Misha: I'M ALIVE! Uhmmm….so I'm really sorry for not updating in so long…I know that I really don't have any excuse…

Lyra: I thought I was dead!

Silver: I always knew you were a slacker…but I never expected you to be so…well…

Misha: What? I dare you to finish that sentence! I control your life you know!

Silver: …

Misha: So I hope you all enjoy this chapter! It took me a while to write, and I've never written a battle scene…so I don't know if it's any good…well…please let me know!

Ethan: Misha is horribly lazy, and she doesn't own Pokemon!

"Moko! Finish it off with thundershock!"

Lyra's Mareep quickly responded by sending a bolt of lightning into the air, hitting Silver's already weakened Zubat dead on. The bat pokemon hovered in midair for a moment, then crashed down to earth, unable to continue battling.

Silver scowled and recalled the pokemon, assessing the situation in his head. His Gastly had taken down Lyra's Pidgey with only mild difficulty, but it had been defeated by her Mareep. He knew then that he was at a disadvantage; both his Zubat and Croconaw were susceptible to the sheep's electric-type moves. Therefore he decided to cut his losses and sent out Zubat, hoping that he would be able to weaken Mareep enough where it wouldn't do too much damage. Now he was left with only one pokemon, but hopefully Croconaw would take down its first opponent, leaving Lyra with nothing but a fire-type. Silver grinned, and called out his pokemon.

"Croconaw! Do it!"

Lyra sighed with frustration. She had wasted an entire day shopping with Ethan, while Silver had trained his pokemon…something she ought to have been doing herself. Though she knew she currently had the upper hand, there was no way Moko could totally defeat the crocodile pokemon. And Maya would have a very hard time against that water-type…she could only hope that Moko would be able to weaken Silver's pokemon enough…

"Use thundershock again, Moko!" Lyra commanded.

Unfortunately, Croconaw was able to shake off the attack with barely a wince. Silver was barely able to hide a wide grin, settling for a smirk instead.

"Croconaw. Bite."

Silver's pokemon obeyed, baring its fangs. It moved surprisingly quickly for its size, and though Moko tried to dodge the attack, it hit, the water pokemon's teeth in a vice grip around its hind leg. Eventually the grip lessened and Moko's leg was freed, but the pokemon had a noticeable limp as it staggered away. Lyra winced; she sensed that her pokemon was in pain, but also knew that if she called him back now, Silver would win the battle.

"Moko, use tackle, then thundershock!" she cried, hoping that her last-ditch attempt would work. Moko charged as best it could towards Croconaw, which easily dodged the attack. The Mareep began readying its electric attack, but Silver decided to end the pokemon then and there.

"Use water gun!"

Croconaw unleashed a jet of water from its mouth, sending it directly towards the sheep pokemon. As the water reached the little pokemon, however, it released its thundershock attack, just as Lyra had hoped. The water conducted the electricity perfectly, and it raced towards the crocodile pokemon, hitting it dead-on.

Lyra couldn't help but grin as she saw her plan working, but her smile quickly faded as she noticed Moko lying motionless on the ground; water gun had finally knocked him out. Lyra looked over at Silver, hoping that her attack had knocked out his pokemon as well, but sadly saw Croconaw slowly getting back up. She withdrew Moko, whispering a quick "thank you" to the pokeball before releasing her last pokemon.

Observing the scene in front of him, Silver anticipated a rather easy win. Lyra's Cyndaquil was dwarfed by his Croconaw, and would be easily taken down by its water-type moves. He allowed himself to smile this time, excited by the prospect of finally beating his rival.

"Are you scared yet, Mushroom-head?" Silver teased.

"…Will you PLEASE stop calling me that?!" Lyra yelled. "And you haven't won yet, so stop being so damn cocky!"

Silver was rather taken aback by Lyra's outburst, but retained his composure. "I'm not being cocky," he grumbled. "I just know that there's no way for you to beat me!"

Lyra frowned. "Prove it."

