Yeah, here I am with another story. I probably shouldn't make a habit of starting new stories before I finish old ones, but... oh well. Everyone has their bad habits, I suppose. I've been meaning to write about this pairing for a really long time now.

A very special thanks goes out to The Light's Refrain for beta-reading this for me. She helped out a lot. :3

Disclaimer: I know this is hard to believe, guys, but I don't own Pokémon.

And, oh yeah, the italics are in first person. First person will always be Green. Regular print is in third. I had to have some way to differentiate between the two so it wouldn't get confusing. D:

Breaking the Ice

Chapter One

Had she known she was going to lose she never would have challenged him to begin with. She had heard stories of Mt. Silver, legends that were regarded as myths. One such tale was Red: a mysterious yet powerful trainer who resided at the peak of the mountain, willing to battle any trainer who deemed himself worthy enough to make it to the summit.

But she never would have imagined that that tale would end up to be true...

And there the legend stood, red eyes emphasized by the white climate surrounding him, his arm extended as he withdrew one of the only two pokémon he had used to its poké ball. He said nothing, his arm falling flat to his side.

The battle was over. She had lost.

She fell to her knees, holding close her most prized pokémon: Venusaur. But even it was almost meaningless to her now...

Planting my feet in the snow, I gazed up at the mountain, trying to recall just how many times I climbed up it. I knew the answer was trivial but it was just one of the many thoughts I couldn't resist wondering about...

In many ways could the mountain be compared to him. 1) The mountain won't budge, and no matter how many times I try, he won't come down from it either. 2) It's quiet. Rarely ever does it make a sound (with the few exceptions being a rock that falls or a nearby pokémon's cry). He's just as quiet. 3) The top of the mountain is far from reach. He's definitely far from reach, all right. Even to this day he won't give me much of a response. Granted, it's better than it used to be. Hell, he and the mountain are practically metaphorical to one another!

One step after another, I made my way up the mountain. Who knows how many times I did it, but what did it matter now? I was used to it. The weather was cold but I was used to that as well. Over my shoulder I carried a sack of food. I probably looked like freaking Santa Claus right now but I didn't care. The only thing I was remotely concerned about right now was Eevee. I wanted so badly to have it by my side but I knew the brutal weather would probably be too much for the small creature to handle...

I'm pretty close with Eevee. It could probably evolve into an umbreon or espeon right now but I won't let it. I didn't want it to evolve. There were just too many memories attached to it. I know it sounds sentimental and all, and people don't really think of me as the sentimental type, but that's honestly how I feel. I don't want it to change. I made a necklace out of an everstone and put it around its neck just so it wouldn't be able to evolve. I think it's safe to say now that it won't.

Speaking of relationships, I never thought people understood me well. I've had a few friends, they've come and went, and not even one have I felt a deep connection with. Sometimes I wonder if it may be because I'm too different from other people. Other times I wonder if such a connection is even possible. But most frequently I wonder if I really give a damn. Even if I don't connect very well with people there's still that one person I would give the whole world to, and that's him.

Okay, well, that probably sounds extremely cheesy, but it's the truth. Or at least that's what I think. I've harbored feelings for him ever since we were teenagers, and never until now have I started to question these feelings. I still have to second-guess myself. I still have to deny it from time to time. Believe me when I say I'm still not quite sure what love is. But I think it's him. It's hard to tell when he never speaks...

I was almost to the top now. I could see the cave entrance nearing in the distance. I shielded my face from the oncoming blizzard. I started to cough violently into my arm.

It was probably around my 89th time. Climbing up here, I mean. I've visited the peak of this mountain for over four years now. I used to visit it every two months, then every few weeks, and now almost everyday. The reason I visit so occasionally now is because I can't trust him anymore. One minute he's doing fine, and then the next he's lying on the floor with his pikachu nudging him relentlessly. It's absolutely ridiculous. You've never seen a guy who could suck so much at taking care of himself. This is why he pisses me off so much. If I wasn't there I swear he'd already be dead by now...

I know I say that, but sometimes I can hardly take care of myself. I'm not kidding either. Some days I'll just get up and look in the mirror and say "screw it." It's just another day, I'll think to myself. But more often than not I'll just force myself to brush my teeth or take a shower or run a comb through my hair. When it comes right down to it, you just gotta do these things no matter how you feel.

I held onto my green scarf so it wouldn't blow away as I trekked the last bit of my journey. I've lost dozen of scarfs before, climbing up this mountain, and I wasn't prepared to lose another. There was a cave entrance before me and I hesitated a little upon entering it. "I come bearing food," I said as I scanned the surrounding area in search of him.

He was here. He was kneeling down beside his venusaur patching up a couple of its wounds. I didn't know why Venusaur was injured but my best guess was that Red got into another fight. Another challenger must have challenged him to a battle. The usual. Most people reach the summit without even knowing what's up here and they get a huge surprise. Others hear myths of this so-called Red who is said to be such an almighty trainer and come up here to witness it for themselves. They lose. Big time.

I grabbed a water bottle from the bag I brought and went to go sit next to him on the ground. "I can't stay for long. The gym opens up at nine." I set the bag down beside me.

