notes – How long has it been since I wrote something for the gameverse? This is a good break from the pokespe fics I've been pouring out. I really do hold pokespe and its characters very close to my heart. The games are special to me too, of course. It's been a long time since I've written these two, so I hope I haven't lost the hang of it. Thank you to scenotaphs for the beta!

(prompt: well-known pleasures)

outrunning

Somewhere between losing yet another rematch with Lyra and entertaining a phonecall from Ethan ('So have you kissed her yet? You must've gone on a date, at least.'), Silver broke.

"Why can't I beat you?" he mumbled with a frown. The boy gathered up his fallen crobat from the carpeted floor and checked for any serious bruises. In his mind, he was already evaluating the match, searching for the mistake. Crobat was more than ready to take on her team – he must have given a wrong order somewhere in all the adrenaline and fighting.

Lyra raised an eyebrow at his words. "Huh? You've never complained about that. Well, not since – " She stopped mid-sentence when he shot her a glare. Talking about his past behaviour was unnecessary. She took the hint, smiling awkwardly as she adjusted her hat.

Silver carried his crobat past the girl, heading towards the pokémon center of the League building. He could hear Lyra breaking into a slow jog to catch up with him. When she appeared beside him, chin nearly resting on his shoulder and suddenly far too close, the boy squeezed the bat in his arms in reflex. He heard Crobat's little noises of protest and felt its tongue licking his wrist – but all Silver focused on was Lyra's scent.

Unlike other girls, she didn't smell like perfume and shampoo. When she stood close, Silver caught the scent of her travels – the open road, untouched nature and sweat and the tangy iron in a dark cave's air. Usually, one particular scent was stronger than the others. Today, she smelled most of Cherrygrove's flowers.

"But you've been getting stronger, Silver! I bet you've managed to beat Lance too," Lyra said as she walked beside him down the staircase, bringing him back to the present.

"I have," he muttered. Twice, in fact. All the training in Victory Road paid off, allowing him to take on the Elite Four with success. "But I won't feel satisfied until I beat you, damnit," he said, unable to suppress the fizzle in his voice.

Lyra didn't falter. She simply smiled like she always did. She was still the only person he knew that could counter his anger with patient happiness. "You'll get it soon! You were close today, I'm just lucky Typlosion held out for as long as he did. But, Silver, just because I'm cheering you on doesn't mean I'll go easy on you next time!" she told him.

The girl opened her arms, beckoning him to pass Crobat to her as they came to the counter of the pokémon center. She cradled the flying-type, returning a nuzzle affectionately, before placing it in front of the nurse. Silver unclipped the remaining pokéballs on his belt and passed them to the nurse as well.

"Wouldn't have it any other way," Silver replied gruffly, turning his eyes away from his rival.

"Still, I am curious," Lyra mused, swaying back and forth on the balls of her feet. "Why do you want to beat me so badly lately?" she asked.

Because: he can't possibly be with her until he's as strong as her.

The next few Mondays and Wednesdays passed, and Lyra remained the victor.

Silver lowered himself onto one knee as his sneasel collapsed. He punched the floor. Still not good enough for his pokémon. Still not good enough for Lyra. It had been a long time since he felt so much emotion, so much frustration. He didn't want to remember these feelings. He thought he'd discarded them when he decided to become a better pokémon trainer.

He lifted his gaze off the floor to see Lyra crouching beside him, just like that time at Team Rocket's hideout. Her eyes were the same too, concerned and kind, reaching out for him.

"Leave me alone, I'm fine," he told her as he stood up. He ran to attend to Sneasel, apologizing to it in the quietest voice. The last thing he wanted to do was show Lyra his kinder side.

Lyra followed him as he passed his team over to the nurse. She folded her arms and gave him a onceover.

"What?" he snapped.

"You aren't fine," she decided.

Silver frowned.

"Definitely not fine," Lyra concluded, leaning over and tilting her head to get a better look.

