Silver growled to himself, growing more than irritated with his thoughts. For some Mew-forsaken reason, that irritating little trainer kept popping in his head. Her genuine smile… her light-hearted laugh… her eyes so full of affection… all of these images came as though some pokeball was released in his head, forcing him to battle Kotone.
Feraligator snapped his jaw curiously at his master, who absent-mindedly ran a hand along his snout. Slightly miffed about being ignored, Feraligator head-butted Silver, grinning as the broody teen fell over. Silver turned his head to glare up at his pokemon, who nudged at his shoulder as a silent apology. "Whatever," Silver responded, his way of accepting the apology. "I think… we should battle Kotone again." Feraligator smirked and snarled suggestively, earning another glare from his master. That was alright though, because this time Feraligator knew his trainer wasn't angry at him, just embarrassed by his own feelings. It would only be a matter of time though.
The light from the sun smarted Silver's eyes as he stepped out of the Dragon's Den, and he brought up an arm to block some of the rays. Feraligator hopped past Silver and shook happily, missing the fresh air. He jumped in the water, slashing a large amount of water on his grumpy trainer. Silver groaned and hopped on his pokemon's back. Worst. Day. Ever.
"Where do you think Kotone is?" Silver mused to himself, Feraligator growling his opinion from beneath him. They reached the edge of the lake and Silver jumped off of Feraligator, onto the shore. A few dragon-tamers turned to give him a glace, which Silver returned with a glare. They all quickly turned back to their dratinis and their horseas, not wanting to have Silver wipe the floor with them… again.
Silver froze… was that a hand? Touching his head? RUFFLING HIS HAIR! Silver turned with a snarl, meeting the amused expression of the League Champion. "So, you're looking for Kotone?" Silver slapped his hand away, giving his level 100 Death Glare attack to Lance. It had no effect. Lance laughed at his pseudo-brother, comparing the glare to a Skitty trying to be scary. "I've spoken to her recently. She said she wanted to spend some time in Ilex Forest." Lance smiled down at Silver, who refused to let up on his fierce look, "So go get her, tiger."
"Stay out of it," Silver hissed, only prompting another laugh from the Champion. Feraligator snapped at the air lazily, bored by the one-sided quarreling that took place every time Silver and Lance were together. "Wanting to battle Kotone has nothing to do with anything!"
"Of course," Lance smiled patronizingly, "your crush on her has absolutely nothing to do with it." Silver fumed, and Lance exchanged a glance with the Feraligator. With a sigh, he continued, "Just fly to Azalea Town on your Crobat, and travel to Ilex Forest. From what I understand, she'll be by the shrine." With another shake of his hair (which earned some swearing from the younger redhead) Lance strode away with a dramatic wave of his cape, heading towards the Blackthorn Gym to visit Clair.
….
Silver walked through the dark forest, Feraligator a few steps behind him. He knew from talking to the locals (some of which who gave him wary looks) that Kotone had come to Ilex Forest a while ago, and she stocked up on materials from the Pokemart, suggesting that she'd be there for a while. Seeing the broken tree in front of him, Silver gave his companion a sideways look. "Cut it down." With a roar, Feraligator slashed the tree, exposing the resting girl behind it.
Kotone was cuddled against her Typhlosion, deep in a sleep. The fire pokemon looked up at the noise and flattened his ears in a rumble of a growl. Silver ignored the pokemon's threat, knowing that Kotone's starter held no fond feelings for him. In fact, after all of the battles and abuse he'd given her (including trying to strip her in public), Typhlosion would like nothing more than to burn him to a crisp. Of course, he wouldn't do that if Kotone didn't order it, and unfortunately for Typhlosion, Kotone held warmer affections for her rival.
"Kotone," Silver spoke crisply, keeping his eye trained on the volcanic pokemon. The pokemon trainer stirred, moving slowly as her brain woke up. She sat up and stretched her limbs, yawning from her nap. She rubbed her eyes and took a sleepy look at the one who woke her up. Silver spoke, "I want a battle."
