The Land of Fiore was laden with heavy snow and ice. The streets were slicker than ever. It made a certain Fairy Tail wizard feel at home. But there was one individual who didn't feel that way. One couldn't exactly blame him though. After all, he wasn't even from their world.

Before a gravestone in the cemetery, not too far from the guild, stood a young man with raven locks. He wore a red and white cap with a jacket to match. He wore a black muscle top beneath as well as a pair of blue jeans and shoes to match his jacket. Fingerless gloves clothed his hands. A yellow mouse Pokémon sat on his shoulder.
,
"Sheesh, how do you stand it Red?" Came a familiar feminine voice from behind him.

Red winced at the voice. It was Lucy, Yellow's lookalike. At least, to him they looked similar. Swallowing a lump in his throat, he willed himself to answer.

"It's not all bad. A few years at the summit of a mountain covered in snow and you'd be used to it too," Red replied.

"Just like Gray..." Lucy sighed.

"Yeah..."

Lucy walked up beside him and looked at the grave. Tear started forming in her eyes the longer she looked. Red was doing his best to blink his back.

"She was like a sister to me, you know?" Lucy replied, a weak smile appearing on her face.

"Yeah. The two of you were so similar it's a wonder that you weren't siblings," Red sighed, struggling on holding back his urge to cry.

"Yeah, she used to call me her twin..." Lucy sniffed, wiping away her tears.

"Why did we take that quest?" Red asked aloud.

Three days prior...

The Fairy Tail guild was a buzz as usual with laugher and shouting. A few were standing in front of the job board. Red and Yellow were discussing the jobs with Natsu's team.

"So, it's been a while since we've taken a job," Yellow began.

"That's because you two have been gone so long," Gray inputted.

"Yeah Red, I've missed fighting your Charizard! Ya gotta stop running off so much," Natsu stated with a goofy grin, putting Red into a playful headlock. Pika hopped off Red's shoulder, sweat-dropping at this.

"Go easy on him Natsu. I think Yellow would like to keep her man in tact," Lucy laughed.

"Oh c'mon! I'm not gonna hurt him. He can take it," Natsu stated before getting smacked on the head by Erza.

Yellow laughed as Natsu began nursing the back of his head.

"Nice going Flame Brain," Gray smirked.

"Shut your mouth Ice Princess!"

"Retard!"

"Stripper!"

Natsu and Gray were in each other's face by this time, fire and ice sparking the angrier they got. This lasted about thirty seconds before Erza pounded their heads together.

"How many times must I tell you two to play nice? That is no way to behave in front of a lady," Erza scolded.

"Hey...what's this?" Red asked, pointing to a job that caught his attention. Pika turned his head in curiosity, hopping back onto Red's shoulder.

"That's a job on Mount Hakobe. It's been a while since we've had one of those. Let's see...oh," Lucy said as she finished reading.

"Oh, what?" Yellow inquired, stroking her own Pikachu named Chuchu, on her head.

"It says here that someone wants to have an herb brought to them. The same ones that Blizzardvern eat," Lucy finished.

"Sheesh, no wonder it's worth so much jewel. At least it's not asking us to kill one. We would be hard pressed to do that easily," Erza added.

"Well, it's just getting the herb right? We should be able to find some that doesn't have a monster like that waiting, right?" Yellow asked.

"Yeah, there are some. We would have to keep watch for Vulcan though. If they get you, it's a pain getting you back to normal," Natsu replied, looking pointedly at Macao.

"So avoid the Vulcan and stay the hell away from Blizzardvern? Sounds simple enough. I say we go for it," Red said with a grin.

That evening...

Red and Yellow sat outside the guild hall, staring up at the stars. They couldn't help but marvel at the way the stars shone so clearly. It was beautiful. Pika and Chuchu were on the ground between their trainers, also looking up at the stars.

"Hey Red?" Yellow began.

"What's up Yellow?"

"Do you ever wonder what life would be like without magic or Pokémon?" Yellow asked curiously, causing both Pika and Chuchu to gasp and look worryingly at their trainer's.

Red thought for a moment. Yellow always had been good at starting conversations. Red on the other hand, was not. What would a life without Pokémon and magic be like? The prospect of not having his friends was something he didn't want to think about. A sigh escaped his lips, his breath visible due to the cold.

"It would be boring. We wouldn't have been able to go on a journey if it weren't for the existence of both. And we certainly wouldn't have met Fairy Tail either. I can't imagine life without both of them," Red answered, much to the relief of the two Pikachu.

"I agree, but I don't think it would be boring. I would still get to go on amazing adventures and," she paused, blushing at the thought that crossed her mind.

"And?" Red urged her to continue.

