I said this was my priority, right? I think I've finally emerged from a writing slump I've been in. Isn't that funny? XD

Amy47101 does not own pokémon, only her OCs, Vale and Sara.

o.0.o.0.o

The Adventure Saga

Enlightening the Soul

o.0.o.0.o

"You know what I heard? She used Destiny Bond to knock out Archers final pokémon."

It was on a whim when that he heard this conversation. Ever since Team Rocket disbanded, he's been trying his best to get over what he now knew. He had travelled to Blackthorn City with thoughts of defeating Clair, though this conversation caught his attention.

Two teenagers, maybe older than him, talking. He heard Archer, and he was pretty sure they were talking about Team Rockets disbandment and how Lyra was the one who defeated them.

"Ugh, really? And to think she actually calls herself a dexholder. More like riding of the coattails of her friends."

"What a fraud. That girl is a total copout."

He sighed. He heard this all before, those who praised Lyra for her efforts… and those who criticized her.

"She's an accident. There shouldn't be any fame to her name whatsoever if you ask me."

"It's a good thing no one asked you then." he found himself suddenly saying. He didn't know why he said anything, as it wasn't him they were talking about. And even so, it wouldn't set him off unless they said something to really make him mad.

But they weren't calling him an accident. He knew they were talking about her.

There was a steely silence as they glared at each other. He was the first to speak.

"You should watch what you say about your superiors. Lyra Kotone could wipe the floor with you in battle."

Not that she would willingly, but he knew from personal experience that she was stronger than she was willing to put out there. How and why, he wasn't sure. Not yet.

Satisfied with their stunned silence, he turned on his heel and continued on. He knew that Lyra's victory against Archer was no hoax. He had to admit it, it couldn't have been a hoax. Not in the slightest.

As for how she accomplished it, though, was still a mystery to him.

o.0.o.0.o

When Lyra arrived at Blackthorn City, she wasn't going to lie when she said she expected something more… majestic. After all, Blackthorn City was, supposedly, the birthplace of dragon-type trainers, the place where only the strongest of the strong went. So to see simple little cottages lining dirt roads, vendors behind stands selling their products…

It was underwhelming, to say the least.

Silver was pretty insistent upon heading to the gym, so as soon as they healed up in the pokémon center, they made their way to the gym, stationed at the very back. As soon as they walked inside, Lyra saw a woman with blue hair, wearing a cape. She was talking to the gym guy that stood at the front, clearly displeased as he readjusted the plaque.

"...I never would have thought she'd have actually come back to see if I kept up my word." she complained, watching at the gym guy stood. Crossing her arms and scowling, she shook her head, ponytail whipping back and forth with the action. "But I'm not stupid enough to cross her."

"Cross who?" Lyra asked curiously. The woman whipped around towards them, eyes flashing in recognition as they landed upon Silver.

"Here for a rematch?" she smirked, crossing her arms haughtily as she stood a little straighter. At that, Lyra assumed this was Clair, the gym leader. She cocked her head as her gaze fell upon Lyra. "Or did you bring your girlfriend to convince me to give you a badge?"

"I won that badge fairly." Silver said bitterly. "But that's besides the point. Lyra and I are here to challenge you to a rematch."

"Ha! Double the power won't guarantee a win!" Clair laughed.

"That I doubt." Silver said clearly. "But when we do win, and you throw a hissyfit and refuse to give us our badges, then allow Lyra to take the test in the Dragons Den. If she passes, then we both get our badges."

"And if you don't?"

"You get my pokédex." Lyra suddenly blurted. Clair widened her eyes a fraction and Silver hissed her name. Lyra herself said nothing.

If one thing stuck with her from the battle with Team Rocket, it was what Archer pointed out in their final battle, calling her out on her lack of a certain skill, lack of talent. And from what she saw, it was true. All her seniors, heck, all her other dexholders of Johto had a specialty of some sort, while she just… pranced around saying she was Leaf Greens junior. But did she really deserve to claim such a title when she seemed to lack everything a good dexholder seemed to have?

"A pokédex?" Clair mused, taking her chin in her hand. "Such a tool would give anyone a serious advantage in battle." she looked to the side, as if weighing her options. "But dexholders…" She trailed off, wordlessly staring at the plaque that the gym guy had put up. Finally, she looked back to them. "Usually, I don't take a bargain that I have my doubts on, but this interests me." Crossing her arms, her haughty air back, she grinned. "Fine, then. I'll accept your bet! Just follow me to the field. I see little point in having you go through my gym course anyways."

