Ethan and Silver both faced the Blackthorn gym, both getting the same response. They had to go into the Dragon's Den, just to face Clair and her cousin, Lance.

Ethan was not great.

He was slammed into a wall, knocked out instantly, before falling into the water. Silver froze. Lance had just said he became Champion of Johto. He had nothing against him yet.

"Now!"

A beam slammed into Lance's Dragonite, causing the trainers to look towards the source. Ethan was getting placed down, wrapped in a towel, as Silver recognized the attacker. A Bellossom was next to his Weavile as Kris took a deep breath.

"That's it. You're dead." Ethan gave a weak noise before Bellossom raced forward and clashed with Dragonite.

~

Silver, Kris, Ethan and Lyra met up later in the center, Ethan still knocked out. He purred against Kris, tiredly hugging her arm. She wouldn't answer any questions until he woke up. And when he did, he was struggling to adjust after going into the water unconscious. Even though Kris had gotten the water out of his lungs, he still had the subconscious reaction of coughing. The duo finally talked to them after some time together.

"Why hide this?" Kris kept her head down while Ethan answered.

"It wasn't... so much us hiding it. We were protecting ourselves-." Kris trembled.

"When we were young- we were always targeted- getting jumped- ambush-" Ethan brought his sister close as he gulped.

"We didn't want to take any more chances. So we separated, making sure we would never have to be together in any way." Kris gulped as she cleaned her face. "That included ignoring each other's presence. We wanted no more risks." Lyra paused.

"But... Ethan... we're your best friends-" Ethan shook his head.

"It wasn't that I didn't trust you guys. It was more that you asked while out in the open. And I was hesitant about it..." He buried his head in Kris's shoulder as she spoke in a soft voice.

"What they tried to do to us- it was so menacing- no child should go through that-"

Silver finally went to their side, pulling the twins into a hug. Ethan broke down while Kris went quiet. Lyra waited quietly while Silver purred. He knew what they meant. He had seen them in action, so being a target was bound to be common. He rubbed Ethan's back as he hummed.

"Easy... No one will hurt you anymore. Ok?" The twins nodded weakly as he pulled away. "Good. Because we have work to do."