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Lyra got back onto the road out of town, after healing her team at the Azalea Pokemon Center.

She never figured her passing through the small town would be so full of excitement. Not only had she beaten Bugsy and gotten the Hive Badge, but she'd also beaten Team Rocket at the Slowpoke Well and saved all of Azalea Town's Slowpoke.

She was a hero to these people!

It was nice to be so appreciated, but she didn't really feel she deserved it. She'd just done what she thought anyone would have done.

Still, it was pretty cool. She was somewhat sad to have to leave, but she was taking the League Challenge, so she couldn't stick around. Goldenrod City was waiting for her.

She made her way towards Ilex Forest, where she'd helped the Kiln owner's apprentice find his Farfetch'd earlier. The Forest was spooky, but she had her Pokemon to protect her.

As she made her way towards the Forest, she heard a familiar voice shout out behind her. "Hey! Pigtails!"

She turned and saw his bright red hair and piercing, silver eyes. He wasn't happy.

But when was he ever?

"Silver," she said, trying to smile for him. "What are you doing here?"

He narrowed his eyes. "I was just at Slowpoke Well, but it was deserted," he said. "Tell me something. Is it true that Team Rocket's back?"

"Yep," she answered. Then in a cheerier tone (kind of bragging, really), she added, "I beat them!"

"What?" he asked in disbelief. "You beat them? Ha! Quit lying."

Lyra pouted. "I'm not! I went to the well and found them cutting off Slowpoke tails. They tried to chase me off, but I fought them."

"You're serious?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. It was clear he didn't buy it for a second. He scowled, and reached for a pokeball on his belt. "Then let's see how good you are!"

With a fierce determination in his eyes, he brought out his Zubat, ready for battle.

With a sigh, Lyra grabbed a Pokeball of her own and called forth her recently-evolved Croconaw.

"Supersonic!" Silver shouted at his Zubat.

"Croconaw, use Scratch!"

Their battle carried on, with Lyra encouraging her Pokemon, and Silver barking out orders and insults at his own.

She brought down his Zubat with ease, the Pokemon clearly uneasy with training under him.

Then his Gastly, which fared only slightly better.

And then his Bayleef. She'd put up a good fight, but in the end was brought down by Lyra's Pidgeotto.

With his last Pokemon fainted, Silver was beaten.

He scowled and recalled Bayleef into her ball. Growling, he turned to Lyra and said, "Listen, you. You only won because my Pokemon were weak."

"Silver…," Lyra sighed.

"You're not strong. You can't beat the strong! You're weak." he continued. "And I hate the weak. Pokemon, Trainers. It doesn't matter who or what. That goes for Team Rocket too! They think they're big and tough as long as they're in a group! But get them alone, and they're weak."

Lyra frowned at Silver's words. "Is that why you're always alone?"

He narrowed his eyes. "Relying on others makes you weak," he spat. "You can only count on yourself to be strong."

She looked up at him for a moment, and reached a hand out, resting it on his shoulder. "Silver," she said, sadly. "You don't need to be alone. Having friends… being kind… that won't make you weak."

Silver stared at her, an unsure expression on his face. The two stood in silence for a brief moment. Then he scowled, and shook her hand off his shoulder. "Get off me!" he demanded. "You stay out my way."

He pushed her aside once more and went into the Ilex Forest gatehouse.

She looked after him as he walked away for a moment before he disappeared through the gatehouse door. She shook her head sadly, and turned towards her Pidgeotto. She recalled it into its ball and turned back towards the Pokemon Center to rest her team up.

Once that was all said and done, she made her way into Ilex Forest.

The Forest was dark and spooky. Just like she remembered it from before.

She walked around the woods for a while, seeing less and less ahead of her as time went on.

The sun was already setting by the time she entered, so it was safe to say it was only going to get darker. With this visibility, there was no way she'd be getting to Route 34 before sunrise. Lyra facepalmed at her own stupidity. She should've just spent the night in Azalea Town. Even if the Pokemon Center was full, Kurt would've let her stay at his place.

