Push The World Away

"The waves of the ocean calmed him, letting all his worries; fears; thoughts escape his mind. Here, the world was pushed away."

Sorry about the delay! Finals was intense and then hardcore word blocked at the ending, so it might be terrible. But please enjoy!

Surfing Rhydons actually do exist. And they're awesome. Was going to use a Taurus, but since Green actually has a Rhydon...

Lonely Island: Green

Cinnabar Island was a desolate place; originally a booming island town with technological advances and the Cinnabar Gym, it was now a wasteland of burnt ash and cooled magma. After the volcano had erupted, destroying the island and stripping it of its former glory, nothing had been rebuilt except for a Pokemon Center. After all, the residents of Cinnabar Island had long moved away. The only ones on the island now were the nurse and her five associates.

The island was completely silent, aside from the occasional swish of waves as they lapped up against the shoreline. He sat along the rocks haphazardly, eyes dull and empty, watching the crystal tide come in and out, in and out. Occasionally the water would flow and touch his shoes, but he didn't notice.

"You can't sulk like this forever, you know," Leaf had said to him as she leaned against the gym doors, irritated that he had disappeared without notice again, preventing his entry into his own home until he heard her out. "I know you care about him, but you need to move on!"

He ignored her, turning on his heel and walking away as she continued, shouting now: "You'll just end up breaking yourself more, Green!" He could hear the girl's voice wavering now, and he knew she had probably slumped to the ground, "I don't want to lose anyone else."

But he had left anyway, trying to block her sobs from his hearing.

He had wandered through the routes like he had done as a child – up Route Two, through the forest and into Pewter- where he paid a short visit to Brock- then into Diglett's Cave and out Route Eleven; east to the junction of Routes Twelve and Thirteen.

Green stopped, debating if he should go visit the Pokemon Tower in Lavender Town. "Perhaps," he agreed with himself, "since I haven't been there in a while."

So he was surprised to see that the graveyard had been converted into a radio tower, took note of the House of Memories and left the noble town as quickly as he had arrived.

The emerald-eyed trainer wandered back down Route Twelve to Thirteen; through Fourteen and Fifteen; into Fuchsia to simply restock on supplies and out to the sandy trail of Nineteen. He watched as the waves gently caress the soft sand of the shore… and had an idea.

He called out Rhydon – why not? He always was fascinated at the fact that the rock beast was able to surf; let alone float, was amazing – to take him over the water towards the Seafoam Islands to the derelict island of Cinnabar.

The cerulean blue of the sky started to fade to gray – the sun had begun to set; splashing a golden tangerine hue over the horizon. Green sighed. Another day had passed; making it a total of eight days since he had arrived – eight days of staring out into the sea, wondering what and how he should deal with, well, everything. Perhaps it was time he changed locations; the nurse was beginning to get upset at his extended stay at the Pokemon Center, but feigned a smile as he had returned back indoors. He knew that once he retired for the night, in a room away from the main lobby area, the women would complain to theier colleagues about how the teen had overstayed his welcome.

So Green remained outside, hoping that the nurse would be off-duty by the time he decided to head back inside.

A hand gently tapped the trainer on the shoulder. "Excuse me, are you…" the voice trailed off, the speaker unsure if they should continue.

The emerald-eyed trainer turned to look the speaker up and down. A brown-eyed girl crouched beside him, hands on her knees. The majority of her pigtailed brown hair was hidden under a large white hat and she wore a red shirt under overall shorts.

Green laughed softly as he looked back out into the ocean, trying to find an excuse to why he was on this island. It was easy enough – he knew perfectly why he was drawn to the place. Like Cinnabar, he had lost everything – his rank as a champion, his pride, as a gym leader, as well as in himself, and most importantly, his world.

"A volcano erupts, and just like that, a whole town disappears," he mused partly to himself. The Viridian Gym leader turned back to the girl. "You're here because you want to battle me, don't you?" The girl nodded.

"They told me you haven't been in Viridian lately, and to try to find you elsewhere," she replied. Green sighed at her reply, inwardly cursing the gym and his trainers for ratting him out. As a leader, he had the duty to accept all challengers, but there were times he had declined them because they were not ready. She may be one of them.

"If you want to battle me... for real, show me how many Kanto Badges you've got," Green replied, secretly hoping that the girl was missing one or two badges; hoping that he did not need to return home so soon.

The leader cursed again as she silently replied by opening her case, revealing seven badges. He feigned a smile, secretly slightly relieved that at least someone had cared enough about him to search for him, even if it were just to get another badge. Perhaps he should really just give up and go home; nothing had changed, or would change, anyway. As much as he hated to admit it, he really did miss home, and in a sense, his daily routine. The time on the island was calm; too calm for his liking.

Perhaps it really is time to move on…

"If you want to battle me… for real" he repeated, "come to the Viridian Gym." Green paused with a small sigh. "I'll be waiting for you."

Without waiting for her reply, the leader called for Pidgeot to take him back home, where he silently unlocked the doors to the gym. He flicked the lock behind him, sliding down the doors as he buried his head in his hands.

All he wanted to do was push the world away.

The next morning was welcomed by loud banging and shouts of "I know you're in there, Green, now open the damn door". Green found himself lying on the floor, slumped against the gym doors, Eevee staring up at him as she nuzzled his hand. The green-eyed trainer picked her up as he fumbled up to his feet to unlock the door.

"What do you wa—" he was cut short as the person on the other side grabbed the leader by the shirt. Green recognized him as the challenger from before – the one who had easily defeated him. But why was he here? Shouldn't he be challenging the Elite Four? His questions were quickly answered when the boy began shouting.

"Where the hell have you been?" The boy demanded, his voice a roar of impatience. "I've been looking for you all week to tell you something important and all everyone could tell me was, 'Oh, he's gone off somewhere again as usual'? You're a leader, take some responsibility!"

The Viridian leader looked away, his eye catching a glimpse of the girl who stood wide-eyed behind the ultra-ball capped trainer. Green placed both hands on the boy's arms, gripping them tightly until the other let go.

"I have a battle with the young lady behind you. Could you please not storm into my gym as if you own the place? I'll listen to what you have to say afterwards." He tilted his head, motioning for the girl to enter. She nodded, following him and taking position.

And so, for the third time, Green lost. He gave his challenger the badge, congratulated her with his mini speech, then turned to the boy who had previously defeated him.

"So? What did you want to talk about?"

The golden-eyed boy looked up, hands resting on his Togekiss, whom he had been fussing over for the duration of the battle.

"Huh? Oh, right," the boy replied, pausing for a moment. "There was this really strong trainer I battled up at the top of Mount Silver…"

Was it him? Green couldn't believe it. Three years after he had left – three years of silence and worry, and he was still there; still alive! It was a lie, no, it had to be. But what if it were true; what if he really was still there? He had to find out. He had to go see for himself.

Green dashed out the door before the boy could even finish his sentence.

"…But he fell off the cliff and vanished afterwards."

Isolated Civilization

"Though he returned to Viridian after his long search, he still pushed the world away. After all, he was still gone."