Archive of Our Own

He remembers the day when Daisy told him Red disappeared.

It was a chilly morning in December, when the winds were strong and the skies were greyer than usual. A mere six months after Red was crowned Champion - six months after Green suffered his most humiliating defeat.  

"He's a Champion, there's no way he will run away." Green masked himself in nonchalance, as if it could soothe the wounds to his pride. "Maybe he took a spontaneous break." 

In his usual silent fashion, he added in his head.

"He's been missing for 2 weeks, Green."

He still remembers the ringing in his head that ensued afterwards and the sharp inhale that flooded his lungs after he forgot to breathe.

"Give him another week, he'll come back."

It had been 2 and a half months since Red went missing.

All of Kanto was in an uproar over the disappearance of their Champion. This was an SS-ranked adventurer, and the vacancy he left behind was a gaping void that did nothing but broadcast Kanto’s vulnerability to the rest of the world.

It did not help that this void also made everyone turn their attention to the only other SS-ranked adventurer of Kanto.

And Green cursed, as people on the streets asked if he would be the next Champion. He cursed and cursed, when the League approached him with a formal letter of appointment. He cursed at everything, as his wounded pride started to break.

Why? How? How could he? How could Red do this, knowing the Champion’s seat was everything Green had ever wanted? When he had been the one to wrench that title from Green’s grasp?

How could you… leave me behind like this?

And so, Green cursed at Red, and prayed that this was all a nightmare.

It had been 6 months and three weeks since Red went missing.

Kanto was well in the middle of summer, and Green was suffering a migraine from the heat, among other things. You know, insomnia and the like.

Three months after Red's disappearance, Green went through the selection process and became the Hall Leader of Viridian. Thereafter, he finally ripped the letter of appointment apart and sent word of his rejection back to the League.

The Kanto League was nothing short of furious, and so Green Oak was unceremoniously demoted to S-rank. Not that it matters anyway, given that he was now the strongest adventurer in Kanto, who is not missing.

His head throbbed incessantly, and he laid on the bed in his sweat. Curling up in a fetal position, he cursed the heat. And Red.

How he wished he could just use his Blastoise gun and shoot himself in the head. Maybe it would stop the migraine. 

Maybe that way he would stop fixating on Red. Maybe that way he could finally stop wishing he should have treated Red better. And cursing himself for it.

It had been 1 year since Red went missing.

It was surprising how fast Kanto moved on from their missing Champion - a little too fast, Green lamented.

Meanwhile, Red's mother had cried herself dry over her missing son, and Green could no longer remember the last time she smiled. 

What about me? Green wondered as he stood in front of the mirror. He tried to do his usual lopsided grin, before his cheeks quickly went slack and down the grin went.

Yeah, he wasn’t smiling much either. Heck, he looked terrible, with his eyebags and rough skin from the lack of sleep.

But this is not because of Red! Green shouted in his head. He was just stressed from running his Hall, dungeon crawling, and preparing for his research studies in Kalos. 

Surely, he had moved on from Red.

Surely.

It had been 2 and a half years since Red went missing.

In Kalos, Green buried himself in his research, spent long hours at the forge, and got a degree while he was at it.

And no, he has not moved on from Red.

It was something concluded not by Green, but by the third Kalosian girl who dumped him four months into the relationship.

"You're not looking at me." She cried, throwing his jacket smack onto his face. "It’s like you’re always searching for someone else."

He muttered a slipshod "sorry" and left the inn without his jacket. He never bothered retrieving it after.

He never dated anyone else afterwards either.

It had been 3 years since Red went missing.

Green was already back in Kanto and fulfilling his Leader duties. Half of the time, at least.

Unlike the other Halls, Viridian Hall was only open three days a week. No one knows what its Leader does for the rest of the week.

Green was not going to let the world know that he was still searching for the missing Champion that everyone had forgotten about.

Nor the fact that he had been missing Red for the past three years.

He remembers the day when he first met Ethan.

It had been four years since Red went missing. It was a strangely warm day in November when the new Johto Champion came to find him on Cinnabar island.

The first thing that came to Green's mind was how much the kid reminded him of Red. At least, that indomitable spark in Ethan's eyes was one he had last seen in Red's.

He wondered if this was what a Champion's eyes should look like. If so, it was no wonder he lost to his rival.

Ethan made quick work of him back at the Viridian Hall, and honestly? Green wasn’t mad about it.

But when Ethan told him he wanted to challenge the dungeon in Mt. Silver, Green was livid.

"You'll die!" He yelled as he smacked the back of Ethan’s head in exasperation. "You'll freeze your ass off and your limbs will break. Your corpse will be buried under the snow and no one can ever find you again."

"But I've fought against everyone I possibly could in both Johto and Kanto. I'm bored. There's no one else I can duel with."

"Then stay bored," Green snapped. "There’s still someone you haven’t even won against." He muttered under his breath.

Hearing his mutterings, Ethan's eyes lit up. "Who?" 

Green paused, lips drying as he regretted saying what he did. 

"... You won't win against him anyway." He said decidedly, waving Ethan off.

Green doesn’t quite remember the day Ethan came back from Mt. Silver.

It had been four years and three months since Red went missing. It was a drowsy spring morning, and Green awoke to the sound of rapping on his door.

"I met him." Ethan declared, breathless. 

It was apparent that he had bolted from what Green could only presume to be Mt. Silver, and came straight to his house, as if he had discovered the craziest thing ever in the dungeon and he couldn’t wait to share it with Green. Admiration and excitement exuded out of the boy’s tired yet bright countenance.

Not even a, “Hey, I disappeared off the grid for the past three months and the League lost its mind because another one of their Champions vanished again, but I’m alive.” Just: “I met him.”

