Full Summary: What's the most cliché thing you can think of when it comes to rivals? Well, if you're like me, it's having to bunk in the same room for a night when the Pokémon Center is full. I'll tell you right now, I'm NOT a fan of such cheesy twists of fate—especially when it involves me and a certain redhead. Stubborn!/Tsundere!Lyra (SoulSilver)

The doors of the Pokémon Center slid open with a bell chime, alerting the kind nurse behind the desk that someone had arrived in the Blackthorn Pokémon Center. Nurse Joy looked up to find a familiar teen coming inside with a scowl, hands in his pockets and a Typhlosion trotting beside him. The nurse recognized the boy as the young teen who happened to train inside of the Dragon's Den on a daily basis.

"Oh, hello there!" She slammed a stack of papers on the edge of the counter to straighten them up as he slowly made his way to the healing machines. "Done training for the day, are we?"

The boy didn't respond, he just motioned for his Typhlosion to lumber over to the counter as well, preparing to heal his Pokémon for the night after a long day. The nurse was used to his silence however, she just put her papers aside and waited for him to hand her his Pokémon.

The redheaded teen recalled his silent Typhlosion before handing his belt of Pokémon over to the young woman with a small frown. She gladly took his Pokémon and gently placed them on the machine, little beeps of confirmation ringing out when a capsule was set on the machine's surface.

Once the machine started to heal his Pokémon, Nurse Joy turned back to him with a smile. "I'm assuming you'll be spending the night here again, correct?" He simply gave her a nod and turned away, not really interested in striking up a conversation.

The nurse let out an awkward chuckle before turning towards the exit of her little booth. "Right...I'll go look for your usual roomkey, then." She then headed off towards the back room, eager to free herself from the boy's unusually cold stare.

*~~*Lyra's Viewpoint*~~*

"Oh boy, what a day!" I stretched my hands over my head as I walked down the dirt road of Blackthorn's main street, heading towards the Pokémon Center after a whole day of training inside of the Ice Path. My Glaceon was at my heels, nodding his head back and forth with rhythmic barks as he sang that little song that he would sing when he's proud of himself.

"We've had a long day today, haven't we boy?" I looked over my shoulder to find him absorbed in his song, too busy howling out the final chorus to pay attention to me. I just laughed at his enthusiasm and shook my head. Glace is always so proud after a long day of training. He has every right to be; his Blizzard just keeps getting stronger and stronger! I was pulled out of my thoughts by the unexpected slamming of my face into the Pokémon Center's doors, the automatic sensor apparently not working properly.

"Ack!" I jumped back with a tight frown and growled at the malfunctioning piece of technology, irritated by this sudden defiance. "What the heck?!"

My angry voice apparently snapped Glaceon out of his song, for he gave the door a growl of his own and headbutted it with a roar. I just let out a sigh and scooped up my cold Eeveelution, earning a bark of shock before he calmly rested in my grasp.

"Alright," I closed my eyes with an annoyed frown before taking a few steps backwards. "Let's try this again, door." I opened my eyes to scowl at the glassy entryway, daring it to try that again.

I took a heavy step on the sensing mat and smirked in self-satisfaction when the familiar chime rang out into the late evening air. I lifted my nose into the air with a quiet chuckle and strutted inside of the Pokémon Center. "That's what I thought, you pesky door."

Suddenly, Glaceon let out a loud bark and growled at something inside of the room. Wait...I know that bark.

Glaceon, like my starter, had a strong dislike of a certain person, making them both release their own signs of displeasure whenever I happened to stumble across that trainer. Meganium would always shake his flower with a roar, stomping the floor with his right foot at the sight of his enemy. When Glaceon found the trainer, he would let out a howl-like bark and start growling in warning, daring the person to come closer and face his fangs.

Silver was here.

I opened my eyes to find my rival standing there with his hands in his pockets, facing the counter. I gulped as I found that horrible feeling swirling inside of me again, my heart already starting to sound like a bass drum at the sight of that familiar head of burning hair. Oh no, don't you start, Lyra! I scolded myself as Glaceon just continued to growl and Silver ignored the sound that he knew belonged to my Glaceon.

I took a cautious step forward and narrowed my eyes as I found the beats growing faster as I reduced the distance between us. Stop this nonsense right now, Lyra! He's just your rival! Why do you always do this when you see him?!

When I was only a foot away from him, I stopped. I couldn't bring myself to take another step. Glaceon was starting to fidget in my grasp now, trying to free himself so he could 'defend me' from my rival once again. I cleared my throat and hoped that my voice wouldn't betray me again.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't Silver." He raised his shoulders defensively before lowering them with a sigh. He turned around just as I chuckled, piercing me with those cold eyes of his. "It's been a while, rival."

