AN- *goes back to chapter 2 and throws a brick* And, I'm back! Thank you all for those LOVELY reviews! Seriously, I run on those things. Sorry for the wait. *cough I hate the title for this chapter but couldn't think of anything better; if you can, please tell me! cough* Enjoy!

lilacbird, I'm glad you like my story, and while I didn't actually intend to make Gold come across as hate-able (I did purposefully make him slightly jerk-ish, though…), I do plan on having him "get better" throughout the fic, so hopefully you'll grow to like him. ^_^

Shay-chan & Adilet, Thanks for reviewing and telling me that my setup for the last chapter wasn't quite as confusing as it seemed (I really thought it was, so…).

Disclaimer: I don't own PokeSpe, but then again, I don't own much of anything. Like The Sims 3 (or Birth by Sleep, or FF13), for instance… *pout*

for Thinking the Problem Would Solve Itself

The following morning, I whined and complained – at one point, I might have even begged – for at least a full hour in an attempt to get Crys to leave me behind in visiting Silver (also known as The-Guy-I've-Had-Sex-With) and Those-People-Who-No-Longer-Matter-Anymore, but to no avail. Short of me suddenly acquiring a fatal illness, nothing would convince her to let me skip out on today's get-together.

Sadly enough, the only thing stopping me from faking such a condition was the knowledge that Crys would drag me straight to the hospital, where I'd be outed in moments.

And in the end, my struggles to keep as far away from Silver were moot, anyway. Upon arriving at that same café, Yellow informed us that both he and Blue had opted to stay back at his apartment and unpack her stuff.

I wasted my melodramatic talents away for nothing?

I stare sullenly out the window.

"So, Yellow. Give me details! How did he pop the question?"

I cringe, realizing belatedly that having just these two as company might actually be worse. I'm going to be forced to listen to marriage talk. Just great…

"Well, he…"

Trying futilely to tune them out, I readjust my position into one that's more comfortable, and continue scowling at my reflection. Okay, man. Just ignore them. Think happy thoughts. Uh... kittens and puppies are happy.

I roll my eyes at my own train of thought. No, they're cute and cuddly, in a sickeningly sweet way. That was a girly happy thought. Try again.

…Skateboarding. Yeah. Skateboarding! I love that! Sailing past people on the street, feeling the wind whipping. It's exhilarating.

…But it's been ages since I've actually been able to go out and do it.

I sigh. Dammit, that just depressed me. Now I want to go skateboarding, but I can't – because I'm stuck here! Ugh!

Hrm, happy thoughts, happy thoughts… Ooh, I got it! Sex! Perverse of me to think of it here and now, but at least it'll keep me satisfied while they talk about the horror that is marriage. Yeah. I like sex. I like having sex, preferably with my girlfriend…

Out of my peripheral vision, I see a red haired woman walk past the window. Red hair. Silver. I shake my head and try to direct my thoughts back to the previous topic. Don't think about him. Think about sex. Yeah, sex. Sex with Silver… No. No!

I resist the very tempting idea of beating my head against the table until I lose consciousness and promptly close that train of thought off. Between listening to the two girls beside me or letting my mind wander and risk it coming back to him, I pick the lesser of two evils.

Chancing a glance at Crys, I see that she's got a thoughtful, yet slightly disappointed look on her face. "Hmm, really? That's not very romantic…"

Yellow blushes and shrugs. "Well, he's not very romantic. But I still love him…"

Crys smiles at the blonde's expression before moving on to a new topic. "Who will be the Best Man?"

"Well, probably Red. He and Green are great friends, after all…"

I stare at the two of them in mild disbelief. Didn't she just get engaged like a week ago? Isn't it a bit soon to be planning the wedding details? And they were talking about it yesterday, too…

"Isn't it a bit soon to be planning your wedding?" The words slip through unbidden, like they often do, and of course their reaction is instantaneous.

Danger! You have attracted an enemy Mob!

Crys glares at me, and Yellow just looks up at me through big doe eyes, an expression of hurt and confusion adorning her face. "W-why is it too soon?"

Oh, shit. My mind races to come up with a good excuse, and I look up at the ceiling. If there's a God up there, help! "Well… it's just… you just got engaged, right? I mean, a lot of things could happen that would result in the wedding being called off, and –"

I clamp my mouth shut at their stricken expressions and again consider the merits of a self-induced coma.

Crys recovers first and grabs my arm, nails digging into me painfully. She smiles sweetly – that is to say, she looks sweet, but there is a great evil lurking nearby… I hope she doesn't – and asks, "Gold, may I speak to you outside?"

I'm doomed.

Sure enough, the moment the door bangs shut, she rounds on me, eyes like daggers. "What were you thinking?"

"It was an honest question!" I defend myself weakly. Her glare intensifies tenfold. Keep digging, buddy. If the look she's giving you is any indication, she's all too willing to send you to an early grave.

Danger! A powerful Boss approaches!

Crys clenches her fists tightly and breathes heavily through her mouth. Years of knowing her tell me that she is – thank my lucky stars – trying to calm down.

While waiting for her to become rational, the random thought strikes me – Why am I so scared of her when I'm a cop? When it comes down to it, she's no real threat, so what's with my instinctual fear of her? And Silver, for that matter…

Of course, she interrupts my disturbing revelation. "My point is, Gold, you can't go and tell a recently engaged and crazy in love woman that the wedding might not happen! Now she'll be terrified that you're right! Do you know how long it'll take me to console her and banish those thoughts from her mind?"

I pause to really think, but still don't know. So I guess. "Uh… a couple of hours?"

Crys rolls her eyes. "Please. We'll be lucky if she's forgotten about it when she's walking down the aisle!"

