Hi guys well i started this chapter at one in the morning because i think i may have insomnia because i haven't been sleeping or maybe i dream that i'm awake. Anyway i liked how it started not so much how it ended argh well i don't know you guys tell me if the ending was okay.

i don't own pokemon.

Chapter 10: The Gym Leader's Ball

Lyra sat at the table eating breakfast alone. After the hard day that Ethan had just hours ago she decided that it was best to let him sleep. She watched all of their pokemon enjoy their meal and couldn't help but feel a little sad. Chimchar and Aipom seemed to notice the sad look in her eyes and tried to cheer her up. She patted their heads and expressed her gratitude but still the sad look remained. Their attention was diverted from breakfast to a scream coming from the rooms. Lyra recognized the scream and counted the seconds until she was face to face with her best friend. After about ten seconds he came in wearing only his shorts and holding up his shirt.

"Ethan put your shirt back on." she said and he turned it around to reveal a blood stain. "Turn around and let me see your back." he turned around and showed her his backside. She gasped at the sight of his blood stained bandages. "Come on let's get you some new bandages."

"Why?" he asked not putting two and two together. She pointed to the shirt and slowly he seemed to get it. "I bled through the bandages. I love Clair for kicking Marc's butt and not so much for involving me in the battle."

"Hey you got in the way." Lyra said and Ethan glared. "How's your head?"

"It hurts. I feel like I got whipped and then hit by a ton of bricks." he said. The two of them walked back to the room. "I think the whipping and the ton of bricks would have been better."

She shook her head and sat him down on his bed. She removed the bandages she had put on the night before. His cuts looked like they had been given to him only minutes before. They looked fresh and not hours old. She cleaned them again, sprayed them, and wrapped them. She did the same with the cuts on his calves. She was surprised to see that he only had his good shirt left and since they were going to need it later she decided to do some laundry.

"Um can you give me the sheets?" she asked and he looked down to see that there was a red stain on them too.

"Um Ly do you still have Lance's jacket?" he asked and she gave him a confused and embarrassed look. He laughed at her before turning serious. "I want to go eat breakfast and I'm all out of clean shirts not to mention that my normal clothes are in the trash. Plus I really don't want to go outside without a shirt."

She nodded and searched her stuff for the jacket. "I should probably give it back to him." she said handing it to her bandage covered best friend.

"Yeah but not today since it'll probably get a blood stain soon enough. Hey do you think you can go and get me a jacket for tonight?" he asked with pleading eyes. "My shirt is white and well I'd like to cover up if I bleed through."

"Okay but you have to do your laundry." she said and he nodded. She grabbed her backpack and headed out of the room. "Be back in a few."

Aipom and Chimchar joined her while the other pokemon went in search of Ethan. As she walked she couldn't help thinking that she was being followed. After a while she knew she was being followed and quickened her pace. She noticed that suddenly the weight on her head and shoulder had disappeared and stopped to find the persistent creep in front of her. The once fresh air was now tainted by the smell of trash.

"You stink." she told him flatly.

"I did spend the night in a trashcan." he said getting a creepy look in his eyes. "I thought of you all night, of all the things we'd do together."

"Okay so you turned from creep to super mega creep." she said backing away from him. "How many times will I have to tell you that I will never like you."

"You don't mean that my love." he said moving creepily towards her. He pinned her to the wall and smiled triumphantly. "No where to run and no one's around to help you. I have to say that you are in fact one of the most beautiful girls I'll be getting with but the hardest one to get. I love that though, it'll make it oh so satisfying when I do get your everything."

She glanced behind him to the two pokemon that were with her. They were being restrained by a strong psychic attack. She saw the blue haired gym leader and smiled slightly at the sight of her two pokemon. Lyra kicked the boy hard in his most treasured area and quickly got away from him. Clair's dragonite had knocked out his pokemon in one shot releasing Aipom and Chimchar from it's psychic grip. They turned around and quickly unleashed their swift and flamethrower attacks on the boy, Kingdra joined in with it's hydro pump.