He repeated it once more.

"Wha-?" Green stared at the unexpected visitor, groggy and not quite registering what Ethan - if that was truly him - said.

"You were right," Ethan bubbled excitedly. "He was so stupidly strong, I don't think I properly won against him."

"No, hold up," Green tried to support himself using the door handle. "Ethan, you're back."

"Oh, yes," Ethan reined in his excitement. "Yes, I'm alive." He paused, then added. "Sorry."

"You idiot," Green smacked him upside the head. 

"Ow!"

"Do you have any idea how worried everyone was?"

"Sorry," The younger boy grinned sheepishly. "But I met him, on Mt. Silver!" repeated Ethan for the third time.

Green raised an eyebrow. Who would be as crazy as the Johto Champion to go up Mt. Silver alone?

Seeing the confused expression on Green's face, Ethan hurriedly added, eyes sparkling, "Red!"

Huh?

This time, Green lost his grip on the door handle and slipped. He probably fell to his knees, because they hurt and he could not feel his legs afterwards. Ethan was probably saying something, but all he could hear was the pounding of his own heartbeat, loud enough to rattle through his head like an earthquake.

Green remembers telling Ethan to give him some alone time (as if he hadn't been alone all this time), and the boy had left him to his own devices in his empty house. He remembers sitting down, back against his door, as he slowly processed the words Ethan had repeated to him.

Green had not known Ethan for long, but his intuition told him that Ethan was not one to lie. He was too young and gullible to do so.

And if Ethan said he met Red on Mt. Silver...

"Oh, Arceus...," He muttered under his breath. Green was never religious, but this time he felt compelled to say out the Creator's name.

He's alive. He's alive, oh my fucking god. Green gasped. 

God... fucking damn it, Red. A loud sob escaped from his throat. You've been alive all this time, and you never bothered to tell me. Tears flowed down uncontrollably, as whimpers filled the house. You're an idiot, why are you on Mt. Silver- Oh god, you are alive. Oh, thank Arceus. He buried his head into his arms, wetting his sleeves. You're alive. You're really alive.

Green does not remember much afterwards, only that he fell back asleep after exhausting himself from crying too much.

Two days after Ethan came back, Green had already packed his bags to go dungeon crawling.

"No," Lance said sternly. "A missing SS-ranked adventurer just came back and I can't let another run off again."

"S-ranked." corrected Green. "Besides, he came back fine."

"Look here," Lance blocked his door, preventing the Viridian Leader from leaving his house. "I know you are strong and all, but Mt. Silver is not a dungeon you can clear on a whim."

"I have a water attribute," Green argued. "I'm resistant to ice."

Lance frowned and sighed, "This isn't about attribute advantages. The weather conditions on Mt. Silver are objectively terrible for you." He rested a heavy hand on Green's shoulder. "Ethan at least has his Typhlosion gauntlets. And Red... he also has Charizard equipped as his armour. But you - you will freeze to death, Green."

I don't care, he thought to himself. I've been pretty much frozen all this time anyway.

"... I'll be careful." He mustered resolutely, hoping this would convince Lance to let him leave. 

"Fine," The Dragonslayer finally conceded. "I know I cannot stop you."

With a swish of his cape, Lance moved to his right, letting Green pass. 

As he walked past, Green heard Lance say to him, "Go get him back, alright?"

Green had already lost track of time since he started climbing Mt. Silver. 

The entire mountain was staggering, rough, and terrifyingly frigid. Everywhere he went, only the bleak whiteness greeted him. Green was convinced he was going down and not up, with the way his surroundings fogged up from the snowstorms and blizzards. It was no wonder Ethan took three months to get through this monster of a dungeon.

And Lance was right: he was freezing to death.

He sneezed and ripped yet another fire scroll to keep himself warm, but the small flame did little to warm him up. Shuffling through his remaining stock, Green knew that he would hardly have enough to survive the descent down…assuming he could even do so. 

And it was not like he could reduce all his HP here like what some perverts do to restart at the dungeon entrance. Unlike most high-ranked dungeons, Mt. Silver was notorious for never giving second chances.

Maybe I'll really die here. He wondered to himself bleakly.

Fuck you, Red.

Another fire scroll reduced to ashes.

Why you'd gotta come all the way up here, of all places?

The cold winds howled at him, as if mocking him for his lunacy for chasing after Red in the first place.

"Yeah, I'm crazy," Green breathed. "Why did I have to go... and fall in love with someone like you?"

So much so that I would gladly chase you to the ends of the earth?

It had been 2 weeks since Red left for Mt. Silver.

By then, Red was already at the summit, having defeated the high-level spirits and getting past the final area. The words "DUNGEON CLEAR" hovered brightly above him in contrast with the desolation.

And the summit turned surprisingly quiet, as if everything within the dungeon had died. 

Him included.

It was fitting, he realised. After all, he came up here to kill something inside of him.

After burning for so long, he needed somewhere cold enough that could freeze his heart so that it would stop beating for that person.

Deep down, he felt guilty for leaving his mother behind, for leaving the mess for Lance to clean up, and for abandoning the life of adventuring he had once known.

But it hurt. Everything did. What purpose did the Champion title serve, other than to drive a wedge between him and the person he had been burning for?

With a flick of his hand, fire embers shot out from his palm, lighting up the wood pieces he had gathered while on the way up the mountain and set up after clearing the dungeon. 

As he stared at his flickering flames, Green surfaced in his mind yet again.

Green Oak would not miss him. the Kanto Champion concluded. In his usual cocky (and self-preserving) fashion, Green would simply wave it off and say that Red would be back in a week.

