Red's Ghost

So many people ask this question. “What happened to the legend?” Red, the first trainer. The first one that was love, celebrated, and remembered. But he mysteriously disappeared. There were rumors of him being seen, but no one could prove his existence.
When he began, he got his first Pokémon from Oak. Blue, his rival, jealous that his grandfather like Red more, chose the stronger one, hoping to show his grandfather that he stood just as much of a chance. Red always felt sorry for Blue. His parents died when he was young, causing him to have to be raised by his older sister. Oak helped them from time to time, but never really cared too much. He couldn’t even remember his own grandchildren’s names.
Inside, Red knew he felt sorry for Blue. But, because his ten year old mind couldn’t find a way to help, he acted like he never noticed. However, Red did help, subconsciously. He always went easier on him. Because of this, Blue seemed stronger than other trainers Red met. But, in actuality, Blue was just as weak as them.
Eventually, Red found his way to Lavender Town. For some odd reason, he felt the need to visit Pokémon Tower. On the second floor, Red came across Blue. He was blankly staring at a small, seemingly fresh gravestone. They fought, and Red won, just as he had on the S.S. Anne. After Blue left, Red took a look at the gravestone Blue was looking at. It read “RATICATE.”
Finally, the miraculous day came. Red fought off against Blue, the newly titled Champion of Kanto, and had won. Oak, who had heard of Blue’s victory, had hurried over. He arrived just in time to see Red defeating Blue’s last Pokémon. Oak congratulated Red for his victory. But not only did he praise Red, he scolded Blue! Red felt heartbroken to see his lifelong friend and rival look so shattered. But he had no time to do anything about it, as Oak rushed him into the Hall of Fame.
It was that moment that broke him. He had already matured to fast. Seeing crime organizations, the torturing and killing of Pokémon, feeling more responsible than someone his age should. But, the moment he saw Blue’s face, something in him snapped.
As soon as he was finished in the Hall of Fame, Red rushed home. He said goodbye to his mother, and fled to somewhere he thought no one he didn’t want to see would reach him. Mt. Silver. He hired a construction crew to build a small house for him at the base of the mountain, and he called it his new home. After some time, he convinced himself that he wasn’t here to escape everyone. He believed that he was there to train, become the strongest. He pushed his Pokémon, day and night, on that perilous mountain. Eventually, that caused all of them to die from exhaustion.
But one day, about a year later, something horrible happened. Red fell ill with a deadly disease, and eventually died in the home he had built in the mountain. He was all alone when it happened, and his body wasn’t discovered until almost a week later, when Oak had come to visit him. He was buried at the top of the mountain, in order to show how much he had achieved in his short lifetime. Red’s mother quickly fell into a depression. Having no husband or child to keep her company anymore, she fabricated them. She made herself believe that Red was still alive, and that he even visited constantly. Her neighbors suggested getting her help, but everyone thought that it was better for her to be happy like this instead of knowing the truth and possibly doing something much worse.
About another year later, another trainer found his way to Mt. Silver.  Ethan, or as he was better known Gold, made his way to the top of the mountain. There he found a young boy, roughly his age, dressed in red just standing there, staring. His skin was pale, and there were some rips in his clothing. Without giving time for Gold to react to his appearance, the boy drew a pokeball, and threw out one of his Pokémon, not even saying a single word. It also seemed strangely pale, and had many small and large cuts around its body. As Gold continued the battle each new Pokémon, it seemed like each of them suffered from similar abnormalities. Finally, when Gold defeated the boy’s last Pokémon, the boy just vanished. The whole battle he never said anything, and it remained the same when he disappeared. Gold ran back to his home to tell everyone what happened, but nobody believed him, saying that the last person to be up there had died earlier.
Red, finally thinking he found a worthy trainer to continue his legacy, tried to move to the afterlife. But he could not. For whatever reason, he could not pass onwards. Maybe he had not found a strong enough trainer? Through some strange means, Red learned about the PWT in Unova. Maybe there he would find a worth enough trainer.
Somehow managing to get his way to Unova, he hacked his way into the PWT’s world champion tournament. None of the other champions had cared. Since the regions of the world did not connect with each other often, no one had learned about Red’s death. Blue also appeared in the tournament, as someone had to take the place for the Kanto region. The judges decided that as a former champion, he was eligible. But, because of his gym leader duties, Blue arrived late, only just making the tournament. He never noticed that Red had joined.
Champion after champion, both Red and Blue defeated. Finally, in the final match, Red and Blue were up against each other. Neither of them knew who they were fighting until they walked out onto the stage. Blue, seeing his old friend, whom he though was dead, fell to his knees. Seeing his best friend like this, pale, ghostly, torn up and battered. It nearly killed him. Any other person who saw someone they knew was dead would panic. But Blue didn’t. He finally collected himself and said “Now let’s see who the strongest really is.”
The two battled fiercely. It was a fight for the history books. The two seemed evenly matched, but in the end, Blue had finally won. For the first time, Blue had finally defeated his lifelong rival. But none of that mattered now. The moment the battle was over, Blue ran over to Red.
“Red….is that really you?” He asked, mystified. Red gave no answer. “Red, answer me!” Blue yelled. Finally, after a few seconds, Red managed to whisper “Hate…me…”
Blue seemed stunned at that. “Red, I don’t hate you. Ever since you’ve died, no, ran off to Mt. Silver, I’ve missed you. When I heard you left, I felt like I lost part of myself…”
“Stolen…glory…love…pride…”
“If you mean my grandfather, I don’t want his love! He’s been horrible to us all these years, why would I want him to love me? And when you took my place as champion, at first I hated it. But then, I finally came to realize that you deserved it. You were amazing, and I never stood a chance against you.”
“Raticate…”
Blue was silent for what seemed like hours. Finally, having trouble speaking due to tears, said “You found out about that, did you? Well, that was never your fault….raticate fell trap to some rocket grunts. They were the ones that killed him, not you!”
“You…don’t...hate me…?”
“Red, I never hated you. No matter what you think, we were, are, and will never stop being friends. Trust me.”
At that, Red looked up and, for the first time since he became champion, smiled.
“Thank…you…”
The boy dressed in red slowly disappeared into nothing. All of his Pokémon following. Because he learned the truth, Red was finally able to move on. He could finally rest in peace.