"And I would still know you. To me...that's more important than having magic or Pokémon. I love both, but not as much as you, Red..." Yellow smiled, taking her boyfriend's hand in hers, getting a smile from the normally stone-faced trainer.

Once again, Red was silenced. He usually didn't say too much, but this was one time he legitimately had an excuse to not speak. She was too much. But he loved that about her. He simply smiled, letting her know in his own way that he felt the same.

Yellow was used to his silent nature by now. Ever since he came down from Mount Silver she found herself enamoured by him. It took a while for him to reciprocate, but that was because he didn't want to jump into anything right away. After all, spending a few years on a mountain can change someone drastically. And he had changed quite a bit. But nevertheless, Yellow still loved him.

"Red?"

"Yeah?"

"We should probably get to bed. It's late and we have a job to do tomorrow. We need to be in top form if we are to pull it off. Okay Mister Champion?" Yellow teased. Both Pokémon sniggered at this.

"You do realize that I don't hold that title anymore right?" Red laughed.

"Don't care. You're my Champion, so deal with it," Yellow replied.

"Whatever you say," Red answered, rolling his eyes.

Before Red could say anything else, Yellow reached up and pulled his face close to hers so that their lips were just mere centimeters away. Her breath caressed his lips, building up anticipation as she looked longingly into his eyes.

"Just...shut up and kiss me," Yellow stated softly, closing the distance between their lips.

The next morning...

Red woke up with Yellow cuddled up beside him. A soft smile crossed his face as he looked at her. He bent down and kissed her cheek, causing her to stir awake with a cute little grumble.

"Is it morning already?" She asked sleepily, rubbing her eyes.

"Yep, and we need to get ready. It's gonna be a long day. And we need to make sure everyone is ready," he added, pointing to their companions.

"Are you ready, Red?"

"If I wasn't, would I bother waking you up?" Red said with a smirk.

"Thought so, you're always ready," Yellow replied, giving Red a playful shove, waking Pika and Chuchu in the process.

The two electric mice slowly awoke with a stretch and a yawn. Chuchu licked Pika's nose and nuzzled his cheek. Pika reciprocated the affection.
Red slid out of bed and began to change. Yellow made her way into the bathroom for a little privacy. When both of them were changed, they grabbed their companions and headed to the guild hall.

Inside the guild hall, the others were waiting patiently for them. "About time you two lovebirds showed up. We were beginning to wonder what was keeping you," Natsu grinned.

"I don't think that's up for discussion," Lucy interjected.

"Killjoy," Natsu muttered.

"Is everbody ready?" Erza asked as she walked up behind the group.

There was a nod from the rest of the group, signalling that they were all set to go. Before long, the group was heading towards Hakobe to complete their mission.

X-X-X

It didn't take too long for the team to reach Mount Hakobe. Red stared up at the tall snowcapped mountain. For years he stood at the summit of Silver, looking out over his world. Now that he had come down, another mountain took its place. Hakobe.

"So. How are we gonna do this?" Red asked curiously.

"We should probably not do anything to draw attention to ourselves," Erza requested.

"Does that mean I can't ride Red's Charizard?" Natsu asked with a grimace.

"You draw enough attention as it is. We don't need two fire breathing lizards out and about. One is enough," Gray quipped.

"You wanna say that again Ice Princess?" Natsu challenged.

"You're not worth the effort," Gray replied after getting "the look" from Erza.

Natsu, picking up the hint, decided to back off as well. "Yeah, it's not worth it."

Lucy stood next to Yellow who was also staring upwards. "Hey, he's not gonna stay up there you know," Lucy said playfully, nudging her in the process.

"I know, it's just that...he was on Mount Silver for so long, there wasn't a day that passed when I didn't wonder if he was still alive. I just don't want to go through that again. Besides, if the mountain didn't do him in, Blue and Leaf would have," Yellow laughed.

"They must really care about him huh?" Lucy replied with a giggle.

"Blue cares because he and Red grew up together. For the longest time it was Blue who was on top. But that all changed the day that Red knocked Blue off his egotistical pedestal and took the title of Champion away from Blue. That was a humbling moment for Blue," Yellow stated.

"And what about Leaf?" Lucy prodded.

"She and Red are good friends too. And she practically idolizes Red for making Blue put his money where his mouth was. It made dating Blue easier," Yellow laughed.

As the two spoke, the group came to a halt. Natsu had stopped to sniff the frozen air. Everyone knew what that meant. There was either danger or they were near their destination.

"Be careful guys. I smell the Herb but I also smell Blizzardvern too. They like to eat this stuff. Remember the last time we fought one of those?" Natsu asked, causing Gray and Erza to nod.

"They're pretty vicious, especially when it comes to defending their favorite food. We had best be on our guard if we are to succeed. Hopefully we won't have to kill it to get the herb like last time," Erza added.