Half crying and half exasperating, Red laughed.

It's funny, isn't it? That he would know someone who hated him so much like the back of his hand. 

But he would not be back in a week. Not until the world has forgotten him and he has forgotten Green.

The flickering flames got too close to his face so he snuffed out the fire.

It had been two and a half months since Red left for Mt. Silver.

Red made a habit of etching a vertical mark into the cave wall for every day that passed. 

Every five, he etched a horizontal line through the four vertical marks. Every thirty, he etched a cross into the wall to mark a month gone by. Perhaps, when a full year had passed, he would carve a circle around them all.

It lent a semblance of routine and order to his new life, and more importantly, kept him from losing his mind to the endless monotony.

The thing that let him keep track of each day was actually not his Pokédex. He had destroyed it before leaving, unwilling to risk anyone finding him.

For a while, he had no way of telling the time at all. Until he found the pocket watch Green had tossed him on the first day of their journey.

“You can have it.” Green’s indifferent voice was still etched in his mind. “It’s useless, anyway. Toss it, keep it, I don’t care.”

Red only learned later from Daisy, that Green had spent nearly half his savings on it. It was not much, not for a teenager, but Red appreciated the thought all the same.

But after their fateful duel, Red was quite sure he had thrown it away. 

Guess he did not.

As the watch hands moved, its ticks and tocks echoed faintly in the cave. It was a reminder, a solace, and an anchor.

That he still cannot live without Green.

It had been more than 1 year since Red left for Mt. Silver.

And as planned, he carved the circle on the wall.

See? He had lived just fine on his own for one whole year. In fact, he became so well-acquainted with the mountain that most of the PokéSpirits would sometimes come and hang out in his otherwise lonely abode. 

Red wondered whether this was something to be proud of: that he managed to spend an entire year alone on this mountain, with no company but wild spirits, and his equipment to communicate with them.

No matter how he looked at it, he knew this kind of self-imposed exile should have driven any normal person insane.

Maybe it was because he subconsciously used Calm Mind or Meditate as part of his training. But that explanation made little sense. Those were skills meant to raise stats, not keep someone from losing their mind.

And last he checked, his INT stat was his weakest. Granted, it was higher than your average adventurer, but still...

Red faltered for a moment, realising that he had not checked his stats since a year ago.

His stats window snapped open before him. Scanning through the information, he noticed some differences.

First, his Job Title was now blank. It made sense. Kanto would have needed to find a new Champion.

For a fleeting moment, he wondered if Green had taken the title, but quickly dismissed the thought. There was no way Green, the proud, brilliant prodigy that he was, would accept it without a fight.

Second, his sub-class had changed.

Previously a rather rare "Hero Knight" sub-class, it now read "Vanquisher (Interim)".

Curious, Red tapped on it, causing a pop-up window to blink into existence.

Sub-Class Acquired: Vanquisher (Interim)

You have fulfilled the conditions required to obtain this sub-class:

• Cleared Mt. Silver, yet remained within its depths for no less than 365 consecutive days after the Dungeon Clear.
• Hunted a total of 9,999 PokéSpirits
• Reached Level 100
• Spent 365 days failing to vanquish that which you desired to destroy the most

Red's eyes darted about the screen, as he read and re-read the lines. Turning his head upwards, he found the same “DUNGEON CLEAR” sign suspended overhead. He had grown so used to its presence that, eventually, he chose to ignore it altogether. Even so, it still hung there in midair, unchanged, as though the past year had never happened.

Realisation dawned onto Red, cold sweat rolling down his neck.

I see…

The words above him suddenly became all the more foreboding. 

The dungeon had never reset for an entire year.

Because Red, its one and only challenger, never left.

His gaze dropped back to the pop-up window, his instincts enabling him to piece everything together almost immediately. Suddenly, it all made sense.

Why he had managed to stay sane in a place that should have driven anyone mad, despite being nothing more than a Warrior-class adventurer.

Because time inside Mt. Silver had stopped. And with it, so had his mind.

He read the description once more, and his eyes rested on the final condition:

• Spent 365 days failing to vanquish that which you desired to destroy the most

A lonely chill suffocated him for a short second, and Red’s fingers wrapped around the pocket watch, tightly.

A derisive chuckle echoed within the cave walls.

He supposed there was nothing to be proud of for spending an entire year here, not when his own status window seemed to be mocking him.

Tired by the absurdity of it all, Red decided to close his status window and head off to train. But before he could, his eyes caught the final line in the description:

Next Advancement: Vanquisher

Condition: Become one with Mt. Silver.

Confounded, Red stood still for a minute or two, unable to make sense of what it meant before finally deciding to think about it another day.

It had been 2 and a half years since Red left for Mt. Silver.

Turning towards his timekeeping wall, the markings he had diligently carved presented itself. It was proof that he was still alive and living well on his own. The fire in his heart had cooled down significantly, and Red was convinced that all he needed was a little bit more time to forget about Green. 

And today was a new day. A new mark on the wall.

Out of habit, he took out the pocket watch and peered at its surface.

"... Oh." A low, raspy voice leaked out. One that had fallen into disuse yet still changed by puberty.

The hour and minute hands remained fixed at one o'clock, and did not move another bit. No tick. No tock.

Red's eyes went dull as he stared at the tiny, motionless gears in silence. It was as though time within the dungeon had truly come to a halt, if not for the campfire in the corner of the cave, which continued to crackle and spit sparks.

For the first time in a long while, Red was afraid.

Afraid that he would forget about Green Oak.

It had been 3 years since Red left for Mt. Silver.

He still continued to carve the lines, crosses, and circles on the wall. Despite losing his only timekeeping device, Red managed to survive off through his strict body clock. 

