This… is… the weirdest… chapter in this story…

I mean, the plot bunnies pinned me down and made me write it. This should never have happened. What's becoming of me? Plus, it seems all the chapters I write are after one in the morning. Or at least this one was. That might explain some things.

Oh my, more Ethan dissing in the reviews :3 but I love it xD

I did not have time to read this over. I'm sorry. Please don't kill me.

Reviews:

Demacry: I loved Bruno for the same reasons as you! But you must understand, I have no control over this story! It's the plot bunnies, I tell you! But I also like Will's mask. I mean… it's a mask :D Lyra's dresses would have pockets if I had my say in it! But you are right. That is a mistake, and someday when Nano's over I will jump on over to that chapter and edit it to pieces! Thanks for pointing it out! Well, if you want you can call Silver '?' whenever his name comes up :3 And I figure that if a ten year old can be champion then a twenty four year old president isn't that far off x3 since it's a whole lot less dangerous :P I plan on messing with your childhood a whole lot more :3 And sorry, no Jessie and James, and I'm doubting Giovanni, beside Silver mentioning him from time to time. Thanks for the review!

Izzzzie: Spoilers make me happy when I see them, then sad later on D: And yep, double date :3 But I doubt Silver will like it. :3 Thanks for the review!

Sapphiet: Oh trust me, he's feeling it. I was slightly shocked to write a nice Silver as well, but be expecting more of it at times :3 Silver might be a dick, but at least he can give good advice! Lyra always wins! (That's why she's the champion). Maybe Lyra is bringing Ethan's hopes up for a reason :) Maybe… she likes him :O I hope you enjoy this chapter! I have my doubts! :D Thanks for the review!

FluffyMareep: I agree with you in the long run. Silver makes me want to squeal! 3 3 But who knows how it's going to turn out in this story :3 You'll see! Thanks for the review!

Splitheart1120: Oh yes, yes she did :D *cackles* She never hated Ethan. He is her bestie. They just had conflicting emotions, and now she might be changing her mind on that (not giving anything away). Thanks for the review!

Chapter 9

We flew to Ecruteak, Silver on his honchkrow, me on Pidgeot. This almost felt like back when we were both younger, when me and Silver would have races through the air and didn't have conflicts anymore… for about a year. Altogether, me and Silver always fought. It was in our blood or something. He was my rival, in almost all senses.

I'd seen the annoyance in his eyes when I said Ethan's name, and it pleased me enough to cackle. Instead, I just smiled pleasantly at him and waggled my fingers, which had turned that annoyance into anger and left him glaring at the side of my head for the next five minutes before he cooled down.

We reached Ecruteak and circled around the amusement parks, before coming to a rough landing at the entrance, both of us jostling and pushing the other to try and get there first. Sadly, Silver got in a good shove and I got sent toppling to the ground, skidding my elbow on the cement.

"Dammit, Lyra! Are you okay? Are you hurt?" Silver leaped down beside me, crouching-

I grabbed the front of his shirt and knocked him over, sending him falling onto the pavement to with an 'oof' and a swear. Pidgeot and Honchkrow just landed and watched us with confused gazes, Honchkrow's maybe a little bit more contempt filled.

"Silver?"

Rosary stood there, looking confused and hurt. Her brown hair was pulled up into a messy bun on the top of her head, her blue eyes showing tears already starting to form in her eyes. Silver just rose to his feet, giving me a little tap in the stomach with his foot as he walked over to Rosary and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, placing a peck on her forehead.

"Hey, Rosary. This is Lyra, the champion. She's here or going to be here with Ethan."

"Candidate Ethan?" Lines appeared between Rosary's eyebrows, before her face relaxed into an easy smile, "Wonderful! He's the one candidate I can stand."

This dainty, kind woman wasn't what I'd been expecting. I'd been expecting someone possessive, bitchy and seductive, yet here I was laughing along with the woman I was supposed to hate. Despite her flighty attitude and appearance, there was a certain look in her eyes that spelled out intelligence. This woman was a politician, just like Ethan.

"Sorry I'm late!" Ethan's holler came from above and I looked up just in time to see him come fluttering down in a flurry of wings and feathers. He had a pidgeot, just like mine, except his was male.