As they followed after her, Lyra managed to get sight of the plaque on the gym statue.

Winners:

Leaf Green

Gary Oak

Lyra shot her eyes back to Clair. So… she battled those two and lost… right? Judging by her earlier conversation, she must not have been willing to admit it and refused to change the plaque. So then did Leaf… come here and force her too? Or did her mere presence unsettle Clair enough to make her change the plaque?

Just how strong were her seniors…?

"How could you bet something as valuable as the pokédex?" Silver practically hissed in her ear, clamping a hand on her shoulder as they walked. She flinched only slightly at his harsh tone. "That object is invaluable, irreplaceable. And you bet it on a gym battle?"

"Silver…"

"We could at least bet mine." he continued. "You were chosen for yours, I just stole mine."

"I was the leftovers." Lyra said simply. Silver blinked.

"What?"

"Krystal and Ethan were meant to get the pokédexes. The third one was made on the fly because they vouched for me, and then you stole it. Even then, I was never informed of the theft until the day my journey started and I received my pokédex from Prof. Oak. In other words," she put on a weak smile. "I received my dex out of pity. This is also the reason why I'm betting it. If I can't win this…" she brought her gaze forward again, away from Silver's. "Then I don't deserve to call myself Leaf Green's junior."

Silver was silent at that, not responding. Lyra was glad for that silence.

"The rules are four pokémon on each side." Clair said as they reached a battlefield. "And I believe we both are already aware of the stakes at hand."

Glancing at Silver, who subtly nodded, Lyra smiled, turning back to Clair.

"We're ready!" she exclaimed, selecting a pokémon from her belt. Clair smirked, then threw two pokéballs in the air. Two dragonair majestically came out of the devices. Lyra brought out her Froslass with the hopes of a type advantage, with Silver opting to go with his Gyrados. Clair's eyes lit up at the sight of the shiny monstrosity, seemingly distracted by the red sheen of her scales. She then shook her head, crossing her arms.

"Impressive. Trying to use a shiny and a strange pokémon to distract me." Snapping her head up, she thrust out her arm. "But I'll have you know that they call me a prodigy for a reason!"

With those words, her Dragonair attacked. Lyra was initially surprised by this. Sure, she's heard of psychic or ghost type pokémon attacking without a command, but that was because they mostly did so through telekinesis. But Dragonair was a dragon type, meaning Clair must share an extremely deep bond with those pokémon.

No wonder Silver lost…

As much as she hated to think it, the thought niggled in the back of her mind. As far as she knew, Silver never much valued the bond between pokémon and trainer, whereas she believed the bond made both members of the party stronger. If Silver didn't value the bond, he couldn't react fast enough to Clair's pokémon.

She nervously bit her lip. Would… she be able to react fast enough?

"Froslass, do you read me?" Lyra thought in her head, furrowing her eyebrows in concentration. She's heard snippets of her pokémon here and there, but the only one she was able to have a full-blown conversation with was Froslass, due to her being part ghost. Hopefully, she'll be able to use this to her advantage in this battle.

"I hear you, Lyra."

Lyra found herself smiling.

"We're gonna talk like this for the timebeing. Think you can do that?"

"Of course." Froslass bowed her head respectfully. Lyra smiled, nudging Silver with her elbow.

"Ready Silver?"

He rolled his eyes.

"Lyra, cover for me. Gyrados, Dragon Dance!" he ordered. Lyra widened her eyes as his pokémon became enveloped in reddish-pink flames, veins of blue cracking among them. She glanced at him, and he glared at her. Why aren't you doing anything? his eyes demanded. She turned back to the battle.

"Co-" she cut herself off, shaking her head. "Froslass, Confuse Ray!" she finished the command in her head. Froslass floated in the air, arms extended, waves of rainbow colors going across the battlefield. One dragonair managed to avoid it, but the other wasn't as lucky. It coiled on the ground, blinking it's eyes for a few moments in a desperate attempt to ward off the confusion.

