Dust
Mount Silver is dangerous. And challenging, every bit of the word. Just getting permission to climb up is a challenge itself. Steep drops into jagged rocks would make for a quick and painless death, if it weren't for the fact that there's a very slim chance of survival, it's slim but it's still a high enough chance that no one I'd know would take it. At first the path to the top is quite wide, it could probably fit a group of three people, maybe four at best, halfway however is when you must, and I do mean must, put your back up against a wall of sharp stones and edge your way to a clearing narrower than the last. And the scale of Mount Silver as well, by the quarter mark you're already wishing you'd just stayed home and listened to the report of how many new trainers were taken away from their families, just because of a big mountain, it practically sucks the soul out of your body. Then, there's the many dangerous Pokémon up there, many of them are quite territorial, and far more dangerous than most of the ground level Pokémon, some could cause an avalanche and throw you off the mountain into an either long and painful death, or a quick, painless one. The more terrifying ice types are what really gets people second guessing their trip. I've personally never had it happen to me before, but I'm sure it's easy to imagine how painful a death it would be to get frozen to death. And if you get past all that, the air itself gets thinner and thinner up here, unless without proper breathing techniques, you'll probably die by asphyxiation long before you get to the top. As for if you do get to the top, then congratulations, you did it, you climbed the tallest mountain in the world, fought tooth and nail to get up here, risked your life and wellbeing, and all you get is a pretty view as your prize.
With all these factors, one does think who exactly would be insane enough to climb such a force of nature, who'd be willing to risk it all just to feel dead and want to die at the end of their journey. Many young trainers I know die quite a lot before even reaching the halfway point, either due to lack of equipment, too overconfident an attitude, or not knowing the dangers in the first place. An old friend of mine is now just another tally mark, thanks to Mount Silver. You'd either must be foolish or have a very good reason for climbing this thing in the first place.
Either fortunately or unfortunately, I'm both foolish and have a good enough reason for climbing up.
The snowstorm felt as though it was trying to push me off the mountain, honestly, I'm kind of considering just letting it take me off this place and falling face first into the mountain side. Still, I pressed on, my goal was just one more climb above me, all the winter gear I was wearing was really starting to weigh on me, especially when I knew it wouldn't be too much longer before I'd have to climb back down. One pair of large black snow boots that I'd seen in an advertisement magazine, apparently, they're supposed to withstand -40-degree weather. Two pairs of thick woollen socks which I'm still sure is not good enough for this kind of weather. Skin-tight pants, which I'm sure only someone like me would think they'd be good enough for maintain hike. Over those pants, however, was another bigger, warmer pair of orange winter pants. A couple of long-sleeved shirts underneath and a big, orange winter coat with the hood over my head. Gloves that I'm sure would be great, if hands weren't frozen solid at this point. A ski mask covering my neck, mouth and head. A black, cotton beanie. And lastly, goggles that I'm almost certain were frozen onto my mask, or in the very least weren't coming off anytime soon.
I was cold, tired and miserable, but I was also focused. I finally pry my arms away from my armpits and get ready to make the final climb, it wasn't a simple grab onto a ledge and hoist myself up. It was a steep, slippery slope, where the snow looked like it could come falling my way any minute. I finally worked up the courage to place my hand into the snow to look for any surface I could grab. Eventually, I managed to find a good enough place to begin climbing on and put my foot into the correct position. The climb itself was far easier than I'd anticipated, probably because I'd already had to deal with climbs like these before. A few minor slip-ups, like losing my footing when I was about to reach the reach the top, but nothing serious. And with one last grunt of air, I was here. The top. Where many people would only dream of being. But I wasn't here for the view, I wasn't here for bragging rights, I wasn't even here to face off against the legendary Pokémon trainer Red. In fact, I passed by him not too long ago, at least, I think I did. Might've been a hallucination, after all, the person I saw was wearing torn denim jeans, a red jacket, a white shirt and a red cap. Anyone with that kind of clothing fashion on Mount Silver is just begging for a slow death.
Anyway, I wasn't here for that, instead I simply dug a little hole in the snow and pulled out a Pokéball from inside my coat. Now you may think I'm crazy for risking about everything in my life just to bury a metal ball in the top of a mountain. But this wasn't just a regular Pokéball, it was a Master ball. Now you're probably thinking two things. One, how'd I get a Master ball, and two, I'm still crazy. Well firstly, let's just say I have a friend who's wealthy, and generous, and secondly, think about, I don't have any Pokémon so if anyone found out I'd had a Master ball, it'd be easy pickings, thirdly, a freaking Master ball, the ability to capture any single Pokémon and basically guarantee its capture. Do you know how many people would kill, just to be able to get any Pokémon they'd like? And me? Well, I'm doing just fine without Pokémon, and frankly, I'd rather it stayed like that.
I don't know what it is with me, but I'm very antisocial, I can't even order food from a restaurant without thinking someone's gonna tell me I should stop taking up so much time. It's also the fact that I rarely ever talk. Its not just people either, Pokémon are also extremely difficult for me to interact with. Guess I just never figured out how to engage with people.
With that existential crisis out of the way, now it's back to getting down from this cliff. I carefully placed my foot back where I'd previously used it to get up from and began my descent back down. Until halfway through the climb when the rock I was holding cracked and came loose from the edge of the slope, I started sliding down, snow started to hit my goggles, my entire body almost immediately started freezing, and I couldn't see where I was going, until eventually I came to a stop, in the snow, I was stuck. Shit!
I tried moving my arms to dig my way out of the pile on top of me. Nothing. I tried lifting my legs to see if I could kick my feet out of the snow. Nope. I even tried moving my whole body from side to side to try and give way to anything, just a tiny amount of moving, instead it felt like my entire body perfectly compressed. No way out, no escape. Honestly, a rather fitting end that I'd die doing something stupid, I should've just kept the Master ball and stayed home, I would've had more chance against five muggers than climbing up this stupid Mountain. Well, the mountain bested me, I only have myself to blame, and now I'm gonna die, no-one will ever find my body, no-one will even care, no-one-
*Chuk, Chuk, Chuk*
Is someone…? Someone is! I'm being dug out!
"I can hear you! I'm just a little deeper! Keep digging." I shouted at my rescuer.
No sooner had I said that however, I started panicking, who is rescuing me? Is it another hiker? Not likely, people rarely go to the top of Mount Silver without good reason. Or was someone was here to steal the Master ball, also unlikely, I hadn't told anyone that I had it, and even if my friend did, I didn't tell anyone where I was going, plus you'd have to be desperate to risk your life for a Master ball... I think. Maybe I wasn't hallucinating, maybe it is Red, he probably heard the commotion… had he? I was high up, and I did pass him quite a while ago. Maybe it's a Pokémon. Here to help or just looking for an easy meal?
I heard what I thought was a voice call out to me, but I barely registered it, I was too busy thinking of what to do if it was anything ready to hurt me. Finally, I felt something grasp my hands and start pulling me up out of the snow. Whatever was going to happen, I wasn't gonna go down without a fight, I wasn't gonna let someone take the Master ball and I wasn't gonna be some hungry Pokémon's dinner. Whatever would happen, I'd be ready to take it on.
Come on, bring it!
-Personal critique: please tell me if there was anything I should add, both in this chapter (and maybe the next, who knows?) I'm trying to study different techniques used in writing, also (from what I've been told) I'm not good at having my characters express their feelings clearly. I feel as though I rushed the end a bit too quickly, which I'm sure is very evident.
-Real Life Person.