Wake up, carve a line, train, eat, train, sleep.

That was how he survived without Green.

Look, Red declared loudly in his head. I'm doing fine without you.

And above his head, as if a switch was flipped, the faint "DUNGEON CLEAR" sign vanished completely.

Red jumped as a large status window popped in front of him, and he could somehow hear the sound of confetti and trumpets echoing within Mt. Silver.

CONGRATULATIONS

You have become the [FINAL BOSS] of Mt. Silver!

Almost instantly, tremors rumbled beneath his feet, and Red barely stood his ground. The cave ceiling shook. Rocks, ice, and debris rained down as the entire mountain shifted in response to the birth of its new master.

You have gained the Job: [Guardian of Mt. Silver]!

For achieving a feat no one ever did, you have been granted a compatible Plate of Arceus!

In the next second, a flat object appeared in front of his eyes then dropped without much of a warning. Red barely caught it before it hit the ground, his palms tingling from its scorching heat.

Staring at the mythical-grade item thoughtfully, he opened his status window and as expected, his sub-class was now "Vanquisher".

Sub-Class Acquired: Vanquisher

You have fulfilled the conditions required to obtain this sub-class:

Become one with Mt. Silver

A strange mix of discomfort, accomplishment, and confusion churned inside Red. As far as he knew, no adventurer in history ever became the boss of a dungeon. Dungeon bosses were always Legendary or Mythical PokéSpirits.

Perhaps he was a spirit now. Perhaps he had truly died.

And then there was the Plate. The Plates of Arceus were political and military assets of immense importance to every region, and the thought of having one sitting snugly in his hands unsettled him.

But then again, he was no longer the Champion of Kanto. No one had known where he was for the past three years. He was practically a dead man.

He examined the plate carefully this time, at its crimson hue and bright sheen. It looked more ordinary than he expected.

If the rumours were true, he could choose to attempt Arceus' trial to wield the Flame Plate.

As if responding to his arbitrary thoughts, the Flame Plate burst into flames. 

Red let out a yell, dropping the Plate onto the ground. He watched the fire grow bigger and hotter by the second.

Soon, a tower of fire roared before him.

Would you like to attempt Arceus' Trial?

Recommended level: 85

• Risk of Death: High
• Time Required: 365 days or less

[ Y / N ]

A rare smile tugged at Red's cheeks.

Well, he was already dead to Green and the rest of the world anyway. 

So, why not?

Red had no idea how much time had passed since he left for Mt. Silver.

Ever since he completed the trial in 151 days (a fact the mountain had seen fit to announce the moment he cleared it), he had stopped carving each day into rock.

Arceus' Trial had thoroughly ruined his body clock, and there was nothing up in Mt. Silver to set it right again. Days bled into nights and nights into days until he could no longer tell where one ended and the other began.

He woke when his body allowed it, ate when hunger became unbearable, and slept whenever exhaustion dragged him under. Somewhere along the way, Red had lost his sense of time entirely.

It did not take long for Red to realise he was living like a dead man. 

And when he did, the first thing he fumbled for was the pocket watch. He stared at its face, at the hands forever frozen at one o'clock, silently hoping, begging, praying for them to move again.

The fire he had smothered with ice flared back to life.

He forced himself to remember the painful memories. The days when Green had always been one step ahead, and Red had done nothing but chase after him. The days when Green was his beacon, his wayfinder.

Then, Red overtook him for the first time - at the worst possible moment. His victory at the Championships resulted in Green's public humiliation and an indelible mark on his pride. The genius was mocked for becoming the shortest-reigning Champion in history, something Red had never intended, yet had caused all the same.

Which was why Red could never hate Green, despite all the soul crushing insults he had thrown at him.

And the flame only burned brighter. Years of tears emptied out of his vessel did little to douse it, and the futility of it all was agonising.

He had tried so damn hard - so damn hard - to leave everything behind, to forget Green.

But it just did not work.

After all, Green had always been his beacon, his wayfinder.

This was probably Green's way of getting back at him, Red realised.

Looks like... I really can't live without you.

Time slipped by like a ghost, and Red eventually came to a terrible conclusion: he could not die.

Not while he remained the final boss of Mt. Silver.

By now, he should have perished from starvation, dehydration, hypothermia, or perhaps all three at once. But the dungeon was alive, and as long as it lived, so did he. Nor could he leave.

Whenever he tried to descend the mountain or fly from the summit, he would find himself warped back to the same spot.

Mt. Silver would not let him go.

At first, he panicked. He thrashed the cave, screamed at the blizzards, and even tried to hurt himself.

Nothing worked.

Perhaps this was Mt. Silver’s mockery and punishment for daring to use itself as a means to freeze his broken heart.

His only hope, he prayed, was for someone-

ALERT: A dungeon challenger has appeared!

Relief crashed over the lonely Guardian of Mt. Silver, followed by vindication and a joy so sharp it hurt. 

For the first time in what felt like an eternity, Red cried tears of happiness.

Red remembers the day he first met Ethan.

The dungeon had abruptly notified him that the challenger was about to enter the boss room. Before he could react, Red was warped to the summit, left standing in vexation as he endured the relentless blizzard.

Then, through the veil of fog and hail, he spotted a figure trudging toward him.

His heart soared.

It was a High Human boy, wrapped in what looked like a Dark-type coat, his fists encased in a pair of flaming gauntlets. The design of his equipment was foreign and unfamiliar in a way that told Red everything he needed to know.

The challenger was not from Kanto.

The boy looked up and caught sight of him. Almost instantly, he quickened his pace, pushing through the snow with renewed energy.

