"Where next? You've got the map," Lyra asked, stretching out after a night of sleeping curled up.
"I think we'll have to keep walking north unless you want to head back through Mauville. There's a town called Fallarbor we can stop off in."
"No. I can deal with Mauville. I'm mentally prepared this time. And anyway, if we're just passing through, we can like. Jog, or something."
"You really expect me to jog through Mauville City?" Silver deadpanned, tracing the route on the map with his finger.
"Yes, I do. We'll buy sunglasses or something. It'll be sweet.'
"Fine. But do something different with your hair. Your pigtails are what make you regonisable."
The pair quickly left Lavaridge Town, Lyra tackling her hair into a messy bun while walking. They squeezed into the cable car with a group of other tourists, a lot of which wanted pictures with Lyra, showing her copies of todays newspapers.
"I didn't think anyone would've heard about yesterday's battle," Lyra hissed to Silver.
"Neither did I. I haven't seen any papers today," Silver whispered back.
The cable car landed in the station with a bump, and the trainers practically sprinted off it and into the open.
"Mauville might be a problem," Silver stated, folding his arms and raising his eyebrows.
"We could trying flying over it, and walking from outside?"
"Your ideas never work, Lyra."
"This one might, though!"
"If it doesn't, I will punch you."
"Fine! It will though," Lyra said, calling out her Togekiss, and motioning to Silver to call out Crobat.
The two Pokémon rose from the ground and into the clouds, carrying their trainers on their backs. They passed over the city of Mauville, which looked ten times larger from the sky, and slowly descended just below the Cycling Road to the south of the city. Lyra returned Togekiss to it's Pokéball, put her hands in her pockets and smirked triumphantly at Silver.
"Well?"
"Yeah. That was a good idea," Silver admitted.
"Let's just go. Where is the nearest gym?"
"It's a while to either. We'll probably have to camp out. But anyway, either Rustboro or… Petalburg. I think it would be easier to go to Rustboro first though."
"Rustboro it is then!"
The road to Rustboro was long, with a stop in Verdanturf Town. Silver estimated they would be able to make it to this town in the middle by nightfall if everything went to plan. Thankfully, the route was pretty, and Lyra spent the entire day admiring the tiny plants that grew by the path, and dragging Silver over for breaks beside the water.
"Why are you doing this, Lyra?"
"Because unlike you, I like to have fun."
"I do like to have fun. Just not in the same way you do. I'm not amused by baby plants or water. It's not like I've never seen them before."
"Fine, let's go," Lyra sighed, standing up and brushing herself off. "The quicker we get to Verdanturf the better."
"Hey, Lyra, I didn't mean-"
"Yes, you did. Let's just go, Silver."
The redhead sighed, defeated, and followed Lyra further down the path. It turned out that Verdanturf was shorter than Silver had originally estimated, and they arrived there after not too long.
The town was just as serene as the route they had previously been walking on. A gentle breeze blew through the town; ruffling the grass and making the flowers sway in the breeze. White picket fences separated the houses, and Lyra noted that there was another Contest Hall in the town. Silver noticed Lyra's infatuated stare at the building.
"You're not entering a contest. We don't have time."
"I wasn't going to. But I was hoping we could watch one!"
"Lyra, honestly, we don't have the time."
"Fine. I heard there's one in Lilycove City too, so I guess we can watch one there instead."
"I guess. Anyway, we should get into the Pokémon Centre. It's getting late."
"Silver, it's five o'clock."
"I know, but if we leave it any later, it'll be all booked up."
Silver practically had to drag Lyra into the Pokémon Centre and up to the counter. Nurse Joy greeted them with an amused smile on her face.
"Good afternoon! How can I help you?"
"One room please. Two beds."
"Sure! Here's your key." Silver pocketed the key, mumbling a thank you to Nurse Joy. He and Lyra trudged up the stairs, Lyra trailing her bag along behind her. They got to the room, each of them claiming a bed, and sat in silence for the next few minutes. Lyra tucked her legs under her and turned to Silver, breaking the silence.