"Didn't I make it clear that you weren't allowed back here!" Clair yelled at the boy. He walked over to Clair only to get to Lyra who was standing behind her. Clair's boot made easy contact with his face. "Leave now, if you don't then I'll be glad to get you a one way flight out."

"Well then I want first class." he said smugly.

"You got it." Clair said. "Dragonite use hyper beam max power and Kingdra give this little fucker your best hydro pump!"

"Chimchar use flamethrower full blast and Aipom use shadow ball!"

The four attacks combined with each other and sent the boy flying. Clair smiled triumphantly and recalled her pokemon.

"Ethan told me you were out here. He was worried after he saw some creep head out in the direction you had gone." she said. Lyra thanked her and she nodded. "I hope he lands in the middle of sharpedo infested waters."

"Me too." Lyra said. "Well I have to get going, Ethan needs a jacket for tonight and a couple of new shirts."

"Alright then I don't think that bastard will be back anytime soon so go ahead." she said and watched as Lyra made it to the store safely. "Next time I see that kid he won't get away, I don't care if grandpa takes the gym away for a month that kid deserves it." she mumbled before heading off to find a store.

A little while later…

"Hey Ethan I'm back." she said. She dropped the bags in her hands when she saw the sight before her. Ethan and his pokemon were in the middle of a hardcore training session. She looked up at the purple monkey on her head. "Maybe you should join in."

Aipom shook isn't head and she understood that it had gotten all of it's training for the day while attacking the creep. Aipom jumped off of her head and onto it's trainer's causing the training to stop. He turned around and smiled at the awestruck girl. He walked up to her and helped her with the bags.

"So did Clair kill him?" he asked as they all headed back to the room.

"No she left him alive but only just. I think the sharpedo will finish him off." Lyra said and the two of them laughed. "Thank you for sending Clair."

"Anytime though next time I'll be the one sending that punk flying." he said sitting on the bed and grabbing one of the black t-shirts from the bag. He took off the jacket. "Is there a blood stain on my back?" he asked turning the jacket over. "There's a stain on the jacket so there must be a stain on my back."

"Why are you still bleeding?" Lyra asked walking over to his bed and taking off his bandages. She cleaned his back and sprayed it but didn't wrap it. "Go sit out in the sun like this for a while."

"Lyra my entire back is covered in cuts." he said. When he saw the look on her face he put the new shirt back and headed outside. "Come with me."

"Sure. Hey I got you a new shirt for tonight and a new tie since the red one really doesn't match your new shirt." she said happily. "Yes I did get you the jacket."

Later…

"They look better now that they've gotten some air." she said wrapping him up for the second time in one day. She handed him is new navy blue long sleeve button up shirt. She let him put it on and grabbed her dress. "I'll be back."

Ethan nodded and finished buttoning up his shirt. He grabbed his new silver tie and put it on, after his tie was neatly done he put on the black jacket, and then his black jazz hat to finish himself off. He looked down at himself and decided that he looked good and that he hated formal events. Lyra came out wearing her new jade green dress that had black velvet flowers at the hem. He tossed her the new black cardigan sweater and she put it on. Aipom and Chimchar were each put into their pokeballs. They walked out locking the door behind them. Clair was outside waiting for them, she was wearing a black dress.

"Hey guys Lance is meeting us at the hotel." she said and they nodded.

They walked across town and made it to one of the biggest hotels Lyra and Ethan have ever seen. Leaning against the wall was the red headed dragon master. He was wearing a gray button up long sleeve, black pants, and in his hands was a black blazer. The three of them joined him, Clair linked arms with Ethan and proceeded inside. Lyra stared at them but didn't move, Lance made no effort to move her but only extended out his hand. She looked down at the ground and took his hand.

"Are you okay?" he asked as he led her to the ballroom.

"Yeah I'm fine." she answered not looking up at him but at the wall. They made it into the room where everybody was gathered. The room looked like something out of a fairytale. They walked over to the table where Ethan and Clair were sitting. Ethan pointed to Lyra's flushed face. "Don't say a word."

"Okay whatever you say." he said.

