Chapter One: When You Were Young

"Lyra! What are you doing?"

Lyra flinched as the Poke Ball slipped out of her hands and fell to the ground with a soft thump. She could hear the quiet sound of little feet scurrying away from her and into the depths of the forest. Her heart sank with disappointment.

A pigtail sliding over her shoulder, she turned, her eyes wide, and instinctively clutched the stuffed Teddiursa in her arms closer to her chest.

"Silly Lyra. It's only me." The speaker was an older girl who towered over her, though she was only a year older. Half a year, Lyra corrected herself glumly. She straightened herself up, tugging at the suspenders on her denim overalls.

"Hi, Kris!" she greeted nervously.

"What were you just doing?" the girl asked, her blue-green eyes glowing with curiosity.

"N-nothing." Lyra ducked her head. A lock of brown hair fell over her eyes, shielding them from view. "I wasn't doing anything."

"Aw, come on. That's poppycock. Tell me!" Kris's striped sneakers slapped against the ground as she strode over to the younger girl. She bent over beside her, curious. "What's that?" she exclaimed, surprised, as her eyes alighted upon the small object lying in the dirt. "Lyra—is that a Poke Ball?"

"Ethan gave it to me!" Lyra blurted defensively, clutching Teddiursa closer. "He said—"

"Aw, Ethan." Kris leaned over, wrinkling her nose, plucked the Poke Ball off the ground. "Where did he even get it? You're too young to start catching Pokemon, both of you."

"I'm only half a year younger than you!" Lyra protested indignantly.

"One year," Kris returned with a smile. "I'm nine. You're only eight."

"I'll be nine soon—"

"You're still too young." Kris shook her head firmly. "Don't be silly, Lyra."

Lyra pursed her mouth shut. When she spoke again, her voice was thick with suppressed anger. "If you hadn't come over and made so much noise, I could've caught that Scyther."

Kris stopped, blinking, and then threw her head back with laughter, her spiky raven-blue pigtails bouncing up and down. "A Scyther? Really, Lyra, you think you could have caught a Scyther? They're hard for even real trainers to catch. And dangerous." She bounced the Poke Ball—Lyra's Poke Ball—In her hand as she spoke. "Besides, don't you know anything? You have to weaken a Pokemon first before you catch it. And you don't have any Pokemon."

Kris just had to rub it in every chance she got, didn't she? Lyra gritted her teeth. "Well, you don't have any, either!" she retorted.

Kris didn't even seem to hear her. So confident. She was always so confident, always ready to jump ahead with those shoes and that sporty little outfit of hers and tell other people off. If only Lyra could be like that. She sighed inwardly and bit her lip, bringing her attention back to what the other girl was saying.

"You shouldn't even be spending time around such dangerous Pokemon," Kris continued. She chuckled. "I bet it wasn't even a Scyther. I bet it was just a Caterpie. I bet it was your imagination."

"It was a Scyther!" Lyra cried. "Really—I saw it! The blades and everything! It was so close—"

"Sure, sure, whatever you say, Ly-Ly." Kris guffawed, and then Lyra felt a swooping sensation as arms slipped around her waist and lifted her clear off the ground.

"Hey! Hey—Kris—put me down!"

"Come on, Ly. Let's get you back home. Enough playing with imaginary Pokemon and Poke Balls; you could have hurt yourself."

"Kris! Stop it, Kris!" Lyra clenched her teeth and flailed her arms and legs, dropping Teddiursa on the ground. It was no use; the girl was much stronger and taller than she was. Kris hoisted her over her shoulder, her feet springing against the grass as she ran, out of the woods and back into the warm sunshine of New Bark Town.

Lyra sighed as she let her body relax, dropping her balled-up fists. It really was no use. Kris always won. It had always been that way.

"You shouldn't be hanging around the woods," the girl teased, as she set Lyra down on the grass by the front of her house. "There's big, bad, scary Pokemon out there. Now there we go. Little Lyra's all safe and sound again back home."

"Kris…don't," Lyra grumbled, reaching out. Kris giggled and turned away. Lyra watched her tall, athletic form vanish into the distance as Kris hopped on the bike stationed in front of her house, her yellow hat and her short pink jacket billowing in the wind as she rode away.

How does that hat even stay on her head? Lyra wondered to herself. She raised her own hand to her head; her fingers met nothing but boringly straight, chestnut brown hair fastened in two tiny pigtails, as it always was. Just like Kris.

Lyra sighed and pulled herself to her feet, dusting off her white stockings and her long red sleeves. It wasn't fair; Kris even got a bike to ride around on. Lyra didn't have anything—no bike, no Pokemon, not even a single Poke Ball. And no hat. She wanted a hat. Almost every trainer had one. Like Kris.