Kotone yawned again and stood up. "Sorry Silver, but not right now. Maybe some other time." She pet her pokemon while Silver started at her, dumbfounded. No one refused a challenge to a pokemon battle. It was like some law handed down from generation to generation, forcing trainers to battle regardless of how fatigued their pokemon were! Continuing, Kotone spoke, "I mean, we're in front of the shrine to the pokemon protecting this forest. It would just be inappropriate." She turned and gave Silver a smile, making his face heat up. When the heck did he get a fever!
"Then let's leave," he growled, "and then we can battle!"
"Nope." Kotone cheerfully sat back down, ignoring the growing irritation Silver had. "I want to see if this pokemon comes! So, I'm staying here." Typhlosion cooed happily as Kotone scratched a spot behind his ear. "If you want to, you can join me."
Silver shook angrily, "I don't want to go camping to wait for a pokemon that won't show up, I want to battle!" Kotone shrugged and Silver groaned to himself. That girl was usually a pushover that he could walk all over, but when she decided to get stubborn about something, all the legendary pokemon in every region combined couldn't change her mind. "Fine, but when this pokemon shows up, we're going to battle! Got it?" Silver crossed his arms and glared at Kotone, who nodded happily.
He took a seat across from Kotone, with his Feraligator laying down like Typhlosion was. He would hear growls and such indicating some sort of conversation between the two, and judging from the looks of fury that Typhlosion gave the red-haired trainer, Silver had a feeling he knew what the topic was. "Silver?" He looked up at the girl, who was sitting on her knees and giving the teen a curious look. "Did you just come here to battle me?"
"What of it?" Silver growled, and Feraligator gave him a disapproving look. The silly human would not be able to woo the humanette if he kept being so rude. "You have a problem with that?" He added, and Feraligator sighed.
"Of course not," Kotone replied, not the slightest bit put-off by his attitude. She crawled over to him and sat next to him, "It's just strange is all. You stopped trying to pick fights a while ago." She smirked at Silver, making his heart skip a beat, "I missed my stalker," she teased, turning his face into a frown. '
Kotone laughed at his sullen expression and Silver looked away with a huff, "You laugh too easily," he growled. Feraligator rolled his eyes from his spot behind the two, and decided to have a conversation with Typhlosion about them instead, so he stood up and walked to the fire-type.
Meanwhile, the two trainers continued their conversation, "I don't laugh too easily," Kotone commented. "I laugh as much as a regular person. YOU on the other hand, don't laugh enough." She tugged his hair playfully, making him turn with her with a glare, only to realize their faces were centimeters apart. Their noses, their eyes… their lips… Silver was embarrassed by the intimacy, which only served to fuel his temper.
"There's nothing to laugh about," he spat. "The whole world is full of people trying to one-up each other just so they can rub it in their faces. People lie, steal, and murder. Even parents will abandon their children if they aren't of any use! So what in the world is there to laugh at?" He glared at Kotone, but she could see a deep hurt in those crimson eyes behind all that rage. She wanted to wrap her arms around the teenage boy and comfort him, but she knew well enough that it would only serve to further anger him.
Instead, Kotone placed a hand on his shoulder, "All of that is true Silver, but there's a still a lot to laugh about." She gave him an encouraging smile. "There's baby pokemon playing, slowpoke trying to race, the mystery of what diglett looks like under its hole…" Seeing the uninterested expression on Silver's face, Kotone knew she was going nowhere fast. Then, she remembered how she and Hibiki used to wrestle when they were younger…
"But, the biggest thing to laugh about…" she paused for dramatic effect, and Silver actually looked somewhat curious, "is this!" She quickly pounced on her rival, digging her fingers into his sides.
The reaction was immediate as Silver jerked from side to side, unmanly giggles pouring out of his mouth. With some laughs of her own, Kotone pinned his legs down with her knees and started tickling his stomach instead. Silver's giggles evolved into full-blown laughter. He tries to grab at Kotone's hands, but her nimble fingers dodged his attempts, and tickled him harder as punishment. "Awww, see Silver? Laughing isn't so bad," she teased. While his laughter was satisfying to the female trainer, what Kotone wanted was for him to beg for mercy. Call her sadistic if you want, but it was how she stopped Hibiki from picking on her whenever her mom bought her new clothes. And now, it was going to be how she convinced Silver to be happier.
