From the Recollections of Different Leaves

A/N: This will be a Leaf-centered one-shot collection with her being in different positions (Red's sister, etc.) Pairings will be with Gary (anime) or Green (game).

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. Satoshi Tajiri does.

Chapter 1: Recollections of a Frozen Leaf (Conflictingshipping)

In which Red does not exist.

~oOo~

"Did you hear about it?"

"Yeah, the ghost of Mount Silver, right? 'Course I have."

I overheard my Gym Trainers gossiping about some ghost or another while supposed to be on duty. The mere thought of a human ghost is absurd; while Froslass are said to be the phantoms of women lost on icy mountains, that's a myth, and most myths have no proof backing them. Not like legends, which do exist. I've seen some with my eyes – Mew, for example. Her Mew.

Anyway, that aside, I had to stop my Gym Trainers from their idle chatter. "No slacking off until after hours!" I yelled at them. As the Viridian Gym Leader, I needed to have everyone at their best, even if there was no challenger at the moment. The newly crowned Johto Champion was supposed to visit sometime soon. Also, it was the most I could do for her, even if she could never see it.

…Ugh, why am I still thinking about her? We all got over it. I slumped against the wall, running my fingers through my hair in frustration. There's no point in being miserable over someone who's already gone.

Still, saying that out loud hurts. How long has it been? It's got to be about 2 or 3 years since the Rescue Team found her stuff near the base of Mount Silver. That time, everyone told me that she was gone forever – and I didn't want to believe it. How could I? She was her. How could I?

But now it's too late to cling on to that (I hate to admit) desperate thought. The last time anyone saw her was a few years back. We sent a Rescue Team to Mount Silver to find her, but they came back only with her bag. Apparently, a lot of the things that she would definitely need in the harsh conditions of Mount Silver were thrown to the ground along with her precious backpack (that I had never seen her part with since we started our journeys). It had Full Restores, Revivals, Rare Candies, and unusual berries – all of these were items that only very advanced trainers could get. But I still thought foolishly that maybe, maybe she's still alive. Now – not so much. Everyone's moved on.

Everyone's moved on.

Annoyed at my depressing thought processes, I abruptly stood up and shouted, "Pack up, we're closing for today!" My trainees displayed shocked expressions. It's understandable, because I normally make them train until the very end until there's a really important need. Today's an exception; I need a break. Besides, even if there's a challenger, I won't be able to fight him at my best right now. That's an insult to the challenger, too.

Why'd you follow me everywhere? Isn't it enough that you took my Champion title? That you won every single battle? The last question brought back memories of the time I asked her that. Her only reaction was to smile faintly at me. I remember every single detail of her actions – the way she took a strand of her chestnut hair into her hands, the way she tilted her head a bit when she smiled…Ugh, I'm doing it again. She is seriously irritating.

I am going home. Hopefully, she won't follow me there. If she does, I'm going to say that the "ghost of Mount Silver" is haunting me…oh, who am I kidding? I slammed the door of my car closed and floored the gas. Dangerous? Probably. Do I care? No.

As soon as I reached my room, I flopped onto the bed. I then crossed my arms behind my head and stared at the ceiling, thinking. It only created more questions, so I decided to stop and just go to sleep.

~o~

One week later

Around noon, the door to the Viridian Gym opened to let in an energetic girl with a ridiculously large and fluffy white hat. "I'm here to challenge this gym!" she chirped. Oh, I've seen her at Cinnabar. She was the girl whose challenge I refused over there, because she didn't have the other seven Kanto Badges. I guess she got them, huh?

That aside, listening to her, I learned that she was the Johto Champion. Speaking of that, she was about the same age as her when she beat me at the Indigo Plateau…Really, again!? I thought I had gotten rid of those unnecessary thoughts!

Meanwhile, I thought that Arabella had gone to battle, but when I looked again, she was already at Elan and Ida, my last trainers. That girl is a fast, really good battler. Then again, she probably wouldn't have become Johto Champion otherwise. In a matter of minutes, she steamrolled them and stood before me, clutching a Poke-ball in her right hand.

