It's sad to know that we're halfway through our series, but know that we're hard at work on the rest. Once again, your entertainment is what keeps us going.

One year later...

Ethan never expected that he would be the one on the sidelines. But when he met up with Kris to travel once again, this time starting from her hometown of Pewter City, she had pointed out that he was already honorary Champion and that she wanted a turn to get into the Hall of Fame. He couldn't argue with that, and had watched and observed as Kris won her third badge.

Sabrina, the Saffron City Gym Leader, was prepared to use the stronger Psychic-types in her collection against her challenger's Pokémon. Granbull had destroyed them anyway, with only a little help from Chomper.

"That is a strong Granbull," Sabrina commented, clearly pleased with what she had seen. "Brock wasn't kidding. You raised it well."

"Ethan helped a little," Kris admitted. "She helped him win a few badges in Johto."

Ethan laughed and patted her on the head. "Look at you, sharing the credit," he said, pretending not to notice the irritated looks she was shooting him. "If only your uncle could see this. He'd be proud."

"And that's why the three of us will take this to the grave." Her voice was cheerful, but Ethan knew and Sabrina suspected that there was a legitimate "or else" just behind the words.

"Fine," Ethan promised. "I won't tell Professor Elm...but that doesn't mean I won't tell your parents."

Kris felt her fists clench before she was fully aware of her actions, and Ethan, like any wise boy would do, ran. Sabrina, being a woman of annoyingly accurate foresight, managed to restrain her latest challenger before Kris could give chase. "Let him go," she said bluntly. "He'll end up lost sooner or later, and he'll come back here to look for you. Take your Marsh Badge and stay here for a while. One lost child in my city is all I can handle."

Sure enough, Ethan came wandering back into the Gym thirty minutes later. "Sabrina?" he called uncertainly. "Sabrina, remember me? Is Kris still here?"

Meanwhile, back home in Johto, Lyra was doing a little exploring of her own. At Professor Elm's request, she was investigating the Ruins of Alph, continuing from where Kris's research had been when she'd gone home. Kris hadn't solved the puzzle completely, but it was enough to give Lyra the information that it was supposed to be a Kabuto.

Lyra had never seen a Kabuto in her life, so that didn't really help things.

"Is this a left leg or a right leg?" she asked herself, holding up a puzzle piece as if hoping that would give her the answers. "And is it supposed to have a round rear end or not?"

The tour guide groaned. "Miss, please stop talking to yourself, or I'll have to revoke your puzzle privileges."

Lyra glanced down at the half-completed puzzle in front of her, turned a few pieces around, and brushed it all aside.

"I rage-quit," she said. "Permission to come back when I have more patience and time to waste?"

"Fine," the guide said, sounding tired, as if she'd been dealing with people like Lyra all day when in fact the girl was the first to attempt the puzzle.

Lyra stepped out of the puzzle cave, into the warm sunlight, and reached for her Pokegear phone almost before it started ringing.

"Yes, Silver?"

The boy didn't reply for a while, but he managed to find the words he was searching for. "You know I think it's creepy when you do that," he said. "Tell me how you knew it was me."

Lyra rolled her eyes. "Psychic powers."

"Yeah, right."

She and Silver had become some kind of friends, since he was still trying to get strong enough to beat Ethan and their second trip through Johto had led to them bumping into each other quite a bit. He was still rude, it turned out.

"Fine, don't believe it's a sixth sense." Lyra looked down at her Marill, who seemed to be quite unnerved by something she couldn't see. "Just call it a lucky guess. What do you want?"

"I'm training in the Dragon's Den," he explained. "I want you to come and help me."

"You know I'm nowhere near Ethan's league," Lyra tried protesting.

"That's why I chose you, Lyra. You're probably closer than that guy with the cape."

"Who, Lance?" Lyra thought back to the final battle of her journey with Ethan, and shook her head, though Silver couldn't see her. "Ethan's battled Lance before. He's...closer than you give him credit for. He beat Raikou three times."

Silver considered it, then gave one parting command of "Just get over here" and hung up without a proper goodbye.

When Lyra finally reached the Dragon's Den, Silver seemed to be getting ready to leave. Taking one look at her, he demanded, "What took you so long?"

"It's a long and complicated story," Lyra admitted. "It involved my grandmother assuming I was going on a date because I mentioned a boy that wasn't Ethan. Trust me, you don't want further details."

"I thought you didn't live with your grandparents," Silver said, and Lyra glanced down at the rippling water.

"I had to pick up Venomoth," she admitted. "I was going to see if she could help me put Entei under a Sleep Powder to help me catch it."

Silver looked indifferent, but Lyra knew him well enough to pick up on the slight shift that indicated vague interest. "Did it work?"

"No," she sighed, clearly disappointed. But then she recovered, back to her usual happy self. "I guess using a Master Ball is the best way to catch those Pokémon. So, why did you call me here? Did you want to battle me?"

