She hated this time of year.
Blue eyes lifted to the thick foliage above her head before snapping back to the cold ground. Snow had begun to fall once again, trying to mask the vibrant shades of the previous season. To her, snow was nothing more than ashes after the eruption.
"Leaf," The girl looked to her left and found a powerful Charizard giving her a worried look. "I think you should rest. You've been awake for days." She let out a bitter chuckle before petting the orange neck that had stretched to reach her.
The Flame Pokémon had a point. The day had passed quite quickly, leaving the world in a cloak of grey. Many Trainers had decided to find the nearest Pokémon Center for a free night's lodging, but Leaf Flagro never was one to turn in early.
"Can't sleep." Leaf's voice was broken with misuse and neglect, but she didn't care about that anymore. "Might as well do something more useful with my time then staring at the sky." She flashed a faded grin before giving the great beast a rub on his head. She paused before listening to the call of the Pidgey.
Suddenly, all song stopped.
At the lack of noise, the great Pokémon turned around and snarled at the undergrowth. The faded browns rustled before releasing a redheaded teen from their clutches. A few muttered curses escaped the boy before he had managed to free his navy-blue jacket from some exceptionally strong brambles. Once he had escaped such infamous difficulties, he glared up at the older brunette.
Blue eyes couldn't tear away from the vibrant red locks. She knew that she had seen that head before, back in a former life. A few seconds of narrowed eyes and she recognized those intense eyes and the thoughtful face that she had seen so long ago.
It was Giovanni's kid.
A smile formed as the boy walked towards her, not lifting his eyes from his shoes. As he neared the two figures in the woods, he stopped. His head lifted and suddenly a dark cloud obscured those bright silver pools. Leaf simply watched as he narrowed his eyes and growled under his breath.
"Is there a reason that you're staring at me, pest?" Slightly startled by the change in his voice, she stood a bit taller. The normally timid Fire Type growled in return and took a heavy step towards the boy. A quick arm held the Pokémon back as Leaf stared back at this sudden arrival.
"No," She hoped that her voice didn't sound like it did five years ago, back when she had coaxed him out of the row of potted plants in front of the Director's Office, back when Silph Co. was taken over by the terrible Team Rocket. "Just wondering what a guy like you is doing out here."
The boy took a nervous glance at the Charizard before shifting on his feet. If Leaf didn't know any better, she would have thought that he was scared of her partner. A harsh, scolding sound came from his mouth as he stuck his hands in his pockets."Just looking for some pesky girl with brown hair." He stopped for a moment and gave the the girl a quick scan.
Wearing a ragged brown cloak, she didn't look anything special. However, there was some air about her that was starting to make Silver very uncomfortable. She almost seemed like a ghost, not an actual human in this dense forest. He couldn't see her eyes from where he was standing, and judging by her Pokemon's current barred fangs, he had a feeling that he didn't want to.
"I'm afraid that no one's passed through here but you, kiddo." The nickname rolled off her tongue, despite her best efforts to remain neutral. The redhead shot her a look before walking ahead. Leaf spun around just in time to see him stop in his tracks.
"You should consider yourself lucky," The humor in his voice was easy to find. "If I wasn't so busy, I would had creamed you in a battle." The redhead seemed to wait for a reaction, making a chuckle slip out of Leaf's lips.
"I highly doubt you would want to fight someone like me, kid." Taking a moment to fix her hood to continue to hide from this lingering remnant from a former existence. "I'm a bit of a veteran."
A laugh rang out as he shook his head. "Yeah, I could tell." Before she could even think, the boy rushed through the bracken and disappeared into the woods. Blue eyes narrowed as the memories of a man with black hair raced to her mind. An image of a burning city, a dying Marowak and vicious monsters in a human mask flashed in her head, reminding her of the dust of the past.
"That was Giovanni's kid." The gentle rumble of her starter snapped her out of the haunting memory of a bleak mountain. She turned to her partner as his green eyes narrowed in disgust. "It seems that his father corrupted him. Such a shame that some things never change."
"Yeah," Leaf shot a longing look over her shoulder at the hole the boy had left and sighed. "Seems things always come back to bite me, huh?" Before the Charizard could comfort his Trainer, she jumped on his back and gave him a quick pat.
"C'mon, we need to leave."
Those warm eyes widened as he lifted his head. "Where are you headed? It's way too late at night for flying." The girl simply chuckled as she rubbed his slender neck fondly.
"Anywhere but here, Ignis." She looked back at that hole, that one space in the bracken that would provide just enough space for her to follow. "It seems that even Johto isn't safe from these living nightmares." The thought of the boy made her head spin, reminding her just how long she had been gone.
She had to leave before she did something stupid once again.
Recognizing the importance of this by the mention of his name, he lifted his head. "One of these days, you will have to face them, Leaf." His passenger narrowed her eyes as she looked at the dense leaves above her head. "Running isn't going to help you." A bitter laugh left her as she shook her head.
"Running seems to be the only thing I'm good at."
Author's Note: Another little thing I wrote for my Tumblr. It seems that I'm very good at writing stuff to post on there. Seriously, I don't know how I got this motivated.
This one is about my favorite little tragedy, Leaf Flagro. It seems that she stumbles across someone that she thought she'd never see again. Silver may or may not remember Leaf and her Charizard, but that's a small detail. This is more about Leaf's constant running from anything that reminds her of the past. This takes place five years after the events of LeafGreen, so Leaf is fifteen years old. Silver is currently twelve. The same ages for the duos of Kanto and Johto (Fifteen and Twelve) respectively.
I really love writing these two together. If they ever got over their past, they could be really good friends. Almost like siblings, actually. They just need to grow up first and move on with their lives before they can truly heal. Come to think of it, they are kinda like parallels. Huh.