Lyra looked around the room while Ethan engaged in conversation with Clair and Lance. She saw all of the Johto leaders, they all waved at her. She saw Brock and Misty sitting at the same table having a conversation while Tracey and Forest had their own. All four of them looked up and waved at her, she waved back. She noticed that the gym leaders of the four regions were well acquainted with each other.

Dinner was served and they ate quietly. Lance didn't understand why Lyra was so quiet. Clair started off some random conversation. Lyra looked down at her half empty plate wondering why she felt bad and replayed in her mind the last couple of days. The answer she came up with was the creep who found her beautiful. She felt a strong gaze on her and looked up, Lance was looking at her with a concerned look on his face. She smiled at him and he figured she was okay.

When the dancing began she shared one dance with Ethan before walking outside. She walked to the back of the hotel where the pool was located. She took off her shoes, sat on the ledge, and dipped her feet into the pool. Lance was the only one who seem to notice that Lyra had disappeared. Deciding that he had nothing better to do he went in search of her. He went out back and found her sitting down by the pool looking at the moon's reflection in the water. He walked up behind her and watched her eyes widen through the refection as she saw his reflection towering over hers.

"What do you like about me?" she asked catching him off guard. "What part of me being a girl makes me a good trainer?"

"Are those two separate questions?" he asked sitting down next to her. She nodded and he looked out at the pool. "Gender has nothing to do with being a pokemon trainer. If anybody works hard, learns to love their pokemon, and isn't afraid of admitting their mistakes then they can be a great champion. You are a good trainer because you do just that and so much more. As to what I like about you well I like that you're determined to reach your goal."

"Really?" she asked hating her blush.

"Yes." he said. He brought his lips to her ear. "I also like that blush of yours."

"Wha-?" she screamed in shock. She pulled away and scooted away from him. "You've got to be joking."

"No not really. I think it's cute it lets me know when you're being shy, when your angrily embarrassed, and when you're just plain embarrassed. Why did you ask those questions?" he asked scooting closer to her. She stayed quiet and his thoughts drifted off to questions he continuously asked himself concerning the way a certain fifteen year old girl makes his a twenty-one year old heart flutter. "You don't have to answer if you don't want to."

"No I want to I just don't know how." she said looking at his confused face. "I guess it has to do with the fact that Marc said he loved me for what I look like. He thought I was beautiful and nothing more, I guess he just got me thinking that, that was all that there was to me."

"If Marc was a human being he'd realize that there's more to this girl than her pretty face and good looks." he said wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her closer to him. She looked at him like he had lost his mind and he laughed. "No I am completely sane right now."

"Oh." she said.

"What do you like about me?" he asked.

"Huh the thing I like most about you would have to be that you're passionate." she said hoping that her curtain of brown hair would hide the blush that he loved and she hated. "That and the fact that whenever you're around me you seem to show some kind of emotion."

"I think we should get back to the party." he said removing his arm from around her and standing up. She stood up but didn't go in the direction of the party. "Where are you going?"

"It's pretty out." she said walking away. He sighed knowing that once her mind was made up there was no changing it. He caught up with her and took her hand in his. "I knew you'd see it my way."

"Well a beautiful night like this doesn't come around that often." he said.

Later…

"Well it looks like we missed the party." Lance said.

"Yeah and Ethan went back to the pokemon center all by himself." Lyra said sadly.

"I'll walk you back if you want." he said. She nodded and they walked to the other side of town silently. He had seriously doomed himself. Before he knew it they were standing in front of the pokemon center. She shrugged out of his jacket and handed it to him. His lips made it to her ear again. "Don't ever let anyone tell you that you're just a pretty face because you're so much more than that." he whispered giving her chills. He brushed his lips down her cheek and kissed the corner of her lips.

She stood there confused and shocked. He walked away and she walked inside in a complete daze. "Everything about him terrifies me. He just finds new ways to scare me and this one takes the cake." she said to herself as she walked to her room. "Yet he somehow manages to make me feel special."

To be continued...

So what did you think? This is the last time Marc will be seen until the Indigo League. Oh there's probably something you should know the ages:

Lyra-15

Ethan-16

Silver-16

Lance-21

Hope you liked this chapter please send me some feedback and suggestions for chapters cuz i'd like to do that. Bye Guys (: