Bonus chapter, 'cause you know you want it :)

This isn't an epilogue… just saying… it's some random thing that one of my lovely friends wanted me to write. So I did.

"Okay, where were you two?" Ethan demanded. "I've been trying to contact you for five days, and I didn't get a response! Not one!"

It took a moment for Silver to response. When he did, he shrugged. "We went to Sinnoh."

Silence. Then Ethan sputtered, "Sinnoh? You went all the way to Sinnoh?" He paused. "How did you even get there?"

"We flew," Lyra said. Ethan stared as she added, "We took a lot of breaks, of course, to keep the birds energized. But we did Fly all the way there."

"In two days?"

"Yeah," Lyra confirmed with a nod. "Turns out Silver knows how to get the most out of Pokemon while not exhausting them. He taught me a few tricks, too."

After a long silence Ethan cleared his throat and said, "Okay. So you went to Sinnoh. For five days. All right. I can live with that. Yup. Five days. Sinnoh." Then he cried, "Who would go to Sinnoh for five days, without telling anyone? Why didn't you tell me?"

Silver and Lyra gave him nearly identical looks.

"Yeah, okay, so people don't tell me things because I might tell the paparazzi," Ethan grumbled. Then he asked, "How did you avoid the paparazzi?"

"We flew to Sinnoh on our birds," Silver said tartly. "Do you think they would follow us? They aren't that desperate."

"They could be," Ethan retorted.

Another silence, though Ethan being Ethan, he was quick to break it. "Okay. Sinnoh for five days, avoided paparazzi, and you flew there. Okay. Sure. So what did you do there, then?"

"Like we said, it took two days to get there," Lyra explained, "So that left us only a day to wander. So first, we went around to a few of the Gyms."

Ethan was expecting more romantic things than that, but he wasn't exactly surprised by the choice of location, either. His friends were battle freaks, unlike the amazing him. "Okay. A few Gyms. Say, three or four. Then what?"

"The Game Corner, naturally," Silver said with a malicious smirk. "Rigged a few machines again."

"You guys are the weirdest couple I have ever known," Ethan declared after processing this. "Ever. Ever, ever, ever. Okay, after the Gyms, after the Game Corner, you must've done something romantic. Right?"

"Yeah, we went out for dinner," Silver said with a nod.

Ethan clapped his hands together gleefully. "That's what I'm talking about! Where?"

"Oh, it was awesome!" Lyra gushed. "You sat down to eat all this delicious food, and you got to battle people at the same time! And they were pretty strong, too!"

"So you went to Gyms, then the Game Corner, then some restaurant with good food and good battles…" Ethan visibly deflated in front of them. He had hoped dinner, at least, would've been romantic and mushy, so he could've teased them. But instead, they had been battling other trainers. "By then it must've been late…"

"Yes," Lyra agreed. "I dragged him to the beach to swim and to watch the sunset. It was beautiful."

Yes, finally, something he could tease them about! "Did anything… happen?" he asked slyly.

"We battled some swimmers," Silver said with a shrug. "Pretty weak, but it's an interesting concept, swimming while battling instead of Surfing. My Sneasel had to freeze a portion of the water to stand on."

"I remember that," Lyra said with a chuckle. "He kept on slipping off, too, poor thing."

Ethan groaned and slapped his forehead, seeing his friends were about to go on with some sort of battling rant. "You guys are so boring!" he exploded at them. "What am I supposed to tease you about if you don't do anything romantic?"

They both stared at him.

"Okay, yes, stupid question," Ethan grumbled. "But… but… what else am I supposed to do? It's just awkward for me to stand here, sometimes, talking to you two, because you're – " He paused and noted a detail he hadn't noticed earlier. " – holding hands," he finished. He sighed. "Well, it's something."

"Gee, thanks," Silver said dryly.

Ethan turned away and flapped a hand at them. "Go take a walk or something. I can't stand this!"

"Dramatic as usual," Silver remarked without missing a beat, though the other two complied and turned away.

Ethan listened until their footsteps had faded; then he began to trace their tracks, stealthily following them. He grinned. By the end of today, he'd have something, that was for sure. And once he did… they'd never hear the end of it.

He cackled madly and loped after them. He was going to make today a good day, even if it killed him.

The next morning... (time lapse, score!)

"What happened to you?" Professor Elm asked, one eyebrow raised.

Ethan gave the professor a lopsided grin, nursing a spectacular black eye on the left side of his face. "I got Silver mad at me," he admitted.

Elm gave a short laugh. "Smooth as always, Ethan." While he turned he added, "Don't think this will lessen your work load."

"Aw, Professor, that's mean! I'm injured. Just look at this!"

"It's completely your fault," Elm pointed out with a grim smile. "Silver never does things without a reason."

Ethan wasn't so sure about that. "Even when stealing Pokemon from right under your nose?"

Elm shot Ethan a glare that could've peeled paint. "Yes. Even when stealing Pokemon from right under my nose."

They stared at each other for a while. Ethan broke it off first, carefully rubbing his bruised eye. "Just checking." Then he asked, "By the way, have you seen the paper?"

Elm froze. Then he turned slowly to the boy. "Did you tell them more things about Silver and Lyra?" he asked in a dangerously soft tone, keeping his voice carefully steady.

Ethan grinned cheerfully, unperturbed. "Maybe."

"Arceus, Ethan, do you ever learn?" Elm asked, exasperated, rubbing a knuckle against his temple.

The boy's grin widened, if that were possible. "Apparently not."

Elm shook his head and sighed. It was too late for him to do anything except warn the two. "Well… all right. Get to work."

"Sure thing, Professor!"