I commented, "Yo! Finally got here, huh? I wasn't in the mood at Cinnabar, but now I'm ready to battle you." Pausing for a moment, I continued, "You're telling me you conquered all the Gyms in Johto? Hahaha! Heh! Johto's Gyms are that pathetic? Hey, don't worry about it. I'll know if you are good or not by battling you right now."

That's right. Battling is the universal language for trainers, for her, for me, for her. Smirking, I pulled out my first Pokemon from my pocket. (I didn't mean to say things so hurtful, but I guess I saw her in the girl standing before me, and couldn't help but throw in a snarky comment).

The last time I battled at full strength was at the Plateau, when she took my title. Lyra was good, I was aware of that. But the rumors compared nothing to her actual strength. Faced with this, I had to acknowledge the real power of Johto, however unwillingly. I handed over the 8th and last Gym Badge, also giving her Trick Room. Tired, I was about to head into the back room, but my curiosity got the better of me when I heard Lyra squeal in excitement.

"Yes, now I can go to Mount Silver! I can go challenge the 'true champion' that Champion Lance was talking about!"

What "true champion"!? Could she be talking about…no way, no need to get my hopes up…but still, there's only one person…oh, just say it!

"Lyra, who's the person you're talking about?" I grabbed her shoulder (a bit forcefully) before she headed out the door. She whirled around, startled, and then laughed.

"I'm not too sure myself, but Champion Lance told me that I couldn't be called a real Champion until I beat that person. He said that she was at the summit of Mount Silver, but I needed all eight badges to go there. And, right now, I got my last one!"

This information shocked me. The summit…no wonder I never found her. I'd gone to Mount Silver so many times looking for her that I practically memorized all the twists and turns, but I never thought she would be as stupid as to go to the summit…If she had a little more common sense, she never would have. But then again, if she had a little more common sense at all, nothing of the sort would have happened in the first place.

But still, Lance, that guy…he knew all along, and he never told me!? I'm going to sic my Rhydon on him…

Putting that aside, I have to go to the summit! "I'm going with you. I want to see that 'true champion' with my own eyes." That's true, but false at the same time.

Lyra's eyes widened. Thinking for a moment, she replied, "Um, OK?" It was a question, but an OK nonetheless.

"Then let's GO!" I was about to race out of the gym, but she stopped me.

"Uhh…what about your gym?"

Drat, I had forgotten about it. "Close it for today. I'm going." By now my trainees wouldn't be surprised by my random trips out. As I predicted, they started moving as soon as they heard the word "close."

"Lyra, let's get going." Frankly, I didn't care about Lyra, but since I asked her if I could go, I had to. Right now I want to see if the "true champion" is actually her. I have to see.

After Lyra agreed, we flew to the Plateau, and then trekked all the way to the base of Mount Silver. Every time I'd done this before, I became really tired, but not now. Maybe because I have new hints about her?

Every single boulder, every single niche. I've memorized them all. Looking for someone for two years would do that. But today, I went out to the mountainside, going up for the first time. The upper mountainside snowed, making it hard to see. The icy wind bites my exposed skin. I don't care, I have to get there. I have to get to the top. Behind me, Lyra wordlessly follows. I guess she understood that I wouldn't reply anyway.

Finally, finally, we reach the summit. Amidst all the snow and the wind, I can barely see a silhouette standing upright in the snow, long hair whipping around her, carrying a Pikachu on her shoulder like it was nothing.

I only know one girl who can do that.

Her.

It took me a few moments to be able to speak. I finally, finally reached her. I stepped forward and shouted with all my strength,

"You idiot!"

At last, the person – she – realized that we, that I was here. Then she turned around…

And smiled.

~oOo~

Author's Note: How did you like Recollections Chapter 1? It was my first time writing in a boy's POV. As for his speech, I wanted to show that he's pretending to be grown up, but when it comes to her, he's still a child. I hope I did it fine…

This was Leaf as a female Red. If anyone requests for it, I'll write a sequel for this, in Leaf's POV. It's probably going to have more romance than this one, because in this one, she doesn't talk. Even her name isn't mentioned once! If not, I'll either write Leaf as Red's sister, or as a bug.

Thanks for reading this! I hope you enjoyed it!

Time Signature