Almost all of her thoughts ended with those two words, she thought sadly as she trudged back into the woods to pick up her dropped Teddiursa. Smoothing down his fuzzy brown fur, she held the stuffed Pokemon close to her.

Someday I'll have a real one, Lyra promised herself, peering up into the sun-dappled leaves. Someday, I'll be a Trainer. A really, really good trainer! she corrected herself. I'll be the best trainer! That'll show Kris…and everyone!

And, she added on second thought, I'll get myself a hat.

-.-.-

That afternoon, after she watched TV downstairs with her mom for a few hours, Lyra made her way next door and rang the doorbell. She waited expectantly on the doorstep.

Mrs. Gold answered the door. "Oh, hi there, Lyra!" the woman piped up brightly as she saw the girl standing before her.

"Is Ethan home?" Lyra asked hopefully. She wanted to thank him for the Poke Ball, to ask him where he had gotten it—and to tell him about that Scyther she had seen. Because it had been a Scyther. She was sure it had been one. And she had almost caught it, she knew. Even if Kris had stolen her big chance.

Mrs. Gold shook her head, frowning. "I'm sorry, honey, he and his daddy are visiting his uncle in Goldenrod. I'm afraid he won't be back until tomorrow."

"Oh. That's okay!"

"All right, honey. He'll be glad to see you tomorrow, I'm sure!"

With that, Mrs. Gold shut the door, and Lyra made her way back toward her house, her stomach sinking with the inevitable wave of boredom. Her mind wandering, she eyed the Pokemon Lab in her neighborhood. It was almost right next to her house.

Living there must be so cool, she mused. What she would have given to be around Pokemon like Professor Elm. She could see him now—kind, balding, absentminded, lugging an overly thick binder in one hand and a box of equipment in the other, dressed in a long lab coat. Sometimes her family had him over for dinner, and even then, he looked like he was in the middle of some groundbreaking research.

Kris's parents had promised her a starter for her twelfth birthday, Lyra remembered, and her face fell again. She was always bragging about it, always talking about the "connections" her family had with the professor. Always talking about how experienced with Pokemon she was.

Lyra shook her head. Kris was just as young as she was, just as innocent and childish. And her parents knew the professor, too. Ethan even helped him out from time to time. So why did Kris always have to pretend she knew so much more than they did?

She's our town's hero, I guess.

Lyra shrugged to herself. It made sense. That was just the way it had always been. Kris was the one who was destined to be great in Johto, to be the Champion or something amazing along those lines. She was so outgoing, so loud and confident and adventurous—everything Lyra wasn't.

Kris was the small-town New Barker who would carry that title of fame and glory, and Lyra knew it. She was like that boy, Red, had been in Kanto. Lyra herself? Just another ordinary girl.

She let out a puff of air and curled herself up on the bench in front of her house, Teddiursa resting in between her chest and her knees. It wouldn't have mattered so much if Lyra didn't want to go on the adventure so badly, too. Sure, she could head out with Pokemon when she was of age, but could she really become Champion or come to anything great like that?

She could almost hear it; Kris laughing at her again for being so silly. Of course she couldn't. She was too young and shy and naïve, and a whole bunch of other adjectives the other girl could dig up and shove in her face…

Ethan wouldn't say that, though. Ethan would smile at her with his bright golden eyes and give her a pat on the back and tell her she could do it. Lyra grinned to herself. Of course he would; he was her best friend. And she still had to thank him for that Poke Ball.

With the reassuring thought tucked away in her mind, Lyra closed her eyes, resting her chin on Teddiursa's head and leaning forward. The sun basked them both in its golden rays, bathing her hair in light, so warm and gentle, like a blanket…

She must have fallen asleep, because the next thing she knew, her eyes snapped open at a sudden noise to a cloak of darkness around the yard, replacing the light with shades of black and navy blue. Lyra blinked. A cool breeze swept across her arms; she shivered and hugged herself. As her eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness, she saw that the sky above was sprinkled with glittering silver stars.

She heard a loud wingbeat down the driveway to her left—the sound that had awakened her, a shout and quick footsteps, and suddenly someone was next to her, shaking her and jumping up and down and crying out excitedly.

"Lyra! Lyra! Look!" She knew that voice. "Look what I got!"

"E-Ethan?" She blinked again, clearing the fog of drowsiness from her head. "Is that you?"

"Of course it's me, Ly, who else would it be?" She could practically hear the grin in his voice, permeating the darkness.

"What…?" Lyra blinked again, wondering if she was dreaming. "But your mom said you wouldn't be back until tomorrow!"

"Nah, dad and I decided to come back early. I just had to show you this! What are you doing napping out here, anyway?" he asked, his words rushing at her like a bubbling stream of consciousness.