“Hi!” he shouted over the howling winds. “My name's Ethan!" yelled the boy, before he tripped and fell face down into the snow. He popped back up the next second, unfazed, and continued, "Oh man, I didn’t expect anyone else to be here!”

Me neither, Red mused to himself. He hadn’t expected anyone else to be crazy enough to climb Mt. Silver.

Soon, the boy stood just a few steps away. Up close, they could now see each other’s faces despite the storm.

“Wait,” the challenger said, squinting slightly as if he recognized him. Then to Red’s surprise, the boy asked, “Are you Red?”

He had thought the world had already forgotten him.

After a moment, he gave a small nod.

The boy’s eyes lit up, gleaming with curiosity and excitement. “Can I battle you?”

Red raised a brow, amused at the sudden request. Perhaps the boy wasn't aware that Red was the Final Boss of the dungeon; that he would have to battle him regardless.

“Green told me about you!” the boy continued eagerly. “He said I wouldn’t be able to beat you, ’cause you’re just that strong.”

The fire within Red exploded. Sharp and sudden, like fireworks bursting to life.

Green? Green told the boy about him?

Green still remembered him?

After all this time...?

There were so many questions, so much fear and hope swirling inside Red, but all he knew was he needed to get out of Mt. Silver. Right this instant.

Lightning split the sky as his Pikachu sword crackled to life. His cape snapped violently in the wind, its hue darkening into pitch black as he Mega Evolved.

The boy laughed, wild with excitement at the unspoken acceptance. He surged with energy in response, his gauntlets erupting in bursts of flame, hungry for the fight.

Please, defeat me.

It had been some time since Red was defeated by Ethan. 

Granted, the Guardian had gone fairly easy on the younger boy, both to avoid killing the boy by accident, and in hopes that he would be released by the dungeon once he was defeated.

Yet, right after Red was struck down, he warped back to the same old cave. His body was in perfect condition, as if he had reset alongside the dungeon. 

You have been defeated by Ethan, the Johto Champion!

Despair started to seep into his being, as it dawned upon him that he was still the Final Boss of Mt. Silver.

"What... the hell do you want from me?" A low voice cracked and seethed. The entire cave was soon engulfed in flames, as the enraged Guardian screamed, cried, and begged. 

The dungeon remained silent.

Dropping to his knees, Red's only hope had been dashed, and he remained Mt. Silver's prisoner. Even if he were to be defeated again, and again, his entire being would only reset-

Wait…The dungeon didn’t reset everything.

A chill ran down his spine, sharper than the mountain wind.

Red pushed himself to his feet, and moved towards his timekeeping wall. Carefully, his fingers traced over the etchings that he had so painstakingly carved, etchings that have become proof that there was something the dungeon had failed to erase.

Red sat down, eyes fixated on the wall as he pondered on the possible reasons why the etchings endured.

He retraced the circumstances that had led him here, trying to pinpoint what had triggered the mountain to designate him as the Final Boss of Mt. Silver.

Was it because he overstayed his welcome? Left the dungeon in stasis for too long?

Or…

Red exhaled quietly, his hand drifting to the pocket watch at his side. He studied the faint reflection on its face, the unmoving hands, the perpetual one o'clock frozen in place.

... Was it when he chose to cast aside his only connection to the outside world? When he decided that he could live without Green?

A short, breathless laugh slipped out of him before he could stop it. 

He felt like an idiot.

All this time, he had been trying to convince himself that he could heal the hurt by running away from everything, everyone, including Green. And now here he was, trapped by his own stubbornness and foolishness. 

He lifted his gaze to the etchings on the wall again, a quiet reminder that Mt. Silver wasn’t his whole world. A reminder that beyond it, days still run for 24 hours, and years pass in steady cycles of 365 days.

The etchings on the wall were his only remaining connection to the outside world.

Perhaps, the only one who can get him out of here has always been Green. 

His beacon, his wayfinder.

And if Green still remembered him...

Fervently, Red squeezed his eyes shut, hands clasped in a desperate prayer.

Please, come and find me.

ALERT: A dungeon challenger has appeared!

Red was rudely awoken by the sign flashing before him. Sitting up in a hurry, he reread the words in disbelief. According to his frayed sense of time, he was sure that his battle with Ethan was at most a few days ago.

It was either Ethan decided to challenge Mt. Silver again, or someone as crazy as the Johto Champion (and Red himself) had decided to clear the dungeon or die trying.

In either case, perhaps he could ask the challenger for a favour, if they survive till the summit.

Asking them to relay a message to Green Oak shouldn't be too hard, right?

The problem was, what should he tell Green? That he was trapped here on the mountain, and maybe, just maybe, Green was his shining knight in armour who could save him?

Feeling the heat rushing to his cheeks, Red slapped himself hard, superseding his chagrin with a tingling pain.

Maybe he should just tell Green that he has been here all along.

And if Green still hates him enough to never want to see him again...

A dull ache throbbed in his chest as he turned towards the etchings on the wall.

If so, he shall destroy all of it and succumb to the dungeon - never to emerge from this perpetual winter.

Green knew he had minutes left before Mt. Silver would claim him.

He had already used up his entire stock of fire scrolls, leaving him stranded and vulnerable in the preying cold. It seized the opportunity, gnawing through his bones, into his marrow, eager to freeze him into the afterlife.

And be it by sheer will or desperation, Green finally set foot onto the summit.

The elements attacked him without mercy, causing his consciousness to drift in and out, lips turning blue then purple within seconds. Forcing his way through the impossibly thick snow, Green was no longer sure if he was moving forward or being pushed back as the blizzard howled against him.

I'm going to die.

Panic clawed at him, but even that could not outweigh the hope he had carried so carefully in his chest all this time.