The moment he was on ground, Ethan smiled at me. Every time I saw him, it was like our past arguments just washed right away, as if he'd already pushed them aside as insignificant. It always ended up with me being bitter towards him, and I feared that one of these times he'd come back at me angry. I didn't know how I'd deal with that.

Impulsive had worked so far, so impulsive it was. I stepped towards Ethan, "Hey, Ethan, I'm so-"

"Don't sweat it, Lyra. I know you're just being you," When he smiled, little lines crinkled around his eyes already at his age, but the hand that reached out and took mine was smooth, no calluses. I automatically tensed with his fingers around mine, and then forced myself to relax. I'd invited him, as a date, even if I still couldn't let myself like him.

Silver watched the two of us with narrowed eyes, the expression in their depths unreadable. When Ethan took my hand, Rosary reached out and took his, looking up at him with sparkling, childish eyes, "Come on! I want to ride the Rayquaza!"

That was the biggest coaster in the whole park. Three hundred feet high, with break neck turns and tons of twists. My stomach dropped into my feet just thinking about it, but excitement kindled in my heart, "Yeah! That's exactly what I need!"

Dragging Ethan behind me, I moved over to the entrance line, where we were forced to wait for almost ten minutes. The crowds were monstrous, but that was a good thing, since it meant almost no one would recognize us. Well, everyone would have recognized Ethan, but I slammed my hat on his head and Silver came up with a handy pair of sunglasses.

…we still got quite a few people staring at us.

The line up to the Rayquaza was even longer, but the four of us stood together in line, laughing and making jokes. I found myself really connecting with Rosary, which wasn't good, because she was the girl dating Silver, who had turned him against Ethan, and might just be trying to turn me against him to by becoming my friend.

Okay, maybe I was overreacting.

Silver's arm snaked around Rosary's waist and he pulled her close, and she let him. Automatically, I started to glare at the both of them, then bit my own tongue. I wasn't here to argue with the two people leaning on the metal bars across from me. I was here to have fun. To do things I didn't get to do on a normal day.

Ethan, however, seemed to have other things in mind.

His own arm snaked around my waist, causing me to jerk as his nails trailing over my back sent sparks dancing across my skin. I gasped, then looked up at him as he pulled me to his own side, smirking down at me mischievously.

"What in the world are you doing, Ethan?"

"Holding my girlfriend."

"I am not your girl-"

"Oh, give it a break, Lyra," Ethan sighed dramatically, like he was actually annoyed at me, but I knew him better than that. I could see the twinkle in his eyes, the barely contained laughter. I sighed, starting to twist my body out of his grip, but the man holding the gate to the right raced me to it.

"Continue forward, please," I turned violently, glad to get onto the ride and away from Ethan. The seats were set far apart, giving about a meter of space between each of them. Rushing onto my seat, I sat down and buckled up. Silver and Rosary pulled into the seats behind us. Their chairs were closer together, and out of the corner of my eye I saw Rosary grasp Silvers hand.

The only reason it bothered me was because she was another candidate. That was all. Zip.

The guys running the ride came around, checking the restraints holding us into the seats, confiscating any poke balls we had so that no Pokémon got set loose by accident and go crashing to the ground. I let mine go reluctantly, I always worried about them if they weren't in my own care.

"All clear!"

Bang!

The ride jerked forward with a jolt, my head clanking violently against the back of the seat and giving me an automatic headache. Holding in a grown, I sucked in a deep breath as we pulled free of the station, slowly tipping upwards and moving forward with a loud clanking, the car jerking forward with irregular movements. It hardly felt safe.

It was windy out, but the sky was a perfect blue. My hair blew around my face, into my mouth. Not very nice. Up, up, up… and over the top!

My scream spiralled up into the area, my hair blew out around me, and gravity ground me uncomfortably against the bar of the ride. My head knocked back again and again against the back of the seat and my headache pounded intensely against the front of my skull.

And I loved it.

"Oh… my… god," Rosary's flustered voice brought breathless laughter to come out my mouth. My arm was around Ethan for support, just like back in the old days when there wasn't that uncomfortable tension between us, and my head sat against his upper arm.