"What type does the Rustboro gym leader use?" Silver didn't answer for a moment, fumbling in his bag for the guide book he had taken.
"Rock. It says here she uses a mainly offensive style, and relies heavily on the use of Nosepass and Geodude."
"That should be fine! Azumarill and Meganium will take care of them, easy peasy!"
"Don't forget what Flannery said. The Gym Leaders are well aware of you, now. They will adjust their teams accordingly, and perhaps even their style. I wouldn't count out Roxanne just yet." Lyra nodded solemnly.
"I'm going to train outside. Are you coming?" She asked, heading towards the door.
"Sure."
The two trainers headed downstairs, and out the back of the Pokémon Centre, where a dirt battlefield was marked out. Lyra took a position at one end, stretching towards her toes. Silver instinctively stood at the other end, and didn't even notice until Lyra pointed it out.
"You want to battle?"
"Uh. Yeah," he said, trying to mask his mistake with confidence. "It's been a while, so why not?"
"Okay. One on One? I'm kinda hungry, so the quicker this is over the better."
"Sure."
"Okay then, Ampharos, go!"
"Alakazam, you're up."
The two yellow hued Pokémon squared off against each other, glaring at each other from opposite ends of the field.
"Your move, Silver!" Truth be told, Silver was scared. He hadn't battled against Lyra in a long time, and he wasn't sure his Pokémon were even slightly a match for her. He had seen her battles recently, of course, and based on her performance in those, he had himself convinced that his Pokémon would go down in one hit, just like the Pokémon on the other side had.
"Alright. Um, Alakazam, use Telekinesis!" Ampharos started to float centimetres above the ground, causing the Pokémon to scowl.
"Use Thunder! We'll beat it right away!"
"Dodge, Alakazam," Silver commanded with a flick of his wrist, and the Pokémon stepped aside, letting the Thunder attack hit the ground beside it. "Now, Focus Blast! You can't dodge this one, Lyra, because of Telekinesis!" The pulse of energy hit Ampharos square on, causing the Pokémon to slide back a few feet.
"Are you okay, Ampharos?" Lyra asked, concern evident in her voice. But the Pokémon got up, shaking its head and answering Lyra with a bleat.
"How much HP does that thing have?" Silver asked. "That should've knocked it out!"
"It has more HP than your Alakazam, for a start. Let's go, Ampharos, Discharge!" The Light Pokémon let out a huge electrical impulse, damaging Alakazam and paralyzing it.
"Get up, Alakazam. Use Psychic!" The Psi Pokémon didn't move from it's position, causing Silver to clench his fists.
"Alright, Ampharos, finish it with Power Gem!" The sparkling rocks floated towards Alakazam, dealing a great amount of damage and causing the Pokémon to faint.
"Damn it… Alakazam, return." Silver returned the Pokémon to it's Pokéball, pocketing it.
"Good job as usual, Ampharos! Have a good rest!" Lyra returned her Pokémon too, before walking over to Silver. They sat down on the bench that was near his end of the battlefield, Lyra stretching her legs out in front of her. "That was a good battle! You've definitely been training a lot. That Telekinesis into Focus Blast thing was really good."
"Thanks. I'm still no match for you, though."
"That's because I'm the Champion," Lyra said playfully, digging Silver in the ribs.
"I know you are. And you're probably the best battler I know," Silver admitted, a smile growing on his face.
"Thank you, Silver. It's really nice to hear that from my rival."
"We're barely even Rivals anymore. This is our first battle, in what… four years?"
"Probably. But I think that's probably for the best, right? I mean… we're friends now! And we never could've been before."
"Right," Silver said, staring down at the ground. "Lyra, there's something-"
"Excuse me!" A voice called, snapping Lyra and Silver out of their bubble. "There's an incoming call for you, Silver. Do you want to take it?" Silver shot a concerned look at Lyra, who nodded. He got up, scurrying into the Pokémon Centre.
"The phone's right over this way." Nurse Joy guided Silver towards the videophone. A horrible feeling settled in his stomach, but he pushed all panicky thoughts aside.
