So I wanna update this because. Just because. We're close to two hundred on this story! Maybe by chapter twenty we can reach it? That's make me soooo happy! I'd love you all so much and I don't think I could stop loving you for that~!

Also, a new poll is up. The question is:

If Leaf and Gary were to have a child, would it be a boy or a girl?

This will have something to do with the saga in the future, so please vote!

Amy47101 does not own pokémon, only Vale.

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The Adventure Saga

Enlightening the Soul

o.0.o.0.o

"Krys!" Lyra exclaimed over the pokégear. "Oh Arceus! You're okay!"

"Yeah." Krystal replied with a sigh. "We were in the cockpit."

"Ethan's okay?" Lyra asked.

"He's cut up pretty bad from the glass, especially on his back, and he's still unconscious. The doctors said that he might've gotten hit on the head and that he has a small concussion, but he should wake up soon."

"I'm relieved." Lyra sighed. "But his back? Was his back facing the window?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"Er..." Krys paused awkwardly. "You know, him being a guy and all he kinda... protected me. Reckless idiot."

"You liiiiiiiiike him~." Lyra sang out.

"I-I do not!"

"Anyways," Lyra stated, changing the topic. "Your contest got cancelled! I'm sorry I couldn't see the end!"

"Actually..." Krystal trailed off. "Well, they attacked when they announced the final two, me and Tani, that is, Vale. Since Vale never showed up for the battle, I received the ribbon."

"Well, isn't that good?" Lyra asked, smiling. "Congratulations!"

"But I won by default!"

"A win is a win, isn't it?" Silver asked, crossing his arms with an impatient look on his face.

"Who...?" Krystal asked.

"Oh, it's just Silver." Lyra said.

"You're with Silver...? Never mind, were either of you injured?"

"It was a miracle by Arceus, but we both survived." Lyra said, laughing. "We got refuge from some scientist aides in a small cottage near the Ruins of Alph. We slept for a day or so," she laughed airily at this. "But we're fine, though."

"That's good. Are you going to stay in the ruins?"

"Yeah, we're going to explore them." Lyra said. "Silver said he's help me find a dawn stone for Snorunt."

"If you keep talking, we'll never get time for exploring." Lyra shot Silver a glance at his words, then continued to listen to Krystal.

"Anyways, I'm going to stay with Ethan till he wakes up, which may put us behind a bit on journeying. And before you say anything," Krystal stated as Lyra opened her mouth. "Continue on without us. I think we'll eventually meet again, and if not, we'll keep in contact via pokégear."

"Well, if you're sure..."

"I'm sure. Be safe, okay?"

"Yeah Krys!" Lyra smiled. "Talk to you later!" Lyra smiled happily as she hung up the call, dropping the pokégear absentmindedly. Silver nearly winced as the expensive device caught on the string around the strap of her bag, swinging back and forth as she stood.

"Lets make this quick." Silver stated, pulling a device from his pocket and holding it up. Lyra blinked as she released Eevee from her pokéball.

"What's that?"

"A Dowsing Machine." he stated. "It is able to search for items underground. It should make finding your stone way easier than just looking on the surface." he glanced at the brown fox on the ground. "Why'd you let that thing out? I don't have time to be tracking down your pokémon."

"Eevee can sniff things out." Lyra said, looking over his shoulder. "So it'll beep or something when we come near something underground?"

"Essentially, yes."

"Where did you get it?"

"Borrowed it." Silver nearly smiled as the lie rolled easily off his tongue. The past few days had been strangely unusual for him. He's opened up more than he has in years, not as cold as he was, as cunning as he was, and his lies were getting harder and harder to tell. Continually, the words he told Lyra before he jumped played in his mind, his embarrassment and shame for spouting the nonsense making him cringe nearly every time.

But despite that, he knew that he had to straighten himself out fast. He's always thought of himself as strong, but now he could feel it. He was slowly, ever so slowly, was growing soft. Weak. Pathetic.

And he absolutely hated it.

He figured that if he continued to be cold and crass towards Lyra, she'd eventually leave. Like everyone else. It's worked countless times before with people, because no one wanted to be around the mean, cold asshole. But she kept pestering him about the stupid dawn stone. So, he decided, he's find the stone, let her evolve the runt, then continue on to Ecruteak City at night, when she was asleep, like so many times before.

The sooner he got away from her, detached himself from he stupid, weakening cheeriness, the better off he'd be.

"Silver?" he cast a glance at her as the machine bleeped. He kneeled down and began digging with his fingers. If the Dowsing Machine sensed it, it mustn't be that far underground. Lyra kneeled down next to him. "...What was your mother like?" she blurted out the question quickly, but he heard it.

