In the bustling streets of Goldenrod, two figures weaved in and out of the daily crowds, both of them mastering the flow of traffic in Johto's largest city after seven years on the road. One of the figures, the one currently leading the other along, was wearing a pair of BlackGlasses on her face and an oversized hoodie, hoping to avoid drawing attention. The other figure, being not as well-known around these parts, simply wore his usual garb of a red jacket and black shorts, his overstuffed bag slamming into his shoulder with every step.
The male figure stopped for a moment and motioned towards a back alley. The leader looked back and nodded in agreement before the duo slipped into the dark shadows of the towering metal buildings.
The girl pulled off her hood with a huff of annoyance as soon as they were out of sight, earning a chuckle from her companion. She shifted the shades on her nose with a frown before finally speaking.
"Are you sure we're going the right way?"
Her partner nodded and reached into his back pocket for a crumpled sheet of paper. "She said to meet her at the address right here, so I'm certain we're on the right track."
The girl nodded and slipped the hood back on, some of her chocolate locks sticking to her cheeks and forehead.
They then slipped effortlessly back into the massive sea of moving humans, blending in with tourists and locals alike. They turned down street after street, the leading female occasionally checking around to make sure that no one could recognize her out and about at such an early hour.
After about an hour and a half of walking, the duo stopped outside of a small café. With a unified nod, they slipped inside of the glass door.
They were instantly consumed by the overhead smoke of countless customers, the sounds of slow jazz wafting to their ears. A few of the patrons were enjoying a game of pool on the other side of the room, the tough-looking bikers giving the two new faces glares of challenge.
The girl, once she had noticed this, silently stopped walking. Her partner passed her as he decided to find their target, allowing her to take on this challenge alone. The much older man at the cue gave her a grimace and motioned to his belt of two Pokémon. The girl simply laughed as she pulled the edge up on her sweater. The man's eyes grew wide as he found her carrying a full team, six well-polished Pokéballs glistening in the odd lighting of this obscure hang-out. The man glared at the girl, daring her to explain herself.
She remained absolutely silent as she casually lifted a hand to her shades and lowered them as to shoot the man a glare of her own. The man was pierced straight through as her cold hazels shot their bullets at him, making him let out a gasp of shock and stagger backwards. She chuckled at this, shook her head and went to join her partner as the man's opponent rushed to his aid.
The girl found the black-haired boy sitting at the bar with a labcoat-donning figure, the two engaged in some sort of conversation. The girl slipped into the free seat to the figure's left and grinned as the bartender made himself useful and got her a chocolate mocha.
The figure made no movements as she slowly smiled at the two who sat beside her. The cup of coffee quickly raced towards the farthest female with accurate movements, the girl simply stopping it with her hand and bringing it to her lips.
"...How would you calm a great bird of fire?" The figure spoke in a clear tone with an unmistakable feminine ring to it.
The brunette beside her just chuckled and answered quietly, "You quench his taste for battling."
The figure in the middle nodded and slowly spun around in her red barstool, stopping when she could remove herself from her seat without disturbing the two beside her. She then rose to her feet and casually motioned for the two to follow her as she made her way to the door.
The male figure quietly followed her without a second's hesitation, leaving his partner to bring up the rear. The girl slipped out, coffee in hand but stopped abruptly before she had taken ten steps. She lifted her free hand to her head in a display of forgetfulness before pulling a bit of Poké out of her pocket and tossing on the counter. The bartender gave her a small nod of approval as she then followed her companions out the door.
The trio soon found themselves alone on the outskirts of the bustling metropolis, the three figures standing directly on the street that lead to the few houses the town had left alone towards the nearby forest. The hooded figure, her mocha long since finished, slipped out of her covering and let out a heavy breath of relief as the weight on her chest was lifted. She then lowered her BlackGlasses off of her face, folded them with calculated movements and tucked them away in the yellow bag on her shoulder.
"Well then," The brunette teased her hair with closed eyes for a moment before slowly opening them with a smirk. "I'm certainly glad to be out of that death-trap."
Her male partner laughed and simply fixed the cap on his head. "You would think that the Champion would enjoy being in the spotlight."
"I don't want the media to know about this." She spoke the words casually, despite the unease in her hazel eyes. "It's best to keep this between us three."
"Right." The figure in the middle nodded in agreement as she lifted one of her teal pigtails. "That's exactly why I sent you the address via Pidgy-Mail."
"Even though the bird decided to take a dump on a certain boy's head." The brunette grinned as the boy let out a roar of anger.
"Accidents aside," The blunette scowled at the enraged male until he quieted down. "I'm more than happy to lend you my aid during this...troubling time."