She moved from his stomach to his ribs, taking a fiendish delight in the yelps Silver emitted. "S-STOP!" Silver commanded between laughs, but Kotone didn't consider that begging. She alternated between poking along his ribs and scratching her fingers against his coat, trying to find what got the strongest reaction. Nothing, however, suggested that she had found his weak spot yet. She quickly went for his underarms, and heard a feminine squeal before Silver's arms clamped down to protect his weakness. She grinned, Jackpot.
She wiggled her fingers along Silver's navel until he brought his hands up to try in vain to make her stop. The moment his underarms were exposed again, she dug her fingers in. Silver clamped his arms to his sides again, but now all that did was trap Kotone's hands in his most ticklish spot. He bucked around, trying to get the girl off him, who didn't move. "Coochie coochie koo," she taunted, which seemed to make him laugh even harder.
"KOTONE!" He screamed, trying to make the ticklish sensations go away. When he realized that she wasn't going to quit anytime soon, Silver decided to go on the offensive. He brought his arms up and grabbed Kotone's shoulders, turning her over so now he was on top of her. He pinned her shoulders down and straddled her hips while he panted, trying to catch his breath. Kotone gave him an innocent smile, and his narrowed his eyes at her. "What in Lugia's name possessed you to do something so stupid?" He hissed, glowering at the girl.
"I just wanted to cheer you up," Kotone answered, her guilt seeping in a bit. Tickle fights between friends as small kids were one thing, but pretty much attacking Silver in a forest? Not quite as lighthearted. "I thought if I got you to laugh, then you'd be happier."
"My happiness?" Silver incredulously replied. "You tickled me half to death to make me HAPPY?" Kotone winced, and Silver looked up as he heard two growls. Feraligator and Typhlosion were both giving him warnings, While Feraligator was trying to keep his master from ruining this fragile relationship he had, Typhlosion just wanted to let the teen know what would happen if he hurt his mistress.
Silver looked back down at the girl, who looked genuinely upset that her plan had backfired. He knew she was telling the truth, that she was only trying to make him happy. The thought warmed him, when was the last time someone did something to make him happy? Then he realized it, Kotone always had done that. In his darkest times, Kotone had always preached that he should love his pokemon. Then, he thought she was only saying so for the pokemon he mistreated, but now he knew different. As he treated his pokemon with more kindness, he felt more satisfaction with life, enough to almost be happy. That was why she wanted him to be good: to improve his own life.
Silver continued to glare down at the girl, but in his head, there was an epiphany of sorts. What Lance had always teased him about was not true: Silver did not have a crush on Kotone. He had crushes throughout his life, and none of them felt like this. He never felt this urge to hold a girl and make her feel safe. He would never spend time sitting with any other girl as she waited for a pokemon rumored to not even exist. No other girl would be forgiven for exploiting his weakness like that, and especially not so quickly. He didn't have a crush on Kotone. He loved her.
Without a second thought, Silver crushed his lips against Kotone's. He didn't allow doubts about her own feelings to frighten him away, and he didn't allow growling from her pokemon to frighten him away. Even if she hated him, even if she ran away, even if he was burnt to a crisp, he needed to let his feelings be known. When they parted, he stared into her deep, brown eyes. For a moment, she looked dazed, before mischief sparkled in those eyes once more. She giggled, "If I knew that would happen when I tickled you, I would have done it a long time ago."
Silver frowned down at the girl; he had almost forgotten the tickle attack from moments ago. He might have let it go if she hadn't brought it up, but since she did… Silver smirked down at her and spoke with amusement. "Really? I wonder what will happen when I tickle you!" With that, Silver began his tickle attack, girlish squeals erupting from Kotone.
Meanwhile, a lone pokemon watched them from high in the trees. Small, green, and with big eyes, Celebi observed the humans in their courting ritual. Celebi giggled as Silver found a way to remove one of Kotone's shoes, and tickled her socked feet. Apparently, that was her weak spot. Feraligator and Typhlosion looked up at the legendary pokemon, who waved down at them, before disappearing into a different timeline.