Note: First Pokémon fic, hehe~ So I just started the game a few days ago and already I am a SoulSilvershipper. I like Gold/Hibiki/Ethan and Soul/Kotone/Lyra together too of course, but this one is much, much cuter, in my opinion. :D Whee, enjoy!

Warning: Rated T for cussing.

--

Maybe

In my case, it wasn't instant attraction. Quite the opposite, in fact. I completely hated her from the start.

As soon as she walked out of the Professor's lab, with her ridiculously large hat and a grin so frustratingly big on that childish face of hers, she annoyed me. Even more so when she caught me suspiciously standing before the window and our eyes met for a minute—I noted that her eyes were a deep, warm brown—and though I'd expected a frown to replace her smile, it only widened, exposing all of her teeth to me. The idiot even waved, her hand swaying from left to right vigorously.

I was surprised, but not amused or charmed. How could someone seemingly my age be so stupid? She didn't even take the time to register the possibilities of what I could be planning—could she not see that I was up to no good, peering into the Professor's lab like that? I opened my mouth to insult her, say something that could erase that infuriating grin on her face—how could one be so cheery in this screwed-up world? It was sickening—but decided against it before the words could form. She wasn't worth it. I turned away from her and returned to my previous state of quietly plotting.

Obviously, that girl failed to leave much of an impression on me. I knew that I would only see her for that moment, that I wouldn't ever get to know her name, and that she wouldn't be part of my life, and I truly wasn't disappointed. She's nothing but a person you'll soon forget, I thought, and I did. Painlessly, easily, she was erased from my mind.

I rushed into the lab when Elm and his helpers went out to take a stroll, snatched a Pokéball from the two remaining, and left quickly and silently, not a single thought of her rudely popping into my head as I did so. I'd also trained my conscience to leave me alone and let me live and do as I wished.

And so, I slipped out of New Bark Town witha new Pokémon, my own to craft into a powerful beast, and the ambition to become the strongest trainer ever to exist.

That goal didn't need, didn't call for the bothersome interference of a strict conscience, or perhaps, a foolish girl wearing an immense marshmallow on her head.

But fate is sadistic, and we crossed paths again.

Not even a full day after, too…

--

"Dammit! What the hell is this?"

I glared down at the…at the green plush toy rubbing its head against my ankle affectionately. "Chika," it mewled repeatedly in a way that scraped rough sandpaper against my nerves.

I growled, "Stop that!" and jerked my foot upwards, sending the Pokémon (though I could hardly believe it was one) into the air for a brief moment before landing with a thud on the ground. It groaned—a low, pained sound—and, slowly, got to its feet.

Fan-fucking-tastic. In my rush, I'd grabbed the runt of the litter. A Grass type (of this I could tell from its color and the telltale leaf it wore on its head), a category I'd never really cared for. I would much rather own a Ghost, Poison, or Dark type, something menacing and merciless.

But no, I was stuck with…with this.

"The hell? You're already hurt from that?" I got onto my knee to scowl it into fear of me. Amidst its green pelt, above a ring of tiny spikes around its neck, were its eyes, red and strained, yet also with a persisting undertone of determined admiration.

For me? I scoffed. How useless was this thing?

"Are you even a Pokémon? You don't look strong enough to hurt a fly!" I yelled, anger rising. How could I have taken the weak one with a liking for the heartless? That hint of love, tiny and subtle but visible, was still swimming in those raspberry orbs, noticeable even among the mix of shock and fear. "Stop looking at me like that or I'm going to kick you again!"

Just then, the living plush toy—I refuse to believe it is a species of Pokémon—looked past me at something behind, and it smiled. Immediately I whirled around to dispose of whatever could be giving it such abrupt happiness, and froze at the familiar glimpse of auburn pigtails as they flew past me and towards the green thing.

"Aww, it's so cute!" The voice squealed, high, girly, and…annoying, above everything else.

Jolted back to life, I blinked and let the thoughts flow into me. It was her, the girl with the marshmallow hat! Again?!

