Push The World Away

Going from K+ to T, just in case.

The legal drinking age in Canada is 19, so I'm using that.

Forgotten World

Mount Silver was a world restricted only for the elite. Only those approved by Professor Oak were provided not only directions, but more importantly, approval to even step foot in the surrounding area. It had to be – the terrain was rough; the conditions unpredictable. Rarely did anyone make it past the halfway point; even less made it to the top.

A rumor of a phantom on the mountain had been floating in and out of the elite circles every so often, though no one who had gone up recently could actually confirm it. So the stories that drifted of a silent ghost who challenged and defeated all the trainers who successfully scaled the mountain remained a mystery. When did the rumor begin? Green couldn't remember.

Like many of the other elite trainers, he had also attempted a couple times to scale the mountain himself: but every time, either his time limit or unforeseen circumstances forced him back down. 'It would have probably been easier to make it up to the top with him', he had thought, but it was now too late.

He would be lying if he said he expected something of this sort. No, not at all. No one could deny that he was emotionally distant –very much so, and even to someone like himself, Green mentally added- and tended to disappear every so often, but it was never to a place like this, or for this long.

From the day he walked out the door, Green waited. The days turned into weeks; into months. He waited. Tousled hazelnut strands swished slightly in the air as he shook his head finally one day and realisation kicked in.

He was gone. He was not coming back.

Did something happen? Green began joining trainer circles to ask about Mount Silver. Every person he asked about the mysterious mountain shook their head at his question, "No, there was no one up there like that."

"But it can't be. I'm sure that's where he went." Disbelief. Every so often Green would venture up the mountain himself and return with nothing but disappointment. Regret.

Twelve months turned into a year. Green kept looking. But deep inside, his fear began to grow more and more.

Emerald eyes widened as he shook his head yet again. No. He can't be dead. There was no possible way. Green laughed weakly to himself. Maybe he had not gone to Mount Silver after all. Maybe he had found a new world; a new life; a new love.

And the more he thought of this, his vision would begin to warm and blur – before he knew it, tears would involuntarily fall and land on his desk; his hands; his work.

And suddenly one day, the rumor of the phantom began. A wraith in the snowy part of the mountains, battling the trainers who came across him; defeating them almost instantly. No one was able to see the phantom clearly; hidden by the heavy snow or at times, hail, the trainers already had enough on their hands to deal with as it was. The threat of being pelted by the ice or the risk of freezing to death in the inhumanely frigid temperatures kept them from staying in the snowy landscape for long.

Those asked about the phantom were unable to identify exactly where on the mountain they had run into it; "The white just throws you off," they all had said. "I have no idea where I was". Green was sure he had found more questions than answers.

How were they all so sure that it was not human? He had asked. The other trainers had all looked at each other for a moment before answering. "No one could survive in a place like that, right?" they asked in return. Green had to agree.

And so he returned home, defeated. He flopped onto the white couch he had bought - with his approval- and sunk into it, covering his face with his hands. Just being in this room was painful. The memories tugged at his mind and at his heart; try as he might; he was unable to erase them from his being. They were vivid, "as if it were just yesterday".

"I don't like staying there," the teen had said matter-of-factly, when he had showed up at Green's apartment unannounced. The black-haired trainer sitting across from him at the kitchen table was always slightly fidgety - the emerald-eyed gym leader had noticed the silent one's unusual overshuffling that day, but had paid it no mind, waving it off submissively as a mere natural action; nothing more. He smiled. Who would he be to not accept his long-time rival, but more importantly, best friend as who he was?

"If you want, you can stay with me here," he replied. "Though," he paused, glancing out into the living room, "it's still kinda empty right now. At least now I have a reason to actually get things for the place." Another smile.

After a long debate –in which Green easily lost to his mostly silent best friend, suddenly turned roommate, of course-, they settled on the white pull-out sofa for the living room instead of a guest bed. Not like there was a place to put the guest bed anyway in that small apartment, but Green and insisted that he would figure it out. He had laughed and semi-joked about not even needing another bed in the first place, since the one he had bought for himself was so large, but stopped when he saw an expression he had never seen before flicker across his friend's face.

Perhaps secretly Green had really wanted things to turn out that way. They had been close, no, best friends for a while now; and ignoring the bitterness of the past in which Green was, well, for a lack of better description, a major douche towards his now best friend, they had done so much together. They had camped together many times, sharing a large sleeping bag as they lay under the stars. Lessening the price on meals by having two forks digging into the same plate. As friends.

