Important note before reading: This is a purely gameverse fic. The rival is named Kanade, because he has no default name in the games. Silver is not his name, no matter how often others like to use it. Personally I don't care, though I don't like to be part of mainstream anyways. Kanade (奏) means to play/perform a musical instrument, and I thought the name fits with Kotone, which means the sound of harps.

Rivals

Kanade had forgotten the number of times he had lost a battle to her.

Come to think of it, he had never won even once. Not on the first time they met on the outskirts of Cherrygrove, and not afterwards. At first, losing felt like a nuisance. He swore he would train harder and victory would be his next time. Then the slow, crushing realization dawned: No matter how hard he tried, the separation between their levels was too great, just like the separation between their ideals.

"I know you're strong...but I don't want to go without a fight!"

And before he knew it...

Kanade didn't know how it happened, all he knew was that her arms were wrapped tightly around his middle, and her face was buried into the front of his jacket. Her hat had fallen off so the stray strands of her hair tickled his chin. It was a good thing no one else was on the balcony of the temple at Dragon's Den, and the cave was dark so other trainers at the edge of the lake could not see them anyways. Kanade was training, as usual, when Kotone showed up. Without a word she had walked up to him and clung on like a baby pokemon. He could feel her back rising and falling beneath his hands that were placed awkwardly around her for what he hoped was the right thing to do. She seemed to be crying, or trying hard not to, he couldn't tell.

And Kanade really did not know how to deal with this.

"You lost again?" He asked tentatively.

She nodded silently, rubbing her face against his jacket.

"To Red?"

Nod, and she clutched him tighter. Kanade felt himself unable to breathe, for more reasons than the physical ones. He didn't remember the last time Kotone had been in such close proximity to him.

Still, he couldn't help smirking, it was his nature, "So, you finally know how it feels like to lose to one person over and over again."

She raised her head, her eyes were red but her face was not tear-stained. "I'm here because you understand."

"You think I would comfort someone who made me feel this way ever since we first met?"

Kotone turned to press her cheek against him. "You would for me."

How blunt and insensitive of her! Come to think of it, why didn't she go to her other trainer friends? Surely they must have suffered some losses themselves. Or better yet, gym leader Green who was Red's rival, and more than suitable to comfort and banter with her about how ungodly strong Red is.

As if reading his thoughts, "I can't go see Green-san. Not like this...He hoped I'd be the one to beat Red-san and get him to come down from Mt. Silver...I can't let him know...I haven't ever won against Red-san..."

Kanade felt a pang of annoyance at the Viridian Gym Leader then. The dirty work of dragging one's t-shirt clad bosom friend down from a snow-capped mountain should not be delegated to anyone else.

"Kanade...is this how it feels to know you can never beat someone...?"

The red-haired boy was silent. What was he supposed to say? He won't lie, but admitting such would mean admitting he would never be able to beat her, and he didn't want to admit that to her.

"I'm so frustrated, I tried so hard. Typhlosion tried so hard, all my pokemon did. But they can't win at all...there's no way, it's hopeless!"

"Yeah, it's hopeless."

"That's not very uplifting."

She had let go of him and was sitting up against the railings, hugging her knees. Kanade sat down beside her.

"I don't get it Kanade. Why do you keep challenging me even when you can't win?"

"Hearing you say that pisses me off."

"…sorry."

Kanade made a point to wear one of his you're-annoying-me faces.

"......You think I should give up?"

"Of course not." Kanade snapped. Then regretted he had said it without much thought, as it was the matter-of-fact thing to say to a person asking such a question. "Well..."

"Red-san is the strongest. He's legendary. You think a young trainer like me can ever have a chance?"

"You're strong too.'Course you do."

"I'm...not."

"Yes you are!" He raised his voice without thinking. "You have all the gym badges, you make the Elite 4 tremble in their fancy little rooms, you defeat me over and over again no matter how hard I train! And you still say you're not strong enough?!"

Kotone looked at him, as if to say something. But she stopped herself and crouched tighter together instead.

"I guess...But now it's like a giant wall in front of me. Something I can't go over." She explained patiently, mouth hidden behind her knees, "I really love Pokemon and battling and training. I don't want to be standing where I am now; I want to keep going, to be stronger, to battle lots with lots of people. I can't do that if there's an obstacle constantly in front of me."

Kanade closed his eyes. "Well, I'm not standing where I am."

He could feel Kotone looking at him. Sharp that she was, she couldn't have missed the implication in what he said. Perhaps she was waiting for him to clarify.

"Just because there's a tall wall, it doesn't mean you can only stand there." Kanade rubbed the back of his head. He was always bad at putting his thoughts into words. "I've always tried to cross the wall. I fail all the time, but I grow a little stronger every time I try. Sure, the wall grows taller too. Maybe someday I'll lose sight of its top altogether. But I'll never stop reaching, because...I'm only alive if I keep going."

The boy turned back to his rival, wondering why he was trying to cheer her on to become even more impossible for him to beat. She seemed to be contemplating something, resting her chin on her knees.

"So...is that what you meant at Mt. Moon?"

"What?"

"What you said there." Kotone continued. "Something like, you know I'm strong, but you're not going away without a fight."

He had forgotten what he said, but now that she mentioned it, he probably did say such a thing. It resonated in agreement with his beliefs.

"Yeah. I know I can't beat you. But battling is not just about winning."

"Heh. Fancy hearing that coming out of you."

"Shut up." He growled. He had changed, but Kotone still teased him about his past antics sometimes. Maybe a few months ago, he would have still thought pokemon that can't win a battle were worthless, and that losing had no merit at all. But it wasn't the same now, thanks to the losses he had suffered, perhaps. And he was happier this way.

"Well." She suddenly stood up and dusted off her overalls. "I think I feel a little better now. Thanks."

"I didn't do anything."

The girl shrugged as if to say "whatever you say". Then stretched and sent out her red gyarados towards the lake. Its glistening crimson scales came in sharp contrast with the dim, cold-coloured surroundings. Kanade felt a slight stab of jealousy when he saw it, as it was a symbol of her ability as a trainer: the girl who tamed the red gyarados, as some have called her.

"One more thing, Kanade." Kotone twirled to face him with a devilish smile.

"...what?"

"I'll never let you defeat me." She announced, and chuckled when he arched an eyebrow and scowled.

"If you could defeat me, you won't be my rival anymore. So I won't let you."

Kanade was about to say that of course they would still be rivals--

"Just...my rival, that is."

Alright, he didn't know how to respond to that. The girl was as unfathomable as she was exasperating. And she was already surfing away on her red gyarados, but he thought he saw her skip before jumping from the platform onto the pokemon.

The blizzard was cutting on skin as usual, and Red, clad in short-sleeves and jeans, bore the same unreadable expression from underneath his hat as usual. An aura of immense power exuding from every inch of his being.

"Red-san, I know you're strong."

Kotone gulped, cold air stinging her throat.

"But...still...I don't want to go without a fight!"

-end-