"Gyrados, dragon tail!" he ordered, taking advantage of the opening. Clair grit her teeth, throwing an arm out. The other dragonair suddenly slammed into Gyrados while she was sliding towards to attack the confused one. Enraged, Gyrados took the attack and slammed her tail into the dragonair that just attacked her.

Silver pursed his lips, clearly displeased that his order went unheeded, but unsure whether or not to actually scold the pokémon, since she did land a super effective attack on their opponent.

"Gyrados." he said simply. "Remember to actually follow my orders next time."

Gyrados glanced back at him, then let out a huff, turning back to battle and attacking without Silver giving orders again.

"Gyrados, what are you doing?!" Silver demanded, suddenly livid.

"Silver, is this the first time that you've used Gyrados in battle since you caught her?" Lyra exclaimed as Froslass floated back to avoid the now explosive battle with between the sea serpent and the two dragons.

"Of course not!" Silver shot back. "I've never seen her disobey me though! My pokémon never disobey me!"

"When was the last battle you used her in?!"

"We were doing some training and whatever and she obeyed me just fine. She also obeyed me when we were fighting Team Rocket, so I don't know what's wrong with her!"

"How about an opponent that was clearly stronger than you?!"

"The one with Leaf!" he shot back in a rage, clearly angry about being reminded of his loss to her. Lyra widened her eyes. She knew that Silver fought Leaf, and she could only imagine how badly she wiped the floor with him. Could Gyrados have lost her faith in Silver almost immediately after such an insane battle? Or maybe she only lost her faith when they were battling stronger opponents, seeing how badly Leaf must have pummeled him?

"Pay attention!" Clair suddenly cried out. Lyra whipped her head back to the battlefield, letting out a cry when flames suddenly spurted from the non-confused Dragonair's mouth and nearly hit Froslass. Froslass let out a small gasp as she dodged to the side, though narrowingly escaping the first attack, wasn't so lucky with the second one. Froslass let out a pained shriek as the flames scorched her.

"Froslass!" Lyra found herself crying out.

"I'm fine, Lyra." she heard Froslass say, though it was obvious from the scorch marks that she was obviously not fine.

"Don't push yourself Froslass!" Lyra exclaimed in her thoughts. Clenching her fist, she ordered another ice attack, only for it to be canceled out by Dragonair's fire, making water splash uselessly down. Lyra could hear Silver shouting something in at Gyrados, who completely ignored him, thrashing about in a rage. Lyra narrowed her eyes at the Dragonair, the one that was formerly confused. Had it… regained its composure?

It looked like it was taunting Gyrados, gracefully gliding out of reach of her attacks. This only enraged Gyrados further, which made Silver angrier.

"Froslass, Ice Beam to the air!" Lyra cried out on a hunch. Froslass obeyed. Dragonair suddenly unleashed a flamethrower, causing the ice to melt and a makeshift rain to fall onto the battlefield. Gyrados, accepting the boost to her water-type moves, unleashed a powerful, pounding Hydro Pump that slammed the Dragonair on the ground into the wall, keeping it pinned there until Gyrados finally relented, allowing her opponent to fall limply to the ground.

"Good thinking on upgrading Gyrados's moves like that." Silver muttered to her. Lyra, elated that she managed to get a compliment out of him, beamed.

"Thanks!"

Silver either ignored her or lost interest in what she was saying, having turned his attention back to the battle. He tried to order Gyrados again, but it was to no avail. The water-type, from Lyra's perspective, seemed much too prideful to begin with. Sure, she's obey Silver when she felt it was necessary. When she knew she could handle weaker opponents, opponents she could mop the floor with. But with stronger opponents? She felt it unnecessary to listen to a trainer she felt was incompetent.

Another burst of flames seared towards Froslass, forcing her herself to focus on the battle. As she began to think a new command for Froslass, Gyrados suddenly smashed through the field, kicking up dust and flailing about with no real order while roaring loudly. Lyra let out a shocked shriek, crouching slightly and guarding her head as Gyrados raged dangerously close to her and Silver.

"What is that?!" Lyra exclaimed. With the dust that the Gyrados was kicking up, she could barely make out a battle going on. She lost sight of her own pokémon in the process of the ruckus. "Froslass!"

"It's Outrage." Siver said simply, straining his eyes to see the battle. "It's a really powerful move that I taught Gyrados as a last ditch effort. She might have felt backed into a corner, and unleashed that power simply because of that." He turned back to her, surprisingly calm, given the situation.

