From the first time she met him, there were three things she already knew.
The first time she ever set eyes on him, pushing rain-slick bangs out of her face as her shoes squelched in the mud on the lakeshore, she knew he was no ordinary trainer. That was the first thing. She squinted up at him in the driving rain, taking in the fiery spikes of upswept hair, the clean lines of his face, the cloak snapping in the wind. The only people she knew who had such strong individual style were gym leaders; maybe he was one she just hadn't met yet.
She had flushed as he complimented her on the control and finesse of her battle with the red gyarados, out on the lake: the way she had steadily worn away at the enraged serpent until it was too weary to break free from her pokeball.
If she weren't careful, she told herself, she would fall for him.
Would she help him, he wanted to know, to storm the secret base of Team Rocket to find and shut off the source of the disturbance that was agitating the magikarp, forcing them to evolve early?
And that was another thing that set him apart—he was the first trainer who hadn't asked her to battle on sight. He had been focused on something beyond himself—his own ambitions—or even his own pokemon. It was the first time she had ever met someone like that.
Of course, she had agreed, seeing in front of her something that was so much bigger, so much more important than her own individual journey.
He nodded briefly when she agreed, meeting her eyes with a solemn expression, then flashed a smile that sent warmth flooding through her again like floodwaters rushing through streambeds in spring.
They had pushed aside the gilded cabinet and descended the creaky stairs of that strange shop in Mahogany, its counter laden with antique glass jars and paper-wrapped boxes of mystery substances, only to descend into the stranger underground world of the Rocket headquarters, with its labyrinthine metallic halls and eerie persian statues. When the trainer—who had introduced himself only as Lance, leaving his title, whatever it was, unstated—hung back after entering the Team Rocket base, watching her defeat one Team Rocket underling after another, she sensed, without his needing to say anything, that he was there right behind her and would step in when needed.
And then that was exactly what had happened.
In a moment of distraction, when she had turned her head to look down another eerily sterile hallway, wondering which way to go, two Rockets had leapt out at her at once, one on either side. An eccentric female admin, with her red hair curling out into a weird cowlick in the back of her head and the red eyeshadow matching her red lipstick, on one side; a young, faceless underling in the signature Team Rocket black jumpsuit on the other.
When Lance had stepped in to even out the odds, how could she not be as fascinated as she was grateful?
She watched him covertly out of the side of her eyes while keeping enough attention on her own half of the battle to neatly handle whatever the grunt and the admin threw at them. She watched in awe as his one and only pokemon, an ochre-colored dragon, effortlessly blasted the Team Rocket murkrow out of the sky with an expertly-aimed thunderbolt, then flew up into the sky itself, only to return and deal a devastating critical blow to Team Rocket's gloom, shredding the plant pokemon with its claws.
It was then that she realized the second thing: he was paying attention to her, too. Her furtive glances at him caught him primarily not watching his pokemon. His own partner he directed with the ease of long acquaintance, turning his eyes away unconcernedly, apparently confident in its ability to take out the Team Rocket pokemon without any effort. Instead, she realized he was keeping an eye on hers, following their movements with an expert eye. After his dragonite dived down from the sky like an orange thunderbolt itself, knocking the gloom to the ground and rendering it unconscious in a single hit, he seemed to pull back and take the battle a little more slowly, having his dragonite conjure up a twisting spiral of air which it sent at its enemies while biding its time, conserving its strength.
She was careful not to look over at the trainer beside her directly, but she could feel his eyes on her at times as he slowed the pace of his dragonite's attacks, letting her take out her fair share of the Team Rocket pokemon while his dragonite took its time with Ariana's massive, purple viper the way a persian toys with a rattata.
She didn't know why—he was so much stronger than she was—but it was evident that he wanted to know what she was like as a trainer, wanted to see her battle. Was he thinking of her as a potential up-and-coming rival, despite his greater age and experience? Was he curious about her as a challenger whom he thought he would see in his gym soon? Whatever the reason, he was paying just as much attention to her as she was to him.
The third thing she knew was that she was already falling for him.
How could she not?
There was his appearance: his chiseled features and stylishly spiked red hair, the formal long-sleeved and caped look which dovetailed perfectly with his single-minded motive, "For pokemon"—and how could she not admire that selflessness which was on a level she had never before seen?
But there was also the respect he expressed when asking her if she would help him. Despite her age, despite her inexperience, he treated her as an equal. It hadn't been irresponsibility behind his allowing her to battle her way through the Team Rocket members alone, until that sudden ambush. It was a silent courtesy, an wordless statement that he knew she was strong and capable enough that he didn't need to interfere.
Handsome. Kind. Respectful. Chivalrous. Loved pokemon.
If she weren't careful she was going to fall for him, she told herself when she first met him.
By the time they had defeated Ariana and the nameless man beside her, it was already too late.
A/N: I was thinking to myself I should write some more Lyra/Lance, and dug this half-finished story out of my hard drive. Also, surprise, this story is NOT a one-shot! Unusually for me, I am posting the first chapter without having the whole story complete yet. Projected length is 4 chapters. Chapter 4 is complete, chapters 2-3 are in progress. Hopefully getting the first chapter posted will motivate me to finish the rest. Feel free to drop by and leave a comment if you enjoyed this story, if you have any thoughts or critiques, or just to say hello!