A/N: 1) Because after one becomes champion, he has nothing to do except isolating themselves in Mt. Silver or entering a spiral of depression and self-destruction. Also, Silver/Lyra is something I haven't written for a while, and one-sentence fics are delightful to write (the fact that I love difficult relationships is also a plus). 2) Ages are upped to twenty or more, just fyi. 3) This contains a smidge of self-portrayal, but it's easily dismissed (I hope). 4) I also managed chronological order! Three cheers.
Fandom: Pokémon
Characters: Silver & Lyra
Genre: Romance/drama/unhealthy relationship and control galore k thanks
Summary: When all that's left is him, Lyra feels the pressure to make a choice.
Rating: T
Glee
o1. ring
The ring of her phone is what wakes her up in the mornings; it's usually someone looking for a quick battle or a small chat, but Lyra almost never picks up.
o2. hero
She remembers – usually, when she's reading the covers of some silly, girly magazine – that she used to be the hero of Johto, but now she is reduced to a fashion icon; she doesn't know what hurts more, the downgrade or the fact she accepts it.
o3. memory
Once she dumps the Vogues and the Elles her mailman insists on delivering, she turns her sight to The Times, but only picks out the literary section, carefully avoiding the court and social section so that she isn't startlingly reminded of a man with red hair.
o4. box
There is a box under her bed that's full of newspaper clippings, from her first documented battle (a small thing hidden away inside a small-town paper) to her officialised champion statute (The Times' headline), but it's been long since she's last opened it.
o5. run
It's sad that her sprints across grasslands and mountain tops have been replaced by leisurely walks inside fancy restaurants and expensive stores.
o6. hurricane
During the day, Lyra seldom goes out – she stays inside, cleans and works to achieve a higher level of aesthetics; at night, however, she leaves and only returns when the sun is up, her shoes in her hand and her hair a mess.
o7. wings
After a particularly big party, she wakes up with a latent headache and a nausea that lasts for a day; however, the lack of sadness she feels the night before is completely worth it.
o8. cold
She takes a hot shower, feeling sticky and worn-out from dancing and drinking and – she feels so cold when she gets out of the bathtub, even though the bathroom is packed with steam.
o9. red
It's something she only notices when she's sneaking out of their house, out of their bed, but every man she sleeps with is a redhead.
10. drink
At first, it's 'just one', but then there is a line (or is it two?) of empty plastic glasses in the counter, and she still can't forget about him.
11. midnight
Midnight is the time of perfect silence in Goldenrod – the small interval of time when the city sleeps, between the closing of shady stores and the opening of noisy bars; Lyra would know.
12. temptation
Sometimes, when she splits a cab with Whitney – who holds her liquor like a six-year-old girl scout – and Janine, the cabby drives by Radio tower, and she pictures Team Rocket uniforms and flustered inquiries about her state of dressing.
13. view
She looks away then, watching her reflection in the glass, taking in the brown of her hair and the plumpness of her lips, and wonders why she wasn't good enough for him.
14. music
The music from the cab is smooth, and she isn't sober enough to discern the singer, but it brings back images of dancing barefoot in Olivine's beach – with him.
15. silk
He'd been wearing a silk tie and a black suit, but Lyra had been wearing heels, and if she could dance in the sand with stilettos, then he could dance with his stupid shiny black shoes.
16. cover
By the time she gets home, she's feeling like shit, and it's not just because she really needs to throw up; she does her best to get to her bed and covers herself with her sheets, hoping that that will make her forget all about him.
17. promise
But she doesn't – it doesn't work that way; because he made her a promise that he wasn't able to keep.
18. dream
That night, her dreams are permeated with the smell of his cologne.
19. candle
When she wakes up the next morning, she feels like someone's shoved a candle through her ear, and the only time she gets up is to go pee.
20. talent
It takes a whole lot of talent to put on a smile and politely accept when Lance asks her to investigate Silph Corp. in Kanto.
21. silence
He, of course, notices the unusual silence, the unusual lack of cheery small talk, but he doesn't ask anything.
22. journey
Lyra does not remember the journey to Kanto being so short, but suddenly – here she is, and Saffron's skyscrapers curve above her, menacing and frightening.
23. fire
The secretary greets her warmly, and Lyra has no choice but to smile warmly back, despite the overwhelming sensation of fire in her stomach.
24. strength
And she hasn't felt this weak in ages – not since Silver and her started fighting and ended up in a fucking battle – so pushing the elevator button takes her whole spirit away.