But he could not help himself but smile as he saw, day after day, his friend stretched out, asleep on the sofa, bed not pulled out, blanket on the floor. Within two weeks, the other teen had finally given in and agreed to use the other half of Green's king-sized bed. As friends.

As friends, Green had tried to assure himself over and over again as time went by and more and more days were spent living with the black-haired trainer. He was a fairly early riser, but Green forced himself to wake even earlier to be able to see his sleeping face. He forced himself from touching his friend; unless it was the shoulder or the back, at least. He had made a mistake before and was always worried he would, this time, actually accidentally do something of the sort again, though the urge to want to, rather, need to, grew.

Green had kissed his best friend once years before. There was no denying it. Half curiosity, half desire, it had been a strange and heartbreaking experience. Lips against lips, that was all it had been, but even then, he had watched those breathtakingly beautiful crimson eyes widen in confusion before he was pushed away. Green watched his first and only love, his usually expressionless face covered in a look of disbelief and something else, turn around and run away. When Green caught up to the other boy, he had lied and said it was an accident, that he had no idea what went through his mind to make him do something like that. He was eventually forgiven; incident put in the past.

Now, he really had no obligation to please –or serve, for that matter- the other teen, really. Just him being there- in his room- on his bed- in his clothes would, in any other circumstance, have gone way past the definition of "just friends", he figured. But watching him stumble slowly into the kitchen, crimson eyes still hazy from sleep as he would mumble "… good morning" while he sat down at the already breakfast-covered table made everything Green did for that moment worth it. And Green would smile in return, green mug filled of coffee already in hand. "Good morning."

And as friends – or rather, people who live together- , do, every so often there would be a disagreement; a fight; a petty argument. He remembered how much it had pained him to see his best friend sometimes ignore him for days; and though he would insist to Leaf that it was everything but a "lover's quarrel", he always wished it was that. But still, even during those times, he would still sleep beside Green and wake up every morning to breakfast on the table.

So the peaceful yet tense days for Green continued. Until one day, the very unexpected happened.

Green had been sitting on the sofa reading a book when he was approached by a "we need to talk". The line, to anyone else, would have come off as cliché, but when spoken by his under spoken roommate, it called for slight concern. He looked up. The teen standing before him was, once again, more fidgety than usual, long pale fingers playing subconsciously with the bottom hem of his- Green's- slightly oversized black shirt. Green blinked, surprised, and placed his book onto the coffee table, picking up his mug. He took a sip before speaking. "Well? What do you need to talk about?"

There was a long pause. He figured it would have something to do with his job, or perhaps he was there to voice a complaint? Green had always noticed that when his roommate was around –and awake, he added; that was important-, those crimson eyes of his would follow him everywhere. His guesses were cut short when the black-haired one finally opened his mouth and spoke.

It was short; it was sudden; it was more of a demand than a request.

"Please go out with me," he had said.

Emerald eyes widened in shock at the sentence. Green broke into a choking cough, trying to clear the liquid from his throat – he had gasped halfway through another sip of his coffee. He swiftly returned the green mug in his hand onto the table, taking deep breaths; not just to rid his windpipe from the drink, but as well to calm his pounding heart. His mind was a mess from not only the implied confession, but also the sudden realisation that the feelings he had locked deep inside himself had not been one-sided, like he had always originally thought. Through the slight panic and bliss, he managed to sputter out a few incoherent words.

"You want to… me … What?"

Crimson eyes locked into emeralds; emeralds gazed back at crimson. And for a long while, silence. The black-haired trainer finally spoke.

"Please."

Green said nothing. He tried to look away, but the allure of those crimson eyes rendered him motionless. The teen spoke again, for the third time.

"…. Please."

Green took a deep breath and sighed, shaking his head with a smile. He reached up to the other, but froze before they touched. He was still unsure about what would happen, but all those worries dissolved when the teen leaned forwards, moving his gloved hand to press his proclaimed love's fingers against the pale skin of his neck. Green's fingertips could feel the frantic pulse of the other's heart, pounding away at his ribcage from his anxiety he had visibly tried to hide. Now with pressure there, he himself could also feel it, amplified; the trainer flushed and tried to look away.

'How cute,' Green thought, with a chuckle. Both arms reached up to gently rest on his shoulders as he pulled the teen down onto the sofa – more specifically, onto him.

