Silver wasn't exactly trying to avoid attention. He was all too used to it being drawn to him and his messy red hair, aloof glares, and now two large and intimidating looking pokemon at his shoulders walking behind him. One of them was older, and was a fire type pokemon who would have looked more ferocious had he not let his laziness show through his yawns. The other was a young, though fully evolved water type with a large jaw twisted into a comical grin. Clearly more energetic than her partner, the reptilian pokemon wagged her tail happily, almost knocking several passersby off their feet. Their trainer, however, didn't seem to care at all about their well being. He had other things on his mind.

What the hell? How hard was it to find the Johto champion? Silver gritted his teeth. He was in a bad mood from running around the region hoping to somehow blindly bump into his rival, and had released his two pokemon from their pokeballs in an effort to keep any challengers or annoyances at bay. Finally, he had been tipped off from the Ecruteak gym leader that Kotone enjoyed to rest at the entrance steps of the Bell Tower and could possibly be there. Silver's steps turned into heavy stomping, and his determined stare into a cold glare causing anybody heading his way to jump to the side and gasp in fear. How the hell did that purple obsessed imbecile know something so key to Kotone that he didn't? It took all the restraint he had not to knock the ghost type user off his annoyingly stupid invisible pathways. Silver smirked evilly, the Bell Tower, huh? Defeating the Ecruteak geishas was something he had taken care of before he had left for Sinnoh and with that done he didn't have to worry about the damn monks getting in his way at the abbey.

The noise of the busy streets faded away, slowly being replaced by the whispers of water from a nearby pond. Silver looked up at the large and elegant doors of the Barrier Station, which sported carvings of the mythical pokemon Ho-Oh. The truth was that Silver hadn't told Kotone about coming back, a few days ago he had simply woken up and decided it was time to go back to Johto and hadn't bothered to call and advise beforehand. The impulsive teenager put his hands on the doors and pushed them open and out of his way, surprising the monks out and about the station.

"Hey, you can't-"

"Get out of my way, old geezer!"

The old monk was speechless at the young man's rudeness. He wasn't exactly keen on letting the cold eyed boy enter to the Bellchime trail, but he had no choice, as the redhead was one of the few trainers who had shown his worth by defeating the city geishas. Grumbling, the guarding monk moved to the side, letting the teenager and his two large pokemon through. It was strange, the senior pondered, the teenager was wearing the exact same jacket the Johto champion had. It was a small comfort for him that the two might be connected; the champion was a good, sweet girl. She wouldn't associate herself with this boy if he was a delinquent of some sort, would she?

… Although he could swear that the fire pokemon just gave him the bird. What did kids teach their pokemon these days?

Once Silver saw his rival, his heart started going back to a familiar fast pace. Kotone had her back facing him, and was wearing the black jacket he had left with her. She had switched her overalls for a pair of loose white pants and - the teenager smirked, the girl had barely grown at all! If it weren't for her oversized trademark hat she wouldn't even reach his shoulders. Man, did he miss that ridiculous hat, and the springy pigtails which shot out beneath it. The girl was talking on her pokegear with somebody, and judging by the tone of her voice, it was probably some major loser.

"Seriously Brent, stop telling me obscure facts about Bill, it's getting kinda creepy, you know?"

Typhlosion was the first to make contact. On his four legs, he ran towards his adversary, eager to see the grass type's reaction to, well, himself. The fire pokemon jumped to tackle the meganium, but the would-be-victim's sharp senses made him duck, sending the typhlosion flying overhead. Typhlosion was able to make a quick recovery, and landed snap on his feet. Bright red flames burst out of the pokemon's neck, anticipating a fight, as he grinned at the grass-type. Meganium only could stare back in absolute horror. If Egomaniac was here that meant…

"I'm back, Kotone."

The girl gasped and her heart leapt. That voice…! Had it been a year since she had last heard it? More? It had felt like so long since she had seen the red-haired boy with the reluctant blush she had fallen in love with. Kotone gulped down, and slowly turned around to face the person she had waited for far too long…

"Silver…?"

Meganium had actually gasped in unison along with the girl once he noticed the Feraligatr at the male trainer's side. Wait… that egg from a year ago was his? And he had let his own daughter go to the hands of that trainer with charcoalhead of all pokemon? Ugh, he should have known about it. Interestingly, Feraligatr seemed to recognize her father and happily ran to tackle him, but unlike Typhlosion, she was more successful. "Feraghr!" The water pokemon wagged her tail happily at the reunion with her father, which involved a lot of added and rather uncomfortable weight for the older pokemon. Snickering at the amusing spectacle, Typhlosion sent a growl towards his rival. You did it with a Feraligatr? His mockery was followed by more snickers at the meganium's choices in female company. Managing to get the reptilian pokemon from chomping on his antennae and off of him, Meganium retorted back at his longtime rival. She had a cute personality… and a nice ass. This only seemed to throw the fire pokemon hollering into more growls of laughter. Well, as much as a pokemon could laugh, anyway.