25. mask
She plants on a mask – a courteous smile and a detached tone of voice, just to warn him that she's here in business, not to ask him to get back.
26. ice
But nothing could ever prepare her to meet his eyes again, and – oh, no – Lyra's wide steps falter and she feels her knees weaken when he looks up from a batch of important-looking papers, from the back of his important-looking mahogany desk, looking glorious and mighty because of the wide, high window; it's like she's been thrown into the waters of Ice Cave.
27. fall
It takes all her will not to fall for him again (and even so, she's not sure she can …).
28. forgotten
It's just that, everything she's told herself so far has been obliterated, just because he sets the papers down and gets up from his chair, his hand edging towards his thigh.
29. dance
"Are we going to do this again, Silver?" Lyra asks, and shakes her head disapprovingly, sitting down in the lush chair in front of his desk.
30. body
And when she crosses her legs, her skirt inches up and his eyes run over her body; Lyra can't help the smirk on her lips, because even though he tries his best to glorify himself, he's just a man.
31. sacred
He sits down, then, eyeing her like she's something stuck to the bottom of his – stupid black shiny – shoe, but he doesn't comment on her outfit, because some things are sacred, or maybe he just doesn't want to acknowledge they share a past ("What are you doing dressed up like that?").
32. sorrow
It makes her feel a little sad that he hates her more than he likes belittling her, but she just intertwines her fingers and starts discussing Silph's environmental destruction in places like Vermillion Bay and the demolition of the old training dojo.
33. stupidity
"It's my job to renovate the older buildings and it's not my fault my employees like dumping toxic waste in the sea. Is your brain working properly?"
34. serenade
She wants to break into song and tell her she wants him, or maybe she wants to grab the lamp and smash it against his pretty face; she's not sure.
35. sarcasm
"Your job isn't being a whiny little office bitch, it's to keep the Rockets in line—or have you forgotten about that, just like you very conveniently forgot about loving me?"
36. sordid
He makes a remark ("So, tell me, how many men have you slept with since I left?"), and since it's so much like him, so rude and unappealing and vicious, Lyra can't help getting to her feet and walk out, before the urge to send his papers flying to the floor and fucking him on his stupid desk overpowers the urge to just leave him alone for once.
37. soliloquy
Once she gets home, she pours herself a glass of wine and gets inside her tub, listening to jazz and talking to herself about things that are not Silver.
38. sojourn
Lyra locks up her apartment, leaves her best sunflora behind just to make sure she isn't going to get disturbed, and does her best to disappear; she thinks Sinnoh would be a nice place to visit.
39. share
She only takes a small share of the fortune she has sitting in the bank, planning to make a frugal living while living there; she doesn't take any other pokémon save for her typhlosion.
40. solitary
It's deserted and cold in Sinnoh's resort area, but she likes it, and the nurses from the centre keep forcing hot chocolate onto her (and it's not like she's going to refuse).
41. nowhere
The newspaper carries a notice about Kanto's pollution in the most populated cities, and she can't help but to feel amazed by the fact that she has nowhere to hide from him.
42. neutral
By the time she returns, she finds her home pristine except for the small card stuck underneath her door; it has a small watermark, from Silph offices, and Lyra decides not to read it.
43. nuance
She can't help but feel bothered, because she knows that that fucking piece of paper is standing still, waiting for her, and in a momentary moment of weakness (when she gets home tired and slightly tipsy, with severe lack of judgement), she picks it up and skims it.
44. near
"Why do you keep doing this, I am so near, so close to forgetting about you," Lyra hisses into her phone, and then starts crying.
45. natural
"Because we are made for each other," Silver replies, from the other side, but all Lyra can hear is "because it's a pleasing experience, fucking around with your feelings".
46. horizon
The road ahead looks glum and she doesn't want to look towards the horizon because she's afraid of what she might find there.
47. valiant
She's almost intrepid when she turns him down, but then she remembers that Silver is a prick and that he adores when she puts up a fight.
48. virtuous
On their Post-Breakup-First-Date, he takes her out to dinner and walks her home with a lecherous grin on his face; when he asks her if she isn't going to invite him in, Lyra slams the door on his face.
49. victory
She still wakes up feeling like shit, and this time it's not from a hangover – it irks her deeply that being with him is like sticking a pin further in, because being without him is pushing in one thousand; there is no possible victory.
50. defeat
Lyra tries to accept her defeat like it's a graceful opponent who's won over her – head high and shoulders straight – but in the end, she can't help but to irrevocably let herself be stained by him again, so she doesn't see the point to it; losing to Silver is as bad as losing him, but just on the short run.