Silver, not wanting to give her the satisfaction of being right, faced his back to the girl.

"When was the last time you took a break?" she asked.

"That doesn't concern you," he said, catching himself as he turned to address her. He quickly swiveled away.

"You've been training all this time," Lyra said in awe. "That isn't very good," her voice changed into disapproval. "You need a break! Your pokémon certainly need a break. Maybe that's why you're stuck now."

"I'm not going to try and make sense of your crap – hey!"

Lyra gathered up the pokéballs the nurse returned to the desk and threw them into her bag.

"Give them back." Silver stretched a hand out.

"After you let me take you somewhere to have a break," Lyra said. "Come on, my pidgeot has space for two." She walked towards the entrance of the building without another word.

Silver found himself trailing after her, muttering curses under his breath.

Her pidgeot did not have space for two.

"If I fall to my death– " Silver began, the wind mussing his hair so much that he caught strands of it in his mouth, garbling the rest of his words.

"You won't," Lyra assured him, "just stay close. Pidgeot's strong."

Except he couldn't get any closer or he'd be leaning against her. Lyra's back – the back he'd been chasing all these years – was tiny, her overalls emphasizing the narrowness of her shoulders. He diverted his eyes to the clouds, tightening his hold on the pidgeot's feathers. The bird squawked angrily in response and Lyra scolded him for being so rough.

"Let me have Crobat back then," he told her.

Lyra shook her head, her pigtails whipping his cheeks as a result. "The poor guy can't fly at such a high altitude," she said, completely oblivious to the lethalness of her hairstyle.

Her pidgeot clipped its beak as they neared their destination, swooping down in a descent. Lyra laughed as she was blown back by the force of the gusting wind, right against the front of Silver's jacket where she fitted nicely. He couldn't speak or push her away, spending the rest of the flight in silence.

Silver learned that Lyra had really small shoulders.

"So, how do you like it?"

"… It's a miltank farm."

Lyra sat up from the grassy field. "It's not 'a miltank farm'," she mimicked his sour tone with complete exaggeration. His lower lip did not protrude that much. "It's a miltank farm!" she said with her usual peppy cheer, waving her hands to emphasize her point.

Silver stared at her.

"The air here is so clean, and it's so wide, I always sort my thoughts out here. And the old couple at the farm always have milk to spare. This is a prime location."

Silver didn't say a word. He fell back so that he was lying on the grass beside the girl. With all his training between Victory Road and the enclosed areas outside the League building, it had been a while since he last saw the open sky. He closed his eyes when a breeze rolled through the area, feeling the wind touch his cheeks.

When he opened them, Lyra's hand was on his face. It hadn't been the wind.

"You have some grass stuck here," she said. "Why is your face so red? Are you feeling alright?"

Silver slapped her off.

That day, he learned that Moo Moo milk was Lyra's favourite drink.

On a Wednesday afternoon, Lyra was late. Silver paced around the waiting area near the pokémon center, wondering what was holding her up from their weekly battles. If she didn't come on Monday, she would make the time to come on Wednesday. It was their unsaid promise. Silver wasn't going to let her forget it.

Alakazam hovered beside him, meditating with its spoons clasped tightly in its hands.

"Is she coming today?" he asked the psychic-type.

The pokémon opened one eye, paused to think, before it nodded. Silver sat down on the seats provided at the lounge. He thumbed through a magazine in front of him. Apparently, most of the reading materials left on the waiting table were issues of 'Pokégirl'.

'How to use Attract on boys!'

'Does he like you or your pokémon? Take this quiz now!'

'You don't need a pikachu to keep your love life electrifying! Find out how in this week's issue!'

Silver had no idea magazines like this existed.

Alakazam was right. Lyra did arrive, only that she was eight hours late. She ran through the automatic doors, her hat lopsided on her head. The girl was out of breath as she screeched to a stop in front of Silver, who had gone through almost all the magazines provided at the waiting area. It was a complete waste of time because most of the articles were written from a girl's point of view. He would never get those eight hours back.