Meganium lowered his antennae in dejection, only for them to prop back up again. Who was Tytesterone to talk anyway? Sneakily putting one leg around his daughter and pulling her close, it was his turn to smirk. At least I'm not a virgin.

It was the right or wrong thing to say. Typhlosion's laughter was cut off immediately, and the flames on his back shot out with burning rage. The typhlosion bared his sharpened teeth at the other male. By the time I'm done with you your antennae will be right up your ass! He promptly tackled the meganium to back up his rather imposing threats, which didn't seem to intimidate the grass type at all.

Before Kotone could turn around to face rival turned boyfriend, she felt the weight of his arm settle on her head. "Man, I knew you were short…" She could recognize that arrogance-laced voice anywhere. "But I didn't know you could shrink." The girl's expression of pleasant surprise quickly changed to one of annoyance. Kotone knew that a guy with abandonment issues wasn't likely to be the dream boyfriend from romance novels, but Silver could at least try to be romantic. Upset, she turned to face the taller boy, opening her mouth to lecture him about not calling her to tell her he was returning to Johto, but before even a squeak left her lips, Silver quickly filled their gap with his own.

What did she expect though? Silver was never the kind to think things through; he said and did what he felt, provided his pride would let him do either.

He was feeling a lot more confident about the whole thing than he did a year ago, but there were still hints of a blush left on his cheeks and the urge to change the subject. Looking over Kotone (something not hard to do), he noticed that their pokemon were already literally at each other's throats. Silver internally groaned at his typhlosion. That pokemon brought him nothing but trouble with his arrogant and aggressive attitude. The redhead once again looked down at his rival's face, remembering the promise he made her before he left. Grabbing the bewildered girl's arm, Silver pulled her towards where their pokemon were, before kicking Typhlosion off Meganium. "Get a hold of yourself, you fat bastard!"

The pigtailed girl stared at Silver dumbfounded. A battle? Now? Hmph, the teenager crossed her arms, miffed. While she was always eager for a pokemon match, she kind of expected a bit more from the guy who confessed his love to her and disappeared for a year… Then again…

"I will! And when I do… I'll marry you!"

Well, implausible marriage proposal or not, Johto Champion Kotone wasn't going to go any easier on him. In fact, she felt even more determined to win. It's not like Silver could back up his promise now, anyway. Shaking the blush from her face, Kotone looked up confidently at her long time rival. Silver had a confident smile, different from the mean-spirited smirk she was used to. It was a welcome change.

Silver sat on the edge of the bed, watching Kotone talking on the phone from the corner of his eye. He hadn't been too happy to find out that the girl's long, droning phone calls hadn't been limited to him, but she had a habit of doing that with everybody. Still, at this point the redhead was too exhausted from the long week of tracking her down to think about it much, and after taking off his shoes Silver welcomed himself to lie down. Finally, the teenager heard the click of the pokegear hanging up, and Kotone's weight on the edge of the bed. Silver blushed, and turned to give her his back; it had already been awkward enough to find out that there weren't any rooms left with two beds instead of one.

"You know…" The girl spoke softly, and since they weren't facing each other he could barely pick up what she was saying. "I didn't get around to telling you, but before you left I had a match with Red," Kotone sighed, remembering the mysterious trainer and the surreal battle which felt almost like a dream. Silver had snapped up quickly at the mention of the boy who had defeated his father many years ago, and looked at her in surprise. "I won, so…"

Silver smirked and relaxed again, dawning upon him what it all meant. Who would have known that the girl he had met two years ago, who had just received her very first pokemon, would go on to defeat Red?

"… Are you going to tell your dad about, you know, everything?" Kotone was now looking at her rival, trying to read his expression. She knew how Silver got whenever his father or team rocket were mentioned, but the two had talked about it a few times over the pokegear the last year, and Silver had promised to be less grouchy about the whole thing, provided she didn't try to force things out of him.

"Why would I?" The teenager snorted. "I don't care about him or what he thinks about me. He probably thinks I'm the same kind of asshole he is." Kotone laid down next to him and grabbed his hand, causing Silver to blush at the close proximity and the entire situation as it was. The pig tailed girl simply gave him one of her trademark, cheerful grins.

"I guess no wedding invitations for him, Champion?"

"Hmph..." Silver simply smirked back at his girlfriend/fiancée. "Although I admit, I would like to see his face once he finds out."