"Of course."

On his face, Green could see a faint smile – one he had seen many times in their childhood but also the first time in years.

Thus began another phase in his life – one, now, really with him. They never got any farther than holding hands or kisses, but he never asked for any more, or did any more than that. Green secretly wanted to do more to his lover, but he was not one to force it on him; or more specifically, in him.

But he figured that if he could hold back from just touching him for so long, this could be held back as well. So Green tries to be patient and waits until the right moment.

Another twelve months pass; now it was two years since his love had disappeared, and with it, that right moment. Green could no longer take the pain he felt from being in his apartment. He packed up all his personal belongs – not that there really was that much though- and moved them to the gym. The pictures they had taken together were taken out of picture frames that were scattered all around the living room and placed into a photo book. He took that with him, too.

He tried to do what other guys did when the love of their life leaves them, but the last time he drowned his sorrows alone in bottles cheap beers and hard liquor, not only had he found himself passed out in the middle of the gym area in a pile of what used to be inside him, he also had the worst hangover he has had in years. The gym could not open that day, and he was reprimanded not only by his trainers, but the gym committee as well. He never did it again.

The countless questions and climbs up Mount Silver continued, however, despite Green's growing beliefs of him being dead; or that he had never actually gone up the mountain at all. He desperately needed to see. To know.

And for another twelve months, his search once again resulted in nothing. No new stories about the phantom. No results in the Mount Silver climbs.

The breakthrough he was looking for finally came in the form of the ultra-ball-capped trainer. Or more specifically, the return of said trainer. After the boy bust into the gym for the second time, nearly wanting to kill the Viridian leader for not being there when he first returned, the boy began the story of his encounter with the phantom. How he had learned about the rumor, how he knew Green had known about it as well; how he had decided to venture up to see it for himself, and how he had been lucky enough to run into the phantom when the weather, for the mountain, was fairly decent.

He'd seen the barely-visible shift of expression when he had explained to the phantom about defeating all the gyms. How the phantom had seemed to want to say something, but remained silent. How he had commanded all his pokemon perfectly in that silence, and how those ghostly crimson eyes had curiously watched him throughout the entire battle.

The revelation hit Green like the powerful buffets of air of the magnet train as it slows to a stop at Saffron station.

Why had Green not noticed before? The Viridian leader mentally kicked himself for forgetting something so simple, yet, to him, should have been important. He had noticed that his lover would sometimes act almost wraithlike on days he was more emotionally detached than usual. But still, that could not explain the fact that the phantom was only seen every so often, but the boy quickly answered that by pulling out a map of the mountain. Scattered around the mountain were a couple red Xs, starting from the bottom and winding up the mountain, seemingly laying out a route. Those, the boy explained, were caves in which he had been in and had found traces of campfires. He pointed to the largest X at the top – there, he said, was where he had personally encountered the trainer.

The more the boy began to talk about the experience battling this wraith, the more the descriptions matched. Green snatched up the map from the table, promising to return it as soon as he was back; he absolutely had to go see for himself. He was out the door before the boy could finish.

The map, or rather, the boy, was true to his word, each mark really did signify a cavern with the remains of burnt wood. Of course, they were not all made by one person – after all, there had been hundreds of trainers that had ventured up the mountain. Green even remembered setting up one of these camps once himself. But by rushing through the route that the marked caverns laid before him with Arcanine, despite the disorienting landscape of the snowy expanse, Green found himself at the top of the mountain within days. The frigid temperatures were indeed unforgiving, and he inwardly thanked the ultra-ball capped trainer for suggesting to him to keep a fire-type out with him at all times.

The falling snow sparkled like diamond dust as Green finally stepped foot at the peak. He dropped to the ground and rolled onto his back, falling into the soft, yet cold snow.

Peaceful.

Green found it easy to understand why he – that is, if he had actually come here- would have lost track of time and eventually settled down in such an area.

The constant fall of snow had already covered all existing tracks in the area and Green does not know how long it has been since someone last passed through.

The large expanse of white, combined with the constant flutter of snow, was misleading. He could instantly understand why so many other trainers had no idea where they were on the mountain.

A sudden gust of wind whirled the snow around him, pulling a trail of white beside him and disappeared into a wall. Emerald eyes watched in confusion as another, albeit gentler gust swirled around him. Eevee and Arcanine detatched from his sides, following the swirl.