Lyra's hair was a mess, one pigtail facing up while the other flopped downwards. One of her overall straps had slipped off her shoulder, and she looked winded.

"You look great," he finally said.

"Very funny." Lyra fiddled with her hair, tying it back into place. "Sorry, today was a busy day. I remembered that I had Clair and Janine waiting for a rematch at Saffron. Then I had to bring some pokemon for massages because I promised them. After that I had tea with Daisy – did you know that Blue was a brat when he was a kid? Oh, and Professor Oak wanted to check my pokédex. I was all over the place today."

"You have no sense of organization," Silver said. This wasn't the first time she was late because of her poor planning. It was the first time she was late by eight hours, though. The sun had long set, and the road outside was hidden in the dark.

"That's why I keep telling you to give me your pokégear number. It would be a lot easier for me to just give you a call if I get too caught up in other things," Lyra told him.

The last thing Silver intended to do was to give his number to his rival. That would mean hours of pointless conversations on the phone (she'd probably call just to check if he was eating or sleeping). And it meant that she didn't need to meet him if she wanted to talk. Silver didn't like the idea of that, of hearing her voice at his ear when she was in fact, half a region apart from him.

"No," he said simply. "And that isn't the point. The point is that you should manage your time better."

Lyra waved her hand flippantly. "Well, I'm here now. Can we have a quick battle? I'm so tired from today," she mumbled, rubbing the corner of her eye.

Silver folded his arms. "There's no need," he said. He took a key out of his front pocket. "Take this. I've rented a room at the pokemon center here since I'm in the area all the time. You can sleep there tonight." He threw the key at the girl, who squeaked in surprise and struggled to catch it in her hands.

"Where will you sleep then?" Lyra asked, holding the key out, uncertain.

"I'll manage. Go. You still owe me a battle. We can have one tomorrow morning." Silver batted her hand away.

When he was sure the girl had disappeared down the hallway leading to the rooms, Silver fell back on the sofa. The nurse that always worked at the pokemon center walked over to him, a grin on her face.

"What?" he asked, still lying down.

"Nothing. She's lucky to have a guy like you," the older woman said, winking. "I'll let you sleep out here, just for tonight."

Silver rolled onto his side, mumbling a half-hearted 'thank you' as he heard the nurse stroll back to her counter, chuckling to herself. As she switched off some of the lights in the lobby, he closed his eyes, the calm quietness of the pokémon league sending him off to sleep despite the freezing air conditioning in the room.

In the middle of the night, Silver felt warmer. He cracked open his eyes to find that someone had draped a blanket over him. Must have been the nurse.

"Good morning!" Lyra sang.

Silver sat up abruptly when he realised she had been sitting next to him. As he hurried to mat his hair down, he noticed that Lyra had a plastic bag of takeaway breakfast on her lap. She smelled like the air outside Victory Road today, and the boy inched away from her, unable to bear the proximity. It was only seven in the morning.

He looked at the crumpled blue blanket that had fallen off him, realizing that it was the one from his room.

"I got us breakfast! Eggs, bacon, coffee and bread." Lyra counted off the items with her fingers, ignoring the look of confusion on his face.

After Silver washed up and returned, Lyra was decidedly less happy than her usual self. It made much more sense to him compared to the 'rise and shine' routine she'd put on just now, because no one was supposed to smile like that so early in the day. Not even her.

"I forgot to take spoons and forks," she said, laughing weakly.

Silver learned that Lyra wasn't perfect, but she was dangerously close. Which was fine, since he had enough imperfections for the both of them to bear.

"We'll get there faster if we ride on my bike," Lyra explained to him.

"I know. But why are you sitting in front?" Silver gestured at the girl and her red bicycle.

"Because… it's mine?" she said slowly, as if she was speaking to a child.

"That's not the point!" Silver protested. His masculinity was at stake if he wasn't the one pedalling. "Look, if you want to get to the National Park faster, you should let me ride front. I have, uh, stronger legs."