He snapped his head up, then looked down, not saying anything. She hadn't brought up the things they said, their final wishes before their death, since the say jumped. He figured after close to three days, she would forget and wouldn't bring it up. He honestly didn't want to talk about it, he wasn't good at all the sentimental crap, nor did he want to be good at it. But he remembered what she said. He probably always would.

"Tell my mother... That despite everything she did to me, I forgive her and I love her and I'm sorry!"

"What," he asked, shooting her a glare as he remembered those words. "Is your mother like?"

"Um..." she glanced down, falling strangely and uncharacteristically silent. Silver closed his eyes and continued to dig.

"Thought so." he glared at the ground. "Don't go digging around in others personal lives if you're not willing to give out information of her own."

"Mm-hmm." she nodded, staring at the hole as Silver pulled out a small, star-shaped, dark pink stone. He held it up to the sky, the sun making it sparkle red. It was barely the size of a large button, but he smirked. "What is it?" she asked.

"A star piece." he said. "Sold for very high prices in shops, specifically to collectors or jewelry stores. But still," the idea of a wad of cash floated in his mind. "You could get a good chunk of money from normal pokémarts as well."

"It's pretty!" Lyra exclaimed, taking it from his fingers and holding it up. "Wouldn't this be pretty, hanging from a silver chain?" Silver snatched it out of reach, then shoved it in his pocket.

"Mine. I found it, I get to keep it." he stated coldly. "You get your dawn stone. I'm wasting my whole day searching for this thing with you, so anything else we find, I keep." Lyra stared at him for a moment. "It's only fair." he added, even though he knew it was far from fair. After a while of Lyra contemplating this, he was sure she was going to point out the unfairness of it, but then she smiled cheekily.

"Okay~!" she sang out, standing as he stood. He let out a low, irritated sigh from her cheeriness, then ground his teeth.

"Only a few more hours. Once I get her the damn stone I can clean my hands of her then continue on my own. If I cross her again, I'll crush her in battle." he thought bitterly, following the dowsing machine again.

o.0.o.0.o

Silver could feel his pockets growing heavy with the loot he raided from the ruins. He had found multiple star pieces and some small traces of stardust when he pulled back stones and bricks. After gathering the dust into small pouches that he had snatched from the lab assistants small cabin. Lyra's Eevee sniffed at it curiously.

He stood their thoughtfully for a moment. If this place was so rich with star pieces and stardust, why the hell weren't they mining this and selling it en masse? They would be millionaires... With the right connections, of course.

He shook his head and smirked. Like the dorky professor back in New Bark, they were probably to caught up in their research to get their priorities straight. Thankfully for Silver, not only was he smart, but he was cunning. Wit is what got him through his short fifteen years of life and would continue to help him survive many more.

"This place is so cool!"

Lyra, on the other hand...

"How in Arceus's name did you manage to live this long?"

"Eh?" Lyra blinked, looking at him innocently. Silver mentally cursed in his head. He was trying to separate himself from her, but he goes and asks something like that. It sounded like he was concerned or something. He felt ridiculous. He scowled, standing up.

"You're ditzy, clumsy, stupid, weak, naive, and so overly happy that it makes me want to puke. How have you not been robbed yet, or killed?" he asked. He reveled in the insulting words he threw her way. He already had her reaction predicted in his mind. She'd start tearing up, then wailing like Whitney did when he crushed her in battle and called her weak. She'd probably call him a name, something stupid like 'meanie', then run off.

He did not expect what came next though. Lyra didn't start wailing, or even tear up for the matter. She didn't call him a stupid name, and didn't move for a moment. Her eyes were fixated on the small puzzle in front of her. She absentmindedly put the pieces in place, sliding them about to get them to fit. She made no effort to get away from him.

A silence filled the air. Silver wouldn't call it awkward... it was heavy. Forced, even.

"Do you believe in angels, Silver?"

At this, he was shellshocked, though he didn't show it. Lyra, answering a question with a question... it wasn't like her. Usually she just grinned and answered, honestly. Happily and willingly. For the short time that he knew her, she was never one to shy away from talking, about anything or with anyone. She'd chatter on for hours, one thing leading to another and whatnot. This would make her remember that, which brought up a memory about something else, which usually led to a long winded story about her, Krystal, and Ethan, one or all three looking or sounding incredibly stupid at the end of it.

So what was she trying to avoid, and why? It piqued his interest slightly, but not enough for him to pry further into the subject. So he answered her question.

"I," he stated, crossing his arms, letting the Dowsing Machine hang from his one hand. "Am an atheist. If Arceus existed, and really performed all these great miracles, then life wouldn't be so filled with hardship, would it?"

"That's to bad." Lyra stated, her voice lacking it's usual upbeat cheer. She didn't look at him. She slid another piece into place. "I believe there are angels. I believe everyone has one by their side, at all times. So, as for why I haven't died yet," she looked up at him, a small smile on her face, though there was a mix of pain, sorrow, and nostalgia in her eyes. "I think my Papa is watching over me, as an angel."

