(This is THE longest oneshot I've ever written. Beware. This has a bit of Silver/OC in it, since I'm drawing from my experiences, and I had a crush on him... it's Game!Silver, honestly, not the Special Manga one. –nods- Well, at the very least, I hope you like it. I'm working on everything else, so this is going to be updated whenever I can manage, I promise. I don't own. I will never own, though I want it.)

Cyndaquil and Totodile were the best of friends!

They loved each other very much!

Cyndaquil and Totodile were test Pokemon in Elm's Lab together. Both took a shine to one another, and both stuck together through all the trainers coming in and taking their other friends.

Chikorita, who Totodile had always had a teeny crush on, was taken by a young boy. This didn't make Cyndaquil sad, but it made Totodile very lonely.

Cyndaquil tried to cheer him up. "Look at it this way!" He told his friend, small snout waggling in the air. "We can be alone together now!" Totodile sniffled, and nodded.

"I guess you're right... but she was so nice!" Cyndaquil nodded. "I guess... but maybe we'll get trainers soon, To! And then we can train and battle together!" Totodile was cheered up immensely by this prospect, and hugged Cyndaquil.

"You're the best." Cyndaquil smiled, and snuggled close to Totodile before Professor put them back in their Pokeballs. "I know!"

The next day, two trainers would come along and seal their fate.

"Holy crow, I'm late! Hey! Mom! My PokeGear!" A young girl screamed. This one had cocoa-colored hair in a short cropped style that waved happily around the tops of her shoulders. She wore a layered neon-pink-and-neon-blue shirt with a Mew pattern on the blue sleeves. Her pants were worn tight jeans, and her sneakers were clunky and green.

In short, she was your average trainer; if a bit of a walking color clash. Only in appearance, though. Mental state...

"If I get a Chikorita, do you think I can use her to shuriken people? Like, dead, I mean." Her mother turned to stare at her.

"...Get a Cyndaquil or Totodile. Just promise me that." The girl grumbled. "Bit—" She was interrupted by her mother shoving her towards Elm's Lab.

She walked up to the door, and saw the most gorgeous boy she'd ever laid eyes on sitting there, peering in through the window.

Her heart exploded with joy. "Hey! Are you getting a Pokemon, too?!" She immediately tried to make friends with him. "My name's Frankie! ...Okay, it's Francesca, but I don't like that. What's yours?" He turned to glare at her. She flinched slightly.

"You don't deserve to know." And with that, he turned away. Frankie's face flushed.

"Fine! Jerkface!" She stuck her tongue out, blew a giant raspberry, and stormed into Elm's Lab.

Silver watched with an amused smirk. "...Jerkface?!" He chuckled, keeping an eye on the girl as she rushed up to Elm, red-faced and flushed.

"Hello, Professor." He smiled at her wearily. "Hello, Frankie. Well, we only have three starters left; I just got a new Chikorita, you see. So, have a look!" She looked at all three.

Chikorita did NOT look like a killer. She swore quietly. Aw, man...

Cyndaquil and Totodile stared inquisitively up at her. She smiled. "Hi, little dudes!" They shivered, and clutched at each other. She got the message. "...Professor? Is it possible... I mean, could I take both of them? I'd hate to break up such good friends..." Elm frowned.

"I'm sorry, but it's not possible. I think there's still a few I need to keep behind. I'm sorry." She sighed.

"Cyndaquil, you're really cute. Please, would you come with me? I promise I'll make sure you get to see Totodile again. Maybe we can even travel with his trainer!" Cyndaquil looked up at her.

Could he really do this? He loved Totodile with all his heart, but this girl seemed kind and happy. She liked him very much, he could tell. He looked at Totodile, who nodded.

"We'll meet again soon, I promise. I love you, Cyndaquil. You're my best friend." Totodile said softly. With one final hug, Frankie picked up Cyndaquil.

"Do you want a name? How about Rhys?" She asked. Cyndaquil thought for a second, but soon nodded happily. She grinned at Totodile.

"See you soon, Bitey." Totodile grinned toothily at her. Elm gave her instructions to meet a man named Mr. Pokemon, and as they departed for his house, both Elm and 'Bitey' waved as they left. Elm sighed sadly. "Guess it couldn't be helped..."

Silver stared at Totodile with interest. Well.

When Elm wasn't looking, maybe he'd take Totodile and find that trainer... Frankie, was it? He smiled to himself.

Yes, that seemed like a fine plan.