"What the—? Didn't I just see you a while ago?" I sputtered incredulously. Hadn't I vowed to forget her? True, I couldn't control the amount of times we would meet, but I hadn't expected to run into her yet again!

I took in a breath to calm myself; of course there would be bumps on the road to Pokémon mastery. Even a particularly large one like her and that hat of hers. But it shouldn't matter how many encounters we would have; I wouldn't let her get in my way.

She finally shifted her attention from the plush toy and gave me a good look. Her eyes widened a second after, but not in terror, like I'd hoped for.

This silly girl… Was happy to see me?

Had she been hit her head as a kid? Multiple times? It surely seemed like it.

"Ah! It's the Window Boy!" She stood up from the grass, wiped a few blades from her knee, and extended her arm out towards me. "I know that's not your name, so what is it, actually? Oh, I'm Soul!" Without waiting for me to respond, she took my hand and shook it eagerly.

All right, who the hell was this crazy girl and her apparently absent, or perhaps malfunctioning, ability to sense trouble? "What's wrong with you?" I asked with narrowed eyes. Now, it interested me. Now, I wanted to know. How could she not realize that I was trouble?

Did I not look sinister enough? People always told me I did, or at least, they'd made me feel like I was my whole life. Everyone would always avoid me, not even sparing me a single glance as they breezed on by. I knew it was because of the scowl, not exactly the friendliest expression in the world, which I always wore, but that was the way I preferred to have it. I wanted people to be afraid of me.

Only, this girl was not respecting such wishes of mine. And it was bothering me greatly.

"Nothing's wrong with me," she replied innocently, in a voice so sweet I wondered if it was being forced through. "Hey, this is your Chikorita, koto ne? She's so cute!"

I looked at her—Soul, was that her name? Not that it mattered to me; I was merely making sure I'd heard right when she'd told me earlier—harder, analyzing that smile that appeared too joyful to be true, but I realized, with a wave of disgust that followed the sudden insight, that it was absolutely sincere.

"You can have the damned thing," I grumbled. It was of no value to me, so why not?

Soul looked up, her mouth open in an "o". I noticed that her lips, small and delicate, were a light salmon color and inwardly sneered to myself—she just oozed pink girliness. "B-but why?" She trembled, chocolate eyes probing mine for an answer. I found that I'd stopped breathing for a while and that my heartbeat had also paused while studying her…feminine…features. Those eyes of hers were especially alluring…

Quickly I shook my head and snapped back to reality. What the hell was I doing? The Pokémon master-to-be shouldn't be focusing on such trivial things.

"It's weak," I answered, coldly and simply, after regaining myself from temporary stupidity.

She only continued to stare at me with those deep brown orbs, not comprehending anything that lied beneath the lines.

I sighed. "It's weak, so I don't want it."

"Why?"

Could she use her damn head for once? Although, there probably wasn't anything in there to use, huh?

"Soul," I snarled, eyes narrowed to slits to instill at least some fear in this stupid girl, "I'll let you know something about me." She took a step back from me but maintained that smile perfectly. I pressed on, anger strengthening with every second that dim-witted smile remained, "There's two things I definitely hate about this world. One is weakness; in people, in Pokémon, it doesn't matter, if you're weak, you shouldn't exist." I ground my teeth just at the thought of it.

I watched her expression closely, waiting for the corners of her mouth to turn, pointing downwards instead. But they didn't. That blood-boiling smile of hers stayed put as if I hadn't said a single word. Had she even heard me? Instinctively I started to shape a harsher sentence, one to wipe that grin off her face, but she cut in before I could, "Everything starts off weak. Nothing is born powerful, you know. You were once a baby too, koto ne?" She laughed, the sound not unlike gentle bells, as she scooped the green plush toy into her arms, and I faintly wondered to myself whatever that Japanese phrase she repeated meant… "C'mon, it seems to be fond of you already… Why don't you give it a chance?"

I looked down at the thing—a Chikorita, had she called it?—and examined it further. It seemed…squishy, fluffy, and cuddly, not hardy or tough. What was this crazy girl saying? Couldn't she hear the foolish words she was saying? The Chikorita was clearly undeserving of a second chance.

