Note: Wow, the 20th chapter. It feels like a milestone. It's just a shame this isn't a super-special chapter. Oh well. Let's save that for next time. Enjoy!

Follow Me

A Pokémon Heart Gold/Soul Silver Story

Chapter Twenty

Lovely Kiss

"What're you doi—"

"Shhh!" Soul hissed, clamping a hand to Silver's mouth. "They'll hear you!"

"What the hel—"

"Shhhh!"

Sighing and resigning himself to silence, Silver peered around the corner with Soul. Spotting the couple under the lamplight, he looked down at Soul, an eyebrow raised. "Eavesdropping? Really?" Soul hushed him again, and he sighed. "Honestly, I didn't realize you were so nosy..."

"Enough about Red," Leaf said with much distaste, "tell me how things have been with you. How's the Gym?"

"Same as always," Green said with a shrug, fiddling with the straw in his glass so as to have something to do with his hands. "Lots of losers, a few winners. Nothing extraordinary to report." He straightened and fixed her with a more attentive gaze. "What about you? I haven't seen you since your birthday in June."

"Ah, true, that was the last time we saw each other, wasn't it?" Leaf said, realizing the fact as well. "Which reminds me, I never did thank you properly for my birthday present."

"The new PokéGear? Ah, don't mention it."

"No, not that present," Leaf said, shaking her head, "although I was definitely in need of an upgrade...I'm talking about the other present. You know..." She raised her eyebrows a few times and smiled at him.

Green stared at her for a moment, not understanding. This confusion didn't last long, however, because his suddenly flushing face gave away his realization, and he coughed to cover it up. "So anyway, how was Sinnoh? You said you had to go back there for some sort of training, right?"

He seemed rather intent on changing the subject, so Leaf politely obliged him. "Nn, I wanted to travel through some areas I hadn't in my first visit there, see some new things. Oh, and I finally evolved Inari."

"The Eevee I gave you back when we were first dating?" Green asked, surprised. "I was wondering when you were finally going to decide what she was going to become."

"Well, she never seemed ready before then," Leaf said with a shrug. "I offered her some of the stones, but she just kept turning her nose up at them. Wasn't until we were walking through Eterna Forest a second time that she finally seemed okay with it. She's so stubborn." Leaf chuckled. "Reminds me of her original trainer." He sneered at her, and she laughed. "But, anything else I should've told you on the phone when it happened, so there's not much else to report."

"Oh, you mean during the maybe three times you've called me in the last four months?" Green said, slight irritation in his voice.

"Hm? Oh no, I called you more than that, didn't I?"

"Not according to my count," Green said, shaking his head. "But then, you never really call me that much. Sometimes I wonder why you even bother calling me your boyfriend if don't want to talk to me."

"Oh, Green, don't say it like that..."

"No, I'm serious!" Green said, leaning forward on the bar. "You barely call, you never write; half the time I don't even know where you are, what you're doing, or if you're safe! And then you pull all those stupid pranks on me like the crap you pulled today! I've got to be honest, Leaf, sometimes I wonder if you even care about me at all!" He leaned back on the stool and folded his arms, disgusted.

Leaf stared at the counter for a moment, thinking in silence. Suddenly, she rose up, reached across the bar, grabbed Green by the shirt, and pulled him toward her.

Soul had never seen someone kiss another person in real life; to be sure, she'd seen it happen in movies plenty of times, but to see the real thing, right in front of her, left a truly powerful impression. Her heart tightened, and without even realizing it, she held her breath, awestruck by the sudden gesture of passion. Had Silver not groaned in his throat behind her, she would have all-but-forgotten his presence.

Leaf and Green pulled away, and she stood there for a moment, staring into his eyes, trying to convey what she couldn't do justice in words. Finally, in a low voice, she said, "Back in June, I told you that I wanted to get married in a year or two...and you agreed. I honestly thought that was enough to prove how I felt about you, but obviously I was wrong." She slowly sat down on her stool again. "Yeah, I play tricks on you, Green, but only because I'm trying to have a little fun with you...And it's not like I mean to not call; hell, you know how distracted I can get when I'm in training-mode, and you're no different. You and I, we've been together for a long time now, and our dynamic has been pretty much the same from the beginning. So it's not like anything has changed..."