On the way to Cherrygrove, Frankie met a sweet Rattata that she promised to come back for. The way she treated this Rattata reassured Rhys, since she seemed to obviously care for every Pokemon she met.

She waved at Pidgey, petted Sentret, and attempted to fly off a tree and join the Hoppip.

...The last one didn't work, but neither Rhys—or the Hoppip—faulted her for trying.

They met up with Mr. Pokemon after a few quick Pokemon battles. Rhys liked the fighting; it made him stronger, which made him feel better. Frankie met up with both Mr. Pokemon, and the famous Professor Oak.

He looked at her carefully, observing her. He looked at Rhys, and smiled a bit. "Hmm. Tell me, young Francesca—" "Sir, I hate to interrupt, but it's Frankie, sir." He rolled his eyes.

"Yes, Frankie. Well, my question was... what do Pokemon mean to you?" Frankie shrugged.

"They're like family to me. Each Pokemon I meet is an opportunity to make a friend, and the ones who love me become the only things I can really and truly trust. So I guess... that's really it, sir." She told him. Oak smiled to himself.

"...I see. Take this. It's a Pokedex; I want you to have it, and make the biggest family of Pokemon possible for me, eh?" She nodded.

"Okay. I'll get to work, sir!" She saluted them, took the Egg from Mr. Pokemon, and ran off back to New Bark Town.

She was almost out of Cherrygrove, until—

"Hey, watch where you're going—you!" She yelped. Silver brushed hair out of his eyes. "Yes, stupid girl, me. Who were you expecting?" She grumbled.

"Jerkface." He groaned. "Look. I want to fight with you. Okay?" She shrugged. "Whatever. Rhys!" The Cyndaquil leapt out, unsure of what to expect. Maybe a Pidgey, or a Sentret—

But he certainly wasn't expecting his best friend to phase out of the Pokeball, staring at him in amazement. He gawped, along with his trainer.

"Bitey?" Frankie echoed, dumbfounded. Silver raised an eyebrow. "So, I guess you got Totodile. Well, okay..." She went to grab a Pokeball, but realized she had none... but Rhys'... She muttered something under her breath.

"Oh no... Rhys, you'll have to fight him." Rhys sighed. Totodile stared at him with his big azure eyes, shining not from laughter, but from tears.

"Please, Master! He's my friend! I don't want to fight him!" Totodile wailed at the top of his lungs. Silver's gaze hardened.

"I don't care. Truly, it's a good thing; your friends will mean nothing now. Friendship..." He snorted in annoyance. "What good are friends?" Frankie got annoyed. First, he'd been a jerk to her at the Lab, and now he was being mean to Bitey!

"Well of course friends mean nothing to you, Jerkface! I mean, with an attitude like THAT, they certainly wouldn't like you much, either!" Her temper flared, but she managed to restrain herself in time. "Rhys, please! Tackle!" He looked sadly at Totodile.

With a heavy sigh, the two attacked each other, and with a halfhearted last tackle, Rhys knocked out Bitey. Silver recalled Totodile, and noted the angry girl with a look of interest.

"...My name's Silver. There. You wanted it, you go it. Now out of my way. I've got to go be the best trainer there is, thank you." And with that, he departed with Rhys' beloved friend in his clutches.

"...Frickin' jerkface." Frankie murmured. She picked up Rhys, and hugged him. "I'm sorry about that... I know it was hard." Rhys sighed, and nodded.

"Not your fault." She nodded thoughtfully. "I guess... but let's go get some Pokeballs; remember, I promised to go after Ratty."

And so the two began their journey. They didn't see much of the elusive Silver, which left Frankie's temper to bubble and stew, and Rhys' misery increase. Oh, he missed Totodile so much...

And why did he go with that mean jerkface trainer? He could've found a nice one, one Frankie could've traveled with, right?

Other than the loss of his friend, his life was improved drastically in the few weeks he'd spent with Frankie and Ratty.

He'd evolved into a Quilava, which had thrilled the life out of Frankie; she loved them best, she said. But Ratty hadn't evolved; nor did she want to. Like Frankie cared; she'd taught Ratty Flame Wheel and Super Fang, which made her quite a skilled fighter anyways.

He settled into his trainer's arms as they approached Azalea Town, where Frankie challenged Bugsy. With both of her Pokemon knowing Fire-type moves, she quickly won.

As they departed Azalea, they bumped into someone... which happened to be none other than Silver. He stared at her appraisingly, and remarked, "Only two Pokemon?" Sneering slightly, he looked down at Ratty. "And this one. Just a plain old Rattata."