A high pitched "vee!" called Green towards the little fox, trudging towards her and stopping beside his pokemon, a wry smile on his face.

Hidden inside what seemed to be a white wall was a cave, disguised by the falling snow and behind snow-covered trees. Unless the skies were clear, or one knew the location, the cave would have been hard – and possibly impossible, considering the time other trainers spent here – to find.

Another "vee!" and Green's treasured pokemon bounded into the cave, Arcanine and Green following. The mouth of the cave glittered with frost, light bouncing off the frozen crystals in different directions. Yet the light could not manage to reach the entirety of the cave, Green noticed. 'How far does this cave go?' Green mused partly to himself, eyes squinting into the fading darkness, straining to see what was inside. On the left, half hidden in shadows was a strange pile of… something. 'Is that…'

Green walked cautiously towards it, hands outreached, fingertips lightly brushing; touching the surface until his suspicions were correct. He grabbed one from the pile. There was a sudden soft puffing sound beside him; Arcanine's mouth had opened slightly, expelling the tiniest flare. The fire beast lowered his head, directing the little flame towards the object in Green's hand.

The cave now lit up with the light from the torch, the trio made their way deeper into the cave; a light scent of burnt pine and smoke permeating the air. The remains of a campfire sat in the centre of the cave, a stack of evenly cut logs and branches sat nearby against the wall – close enough to dry out the moisture from the wood, but far enough to keep them from also igniting if rogue sparks flew from the centre pit.

Green picked up a couple pieces from the stack, arranging it into a campfire format over the existing shadow of ashes. The emerald-eyed trainer nodded at his fire type, who blew out another puff of flame. The logs crackled under the fire, releasing their warmth.

Now that the cave had a main source of light, Green went back to exploring. Strange scorch marks were scattered around the campfire, almost all of consistent size and shape. A black pot sat between the stack of logs and the fire, edges rough along the bottom from what Green assumed was from the constant touch of flame. Along the wall on the other side was a pile of random things of different colours. Green walked over, crouching and moving his torch closer so he could get a good look.

A vine-woven basket held berries and a couple paper cartons of what looked like dried noodles. A familiar-looking backpack was tossed beside the basket, contents spilling out. Three empty pokeballs, six greats and two ultras. Green rummaged through the bag, gasping slightly when a familiar object caught his eye.

Hidden partly in the corner of the bag and between a few green spray bottles was red object with a mirrorlike finish. Nearing it, he realised that it was an original pokedex. He picked up the device, pressing the button, but the screen would not turn on. The Viridian gym leader smiled to himself; It was just like him to allow something important like this to run out of battery.

But there was no sign of the trainer who owned these belongings – judging from the ashes in the camp and the scent in the air, Green was pretty certain that whoever lived here had definitely not been here for a while. He sighed loudly, frustrated.

Exeggutor was called forth, its leaves rustling slightly as it shifted uncomfortably by the fire. Two large leaves were taken, one to wrap up the berries and one, dried, used as a surface to write on. Green chose his word simply, scribbling the letters on the leaf with black permanent marker that he had happened to bring along.

"Green. " It would be enough.

The leaf replaced the berries in the basket. He picked up the bag, tossed the berries inside and zipped it, throwing both straps over his left shoulder. Exeggutor and Arcanine were recalled.

Returning to the mouth of the cave, Green turned once more to gaze upon the place the rumored phantom had lived. The barely visible light of the fire inside, combined with nightfall gave the space an eerie look, and Green really wondered how anyone would really ever even want to live in such a place.

But then again, if it was him, there was no arguing with his logic. He could never win, after all.

Pidgeot was summoned next, his tail brushing curiously in the snow. Green climbed on slowly, making sure neither the bag nor his Eevee would fall in the process. His arms gave the neck of the bird a gentle squeeze, his own signal to take to the air.

Now airborne, he turned his head to gaze at the mountain, wondering how and why all this had come to be.

It had happened randomly one day – Green had been sitting lengthwise on the sofa, his hands buried raven hair. His lover lay sideways between the gym leader's leg and the edge of the cushions, arms around his waist, right cheek resting on his chest. He shuffled slowly, allowing his crimson eyes to look up at emerald.

"Green."

Green "hmm"-ed softly, as his fingers brushing airly down the other's spine.

"I want to go to Mount Silver."

Green paused his movements, then grinned, almost wolfishly.

