After hours of running, Lyra made Silver stop at a Pokémon Centre in Azalea Town. She was run off her feet, and the sun had set a good half and hour ago. She flopped down on one of the sofas, and Silver sat opposite her, his legs crossed and arms folded.
"So, are you going to tell me why we're running?" She sat up, folding her legs under her.
"No." Silver turned around slowly, taking in all the people in the Pokémon Centre. "I don't think it's safe here." His gaze landed on a man with a hat covering his eyes, staring down at a newspaper. He glanced at Lyra, who then looked quickly looked over at the man. She nodded.
"It's okay. We can move on soon if you want. Well, at least after I get something to eat." Lyra hopped up, walking to the other end of the Pokémon Centre. "Do you want anything?" She called down. Silver shook his head, and she disappeared down a set of stairs.
Silver was left alone. He kept glancing over at the man with the newspaper, who he was sure had noticed all the suspicious looks he was getting from the man. Silver took a deep breath in. There was no way he could go directly to the man and talk to him; what if he wasn't a Team Rocket member, and he got in trouble, and his location revealed because he was stupid enough to suspect everyone he saw? Silver put his head in his hand, praying for Lyra's quick return so they could leave as fast as possible.
Lyra returned a moment later, paper bag in hand, and an unusual expression on her face.
"Why do you look like that?" Silver hissed.
"Like what?" Lyra answered, barely containing a giggle.
"Like that." Lyra simply smiled at him, picking up her bag and straightening her hat.
"Get ready," she whispered, motioning with her head to the man with the newspaper. "I heard them talking. There's more downstairs. They're looking for you all right. I think they must have walkie talkies or something, because there was a lot of talking and whispering…" The brunette took a step away from Silver, and gave a long whistle. "Wow, it has been a long day."
Silver looked at her incredulously. Whatever she was planning, whatever Team Rocket were doing, he had no idea. He noticed out of the corner of his eye Lyra fumbling in her pocket for something. He suddenly knew what to do, and quietly took a Pokéball from his pocket. As his hand touched the Pokéball, there was a loud noise from downstairs, and a Cleffa appeared from the stairwell. It bounced across the tables happily, before landing right in front of the man with the newspaper, and swiftly swiped his hat from his head. He looked up, his cover blown.
"You know him?" Lyra asked. When she saw Silver's nod, she threw a Pokéball. "Go Azumarril! Hydro Pump!"
"Alakazam, Focus Blast."
The pair had reacted as quickly as the man from Team Rocket; he pulled out his own Pokéball and released a Koffing. Other members of Team Rocket appeared from the stairs, and Lyra's Azumarill blocked their Pokémon's attacks.
The man with the Koffing held his arm out to tell his subordinates to stop attacking.
"Well, well. If it isn't Silver. And is this Lyra. All grown up from the last time we saw you in Rocket HQ. Lovely. Well, you shouldn't be interfering, Lyra. You'll end up in a not so nice place…"
"Shut up. Stop talking like that. Alakazam, use Light Screen!" A transparent wall was immediately built between Lyra and Silver and Team Rocket. Silver grabbed Lyra's wrist as she returned Azumarill to its Pokeball, running out the automatic doors and into the middle of the town. It was dark outside. Silver was thankful for this as they could run straight to Ilex Forest and hide out for a while.
"Silver… will you please let go of my wrist? I'm pretty sure I'm bruised…" Lyra complained, and Silver immediately released his grip, turning to survey the area.
"I think we can stop here. I don't think they're going to catch up with us. You can go ahead and sleep if you want."
"What about you? Are you not going to sleep?" Lyra stifled a yawn.
"No. I'll keep watch. We can head to Goldenrod in the morning, book a room in the Pokémon center, and I can sleep then. You can… I don't know, go get supplies or something."
"Fine, fine. I'll get some sleep now. You sure you'll be okay?" Silver nodded.
She curled up against a tree, removing her hat and closing her eyes. Silver sat opposite her, glaring into the night. There was no one there, and there wasn't going to be anyone there, but he couldn't be too sure. He had to keep himself, and Lyra safe. This was all caused by his own selfishness, but…
He didn't want to put up with his father's abusiveness anymore. It disgusted him, frankly that his last resort was to flee the country. He couldn't just have said no. He had to run. And now he was here, he was questioning why he brought Lyra with him. He probably could be out of the region, or at least in Olivine by now. But there was no use in complaining. Lyra was the strongest trainer in the region; champion of both Johto and neighbouring Kanto. And he was sure when they got to wherever they were going, she could beat the crap out of any opponent there.
