"Lyra, we need to go." Silver sighed as the girl walked through the grass.

"No." Lyra said, gritting her teeth. "I need to find this pokemon! Just head on without me, I'll catch up."

"Uh, are you sure?" Ethan asked.

"Yes, go go go." She waved her hands at them and turned back to around to the grass. The two boys sighed and left her, hurrying down the road to go to the next gym. Lyra kept searching. She needed to find a meowth! "I have to find it, boy." She said to Arcanine, who was helping her search. Her dad had a Persian and something inside of her was making her want, no, need, a meowth. "If I ever come face to face with my dad, I want to beat his stupid Persian with my own meowth!" She said, shaking her head.

Plus, a little alone time from Ethan and Silver wouldn't be too bad. All she had been thinking about lately was Proton. It was driving her a little insane. It was like the first few weeks after Red and Green had brought her to Pallet Town. All she thought about then was Proton too. Lyra's poke'gear went off again, but she didn't feel like answering it. She silenced it and kept searching the grass.

Proton flipped his poke'gear in his hand while sitting in the radio tower in Goldenrod. Lyra didn't answer him, but, he guessed that was for the best. He was at work. It was quiet, mostly because Petrel was off in Mahogany Town with Ariana and Archer was upstairs, trying to help the grunts get the radio system working, since a few workers destroyed it to try and prevent Team Rocket from using it.

Proton kept thinking back to what Petrel had told him. He wasn't in love with Lyra! He had told Petrel that, but the male ignored him and kept walking. He irritated him just to think about the conversation.

"In love with her? I am not." Proton shook his head, trying to get his composure back.

"I don't know much about love, but, I can tell you're in it." Petrel argued. "I knew you were in love with her three years ago, you just didn't realize it then. I'm sure Giovanni noticed, that's probably why he made you take Lyra out. He knew you'd get her somewhere safe and that you'd take care of her. It's like he gave her to you because he knew you'd love her more and give her more attention than he ever would."

Proton didn't know what to say to that. He walked in silence.

"If you didn't love her, you wouldn't be killing yourself for three years over her death when you knew that it was not your fault, at all." Petrel added. "And you wouldn't be smiling all the time and trying to hide from us how happy you are."

Maybe Petrel was right? Urg, that made him sick to just to think about. Being in love was something incredible foreign to Team Rocket. That's not what they stood for. However, when was Proton ever really in Team Rocket? Yes, he was technically in it, but his heart and head weren't. Not anymore, anyway.

"Proton?" Archer asked, now in front of the younger male. "Something wrong?"

"Hm? Oh, no sir." Proton said and slid his poke'gear back into his pocket. "Just waiting for further orders." He nodded his head. "My mother called, I had to answer it." He lied and Archer watched him closely.

"You've been…in a much better mood lately." Archer spoke calmly, putting his arms behind his back.

"Oh, have I?" Proton asked, raising his eyebrows. It was just easier to play dumb. He couldn't have Archer find out about Lyra being alive. He would try to get into her head and get her on their side to bring her father back. He didn't want Archer near her. "I've been sleeping better."

"That's it? Well, that's good." Archer smiled and Proton faked a smile back. Everything in Team Rocket was fake. It made him sick. It was fine when it distracted him, but now it was stopping him from being with Lyra and it was stopping Lyra from being withhim.

Wait, when did he start wanting to be with Lyra?

Dammit Petrel.

"Something wrong? You seem conflicted." Archer watched Proton's face carefully and intently. The green haired male wasn't telling him something.

"No, I'm fine." Proton crossed his arms defensively, trying to signal to Archer that he wanted to be left alone. He gave Archer a cold glare and the male got the hint, leaving the male alone.

"I'd love you meet your new girlfriend sometime." Archer smirked, his back to Proton. Proton's face went pale. "All the grunts are gossiping about it. I knew it had to be more than you just sleeping better."

Lyra pet her meowth's head as she came out of the pokemon center in Mahogany Town. It had taken almost all day, but she found the little feline pokemon and caught it. She decided to head up to Lake Rage for a little bit when she saw Lance and Ethan hurrying down the slope and towards her.

"Lyra?" Ethan questioned, surprised to see her.

"Lyra!" Lance exclaimed, relieved to see her. When he found out Silver and Ethan had left her alone, he almost flipped. The last thing he needed was Green, Red, or even worse, Delia, flipping out because she was lost in Johto somewhere. "Come on, we need to go take down Team Rocket."

"Wait, where's Silver?" Lyra asked, but followed the two anyway.

"He's fighting this red gyarados up in Lake Rage. Team Rocket forced it to evolve and it's going crazy. Lance needed us to come help him fight Team Rocket, so I came to help him and Silver stayed with the pokemon. Good thing you showed up when you did, huh?" Ethan asked, smiling, even as Lance busted into a tiny market and hurried to the back of the room, revealing a secret entry to a basement area. Lance ran down fearlessly and Ethan followed. Lyra held her pokemon tightly and sighed, hoping Proton or Petrel were down there. She stepped down the steps and found Ethan waiting for her at the bottom.