"Mount Silver? Sounds fun. When do you want to go?" He counted the days mentally in his head before speaking again. "Maybe this weekend or—"

"—Tomorrow. For training," the raven replied bluntly, interrupting.

Green was taken aback. He had never wanted to do anything so decisively since their race to becoming the champion, so it caught him by surprise. Usual trips and events were always planned by himself – he knew that telling his companion to decide would usually result in subtle looks of indecision before a "… Green, you decide".

He smiled wistfully. "I know it's for training," he replied. "But I have to open the gym everyday, right?"

The brunette laughed softly before continuing. "I don't think the trainers would let me do that. Even if I tell them I'm going with you."

Crimson eyes stared blankly at him as Green lifted his head gently to place light kisses against the pale skin of the other trainer's jawline.

"Well, let's go on the weekend, then. I need to at least give them enough time to notify the others that I'll be gone."

He should have taken that lack of response as a warning.

The raven was up before Green was, for once, the next morning. He was about to stand up at the door when the gym leader slammed his fist into the wall, causing the trainer to turn. His suspicions were correct when he glanced at the nearly overstuffed backpack on the floor by his side. He would never go to the Indigo Plateau this early, and never with this much. There was only one place, then.

"I thought we were going on the weekend," he growled, voice shaking. His eyes narrowed as he heard the expressionless reply.

"… Can't wait that long."

"How can you not wait? It's three days. And we can stay there for longer now that I told everyone I'm going already."

The trainer remained silent. Green sighed, walking towards him, placing his arms around him; holding him close.

"Think this through." Green could hear the desperation in his own voice but he did not care. "You're going to be there by yourself if you go now, but I already said that I wanted to go with you."

He could feel the body beneath him shake, hands reaching up to gently pull themselves apart; gently push him away. The raven stood up.

"Don't go." Green sighed, arms reaching out towards him again.

Long, pale fingers tugged the brim of his cap lower to cover crimson eyes. "I'm off."

Green watched as he took three steps towards the door, opening it slowly. He paused, but did not look back. The voice that spoke again was a ghost of a whisper.

"I'm sorry."

/

Pidgeot's gentle cry caused Green to look up. The tiny lights approaching signified Viridian City. Green nodded, arms giving the feathered creature another light squeeze. A soft warble in return, and he could feel himself descending.

He recalled Pidgeot even before they touched the ground, landing in a crouch as his feet touched down in front of the gym. He glanced at the door, lit up by the light shining down from above it. No angry notes or death threats were stuck to it this time, good.

As Green rounded the corner of the building to the side door to return home, he saw what seemed to be a lump leaning against the wall. The lump seemed to have a soft texture, wrapped around what seemed to be a person.

"Oh, great," Green thought. "They've changed from messages to stalking me outside my door."

The edge of the extremely familiar- looking blanket peeked over the person's head slightly, obscuring their upwards-looking face. The remainder of it was pulled tightly around their shoulders, covering their chest and their crossed legs, though Green could tell by the strange bump on their lap that something was there.

Their eyes were closed, so Green moved closer, trying not to make a noise; trying to not startle the person. Now infront of them, he could see their lips move silently.

"Here's where my years of lip reading comes into use," he thought, sighing as he remembered the times he would speak without a sound.

"I'm sorry."

"I should have known. You were… you are… so important to me."

Apologies and confessions tumbled from those lips. Green almost struggled to keep up – he had lip read many times during their relationship, but he had never spoken so fast, and never under a shadow. But right as he thought he would be overwhelmed, he heard a ghost of a voice. From then on, every so often there would be fragments of barely audible words.

"I'm sorry."

"Please forgive me."

"I love you."

The voice he heard was weak and unstable. There was an air of familiarity to it however, one that Green was more than certain of. Suddenly, all was confirmed.

"Please come back… Green."

"I miss you."

The emerald- eyed leader leaned forwards, hands pressing against the door to keep him from collapsing onto the seated one.

Crimson eyes fluttered open slowly, snapping wide as his mind registered what was above him.

And for the first time in three years, Green heard his name in a voice he would have destroyed the world to hear again.

"Green."

Green smiled sadly, his vision growing blurry as his eyes uncontrollably began to fill with tears. His hands were preoccupied by keeping his balance on the door so the salty drops fell freely, landing on his face and rolling down his pale skin.

"I missed you too, Red."

Embraced Unity