"You make a good argument," Lyra said, a hand on her chin as she reflected on his words.

"Move over." Silver took his place on the seat, pushing the girl out of the way. Lyra frowned at him indignantly, but got on behind without a fuss. She placed her hands on him, sending a shock up Silver's spine.

"What was that?" she asked.

"N-nothing!" Silver yelled. He pushed his foot off the ground and cycled towards the park.

Lyra began waving and shouting 'hello's to the various passer-bys as they travelled down Route 36. She must have gotten acquainted with them from past battles. When the girl leaned forward to catch the attention of yet another trainer, Silver caught the scent of books and ink found in Violet City's school. He jammed on the brakes of the bicycle. The two of them screeched to a stop on the roadside.

"Woah! What's wrong now?" Lyra said, pulling her hat up from its new position on her nose.

"Don't lean forward like that!" Silver told her, refusing to turn around.

"Why?"

That tiring afternoon, Silver learned that, despite all appearances, Lyra did possess breasts.

After winning a rematch, Lyra didn't even give Silver the time to lick the wounds to his pride. She immediately approached him with something to say.

"Do you know it's cherry blossom season now? Morty told me that there's going to be a festival at Ecruteak this weekend, and a cherry blossom viewing party at the trees near the city. All the gym leaders are attending – except for Chuck. You know, he has that 24 hour training regime."

"Not interested." Silver was already preparing to walk back to Victory Road to continue his training.

Lyra leapt in front of him, arms akimbo. "But I don't want to go there by myself. I'm not going with the gym leaders either, I'd stick out like a sore thumb with them."

She had a point. The Johto gym leaders were mostly eccentric.

"Still not going. You can't convince me otherwise," he replied.

"I prepared a kimono and everything!" Lyra added, disappointment on her face.

Silver waited for her outside the Kimino Dance Theatre that Saturdary night. He wondered if Lyra wearing a kimono was worth all this. The last time he had seen this many people at one place was when he first stepped foot in Goldenrod. He didn't do well in crowds. They suffocated him and made him feel trapped.

"Did I make you wait?" Lyra's voice came from the door to the theatre.

Silver looked sideways, leaning against the building in what he hoped was a suave fashion. He tried to remain nonchalant when he saw her. Her hair had been tied back into a bun, with a Ho-Oh haircomb nestled at the crest. The pattern on her pink kimono wasn't outstanding, just a line of flowers blooming from her left sleeve down to the end of the skirt. Still, she managed to look radiant.

"How do I look?" she asked, clapping her hands together.

"Glad you ditched the stupid hat. Let's go." Silver pushed off the wall and walked towards the long line of stalls set up for the festival.

"Hey, my hat is cute!" Lyra waddled after him.

As they waded through the crowd at the festival, Silver attempted to hold her hand multiple times. He tried to play it cool – just slowly cover her hand with his, and if she looked at him, he could just look away and pretend he did nothing. Simple. Easy.

Only, every time he reached out, Lyra either rushed to a food stall to buy yet another snack, or someone would come between them. Silver ended up grabbing Whitney's skirt and Falkner's sleeve. The third time he tried, Bugsy's net managed to land over his head. Silver wondered if the gym leaders here were conspiring against him.

On the verge of giving up, he looked around in search of Lyra. She was in front of him only a moment before. Now, the girl was lost in the sea of people, and Silver couldn't help the scowl on his face. Typical. She always got so caught up in her own way of doing things that she'd forget that there were others around her.

Suddenly, he felt someone hold onto his hand.

"There you are, Silver! Don't wander around or you'll get lost," Lyra tutted. In her other hand, she held a candied apple, fried squid, a caterpie mask and a burger. She smelled like oil and butter and fried food.

"I don't want to hear that from you," he told her stiffly. He fixed his hand with hers and led her out of the festival, ignoring her when she insisted she had to buy something else to eat.