He had nothing to worry about. He looked down at the petite girl's sleeping form, smiling to himself. He was glad he had her as a friend. Although she was overbearing a large portion of the time, she was genuinely kindhearted, and would do anything for her friends, including himself. At least he didn't have to put up with her irritating friend Ethan. Now he was a pain in the ass. He was ten times worse than Lyra, in an entirely different way.
Dawn came quickly, and Silver shook Lyra awake. He had booked ferry tickets on his Pokégear while she was asleep, so getting out of the country would be a breeze. All they had to do was get to Olivine in time. The ship was due out tomorrow morning, so it wouldn't be outside the realms of possibility for them to get there.
"Lyra."
"Good morning, Silver." She rubbed her eyes, grabbing her bag and stretching. "Are you ready to go."
The two walked through the remainder of the forest in silence, simply listening to the bird Pokémon sing their morning song. Upon entering Goldenrod City, Silver game Lyra very strict instructions. She was to get supplies for their trip. She should phone her mom and tell her she was leaving the region for a while. She should get them both a new outfit so they would be less noticeable on the way to Olivine. She nodded the whole way through his list, insisting when he was done that he needed to sleep. He angrily agreed, and the two parted ways.
Lyra walked slowly through the city. She visited the PokéMart, purchasing food and drinks. A younger kid in the shop stopped her for her autograph, which she gladly signed, smiling to him and telling him to follow his dreams. This was standard protocol for Lyra; she said the same thing to pretty much everyone who talked to her. A visit to the clothes shop was next on her agenda. She picked out an oversized yellow jumper for herself, along with a pair of leggings and baby blue slip-ons. She ganged there in the shop after paying, taking her hair down out of its usual pigtails and leaving it loose. Stashing her signature hat in her bag, she found a butterfly hairclip in a deep pocket of her bag, sliding it into her hair.
Buying clothes for Silver was a lot harder. She had truthfully only seem him in one or two outfits before, so picking him a new one was simply out of her skills. She went with simple: A pair of black skinny jeans, a black print t-shirt and red trainers. Lyra hoped he would like it, but she honestly had no idea what he would think of it.
Trudging back to the Pokémon Centre, she woke Silver up with a poke to his exposed stomach.
"Get up." She thrust the bag of clothes towards him, causing him to grunt in disdain. "If you don't like them, don't complain. You should've gone yourself." She pouted slightly, before smiling. "You should take a shower. Do something with your hair. I'll wait for you in the National Park." She smiled, before turning on her heel and skipping out of the building. It wasn't uncharacteristic of her, but he didn't know how she could be optimistic in a situation like this. Then he remembered that he had selfishly refused to tell her what was going on. Oh well. He went to the shower room, letting the warm water wash the dirt from the forest off him. He didn't gel his hair, instead, letting it sit naturally. He ran a hand through it, unsatisfied with how he looked. The clothes Lyra had picked for him weren't too bad- I mean, she could've picked worse.
"Mom?"
"Yes, dear?" Her mother had picked up after the first ring, and she was glad- no international call charges for her.
"Um. I'm going to be leaving the region for a bit. I'm sorry I didn't tell you! It's kind of spontaneous. But. Yeah. I hope you're okay with it."
"Isn't it you that always tells people to follow their dreams? So do it. Follow your own advice for once, and live your life. Where are you going?"
"I'm not sure yet. But somewhere I haven't been before, so probably Hoenn or Unova."
"I'll call sometimes, okay? Good luck, sweetie."
"Thank you, mom." If she could hug her mom right now, she would.
"Oh, and Lyra? Don't let that boy do anything to you you're not comfortable with, okay?"
"Mom!" Lyra yelled, scaring off a few bug Pokémon from around her. "How did you know?" She hissed.
"Mothers know these things. Have fun, Lyra!" Her mother hung up on her, leaving her glaring at a blank screen. Unfortunately for her, Silver decided to appear just at this moment, when her face was red and she wanted to smash her Pokégear into the ground to stop her mom from calling her.
"What was that about?" He asked, one eyebrow pointedly raised. He had acquired a jacket from somewhere, and had his arms folded over his chest.
"Uh. Nothing. Just my mother. You know what she's like." Lyra stuffed her Pokégear into the front pocket of her bag, thankful he didn't press her any further.
"Let's go. We have to get through Ecruteak and down that other route before we get to Olivine. And we have to get there before the Pokémon Centre closes or we'll be sleeping on the street."
"Okay. Let's move."
AN: It's been so long and I hate myself for forgetting about this but hERE! I'm glad this is done. I'll be doing some art along with this,so you might want to keep and eye on my tumblr (firstladyrizahawkeye) if you're interested! Please review, and again, I'm so sorry for not updating.