"Why would I waste my time on you?" Silver indicated the large body of water in front of them. "I want you to help me find and catch a Dratini. If Lance and Ethan both have at least one Dragonite, I want to get one, too."

"There's more to life than strength, you know," Lyra tried to protest. "Your dad might not have taught you that, but I thought I might have."

"It might not be the only thing, but it's still important." Silver had immediately gotten defensive at the mention of his father, and she immediately wished she hadn't mentioned it. His parentage was a secret he had never told Lyra, but she'd figured it out on her own. After all, why else would the boy be so determined to prove his worth to Team Rocket?

Lyra rolled her eyes again, but figured that Silver had at least changed a little. "Are there any preferences in your Dratini?" she asked innocently. "Male? Female? Shiny?"

"Strong," Silver said in return. Of course.

"How did you get past the guard, anyway?" Lyra asked a few minutes later. "Did Clair give you permission to enter the Dragon's Den?"

"I broke in," Silver confessed, not sounding like he knew it was wrong. "The guard had to leave sometime."

"That explains so much."

The voice was female, but it wasn't Lyra. Clair had returned to the Dragon's Den, and she was followed closely by Champion Lance. Clair looked angry, but Lance was apparently unconcerned.

"This is a sacred place," Clair said, looking Silver in the eye. "The girl has the right to be here, she helped that Ethan kid put a stop to Team Rocket. I don't recall you ever coming by the Blackthorn Gym."

"You're not the only one who decides, Clair." Lance's voice seemed to echo in the chamber, though he spoke no more loudly than any of the others. "I have the right, and so does the Master of the Dragon's Den. And, according to the stories, a boy with long red hair also assisted in freeing Goldenrod City's Radio Tower."

Clair stared at him. Lyra stared, too. Silver just looked smug.

"Of course," Lance added, "there is the fact that he broke in instead of being given permission before he entered. So, with that in mind, why don't we have a little tag battle to decide?"

"Tag battle?" Clair repeated, seemingly more offended by this than Silver's presence in her sacred training ground. "Lance, you can't be serious."

"Why not? You and me against Lyra and...Silver, was it?"

"But what about your duties?"

"My duties can wait. I'm bored and this sounds fun."

Silver glanced at Lyra, asking her permission for once.

"It does sound like fun," she said as an answer.

Silver reached for a Pokeball. "Three Pokémon each. For us and for you."

Lance and Clair agreed to the terms, and each unleashed a Dragonite. Silver's choice was his Gengar, and Lyra decided to open with the biggest threat to Dragons she had.

"Mamoswine, help me out!"

The news came in the form of a phone call from Professor Oak. When he received it, Ethan had been in the audience as Kris claimed victory over Blaine with Chomper, and had rushed onto the battlefield before the Volcano Badge was in the girl's hand.

"Guess what Professor Oak just told me?" he said, twitching with excitement. "Go on, give it your best shot."

"The aliens have finally landed?" Blaine offered.

"An army of angry Delibird have staged an uprising and are plotting to enslave all the humans and Pokémon that declared them almost as useless as Magikarp?" Kris suggested.

"More useless than Magikarp," Ethan corrected. "Magikarp at least evolves into something useful. But it's way better than invasions or uprisings. Professor Oak told me that Red had been spotted on a mountain. The same Red that stopped Team Rocket the first time."

Kris elbowed him playfully. "So you're going to go and get his autograph? Never knew the boy who took down Team Rocket permanently would be such a fanboy for a guy that only chased them into hiding."

"I had you and Lyra," Ethan protested. "And I guess Silver, to some weird extent. The only thing close to help that Red got was Blue, and Blue wasn't there most of the time. Red and Blue are legends, Kris. You and I are just good."

"I don't have eight badges yet, though," Kris objected. "I'm just missing the Soul Badge and the Earth Badge. Why don't I get those and then we can go celebrity hunting?"

"But..." Ethan was clearly upset, but Blaine just gave the pair a conspiratorial glance.

"If it makes you feel any better, boy," he said, "the last time Viridian City's Gym Leader showed up to a conference, it was not Giovanni. He was some teenager with a dumb color name." As Ethan still looked unsure, Blaine added, "And he was constantly boasting about being Professor Oak's grandson, if that gives you a hint."

"Blue's a Gym Leader now? If he's still a trainer, why isn't he still Champion?"

Kris placed the Volcano Badge in her case with a loud click. "So, Fuchsia City first, then Viridian?" she suggested. "I do have to prepare if Blue's the one giving out the Earth Badge. As you said, we're good, but he's legendary. And then we can go and stalk Red for autographs all you want."

"Autographs? I never said I wanted autographs." Ethan clenched his fist in determination. "I'm going to challenge him to a battle to see who is the hero of all heroes!"

Blaine watched as the kids left his new Gym, wondering if it was too soon to relocate back to the remains of Cinnabar Island.