Green sat down on his stool again and shut his eyes, grinning. "Even after all this time...you still can't tell when I'm pretending to be mad."

Leaf looked up at him, surprised, and he returned her stare with a smug smile. She growled and threw a playful punch at him across the bar, which he dodged, laughing.

Soul sighed, an uncontrollable grin on her face. "It must be nice to have someone you care about like that," she whispered. "I envy them. Don't you, too, Silver? ...Silver?" She turned around, but he'd obviously walked away when she hadn't noticed. A mere moment told her where he'd gone, as a loud flushing sound came from the toilet room. Soul's smile faded. "...Quite the romantic you chose to fawn over, eh, Soul?"

"Admit it, I got you," Green said with a laugh, as Leaf fumed on her stool across from him.

Sighing and looking up at him, she smiled, too. "Yeah, yeah, I suppose it was going to happen eventually." She reached across the bar and took his hand, adding quietly, "...You know I love you, right?"

Green chuckled, and replied, "Of course I do, dummy. Why else would I put up with you?"

"You done being a pervert?" Silver muttered in Soul's ear, causing her to startle.

Whirling around, she slapped his arm with the back of her hand. "Don't scare me like that! And I'm not a pervert!" she said with a huff. "It's not like I got out of bed just to eavesdrop; I was coming to get a glass of water when I stumbled upon them!"

"So the fact that you've been listening to their whole private conversation is just a consolation prize?" Silver said with a snide grin, folding his arms.

"I was just waiting for them to finish talking!" Soul said, flustered, her face turning red.

"So all you wanted was a glass of water?"

"That's righ—Silver, where are you going?"

The last bit had been whispered frantically at him, but Silver didn't hear it, for he'd walked past her and out into the open. Not even paying any mind to the two sitting at the bar, who gave him surprised glances, he walked into the kitchen, retrieved a glass, and filled it with water. He then walked back to the hallway and disappeared again, leaving Leaf and Green unacknowledged and slightly confused.

"Wow, that was so difficult," Silver said, handing her the glass. He then walked past her, waving over his shoulder before disappearing behind his guest room's door.
Soul stood there in the hallway, thoroughly flabbergasted. Huffily, she took a sip of the water and headed back to bed as well.

"Well, it was nice meeting you," Soul said as she and Silver stood outside the Battle Tower the next morning, Leaf, Green, Barry, and Palmer standing in the entrance way. "I'll have to come back and challenge the Tower to get a shot at battling you, Leaf."

"I'd like that!" Leaf said with a wide, toothy grin. "Whenever you're up for a fight, you know where to find me. Oh!" She pulled something from her pocket and approached Soul. "And, if you ever have some free time and want to talk, give me a call," she said, handing the girl her own PokéGear and extending a hand for Soul's so the two could input their respective numbers. She leaned closer and whispered, shielding her mouth with her hand, "I'd especially like to know how things turn out with mister angry-face." She winked at her, coaxing a smile out of the younger girl.

"Well, take care now, Soul," Palmer said, waving, "and if you're ever in Sinnoh, look me up sometime, won't you? I'll be looking forward to our rematch until then."

Nodding and smiling, she and Silver headed down the stairs, waving at the group on top of the hill.

The trip through the Battle Frontier was quiet. They stopped, as Soul requested, by the local Mart to restock on supplies, but Silver waited silently outside the doors for her, making Soul wonder if perhaps she was annoying him with her detour. As they left the Battle Frontier behind, she felt herself growing more and more nervous. This was it, and there was no turning back. 'It takes confidence to break the silence, right?' she thought, balling her fist to reassure herself. Taking a deep breath, she opened her mouth to speak, but Silver beat her to the punch.

"Say...about yesterday, and the whole deal with Red..."

Selected quote from the next chapter:
"Of course. It made sense."