"How-"

Whitney, marked as the gym leader to give the most struggle in Johto until higher levels, was taken out in 3 minutes and 17 seconds by Ethan. Quilava and Flaaffy were resting against their trainer as he was nodding off from the fight. Lyra was trying to keep him awake, but the most she got was something about a forest before he dozed off.

Silver growled a little. Whitney had kicked his ass once and was going to do it again if he didn't come up with a plan.

~

After she beat him twice in reattempts, he surrendered to the center, doing his best not to cry. This was just the third gym leader. How could he get revenge on Red when he couldn't defeat Whitney?

"Bell?"

He turned to see a shiny Bellossom and Marowak, which both looked at him with concern. Someone joined them as he paused.

"Are you ok?" He looked up to see a dark blue haired girl looking him over. He nodded as he rubbed his face.

"Yeah... just getting frustrated." He hummed. Ethan was still asleep on the other side of the center, so he couldn't ask for training. And Lyra was the last person that could train him. The girl noticed his thoughtful stance before speaking.

"Do you need help?" He huffed.

"It's just the gym leader..." He snuck a glance at Ethan, who was still resting against the wall. "And my normal training partner is still asleep from his battle." She followed his gaze before chuckling. He glanced at her before she managed to contain herself.

"How about I help? I have a pokemon that would be a good training partner for Whitney." Silver smiled at that.

~

After that, he managed to win and talk to Ethan. He was still waking up as he fed his pokemon, an Eevee joining them, as they talked. Silver couldn't read his expression when he mentioned the kind girl, but he also looked tired as he worked to stay awake. He eventually just headed out, allowing the others to follow.