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all mountains are but slumbering beasts
When Professor Oak finally lets him loose, Gold hurtles out of the lab. He stretches his arms towards the sun, bouncing in place with a look of relief painted on his face.
“Finally, I’m out. I’m free!” he shouts, taking a quick lap around the compound before his eyes catch on the sight of his pokemon, lounging about in the sun as though he hadn’t suffered a lecture inside the labs while they relaxed. His hands come up to his hips and he pouts. “Hey! That’s not fair. You guys should’ve been in there with me!”
Typhlosion cracks open an eye to look at him and then closes it, rolling over deliberately slowly. He nudges Sunflora over a bit so they can share the best sunning spot and settles in for a nap with a huge yawn. The rest of his pokemon similarly pay him no heed. Lapras goes so far as to feign sudden death, sticking her head underwater with exceedingly dramatic flair as if that would do anything to a water type. Gold chokes. Lapras doesn’t.
“None of you care about me!” he wails, bringing as much drama to the table as his pokemon do. “I’m running away! I’m packing my bags and leaving you all to go live with Silver! At least he cares about me!” Gold dissolves into fake tears, sniffling away and completely ignoring the absolute skepticism his pokemon give his last statement, narrowing their eyes in disbelief practically en masse. Still he continues, strong of heart and lungs. “Oooh I should have known you guys would be like this. It’s because I’ve made you all champions and now you’re too good for me, isn’t it?”
He uncovers one eye from where he’d covered his face to sob into hands and is met with a completely uncaring audience. Except for Togekiss. Togekiss gives him a low, sympathetic croon that suggests he might be going insane but that’s okay, they'll fix him!
Gold considers crying real tears but manfully holds back at the last moment. He launches himself forward, arms outstretched, at Togekiss who sends a healing move at him before he can get too close. It knocks him straight off his feet and that’s how Professor Oak finds him, half-crushed by his team who all pounce on weakness the minute they sense it.
“Ah, it’s so nice to see young trainers getting along well with their pokemon,” Professor Oak says cheerfully, placing the upgraded pokedex in Gold’s outstretched hand, the only part of him left visible.
“Mmrghmph,” Gold protests.
“Good to know,” Professor Oak returns, scratching underneath Umbreon’s chin as it squints in satisfaction from its spot on Gold’s head. “Well, like I told you, the weather’s good enough for a trip today but be careful out there. Remember to have fun!”
“Mphrmgh!” says Gold.
“Yes, yes I’ll leave you to it then young man.”
Gold’s wail of despair is muffled. He doesn’t make his escape for a good, long while. And with all the shuffling and reshuffling, plus the effort it takes to get his team all sorted out, by the time they realize how long it's been the sun is already dipping beyond the horizon. With what’s left of their luck, they manage to rush the routes and make it to Mt. Silver by evening.
The sight of it is nothing short of majestic.
The grass at the base of Mt. Silver is still deeply green. Gold looks up and up and up, at its cloud-covered peak, at the gorgeous strikes of sunlight spilling across its sides and shimmering within sheets of snow like lost treasures, at the unyielding face of it all. Mt. Silver is stern and beautiful in the way wild places tend to be, honest about their dangers, cloaked in invisible pressure.
The winds of Mt. Silver whisper warnings to the foolish and unprepared. I am not for the unworthy. I am not for the unwilling. I will not cover my cliffs nor soften my storms. You will see me as I am or you will stand lost forever.
Gold tips his face up and lets the last of the day's sun sink warm under his skin. His eyes are glowing and he can feel something deep inside him shiver with excitement. The grin that curves across his face would prove concerning to anyone who knew him. It’s the same smile that saw him through harsh battles and tearstained victories, through crushing criminal teams and earning his championship, paired with the electric rush that surges sharp underneath his skin. It almost looks like he’s glowing. He feels like he is.
“Yeah,” Gold breathes into the air, white fog rising as he steps right into one of Mt. Silver’s first challenges, unafraid. The sweeping wind kicks up flurries of snow from up high and sends them rushing towards him. Snowflakes melt on his face and in his hair but his grin never falters. “I get it. But we’ve finally made it here and we won’t give up so easy.”
The pokeballs clipped to his belt move in acknowledgement and he curls his hand around the first one without releasing it. Gold is greeted with the familiar blaze of heat, his partner pokemon’s determination radiating outwards.
He walks without faltering even as his feet sink in the snow, taking one step forward then another, then another, shouldering his way through the harsh winds with his own unending warmth to sustain him.
The wind whips itself into a frenzy in response, spurred on by his very presence.
Mt. Silver loves to test its challengers and Gold loves to be challenged.
It’s why he’s gotten this far. It’s why he’s on this mountain. Gold has always held himself to soaring standards, has always been looking up with his heart thumping madly, wanting so much more than anyone saw. His greatest achievement lived in the bright eyes of his pokemon, the trust in them polished and pure, because for all of his faults— and Gold knows he has them, knows he’s rash and hot headed – he’s always been honest, with his heart not on his sleeve but held in his palm. In a hand facing up with his fingers open, unfaltering despite his doubts, a hand that would sometimes tremble but never pull back, always reaching.