Silver didn't know what to say to that. So he said the first thing that came to mind.

"Your grandpa is dead?" Smooooooth, wiseass. Lyra turned back to the puzzle. Silver furrowed his brow. How long did it take to figure the damn thing out?

"Dad." she stated, not looking at him. Now there was an awkward silence. But this was quickly fixed, as Lyra looked up, flashing one of her fluorescent smiles. "But it's okay, because he's watching over me as an angel!"

And like that, everything was back to normal. Lyra had a light smile on her face as she continued with her stupid puzzle. Silver picked the dowsing machine back up and continued looking around. It was picking up on something, though it was faint. He did a perimeter of the room, and still didn't pick anything up. He knew there was something, but no matter where he went in the room, it was still faint. He knew it was nothing outside, because he searched outside and found nothing but some berries that seemed to grow underground.

"I wonder..." he glanced down at the ground. It was dirt, with the exception of the stone alter-like thing in the center of the room that Lyra was currently standing on. While she was occupied with the puzzle, he bent down and began digging with his gloved hands. Eevee began to follow his actions, digging furiously with its little paws. He was digging for a while, when suddenly he realized that his arm was completely submerged in dirt, but something felt different. Grunting, he heaved a huge load of dirt from the hole he was digging, and looked down.

He saw brick. Eevee sniffed at it, blinking curiously. Was this just the foundation for the ruins, or is it what the machine was picking up on? He glanced at the Dowsing Machine laying forgotten beside him. The beep was still faint. He leaned down, placing it in the hole. The beeping was louder, indicating he was closer, but not close enough to the item.

"Got it!" Lyra exclaimed. Silver glanced up at her, and there was a small silence. Suddenly, there was a loud creaking noise and then, as she was shrieking, Lyra disappeared from his sight.

"Lyra!" he exclaimed, scooping up Eevee out of the hole and snatching up the Dowsing Machine, scrambling to look over the edge. He squinted at the darkness, trying to spot her, then eventually gave up. Eevee glanced at him, letting out a worried whine, then looked as if ready to jump. Just as she jumped, Silver snatched her by the collar.

"Hey, you'll kill yourself if you take a leap like that." he stated as he released his Golbat. He stood up, Eevee held under his arm. "Lower me down there, okay?" Golbat screeched it's name as it grabbed onto his wrists, lowering him into the hole. He was surprised to see that the hole was maybe twenty feet deep. He landed, glancing around. It was pitch black. He returned his Golbat and released his Quilava. Immediately, it's fiery collar lit up, illuminating the room.

"Oww..." he heard Lyra groan. He turned to the left, seeing the girl was clutching her bag to her chest, missing her hat, and rubbing her hip as she sat up. Eevee began to struggle in his grasp until he loosened his grip, eventually allowing the pokémon to leap down to the ground. Eevee bounded to her trainer, hopping up eagerly to lick her trainers cheek. Lyra opened her eyes, smiling and laughing. "Eevee! Eevee, come on!" she managed to calm the pokémon down, then opened her eyes, looking at Silver. "Hey, Silver. That kinda hurt."

"Idiot." he muttered. "You dropped about twenty feet. Did you break anything?" she stood, stretching a bit then walking around.

"No. Just a bit winded, but I think I'm fine." she stated. "Quilava, could you help me find my hat?" Quilava scoffed, sitting down beside his trainer while Lyra looked about. Silver did nothing to reprimand his pokémon for his rude behavior. Eventually, Lyra found her hat, and turned back to Silver, smiling as she adjusted it on her head. She scooped Eevee into her arms as she turned to him. "So now what?"

"We could go back up." Silver stated, looking at the faint light coming from the hole above him. The beeping on the Dowsing Machine got a bit louder. "But I think there might be some objects down here. I'm going to explore."

"Okay." Lyra smiled, looking forward. "Do you think we'll find the dawn stone down here?"

"Maybe." Silver stated, picking up the Dowsing Machine and moved forward until the beeping indicated that he was right in front of the item. He looked up, glancing at the wall in front of him in Quilava's light. All he saw was a bunch of strange letters, writing a sentence in a language he didn't understand. He narrowed his eyes, blinking as the letters suddenly began moving. He heard Lyra gasp beside him.

"They're moving." Lyra stated.

"You can see it too?" Silver asked, eyes not moving from the letters as they continued to move. Lyra nodded.

"It looks like it's spelling something." she furrowed her brow. "A room dedicated to the Warrior who conquered the Volcano."

When she finished, a door creaked open. Silver peeked his head inside, surveying his surroundings in Quilava's dim firelight. Deeming it safe, he stepped inside, Lyra hesitantly followed after him. Almost immediately, torches lit with flames, illuminating the room.

