Snow on Mount Silver

Chapter Five: It's Over

    All was silent, except the wind which still howled around them. Gold stood back and watched Typhlosion emerge, not even uttering its usual, pained shriek, nor its battle cry. It was just...silent. The two Pokémon crept closer to each other, their dead eyes locked. Gold didn't get to call out a command, for Venusaur used struggle, then immediately collapsed into the snow...dead.

    Typhlosion's head lowered a little. The hit had not killed it, to Gold's relief, but it was certainly weakening.

    Red remained silent, throwing another frosty Poké ball. Blastoise emerged, in an even worse state than Venusaur had been-chunks ripped off, missing limbs, no eyes, and a dark, frozen liquid hanging out of its blasters. It did the same as Venusaur, using struggle against Typhlosion. The attack barely looked forceful, merely a weak tackle, as Venusaur's had been. As soon as the move ended, Blastoise crumpled to the ground. It, too, had perished.

    Typhlosion shuddered as it visibly grew weaker. Gold clutched at his arms, shivering heavily while he gazed at the battle before him, silently begging for Typhlosion to survive.

    Red took a step forward, and to Gold's alarm, he looked close to collapsing. Without a word, he sent out his next Pokémon. Charizard. Its condition was more gruesome than Blastoise's had been, as Gold expected it to be. It was frozen, mangled, and practically decaying—parts of its skull were even visible.

    Standing in the midst of the other corpses, Charizard and Typhlosion battled it out. Typhlosion managed to attack for once, but it barely did a thing as Charizard combatted it with one simple move. Struggle. Just like before, Red's Pokémon perished, and Typhlosion took a small amount damage. But it was still clinging on. It was a strong Pokémon, and just like Gold, it refused to give in and die. Barely hanging on, Typhlosion stood its ground when Red sent out Snorlax.

    For the first time, Gold was truly rattled by the Pokémon's appearance. Its stomach gaped open, revealing its frozen, mutilated insides; he could even see its ribcage. Somehow, in this condition, Snorlax was alive. Moving sluggishly, it attacked Typhlosion, using struggle. Snorlax then crumpled, and Typhlosion gave a whimpering noise. Gold's heart hurt. He hated watching his most beloved Pokémon go on like this, and despised the thought of what had happened to all the others. He couldn't bear if Typhlosion faced the same fate as them. But what could he do to stop it? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Just keep fighting on.

    Espeon came next. Gold stared in horror. It was barely recognizable as a Pokémon anymore, ripped in various places, falling apart, and frozen over. It was somehow also alive, focusing on Typhlosion while it readied its attack. It was struggle, of course. Espeon also perished, leaving Typhlosion standing there, surrounded by the dead Pokémon, while Gold barely kept himself upright behind it. Typhlosion sent a glance over its shoulder, gazing at its trainer with its pleading, dark eyes.

    Gold met its gaze, blinking away a tear. "H-hang in there, buddy," he rasped, speaking through chattering teeth. "We're gonna make it." Typhlosion turned ahead, facing Red who leaned forward, clearly on the verge of toppling over. Gold watched nervously, knowing full well that Typhlosion could not handle another hit. It would die...but he couldn't have that. They had to make it out of this somehow, right? Perhaps they'd be lucky, and Red's next Pokémon would die before attacking.

    However, Gold should have known by now that luck was not on his side, not after all the misery he had gone through. With a sinking of his heart, he watched Red send out his last Pokémon, Pikachu. There stood Typhlosion's final opponent, in all its grotesque glory. Gold fell back a step, wobbling at the horrid sight before him. Pikachu was a disfigured mess—missing an ear, half its body and tail, and as for its eyes...well...they were worse than perhaps all the Pokémon had been. Gold found himself lost in the black voids, his slow heartbeat picking up as fear set in. It was such a sinister and haunting gaze, but not nearly as terrible or demented as Pikachu's grin. It spread across nearly its entire face, making the spectacle even more horrifying to behold.

    As panic built up in Gold once again, he sent Red a desperate look. The trainer was upon his knees and faced away from Gold, his body shaking about as hard as Gold's was. He frowned, gazing worriedly while Red sent a sorrowful look over his shoulder, then collapsed. A gasp caught in Gold's throat; he whirled back around to the battle. He could hardly bring himself to watch, his lungs growing tighter. His breaths increased, gusting in and out painfully, oh so painfully. All the panic, fear, and sorrow he'd kept at bay—only occasionally giving into—came flooding back to him, so sudden and overwhelming. He shook his head, taking a weak, hobbling step forward.

    "N-no," he said. "Stop." He watched in horror as the ghastly Pikachu used something he did not expect. Pain Split. Immediately, the two Pokémon toppled over. "NO!" Gold reached forward, staring at Typhlosion's corpse. A tear ran down his stinging cheek at the sight. He shook his head, sobs choking their way out of his hoarse throat, one after the other. He could barely stay standing. He hugged himself with one arm, bent forward, and reached out farther, as if someone were there that could help, as if reaching out could bring help to him. Or bring his Pokémon back to life. Or just save him from this endless misery.

    Red stepped forward and Gold lowered his hand, his sobs ceasing. Red had changed entirely, now looking similar to Gold, though somehow worse. He was practically a carcass; his body was completely butchered and frozen, and his eyes were deranged and empty, like Pikachu's had been. He stared at Gold with a chilling, lifeless gaze.

    For the first time, Red spoke, his voice wheezy and ragged, "It's over."

    Gold felt his throat tighten, and his vision flickered in and out. He saw the white of the snow, then blackness, then white, then black, then white, then black. A strange call rang out, and a sudden, alarming sensation went through Gold's body as an unknown force used what appeared to be Destiny Bond. His vision returned and all he saw was the snow, swirling around him everywhere. He felt it all—felt the decay, the pain, and the cold that consumed his body entirely. He shook his head as Red crumpled before him.

    As soon as the trainer's body hit the ground, an ear-splitting shriek pierced through the screaming of the wind. No. Not one shriek. It was a multitude of pained screams, as if every single dead Pokémon had cried out at once. The horrid sound shattered the air. Gold reached out through the blistering blizzard and joined in, his broken voice blending with the deafening screeches of the others. The horrid sound continued for several moments, Gold screaming along with it.

    The moment his voice broke and died away, he let himself fall to the snow, finally giving into the deadly embrace of the cold... 

~~~~~~~~~~

    Yup. This is the end of Snow on Mount Silver. There are a few interpretations for the ending, I suppose. Did they all die? Were they already dead for the entirety of the ending battle? Was a lot of it just hallucinated by Gold? Are they trapped in the afterlife?  Something else? Take it as you will.

    Anyways, I hope you enjoyed it, it was actually quite fun to write. A little challenging, but fun...and I feel cruel for saying that, but it's true. Thank you for reading! If you liked it, make sure to give it a vote, it would be greatly appreciated. And don't be afraid to comment, I love feedback and interacting with readers. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to give Gold a million blankets and apologize repeatedly.