"What should we do, then?!" Lyra exclaimed.

"Knock them all out with one fell blow." he said simply. "Tell your Froslass to use Destiny Bond."

"Wha- No!" Lyra cut herself off. "Then I'd have to sacrifice Froslass!" she paused. "A-And besides, I-I made sure Froslass forgot that!"

"You're lying. We need to end this now, before Gyrados destroys half the gym."

"Silver, I can't! How could you anyways?! Gyrados is your partner, you shouldn't be so willing to sacrifice her!"

"It's not like I'm killing her or anything!" Silver shot back. "Just knocking her out before she hurts someone!"

"No way! There's gotta be a better way!"

"Lyra! Outrage is a move that makes a pokémon confused after it is used! Now that Gyrados is on a full out rampage, she may as well destroy the gym! Just use Destiny Bond like you did when you were battling Archer!"

Lyra did a double take at that. As far as she knew, Silver was battling Ariana while she was battling Archer. How did he know about that…?

Shaking her head, she put her attention towards the battle at hand. There had to be a better way than to force Froslass to faint! Squeezing her eyes shut and turning her face away, she clenched her fists and opened her mouth to shout her command.

"Froslass, Destiny Bond! Now!"

She snapped her gaze to Silver, as he shouted out the command. She quickly snapped her attention to the battlefield, widening her eyes to see that Froslass was actually following the command.

"Froslass, don't!"

"Lyra. This situation is out of hand. I know you do not like it, but don't think of it as a cop out or anything of the sort. I am using the move out of my own free will."

And like that, Destiny Bond was activated. One flamethrower later, and the entire field was quiet, littered with the fallen forms of four fainted pokémon. Lyra could feel herself tearing up while Silver himself scowled. He pulled out a pokéball, holding it up.

"Mark my words, Gyrados, we'll talk about this later." she barely heard him mutter as the shiny was pulled into the orb.

Lyra herself silently withdrew Froslass, far too shaken to properly respond to what just happened. She's always been open to her pokémon to having their own free will, but the idea that Froslass was just so… so prepared to use Destiny Bond even though she knows that she dislikes it and when she clearly said not too.

But what bothered her the most was that, after everything with Silver, he still seems to care little about the fates of his pokémon, and even her own pokémon even though he knows how much she cares for them.

It was like… just when she thought she was getting to know him better, he either unlocked an entire new side to himself or he did something that threw her for the loop.

"Silver," she said firmly, gripping a new pokéball in her hand. Clair had already sent out her next two pokémon, a Gyrados and a Kingdra. "I'm going to prove to you that you don't need to sacrifice your partners to win."

And what better pokémon to use than her first partner?

Meganium came from the pokéball in a flash of marvelous light while Silver sent out Weavile. Meganium looked back at her, and they both nodded.

Without a word, Meganium used Safeguard.

o.0.o.0.o

Silver silently watched in silent anticipation as Meganium moved and attacked without an order. It wasn't that the grass type was disobeying Lyra, it was as if Lyra was allowing it the free will to move. But when he looked closely, really closely, he began to notice something. Something very subtle.

Megainium giving small glances back, Lyra giving small nods, but most importantly, Lyra's eyes seem to flash with different emotions that clearly got across to her pokémon. While Clair seemed to have mastered a similar technique, her movements were much more obvious. Her emotions were splattered clearly across her face, arms gesturing in some sort of secret code to her pokémon. But Lyra… for once, Lyra's face was expressionless, put into a stoic concentration as she wordlessly ordered Meganium.

He swallowed, then turned back to the battle. He didn't like the expressionless Lyra that was before him, concentration focused solely the battle at hand. She was usually an open book, but now that those emotions that always bubbled up was concentrated only in her eyes… it freaked him out, to say the least.

Shaking his head, he returned to the battle, frustrated, and wondering why, despite his strength, it seemed like he was the one struggling. It wasn't even the fact that Gyrados lost control in this battle… He had this issue when he first challenged Clair. He couldn't keep up with her attacks, but despite this, his four pokémon managed to power through with sheer force. But still, Clair refused to accept defeat.

Growling at the memory, he thrust his arm out. Almost immediately, Weavile attacked, without an order. He widened his eyes, feeling the need to berate Weavile for her sudden actions, but strangely, couldn't. She used the move he wanted her to use after all.