"Lance went to check it out. Let's go." Ethan pulled her off, but Lyra froze. "What?"

"Let me lead." She muttered, realizing how booby trapped the place was. "You'll set off every alarm." She said bluntly, sneaking around statues and jumping over certain tiles. She knew all the tricks in the book.

"What?" Ethan asked, following her.

"You don't notice that there are traps everywhere. If we set one off, tons of grunts would come running.." Lyra told him. "We really don't need that, do we sweetie?" She asked her meowth, who purred and rubbed against the brunette's chin, already friends with its new trainer. The pokemon had quite the sassy nature, but Lyra and it seemed to get along very well. It moved to her shoulder, keeping a look out for any Rocket grunts.

"There's a door, let's head in it." Ethan said as the sliding door opened. Lance appeared beside them, having just cleared the east side of the basement and deciding to now join them.

"Hm?" Petrel asked, turning to look at the three. He smiled, mostly because of Lyra, but made it a playful smirk so it wouldn't confuse the other two. "Took you guys long enough to get here, eh? If you want to get to Ariana, you have to get through me." He said, mostly warning Lyra to not go into the next room.

"I'll take him, you two go!" Lyra exclaimed, her meowth meowing loudly.

"You sure?" Ethan asked. Lyra nodded her head quickly and he moved past Petrel suspiciously, then waited for Lance by the door. Lance followed Ethan, but shot Lyra a look.

"I can handle him." She smiled, letting him know she was okay with Petrel. Lance nodded and went into the next. "Soooooo…" She mumbled.

"Proton's not here, sorry." He shrugged and Lyra blushed. How did he know what she was going to ask? "I'm a mind reader, I know." He smirked and walked over to her, patting her head. And petting her meowth. "I also know that you loooovvveeeeeeeeee himmmmmmm." He chuckled playfully and Lyra's face went bright red.

"W-WHAT?!" She shouted, looking up at him like she used to do when she was a kid. "I do not!"

"Kid, please." Petrel rolled his eyes, putting his hands in his pockets. This girl was just like Proton. Completely blind. "Fine fine, you have a crush on him, does that make you feel better?"

"Nooo!"

"Well, I'm right both ways. I know you thought about Proton alllll the timeeee in the past three years. I'm sure you haven't let it bring you down like Proton did, since you didn't think he was dead, but still." Petrel told her, smiling at her. "You got him all messed up, you know that? He was so far gone, I really didn't know what to do with him. Always angry, always yelling at someone or threatening to kill someone. He doesn't do that now, though he tries to act angry to seem like nothing has changed."

"Really?" Lyra asked, now curious. "He's not angry anymore because of me?"

"Yup. I personally believe that he is in love with you and you are seriously crushing on him hard, on the verge of loving him, but that's me." Petrel said. Lyra looked away from the purple haired male, unsure what to say. She wasn't even eighteen yet! She was too young to be deciding if she loved someone, wasn't she? Probably not since she decided to help take down an evil organization. Her poke'gear started to vibrate in her pocket and she pulled it out.

"Speak of the devil." She said, trying to sound normal. "Petrel and I were just talking about you."

"What!?" Proton questioned, groaning. "What did he tell you?"

"Uh…nothing." Lyra murmured. She was trying to forget it herself.

"I think Archer knows about you…" Proton whispered, just in case anyone was listening in on his call.

"What?" Lyra asked, scared. If he knew about her, he'd be ready for her. She had to stay calm. He was going to find about her sooner or later, right? "Well…..I'll face him when the time comes."

"How could you be calm about this?" Proton asked. "No way. You aren't going near him." Proton said protectively. "He'll get into your head, Lyra. You know how he is. He'll mess you up. I don't want that."

"I can beat him Proton!" Lyra exclaimed, shaking her head. She just had to train. Once they got the Rockets out of this town, she was heading up to Lake Rage to train. She had to. She had to get strong. "Petrel agrees with me."

"You're with Petrel?"

"I agreed?" Petrel asked, confused.

"Yes and yes! So, no worries Proton. I'm not a little kid anymore and you don't have to worry about me anymore!" Lyra told in. Petrel rolled his eyes. She was still a kid in his eyes.

"Like that'll stop me…" He muttered, sighing. Even if he hated her guts, he had a feeling he would still be protective of her. It was second nature to him now. "I just…"

"Don't need to worry!" Lyra finished for him. "I'll see you soon, okay? Bye!" She smiled and hung up. Petrel was sighing and shaking his head at her.

"You're a lot like your dad." He muttered. "Both of you will get your way, no matter what you have to do."