Ethan said he met Red at the summit.

Just a glimpse would do, Green pleaded in his head. That he did not come here to die in vain.

His entire lower half finally lost all sensation, and Green fell forward into the snow. The blizzard quickly blanketed over him, and he felt like he was floating.

This was it, he realised.

And faintly, amidst the wailing winds, he heard someone calling out his name.

It was probably a hallucination, his last bit of reason murmured. But Green was thankful for it nonetheless; at least, in his final moments, he could fool himself into believing the voice belonged to Red. 

That the one he dearly missed had missed him too.

With a final sigh of contentment, Green Oak closed his eyes.

Red was warped to the final boss battle later than he expected; the challenger this time around had taken a much longer time than Ethan to reach the summit.

He waited, indifferent to the foul temper of Mt. Silver, as it pelted hail, screamed, and threw a tantrum like an unruly child.

A short distance before him, he spotted a blurry figure stumbling shakily, as if they were a feather that could be blown off by the battering winds at any moment.

Red frowned, troubled by the stranger who had made it this far with only the faintest flicker of life still clinging to them. Red may have lost contact with the rest of the world, but that did not make him lose his morality to become an unfeeling monster. The least he could stand was watching someone die before him while he did nothing to stop it.

With hurried strides, Red cut through the snow, words ready to roll off his tongue as he closed in on the challenger.

You can’t die here. I need you to carry a message, to deliver it to-

The challenger's silhouette took shape, a familiar hairstyle outlining itself against the sheer white expanse of Mt. Silver. 

Red felt his heart plummet, as if it had slipped off the cliffside.

Snow exploded in his wake, and he flew straight forward. The challenger had fallen into the snow, their final signs of life slowly fading away.

It was a one in a million chance, one that he had dreamed of and longed for, over and over again, through all this time.

"Green...!"

He screamed hoarsely, arms outstretched towards the silhouette. Without a second wasted, he scooped the challenger out of the snow and into his arms, flames enveloping both in a Fire Spin.

His fingers hastily brushed the snow from the challenger’s face, and the skin beneath was so cold it seared against Red’s own.

The person cradled in his arms, though aged in appearance with a firmer nose and a more sharply carved jawline, was unmistakably Green Oak.

Red had no time for relief or grief. Green’s arms hung limp at his sides, his clothes soaked through and frozen stiff by the mountain’s cold, the color receding dangerously from his face as his body teetered on the edge of life and death.

Green needed somewhere dry and warm, fast.

He decisively scooped Green into a bridal carry, and was momentarily disturbed by how light he weighed. Too light.

The mountain howled on, relentless, as if determined to bear witness to the death of Green Oak.

With his desperation flaring into fury, Red answered with a Heat Wave, fire surging outward in a violent burst that devoured the cold and melted the snow in a wide radius around him.

"Silence." ordered the Guardian.

Heeding the final boss' command, the winds stilled, the hail ceased, and Mt. Silver hushed, leaving only the steady thumping of Red’s footsteps as he descended from the summit, with Green cradled against him.

Green felt the rock beneath him first, rough and uneven as it pressed against his skin. Surprisingly, it held a quiet warmth, like a sauna stone steeped in heat, seeping gently into his bones. It made his limbs heavy, and his thoughts dull. He would not mind slipping back into unconsciousness just like this.

If this was heaven, it felt really, really nice.

Yet, when his eyelids crept open, what greeted him were not clouds and rainbows, but the unassuming ceiling of a cave, lit by the warm glow of the campfire crackling from the edge of his vision.

He heaved himself upright, joints protesting at the small movement, and the migraine struck the moment he sat up. His pupils oscillated left and right, thawing senses slowly piecing together his surroundings.

From the ache in his bones and the look of the place, this was probably not heaven. Somehow, he was alive.

A sparse cave stretched around him, with nothing much to show save for a few signs of habitation: a campfire, some cooking tools, a portable alchemy set, and his clothes laid out to dry in a corner.

Wait - his clothes?

Patting down onto his torso, Green realised he was half-naked. His pants were still on, damp and clinging to his legs. Whoever had changed him hadn’t stripped him completely. For that he was grateful; at least some semblance of dignity remained.

He then noticed the other piece of clothing covering him - an orange leather cloak, its colours strikingly reminiscent of Charizard. It held a steady warmth, like a marshmallow slowly toasting over a bonfire.

Green's heart thumped, fingers trembling as they smoothed over the material. Last he remembered, there was only one person he knew who wore a cloak like this.

Draping it over himself for some added warmth, Green pushed himself to his feet with a grunt, only to stagger like a newborn deer as he tried to exert strength back into his thighs. Upon regaining his balance, he turned around to take a better look this time, and soon realised the cave was far smaller than he had first thought. To his right, another wall came into view, and his eyes widened at the sight of it.

Supporting himself against rock, he crept closer.

The wall was covered in etchings: hand-carved tally marks, crosses, and circles, crowded together like a schedule of sorts.

As Green scanned the wall, he soon realised that it was no schedule; it was a calendar, one painstakingly carved to keep track of time. Of the days, months, and years that had passed for whoever had been living here.

As he traced the marks towards the right, haphazard marks started to litter the wall, each line less purposeful than the previous one, as if they were dissolving into desperation and desolation.

Touching the cloak wrapped around him, Green remarked in his mind, that despite its warmth, it strangely carried the scent of winter. 

A sharp loneliness followed, and Green found himself hoping that it did not belong to the person he was thinking of.

A rhythmic, scraping whisper of metal broke him away from his thoughts, and Green turned his head around, curious by the sudden noise.