The duo nodded as the girl simply pulled out a small key from her pocket. She then looked between them and started to explain. "It's a bit small, but I'm sure that it can fit three just fine. There's a modern kitchen, a well-stocked study, a flat-screen television in the living room and plenty of closet space. All in all, it's quite the perfect little three bedroom household." The girl paused for a minute before shaking her head. "Well, two bedroom is more accurate since I converted that extra room into a study for my research. I'm sure it doesn't make much difference though."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" The black-haired male lifted his hands in a defensive position as he frowned. "So there's only one guy and two girls?" The two females exchanged a look of boredom before looking back at him and nodding. The boy puffed out his cheeks and shook his head. "I refuse to be the only male in this household! I demand that there be a second male to be my roommate since I know you two will share a room."
"Why would you want to have a roommate?" The brunette frowned as her friend folded his arms across his chest. "I thought you would enjoy having your own room."
"Not when I'm outnumbered like this!" He scowled at them as he went on, "You two will just end up ganging up in every decision we make and that will leave me in the cold! I demand to have a second male in this deal or else we can forget the whole thing!"
"Who the heck are we going to ask, Ethan Gold?!" The brunette scowled and threw her hands in the air. "You can't just ask any ol' person to come be your roommate!"
"Especially when one of the persons living in said building is the Champion of Johto." The bluenette added this with a deadpanned expression, feeling pretty frustrated by her hospitality's refusal.
"There's gotta be someone we could ask!" Ethan threw his own arms into the air with a groan. "I don't want to be the only guy in a house filled with girls!"
The brunette rolled her eyes and muttered something that sounded suspiciously like 'any-other-guy-would-kill-for-that' before letting out a sigh of defeat. Then, she had an idea.
"What about Silver?"
The two others slowly let their head turn to face her head-on, utter shock filling every inch of their faces. The girl just calmly tucked a lock of her chocolate locks behind her ear and continued, "I mean, the guy's been squatting in a cave since we were eleven or twelve. I'm pretty sure he would be more than happy to live with us."
"But he's a known thief!" Ethan blurted the words out without any thought, feeling horror rush through his veins at the mention of the dreaded rival of his childhood friend. "He's nothing but bad news!"
"Oh for the love of Ho-Oh," The Champion rolled her eyes and placed her hands on her hips. "How many times do I have to tell you that Silver's past all that now? The guy's been clean for six years, Ethan. Let it go already, will ya'?"
"He does have a point, Lyra." The bluenette gave the other female a look of harsh questioning. "We understand that you are probably the most familiar with him since you two have been...you know..." Lyra shot the girl a look of challenge as her voice faded away, unable to find a good way to put the two rivals' relationship into words at such sort notice. "Look," She began again with a sigh. "You two know each other very well, but Ethan and I are practically strangers to him. We've never really interacted with him unless it was necessary, remember?"
"Well Crystal," Lyra frowned and glared at the blue pigtails on Crystal's shoulders. "I say we ask him. It's not like we know anyone else our age who could possibly be interested in being our fourth roommate." She then closed her eyes and raised her right hand. "All in favor of asking Silver to join us, say I."
Two voices filled the air, one being a bit wavering at the start. Lyra opened her eyes to find Crystal's hand in the air with lowered fingers, almost as if she was reluctant to speak her vote. Lyra gave her childhood friend a victorious smirk and unclipped her Skarmory's Pokéball.
"Well, two against one, Ethan. Looks like I'm paying a quick visit to the Dragon's Den."
The sound of screeching Zubats echoed off of the cavern walls with a deafening roar, making some of the water droplets resting on the stalactites fall into the swirling blue surrounding the shrine. A single figure stood on that wooden platform, constantly training his Pokémon to take on his greatest challenge.
Just then, his said challenge dashed into the cave and summoned her long Milotic to reach him once again. He didn't move a single inch. He just chuckled and waited for that familiar Marshmallow-Head to dash to his side once again.
After three years, he knew how their relationship worked.
"Silver!" The girl called out his name in greeting as she recalled her elegant Water Type. She then switched the Pokéball for a familiar face to accompany her. The redhead watched on as a short form took his place next to those pink shoes with a pride-filled howl, his voice echoing off of the rocks and bouncing around for a good minute. Once the voice had died away, the duo made their way to his side.
"Well, well," The boy gave her a smirk as she gave him one of her own, both of them happy to see their rival in this damp shelter. "If it isn't Little Miss Champion and her Ice Demon. Tell me, to what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?" He gave her a fake bow as she just chuckled. "Are you in search of a battle, Marshmallow-Head? Or perhaps you have some other proposition for me this evening?"
