"Well, you both did wonderfully." I beamed as Lance's gaze swept over us, his cape fluttering ever so slightly in the cavern air. "You...You two actually work well together." This last part seemed to be added hesitantly, almost as if the Dragon Master hated to admit it. We do work well together. I turned to give Silver a quick smile but found his attention locked on to the Dragon Master, a proud smirk glowing on his face. Ah, he's happy he beat him no doubt.

Lance slowly turned to Clair and let out a sigh. "Come along, Clair. We have other matters to attend to." She turned to face him with a glare and growled.

"Don't you order me around, cape-boy. You're not the boss of me." She then stuck out her tongue at his retreating form and stormed off after him. That was really weird. I turned to Silver to find both amusement and confusion in his eyes.

"...Lyra." Silver seemed to let out my name with a sigh, almost as if it took all of his breath to say four simple letters. Glaceon gave me a nudge and barked angrily at the other teen, the male Eeveelution never really caring for my rival. "It...It wasn't supposed to be this way."

I held up a hand with a smile and shook my head. "It's alright. I had fun! Besides," I let my smile grow wider as I cocked my head. "You can always battle me tomorrow, right?" I raised an eyebrow as he suddenly looked away quickly with a frown on his face. Don't get mad. I found myself dropping the smile as he grew quiet. I've just found you again, please stay a little longer. I found these words unable to leave my mouth as I begged him to say something, anything to me.

"Look." His voice came out frustrated as he finally spoke. "I'll...I'll train harder. I'll become stronger!" I watched him clench his fists with sad eyes, wishing that he wouldn't only think about beating me for once. "I'll...I'll train my heart, too."

Wait...what?! I snapped my attention back to his face as his eyes grew wide. "...Train... Train your heart?" I shook my head as his cheeks started to darken. I held out my right hand and inched closer. "What do you mean?"

He suddenly slapped my hand away and dashed towards the exit without a sound, leaving me standing there in a daze. ...No! Come back! I quickly raced after him with my hand still reaching towards him. I couldn't lose him right now, I just found him again! I need to talk to him, darn it all!

"Silver!" He seemed to trip slightly at my voice, making him let out a curse. "Wait!" I blinked back a few sneaky tears and cleared my throat as it seemed to try to close on me. "Please...wait."

Silver let out a sigh before turning back towards me slowly, uncertainty swirling in his namesake eyes. I felt a thankful smile grace my face as I quickly bolted down the remaining steps to catch up to him. I stopped on the broken bridge and looked up to find him giving me a curious look.

For six weeks, I've been looking for this boy, trying to find him in both Kanto and Johto. The Dragon's Den was the last place I thought to look, but it seemed to be exactly where he was.

For two years, I've been on my journey, trying to become the best and create a name for myself in this big world of Pokémon. He's always been there, supporting my efforts in an unusual way. He didn't cheer me on, or wish me luck—I could distinctly remember the one time he's wished me luck and even that was indirect. He was constantly an obstacle to overcome, something to pass to go on to the final goal.

And for half a year, I've been trying to sort out just why things seemed to change when I thought of him. Why I couldn't remain the confident girl I've become because of him. Why I couldn't seem to think straight and why he always seemed to lurk in the corners of my mind.

And now that I finally held the answer, I couldn't lose him. Not now. Not like this.

"Silver..." I tucked a stray piece of hair behind my ear to try to regain some confidence. "Do...Do you remember how we first met?" Oh wow, very lame way to start this off, Lyra. You've just earned fifty cheesy points!

My question certainly took him off-guard, that's for sure. He let out an angry hiss through his teeth and shook his head. "Lyra, I have other things to do besides sitting around and remembering stupid things that happened nearly two years ago." I let out a small growl and shook my head. No, listen!

"Please just bear with me! I-I know this seems pretty odd or kinda stupid, but please just let me talk, alright?" I took a deep breath as he nodded and shoved his hands in his pockets, his special way of saying he'd listen for once.

"Remember how I found you behind Elm's mailbox, right by his window?" He gave me a grunt, the small noise somehow boosting my confidence for this. "And...And I thought you were a guy who was going to give me free stuff?"

Silver let out a laugh of disbelief and shook his head. "Man, you were the most naïve girl I've ever seen in my life. You just waltzed up to a stranger and gave me your name and what you were doing before I even so much as said 'scram'!"

