The only sounds progressing through the Pokemon Center waiting room were the soft whispers of nurses and the sharp beeping of machines from other rooms. There was only one person in the waiting room. A girl, no older than sixteen, looking bruised and worn. Yet, she was sitting up straight, remarkably rigid in her chair with this unreadable expression on her face. Perhaps the only thing that indicated that she was worried were her hands clutching the muddy hat in her lap until her knuckles were a strained white.

The nurses quietly spoke of how they had seen her before, way back when she visited Clanwood City for medicine for the poor lighthouse pokemon; she hadn't even stopped to battle the gym leader, even if fly would have made it easier and faster. Instead, she sheepishly came back after beating Jasmine to challenge Chuck. They hadn't seen her since, though rumors had said she, Lyra, was now the official the Johto Champion, even if she was rarely seen on the Indigo Plateau.

It had been raining horrendously lately, with days and days of rain without stop. When she burst into the Pokemon Center, bloody and bruised and begging for them to help her pokemon, the only conclusion was that she had been in the mudslide near the Safari Zone. It was too dangerous for them to call an ambulance to get her treated; once she washed up it was apparent she had only gotten a few bad cuts and bruises. Most of her pokemon were okay too, having stayed in their pokeballs throughout the incident. Her typhlosion, however, was not. Waterlogged, bruised, cut, broken... And that was only the beginning.

The nurses hadn't needed to ask what had happened. Now he was in surgery, and his owner was out in the waiting room. It had been five hours, though it seemed like an eternity. Around hour four, Nurse Joy came and sat next to her, placing a hand on her arm.

"The internal bleeding is much worse than we had thought... You should prepare yourself-"

She was not prepared. He would be fine. He needed to be fine. It was a mantra she repeated over, and over, and over again in her head. She finally slumped over, her hat slid to the floor while she put her head in her hands.

He had heard of the incident while in Olivine City. Lyra had mentioned to him as she passed the day before that she was going to the Safari Zone. The two had become... friends, somewhat. She was still ever so kind to him, and he still challenged her to a damn battle every time he saw her. But now it was merely out of habit, the drive to beat her had taken a back seat, and he came to look forward to their interactions.

But he had heard of an accident outside of Clanwood... He was worried when he didn't answer her damn phone. Her idiotic friend with the Marill hadn't heard from her either. It took him far to long get here, even when the storm died down a bit. People who were rushing back to their houses looked at him like he was insane as he angrily pushed towards the Pokemon Center.

Stupid, stupid girl.

Lyra didn't noticed the door silently slide open, and a tall boy silently lean against the wall next to her. He looked like an angry, wet cat, with his arms crossed over his chest and a scowl on his face. She only spared him a glance when Nurse Joy came and asked if he wanted to rest his pokemon, and Silver merely handed her his belt with a grunt. He glanced at Lyra, but said nothing. They sat there in silence.

"Why are you here?" she finally muttered. Lyra expected him to speak as he normally did. Rough, loud, and angry. He was always proclaiming what he was feeling, why he was feeling it, and what he was going to do about it- angry, because Lyra had done something stupid (he was worried), and he was going to yell something about beating her ass in a pokemon battle if it was the last thing he did. Silver was smarter than that- her starter was dying. Silver supposed they were past the yelling and pointless banter, anyhow.

"It's storming," Silver replied, cryptically.

"Oh."

Silence, again. The boy became increasingly aware of the ticking clock above them.

"I heard there was a mudslide." He continued finally.

She didn't answer for a few moments. "Yes."

He examined her critically. She was injured; he could see the angry bruising and cuts on her arms and bare legs and even on her right cheek. She had, at least, changed out of the wet, dirty clothing into a t-shirt and into some rolled up sweatpants. She even still had those damn pigtails. But her hat that had once been stark white was muddied, was left crumpled on the ground, its bright red bow no where to be found. And the pokemon that didn't like him wasn't around to be hovering and growling at him, which would make her smile and giggle sheepishly while he angrily snapped at it.

Silver wasn't stupid. He didn't inquire what had happened, he could guess. "Oh," was all he could really say.