"Weavile, wait for my command." Silver muttered to her. Weavile sent a glance back at him, rolled her eyes, then sighed, staying poised for a fight, waiting for a command. He shouted out something. He cast another cautious glance towards Lyra. Catching his gaze, she shot a hesitant look his way, then went back to fighting. Meganium used a miraculous looking Petal Dance, a move he would have scolded Lyra for moving, as it would force Meganium into confusion. But then he realized that, at the beginning of this round two, Lyra used Safeguard, which protected Meganium from status effects.

How smart of her.

Clair's Gyrados fell rather Clair's Gyrados feel rather quickly due to Lyra's attacks. Kingdra was proving to be a real problem, however. Due to it's dual typing of water-dragon, it was no longer weak to Meganium's grass type attacks or Weavile's ice-type attacks. It was only weak to dragon-type moves.

"Lyra, Meganium knows Solar Beam, right?"

She simply nodded. Silver, furrowed his brow at that, when it suddenly hit him.

That stance… that silent concentration… how Meganium obeys without hesitation, without a command…

It's almost like… Leaf…

No, he shook his head, scoffing. Lyra couldn't possibly have that high a skill level yet. It took Leaf years to master something like that, while Lyra was only a beginner, in comparison to her.

"Silver, cover for me." Lyra said to him. It was quick and brief, something she said not because she wanted to, but because she needed to so they could work together.

"Right." Silver muttered under his breath, ordering Weavile to use Nightslash. Mercilessly, she dashed forward and began slashing at Kingdra, perhaps not so much to injure, but to at least pull the attention away from Meganium and Lyra for a moment. A few moments later, he ordered Weavile to move, and just as Weavile lept to safety, a blast of solar energy slammed into Kingdra, practically engulfing him.

The battle was decided before Kingdra hit the ground. Both himself and Lyra won.

"I lost... I don't believe it. There must be some mistake..." Clair muttered under her breath, staring at the results of the battle; It only took mere moments for Lyra to snap out of her Leaf-like trance, and lept onto the field to embrace Meganium around the neck.

"Good job Meganium! Good job!" Lyra cried out brightly, completely normal, as if her odd behavior from before was nothing. Weavile calmly approached him, standing by his side. He pulled out his pokéball, holding it towards her. She cocked her head, as if expecting something. He furrowed his brow.

"What?" he asked. Weavile crossed her arms gazing at Lyra and Meganium for a moment, but said nothing. Silver shook his head. of course she said nothing, she was a pokémon. Quickly returning her to the device, he approached Lyra with his hands in his pockets. Lyra turned, but averted her gaze quickly. He swallowed slightly. Was she still mad about whole deal with Froslass?

Feeling compelled to say something, he opened his mouth.

"Listen, Lyra-"

"You're kidding, right? I'm supposed to win! I already decided!" Clair said spitefully, crossing her arms as she approached him. Annoyed with being cut off, Silver turned to her.

"Well, you lost. Again." he told her, deciding to rub it in.

""I won't concede this!" Clair exclaimed. "I might have lost to you twice, that much I will admit, but you're still not ready for the Pokémon League! And you," she turned to Lyra. "What kind of battle strategy was that? Not even saying a single command? You can't abandon your pokémon to fight on their own!"

Lyra averted her gaze, a small smile on her face as she meekly tried to explain what happened.

"Well, I…"

"That's rich coming from a woman who didn't give any of her pokémon orders." Silver said, crossing his arms.

"That's because I have a bond with my pokémon that took me years to forge! Should I expect a child to have the same bond with her pokémon?"

"You're the one who said it, not me." Silver said, smirking slightly as Clair found herself unable to say anything.

"I know the promise I made." Clair finally said, turning to Lyra. "You have to take the Dragon-master challenge. Behind this Gym is a place called Dragon's Den. There is a small shrine at its heart. Go there." she crossed her arms, walking by them. "If you can prove that you've lost your lazy ideals, I will admit you are a Trainer worthy of a Gym Badge!"

o.0.o.0.o

The Dragons Den was a dark, wet cave with no one inside it. No trainers, no pokémon, no one.