Frankie got angry. Incredibly angry. "Fine! You think she's so ordinary, you fight us, right here and now!" Silver rolled his eyes.

"Psh. I don't even know why I... oh, whatever. Zubat!" He sent out the Blind Bat Pokemon, who fluttered around dumbly for a bit, before echo locating its position.

"Ratty! Flame Wheel!" She charged up, and smacked Zubat, who fluttered in pain. "Now Super Fang!" Silver frowned, as Zubat's HP got cut down to half.

"Use Supersonic." Zubat gave off a weird cry, and Ratty became disorientated and almost drunken in nature. After she walked into a tree, Frankie gave up on her as a lost cause, and threw out Rhys' Pokeball.

Rhys made quick work of both Zubat and Ghastly, and then—

With a small smile, Silver called on Totodile. Or, Croconaw. For he'd evolved, same as Rhys.

For a minute, the two stared at each other.

"Bitey!" Frankie cheered. Croconaw stared at her. "What?" Silver growled. Frankie glared at him. "Nothing, jerkface."

Rhys and Croconaw stared at each other. Croconaw sighed. "I'm sorry." And with that, he knocked Rhys out in one hit.

When Rhys came to again, Frankie was swearing in the middle of Ilex forest. "I hate this!" She noticed he was awake, and sighed. "Sorry, sweets. We got out okay; Ratty's Super Fang saved the day!" He sighed, and lay down in the grass.

...That wasn't it.

What was the problem, then?

Was it To—Croconaw? His buddy?

Was he more than that?

A few weeks passed. Frankie finally caught more Pokemon; her Togepi—well, Togetic, whose name was Priscilla, and one more; an Eevee from Bill named Madigan.

She hadn't seen anything of Silver; which was good, considering all he did was insult her. She went about collecting badges, and training Pokemon.

She went to Mahogany Town, finally, to get a Gym Badge before all else. It was there she caught her red Gyarados, who was almost called Piss-head, (it took a long time to catch him), but thankfully at the last minute, his name was changed to Robert.

In the base of the Rockets, once again, Frankie met up with Silver. And he sent out To again, and without orders, Rhys bounded out on the field.

"To." (With a long o, for the record.)Rhys said softly. "Please." To stared at him. Rhys stared up into his friend's chocolate eyes. In them, Rhys saw compassion and love.

"I love you." To whispered softly. Rhys opened his mouth to speak, and actually managed to stammer out an, "I love you, too."

The two trainers ignored this in their arguing, preferring instead to scream at each other. But neither cared—

They had each other now.

Rhys began to glow with happiness—and soon actually found he was glowing on the outside, too.

"Holy crap, he's evolving!" Frankie gaped, dumbfounded. And so was To. When it ended, Silver stared at the two. They were staring at each other, utterly lost in their moment. They'd just evolved, and were still getting used to their new bodies.

"Well, what are you waiting for?! Use Water Gun!" Silver ordered, but To shook his head. "No." Silver lost it.

"You're my Pokemon! Obey me!" He screamed, losing his patience. Frankie frowned. She was getting fed up with this.

"You moron!" She screamed, making everyone jump.

"Is that really how you perceive them!?" She wailed, making crazy hand gestures as she talked. "After all the times I've yelled at you?! Are you crazy?! Why would you make them fight?! They're the best of friends!" And with that, she recalled Rhys, and stormed out.

After that, she didn't see him for a long time. She got the last Badge, and passed a test given to her by the Dragon Den's Master, and she now had a Dragonite named Irvine.

She'd beaten the Elite Four. It had been almost three years. She'd beaten Red too, and become the greatest Trainer that ever lived.

Still, nothing was ever heard of from Silver.

But she met him again in the oddest of places.

She had finally agreed to Red's pleas, and went back to Ecruteak. He wanted a rematch, he said. She was more than happy to beat his butt for him, but that wasn't the reason she went back.

She went back because she hoped Silver would be there.

Rhys had been lonely, irritable, and a general awful thing to be around for some reason. He was missing To so much. He refused to eat, and he was unable to start fires on the back of his neck.

No one knew what to do.

But he was wasting away.

By the time they'd arrived in Ecruteak, it was too late to meet Red, so Frankie went to the Burnt Tower to pray.

She was surprised, of course, to run into her rival, in here of all places. He was merely sitting on the fragments of the tower, and staring through the ceiling into the sky.

Rhys' eyes welled with tears, and the Typhlosion let out a small sigh.

To was out, and her wasn't speaking to Rhys. Merely, he was staring off in the distance, making not a sound.