A dark-haired young man stood at the cave’s narrow entrance, his brown eyes widening as he froze in place, staring at Green.

He was older now, noticeably taller, and there was a quiet confidence in the way he stood, a kind of maturity Green didn’t remember from before. Handsome, Green noted almost absently, but despite everything time had altered, Green could still recognise him instantly.

Red.

Green opened his mouth, relief and frustration surging up all at once, hot and choking, pressing against his throat until it hurt to breathe. For a second, he just stood there, trembling with it.

You fucking asshole, he wanted to scream. Do you know how much your mother cried? How many nights I spent wondering if you were dead or alive? And you couldn’t even send a word, a sign, anything? You must feel so fucking good about yourself, just disappearing like that and leaving everyone else to deal with the wreckage. And I was so fucking wrong for ever thinking I could stop myself from caring, for thinking I could just let you go like it meant nothing. Are you happy now, knowing you’ve had your payback by ruining me ever since you vanished? I’m sorry for being an asshole all those years ago, for everything, and if you still hate me I won’t blame you. I’ll disappear, I swear I will, I’ll be nothing so you don’t have to deal with me at all, but please...

... Just come the fuck home.

Yet, all he could muster was a shaky, "I've missed you."

It all happened in a blur, as Green felt metal slam against his bare skin, Red’s arms wrapping around him in a tight, desperate embrace. His touch was unbearably warm, Green realised, so much so that he found himself instinctively burying himself in it. The scent of winter was stronger this time, and Green's heart ached in response.

He wondered if he had finally lost it, if this was some kind of dream made cruelly real. Because Red was crying and telling him he had missed him too, in a deep and untrained voice Green had never heard before, yet missed all the same.

And as Green soaked in his presence, love was overwhelmingly filling every empty space Red had left behind. As if the missing piece of his life was finally found and slotted back into place.

"You're an idiot," Green breathed when the two of them finally pulled apart, the words slipping out after what felt like far too long.

Red had expected Green to say this, and as ridiculous as it was, hearing it made something in his chest dance.

"Stop smiling like that, I'm being serious here." Green sighed, shaking his head in mild exasperation. "This," his knuckles tapped the wall behind him, then he nodded at Red when he asked, "Your handiwork, right?"

Red peered over Green's shoulder, his timekeeping wall standing as a stark reminder of what he had gone through for… however long it had been.

“Four and a half years,” Green interjected, his eyes fixed on Red intently, as if he had read his mind.

Red nodded gingerly.

"So...," Green faltered for a moment, his brows creasing into a frown. "You've really been here all this time."

It was not much of a question directed at Red. Instead, it was a conclusion.

Regardless, Red nodded.

“Are you,” Green ran a hand through his hair, frustrated. “Have you… been okay?

Red found himself relishing in the way Green was looking at him. Green was expressing his concern towards him; Red never thought that he would live to see this day. 

He answered with nothing more than a small, bitter smile, just enough to ease Green’s worry despite how poorly he’d been holding up. Even so, a sly, selfish part of him couldn’t help but want Green to worry just a little longer.

"You're terrible at lying." Green clicked his tongue in annoyance. "You've always been like this."

Green averted his gaze, his hand drifting to the back of his neck, a habit Red knew Green had since they were young whenever he did something wrong. He spoke slowly, weighing each word. 

“Was it because of me?”

Red shook his head. Green had been part of the reason he left but it was ultimately his own undoing that left him trapped here.

So strictly speaking, he wasn't lying.

Green laughed wryly, clearly seeing through his half-truth. Red shook his head, vehemently, this time. 

"I am trapped." He stated simply.

"Trapped?" Green repeated in disbelief. "In the dungeon?"

Red recounted everything. How he cleared Mt. Silver and did not leave, causing the dungeon to remain in stasis. How he managed to remain sane. Omitted the part where he felt like he was going insane. How he had acquired the sub-class Vanquisher and was now the final boss of Mt. Silver.

"... When I decided that I did not need you anymore," he said. Exhaustion had worn down his control over his words, and the last part slipped out before he could stop himself.

He quickly looked up at Green, catching the shock and hurt written across his face. Red’s shoulders felt heavy as guilt settled in. Again, he did something that hurt Green without meaning to.

“That… was back then,” Red started blabbering, words spilling out clumsily to rectify what he said. “I was a fool. An idiot, like you said.” He lowered his head, unable to meet Green’s gaze. “I’m awkward. I don’t know how to face you, so I thought running away would make you happy… make me happy too.”

A sharp, uncontrolled breath. “But I was wrong. You became my only connection to the outside world.” He faltered, suddenly aware of how much he was saying - this wasn’t like him at all. “Thinking I didn’t need you anymore… it only let Mt. Silver consumed me and made me assimilate with the dungeon.”

Arceus, his throat hurt.

“So I do need you," He swallowed, mouth dry and burning. "I always did.”

He ended his monologue, silence blanketing over them like a layer of snow. With his head still faced downwards, Red absently noted the stain on the metal of his cuisses in a bid to distract himself from the silence. Only then did he realise he had been kneeling the whole time, like a child awaiting punishment, heat creeping up his neck as it struck him that he must look utterly ridiculous.

"Pfft," The unexpected mirth came in like a pindrop, before it extended into an unrestrained laugh. Red whipped his head upwards, defeated, as he watched Green chortle away.

"Sorry," Green chuckled, tears in his eyes. "This is the first time I've heard you speak so much."

Red pursed his lips, determined to just shut up.

"And well," Green blinked as he confessed hesitantly, "I-I need you too."

