Journey's End

Up on Mt. Silver, Gold trekked to the summit to have his duel with Red. This was generally regarded at the toughest fight Gold would have. Red after all, was the Pokémon League champion of Kanto. He had devoted himself to holding onto his title as well since he isolated himself from humans.

Gold beat Red after a long and hard fight. It had lived up to expectations anyway. Red was a worthy fight, the legend that he was regarded as shone through as their Pokémon engaged each other. Gold revered Red as a legend even after he won, he was happy that he managed to brave the mountain just to fight this fight. His journey had now come to its decisive end.

He didn't truly realize to what extent though.

Gold had happily picked up his Cyndaquil to hug it for a job well done. He turned his back on Red as he did, he didn't mean to be rude. He was just happy.

He didn't hear Red mumble though "Now you're trapped here…" Gold thought he heard Red say something, it wasn't clear enough to decisively say he heard it.

He turned around mid-sentence "What did you say Re…" He noticed. Red had disappeared from sight. Gold had just figured that Red had skipped out to take a break somewhere.

He smiled happily and walked back down the way he came, contented and singing happily to himself. He transversed back through the caves he came through.

They seemed barren and dark now. Where were the Pokémon which caused him trouble to get to Red? They'd all decided to take a break as well? It seemed odd. It didn't kill Gold's kiddish joy; he skipped through the tunnels with his Cyndaquil clutched tight to his chest. His happiness eventually proved to get the better of him.

The caves grew progressively darker and darker until the only light emanating through the caves was that of the Cyndaquil. Gold never stopped to question why. Or even ponder on what Red could have said. Eventually with all his skipping in the dark, he was going to fall.

And fall he did.

He managed to trip into a hole and fall for what seemed like an eternity to him. He managed to spin around mid-flight and land on his back.

He hit the ground with a large thud which echoed off into the eccentric cave system. He hurt to say the least. He felt like he'd broken his spine. He put that idea to rest when he got up slowly onto his feet. He still felt the pain though, that was for sure.

He couldn't see anything. Not even the Cyndaquil could light up the darkness. It was everywhere. He wandered through the cave. He'd never been here. Generally he didn't know where he was to know if he had been here before. He knew he'd never fallen down a hole though, that was certain.

As he continued on for… minutes… hours? He didn't actually know how long he spent in the tunnel system. He felt like he was going the right way.

Paranoia was bound to kick in. The darkness generally helped speed that along. He constantly thought he was a faint outline of someone in front of him, beckoning him to follow them. He couldn't make them out enough to tell if he knew them or not. He went on the faith that it'd show him the way out so he could go brag about defeating Red.

It lead him somewhere… into what seemed the everlasting darkness.

'This way Gold!' 'Follow me Gold!'

'You'll be fine! Just hold on!'

He started hearing voices as he walked, he didn't understand who it was. The person now seemed more real. Yeah, they were! They must be if it's trying to talk to him! He ran after it instead of scarily trying to walk. "Hey wait up then! Who are you?"

His voice retained his childish nature despite being lost in the tunnels. His Cyndaquil on the other hand. He never once paid attention to the light slowly dying from its body. He was too overcome with paranoia in believing his mirage was true, he hadn't focused on the fact his Pokémon... was dying.

The light from the poor creature's body eventually faded. Gold forgot what he was even holding after it did. He was too caught up in chasing the person. He realized he couldn't run as fast while carrying it. So he dropped it and ran.

Not once did he think about the despicable thing he just did, he didn't even understand what he had done. He wasted to get out. He started laughing to himself happily as the voice beckoned him further into the darkness.

'Gold, this way!'

'You're almost there Gold!'

'I can see sunlight!'

After hours of running, it started to show that Gold was growing tired and weak. He hadn't the food to eat or the liquids to drink to sustain his endurance. He resorted after a while to crawling on his hands and knees whilst still laughing to himself loudly. The tunnels resonated with the laughter.

The terrain became more sharp and rocky as he progressed… He punctured his skin in several places such as his hands or knees.

Some were sharp enough to leave deep scars up his entire leg, ripping his articles of clothing like a knife through hot butter. But even as Gold bled, he continued to laugh excessively loud.

"I'M GOING TO GO HOME, I BEAT RED, I'M THE BEST!"

His body couldn't last. His stamina was gone… he couldn't endure. Eventually he had to stop. He lay on the ground against the sharp objects as they imbedded into his skin, seemingly becoming a part of him. His blood oozed across the floor, staining it. Gold still laughed loudly and talked to himself. "I'M GONNA MAKE IT, I DID IT, I BEAT EVERYONE!!"

'No Gold, you're not' 'Gold, Gold, Gold, you're ours now' 'Gold… You're dying.'

He wasn't listening to the voices anymore; he was contented with his own words after a while. He kept trying to drag his arms above his head to drag himself further through the tunnels. It still remained pitch black… Nothing could be seen.

Eventually it fell silent… Gold's body was working against his mind. It couldn't keep up with the amount of blood being lost to the point he dropped out of consciousness.

His laugh kept going through. He kept going. He managed to stand up and laugh loudly, walking forward again as he seemingly got all his energy back. He didn't speculate how something that extravagant could happen, he skipped forward again whilst laughing and convincing himself he was the best. Only to realize if he looked behind him, his body was on the floor cut and bloody.

Gold's 'new body' was white with red eyes. He didn't even notice he wasn't skipping, but hovering across the ground. He was too mixed up in himself that he believed he was okay.

Gold wandered around the tunnels for the rest of his days, he wasn't seen by his friends ever. There was a rescue party at one point to look for him, but there was no sign of him whatsoever… The hole that he had fallen through? That was gone, sealed back up somehow.

No one knew where he had gone; no one will ever know the fate of Gold.

But some still claim that at night at Mt. Silver, they can hear a childish laugh emanating from the tunnels and a certain someone telling themselves it's going to be all right.