"Croconaw, use water gun!"

Silver's pokemon unleashed another torrent of water towards Maya. The little pokemon barely managed to avoid it, only being grazed by the stream. Croconaw continued sending a steady stream of attacks towards Maya, who continued dodging. Eventually, however, she grew tired, moving slower and getting hit more often.

"Use quick attack, Maya!"

Faster than Silver expected, the fire pokemon dashed towards Croconaw, hitting it squarely in the chest. The move managed to make the crocodile stagger back, but it didn't fall, and Maya had little energy left for another attack. She barely stood, legs trembling and panting heavily. Lyra rushed over to her pokemon, despite the surprised look she got from Silver, and knelt down next to it, stroking the top of its head gently.

"Maya…" she murmured gently. "I'm so sorry…" Lyra stood back up, facing Silver.

"I…I really hate to say this but…I just can't put Maya through this anymore." Silver smirked.

"So you give up?"

"Well…I…" Lyra squeezed her eyes shut, stopping the tears that threatened to spill down her cheeks.

Maya looked up at her owner, understanding the concern that she felt for her. She wished that she could help the girl that cared so deeply for her; she had never been happy living in the cold, sterile laboratory, and her journey with Lyra had brought along the best times she had ever had. Suddenly, the little pokemon realized what she could do to help her human, and began concentrating, focusing all her remaining energy on this last attempt.

Lyra sighed sadly. She had never expected that she would actually lose to Silver, and hated to think about how he would treat her now that he had won. He had always acted arrogant, but now…well, she anticipated it being ten times worse, always having to endure jokes at her expense, being constantly reminded of her weakness…she fought back the tears that were coming and looked down at Maya, only to be shocked by what she saw.

Maya was encased in a bright yellow light, her entire body hidden from view. Silver had also noticed the change, but instead of wonder, there was anger and frustration on his face. He knew what was happening, and knew that if Lyra's Cyndaquil evolved his chance of defeating her was shot. As he watched, the shape of the pokemon encased in light began to grow and change, and he muttered a few choice curses under his breath.

Lyra, on the other hand, was delighted. She knew that if Maya evolved then she had another chance of beating Silver. The light around her pokemon faded, and Lyra gasped happily at Maya's new form. Her Cyndaquil was now a Quilava, her body lither and longer than before, with two flames; at her head and back. Maya walked over to her owner, nuzzling her before turning back to her opponent, her flames burning brighter with fighting spirit.

"Maya, use ember!"

Maya charged, unleashing flames towards the crocodile pokemon. They weren't enough to take the pokemon down, but in its already weakened state, the attack did more damage than usual.

"Use water gun again!"

"Quick attack!"

Lyra crossed her fingers, but just as she had hoped, Maya's attack hit before Croconaw's, sending Silver's pokemon flying back. It struggled for a moment to get back up, but then collapsed, finished.

Silver just gaped, dumbfounded. He had been so close to winning, and his chances had again been shot. He withdrew Croconaw, scowling.

"It was dumb luck! That's the only reason you won!"

Lyra, however, wasn't listening. She had her arms wrapped tightly around Maya, her face buried in her pokemon's soft fur.

"Are you listening to me?!" Silver yelled angrily. Lyra looked up. "You stupid girl, you only won because you got lucky and because my pokemon are weak!"

Lyra stood, trembling with anger. "Will you STOP belittling me? I beat you! You've never once won, and all you do is blame your pokemon!"

"It's not my fault that they're too weak to take on your silly pokemon," Silver retorted. "I'm the better trainer, I just got stuck with pathetic, wimpy pokemon!"

"It's not their fault!" Lyra shouted. "Maybe if you actually gave a damn about them, they would listen to you and care about you! The only reason I won today was because of Maya, and that was because she knows that I love her!"

"Love has nothing to do with it," Silver scoffed. "It's all about power. You could love the weakest pokemon in the world and it would still suck. All I have to do is train these wimps some more, and then I'll be able to take you on! You think you're so great, but you're just a stupid, silly girl!"