"If it comes to that, we have a larger group this time, so it won't be too bad if we have to fight," Gray inputted.

"Let's try to avoid that though. We don't need any casualties," Erza stated.

"Sounds like a plan," Red voiced, looking back at Yellow and Lucy who were seemingly in their own little world after the short group discussion.

The trip up the mountain took a quite a while since they agreed not to use any magic to quicken the pace. Soon, they reached their destination. Natsu sniffed around and then looked about. The scent had led him and the group straight to the herbs. But that wasn't the reason he was just standing.

"We need to move fast guys. There's a Blizzardvern close by and I don't think it's going to be too happy to see us taking its food!" Natsu hollered.

Right as he finished his sentence,  a deafening roar heralded the arrival of the unhappy Blizzardvern. The massive beast touched down and snarled threatening at the group. Trespassers were never treated kindly by the great behemoth.

"Way to go retard, you just brought it here with your loud mouth!" Gray shouted.

"That's just fine with me. This makes things a litle more interesting!" Natsu shouted back, grinning like a loon.

Yellow, however, stared up at the massive creature with wide eyes. She had never seen anything so terrifying before. The sharp claws and rows of teeth sent shivers down her already cold spine.

"If we're going to get that herb," Red began, priming Charizard's ball, "we're going to have to fight for it, or at least distract it long enough for one of us to get a few," Red finished.

"Then let's get to work," Erza stated, requipping into her Lightning Empress Armor. She twirled the long spear in her hand and readied herself to go on the offensive.

"Charizard, let's go!" Red called out.

Charizard erupted out of his ball with a mighty roar, spewing flames into the air as a sign that he was ready to go. The mighty lizard had a mega stone about his neck which would react to the keystone that Red had embedded into his right glove.

"Open, Gate of the Lion! Leo!" Lucy cried, bringing forth Regulus, or Loke as he is called by the guild.

"Gravvy, I need you!" Yellow called out, sending out Golem. The Rock-type immerged onto the field with a heavy thud.

"I think these are enough distractions. Let's get those herbs!" Natsu declared, powering up in the process.

"Fire Dragon Roar!" Natsu bellowed, starting off the battle in his usual way.

The flame that shot from Natsu's mouth rushed towards the Blizzardvern with the intent of swallowing the beast. The attack proved to only irritate the vern as it simply deflected the blast only to be blasted from behind by Red's Charizard and Pika. Red was riding of course. The vern roared angrily and lashed out ferociously at the flying trio, only to be struck again by the weight of Golem ramming into it and an electric shock from Chuchu.

Enraged, the massive Blizzardvern flapped his wings hard, sending a massive blast of wind towards the team, knocking them off balance. Red and Charizard experienced some turbulence as they were swept away by the winds, Pika barely managing to hold on.

"Ice Make, Arrow!" Gray shouted,  firing off a highly concentrated blast of ice in the form of an arrow. The shot hit its target but only served to annoy the beast even more. In pain and still enraged, the Blizzardvern went on the offensive. It lashed out at the group with surprising speed, aiming for the first offender, Natsu, who quickly avoided the assault.

"Fire Dragon, Iron Fist!"

Natsu's fist crackled with intense magical fire as he lept high into the air. With fist ablaze, he struck the snout of the Blizzardvern. The wyvern snapped at him, barely missing as Natsu twisted away. As it slashed through the air towards Red, Erza jolted it with a slash across the back with her spear.

The Blizzardvern stomped on the ground violently, narrowly missing Erza and the repeated offender Golem at its feet. Shockwaves emitted from its feet, sending the two sprawling back. The wyvern lunged forward at blazing speeds but was met by Loke with his light infused fists, halting its progress.

Red, Charizard and Pika came back around for another go. "Fire Blast!" Red commanded fiercly.

Charizard opened his mouth wide and intense flames built up within. The blast was soon released and it scalded the back of the behemoth as the two whizzed on by. Meanwhile, Yellow was slowly sneaking towards the herbs while still commanding her Golem. She heard what Red said about distracting the wyvern long enough to grab a few herbs, and she figured that she could get to them if she were to be careful.

"Ice Make, Shield!" Gray shouted,  creating a wall of thick ice between him and the devastating claws of the Blizzardvern.

"We're wearing it down!" Natsu shouted as he blasted it with another intense stream of fire.

"Let's keep this up!" Red called out, "Fire Blast!" Charizard roared menacingly and loosed a powerful blast of flames that hammered home on the right flank of the Blizzardvern.

A deafening roar erupted from the Blizzardvern. The great beast swung his tail hard, just missing Charizard but succeeding in causing a bit of turbulence for him, driving him back. Erza came in strong, using the momentum she had gained from the jump she just made to execute a downward strike, jolting the body of the vern with electricity. Pika took the opportunity to loose a quick Thunder to add to the assault.

