Green had started to hate winter. One of the gym trainers made the mistake of asking him why one day. Boy, did he get an earful. These are just some of the things the Viridian leader listed:

1. The cold winds always made his skin burn.

2. Even with the heater full blast, he had to pile on the blankets just to keep warm.

3. The snow was everywhere; it stuck to his shoes, got tracked into both the gym and his apartment, and was an even bigger mess when it melted.

Of course, he left off the biggest reason of them all.

It reminded him of the days when he'd hike up Mt. Silver, when he stubbornly refused to move from the spot around the Charizard provided campfire, when Eevee and Pikachu would roll around on the ground, when he just got to be with Red.

Green snapped out of his thoughts when he felt Eevee pulling at his scarf. The little fox Pokémon pouted as her trainer pulled the scarf from her mouth. "Vui!"

"What? I know its cold out, but you can't just take my scarf," He ruffled the fur on Eevee's head as he dug in his pockets for his key. "You could either bury yourself in my coat again or just wait a few seconds for me to unlock the door." Again, the fox pouted but chose to wait for the door to be opened. Once it was, she bolted towards the little space heater, expecting it to be on.

"Vui…" Of course, it wasn't.

"You idiot, you watched me turn that off before we left. I'm not going to waste electricity just so you can jump on my space heater before I get a chance to close the door," Green shed his outer coat and scarf before switching the device on. "Geeze, where did you learn to be so impatient?"

"Ee…vui?" Eevee cocked her head thoughtfully and, coming up with an answer, scampered over to the window and pointed outside. "Eevui! Vui!" Her forepaw was extended at the perfect angle to show her master the familiar mountain.

"From Pikachu, huh?" After seeing the Pokémon nod happily, Green sighed. "Sorry, girl, but we can't go up there anymore."

"Vui?!" Another pout.

"If it's this cold down here, how cold do you think it'll be on the peak? You'd try and drag the heater with you!" A partial lie. Yes, the mountain was much colder in winter, but he didn't want to tell Eevee what he had heard from his grandfather a month before.

He knew all too well that there would be no more hikes, no more Charizard provided campfires, no more Eevee and Pikachu moments, no more time with Red.

Because Red was gone.