I thought he muttered something like, "That's fine," but I must have been mistaking.

I handed out to him a pack of these things known as "teddy gums" that he loved so much. They were these gummies that were shaped like teddiursas, each one varying in color. "I brought you your favorite food," I said, and he nodded and took them from me.

I took a sip of water, then put in down on the ground next to my foot. "They talked about you in town today. Apparently some girl climbed to the peak of Mt. Silver and found and battled a mysterious-looking trainer. I take it that was you?"

He said nothing.

"Did you win?"

"Does it matter?" he finally said.

"It wouldn't kill you to answer the question, you know..."

He evened out a bandage around Venusaur's nose and jaw, then sprayed a potion between its eyes and it flinched.

"You're a real chatty gossiper, you know that?"

He ignored me and continued to fix Venusaur up. I looked around and found Snorlax all patched up as well. The weirdest thing is, is that even though he can't properly care for himself, he can still care for his pokémon. He does a pretty good job at it too, mind you. I don't know how he does it but he does. He even tends to feed them better than he does himself, which I have a hard time believing since he loves food so much. He's nearly starved himself to death before just for the sole sake of his pokémon. It's really childish, I know. I've tried telling him that if he doesn't take better care of himself, then how are his pokémon suppose to survive when he's gone? They'll end up dying as well. The best response he could come up with was, "It's all I can do," which more than just a little ticked me off, but I didn't return with anything.

"Have you been eating well?" I asked. I ask him this every time I come here.

"Yeah," was all he could bring himself to say.

"What about bathing? How long has it been since your last shower?"

"I don't take showers," he said, implying that he takes baths instead. He likes to get smart with me.

"Whatever. You know what I mean."

"I'm doing fine."

I took a moment to inspect what he was wearing: a short-sleeved jacket, some pants, a hat... As usual, he wasn't dressed for the weather—but it wasn't like the weather ever changes much around here anyway. It was always cold. His appearance alone could tell you that. His skin was as pale as a blank sheet of paper; it was obvious that he hadn't seen sunlight in years...

"At least put a blanket on, for crissakes." I got up and draped a blanket over his shoulders. "Here." I made sure to cover all that I could around him, except his head and legs. "Use it," I told him sternly. He hunched over and pulled the blanket tighter around himself, as if he just discovered that he was, in fact, cold.

I sat back down, complaining with, "Jeez, I feel like your damn mother..."

He didn't say anything.

I had to keep the conversation going (or what was left of it anyway). "Speaking of which, she presumes you're dead, you know—your mother. It's a real shame."

It was a horrible choice of words, what I just said. But at least maybe now he'll consider coming back home where he belongs. His mother didn't even presume that he was dead, rather that she was actually still clutching onto the hope that he'd return home someday. The poor woman—I feel sorry for her. I know how she feels. Everyone in town does. We're all worried about Red. The only difference in my case is that I get to see him every so often. If others knew about that, I wonder how they would feel... They would probably begrudge me for keeping his location a secret for so long.

I kept watching Red to see if he would make any sort of relative response—but he didn't. The most he did was stop what he was doing for a moment to adjust his hat, then looked in a different direction because I guess he may have heard a noise or something... But I wasn't concerned. He does these sorts of things often, out of old habit. I think he might be paranoid that he'll receive an uninvited guest, and I guess I would be, too, if I lived atop a mountain.

I sighed. "But I guess you don't want to hear about that, do you?" I asked. I didn't expect an answer. There comes a point in life where you stop expecting so much everything, especially certain people. If you don't come to understand that, you'll get hurt. You most certainly will.

"Whatever," I said, after he gave me nothing in return. I stood up, stretching. "Are you sure you'll be all right by yourself?" I ask him this every time I leave, too. I probably sound like a broken record every time I come here. I don't know why I still bother when I know he'll just respond the same way as always.

"I'll be fine," he said. He didn't bother to look at me. I was expecting as much.

"Do you want me to come by again later?"

"I don't care."

I turned around and exited the cave.

Yeah, I didn't think you would, I thought to myself.

Red gazed down restlessly at the world beneath him. On clear days he could distinguish the few trees that would ordinarily be hidden by the clouds. Most days, however, he saw nothing. Mountains don't always give you the view that you want—that was one of the few things that Red has come to learn in the many years spent living on Mt. Silver.

From the corner of his eye Red saw Pikachu shift around on his shoulder. It growled, seemingly distracted by something, but Red didn't know what. The electricity that was stored in its pouch-like cheeks started to shoot out in an array of sparks. Red knew this behavior to only occur whenever it sensed danger, so did that mean they were in some kind of trouble? Red turned around to witness it for himself.

A boy with golden eyes and a hat stood not too far from Red on the edge of the cliff, but not nearly as close to the edge as what Red was. He had a look of determination in his eyes—a look that Red wasn't so used to—as he asked, "Are you the legendary trainer they call Red?" He held a poké ball out before himself in a justifying manner and smirked. "I've been looking for you... I challenge you to a pokémon battle!"