"I'm goin' do it the good guy way! I'm a good guy, okay?" She told him. "I'll take you guys down and make sure my father knows that I was the one who did it." She nodded her head. She was going to tell her dad, if she ever saw him, that his biggest mistake was leaving her behind. She was going to prove to all of them that she was more than just Giovanni's daughter.

Petrel heard a beep and he just sighed. "Ah, that friend of yours and the dragon guy must have taken down Ariana. I gotta spilt now. I'll see you later, kid." Petrel ruffled her hair and was gone.

"How the hell did he do that?" Lyra questioned, looking around. How could they just…poof?

"Hey! We stopped them." Ethan smiled, looking around. "You beat Petrel? Awesome!"

"Oh, yeah…." Lyra laughed it off. "Of course I did."

"So, you caught it?" Lyra asked as they sat around the table at the pokemon center later that evening.

"Oh, yes." Silver said, tapping the pokeball with his fingers after he finished his meal. "It's not so bad. I plan to train with it tomorrow."

"You'll stand out with a red gyarados, for sure." Ethan said through his food that he was currently chewing. "You'll take good care of it though."

"It took me forever to catch, so, it better be ready to train." Silver shrugged.

"Well, my meowth and I are going to work our butts off tomorrow, isn't that right, girl?" She asked the pokemon sitting in her lap. It meowed loudly.

"Okay, fury swipes!" Lyra ordered. Her meowth charged at a wild pidgy and swiped her claws at it, knocking it out with one hit. "That was too easy, we'll have to find a few trainers to battle.." Lyra looked around.

"Meowww." Her meowth whined, tired. They had been training all day. Lyra really wanted to be ready for Team Rocket, but, she wasn't sure when that would be, so she wanted to be prepared at any time.

"Okay." She said, scooping the tiny pokemon up in her arms. "Let's go get some lunch." She walked towards the exit and waved at Ethan and Silver. Ethan was goofing off, Silver was training. She skipped down into the town and headed for the pokemon center. Leaving her pokemon with Nurse Joy, she then headed over and grabbed some lunch. She sat at a booth by herself and looked out the window.

Petrel could be right. She could be crushing extremely hard on Proton. Which, wouldn't work out. It just wouldn't. Even if Petrel was right and Proton loved her back, and she loved Proton, it just…it wouldn't work! Team Rocket would fall and Proton would disappear forever and she would never see him again. That was why it wouldn't work. Green and Red and Ms. Delia and Professor Oak would never accept him, even if he did decide to stay with her. What would she do?

"Excuse me, Lyra?" Nurse Joy asked. "Your pokemon are all rested up and ready to go." She smiled brightly. Lyra smiled back and took the pokeballs, thanking her. She clipped them back onto her belt and kept staring out the window. She couldn't stop thinking about it now. Her face flushed and she groaned, putting her head in her hands. Her poke'gear rang and snapped her out of her thoughts. She checked it.

Green.

He was going to be so pissed at her. She ignored the call anyway.

Lyra stood up and left the pokemon center. She had come too far to give up now. She was ready to train for the rest of the day!

It was a lot of work. She didn't think being a pokemon trainer was so difficult, but it really was. She decided to stay away from Ethan and Silver and let them train together and train by herself. Mostly though, she had to work with Fritz. The nervous pokemon made it difficult to train and Lyra was being very patient with it. Red had gotten the pokemon for her, and she knew that if Red was here, he would tell her to be patient and kind, not harsh and mean.

So she stayed positive, and almost cried when Fritz evolved. Fritz was much more confident now and gladly took on a trainer that happened to look Lyra in the eye. Lucky, all he had were water types, so Fritz cleared them all out and Lyra decided she wanted Fritz to end her training on a good note, so she returned her to her pokeball for a good rest.

"Ninorina, ya ready to kick some butt?" She asked the pokemon and it cheered. She was going to do this. One by one, her pokemon were going to train and get stronger. It just took patience, of course, and good encouraging words, just like Red had taught her.

The afternoon went on and it gradually got darker and darker out, until the stars were now visible in the sky.

"Hey! Let's go get some dinner!" Ethan called out to Lyra. She held out her arm and her meowth jumped onto it and climbed to her shoulder. She ran over to the two boys and smiled. "Did you get some training done today?"

"Oh yeah, tons." She nodded her head. Her pokemon really kicked ass today! "It was awesome."

"Maybe you should challenge the gym with us?" Silver asked as they started to walk.

"Ah, nah." Lyra shrugged. "I'm not into gym battles much." She told him. Her poke'gear started to ring loudly. She tried to silence it, but Ethan stopped her.

"You can answer it, we don't mind. Who is it?" He asked as she held it in her hand. She glanced down at it and her face went pale.

Shit.

It was Red.

SOMEONE TELL ME YOU WANT A VOLKNER ONESHOT MY GOSH BECAUSE THAT'S ALL I WANNA WRITE.

Anywho, OriginalShipping Oneshot is in the works and a SoulSilverShipping is as well~!

Thanks for reviewing!