Pokémon Heroes of Johto

The Enemy of My Friend Is My Rival

I strolled along casually down the road behind Gold. We had just passed through Cherrygrove City about fifteen minutes ago, so Violet City should be close. Cyndaquil calmly walked beside me, glancing around the grassy hills. I hadn't noticed when Gold stopped walking, as I was too busy thinking, and I bumped into him from behind. This had better not become a habit of me bumping into people.
"Hey look, I think that's Violet City!" Gold announced, pointing downhill. I stepped to the side to see where he was pointing. It was definitely a city. Pulling out my Pokégear, I checked the Town Map to see the name of it. "Am I right? Is it Violet City?" Gold asked anxiously. I stuffed my Pokégear back into my pocket, my gaze meeting Gold's shimmering eyes as I looked up.
"Yeah, that's it." I stated flatly. Gold grabbed me by the wrist, catching me by surprise, and began running down the hill, pulling me along. Man, where'd he get all that energy?! I just answered a question!
Within minutes, we were in Violet City, thanks to Gold's random energy boost. The dimly painted buildings looked really depressing to me, even the paint on the Pokémon Center made my stomach feel bad.Gold got us our free room in the Pokémon Center and left to go wash up a bit after he put our stuff in the room. I decided to wait for him in the lounging area in the lobby of the Pokémon Center. There were two bright red couches facing each other, a glass coffee table in-between them.
I tossed myself onto one of the couches, wiping the sweat off my forehead as I did so. I didn't realize how hot it was outside today. Laying here lazily, I began to dose off a little when I heard someone else enter the Pokémon Center. Curiosity killed the Meowth, and I peaked over to check who it was. I regretted doing so immediately. My eyes spotted the familiar red hair, dull grey eyes, and a black jacket.

It was Silver.

He emotionlessly glanced over at me, but when he recognized me, he glared, his eyes going sharp. I froze at the sight. Trying to pretend I didn't notice him, I sat back down quickly. That didn't work. He came over to me, sitting on the couch across from me and staring into my ruby eyes with his silver ones.
"Don't think I didn't see you looking at me." Silver stated suddenly, catching me off guard.
"W-what? I was just looking to see who came in you know." I murmured, not really wanting to argue. I shook my head to stop myself from blanking out, and gave him a nervous smile. "Look, Silver, I think we got off on the wrong foot. Let me introduce myself properly, I'm Fire. Fire of Pallet Town, back in the Kanto region." I said, standing up and holding my hand out for him to shake. I could tell he hesitated for a moment, but soon smacked my hand away roughly.
"Does it look like I care how we got off?" Silver asked rudely. I rubbed my hand where he had hit me, glaring back at him. There was no need for him to do that.
"You could at least try to be nice to people!" I scowled, balling my fists. Silver stood up, smirking darkly as he stared into my eyes.
"For what? To make everyone happy? Ha, spare me! I don't need to be taught anything by some girl and her weak Pokémon." Silver said in a low, dark tone. That was the final straw.
"What was that?! What, do you think you're stronger than us or something?! I'll show you how strong we are! Let's battle right now!" I snapped.
"Whatever you say." Silver sighed out carelessly as he plucked a Pokéball from his belt and stared at me, waiting for my move. I glared at him for a long minute, plucking a Pokéball from my belt as well. He smirked as I glanced down at Cyndaquil's Pokéball. I had to beat him. Not just because he called me weak, but he called my partner weak too. That's just unforgivable to me.
Within minutes, we were outside on the Pokémon Center's battle field.
"Alright, Cyndaquil!! Let's show him our strength!" I called out, the fire on my partner's back igniting swiftly as it got into the battling spirit.
"Todadile, let's get this over with." Silver deadpanned, lightly tossing the Pokéball for his Pokémon to appear. It irritated me how he didn't even have the slightest enthusiasm to battle me.
"Cyndaquil, Ember!" I commanded. Cyndaquil jumped into the air, firing small bursts of fire at Todadile. It hit, sending Todadile sliding a few feet backwards. It glared back, its sharp onyx eyes reminding me of Silver's. Like Pokémon like trainer, I guess.
"Water Gun." Silver commanded bluntly. Todadile responded by shooting a pressure-filled Water Gun at Cyndaquil. Cyndaquil didn't have time to dodge, the force of the super effective move sending it stumbling backwards almost faster than the eye can see.
"Cyndaquil!! You okay?" I called to my partner worriedly. I heard Silver howl a paining laugh.
"Is that it?! That's the best you can do?! I was right, you really are weak!" Silver taunted. I lowered my head. He was laughing at me. No, he wasn't just laughing at me, he was laughing at Cyndaquil, too. My hurt expression changed drastically. My eyebrows furrowed, teeth clenched, fists balled, and I glared at Silver from under my cap. Turning to Cyndaquil with a determined look, we nodded to each other, and focused back on our opponents. No one messes with my partner.
"You...." I muttered, my head hung low. I jolted my gaze up, I could see that I startled him, and he was trying to keep his composure. "You haven't seen anything yet!! Cyndaquil, give it all you've got with Swift!!" I commanded. Despite the damage it took, Cyndaquil launched a powerful array of stars, shooting them directly at Todadile. It struggled to stand, trying to force itself to keep going. I didn't give Silver the chance to counter attack. "Now, Quick Attack!" Cyndaquil tackled it swiftly, nocking Silver's Todadile out.
Silver's eyes widened for a moment, then quickly, he changed his expression to a scowl, returning the fainted Todadile. I panted softly, proud of our victory against that jerk. He made his way over to me, eyes closed, but he was still visibly furious. He stopped right next to me, shoulder to shoulder, but facing dead ahead. He opened his eyes, never shifting his gaze from straight passed me. "That was just you getting lucky. Next time we meet, I'll be the one to give you a crushing defeat." Silver stated fiercely. Without another word, he left. I stood there for a moment thinking about what he said. A smile made its way to my face in the process.
"Heh....guess that makes us rivals, huh?" I thought aloud to myself. Lifting my gaze upwards, I smirked. "Looking forward to it... Silver!"
"Hey, Fire!" I turned to the back door of the Pokémon Center, the one leading to the battle field I stood in. Gold ran to my side, a quizzical look on his face. "Hey, I just saw someone who looked a little familiar walk passed you. Where you just battling that Silver guy?" Gold asked. I stood there for a moment, realizing the Pokémon I just battled was probably the stolen one. I realized if I told Gold that it was Silver that I was battling, he'd want to give chase and get Silver arrested. As right a thing that was to do, I....

I couldn't find the courage to do that.

I grinned softly at Gold.
"Nah, it was nothing special." Just as I finished those words I couldn't get myself to stop wondering....

Why did I lie?