Hi! This fanfic is about a certain, redhaired rival…

The goal of this is to write him as in-character as possible. And by that I mean he's a complete and total jerkface

Warning: a bit of PreciousMetalShipping, but not quite in the usual way. Also contains a bit of a ship that currently goes unnamed…I think you'll figure it out after a couple chapters

I am not Nintendo, and I did not create Silver.

T for minor swearing and violence. And jerkfaceness.

Please R&R

Another warning: you probably shouldn't read this if you absolutely love, love, love Lyra, because I don't

New Bark Town.

Pushing the branches out of the way, I stared at the tiny town. I'd been searching all day for it, and I still wasn't very impressed. Why would a professor choose such a plain, unattractive place to live in? There wasn't even a Pokémon Center! The only thing special about it was the windmills.

I stepped out of the trees, running my fingers through my long, dark red hair, which was dirty and matted with leaves. My clothes were ragged from spending two – or was it even three? – years, doing my best to avoid trainers, fighting wild Pokémon merely to stay alive.

I was sick of it. Sick and tired.

It was easy to spot the lab; all the other buildings were houses, framed by windmills. Other than the water route, there was only one way out of this town. If I remembered correctly from the maps I'd seen not-so-recently, the road led to Cherrygrove City.

Very carefully, I crept towards the lab. My plan was to camp outside the lab until a little after midnight, sneak in, and rob it.

I stopped and peered in through the lab's window. Assistants dashed around, as if something important was going to happen.

Probably just another, stupid, weakling new trainer, coming for a starter that's too good for them, I thought moodily, leaning against the side of the building. I, on the other hand…but no. I'm not 'pure' enough; they'd send me away and give it to a weakling!

"So this is the famous Professor Elm lab…" I murmured to myself. Pretty lame, huh, I added silently.

"Who are you?"

I whipped around. A boy was staring at me. No, wait – it was a girl, but she was dressed like a boy, as if she wanted people to think she was one.

"What are you looking at?" I snapped at him – I mean her. I grabbed her by the back of her sweatshirt, dragged her several steps, and fiercely kicked her away. Most kids would run off if that happened to them, but she glared at me defiantly before marching off into the lab. I winced, afraid that she would blab on me, and that would blow my cover. Oh, if she did…I'd feed her to a Nidoking. Or something else. No, not a Nidoking; those bring back bad memories. By association, I hate Nidokings.

The girl went up to talk to the professor, a disorganized, confused-seeming guy. I scoffed; how'd he manage to become Johto's precious professor? Lame! They're probably just as dependant on Professor Oak as Kanto is.

I couldn't hear what they were saying, so I pressed my face to the thick glass of the window. The professor led the girl to a machine with three Poké balls. He whispered in her ear, and she nodded solemnly. She seemed to be thinking for a moment before choosing one of the Poké balls.

Of course! Those are the starters. She probably took the best one…well, darn. These better be as good as the Kanto starters though, so hopefully it won't matter too much. Though she's just another weakling, so she probably chose the cutest. Hah!

The professor smiled uneasily and hustled her to his desk. He gestured at the computer and murmured something. She shrugged, nodded and left. When she passed me, she stuck her tongue out at me. I glowered at her retreating back, wanting to punch her in her stupid face.

I sighed and glanced at the sky. It would be a while before I planned to strike the lab. I was itching with impatience to get in there, grab my rightful starter, and get the heck out of dodge.

"Hey! Who are you?"

Not another stupid kid, I thought angrily, wheeling around to see a small, brown-haired girl with a large, ugly white hat and ridiculously short overalls. A Marill ran up to me and hopped up and down, squeaking happily. I wanted to punt the stupid thing across town.

"Um, have you seen my friend?" she asked politely.

"Does your friend cross-dress?" I snapped, itching to kick that stupid Water-type, which was running in circles around me, to Kanto.

"Uh…not that I know of! She's got dark hair, and she was heading for the lab earlier…hey, are you here to get a Pokémon?" she looked me over. "You don't look like a trainer; you don't have a Pokémon following you."

"Yeah, like that defines a trainer," I muttered. "Listen, kid, I'm tired. Buzz off!"

I slumped against the side of the building and closed my eyes. Something prodded me; it was the Marill, who looked at me with sad-Pikachu eyes.

"He wants to play with you," the girl explained pleasantly. "You can, of course, he's really sweet."

"Shoo!" I growled at it, swatting my hand at it. "Hey, kid, is that yours?"

The girl looked bewildered. "Who are you?" she asked nervously, like she couldn't believe that someone could be so mean. Welcome to the real world, kid.

"None of your business!" I squeezed my eyes shut and pulled my jacket closer around me. "Shoo! Buzz off!"

I heard the grass crunch as the girl ran off, followed by her Marill.

I drifted off into an uneasy sleep, sometimes flickering in and out of consciousness. Luckily, no one disturbed me, but I still felt tired when I finally became too restless to sleep. As usual, I hated my dreams – a voice screaming at me about how horrible I am. About how much I am like him.

I stood, brushed myself off, and glanced through the lab's window at a digital clock – a little after midnight.

Perfect, I thought, creeping towards the door. I pressed against it; much to my surprise, it was unlocked.

I better not blow it, I reminded myself, creeping through the darkened lab. They'll lock it up after tonight!

It was hard to locate everything in the darkness, so I pulled out my tiny flashlight and switched it on. Its light caught the edge of something shiny and silvery; I moved over to examine it.

Sitting on the table was a brand-new silvery-grey Pokédex. In the darkness, I smiled softly. A Dex, huh? That'll go nicely with my starter. So nice of them to 'give' it to me, ha ha…

I grabbed the Dex and tucked it in my jacket before creeping towards the machine holding the Poké balls. As I approached, my foot brushed something large and furry. There was a low growl in the darkness.

I whipped the flashlight towards the sound of a noise to shine it straight in the eyes of an annoyed Arcanine. The moment it saw me, it started barking like all get out.

Damn! I thought, darting between its massive paws. I grabbed the first Poké ball on the machine, jammed it into my jacket and ran for the door, the Arcanine snapping at my heels; for good measure, I aimed a kick at its stupid face.

I managed to get out of the lab and slam the door in its face before running for the exit to the next route like all I was worth. I glanced at the upper level of the lab, where the professor lives; the lights were on.

I wanted to camp out on the roadside, but I reminded myself that that's where they would look first. Whenever I entered a patch of grass, I tried to calm myself down, because wild Pokémon are more likely to attack if you're running or stressed out, but my heart was thumping so hard I thought my chest would burst. Whenever a wild Pokémon appeared, I didn't even bother sending out my newly-stolen starter; I just ran.

Run, run, an unpleasant voice hissed inside my head. Run and steal, that's all you can do. You're a coward, Silver, a coward just like –

I gritted my teeth and pushed the voice away. I hate that voice.

By now, the simple skyline of Cherrygrove City was visible in the darkness. I found a nice tree and curled up underneath it, looking to all the world like just another trainer camping on the route.

I could've kept going, but I didn't plan to. I was going to wait, until a certain someone came along, and I was going to establishexactly which of us was the strongest.