Both of their faces warmed at his jest, but Lyra shook it off with a smile.
"Very funny, redhead. I'm here for something else."
"Oh," Silver couldn't hide the disappointment in his voice at this. He had been hoping that she had come to visit him, but perhaps she was just here on an errand for her cape-wearing idiot of a boss, Lance. The Elder here was his grandfather, after all. Silver tried to keep that cold look of indifference in his eyes as he asked, "Then what brings you here, Pigtails?"
Lyra smiled as his familiar way of misdirection and just let her Glaceon growl at her feet. "I'm here to ask you if you'd like to come live with me."
Cheeks burst into a vibrant scarlet the second she uttered 'live with me', the long-time rival feeling utterly baffled by this bold question.
Sure, the two of them had been involved in a romantic way every now and again, an odd date or two here, a kiss there and a few heartfelt moments sprinkled in everywhere. But...living under one roof? That was a pretty big step seeing as their last date was over four months ago.
Besides, Silver hated to admit it, but they'd never been an actual couple...
And Silver felt like slamming his head against a wall over that.
"Li-Live with you?!" The utter embarrassment and confusion resonated loud and clear to the teen across from him. "Are you serious, Lyra?!"
The Glaceon below let out a loud roar of fury at the thought of his beloved trainer being anywhere near this ruffian for more than five minutes, let alone live with the guy. Wasn't he the one who had called her countless insults, shoved her on many occasions and even went so far as trying to strip her when she was trying to sneak into the Radio Tower of Goldenrod?
Alright, so he had no first-person experience on that last one, but his partner's starter had told him all about it.
The brunette Champion nodded and motioned to the stuffed bag on her shoulder. "I'm going to be staying in Goldenrod for a while and I need a roommate to fill the house. So, I thought you would be interested."
"But..." Silver shook his head to clear his treacherous thoughts before trying to strain his point. "You want me to live with you?!"
Lyra rolled her eyes with a groan. "Yes, Mister Over-Reaction. I'm asking you to come live with me." She slowly turned around towards the exit and looked over her shoulder, closing her eyes with a smirk. "If you'd much rather bunk in this Zubat-guano-infested cavern, be my guest. I understand if you can't stand the thought of living with little old Marshmallow-Headed me." She slowly headed towards the broken dock and gave him a curt wave.
"I'll just be on my way then."
"Hold it!" Lyra opened her eyes to find Silver reaching out towards her with a look of desperation. She chuckled at the sight before her before turning back to him slightly. Silver quickly stood up straight again with a grand clearing of his throat and tried again.
"I mean, I'd be alright with that." Silver shrugged with faked dismissal as he tried to contain that awful swirl in his stomach. "I guess I'll come live with you in some dumb house in smelly Goldenrod."
Lyra grinned as her Glaceon let out an agonized howl. "Perfect!" She quickly recalled her Ice Type and summoned her Water Type back into the dark cavern. She hopped on with a single leap and motioned for her Water Type-lacking rival to hop on as well. "Let's get going then."
Silver gave her a nod of agreement, picked up his nearby black duffel bag and leaped onto the Milotic's back, quickly snaking his arms around his rival's sides as to prevent himself from slipping off into the waters below them.
The Milotic looked over her shoulder with narrowed eyes before setting off for the exit, her long body swishing through the waters with slow grace. Silver tried to hide his satisfied smile as Lyra just hummed a familiar tune, eager for them to get on the road to Goldenrod.
Perhaps she could interest her rival in an aerial race to see who could fly to Goldenrod the fastest once they escaped this dingy cave...
The two rivals were laughing with ease as they made their way towards the large splotch of greenery in this small corner of the metropolis, pink coating their cheeks from both the nip of high altitude and the company they carried. Both of them had of course tried to knock the other off of their mode of transportation on the way over, but neither had managed to succeed in said endeavor.
Besides, they would never actually let their rival plummet to their demise. They would have surely caught them with their own flyer if a certain Skarmory or Crobat happened to falter.
Deciding that the race had been a tie, the duo slowly descended from the clear skies to land in the lush grass of this house's front yard. Black and pink sneakers alike landed with ease on the verdant carpet as their wearers still laughed on about their attempts at knocking their rival overboard, ignoring the stares coming from only a few feet away.
The happy duo recalled their Pokémon with smiles before turning towards the front door. Silver soon found himself face-to-face with one of the individuals he had long ago added to his 'I-so-can't-stand-you' list in the literal blink of an eye.
"What is he doing here?!"
Two angry shouts filled the air the second the duo locked their metallic eyes on each other, the sight of the rival male alone making their blood boil.