"That was the best thing I've ever done. Ever," I laughed again, still feeling dizzy. The twists and turns had turned my thoughts into gibberish.

Silver looked slightly queasy, but Ethan just laughed and hugged me with the arm around me, "You're cute."

I automatically giggled, because it was such a light hearted word, but then sobered up as I saw the one ride I'd truly enjoy. The one ride that entranced my heart more than any other ride I'd ever seen before. I opened my mouth, I raised my finger, I pointed…

"Ferris wheel!"

Ethan groaned, "Shit, she noticed it."

Ferris wheels, by far, where my favourite ride in the whole, wide world. Anytime I went to a park with anyone, if there was a Ferris wheel, then I'd be on it. They just had so many different personalities. They could be fun, they could be scary, they could be exciting and they could be romantic. There was just so many different… options of how you could feel on a Ferris wheel.

"Let's go oooooon iiiiiit!" My squeal could have busted ear buds.

From behind, I heard Silver mutter to Ethan, "God, she sounds like a ten year old again."

"You never even heard the worst of it."

Unsurprisingly, the line up to the Ferris wheel wasn't very long. There weren't many people who actually wanted to go on the wheel. These days, everyone was into roller coasters, water rides and drops. It was all adrenaline, adrenaline, adrenaline. We really were a messed up society.

Ethan, Rosary and Silver strolled up behind me, watching me bounce up and down and watch the ride with glittering eyes. I felt like a ten year old to. All I needed was a pair of coveralls, some pigtails and my bushy hat. Of course, if I showed up in the park wearing that, everyone would recognize me. I had been the topic of discussion for so long back then that other people had begun to copy my style for a while.

Until I stopped wearing it.

The bored looking woman running the line eyed us once it was our turn, taking in our group of four, "Only two at a time, people."

I pouted, "That's no fun!"

The woman sneered, "That's the rules."

Grumbling darkly to myself, I took Ethan's hand and dragged him onto the cart. It was closed in one, with glass windows and floors and two benched for two people. I took one bench, and Ethan sat across from me, his knees just barely brushing mine, sending chills up my spine.

With a jerk, the Ferris wheel moved when the door was closed on our cart, and I watched Silver and Rosary clamber into the next one, sharing a bench. I frowned at the way Rosary was practically sitting in Silver's lap, and flushed bright red when he pressed his lips against the corner of her mouth.

Turning around abruptly, I smiled at Ethan, "So, how's it going?"

Ethan smirked, "Feeling awkward, Lyra?"

I snorted but then the Ferris wheel was put back into motion, starting its circular motion upwards. I turned and pressed my hands to the glass, watching the park get farther and farther away as we rose up and up. A smile seemed permanently put on my lips, until…

"Do you like Silver, Lyra?"

I flushed brightly, then turned to glare at Ethan, "Personal questions are a no no."

He smiled sadly, "So you do like him?"

I frowned, "Of course not. Silver's rude and a dick head. If anything, he's my rival. I definitely don't like him."

Ethan sighed, "Every time he does anything with Rosary, you get right possessive, Lyra. Is it really so unreasonable for me to think you like him?"

I sighed, reaching up a hand to wipe my hand over my forehead a few times. Was it hot in here or was it just me? "I don't like Silver, Ethan."

Ethan stared into my eyes, as if looking for the answer there, then looked down and muttered under his breath, "Do you like anybody?"

Where had the boy gone in Ethan? There was time when he was a player, or always trying to set me and Silver up. He'd been a prankster and fun loving, with a lot of sarcasm in his voice. Now he was mature, calm and kind. He'd changed drastically, even if I hadn't noticed it.

I felt flushed and hot and we were both whispering, "I... I think I've told you before."

"I want to hear it again."

I'd come here to escape the election, to escape Team Rocket, to get away from all the weight on my shoulders. Wouldn't pulling through with this be doing all these things? I was trying to be impulsive here, but would be doing this be a bad thing, or a good thing?

I looked back up at Ethan slowly. Unconsciously, we'd both been edging closer and closer to each other. Ethan's hand rested on my knee, and it was so warm, like he held a little fire on his palm that couldn't burn me. I took in a deep breath and leaned in. Ethan started to lean back, as if he wasn't sure this was the right thing, then stopped. Our lips were only inches apart…

I leaned in and kissed him.

