My name is Red.
...
No it's not. I don't know if that was his name, but it's not mine.
My name is... is... I can't remember it right now. It might've been a color, or something like that. Color names used to be a big thing in Kanto.
Oh, they still are? Some things never change, I guess. That doesn't really matter, anyway. The only thing that matters really is that my name isn't Red. Got that?
Good.
I am - was, really - a pokemon trainer, and a pretty good one. Eight badges, beat the league and got into the Hall of Fame. I bet if you looked, you'd find my name and my old team there.
Look my own name up? No, why would I need to? I know my name, it's Re-
NO.
…
Sorry. Anyway...
So I beat the Elite Four, became the champion, and suddenly found myself with a lot of free time on my hands. I used a lot of it travelling around the regions. Tried filling out my pokedex, but they're always discovering new ones. It feels a bit futile after a while. Keeping all those pokemon in storage didn't feel so great, either. I eventually released most of them, but kept my old team with me.
So, what was a trainer who was tired of training supposed to do? Retirement was the most obvious choice, but the idea of starting up a mundane life, the kind with a job and a house and a family, just seemed so… boring. I certainly wasn't going to end up in that kind of world without a proper send off to my life as a pokemon trainer.
So I decided to climb Mt. Silver. There's a lot of stories about how many trainers die up there, or have to be rescued, or even that it's haunted. I didn't really care, though - I'd made it through an entire league, and my survival skills and my pokemon team were both top notch.
It took me days to climb to reach the peak. It really is the ultimate challenge, no matter how prepared you think you are.
When I did hit the summit of Mt. Silver, there was a big surprise waiting for me - a trainer, white as a ghost and dressed in red.
...yeah, I see you're starting to catch on.
He didn't say anything. Didn't even look at me until I called out, and when he did... he had the emptiest eyes. The moment he made eye contact, he released a pokemon, and me, being a trainer, released one of mine.
I've never fought a harder battle. The Elite Four were schoolyard scuffles in comparison. That trainer in red? He was good, and his pokemon were some of the most powerful I've faced. My own pokemon were my very best, the team I wonder my title with, and they struggled to keep up with his. Who knows how long that battle went on - all I knew was that I couldn't lose. Not to this trainer, whose only words were commands for his pokemon.
In the end, I won. It was close, but somehow I managed to urge my last pokemon to outlast his own. It was one of the best moments in my life. The trainer in red didn't say anything, even as he recalled his pokemon - he just stared at me with those empty eyes of his.
Then he vanished.
I looked for him, but I never did see that trainer again. I didn't really care, either. I was more interested in flying back back home, sleeping in my own bed and letting my pokemon rest up after that grueling battle. Except…
Except I couldn't leave. Nearly got blown off my pokemon when I tried flying. Walking didn't work, either - I just ended up looping back to the pokemon center. Same thing happened when I tried teleporting. I tried asking for help, but the nurse didn't even look at me. I don't think she ever really talks, come to think of it.
See? We're talking about her right now, and she doesn't even blink...
The pokemon on the mountain don't really seem to care about me, either. I might as well be invisible. I sent my own pokemon back home a long time ago. They weren't stuck on the mountain like I am. There was no reason to make them stay. I hope they got home safely, or found other trainers to take care of them.
I wish I could remember their names...
You're the only person I've talked to in ages. You'll probably be the last person I talk to, too... Tomorrow I'm going to climb that blasted mountain again. I really don't want to, but that's where this all started. One way or another, that's where it'll end.
That's all I have to say, really. Thanks for listening - not many trainers come by here, and they never stick around for long. You, though... I get the feeling you're headed for big things, maybe even for a place as league champion. If you do, then you should consider stopping by here again.
Maybe we could even have a battle?
Author's Notes: Found this sitting in my google docs. Not quite sure what mood I was in when I wrote it, but it seemed neat enough to polish up a little and post. Hope you enjoyed.