But in this darkness, she wasn't sure she could find her way back to the Azalea gatehouse.

Lyra stopped and let out a sigh. She looked around for any sign of an exit.

Off in the distance she saw a light. It looked like a campfire.

It wasn't too far away. She could make it there!

She smiled and began heading towards the light.

After a few minutes of walking through the trees and fighting off Caterpies and Paras, she could see she was close. She approached the campfire to find it seemingly abandoned.

There was a log set up near the fire to sit on, and the site was near a small pond. On further inspection, she saw a sleeping bag laid out on the other side of the fire.

Whoever had set this up was likely to come back, but she had no way of telling when.

She plopped down on a log and decided to wait a while before setting up camp herself. When no one came after ten minutes, she began to unpack, setting out her own sleeping bag and getting out a small cooking pot.

She set water from the pond to boil over the fire, and went to grab a small bag of rice from her pack.

"Hey!" a voice shouted from behind her. "What the hell are you—oh no."

She turned and saw Silver, the usual scowl on his face.

"Silver!" she said, smiling at him.

"What are you doing here? Get out of my camp!"

"But I already started making food," she said, pointing to the pot of water she'd hung over the fire.

"I don't care, get out!" Silver ordered. "I am NOT sharing my camp with a wimp like you!"

"Well, I'm not going anywhere!" she shot back. "If you want to get rid of me, you're going to have to make me leave." She crossed her arms and shot him a taunting glance. She was daring him to make her leave.

He scowled and marched over to her. "All right, you asked for it!"

Silver tried grabbing hold of her, but Lyra nimbly dodged him. He glared at her and tried again, only to receive similar results.

"You'll have to do better than that, Silvy!" she taunted him.

His silver eyes narrowed as he bared his teeth. It was evident to her that he did not care for the nickname. He roared as he lunged towards her, wrapping his arms around her to incapacitate her.

"Gotcha!" he shouted triumphantly.

His arms wrapped around her, Lyra stood frozen for a minute. Then, in a brief panic, she screamed and pushed him away forcefully.

"Whoa!" he shouted as he stumbled backwards, and fell into the pond with a splash.

Lyra stood still, staring at the water with her hands over her mouth.

Silver's head poked out of the water, his scowl seeming somehow worse than usual, and his hair hanging down in front of his eyes. He spit out a small stream of water and moved his bangs up off of his face.

"Are you happy now?" he asked, annoyed.

Lyra began to giggle slightly, then fell down, doubling over in a loud laugh that echoed throughout Ilex Forest.

While she was on the forest floor laughing, Silver had climbed out of the pond and had gone over to a tree near the site. He took off his soaked jacket and hung it up on a tree branch. He then took off his belt.

"H-hey!" Lyra said. "What are you doing?"

"What's it look like?" Silver shot back, irritated. "I'm soaking wet. I need to change clothes."

"O-oh…," Lyra said, looking away. "Right."

"Yeah, yeah," Silver said rolling his eyes. "Don't look."

He'd gotten out of his wet clothes and dried off with a cloth he carried, and sat down by the fire in a black shirt and a pair of purple jeans. He said nothing.

Lyra was still looking away, unsure of whether or not he had finished.

"Are you just gonna sit there all night?" Silver asked her.

She turned her head and saw him sitting there, and noticed how the black shirt clung tightly to his chest. She blushed briefly, and turned her gaze away from him and towards the pot. The water had already begun to boil.

"Oh, the rice!" she reminded herself, and opened up the bag. Pouring a small amount into the pot, she let it simmer.

A while passed in silence as the rice cooked. When it was finally done, Lyra grabbed the pot with a thick rag and poured out the water while trying to keep the rice in. Setting the pot down, she grabbed two wooden bowls out of her pack and filled them both with rice. She turned to Silver and handed him one.

Silver raised his eyebrow, looking at the rice bowl, and then at Lyra, unsure of what to do.