"Hi, Mr. Gold!" Lyra waved to the man who hopped off the bird Pokemon's back after his son. Ethan's father waved back as he strode up the driveway and disappeared into the Golds' house. She turned back to Ethan. "I dunno, I guess I fell asleep."

"Well, guess what?" Ethan exclaimed joyously. "You've gotta see this, Lyra! Seriously! Check this out!"

He reached into his pocket, and through the dimness, Lyra could barely make out the outline of something small clutched in his hand. Ethan was grinning from ear to ear; she didn't need to see his face clearly to know that.

He was even happier than usual! Curious, she unfolded her legs, placing Teddiursa on the bench next to her.

She let out a small yelp of surprise as he flung the object into the air. A flash of light illuminated his face, and he took a step back as something small and round emerged out of seemingly nowhere and alighted on the grass with a bounce an overjoyed squeal.

"Marill, Marill!"

As Ethan beamed at the little Pokemon jumping around before them, Lyra stood slowly, speechless. It couldn't be! "Oh—oh my gosh, Ethan—is that—did you—is that your own Pokemon?"

"Yup!" Ethan leaned down and picked up the Marill. It wiggled happily in his arms. The boy chuckled as its tail brushed along his arm, tickling him. "Stop it, Marill!"

He turned to his friend, peering around the Pokemon's large blue ears. "My uncle gave it to me when we got there! It turns out that was his big surprise and why he asked us to visit. It was a late birthday present!" He beamed, and Lyra couldn't help but to smile with him. She had never seen him so happy.

"Gee, Ethan…wow, I'm so happy for you!" Lyra skipped forward and hugged him, being careful to avoid squishing the Marill. "This is great!"

"Thanks, Ly! I know, I'm really happy! I've always really liked Marills, too—I guess Uncle Jeff knew that!" Ethan returned the hug and stepped back, letting Marill dance around in his grip. He looked Lyra in the eyes and smiled. "Now we just have to wait for you to get your Pokemon."

If only. "Oh, yeah!" Lyra blurted, remembering. "I almost caught a Scyther this afternoon…" Ethan's eyes widened with surprise as she rehashed the story for him.

"—but then Kris came along and took the Poke Ball and scared the Scyther away, of course," she finished grimly.

Ethan laughed, rolling his eyes. "Ah, Kris. She would do that." He frowned. "But that's really too bad."

Lyra couldn't help but to smile, the grin stretching across her face before she could stop it. Suddenly, it didn't seem so bad after all. Ethan always knew how to make light of every situation. And…and he believed her…she knew he would…

"That's great, though, Lyra!" he continued. "You found a Scyther, and almost caught it! Geez, that's not bad at all!" He leaned forward and lowered his voice, his bright eyes darting back and forth. "But just make sure you don't tell my dad about that," he whispered. "I found that spare Poke Ball in his desk. He probably wouldn't be happy…although now that I have my own Pokemon, I doubt he would mind as much…" Lyra giggled.

"Oh, and one more thing." Ethan set Marill down on the bench, where the Pokemon poked curiously at the stuffed Teddiursa, and reached into his shoulder bag, rummaging about inside. "I have something for you."

With a flourish, he whipped out something round, white, and puffy, and held it out toward Lyra. "I thought you might like this."

Lyra tilted her head curiously and took the object in her hands. It was fluffy and distinctly rounded at the top, with a rim around which a bright red bow was wrapped.

She turned it over, and it suddenly dawned upon her—it was a hat.

Ethan had bought her a hat as a souvenir from Goldenrod City. A hat, like the one she had always wanted, like the one she had decided to wear for her Pokemon journey, like the one she had wished for earlier that very same day.

Tentatively, she reached up and fitted it on her head, pulling it over her chestnut bangs. She glanced up at Ethan's open, expectant face.

"It's perfect, Ethan." She smiled. "Thank you."

"I thought you might like it," he answered with a grin, turning his own black-and-gold cap backwards on his head. "Now we match."

"Kind of." Lyra stuck her tongue out at him.

"Ethan!" She heard Mr. Gold's voice calling from the door as he peered outside. He beckoned toward his son. "Bedtime! It's been a long day, you should get some sleep." He waved. "You too, Lyra!"

"Okay, coming, dad!" Ethan hollered back. He turned back to Lyra and gave her hat a playful poke. "I'll see you tomorrow, then, Ly."

"See ya," Lyra agreed. "Thanks again!"

"Goodnight, Lyra!"

"Goodnight!"

As Ethan disappeared into his house, his new Marill bouncing after him, Lyra couldn't stop the smile that spread across her face like warm honey. Glancing back one more time at the beautiful night sky, she picked Teddiursa up from the bench, and, cradling him in her arms, opened the door to her own house. It was good know that she had Ethan, that her best friend could always cheer her up. The rest would come in time.