Silver finished his short rant, fuming, and glanced over at Lyra. He expected to see her ready to retort, but was instead surprised to see the girl staring at the ground, tears streaming down her face. Her hands were clenched into fists, and she seemed to be shaking. She looked up at him, the tears in her eyes unable to hide the anger in them.

"I hate you…" she mumbled. "You pretend to care about me for a second, then insult me the next! Why can't you make up your mind?! Do you enjoy making me suffer like this?" She sank to her knees, hugging Maya, who shot Silver a murderous look. Silver suddenly because fascinated with his shoes, staring down at them and scuffing his toe in the dirt, ashamed. He had never meant to make the girl cry, and all he wanted to do was go to her and console her somehow…but he had never done anything like that before, and was unsure of what to do.

"Well now, I think that that's quite enough," came a voice from behind Silver. He turned around quickly, startled. Lyra managed to glance up as well, wiping tears from her eyes. The speaker was a cute, short, pink-haired girl in what looked like a gym uniform. Her hair was pulled into pigtails and her face, which looked kind, wore a large scowl.

"Excuse me?" Silver shot back. "And who exactly are you?"

The girl glared at him. "I'm Whitney, the Gym leader in Goldenrod city, and you too have made quite the ruckus in front of my Gym."

Lyra stood up hastily, brushing herself off. "I'm so sorry!" she apologized. "I didn't-"

"Don't worry about it sweetie," Whitney said, smiling at Lyra. She turned back to Silver. "But you," she said, frowning at him, "You're the one that I have a problem with."

Silver was taken back. "Why me?"

"You made that poor girl cry! You're horrible!" Whitney exclaimed.

"But she…I…it's not my fault!" Silver stammered. "I didn't…" he trailed off. "I wasn't trying to make her cry…"

Lyra looked over at Silver. "Then why did you say those things?"

Silver looked down, his cheeks slightly red. "I…I don't know. I get angry and…I say things before thinking about them…"

Lyra folded her arms across her chest. "That doesn't make me feel any better."

"I..I'm sorry."

Whitney grinned. "See, you're not as horrible as I thought! Now kiss and make up!"

Both Lyra and Silver's cheeks flared red at the statement. "We...we're n-not like that…" she stuttered.

"Y-yeah," Silver muttered, staring at his shoes.

Whitney frowned. "But you guys act like a bickering couple…" her eyes gleamed. "At least hug it out!"

Lyra didn't think that her face could get any redder, but it did at Whitney's suggestion.

"I…I don't think…"

Whitney just laughed and nudged Lyra over towards Silver. The two stood awkwardly for a moment, then Silver tentatively reached out and pulled Lyra into a hug.

Silver felt awkward enough, but he had to admit that he didn't mind holding Lyra. His face was bright red by now, and got even redder as Lyra's arms wrapped her arms around Silver's waist, burying her head in his chest. The hug lasted longer than either Lyra or Silver had expected, but neither wanted to let go. Finally, Whitney interrupted their embrace with a loud cough. The two sprang apart, blushing and staring at the ground.

"Well then! You two look like you need to visit the Pokemon Center, am I right?"

"Y-yeah!" Lyra exclaimed. "I'm not really sure where it is though…I should probably go and ask Ethan…"

"So you're still hanging around him then?" Silver asked, fighting a slight feeling of jealousy.

"Yeah, he was shopping with me today," Lyra explained. "He's probably wondering where I am by now…"

"Well then," Silver said, "Let's get going!" He quickly started walking away, hoping to get away from Lyra in order to clear his head.

"Ah! Silver!" Lyra called, running after him. "Wait up!"

Misha: So I hoped that you all liked this chapter! I tried to make it pretty long to make up for not updating in so long…I'm going to try and update more often, now that I've got my own laptop this should be a lot easier! Also, thanks for all the people that have reviewed! I appreciate everyone that has taken the time to do so, I love you all!

Please review!