Red felt heat bloom on his cheeks, yet Green continued, "For the past four and a half years, I have been regretting what I said that day, for how I treated you since. And guess what, I turned down the title of Champion and became the Hall Leader of Viridian. I couldn't bring myself to take up that mantle. With you gone, I...," He swallowed, as though mustering every ounce of courage to say what he wanted to. "I struggled…a lot."

"So I tried to find you - even went to Hoenn to try my luck," Green let out a defeated sigh. "Turns out you've been so close by all this time."

His frame hunched as his voice softened. "I don't hate you, Red. I never did, and I'm sorry for saying it to you. I hurt you, and if you still hate me for it, I...," 

He breathed heavily, shoulders tensing up. "You don't have to forgive me, but please, just come home."

Green lifted his gaze to meet Red’s, his eyes glinting with a quiet finality, as if to say: there, I've said it. As though he had just laid bare his deepest secret and dearest wish, something meant for no one else in the world but Red.

In that moment, Red wanted to kiss him. To reassure him that he would have forgiven him even without an apology. Because Green needed him, because Green had struggled just as he had, because the pain between them was shared.

Because Green had come to take him home.

Green felt like he was fighting a losing battle.

The two of them trudged through the winding caves and jagged ridges of Mt. Silver, hands held tightly together in a firm clasp. Green leading, Red following behind. 

Red stayed pressed against his side, closer than necessary after insisting on it.

You will freeze to death without me, Red had glared those words aloud through his gaze alone, and Green decided not to argue against it.

He wished he did, though.

Because his body felt warm, and he couldn’t tell whether it was Red’s heat seeping into him, or the feral urge rising in his chest, coaxing him to turn around and kiss Red.

But he couldn’t risk revealing it - not now, not when he was finally bringing Red down Mt. Silver. The last thing he wanted was to scare him away, to let it slip that yes, Green liked men.

And worse, that he liked Red.

So they simply walked, Green’s sweaty hands holding Red’s gloved ones. Thank Arceus for the gloves, or Green might have imploded by now.

"You know," he said absent-mindedly, trying to fill the silence, to drown out his own thoughts. “This reminds me of that Greek myth.”

A huff from his side brushed his neck, and Green hurriedly added, "The one about Orpheus and Eurydice," He stopped, realising he was digging a hole for himself. "How Orpheus tried to retrieve Eurydice from the underworld, and could only do so if she walked behind him, and he wasn’t allowed to turn around as they left."

And just like that, it hit him.

Arceus, he had really done it now.

Green and Red were just friends, rivals who grew up together since childhood. They were not lovers; they were not Orpheus and Eurydice.

If there was one thing he had in common with Orpheus, he wanted to turn around. To look at Red, to make sure he was still there.

Somewhere deep inside, he still could not believe that he had found Red, that he had managed to convince him to come back, that Red had been waiting for him all along.

It felt like walking on clouds.

And clouds could give way at any moment.

If he turned around, he feared Red might disappear, just like Eurydice.

"Nevermind," he murmured. "Pretend I said nothing."

His grip on Red only became tighter, and he decided to just shut up and get out of this godforsaken mountain.

"Green."

He pretended not to have heard Red. Green knew he was still inside the hole he unwittingly dug for himself.

"Green," His sickeningly sweet, deep voice called out. "Green, look at me."

He only picked up the pace, still refusing to turn around as his ears burned. 

With a swish of his cape, Red slipped ahead, crowding into Green’s space. His face tipped forward, closing the gap between them until their lips hovered a breath apart, the scent of winter clinging to both him and Green now.

“I’m not going anywhere.”

How can I be sure? Green wanted to protest. You are not Eurydice, and I am not Orpheus, so how can I be sure, when you've already left me once?

As if he knew that he needed to stop Green’s spiraling thoughts, Red's warm lips melted into his in a chaste kiss. In that very moment, the clouds beneath Green’s feet turned to solid ground. To the hard, rocky earth of Mt. Silver.

Red pulled away, dark eyes searching his, as if answering the thoughts he could not voice. Reassuring him, anchoring him, telling him that he was here.

With newfound resolve, Green pulled Red back in, deepening the kiss, this time taking the lead.

Red was not Eurydice, and Green was not Orpheus. But he was his Red, and he was his Green.

Green realised that, once again, he had lost the battle. 

And this time, he celebrated it.

The rest of the descent down Mt. Silver passed in a blur, and they found themselves finally at the exit of the dungeon.

Red felt a hitch in his throat, knees weak as he stared at the imposing exit; the one he had failed to pass through since forever.

A small squeeze of his hand reminded him to breathe.

"Nervous?" Green asked, almost teasingly.

Yes, Red thought in his head, as he stared at Green. At his olive eyes, his unruly fringe, his pretty little nose, his little beauty mark barely visible at his temple. What if he was wrong? What if even with Green here, he still couldn’t get out of this hell? 

What if this is the last time I see you?

Green smiled, his eyes crinkling with a levity that alleviated Red's fears in an instant. 

A memory from their childhood emerged to his mind's eye, of that one time Red got lost in the Viridian Forest. 

And the one who found and got him back home was Green.

"Don't worry, you've got me."

It has always been you.

Red hummed in reply as Green swept him out through the exit in a flourish, back into a world painted in colour: a sun of burning orange, daffodils swaying in yellow, the sky stretching in endless blue, songbirds singing in indigo, butterfree wings fluttering in violet, every hue alive and iridescent. The two of them stumbled as they emerged, and Green fell into the soft grass laughing, Red lying atop him.

CONGRATULATIONS: You have successfully escaped Mt. Silver!

The echo of confetti burst through his mind, tears of relief rolling down Red’s cheeks, his laughter muffled as he buried himself into Green’s chest.

And quietly, the pocket watch stirred - its hands ticking once more as time finally thawed.