I let an awkward laugh escape my lips as I scratched the back of my neck. "Yeah, that was pretty stupid of me, huh?" I pulled my hand away from my neck and stuck a finger in the air with a smirk. "But in my defense, there's a guy who gives you a free potion less than a mile away."

Silver shrugged and let out a puff of air. "True, I guess."

"Well," I shifted my feet and cleared my throat, knowing that this was the moment; I had to do this perfectly, I just had to! "That day...you did give me something..."

"A bruise on your butt from where I tossed you." He spoke it out flatly, almost as if it didn't matter to him. I let out an annoyed growl and tried again.

"No. ...Although for your information, yes. I did get a bruise down there thanks to you." I looked up at his face to find his cheeks a tad pink and his eyes narrowed.

"How big was it?"

"Oh," I looked down at my impatient Glaceon and blushed a tad. "About the size of a ripe Oran berry...whoa!" I shook my head quickly, earning a snicker from the redhead. "T-That's not important!"

I looked up to find him raising an eyebrow. "Oh, and what is the point of this ramble?"

"The point," I hardened my gaze to nearly a glare and cleared my throat. "The point is that you did give me something. Something besides a bruise on...my behind." I took a deep breath before I tried to speak again, feelings of nervousness messing with my gut. "You remember what I used to be like on my journey, right?"

He rolled his eyes and gave a smirk as he pulled out his hands and started counting. "You were annoying, naïve, too trusting, an idiot, overly happy and a complete airhead. Basically, you were a chocolate-covered, cavity-inducing nightmare from the Distortion World." I gave him a playful punch in the arm, which he only laughed at and shook his head.

"Hey! I wasn't that bad, genius! For your information, you weren't the best of people either!" I looked up with a smirk of triumph to find his face slightly flushed.

"...Just...get on with this, Lyra. Typhlosion's starting to shift his Pokeball around like a maniac." I could almost swear that he had an eager look in his eyes, although I know that Silver isn't one for long chats by the lakeshore as we currently were doing.

"Well," I put my hands on my hips and scowled at his smirk. "In other words, I was your definition of a weakling, right?" He gave me a reluctant nod before I continued, "But I changed, didn't I?"

He seemed to widen his eyes for a split second before suddenly glaring at me with a frown. "...So what of it? You've changed from being a sugary weakling to a stubborn one."

"Look," I grabbed his arm and gave him a frown, my touch seeming to make him flinch. "You...you made me realize that I had to toughen up to make it on my journey for starters. You...you were the first person to actually toss me down like that." He raised an eyebrow as I went on, "Because you acted, as the old me would say, 'like a big meanie', I found a reason to become stronger."

He gave me a blank stare before raising an eyebrow again. "A big...meanie?"

"Hey," I frowned and purposefully gave his arm a quick squeeze. "I said that I was a bit childish when I started out, didn't I?" He shrugged and gave me an 'I-just-said-that-genius' smirk. I rolled my eyes and took a cautious step closer.

"You...also gave me something else to set my sights on."

He suddenly yanked his arm away and turned his head sharply, hiding his face from my view. I scowled and shook my head.

"Without meeting you, I wouldn't have had a rival now, would I? Without you, I doubt I could have become the Champion."

"W-What are you talking about?!" His voice was a bit higher than usual, not to mention he actually stuttered at the beginning of his sentence.

"I'm saying that I wouldn't have had a reason to always become stronger if I hadn't met you, that's what." I slowly leaned over and petted my Glaceon with a weak smile, hoping that I could actually spit out what I was stalling. My Glaceon let out a startled bark but quickly relaxed, happy that he was finally getting some attention.

"...So," Silver slowly looked towards me with a frown. "Are you...thanking me?"

I stood up straight before giving him a nod and smiling. "Exactly. I'm thanking you for being my rival. Without you, I highly doubt I would have grown so much."

He suddenly gave me a mischievous smirk and laughed. "But you're still short."

"Hey!" I gave him another weak punch and frowned. "You're just freakishly tall!"

Silver rolled his eyes and shoved his hands back in his pockets. We then stood there for a while, neither of us speaking a single word. Please understand what I'm saying. Please. Finally, after probably a good ten minutes, Silver spoke up.

"So...that's it?" His voice almost sounded...disappointed. "I'll be going...alright?"

"No!" I suddenly launched myself at him without a single thought, shocking him as I grabbed his midsection in a tight hug. "Not yet!"