"What?" he finally asked.

"Eat," Lyra said. "You need food."

"I don't need your charity," he grumbled at her.

"And I don't need your attitude, Silver," she shot back. "Maybe try 'thank you,' hmm? Now have some food."

Silver grunted and took the bowl. Lyra handed him a pair of chopsticks to eat with, which he also took grudgingly.

Throughout the meal, Lyra tried talking to him about a variety of things, but he ignored them all, eating in silence. When she realized she wasn't going to get a conversation out of him, she frowned.

Well, at least he'd stopped trying to force her out of camp.

Despite his apparent displeasure at accepting food from a girl who'd beaten him twice already (three times, if you count pushing him into the pond), he'd eaten her food quickly, finishing a good few minutes before she did.

"So," she said, hoping to get him to talk now that he'd finished eating, "where are you from, Silver?"

"Kanto," he said, not making eye contact.

"Oh, wow," she said, surprised. She hadn't expected him to be from outside of Johto. "How'd you end up in Johto?"

"Bad luck," he said, frowning.

"What happened?"

"Why do you care?"

Lyra was somewhat taken aback, but then remembered who she was talking to. She frowned at his rudeness, but she wasn't really all that mad at him. "I'm just trying to get to know you, Silver."

"What makes you think I want that?" he asked, annoyed.

"Fine," she huffed, "don't tell me. Be that way."

"Fine," he growled back, "I won't!"

The two glared at each other, Lyra blushing and turning away after a few seconds of eye contact.

Silver sighed and turned towards the ground.

What the hell was going on? Why in the world was this girl being so nice to him? She had no reason be. He sure was never this nice to her.

He wasn't really nice to anyone, honestly. But few people had been on the receiving end of his attitude as frequently as she was. And none had really ever tried to be as nice to him as she had.

But he just couldn't figure out why.

"Why are you doing this?" he finally asked.

"I told you," she answered, washing the bowls in the pond. "I just want to get to know y-"

"No," he said. "not that. I mean, why do you want to get to know me? Why are you giving me your food? Why are you being so nice to me?"

"I just…," Lyra stopped herself, and let out a sigh. "You're just always so angry and upset. I've never once seen you happy, and you don't deserve to be so miserable. No one does, Silver."

Silver's expression softened for a moment, but only a moment. He shook his head and scowled again. "You don't know anything about me."

"No," she admitted. "but I'd like to get to know you."

"Why?" he repeated loudly.

"Because maybe you just need a friend."

Silver's eyes widened. This entire concept of someone trying to be his friend was foreign to him. Why should she care? Why should HE? He frowned and said. "I don't need any friends. I never have."

Lyra frowned at the words. "Everyone needs friends, Silvy."

Silver's scowl grew at the use of the nickname. "Not me."

A few more moments passed in silence, and Lyra finally spoke. "Why did you steal that Chikorita from Prof. Elm?"

Silver's eyes widened. "How did you— you didn't even—"

"I went back to the lab after we battled in Cherrygrove," she explained. "You didn't have to steal it, you know."

"Right," Silver spat sarcastically. "Because that old man would've just given it to me, some stranger he's never even seen before."

"He might have!" Lyra said, defending the Professor.

"And I might become King of Johto one day, that doesn't mean it's likely!"

Lyra frowned at his cynicism, and turned away.

"So, what? Are you gonna turn me in now, is that it?"

"No," she said, facing away from him.

Silver raised his eyebrow, somewhat surprised. "No?"

"No," she repeated, still not looking at him. "I don't think you're a bad person, Silver. You've just done some bad things."

Silver made no reply. He wasn't sure what to say to her anymore.

She grabbed her Pokeballs and let her Pokemon out. Croconaw, Pidgeotto, and Butterfree.

"Time to eat, guys," she said to them, getting their food from out of her pack.

The Pidgeotto and Butterfree began eating immediately. But the Croconaw just stood there, staring at Silver.