On a night filled with cherry blossom petals, Silver learned that Lyra could eat much more than him if she put her mind to it.

Lyra appeared at his training spot in Victory Road one night, drenched to the bone and shaking feverishly. Silver was going to berate her for her negligence to carry an umbrella, but he was interrupted when the thunder outside echoed through the caves. Lyra jumped, the water on her clothes leaping off her, scattering on the cold, rocky floor. She rushed to his side in a panic, leaving Silver dumbstruck.

The next moment, she was clinging to his sleeve, her eyes hidden underneath her hat.

"What's wrong with you?" he asked. He was concerned, but the way the words came out made him sound unhappy. He had to work on that.

Lyra knelt on the floor, pulling him down with her. She stayed in a squat for awhile, before sliding off her ankles and sitting down properly.

"I'm sorry, I just, I don't d-deal well with thunder," she stuttered. He'd never seen her so unsure before. The old Silver would have exploited her weakness, would have taunted her and called her names.

This Silver shook her hand off his sleeve. He carefully placed his arm around her instead. "Whatever," he said softly when Lyra looked up to him, the paleness on her face giving way to something like gratitude.

She nestled beside him, removing her hat and placing it behind her head as a pillow. Fear was something Lyra strived to never show on her face. This was a habit Silver noticed very early on, when he was still telling himself he hated her guts. Lyra never showed the people around her that she was afraid, acting the hero when she was really just a girl with a good trainer sense and strong pokémon. She pretended to be fearless just because she liked helping people. But maybe that was what made her a hero. Sliver couldn't quite tell.

"My father, he left the house on a rainy night and never came back," Lyra said, her voice even quieter in the eerie silence of the caverns Silver grew used to. "The thunderstorm that night must have shaken the whole house, or, at least, that's how I remember it. It was the scariest night of my life."

The next crash of thunder caused her to bury her face in the shallow space between his shoulder and neck. Silver didn't say anything. He thought about his own father, about him walking away that night in the forest. The intense loneliness and abandonment he'd experienced. There was the feeling of emptiness in his heart that could never be filled up all the way, no matter what he did.

Silver absently stroked her head. Lyra settled against him, the subsequent claps of thunder having less of an effect on her, until finally, she drifted off to sleep. Once the boy was sure, he reached for the bag at her side, rummaging around until he found what he was looking for.

He clicked the pokéball and a typlosion appeared in front of them, yawning and stretching. When it saw the position they were in, it bared a row of sharp teeth, as if it was grinning. "Don't you dare say anything about this," Silver hissed at the pokémon.

Typlosion shrugged. It surveyed the area and deduced what was the purpose behind it being called out of the pokéball. It snuggled around Lyra and Silver, the flames lacing its neck keeping them warm.

Silver learned that sleeping in a cave gave one a sore neck in the morning.

Lyra patted her typlosion's head, offering it an oran berry. It satisfied the tired pokémon, who'd barely held on during the last match. Silver had been close.

As they withdrew their last pokémon, Silver sighed. "I'll get it next time," he said, more to himself than to her.

"You will if you keep at it!" Lyra chimed.

Silver stared daggers at her, the sugar in her voice spoiling the depressing atmosphere around him. The fact that they had battled in the shadowy caverns of Victory Road this time had been helping him brood. Lyra just had to intrude with her optimism, like always.

The floor beneath their feet began rumbling, and as Silver and Lyra exchanged looks of confusion, the sound grew closer. Lyra was already taking her bike out of her bag as Silver saw what was causing the noise. A pride of rhyhorn were stampeding through the tunnel. Silver had no time to argue with Lyra. He jumped on the back of the bike, grabbing Lyra's shoulders as she pedaled off, the grunts of the rhyhorn booming behind them.

"Where did they come from?" She glanced over her shoulder as she pedalled.

"Keep your eyes on the road!" Silver ordered, his voice embarrassingly high-pitched.

"Don't worry, we'll just outrun them at the next turnnn – ahhhh!"

