Title: The Last Challenger
Rating: G
Word Count: 747
Genre: Character Study, Romance, Drama
Summary: Red/Lyra. There's only one person Lyra hasn't beaten.
Disclaimer: Pokémon isn't mine.
Author's Notes: So here's the story of this fic. I wrote this for PokePrompts' 5x5 challenge (it won first place). The challenge was to write five ficlets to five random songs from your shuffled playlist, and you only have 15 minutes to write each fic. I was in the car when I wrote this, and I had some handicaps: I was writing by hand, so I was slowed down, I only had until the end of the song (because I had no control over what was playing in the car XD; for those who care, the Pandora station was La Roux), and all the pieces had to tell a cohesive story. While writing this, I was fighting the most HORRIBLE CASE of carsickness ever. EVER. Oh God. And the last song cut out just as I was finishing up, so I had to stop and start, but I still used only 15 minutes. Oh yeah, we were also driving up a ten thousand foot tall mountain...which may have influenced this a little bit. _ I'm working on a second challenge fill too; the same story, from Red's POV. I'll post that as its own fic, though.

1. In For The Kill, La Roux/Skream, "Let's Get Ravey Remix"

She tucked her mother's scarf more closely around her neck, but it couldn't protect her from the blistering cold. Typhlosion, by her side, was ready and waiting.

So was Red.

"I'm ready," she called over the roar of the storm. "This time I'll win!" She couldn't stop her voice from shaking. Red said nothing.

Lyra's hands clenched into fists. "Go, Typhlosion!"

A threatening growl burst from her Pokémon's throat as he stepped forward. The mantle of flames around his shoulders spiked in intensity, melting the snowflakes that sparkled on her face.

She wasn't ready.

Red watched impassively. She tried to smile; it hurt, but she still tried.

"You—won again..."

Pikachu wasn't breathing hard. It hadn't even needed to try.

The tears froze as they trailed down her face. "You're amazing," she stammered. Her smile cracked in half. Red took a step forward; she turned away quickly, covering her face. "Amazing," she sobbed. "You're the best, even after all these years—"

Red stood before her, watching as she cried and cried.

Why did she keep coming back?

She stood at the mouth of the cave, hesitating. The world around her had dissolved to nothing but white. How did he live in this colorless cold? Didn't he know how sad it was, up here?

Didn't he have anyone to tell him?

Red appeared at the mouth of the cave, hands in his pockets. Waiting. Expectant. But Lyra shook her head.

"I'm not here to fight you." The second the words left her mouth, she knew she was speaking the truth.

Red continued to stare. Well, then, he silently asked, What do you want?

"I want..." What did she want? He had no badges to give, no titles to bestow. Barely anyone knew he even existed, much less where he was.

Why did she keep coming?

"Lyra! Lyra!" Reporters banged on her door. "A few words. Please?"

She covered her ears with her hands, cringing away from the noise. Her Typhlosion stood over her, whuffling her hair and trying to comfort her.

"It's been three months since you swept the Johto and Kanto leagues. You're the champion!"

She reached out and buried her face in her Pokémon's fur. Go away, she whispered. Go away.

"You're the best trainer on the continent!" shouted another voice. "How does it—"

Lyra's eyes flew open. No, she wasn't. She wasn't the best.

She was in her room before she realized it, throwing things into her bag with reckless abandon. As the doorknob rattled and the reporters cried, she crawled out her window and ran towards Mt. Silver.

Pikachu took a step towards Typhlosion—one last, trembling step. His cheek pouches sparked, a fizzling glint of light, and shivered from exhaustion, not the cold.

This time, Lyra was the one who waited.

"Pika," he gasped. It came out desperate and weak; I'm sorry, I've failed you. "Pika." Finally, he collapsed to the ground.

She raised her eyes to Red's; he smiled, uncertainly, as if he'd forgotten how. He walked to his Pikachu and picked him up. Lyra bit her lip. "I knew you would," he said, cradling his Pokémon in his arms. It was the first time he'd ever spoken to her.

"I'm sorry," she burst out, running towards him. He shook his head as he got to his feet. "No, I mean—" She stumbled in the snow—"Ah!" Lyra just managed to catch herself, but stopped at an unfamiliar sound: Red was chuckling.

"I'm glad I met you," he said softly. He extended a hand. Her eyes again filled with tears, but for a different reason this time. It had taken her two years to reach this moment, and now—now that she'd beaten him, the last challenge—she was happy, and scared, and sad, too. Did this mean it was over?

"Congratulations," he said as she took his hand. Lyra looked up at him, his dirty cap and his windburned cheeks and that quiet, genuine smile.

...Did this mean she'd never see him again?

She lunged forward to throw her arms around him; he staggered back a step before he caught himself. "Thank you," she forced out through frostbitten lips. "Thank you, thank you so—" She clutched his jacket and held him tighter; she didn't want this to end, to be the end.

After a moment, she felt him bow his head, returning the embrace.

"It's not the end," Red said quietly, for her ears alone. "It's the beginning."