"L-Lyra?! L-Let go!" I shook my head and tightened my grip, knowing full well that I was nearly impossible to escape when I grabbed someone like this.

"Silver, I'm not done! I still need to tell you something!"

He suddenly stopped squirming in my grasp and relaxed slightly. I looked up to find his face almost as red as his hair, a certainly unusual sight. The last time he blushed like that was at the Radio Tower, just seconds before we fell to the floor and started pounding each other. Dang, I really messed that one up. I shook my head to clear my thoughts before I began the final stretch.

"Silver...I want you to know that I've been looking for you."

His voice let out a few mutters before he cleared his throat. "You've been looking for me?"

I nodded into his jacket and sighed. "Yeah, I've been looking for you. Ever since our last encounter, I've wanted to tell you something. So, I've spent six weeks looking for you."

"Six...Six weeks?!" His voice seemed almost happy with the exclamation, but I knew that was just a trick of the ear, right?

"Yeah, six long weeks." I loosened my grip to look up at his face and found it the exact shade of his hair. "I...have something really important to tell you."

"...Yes, Lyra?"

I took a deep breath and swallowed hard. This is it...just say it! "Silver, what I was trying to say was...you...you mean a lot to me." The cave suddenly fell silent for a while, not even the squeak of Zubats was present.

"I...I...what?" His voice was barely a whisper, almost as if he lost his voice.

"You mean a lot to me!" I found my confidence rushing back as the words tumbled out. "I've thought about it and for the last six months I've kept thinking about you almost constantly and I kept wondering what you were doing and how you were doing and I...I think I might..." I took a deep breath and shoved my face into his jacket to hide the red in my cheeks.

"I think I love you!" My voice bounced off of the cavern walls until it seemed to scream it back at us, as if it wanted to mock me.

Cue the awkward silence, the mental facepalming and the wondering if it's possible to die of embarrassment. Suddenly, I heard Silver finally make a sound. I released my grip and backed away as my eyes grew wide.

...Silver was laughing. Laughing at me because what I said was absolutely stupid and he found it hilarious that I actually thought of him that way.

I ducked my head down before quickly scooping up my Glaceon, the sudden urge to run flooding my mind. I gave him a quick glance to find him still laughing and shaking his head with bright cheeks. ...He's laughing at me? ...I should have just kept my mouth shut.

Then, without another look at him, I dashed for the exit.

His laughter suddenly died away as I passed him, instead being replaced with sputters of shock. I let out a squeak as I felt a sharp tug on my arm that sent me falling backwards, right into his chest.

"Oi! Hold your Ponytas, woman!" I looked up to find him frowning at me with still-bright cheeks. "I may not be the guy who knows all about women, but I know you're not supposed to confess to someone and run away. That's just plain stupid!"

"You were laughing at me!" My Glaceon let out a proud howl and nodded in agreement, the Ice Type never supporting my idea of telling Silver how I felt. "What else am I supposed to do, stand there so you can make fun of me?!"

"Do you really think I'd do that?!" He narrowed his eyes before leaning over me, bending forward to sharpen the glare.

I pushed away and turned to face him properly with a scowl. "Um, when someone laughs at you when you finally manage to say something, yes!"

I flinched as he suddenly grabbed my face. Glaceon hopped to the floor and let out a furious bark, warning him that he would attack if I wasn't released.

I'm sure you can imagine my shock when he suddenly slammed his eyes shut and smashed his lips straight into my own. My face burned as I suddenly found my emotions switching from anger to confusion faster than a Yanma with Speed Boost.

He suddenly pulled away with a smirk. "If you're going to confess and run, at least include a kiss!" And with a laugh, he suddenly dashed out of the cave before me, leaving me standing there in shock with a horrified Glaceon.

Well, that didn't go at all like I planned.

Author's Note: Today is sorta an unofficial cleaning of my computer's old shipping crap, where I find completed works from eons ago and post them. This is actually the second thing I ever made with Stubborn!Lyra, as she's seen in some of my other things as well. This Lyra is based off of my HeartGold game, which is why I give her a Glaceon and an anxious Meganium. This was the HeartGoldHeadcanon!First Kiss for them, being two years after she started her journey and therefore being twelve years old and Silver being thirteen. I'm thinking of pushing it back a year or so...

This is really old, so the stubborn Lyra is still kinda shaky...

But I think Silver had a bit too much fun beating Lance up like that. /Ice Beamed by Glaceon/