She had missed the turn, and cycled off the edge of the floor.

The first thought came in an instant when the bike fell under them and they arced in the air – he looped an arm around Lyra's waist and held her close. All his pokemon had fainted, he couldn't ask any of them for help. Victory Road had only three floors as far as he knew, but this crevice seemed deeper than that. Silver couldn't think any further, his mind blanking out.

Lyra, swallowing a scream and seizing her pokéballs, called on one of her pokémon.

Silver was sure that he'd knocked out most of them – the only one left was –

Typlosion appeared in a flash of red, immediately digging its claws into the side of the cliff as they began to fall. Silver reached out, finding purchase on the creature's pelt. "Are you crazy? He's badly hurt!" he shouted, his heart thumping in his chest, a loud noise disrupting his thoughts. He heard the bike crashing against the ground below, cast in darkness. Not a pleasant sound.

"Typlosion, you can do it!" Lyra ignored him, her hand gripping the material of his jacket.

"You're crazy!" Silver screamed, the sweat cold at the back of his neck. But still, he held onto the pokémon, as it kicked and fought with the rocky walls, slowing their fall bit by bit. He could feel the pokemon's muscles tense and struggle under his hand, the battle having taken a toll on its stamina and strength. No way they would survive this.

"Just hold on," Lyra said, her voice calm and collected. "I believe in you," she was talking to Typlosion.

She raised her eyes to look into Silver's, her hat long discarded in the murky depths. Her brown hair, unruly and soft, framed her face. "You won't get anywhere if all you think about is your limitations," she said, reaching out with all her might to place her hand next to his on Typlosion's back.

"We can do this!"

The arm around her waist slid down to her hips as the girl leaned forward, pressing her bare hand against the wall to help gain a hold. The friction Typlosion and Lyra created caused them to skid down the crevice at a safer pace. Silver bit his lip before knocking her fingers away.

"Don't do that. You'll hurt your hand," he said, his voice steadying. "I'm wearing gloves."

Lyra looked at him, blinking in faint surprise. Then, she smiled and placed her hands over his on the wall, her fingers filling in the spaces between his.

Together, they slowed down to a halt against the wall. Lyra attended to Typlosion, patting its head and telling it to hold for just a little longer. Silver took out his flashlight and searched for the ground below. They'd fallen about five floors. The ground was near enough for them to jump from this height and sustain a few aches at most. Lyra's hat was also resting amongst the debris.

The three of them collapsed on the ground, breathing heavily. Lyra wrapped her arms around Typlosion's neck, making quick work of applying potions to the pokémon, whispering her 'thank-you's and promising to grow its favourite berries. Silver lay silent on the cold, clammy floor of the caves, the event flashing back in his mind. Lyra had never given up on her pokémon or herself.

Silver learned the reason why Lyra was stronger than him.

"I… "

"You won!" Lyra shouted, thrilled and eager as she withdrew her last pokémon.

His feraligator roared with pride, growling happily as Silver placed a hand on its back. He looked at his partner, remembering how the tiny totodile from back then had grown into the blue beast beside him now. Silver pulled his friend close, hugging Feraligator in the heat of the moment, unable to place his emotions into words. His pokémon's claws felt heavy and large on his shoulders. It was a weight he would bear for as long as his pokémon would let him.

When he let go of Feraligator, Lyra ran over, throwing her arms around him.

"You finally did it!" she said, squeezing Silver with excitement.

His arms were frozen at his sides, but slowly, as the truth sunk in, Silver placed his hands on her back, returning the embrace.

"So, what are you going to do now that you've achieved your goal?" Lyra asked, her eyes the colour of stars. Today, she smelled like she did that first day in New Bark Town, fresh and unpredictable and ready for a long journey ahead.

"The thing I've always wanted to do," Silver said.

"Oh? It wasn't beating me? Then what is it?" she asked.

Somehow, Silver always knew that Lyra would have the softest lips.