"It's kind of creepy…" Lyra muttered under her breath as she hopped down the final rung of the ladder. Silver shrugged indifferently as they eased their way into the cave. Silver only slightly remembered this, as he was in such a rage that he could barely recall his surroundings, only storming into the shrine in the center and demanding to take a test.

There was a small silence between them, a heavy silence. They crossed the bridge without an issue, slowly approaching the shrine.

"He's going to ask to look at your pokémon." Silver offered helpfully as they approached the door. "I don't know what he expects to see, but, just so you know."

Lyra simply offered a small smile.

"I have every confidence that my pokémon will pass whatever test he throws at me, but thanks, Silver!"

Then she reached towards the door and opened it with a slow creak. Inside was a room dimly lit with lanterns and torches. At the very edge was an old man wearing shrine clothes, meditating. Hearing the door opening, he slowly lifted his head. He didn't say anything, simply kept his face towards them.

"U-Um, I'm Lyra, I'm here with my friend Silver… And I'm here to take the dragon-master challenge!"

"Silver…" the old man said musingly, then chuckled. "Ah, I remember that name. Did Clair send you?"

"She did, sir. How did you know?"

"Call it a premonition." the old man chuckled. "Well, then, young lady. Silver claimed he'd bring someone to finally pass the challenge. Are you prepared?"

"I am, sir!"

"Release your pokémon from their pokéballs, they must be present for this."

Lyra didn't hesitate, releasing her team in the small area. The monk stared at them each individually for a moment, then brought his gaze back to Lyra.

"I see." he finally said. He shifted his position, closing his eyes. "I will ask you a series of questions. You will answer them honestly, to the best of your ability. Agreed?"

"Agreed."

There was a long silence.

"What helps you to win battles?"

"Battles…?" Lyra mused. She tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Training. Training to build up the bond between your pokémon and yourself."

Silver subdued a scoff. What a very Lyra-like answer. He remembered his answer. He answered training as well, but to build up strength to overpower the opponent.

"What type of trainer do you wish to battle?"

"Anyone!" Lyra chirped. "Pokémon battles are supposed to be fun for everyone!"

Again, Silver recalled answering similarly. Anyone, because he had every confidence that he could win.

"What is most important to raising pokémon?"

"Love." Lyra answered, offering no further explanation. Silver never would have answered something so cheesy. He replied again with training to build up strength. He saw little value in raising his pokémon with love.

"Strong pokémon or weak pokémon. Which is more important?"

"Both are important." Lyra said with a smile. "Simply as that."

Of course, Silver had answered that strong was more important.

"This is the last question, and undoubtedly, the most important." he looked her straight in the eyes. "What are pokémon to you?"

Lyra was quiet for a moment, casting her eyes down as she thought of an answer. She was quiet for a long time before the elder spoke again.

"It's all right if you can't think up an answer. Some trainers simply-"

"Family." Lyra said, keeping her head bowed. The entire room fell silent, the answer perhaps catching even her pokémon off guard. Silver remembered when he first heard that question, he couldn't think of a proper answer. He immediately thought companions, but wanted to kick himself. His pokémon were tools, not companions.

"Don't listen to Mask when he says that pokémon are tools. They're our companions. Our friends."

"You don't believe that, Vale, I know it."

"Perhaps, Silver. Sometimes it's hard for me to discern which ideals are mine and which are his. You just have to remember which one's you value."

After he thought back to that conversation so long ago, the monk deemed he failed, and sent him on his way.

"Was that wrong?" Lyra finally asked. "Because if it is, I don't care. My pokémon are my family, and that's never going to change." Almost as if responding to her words, something flashed golden in her bag. It was only briefly, however, barely noticeable, unless you were really looking.

Silver narrowed his eyes slightly, feeling a jolt of power through his right hand. He widened his eyes as the mark he seemed to have acquired out of thin air began to glow through the glove, as if responding to the golden glow in Lyra's bag. Realizing only he noticed that, he quickly shoved his hand in his pocket.

What on earth… Was that?

"You care deeply for pokémon. Very commendable. That conviction is what is important! Lyra, don't lose that belief. It will see you through at the Pokemon League and many troubles to pass."

"What?"

"Really?!"

It wouldn't take a genius which response came from who. Lyra cheered, happily celebrating with her pokémon while Silver crossed the room to congratulate her.

"Isn't this so great, Silver?" she beamed. "We won, we won! We're going to the league!"