And the Bell Tower exploded up in flames.

The Ferris wheel was close to the Bell Tower, and both me and Ethan were thrown sideways against the door as the whole machine tipped dangerously to the right. A scream ripped clear from the throat as the door burst open, but because we'd both been sitting on opposite benches we landed against the glass beside the door instead of going spiralling into empty space.

Ethan gripping the bench with a knuckle white tension, the pupils in his eyes as large as they could get, "Lyra!" His arm shot out for me, as if he thought he could grab me and pull him over to my side to be with him, but he slipped on the awkward angle the cart was at, and then he was falling.

Fire and smoke billowed through the air, but I barely noticed, because Ethan was falling. We'd almost been at the top of the Ferris wheel, and he'd die if he fell from this height.

"Ethan!" My scream echoed and I didn't bother to look for Silver and Rosary as I steadied myself on the door, my hand grabbing Pidgeot's poke ball from around my waist and chucking it high into the air. The poke ball burst open, the bright red light illuminating the sky through the smoke. Pidgeot recoiled at the chaotic sight, then spotted me.

"Save Ethan! Get Ethan, Pidgeot!"

Pidgeot gave an understanding caw, then turned and dived into the smoke at a break neck speed. Pidgeot would only have a matter of minutes before he hit the ground, and I was putting his life into the hands of a Pokémon that barely ever had any practise in the air besides flying along with me.

"Lyra! Lyra! KOTONE!" Silver's voice finally came to me, and I looked towards his and Rosary's cart. Their door was open to, but Silver had Rosary in a death grip, half hanging out the door as he tried to get my attention. I stared at him, watching his arm point wildly into the sky. Finally, it hit me, and I slowly looked up.

A beautiful Pokémon, a legendary I'd only seen twice in my life, but on the mural hundreds of times. Anger and pain radiated from it, and I could practically feel it. This was the Legendary Pokémon I'd bonded with all those years ago, as just a long trainer, and here it was again, but this time here because of chaos, because its sanctuary had been destroyed.

Ho-oh.

The Pokémon gave a scream of rage and sadness, not even the smoke managing to dull the natural shininess of its feathers. It was truly a beautiful Pokémon.

Pidgeot came barrelling out of nowhere, breaking my trance. I scrambled back into the cart, but before the flying type could reach us, before I could even register Ethan's pale face upon the back of the Pokémon, the Ferris wheel gave a great 'creeeeeek' and a moan, and began to fall.

My hands braced against the glass, the only thing keeping me from tumbling to the ground, and I screamed, a sound so loud it blotted out everything else. Terror filled my heart, and the heat from the fire made my skin feel like it was peeling off. I was going to die, because as soon as the Ferris wheel hit the ground, I'd be dead.

Honchkrow's wings blended in with the smoke, but I could make out Rosary's pale face, and Silver's tight one. He was looking at me and yelling something, but I couldn't hear him. It was too loud, between the roaring in my ears, the pounding of my heart and the creaking of gears from the Ferris wheel.

A pair of claws, long, curved and wicked, broke through my panic and my screams rose in pitch as the clutched around my cart. Ho-oh's wings spread above me, plotting out the dull light filtering through the sun. The talons tightened down once, and before I could react or prepare myself the glass shattered around me, glittering and reflecting the fire.

I screamed as I toppled over, falling into free space. The shattered glass slit my skin lightly in places, causing blood to trickle along my skin. Spinning, falling, spinning, falling. There was no stop to it…

Then those same hooked talons wrapped around my body, stopping my descent with a jerk and pulling me up, up, up and through the smoke. I linked my fingers through the talons, hyperventilating and still hearing my heart beat rushing in my ears. There was an almighty crash as the Ferris wheel hit the ground and I was sure that if I was on my ground, I'd feel it tremble under my feet.

I couldn't see Silver or Rosary, and Pidgeot and Ethan were gone, and I was being pulled away, flown far away, by the Legendary that had chosen me so long ago.

SO WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THE SUSPENSE? R&R, MY MINIONS!