Part II: Invisible Walls

I had never been more relieved to be alone in a room with my rival.

This room in Mt. Moon's Pokémon Center certainly wasn't as large as the one we had shared in Blackthorn. The plain blue walls were accented by the dark hardwoods, pretty much the standard fare in terms of design. There was a glass coffeetable, a white rug in the center of the room and a lonesome bed in the far corner. But, I wasn't really concerned if this would pass as a five-star hotel or not. All that mattered to me was that I was away from that insane Nurse Joy and somewhere with a warm bed. That was pretty much the only thing on my mind at this point.

That, and the unmistakeable blush on my rival's cheeks.

I pretty much stopped dead in my tracks as Lyra let out a sigh and locked the door behind us. Knowing her, the blush could mean one of two things. First off, she could be utterly flustered as usual and just trying to keep her cool. The other but far more logical reason was that she was about to explode.

Let's just say that I pray it's not the second one.

"So, Marshmallow-Head," I paused for a moment as she slipped her bag off her shoulder and plopped it beside the door. Lyra wasn't really paying much attention, even to the point of having her back turned. "Just why are you in Mt. Moon, anyway?"

She peeked over her shoulder, which gave me enough motivation to continue asking. "I mean, I know you already have all of your badges and everything. Besides that, the last time I saw you was around—" I paused and tried to recall just how long it had been since our paths crossed.

"—Six months." I didn't even fell surprised that my rival could beat me to the punch on such a matter. Believe it or not, Lyra Soul had one impressive memory for people. She could literally see a face once in broad daylight and place that person a whole week later in the pitch-black of an abandoned cottage. Well, at least with me.

"Right," I nodded. "You and I haven't really seen much of each other for a while." Lyra started unbuttoning her coat and headed over to an ignored coat-rack. "I was starting to think that you headed off for Johto again." The hiss from her made me simply head over to the small sofa and fall back with a grin. Sneasel of course didn't particularly care for such sudden movements, and gave me a light nip on my ear.

It didn't really hurt; I only squeaked because he surprised me.

"I'm hoping to train here for a while yet before I have to head back to the grind." The flash of anger in her eyes didn't really faze me, not with the amount of times she's called me and ranted about Ethan or Lance. "Over here, I'm a respected Trainer with talent and a tough attitude. Back home," She paused for a minute to hurl the coat on a hook and turn towards me, flashing me with a look of irritation. "I'm the Champion, an Idol, a Hero, a Chosen One and ten-billion other titles that I'm starting to hate."

I raised an eyebrow as I found her wearing a pleather jacket commonly seen on the Biker sort. Truthfully, it didn't look to bad on her. In fact, it was a nice change from the normal. However, the fact that she changed clothes was kinda...off.

"What's up with the getup?" I leaned back and folded my hands behind my head as my rival just deadpanned. "Trying out for the Spades down there in Fuchsia? Hate to break it to ya', but they don't accept walk-ins." The snicker from Sneasel didn't even faze me, and neither did the glare on her face.

"I'm trying not to look like a ten-year-old." A roll of the eyes and suddenly she was angrily walking over to this cream couch with a thunk with every step. I cringed and scooted over just before she flung herself beside me and groaned. She thrashed for a moment before turning around and folding her arms across her chest.

"For some reason, people think the outfit means that I'm some child!" I found myself leaning away slightly to wait for her to calm down. "Well, I'm tired of it!" She motioned to her jacket and then back to her chin with a frown. "From now on, I'm dressing how I want to, not how my Public Relations tells me to!"

"Wait," I felt like I was hit by a ton of bricks. I turned my head with a frown as she just puffed out her cheeks. "Your Public Relations? You mean like what actresses have?" She just nodded before combing her hair with her fingers.

"Yeah, I got them when I became Champion. I told you that it's not just about being the strongest Trainer in your region." She stopped for a moment, unclipped the leading Pokéball on her belt and rolled it in her palm with a downcast expression. "Things would be so simple if it was just that."

A pained feeling rose in my chest as I watched her rub her thumb over her Pokéball. I remembered how she acted back when we met in Blackthorn, already irritated with her new position but still very much the same pesky girl I had met at every turn. But now, only a year later, it was almost like she was a different person.

And that was somehow physically hurting me.

"Psst, Silv!" Sneasel peered out from his perch with narrowed eyes as I just rubbed my arm awkwardly. "She seems a bit down right now," He paused as to watch her before grinning. "Remember that whole promise you made? The one about being a better person?" I just nodded absently as Lyra seemed to tighten her grip. "Well, now's the time to prove it!"

"Do something to cheer her up, idiot!"

Author's Note: I am so sorry that this took so long. You would not believe the writer's block I had when trying to continue this and "The Pains of Being in Charge". It's crazy because I could write shorter things and even started writing some mini-series thing about nightmares before I could come back and finish this chapter. I'm sorry if you're mad about the wait, seeing as I'm usually a faster updater. I was just struggling with this one.

However, let's focus on the story. It seems that our favorite little brunette isn't doing so hot right about now. Life as a Champion is obviously starting to mess with her, huh? Poor thing. Perhaps things can turn out better, if only Silver can manage some social skills...If only...