nearly erased the memory; now it returned in full force, rattling her.
"Hey! You dropped your trainer card!"
In this memory, the young boy with long red hair whirled, his coin-like eyes huge as Lyra picked up a tiny plastic rectangle from the dirt road under her feet after his defeat at her inexperienced hands. She began to scan it, but before she could as much as discern the boy's name, he snatched it from her "Give me that," the boy growled. After shouting at her some more, he ran off.
To her, he was still just some passerby boy. Later, when she returned to the lab, the police wanted her to describe him, to give him a name. Apparently he had been some thief, which wasn't entirely surprising to Lyra; he looked shifty and wild.
She could give a description of this striking boy, but the best name she could give for him was:
"Silver. Put his name down as Silver," she said to the policeman taking down her information.
"Damn. You're right. You never corrected me," Lyra muttered, grinding the heel of her palm into her forehead. "I've been calling you the wrong name for almost seven years."
Silver shrugged. Drumming his fingers restlessly against the railing, he remarked, "It's better than my real name."
Lyra peered at him. Something inside of him was warming, thawing, perhaps calming from its raging storminess to let her in. "Oh? What is it?"
He shot her a bedraggled glower. "Do you really want to know?"
"Sure! I mean, I'll probably keep calling you Silver, but I can't believe I forgot about that. I gave you that name. That's not your real name," she thought aloud, laughing sheepishly.
Silver scratched his head, his eyes softening a little as she chuckled. Gazing out over the dragon-infested waters, he quietly said, "My name is Giovanni Rosario Briccone…the second. After my father. Before you came along, most people just called me—" He cut off abruptly. "Let's not get into that, actually."
Lyra snickered. "Did they call you Joey?"
He turned slowly, his eyes flashing frigidly in the half-light. "Don't fucking tell anyone. I swear to Arceus I'll throw you in this lake."
She placed her hand sincerely over her heart. In a deep, melodramatic voice, she promised, "No one shall ever know." With a silly half-smile, she glanced at him with hooded eyes. "You and Youngster Joey, though—"
"No."
"Okay." The two stood in companionable silence. Lyra drew closer to Silver and watched her Lapras swim long, leisurely laps in the Dragon's Den. "You honestly like Silver better than Giovanni?"
He nodded solemnly. "Honestly anything you do is way better than anything my dad could've done." Calling out his Feraligatr, he hopped up on the railing. "I'm going to get going. It's late."
Lyra, warmed by his words, smiled and waved. "Have a good night."
He nodded to her. He jumped onto Feraligatr's back, and Lyra watched as her rival headed back toward the entrance once more. Still smiling, she called Lapras over and followed suit.
Hello, it is I, halfcurehalfdisease. I don't write a lot anymore. There really isn't time, and I'm very sorry for that.
So I have this headcanon that Silver's name isn't really Silver. Like I can't see Giovanni naming his son Silver? So...here's Lyra discovering that the name she gave the police was wrong-o back in the day and Silver never really bothered to correct her?
Giovanni is actually pronounced like Joe-von-ee, not Geo-von-ee, so those of you who short Giovanni to Gio are essentially referring to him as Joe lol.
This is like dumb friendship fluff where is the plot where is the smooching wtf Mars?
Anyway, uh...yes. Life has been crazy. I've been recording and competing and working and doing school. I haven't touched any of my fics, to be honest. ^^" I'm so sorry. I don't know when or if I'll get back to any of those.
Thanks so much for putting up with me and then getting plotless fluff when I actually show up on here.
Take care of yourselves!
~Mars