And he wasn't the type to ask if she was okay or show her much more concern other than showing up and standing by her. There wasn't anything he could do to make it better, and they both knew it.

The 6 hours followed without many words exchanged or any information given. It almost pained him to stay silent for so long- the boy always had something to say or something to scream about, and by god, he wanted to know what was going on in the operating room and he wanted to know now. He didn't understand how Lyra was silently and patiently waiting there...

Silver has ended up sinking into a seat nearby, his sneasel resting up against his leg. They had only moved to use the restroom and retrieve a drink from the vending machine. It was funny, he hadn't expected her to be so calm- then again, he had half expected her to be dead when he got there. But still, he pictured her to be the crying type. Especially with how much she cared about her pokemon. The boy wouldn't have known how to handle it- he didn't know how to handle it.

"Silver?" His eyes flickered towards her, suddenly concerned his musings would become true. But no, she sat there, leaning forward in her chair and nervously rubbing her hands together. There were no tears in her eyes, but fear. He sat up straighter, mildly alarmed.

"Hm?" he grunted in response.

"He's going to die, isn't he?"

He stopped short. That wasn't what he thought she was going to say. He expected something like where do pokemon go when they die? Or even what am I going to do if Typhlosion's gone? Not a yes or no question that could make her feel horribly worse or fill her with a dull, false sense of hope. He shifted uncomfortably, his sneasel moving to rest against the chair leg. It was a badly placed question. Her pokemon likely saved her own life during the slide, explaining her minor injuries. She would blame herself, wouldn't she?

Silver wanted to tell her that her typhlosion would be fine, but he hadn't seen the pokemon yet nor did he know the extent of his injuries. "I... don't know." It was the truth. Silver didn't continue, and Lyra didn't relax.

"I keep going over it in my mind." Silver glanced at her again, "And... The Safari Warden said we would be safe on foot to go back, but the storm came quicker that we had thought. I tried to put him in his pokeball, but he insisted on traveling with me- I thought he was being dumb, you know how he hates getting wet..." Her lips twitched into a half smile, while Silver grimaced at the memory of the pokemon, who had been a quilava at the time, throwing fireballs in his direction when he had dumped water on him accidentally. That seemed so long ago now.

"But it just wasn't safe and it just... happened. There wasn't anything I could have done. It... It wasn't my fault," This, once again, vaguely surprised Silver. Though she was usually calm and silent, like when she battled, he assumed she needed to at least talk through what had happened. Silver rarely ever heard a single complaint from her, other than how he treated pokemon. But it seemed that he should give her more credit. This stupid girl was smart. "But it feels like it is... But it... It wasn't my fault."

"No, it wasn't," he said, swallowing hard. Lyra glanced at him, grateful. He looked away. She didn't deserve this. God, sitting here was painful. He just wanted-

Nurse Joy walked in, a flat, unreadable expression on her face. Silver stiffened. "Lyra?" She spoke softly. His head snapped up, and she jumped out of her chair immediately.

"Yes?" It was a breathless answer. "How is he?" she asked. He watched the hope desperately fill her her, but he also watched Nurse Joy slowly shake her head and walk forward, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry, but he likely won't last the-"

Silver stopped listening, his fists tightening. Lyra, however, listened to the explanation Nurse Joy gave. She calmly asked questions- how it had happened, why they couldn't fix it, and when she could see him.

Sliver didn't think it was a good idea for her to see him, but he let the girl disappear behind the white doors with Nurse Joy. It wasn't his place to go with her, and he wasn't sure he wanted to see him. The pokemon never had liked him, he mused, always growling and hissing every time he got too close or roared insults at Lyra... He had deserved it most of the time. He wasn't sure why he had stayed once he confirmed that Lyra was okay- no, that wasn't right, he realized. He absentmindedly reached to pat his sneasel on the head. Despite her calm, rational reaction, she wasn't okay.

Wasn't that what friends did? Didn't they stay in the best of times and, more importantly, the worst of times? And now her closest companion was gone forever, her very first pokemon killed in an accident. It was angering, it wasn't fair. She was the new Champion. Lyra didn't deserve it. He didn't empathize with others well, but he remembered when he went to give his pokemon back to the professor in New Bark Town and how horrible he had felt... And if Feraligatr had gone, he wasn't sure if he would even be alive.