"What?" he asked it.

"Naw," it growled back at him.

"It's all right, Croconaw," Lyra reassured it. "He's a friend. Come on, eat your food."

Friend? Dammit, he just said he didn't need friends!

Was she hard of hearing? Was that it?

He frowned again, and shook his head.

"You should let your Pokemon out too," she said.

"Why?" he questioned.

"Aside from feeding them," she told him, "they enjoy being out. You really think they like being cooped up in their Pokeballs forever?"

"What they like doesn't matter," he answered her. "Pokemon are just tools we use."

Lyra stopped petting her Croconaw immediately, and turned to Silver, her eyes narrowed in a fashion similar to how he did. "They're more than that!" she said sternly. "Our bonds with them are what make them strong!"

"Then why am I doing so great without your 'love' and 'kindness' garbage?"

"You're not doing well at all, Silver," she said. "You just can't see it."

Silver only grunted in reply. He was doing fine. He was strong. The only one he couldn't beat was her. And it drove him nuts.

After a brief pause, he got up and moved to leave the campsite.

"Where are you going?" Lyra asked.

"Mind your own business," he answered, and walked off.

He made his way to a secluded area, a good ways away from the campfire and grabbed Bayleef's Pokeball. He couldn't believe he was about to do this. He let out a sigh, and brought his Pokemon out.

"Bay?" Bayleef said, tilting her head inquisitively.

He raised his hand, but lowered it again. Bayleef just stared at him, confused.

After a brief pause, he raised his hand once more, and began stroking Bayleef's neck.

The Pokemon flinched at first, but then realized what Silver was doing. She smiled and happily cooed out her name. She then jumped up onto Silver, knocking him down and licking his face.

Okay.

He'd had enough.

"Return," he ordered, recalling the Pokemon to its ball. He wiped his face off and grumbled.

Weak. Ideas of a weakling. He was stupid for even considering it. He put the Pokeball back into the holster on his belt and headed back towards camp. To his surprise, Lyra was still awake, sitting on the log.

"What are you doing still awake?" he asked.

"I was waiting for you," she answered in a yawn.

"Why?"

"To make sure you were okay."

"I'm fine," he grumbled, moving to his sleeping bag. "I don't need you to worry about me."

He kicked off his shoes and sat down on his sleeping bag, getting ready to turn in for the night. Lyra followed suit.

"Good night, Silver," she said.

Silver made no reply, and crawled into his sleeping bag silently.

The night came and went, and the rays of sunlight began to peak in through the gaps between the trees. A ray of light shone onto Lyra's face and she stirred awake. She sat up and looked over at where Silver was sleeping.

It was empty.

He must've gone before she woke up.

She sighed to herself. Would that boy ever soften up? It's not like she was trying to get something from him. She just wanted to be his friend, was all.

She honestly wasn't sure why.

He was a jerk. He mistreated her, he insulted her, and now he'd just ditched her. But she wasn't angry with him. She WAS upset at the way he acted, but she couldn't bring herself to hold it against him.

Despite everything, she still wanted to try and get through to him. She wanted to try and get close to him. Walk with him, talk with him. Stand close to him…

Her heartbeat picked up, and she shook her head.

Why on Earth did she keep thinking about him?

Rolling up her sleeping bag, Lyra stood up to walk over to her pack. As she put everything away, she noticed something out of the corner of her eye. She saw a black jacket on the ground, at the foot of a tree.

She walked over to it, and picked it up.

It was Silver's, all right.

She looked around to see if maybe he was still nearby, but there was no sign of him. It must have fallen in the night. He must not have seen it when he up and left earlier that morning.

Lyra looked the jacket over. It was filthy. How in blazes did Silver manage to wear it in this condition?

Fortunately, she knew how to wash clothes. And there was a pond right next to the campsite. Grabbing a bar of detergent from her pack, she went to work. It'd take time, but she had time to spare.

And besides, this would give her a reason to find him again.