"I'm going to the league." he crossed his arms, shaking his head. "I don't know about you though."

She laughed, shaking her head. They both knew they'd probably meet one or the other as the champion, simple as that. It was just a matter of who got there first.

"I'm sorry you both had to go through that. My granddaughter always sends the challengers she loses too." he said simply with a shrug. "Usually, I just give them the badge to shut them up."

Silver snapped his head up at that.

"Excuse me?" he hissed out. He never received any badge from this old coon!

"Truth be told, I was going to give you one too… but something seemed special about you, so I decided not to."

Silver's immediate response was to an angry retort, only to, once again, be interrupted.

"So how did it go?" came a haughty voice from the entrance. They both turned, seeing Clair strut her way in. She stopped in front of them, putting a hand on her hip. "I guess there's no point in asking. You did fail?"

Silver couldn't wait to wipe that confident smirk off her face.

"In all actuality," he said, placing a hand on Lyra's shoulders. "Lyra passed."

" ... ...What?" she finally asked, glancing at Lyra, who nervously grinned at her. "You passed?" a long pause. "That can't be!"

Her face contorted into rage as she glared at the two. Silver gripped her shoulder a little tighter, shooting his own glare at the gym leader.

"You're lying! Even I haven't been approved!"

"Clair!" the elder suddenly snapped, stepping between his granddaughter and the two trainers. "This young lady is impeccable, in skill and spirit! Admit defeat and confer the Rising Badge! ...Or must I inform Lance of this?"

Clair visibly flinched, then averted her gaze.

"Y-You're right, grandfather…" she said, clenching her fists.

"Clair…" the old man placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, his tone softer and comforting. "Reflect on what it is you lack and what Lyra has."

"I understand." Clair said, seemingly calmer. She turned to the two, sighing. "I... I understand... Here, this is the Rising Badge…" she opened her palm, revealing two badges. Going to slow, the snapped at Lyra and Silver. "Hurry up! Take it!"

"With pleasure." Silver grinned, snatching it from her hand while Lyra smiled in thanks.

o.0.o.0.o

So this battle was supposed to represent the differences between Lyra and Silver, and even though they are still clearly getting closer, they still need to overcome their overwhelming differences and views, especially in regards to how they treat their pokémon and how much they trust them. While Lyra doesn't fear Silver, she doesn't understand him, and vice versa.

I also wanted to show the change in Silver. Weavile was his first pokémon, after all, and even though he continually denies, or is afraid to admit, that he has any sort of bond between himself and his pokémon, it is there. He is close to a few of his pokémon, and I want to make it a point sometime sooner or later that Silver's pokémon trust him, but he's afraid of putting trust in them, simply because he's afraid of losing control of them. That's a big theme I believe in. The bond that trainers share with their pokémon is what makes them stronger, not how high the level is or whatnot.

But anyways, what happened with Froslass will be addressed in a later chapter.

Lyra also is second-guessing herself more. She's finally coming to terms with a lot of self-esteem issues she's really known about but hasn't really dealt with for the entirety of the story, as well as her life. This is mostly due to her mothers actions, her parents divorce, and ultimately, her father's suicide. It should also be known that Lyra is also facing some ridicule from the public, as with every big thing that happens, there are people who love it and hate it. While she 'saved' Johto from Team Rocket, people view it as little more than her reliving Leafs fame, which makes sense since the POLICE don't even care about Team Rocket in this game.

The next 'arc' will especially flush out this side of her, I feel, which is something I've been preparing since I began this story.

I'm going to really test the limits of Lyra's and Silver's relationship though. When you get down to it, I find that they both have extremely similar backstories. Forcibly taken away from a parent they loved, being abused by the person who kept them from said parent, and they have to overcome this, though they took completely different routes doing so. Lyra tries to optimistically face people, as well as holding out open arms with hopes to heal. On the flipside, she is also dealing with a crumbling self-esteem that she is slowly rebuilding.

Silver, on the other hand, is cold, and extremely untrustworthy and wary of his surroundings. He pushes people away, and is cold, because he craves control. For as long as his life has been out of his control, he wants to be able to control other beings since Mask basically controlled him, which is something else I plan delving a bit deeper into, once we get into the final fight with Mask.

Amy47101 signing off! ^.^