The doors opened again shook him from his thoughts, and the nurse was standing there, Lyra no where in sight. His eyes narrowed. She cleared her throat awkwardly.

"Could you come-" He stood, shoving his hands in his pockets and jerking his head lightly for his Sneasel to follow.

The pokemon was lying on the bed, barely breathing. The dirt and the blood had been cleaned from his fur, but he just looked so... broken with all the stitches and tubes connected to him. He hated any medical treatment- Silver knew from when he had tried to apply a paralysis-heal on him, once a very long time ago; he had nearly ripped off his head; Now he was hooked up to all sorts of machines, most of which Silver had no idea what they did. It was monitoring his weak heartbeat. The boy grit his teeth. The rest of the girl's smaller pokemon lined the farther side of the bed, trying to sadly cuddle the creature. The marill was crying.

Nothing was worse than Lyra, who had inched the only chair as far as it could go up to the bed, hunched over with her head in her hands. She was crying too- though it was hardly noticeable. Only the slight shake of her shoulders and the one quiet sniff he heard were the only things that alerted him.

Silver swallowed, unable to provide comfort- he didn't know how. Why the nurse had chosen to call him in was beyond him. There was nothing he could do. He couldn't just magically make the pokemon better! His fingers curled into fists as his sneasel moved to go sit with the other pokemon. So for a few minutes, he stood there, awkwardly at the door, and let her cry. Would it be less embarrassing for her if he didn't make his presence known?

It shouldn't be embarrassing at all, a little voice in the back of his head scolded him. Crying was not a sign of weakness, especially in times of trouble. Silver pressed his lips together in a thin line as he reminded himself of that. Old habits die hard, he supposed. Would it help her, if she knew that he was there? One glance at the pink, badazzled pokegear on the table showed that she had tried calling her mum and that Ethan kid, but there was no response. He wondered when they would call back.

And then she started to sob aloud. He almost jumped out of his skin- her pokemon trying to coddle her, even his Sneasel was by her legs, trying to hug her. Silver looked from the dying creature to his owner, and inwardly panicked. He couldn't do this! All he could do was be there. So that's what he did.

Walking forward, he reached forward. His hand lingered in the air for just a moment, before he placed it on her shoulder lightly. She made no move of acknowledgment other than to lean into him.

"I am-" he started, his voice getting caught in his throat. There was a pause and then a sniffle from his friend. He was going to say he was sorry. But that wouldn't go over well, would it? Lyra disliked pity. Silver grit his teeth and tried again. "I am... here, if you need me," he said, carefully.

Lyra continued to cry, though one of her hands reached up and grasped his, and he could have sworn her heard a soft, mangled thank you from the girl. They remained like that for a long time, enough for Silver's legs and hand to cramp, but he never moved, true to his word. They remained like that until the pokemon took his last breath.

This was new to him. Lyra... was his friend. This overbearing concern that he felt for the girl was new to him. What else could he do other then provide her his presence as an attempt to comfort her? He didn't know what to say or how to act otherwise. And she seemed to always do the same for him, even when he was a total ass to her.

Once the pokemon had gone, their positions had shifted. She had collapsed to the floor in exhaustion and sadness afterwards. Nurse Joy removed the body. Silver had followed, his arm slowly wrapping around her shoulder. Lyra just leaned into him and cried. She seemed to be craving contact, some physical proof that she wasn't alone. He could provide that, at the very least.

"It isn't fair." Silver wasn't sure he was supposed to hear that.

"I know," he still murmured back.

"Thank you, Silver." Her grip tightened on him, and all he could do was tighten his own and mourn her beloved pokemon with her.

The pokemon around him wept and came around to comfort their friend. There wasn't anything he could do to fix it or make it better, but let her cry. It did not make her weak, he realized. The girl that won every battle she faced, in life and in pokemon, was never weak. But that didn't mean she wasn't human.

Repost story from old account. Not stolen, I promise!

-Meri