"Wow..." Lyra muttered. Silver widened his eyes as well, taking in the surroundings. While there wasn't much in the name of precious items, there were, in fact, a large mural on the wall. It depicted a twenty-year-old man, or at least, he assumed it was a man. He was having trouble telling, what with his, or her, waist long hair in a high ponytail and an outfit that looked like a kimono with armor over it his/her chest. He narrowed his eyes. Judging from the sharp jawline and narrow eyes, he'd assume it was a man.

He had a sword drawn, holding it against a beast that seemed to be staring him down. Behind him was a group of people, most children, but he noticed a woman with ankle-long hair, also dressed in a kimono, trying to corral them away from the pokémon.

His focus turned back to said pokémon. It seemed to be covered in fur and had a long, light gray mane along its entire back. It has gray plates on either side of the mane, making it look like smoke is coming out of a crater on its back, and a plate beneath the belly fur on its chest. It had black cuff-like bands on its legs. Its main faceplate is red and shaped like fins or a six-sided star. A gray plate covers its muzzle and resembles a handlebar mustache, humorously. It also had a yellow crest with three sloped points on its forehead.

He furrowed his brow. It wasn't as if the man in the picture was trying to fight the beast, nor was the beast making a move to fight him. It seemed as if they had some form of respect towards each other... Yet what confused him was why he was attacking this place. Was it a test? A test to see if the man would really offer protection? Or a test to see if the man deserved the beasts respect?

Lyra giggled, snapping him out of his revere.

"What are you laughing about?" he shot back. Lyra shook her head.

"His expression reminds me of you." she waved her hand towards the painting's face. "He's glaring." she tapped her finger to her chin. "I'm sure if you grew your hair longer, and pulled it up, you'd look like him, five years younger." He glanced at the intricate painting. He nearly shuddered at the uncanny resemblance.

"You're imagining things." he stated. "Lets search this room, see if this place has anything useful in it."

"Okay." she set Eevee down. The pokémon began to sniff about, per routine. Silver looked at the dowsing Machine, frowning. It was still beeping, but he could already tell the item was not here. Eevee whined, shaking it's head, coming up with the same results.

"Lets move on, there's nothing here." he stated. Lyra agreed. As the explored the rest of the underground caverns, they found two other rooms. Both illuminated with flames the minute Lyra read aloud the sentence that was translated outside the doors.

Both depicting similar scenes: A man in his early twenties dressed similarly to the man in with the fire beast, only this one had black hair cut shorter, though some was pulled into a small ponytail at the nape of his neck. He was with a pokémon as well, though instead of fighting it, he was riding atop it, electricity crackling around the both of them as it leapt up into storm clouds, him holding his sword victoriously above his head while villagers below cheered for him.

In the next room, though, showed a much more tragic tale. Instead of a hero fighting a beast or one victoriously riding atop one with villagers cheering for them, the next one depicted a pretty woman with her hair pulled into a bun, donned in an equally beautiful kimono. She had her arms wrapped around the neck of a beautiful pokémon, both standing atop a lake. The woman had her face buried into the neck of the pokémon, sobbing as the pokémon, graceful as it was, was snarling at the army of men wielding weapons, the forest around them in flames as the soldiers attempted to kill them.

"Oh..." Lyra muttered, looking away from the mural. "Can we go? I don't like it in here." Silver could feel the heavy silence and sorrow himself. He said nothing as he turned and walked out the doorway.

o.0.o.0.o

"I can't believe this." Silver nearly growled as Lyra landed lightly next to him. It was already late in the evening, and quite frankly, he was exhausted. And, despite his newfound riches from the star pieces and the stardust, they had failed to find one dawn stone. He returned his Golbat without a word. He couldn't quite place why he was so upset. Maybe it was because he had wasted his entire day helping her, and they didn't even find what they were looking for.

"Hey, it's okay! I'm sure there's a boutique or something where I can find a dawn stone." Lyra said, grinning. "Besides, there's always another da-" her word was cut off with a small shriek. Silver glanced over his shoulder, his irritation peaking as he saw Lyra sprawled out on the ground, one leg bent in the air, the other caught behind an upturned rock. Lyra got to her knees, frowning slightly. "Oww..." she whined, brushing dirt off her overalls, though it did not help since both were already covered in dirt from their exploration.

"Moron." he muttered as she looked over her shoulder to see what she tripped on. Suddenly, he heard an airy laugh, turning to see Lyra cupping something in her hands.

"Silver, look!" she exclaimed, holding out her hands. He glanced down and nearly facepalmed. In her hands, a bit of dirt encrusted on it, was a dawn stone.

"I..." he sighed, to exhausted to deal with her right now. "I'm going to go find someplace to sleep."

o.0.o.0.o

So. I'm tired. And I'm going to bed. Don't forget to vote, everyone!

Amy47101 signing off! ^.^