"Lyra Soul," My heart gave a vicious slam into my ribcage as my name slipped off his tongue, swirling in the air and giving it a different tone just as his quiet voice always did. He raised an eyebrow in slight interest as his gaze lock on me. "What are you doing here so late? Shouldn't you be staying at the League and waiting for a challenger or something?"

I let out a quiet chuckle and shook my head. "Lance will notify me if there's a challenger waiting for me. Very few actually make it to face the Champion, you know." I tightened my grip on my snarling Ice Type as I went on, "I was just training with Glace here on the Ice Path. You know how it is; always have to hone those moves for our next big battle."

He just clicked his tongue and shook his own head, spreading out his flaming hair and covering his eyes with those intense locks for a few heartbeats—well, a few of my frantic heartbeats. He then lifted a finger and pointed at my Glaceon with a scowl. "Isn't that monster strong enough already?"

I laughed and shrugged, indirectly preventing my irritated Fresh Snow Pokémon from biting Silver's index finger. He quickly retracted the appendage with a frown, glaring at the bold Pokémon who constantly tried to attack him. "You know better than anyone that there's always room for improvement, Silver."

"Oh yeah?! And what's that supposed to mean, pest?!" My eyes jolted open as I found him practically snarling at me, obviously taking what I said in a negative way. Crap! Good going, Lyra! Way to poke the Beedrill's nest there!

"I-I didn't mean it like that!" I took a step back as I found Silver balling his hands into fists. "I just meant that there's always more training to do before the next battle!"

This only seemed to make things worse. Silver then started growling at me, rage flashing in his eyes. I had managed to injure the one thing you never touch when it comes to Silver...

I had damaged his pride.

"Just shut up, stupid!" His glare sharpened into a look I haven't seen a long time, filled with raw fury. "I get that being the Champion makes you think you're better than me, but you're dead wrong!" I flinched as he growled and turned back towards the counter with a frown.

"Silver please," I loosened my grip on Glaceon, reached out my right hand towards him and frowned. How could I be so careless?! Ugh, I really am an idiot sometimes! "I didn't mean it like that. I swear I—"

My pleas for him to listen were interrupted by the sound of Nurse Joy's footsteps coming back towards us with slow steps. I slammed my mouth shut as she came into sight, feeling uncomfortable talking to Silver in front of her, despite the fact I knew she was a kind individual.

"Alrighty then," She started twirling a keyring on her finger as she walked into view, her eyes closed for a moment as she walked back to the counter. "I've found your roomkey, although I'll admit it was a bit of a pain to find it—" She opened her eyes and froze as she found the Champion of Johto standing inside of her lobby, the keys falling to the bottom of her finger as she gawked.

"Oh my!" She immediately straightened her posture and gave me a nervous smile. "I had no idea you were stopping by, Ms. Soul!" Silver let out a snort and turned his attention to a poster for a winter festival that was happening in a few months, turning away from the woman.

I lowered my Glaceon to the floor to free my hands, and the Eeveelution immediately headed towards my rival's ankles and started barking at him incessantly. I turned my attention back to the nurse with a defensive raise of my hands, unaccustomed to everyone referring to me as 'Ms. Soul', 'the Champion' and other related titles.

"Oh no, ma'am. I was just looking for a place to spend the night after training today." Her smile immediately fell as I told her my reason and she turned her attention to the floor.

"...I'm afraid we're full, Ms. Soul."

I jolted in shock as Silver suddenly snapped his attention back to the nurse behind the counter. "...What...did you say?" I found myself flinching as I heard the unhidden anger in Silver's voice, the nurse obviously uncomfortable with his tone as I was.

She lifted a hand with her palm up in a gesture of explanation while she spoke up, "I'm afraid your usual room was the only one left, young man. All of our other rooms are being rented out by trainers, some from places as far as Kanto."

I raised an eyebrow and took a few steps forward, walking around Silver as if he was toxic. "Why are there so many people here tonight?" I frowned as Nurse Joy simply sighed and shook her head.

"The annual Dragon Tamer's reunion is tomorrow, so many members of the local families who happened to live far away returned for the annual festivities." She pointed to a poster beside the one Silver had been preoccupied with, the colorful piece of paper boldly announcing the reunion that was being held in the Dragon's Den.