Frankie said nothing, just looked down at her scarred and bruised arms, and sighed.

Madigan was gnawing on his skinny black leg. (He was an Umbreon now.) Robert was in his Pokeball, fretting about the 'scary outside world', and Priscilla and Irvine were flying around and crashing into walls. Her Arcanine, Fred, was chasing his tail in circles. Ratty was gnawing on a giant piece of wood.

Silver's Pokemon stared at them, probably contemplating if the death penalty applied to Pokemon murderers.

They descended into awkward silence.

Meanwhile, with the Pokemon...

"To? Toto?" Rhys said softly. He'd gotten stronger, but had gotten more scarred and rough. There was a giant slash across his face, from protecting Frankie against an angry Ursaring. He was nowhere near as pretty as the female Pokemon To could attract. To was unmarred, and perfect. Rhys was beaten-up and... well, scruffy.

...And he also wasn't a girl.

"Yeah, Rhys. It's been awhile." To looked uncomfortable. Rhys said nothing, but looked back at his trainer—

She was trying to get Robert out of his Pokeball. So, she was of absolutely no help at the moment.

Rhys' temper was rising fast. "To. We need to talk, like, right now." To looked at him, and nodded.

There was no more love in those eyes; at least, not for Rhys.

As soon as they were out of earshot, Rhys' screamed, "You said you loved me!? Why, To, why?! You never once tried to find me! You said you loved me, and then you left me!" To looked at him, a heavy, sad bearing in his walk and demeanor.

"Because... it's wrong. What we feel, it's wrong, I know it. I mean, I mean, well... it's just wrong." Rhys looked him in the eye. It was now or never. He didn't know if he'd like To's answer, but he had to know, dammit.

"But do you love me?" To looked him in the eyes, and for an instant—Rhys saw the loving little crocodile he'd fallen in love with. And it saddened him.

"Yes."

Rhys nuzzled him, and felt the warm, smooth skin his head was lying on quiver and shake. To was crying. "I'm sorry." He rasped, tearing up as he stared at Rhys. He shook his head, and smiled at To.

"Don't be."

To's eyes got wide. "So you don't think it's... wrong? Or bad? You... you really love me? Me?" Rhys snickered, a weird chuffling sound.

"Yes. You. And it's not bad. It's just the way things are." To had nothing to say to that, and merely lay down by a statue, smiling toothily.

Without a moment's hesitation, Rhys lay down beside him.

Back with the trainers, there was still an awkward silence.

Silver finally glanced in Frankie's direction. "So." He said.

Frankie finally blurted out, "Okay, I love you. Don't kill me!" There was once again, silence.

"...Um. I was going to say, you've raised your Pokemon well. But, uh, I guess that's another way to start a conversation." Silver said, biting his lip. Frankie stared incredulously at him.

"You're complimenting me." She said, voice tinged with awe and shock at this miracle of miracles. Silver nodded, looking slightly miffed.

"Yes. I am. You act like it's a big deal—" Frankie burst in, utterly shocked, and yelling because of it.

"What do you mean!? Of course it's a big deal, jerkface! I mean, hello!? You hated me!! Ring any bells!?" Silver smiled, and took her hand. Frankie almost passed out on the spot. "And now you're touching. My hand. Uh." She chose to shut up, as Silver talked.

"You know, it's been a long time. I went training on Mt. Mortar. And I did some thinking. I mean, I think that... maybe you were right. My Pokemon... they've been through a lot with me. And that means something." Frankie looked satisfied.

"...I told you, jerkface." She said. Silver smirked. She still thought she could get away with that, did she...?

"I challenge you to a battle! Let's see who's still better, after all these years." And with that, he hugged her, and pulled away. Frankie rolled her eyes.

Men. So insecure about their feelings. Well, she'd see to that...

"Go! To!" "Rhys!" There was silence. Frankie spoke up, "Hey, where'd they go? Guys...?"

"You're just too scared to fight me." Silver said proudly. "I am not!" Frankie shot back.

"Are too!"

"Nu-uh!"

"Yah-huh!"

"...We should probably go out there." Rhys remarked, watching the two trainers argue. To snorted with derision.

"And miss this? Not for the world." Rhys sighed, and lay close to his love. He shook his head, and snickered with mirth.

"I love you." He said softly. To nodded.

"I love you, too."

The two lay in the Burnt Tower, oblivious to their trainer's arguing. They looked up, and saw the stars glimmering back at them.

"I feel like I'm over the stars." Rhys said, looking at To. He nodded.

"Me too."

And the stars smiled.