"Ethan," Lyra glared at the raven-haired teen as he growled at Silver as if he was a wild Pokémon. "I told you I was inviting Silver. I won the vote two-to-one, remember?"
Silver quickly spun around with a spark of fury in his cold eyes. "You didn't tell me Pretty Boy here was involved!"
Lyra raised an eyebrow at the slight tone of betrayal in his voice before lifting a single shoulder in a half-shrug of dismissal. "I didn't think it mattered, Silver. What, did you think this was strictly the two of us in this deal?"
Silver didn't respond, he just turned away with vibrant cheeks.
The other three automatically took that as a yes.
"Well," Crystal decided to take matters into her own hands as Lyra found herself trying to contain a laugh at the childish behavior. "If you are against staying here, you are more than welcome to leave." Silver nodded with a grunt and turned around, almost as if the matter had been settled already.
Crystal then grinned as she lifted her hands out as if balancing a scale. "However," Silver glanced over his shoulder to find the two females giving him sly grins. "This deal does include a backyard large enough to support a full six-on-six battle, central heating, indoor plumbing, a reliable food source and the most important feature, a central location to allow easy access to practically any training location within the Johto region."
Silver's eyes gained a certain spark as the list ran through his mind, his subconscious reminding him of the lack of these features inside of that cavern he had been calling home-base for six years or so.
"Not to mention access to the Magnet Train if you just so happen to desire to train in Kanto instead, redhead." Lyra added the point with a smirk as Crystal nodded in agreement.
"OR," Ethan suddenly burst in with a frown, startling the paler male out of his thoughts of comfort. "You could live in that 'sacred cavern of dragons' and have privacy, solitude, calm waters, on-location training and overall independence from all other humans!"
Silver cringed as he recalled that those so-called 'benefits' were not actually as pleasant first-hand. With a long sigh, he made his choice.
"I'll...I'll stay."
Lyra let out a cheer of victory as Ethan let out an agonized wail of defeat. Crystal just smiled and lowered her hands.
"On one condition!" Silver startled the group with this interjection, making Lyra cringe in anticipation and Crystal raise an eyebrow in questioning. He glared at the black-haired boy nearby as he spoke up. "I get a separate room from that loser!"
"Hey!" Ethan lunged for Silver with his hands balled into fists, but Crystal just held him back. Silver side-stepped a bit closer to his rival as a silent precaution as Crystal let out a sigh.
"I'm afraid the two bedrooms are already divided by gender, Silver." Two mouths dropped open as she shook her head. "Lyra and I will be sharing one, while you two can share one. Not to worry, the beds are on opposite sides of the room and you'll both have your own closets."
Lyra nodded and took a step closer to her rival, a hand on her belt of Pokéballs as to wait at the ready for an attack from her childhood friend.
"Besides," Crystal slowly loosened her grip on Ethan's collar as the teen calmed down. "There are some dividers down in the basement you two could put up. That way, you'll have separate sides of the room and won't have to look at each other if it bothers you so much."
"Done!" Ethan and Silver both shouted out at the exact same moment, earning a growl of challenge from both sides as they found themselves agreeing with their nemesis.
"Good." The bluenette smiled and started to walk towards the front steps. "You two can help me carry them up the stairs."
Both males cringed with exclamations of shock and disgust, making Lyra finally just burst out laughing at their childish behavior. They eventually just let out a sigh of submission and trudged after the head of the house, leaving Lyra to fix her bag's strap and march after them with a smile.
She knew they would get used to it eventually.
Author's Note: Hello and welcome to my little sitcom-inspired comedy, "Four Johto Idiots"! In this series, you can expect heart-racing battles, complicated romance, humor abound, rivalries and most importantly, a mysterious side-plot that will be revealed late on in our little series.
In this series, the personalities will be slightly different than our usual fare. For example, we can see from many examples that we have Stubborn!Lyra joining us this time instead of really-cheery-cutie!Lyra. Silver will be a different type of Tsundere instead of just the cold-thaw-loving!Tsundere. Instead, Silver will be cold-thaw-uncertain/loving. Why the uncertainty in a character known for his confidence? Well, personally I feel it would be best to have his shell hide something, here being uncertainty. It's basically the HeartGoldHeadcanon!Silver who accompanies HeartGoldHeadcanon!Lyra (a.k.a Stubborn!Lyra). Ethan will be mixed with Gold's personality, so he's going to be less of a baby. However, this is my first time writing Gold, so please bear with me. Finally, Crystal is going to be serious and level-headed in this as usual, however you'll later find she can have a bit of a mischievous side when she feels the need to let loose. (You'll see her in action later on, you'll understand what I mean a bit later)
So, without any further ado, please sit back, relax and enjoy the show!