His pokemon never fail to reach back. When Gold sometimes runs too fast and trips, eyes fixed on some new adventure, his pokemon break his fall and guard the glow of his heart from going out. They curl around him when he dims with loss and pour every bit of their beings into that heart until it shines again and he overflows with heat. Love forged into something stable, an infinite loop that gleams, treasured.
That hearthfire, tended by his pokemon, is why he never gets cold.
Gold holds one hand in front of his face to shield his eyes from the pelting snow while the other sweeps through the chilly fog. Mt. Silver leans forward and roars, wind coming in from every direction to claw him to pieces. The ground underneath almost feels like it's shifting, rocks sliding underneath his shoes. Typhlosion’s pokeball wiggles and Gold sighs.
“Alright, alright,” he says, words snatched away into the snow as soon as they leave his mouth. “I’ll find shelter, just give me a second.”
Typhlosion’s pokeball wiggles more intensely and Gold makes a long-suffering noise. Instead of throwing it like he normally would, he releases Typhlosion with the pokeball held tight in his hand, worried the storm might steal it away. With a flash of light, his partner pokemon materializes, gets hit with a faceful of snow and immediately makes to go back.
“Hah! No way,” says Gold, playing keep away with the pokeball. Glee is written all over his face. “You’re the one who wanted to come out. Running away so soon, Cinny?”
Typhlosion turns his nose up and pretends he never tried to escape to safety until Gold is hit with a faceful of snow too. Then he gives him a taunting snort as Gold sputters and coughs, and looks down at his plight using his superior height advantage of exactly one inch. This lasts until a faint shape slides into sight through the snowstorm. They both freeze like startled buneary as it passes them by without a sound.
“D-Did you see that?” Gold whispers.
Typhlosion, who clearly saw it too, shakes his head quickly but shuffles behind Gold anyways.
“That wasn’t a pokemon,” Gold hisses, backing up. “Is this place haunted? Is Mt. Silver haunted?” He looks up to meet Typhlosion’s eyes who snaps his head to the side, looking away as fast as possible. The creeping dread lightens and Gold’s eyes sparkle with amusement but he doesn’t poke fun. His voice gentles. “Hey, it's okay if you want to go back to your pokeball. I won’t mind.”
Typhlosion huffs indignantly and nudges him forward.
“Alright, stay close then. This storm is getting worse so we’ll find somewhere to wait it out like you wanted.”
The pale figure flashes ahead and disappears just as fast. Gold’s throat dries up and he reaches for Umbreon’s pokeball, bouncing excitedly on his belt.
“Um yeah, right on buddy. Just a second,” he says and lets it out.
Umbreon sinks straight into a snowdrift, pops its head out, and launches itself at Gold, who catches it on instinct. It doesn’t shake the snow out of its fur until its scrambled its way up Gold’s body to drape half its body over Gold’s head, using his shoulders as a base.
“We’re counting on you to keep us safe,” Gold tells it very seriously.
It chirps and the moons on its body glow. Typhlosion breathes a sigh of relief and they trundle forward, making cautious headway. Gold and Typhlosion spend every second looking over their shoulders and hoping the pale figure won’t reappear. Umbreon does the exact opposite, tail thumping and ears perked up in challenge. After a short journey, they spot a small cave opening that would have gone unnoticed without Umbreon’s light.
Overwhelmed by relief, they tumble in without noticing the cave’s other occupant, patting themselves down and stomping their feet to get warmer. Gold lets Umbreon down so he can grab a towel.
Red clears his throat.
Gold shrieks in alarm and launches himself backwards, bumping into Typhlosion whose dimming cloak of flames flares up so high it touches the cave's ceiling.
“Ghost!” he wails. “It’s here! It followed us! Quick, Umbreon, Dark Pulse!”
Red waves. Umbreon glows peacefully in greeting and turns back to stick its cold nose under its trainer’s neck.
Gold yelps and then cracks one eye open warily. From behind him, Typhlosion does the exact same thing.
Red waves again.
“Oh!” says Gold, recovering quickly. “Ohh. Hi, I’m Gold.”
He waves back enthusiastically pretending nothing happened as he takes in the sight of Red and the pikachu in his lap, muffling giggles.
“Um,” he coughs. “Nice weather we’ve got going on today, huh?”
The wind outside screeches violently.
“Sure,” Red signs, mouth barely twitching. “Great weather. Want some soup?”
“Yes, thank you.” Gold signs back and scrambles through his backpack for berries to offer.
Red takes them off his hands and stokes the flames higher. “Thanks,” he signs.
“No problem.”
“You can let the rest of your team out, you know. The cave’s big enough.”
Gold perks up at once. “Really? Thanks!”
The cave grows warmer as Gold’s pokemon appear. As Red’s pikachu greets the new arrivals (and mimes something Typhlosion and Gold both pretend not to see especially after the amused looks that drift their way) Red lets out the rest of his team too and the sound of chatter fills the previous silence. With Gold’s addition to the soup, its hearty aroma catches everyone’s attention and they crowd in, excited to eat. The soup chases away all traces of cold and when everyone is full and satisfied, Red looks up to catch Gold’s sparkling eyes.
“Alright,” says Gold, blazing with energy. “Let’s do it!”
Red’s eyes glow similarly, lit from within.
& their proud heads rise from a bed of clouds