"Hello?" He couldn't see much, apart from the metallic walls of a building. It didn't look like home, or Team Rocket HQ, and that eased his mind a little.
"Hey, little brother! You were taking an absolute ago to come to the phone, so I made myself some tea." A redhead popped up on the screen, smiling brightly at Silver. She was wearing some kind of silver uniform, with a yellow 'G' emblazoned on the middle.
"Mars?" Silver asked incredulously.
"The very one! Do you know how hard it was to track you down? I had to phone practically every Pokémon Centre in Hoenn before I found you."
"What do you want?"
"I want to help you. Offer my services. I've heard about your… predicament. You're running away from dad. And I would do the same. But better, because I've always been smarter than you, little brother."
"Whatever. Get to the point."
"You're travelling with that Lyra girl, right?"
"Yes." Silver's face fell- he didn't want to involve Lyra in one of Mars's elaborate plans.
"Well, marry her! You can get married in Hoenn, and then dad can't force you to get married to Crystal, problem solved."
"Ah yes, we'll solve the problem of 'I don't want to get married at eighteen' with getting married at eighteen! Yes, Mars, you always have been smarter than me. Your plans are flawless, as usual."
"It was just a suggestion," Mars huffed. "If you don't want my help, then don't request it in the first place!"
"What are you talking about? I didn't request your help."
"You didn't? I got a call from Ariana telling me you're in a sticky situation and you wanted my help, but you didn't know where I was."
"Ariana is working for dad, Mars. Ugh, I can't believe you could be this stupid! They're tracing this call, they know where I am! Team Rocket is going to be on it's way here, and it's all your fault!" Silver's voice began to raise, and Lyra, who had been standing outside in case there was trouble, burst into the room.
"Is everything okay, Silver?"
"No! This idiot of a sister is practically broadcasting our location to Team Rocket!"
"Well, I didn't mean to. You never know, this could work out in your favour, Silver," Mars interjected with a shrug.
"Are you an idiot?! This will work out terribly! They're on their way, and I have no idea what to do! And this is your fault! I'm going to be forced back to Kanto!"
"Well, I apologise. I'll leave you alone. Clearly you've become smarter than me these past few years, little brother. Good luck!" Mars hung up, leaving the videophone's screen blank. Silver started pacing around the room, picking up speed with every step.
"What are we going to do? We can't stay here overnight, but it'll be hard to leave in case we bump into them!"
"Disguises?"
"That's hardly going to work, Lyra!" Silver sighed, exasperatedly. "Usually I would be all for disguises, but this is my own family we're talking about. They'll recognise me immediately." He was still walking, but Lyra stopped him with a simple hand on his arm.
"I have an idea. Sit down here, and stay calm. Deep breaths, okay?" He nodded, seating himself on the seat and burying his face in his hands. "I'll be back in a minute. Don't worry, okay?"
Lyra practically sprinted upstairs and into the room they were staying in. She grabbed her bag, pulling out long black socks, pumps, a black skirt and black t-shirt with long sleeves. She looted Silver's bag as well, finding a black button down shirt and black jeans. She found red tape in her first aid kit, initially intended for sticking bandages together. She fashioned red 'R' shapes out of the tape, sticking them on the pocket of Silver's shirt and across the chest of her top. She bundled the items together, carrying them over her arm downstairs, leaving her signature hat behind. The brunette scampered down to the reception.
"Nurse Joy, do you have a lost and found box? This is kind of an emergency, and I might need something from it."
"Well, as long as you give it back when you're done, I guess it's okay." She pulled the large cardboard box from underneath the counter. In it were a range of items, from empty Pokéballs to scarves, and hats, which was just what Lyra was looking for. In the box was a plain black baseball cap, which Lyra swiped up, adding it to the pile of clothes on her arm.
"Thanks, Nurse Joy!"
She reentered the videophone room, and Silver looked up at her expectantly.
"If we can't run from them… we might as well join them."
AN: Sorry for the late update! I'm reevaluating my priorities when it comes to writing, and this story is going at the top of the list because I want it done tbh. Please leave a review! c: