…
…
sanguine
Red and the six people who mattered most to him
his protégée
…
…
and you know it's time to go
through the sleet and driving snow
across the fields of mourning
light in the distance
Gold remembers the tales from when he was a little boy. The tales about a hero who started out with nothing but the shoes on his feet and the pokemon by his side. And from his childhood, he wants nothing more than to meet this hero of his.
He's the only one left alive in this little backwards town in the middle of nowhere, he believes. The only one left alive, besides a mysterious boy with red hair and an unachievable dream.
Gold bids his mother farewell and sets out on an errand that changes his life.
His life is a war from the beginning of his journey. He travels alone and speaks to no one, since his mother told him never to talk to strangers and everyone's a stranger when you're eleven and you only have a baby cyndaquil with you.
Meanwhile, all he dreams about at night is endless dirt and darkness and hail.
The world works against him, but he's lucky. "You're a natural," Lance tells him in Mahogany Town, as he prepares to challenge the seventh gym leader. "I expect great things from you."
So does Gold. Gold expects great things from Gold, and perfection isn't enough. He always wants more. More is the only way he'll meet his hero.
Little does he know, his hero wants only to meet him (or someone like him, someone strong enough to bring him home), waits only to challenge the next generation.
He becomes Champion, goes home for a day, then leaves again with only a brief couple of words with his mother. He should call her more often, but he's too busy for a social life. He doesn't think about breaking her heart (even though he knows he is, he's always been such a sensitive kid) or leaving her behind.
None of Kanto stands a chance against him. Not even the Viridian City gym leader.
But Green does offer a few words. "You and him, the only ones ever to beat me…" he whines, almost nostalgically. "You should know… have you ever heard of Mt. Silver?"
Gold's finally found his dirt and darkness and hail.
He spends weeks looking for it. He spends days lost in it, and more days not lost but training, because his hero is worth every bit of experience he can get.
Red, he is called. (Or so Green says, and Green would know, wouldn't he?) Gold wonders if all heroes have unique names (he's a hero too these days), or if it's just something that he has in common with his personal hero.
Gold finds his hero on accident, when he decides to explore the summit in the middle of a snowstorm.
He's standing at the top of a snow-covered mountain wearing short sleeves and staring into the distance when Gold climbs over that last ledge and pants, "Ah-h, I've finally found you…"
Ten easy minutes and Red loses.
Gold looks shocked, more than anything else, then regretful. "I'm sorry!" he says politely, alarmed that in the first hour of knowing his hero, he's already committed the horrible crime of breaking a winning streak and defeating a perfect record. "I mean…"
"Nothing to be sorry for…" Red's voice is a hoarse whisper, words catching in his unused throat. "I can finally go home…"
Legend and child climb down the mountain together as equals, finally headed home to fix what never should have been broken.
…
…
Author's Note: Well, there's the end of that! My first chapter story completed! That excites me. I hope you enjoyed it!
It always interests me, the views that everyone has on a legend like Red. So writing this from the perspective of a second long-time hero following in his footsteps is awesome.
Originally, the plan was to use gender-neutral terms and no name, so that any of the four Johto protagonists could be the protégée. Unfortunately, those are way too hard to use in a story without actually harming the content. So I rejected it and just used Gold.
The final song was "A Sort of Homecoming", also by U2. Another good one. A very sad, very good one.
Please read some of my other stories!