"Looks like training's in the bucket tomorrow..." Silver's mumble barely reached my ears as I just shook my head and sighed. Great. Looks like I'll be camping out tonight instead. I turned back towards the exit and motioned for my Glaceon to follow me.

"...Where are you going." I stopped in mid-step as I found Silver's monotone question—which sounded more like a demand than anything—slamming into my back. I turned around and frowned as I found him staring at me, his cleverly-practiced pokerface taking full control of his face.

"Somewhere else." I motioned towards the door and turned back to my objective. "There's not enough room here for me, so I'll just set up a tent somewhere or something."

"At this late at night?" I looked out of the corner of my eye to find Silver clenching a fist and heaving his shoulders as if he was trying to remain calm. "You know the Pokémon around here are very territorial at night."

"So?" I finished my half-step to let myself stand flat on the floor. "Glace and I can handle ourselves, Silver. A little Teddiursa or two won't bother us." Glaceon let out a roar of agreement as he sat at my feet, waiting for me to open the door.

"You know that Teddiursa's aren't what I'm taking about, idiot."

I just shrugged and shoved my hands inside of my overalls, suddenly feeling uneasy. "So what? I'll be fine, Silver." I started to walk again as I heard him let out a heavy breath.

"...You know what happened the last time you said that."

I froze with a bolt of shock as he spoke, letting Glaceon crash into my leg as I stopped abruptly. I can't believe...he remembers that.

The last time I told Silver those exact words was on Victory Road, right after our battle. He had warned me of a herd of aggressive Onix roaming nearby that he had passed on his way to the exit. I had told him that they wouldn't be a challenge, that Meganium and I could Razor Leaf them into submission if things got ugly. He of course called me stupid, hard-headed and claimed that I was begging for trouble before storming off the way I had came.

I shrugged off his words, figuring that I could handle myself against some Onix. I certainly wasn't expecting the ground to tremble below my feet and Meganium to let out a roar of warning as the Onix headed straight for us. I also didn't expect my little Gani to try to hold them off, only to become exhausted. The rest of my Pokémon were too tired or on their last legs, leaving me alone against the band of angry Rock Types.

The last thing I expected to happen was my rival to leap out from behind a boulder and hold them off with his Typhlosion while handing me some Elixers and Hyper Potions to heal my Meganium back to full health so I could chase them off. If it weren't for the fact that he had stuck around after that little bit of cocky attitude, I could've become squash instead of the new Champion...

I hate it when he suddenly acts all wise and crap.

"..." I opened my mouth and found my throat constricting any smart retort I could have used on him. Instead, I let out a sigh of defeat and turned back towards him.

"Alright, genius. What am I supposed to do for shelter tonight, then?"

Silver turned his head towards his left, avoiding my gaze as he shoved his hands back in his pockets. "...How should I know, Marshmallow-Head? All I know is that if you go out there, you'll end up creamed or something."

"You two could share the room."

We both turned around in utter horror at Nurse Joy's sudden interjection, our mouths wide open and my face burning with embarrassment.

"Are you crazy?!" Silver's voice was louder than my own incoherent sputters, although I was certain that his voice quivered at the end. "Why would I share a room with her of all people?!"

"Well," Nurse Joy pointed to Silver before pointing to me with a look of discomfort. "You two seem pretty close to each other, so it's not as if you're sharing a room with a stranger. Besides," She lifted the keys up towards her fingertips and gave a weak smile. "There's a couch in there besides the standard bed."

"But you want me to share a room with a girl!" Silver threw his hands into the air as I just scooped my silent Glaceon up into my arms once again. "How is that being responsible?!"

Nurse Joy's face quickly deadpaned at Silver's accusation. "I highly doubt I have to worry about you two doing anything...foolish in there this evening." My face burned as she then turned back to me. "And I'm certain that the Champion knows how to protect herself from any advances that may come from—"

"Alright, alright!" I found my face burning as Silver slammed a hand into his forehead. It was now that I recalled that this Nurse Joy was a bit...blunt. "We get the point, ma'am!"

"So," She lifted the keyring in triumph and smirked at us with a seemingly evil glint in her eyes. "Will you two be staying here this evening~?"

Silver snatched the keyring out of her hands with a grumble before turning towards me, angling his head as to hide his eyes from my sight.

"C'mon, Marshmallow-Head! Are you going to stand out here all night or what?!"

I just shook my head and followed him as he stormed off to the rooms, ignoring Glaceon's frustrated howl in my arms.

"Remember!" Nurse Joy's voice rang out as we turned the corner into the hallway. "Be responsible!"

I just let out a groan and stormed after him before he decided to lock me out instead.