I sigh and throw my hands up in the air. "Ugh! Look, I'm really sorry, okay? I was just trying to be rational, or, God forbid, realistic."

She shakes her head, but there's a smile behind those blue orbs. "That's the thing, Gold – getting married isn't about realism. It's about idealism and romanticism. Do you understand?"

"Not really."

She sighs. "I suppose you wouldn't, considering you don't even like marriage. Look, what I'm trying to say is that this is her time. It's up to her – and her fiancé – whether or not they'll be married. But before then, she's at least allowed to fantasize, you see?"

I smile. "A little… I guess. But what are you getting at, here?"

Crys rolls her eyes and smiles lovingly before giving my shoulder an affectionate smack. "I'm saying, 'go away, you party pooper'. You're free to go home, and let us girls be idealistic, okay?"

I pretend to take offense, although inwardly I'm celebrating at my brilliant escape from the clutches of girlish evil. "Hey! I'll have you know that I'm always nothing short of the life of the party!"

She turns and goes back into the café, bidding me goodbye with a wave and a muttered, "Whatever you say."

You Level Up! from defeating the Boss!

So I go home. I go home and turn on the television, intent on wasting my afternoon away from both Crys and work by watching some quality TV. I go home and realize with horror that there is no "quality TV" on in the middle of a weekday.

I go home and sulk.

I attempt a nap, but ten minutes – ten long minutes, of suffering through thoughts of red hair, nails on my back, deft and capable hands, ugh, please stop this – later, I get back up, realizing that this just isn't going to work.

I call Falkner – Falkner being a fellow police officer, and also a fairly close friend.

When I ask about any recent crimes that he would possibly need my help with, he is understandably suspicious. "It's your day off, and you're asking for work? But you were so looking forward to today, Gold. What's up?"

I tell him everything – and by everything, I mean to say that I told him that I had escaped from the clutches of Crys and a future Bridezilla only to discover that afternoon TV sucked and I was bored. So basically, I told him nothing. Geez, I might as well have lied, dammit! I could have at least said something that made it seem like I had a life!

…Like what? I actually want to work so I can be distracted from thoughts of the guy I had sex with and can't get out of my head? Yeah, right…

Over the line, I hear him sigh. "Unfortunately for you, the city's been pretty tame recently. Not a single crime in days. If you really want to do something, go on patrol."

Damn.

Ten minutes later, I'm cruising through town in my sleek police car, blaring the radio loudly in a pathetic attempt to drown out my own thoughts. Just as Falkner said, not a thing seems out of place. No locked room murders, no missing children, no stolen lawn gnomes…

On a normal day, I'd be happy to see Violet City in such a peaceful state. Today, I'd give almost anything for an involving case. Where's a damn criminal when you need one? At this rate, I'd settle for a gas station robbery…

One hour and a repeated patrol of my entire route later, I had successfully managed to not think of Silver, but at the price of my sanity. So, before I took up the same route again, I decided to be adventurous and took a side road that I'd left alone the previous two trips.

Twenty minutes, eight songs, and two left turns later, I found myself in a familiar locale.

Only about two blocks away from the Electric Shock was a small, rundown motel. It wasn't pretty by any means, but it was also the closest lodging two drunk and horny people could hope to find.

This was where Silver and I…

I gulp and force the thought out of my mind, knowing the memories are only seconds behind it. And sure enough – Sucking at his neck, he's running his hands through my hair, mouth on mouth, dancing tongues, he tastes like raspberries…

I groan and lay my head against the wheel, trying desperately to fight off the wave of arousal. Why is this happening…?

Once I've regained control, I begin driving once more, surveying the area. The motel was a good indicator on its own, but this area is clearly the bad side that every town has. There's even a homeless man in the alley, sitting atop his box home. To add to the stereotypical-ness of it, he's even got a coffee mug that is clearly meant for people to give him money.

The only thing that doesn't fit with his image is the shirt.

It's fairly nice; not yet too grungy. What gets me is that it seems familiar. I slow to a halt and stare at it for a few seconds before it hits me – it's mine. Oh, the irony…

And then I laugh. I laugh loud and heartily, and get out to approach the nervous man. "M-may I help you, officer?"

I give him a generous smile while holding back snickers before pulling out a twenty and placing it in the mug. "Nice shirt."

I get back in my car and drive away before he has the chance to thank me, still laughing.

I make it all the way home still happy, but that's when my mood sours as I realize – I've still got a problem. I almost lost it today, and I didn't even see Silver.

The memories are plaguing me, like I'm watching a movie and I can't leave. Skillful hands squeezing and rubbing me – oh! – while he licks and nibbles on my ear, leaving it tender and red and…

I let out a stream of curses and go take a cold shower.

Then I find the scribbled address that Blue had insisted we have for whatever reason and start driving.

Fifteen minutes and five loud raps on the door later, Silver opens it, a hint of annoyance on his features. When he sees it's me, however, his expression gives way to confusion and shock.

He begins, "Wha—"

I cut him off with a cliché phrase I'd hoped to go my entire life without saying.

"We need to talk."

Boss- A more powerful, non-standard enemy that you fight, usually in order to progress the story. In Pokémon, Gym Leaders would be bosses.

Mob- A group of enemies, to my knowledge. Generally, two enemies wouldn't constitute a "mob", but I'm accounting for the fact that against one person who made such a bad mistake, two people is more than enough to overwhelm him.

AN- Hey look! A brick (joke)! I felt the need to do that. This wasn't as long as I'd like it to be, but... Now, honestly, I'm stupid enough to have like four or five chaptered fics. My profile shows that I've put this one as the one I'm most focused on, but I still do want to update the others (Plus, I've got all these oneshots building up in my brain that I wanna write). What I'm saying is that it might be a while before I update. I hope that's not too much of a problem.