But… If Soul was defending it so passionately, then surely the Chikorita had some self-worth. Right? I pondered for a while as the atmosphere grew silent, Soul scrutinizing my face for any hints of what I was thinking.

I made my decision. "All right, I'll…I'll take your words into consideration. I'm not saying you're right, so don't get proud of yourself." Despite my warning, she grinned. I shuddered at the reappearance of her cursed smile and decided that I had to do something about it. And I got the idea not even a full second later. "In fact, since you've been pissing the heck out of me since we've met, let's battle!"

"Umm, well, to tell you the truth," she mumbled, stepping back as she nervously played with a lock of her hair. I smirked; I knew that she wasn't all smiles and rainbows and unicorns. "This is… I actually… This'll be first my battle…." She faltered into a breathless whisper, one that greatly hinted of cowardice. Fear. The saccharine ambrosia that I flourished on…

My smirk deepened. In the end, it was me to emerge right. I'd show her. "Too bad; you shouldn't have talked like you knew everything. Chikorita, let's go!" Hope and delight filled its raspberry orbs, and as to not encourage it any more, I swiftly added, "This is your last chance to prove yourself to me. Don't throw it away."

This sparked a fire within its tiny green body, surprising me. It stood firmly on the ground as if I had never kicked it a while ago. But still, this was not enough to impress me. I rolled my eyes and turned my attention to Soul. She still hadn't moved an inch. I teased, pleased with myself, "What? Too scared?"

"N-no!" Soul protested, though her stuttering said otherwise. I began to form crueler words to provoke her, but before they could be voiced she straightened up and dug her feet into the dirt.

Strangely enough, she reminded me of…

I glanced down at my Chikorita… Or its back, at least. It was posed, unafraid—or if it was dreadful, it was doing one hell of a job at concealing it.

I looked back up at Soul and her side of the makeshift battlefield of grass. A crocodile (alligator, reptile, whatever it was), young, blue, and goofy, was waddling its way to its spot in the field, sharp teeth revealed in a sheepish grin. "Do your best, Allinomnom!"

Wait, what had she just called it?

Hold on, Silver. No. I mustn't let myself get distracted by such a…ridiculous nickname.

Refocusing on the matter at hand, I analyzed the situation. Chikorita hadn't been clarified as a Grass Pokémon, but it was illogical to assume otherwise. Totodile, or, pfft, Allinomnom, was obviously a Water Pokémon.

I had the advantage. Confident (I had the right to be), I mumbled to no one in particular, "This shouldn't take long."

The battle began with Allinomnom acting on its own, to both my, and the amateur Soul's, surprise. The grin erased from its face, its jaw firmly set in place, and it lunged forward, claw extended threateningly in front of its body.

Chikorita jumped a second too late—I flinched as I practically heard Allinomnom scratch at its opponent's chest. Chikorita immediately landed, but managed to stand up easily. "Vine Whip! You know that move, right? Vine Whip!" I ordered shrilly. I would not accept defeat, or even the slightest chance of it, not to anyone, especially this marshmallow hatter girl.

Unfortunately, fate was working against me once again. Her Totodile was quick, rolling off to the left before the vine could even get close to touching it. It would take more to get me to teeter on the brink of losing my calm, however. "Vine Whip again, Chikorita! And this time, make sure it gets hit!"

Thick vines, the color not unlike evergreen leaves, shot out from Chikorita's sides, stretching a longer distance than before. It successfully took a hold of Soul's Totodile this time, and, to my delight, raised the struggling blue crocodile into the air before dropping it to land, hard, on the dirt.

Soul yelped, I cackled, and "Allinomnom" moaned. Chikorita swiveled and eyed me, fearful yet rimmed with hope. I subconsciously flashed it a smile before I could stop myself. Its red-violet orbs brightened, so I acted hurriedly and suppressed my smile, substituting it instead with a scowl. "Not bad, but you could do better!" Still, I couldn't convince it (or myself). The Chikorita was dancing, leaf swaying back and forth. I couldn't fight it any longer—the grin was coming back, small yet strong enough to break away the serious demeanor I usually had on.