Yellow inched closer and closer to the place where the Blizzardvern stood, guarding its food. She watched the battle rage on, making sure to be ready to pull her team back if needed.
Golem was holding up well, and Pika was doing well to keep her distance, snapping off a few Thunderbolts now and again.

Perfect. They have it under control. Now if I can just get one herb we can all get going, Yellow thought as she crept closer.

Explosion after explosion resounded as the battle raged on. All seemed to be going well, until Red and his companions were knocked from the sky by a wild slash of the Blizzardvern's tail. Charizard crashed into the snow bank with Pika, and Red tumbled end over end. The Blizzardvern turned towards Red and snarled viciously at him. Red struggled to get up.

"Oh no you don't!" Came the loud voice of Natsu as he aimed a flaming fist at the Blizzardvern's jaw. The towering monstrosity roared loudly and knocked him back with a quick slash of his claw.

The great beast manipulated the air pressure around him and sent them all flying. Yellow was also sent tumbling away, and her Golem, Gravvy, went crashing into the mountain, leaving a large indentation in it. The Blizzardvern turned towards Red once more and then lunged.

"Red!" The group shouted as the tail came lashing out again.

Just as the tail was about to make contact, Red felt himself being pushed away from it. As he fell to the ground, safely out of harms way, time just seemed to slow down for him. His eyes widened as he saw the tail of the Blizzardvern send Yellow flying into a  wall of rocks, only to bounce off into the snow. Everyone looked on in horror.

Every memory that Red made with Yellow began to rush through his mind. From the first time they had met when she pretended to be a boy, to their first kiss. Her laughter rang in his ears, a sound he would never hear again.

"No..." He choked out, rushing to where her body landed.

He knelt beside her and looked down at her limp form. Her eyes were shut and her heart had stopped.

"No Yellow...don't do this to me. You're not the one who's supposed to die on a mountain!" Red screamed, pulling her body to him.

Enraged, the group assailed the vicious Blizzardvern, but Red remained there holding her. Tears streamed from his eyes as he held fast to Yellow. And then he looked down at her hand. In it, was an herb. The very one they had come to collect.

"And you called me reckless..." Red growled, swiping the herb and turning to face the monster that slayed his dreams of a life with Yellow.

"You selfish brat...why did you do it Yellow?" He sniffed, pulling his hat down over his eyes.

His whole body trembled as he watched the fight rage on. "That should have been me. I'm the one who left! I left you all alone. This isn't right!" Red roared.

He glanced around for his companions, noting that Pika was unconscious but Charizard was still kicking. The great lizard slowly stood up and looked for his master. His eyes fell upon Red and then the herb. Then he spotted the lifeless body of Yellow, bleeding on the canvass of snow. He saw the pain of loss in Red's eyes and knew what had to be done.

Red spoke no words. He simply shut himself up as he had on Mount Silver. His crimson hues burned with a vengeance that matched even that of Natsu's. He reached up and activated the keystone. Charizard's megastone flashed brilliantly and responded. An ear shattering roar erupted from Charizard as he transformed. His body turned black as night and his muscles became more defined. Blue flames spewed from either side of his mouth. Charizard had mega evolved.

"Let's wrap this up!" Red bellowed, catching the attention of his team.

No time was wasted at this point. Fueled by rage at the loss of their friend, they all released devastating magic upon the beast.

"Charizard, BLAST BURN!!!!"

The mighty dragon shrouded his body in blue flames and slammed his fist into the snow, shattering the ground beneath and releasing explosive plasma. The ground shook and then exploded beneath the Blizzardvern who was already smoldering from the assault of the others.

The battle was over. The trip down the mountain was silent. None spoke a word. Lucy cried while Natsu comforted her. Red carried Yellow's body down. They soon reached the guild hall, and after hours of grieving, gave her a proper burial.

End flashback...

"Hey...Lucy?" Red spoke up.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for coming out here. It means a lot to me."

"No problem Red..." Lucy sniffed, wiping her tears away.

"I think I might go back home for a while..." Red stated.

"Will you be back?" Lucy inquired.

"I have a feeling that if I don't, Natsu will hunt me down."

Lucy simply smiled. "Yeah," she half laughed, "he would."

"Well...I'd better go. This news isn't going to tell itself to my friends or her family," Red sighed, looking over at Pika whose ears drooped.

"Do you want me to keep looking after Chuchu?" Lucy asked.

"Yeah...I would. Thank you Lucy," Red replied, pulling her into a tight hug.

Red had to overcome a lot of challenges in his life. He had taken his first step in becoming a trainer which led to his becoming the Champion. He brought down a criminal syndicate. All of those things his training had prepared him for. But nothing could prepare him enough for the task of telling a mother of her daughter's death.