[attr="class","brightlet"]

Mt. Silver... Funny, the name almost brings a smile to her face. If only due to the ever hilarious image of Silver's face being etched into the mountain. Surely the red head has heard the joke one too many times, however, and so she'll merely giggle to herself, the amusement welcome in these dire times.[break][break]

It feels like yesterday that Saffron was overtaken, the streets turned to ruin, dyed red with innocent blood. The thought of it is sobering, effectively draining any happiness from her body. Blasty feels the shift beside her, huddling closer with a protective grunt. "It's fine," she murmurs, soft and comforting against the icy wind. "I'm fine." She isn't, but that's another story for another time. Right now, her only focus is getting to the top of this damn mountain. He really couldn't pick a warm place to train? God, she should kick some sense into him...[break][break]

Normally, she would summon him to her, all but refusing to make the trip to the snowy summit of Mt. Silver. Too cold, too much walking, too far... Practically every excuse under the sun given to ensure she would never have to waddle her way through a foot of snow. Times have changed, she supposes, and perhaps that is why she finds herself shivering, snowflakes peppering brunette hair. Her timing couldn't have been worse, either. A snowstorm, thick and unruly, berates the mountain with cold fingers. Blizzard conditions that made traveling using Jiggly all but impossible. Blasty had taken one for the team, sticking out the frigid temperatures to ensure his trainer would be safe. Funny, she never thought her Pokemon could get any more protective but... She's, surprisingly, been wrong before.[break][break]

After Saffron, they wouldn't let her out of their sights. Blasty, especially, has been evading his pokeball since then. Afraid of her getting injured again, afraid of anything happening to the blue eyed girl... Her hand trembles at the thought, the cold clawing away at freshly healed bones. She had only managed to get minor injuries then. A nasty concussion and a broken hand. She should feel lucky to have even escaped alive and yet, the only thing she feels is guilt. More could have been done, more effort to save the citizens, to protect Kanto as she has done dozens of times before. Yet, without Red, Green, and Yellow, she failed.[break][break]

The realization is bitter in her mouth, a difficult pill to swallow. She failed them. There is no way around it, no avoidance of the truth. She failed and because of that failure, innocent people suffered. It's funny how the weight of the world had never felt crushing until now, until she's felt the full burden of her title. Pokedex Holder... A savior for the masses, a beacon of hope, a hero. It has always been something to be proud of, to wear like a badge of honor. Now? She'd happily rip the badge off and throw it in the ocean, if only to escape the suffocating expectations. She can't be what they need, anyway. She's no hero... Not after Saffron.[break][break]

Part of her wonders why she's even up here, trudging through the snow to seek out the one person she hasn't seen in a while. His easy going smile flashes in her mind and cold hands clench into fists at her sides. God, he'd be so disappointed in her. Letting the city fall to yet another evil group, lives lost in the crossfire... He wouldn't have let that happen. Green wouldn't have let that happen either. Yet, she did and she can't bare the idea of seeing his face upon learning that information. The worry of her involvement would fade into disappointment then possibly even anger and she couldn't handle that look on his face, that sadness pooling in those crimson eyes. Perhaps she could just not tell him... He's been on the mountain for so long, anyway, and it's not like they have news up here, right? Ugh, but she can't just keep it from him... That'll be even worse in the long run.[break][break]

Blasty grunts beside her, a gentle prod at her attention, and she glances up from her feet. Had she been absorbed in her own thoughts for that long...? Blue gives him a grateful look, clearing her throat and picking up her pace as the water type lingers behind her, stoic as he keeps watch of their surroundings. It shouldn't be much further, right? She assumes her Blastoise had alerted her to the scent of fire lingering in the breeze, mingling into the heavy smell of pine trees. A few more minutes and they'll more than likely stumble upon the man of the hour: Red.[break][break]

She breaks the silence of the peak with a shout, words tumbling from her lips with ease. "Can you train on a tropical island next?" Laughter follows, gentle and warm, as she breaks through the trees. Rosy cheeked with slightly snowy hair, the brunette offers a little wave with her good hand, the other hastily shoved into the pocket of her jacket. Blasty follows behind her, his only greeting coming in the form of a gruff grunt. Ever the chatty one... She snickers lightly and shuffles closer to the fire with a gentle shake of her hair. Honestly, why she even bothered to attempt to style it is beyond her. The snow has already soaked the majority of it, leaving dark strands wet against her cheeks. "How's it going?" She slides into his personal space with ease, nonchalant and smirking.[break][break]

Sometimes she forgets how easily she can slip on a mask, shoving her feelings away in favor of slipping a smile onto her face. It's not exactly honest but... She'll take that over spilling her guts to him, confessing her sins, her failure, her feelings. "Miss me?" A simple question, a teasing tone covering the soft glimmer of hope. While she knows he more than likely misses his friends, misses the companionship, she can't swallow the idea of him missing just her. Not Green or Yellow or even Gold, just her and only her. Stupid feelings. Blue offers her best grin, charming and everything she has always been, patiently waiting for his response. She knows what it will be and knows it'll be something along the lines of "duh, I miss everyone!" but a girl can dream.[break][break]

@red1