Now, I had a victory to rub in a certain marshmallow-hatter's face.

Soul was staring at Allinomnom with an emotion I hadn't seen on her before. Her eyebrows were furrowed in profound focus, her hand a fist by her side. She looked at me for a brief moment, and I found myself unable to meet her eyes, not when she looked like that…

Then out of nowhere came a smile of sympathy towards her pained Totodile. Her strong-minded eyes softened, and her lips—colored a brilliant peach from the setting sun—parted to shout, "Allinomnom, you did great! C'mon, let's get you to a Pokémon Center!"

My own heart started to throb in pity; had I gone too hard on this girl?

Sooner than it could develop, I stopped the thought. She didn't deserve my pity. She and her Totodile were weaklings, and look at her, trying to hide the disappointment. "Why don't you just yell at it already? Aren't you unhappy you lost? Don't you wish you had a stronger Pokémon?"

For a while, everything was silent. Allinomnom remained, face flat on the floor, and Chikorita started to retreat from the battlefield and towards me. Then, Soul's words, soft and gentle, cut through the quiet. "It's fine with me if he lost… But it doesn't mean he can't get any stronger." She stepped forward and picked up her precious Pokémon, hugging its scrawny body to her chest as she cooed into it.

She approached me and, and… Slapped me? Punched me? Pushed me aside?

I froze as I felt warm arms wrap around my chest. A lock of her hair tickled my cheek as she rested her head on my right shoulder, and I felt numb all over—my hands, my legs, my mind… She smelled…nice, like apple blossoms in the wind and what the hell was I doing?

"H-hey! Let go!" I vaguely heard myself protest, and yet I… I didn't push her aside, I waited until she did.

Finally she let me go; I expected relief to fill me, but instead gathered the opposite—disappointment. Geez, what was wrong with me today? It was all her fault…

"Thank you," she said now, jolting me out of my thoughts.

I wasn't sure what to say. You're welcome? But what the heck was she thanking me for?

I wasn't sure what to think. Besides, well…That this girl really was as stupid as her hat.

But for some strange, otherworldly reason, I liked it. I liked her foolishness and the way she depended on what her heart said, refusing to listen to the insecurities of her mind… I liked our...embrace…

And realizing this, I dropped my Trainer Card. On purpose? Maybe.

Maybe I wanted her to pick it up and say, "You dropped your Trainer Card, Silver!"

Maybe I felt myself blush for the first time in my life when she told me, "I hope we meet again. By the way, Silver's such a cool name, koto ne?"

Maybe I did want to meet her again. Maybe after all those various encounters we had, I found myself no longer associating her with word "weak".

Maybe, somewhere along the way, I fell for her.

It didn't matter.

I'd never admit anything.

There is one thing I can't hide, though. For I always have to reveal it during my battles, when I call my Chikorita, later my Bayleef, later my Meganium, out to fight.

Shortly after our first battle, I began to think of nicknames for my Chikorita. One to send her Totodile's silly pet name to shame—which didn't seem that hard to do, really.

Chikorita gazed up at me with those eyes, and for an instant they changed to the familiar color of chocolate. "It reminds you of Soul, koto ne?" The teasing wind whispered in my ear, chuckling as the heat in my cheeks rose.

I started to walk, stiffly but surely, motioning for the…no, my Chikorita to follow me. "Let's go, Kotone."

--

I found that over the years, I've become a little stupid, too.

Stupid for always keeping my…my Kotone as my number one Pokémon. Stupid because whenever I think "my Kotone" because I automatically think "my Soul" afterwards. Stupid because I smile like an idiot whenever Kotone the Meganium kisses my cheek or cuddles with me, and I always imagine her doing it, kissing my cheek or snuggling up to me…

Yeah, I'm stupid.

But it's okay, because you know what?

She is, too.

--

End Note: How lame was that? xD

But I want to write more of this couple :') I love them so much already~

Thanks for reading!

I leave clicking that Review button completely up to you.

But if you do, bunches of thanks, and buckets of hugs (or cookies, whichever you prefer), for doing so. (: