#sorryy I would say more but my brain is a lil fuzzy today;;

[okiroash]

once again had thoughts about your red design and while i was way too busy having a multitude of thoughts about him and the time he spent on that Dreadded Mountain, another thought came to mind.

why didn't any of red's pokemon try to get him to come down, or at least alert any of his loved ones that "oh yeah kid's alive dw".

imo i think that with him being more emotionally connected/understanding towards pokemon as opposed to his peers essentially made them understand him in return, borders be damned. so when his team found themselves climbing up the mountain at the dead of night, they didn't try to stop the boy. they felt exactly what he felt when doing so. granted, they aren't as big of a burden that red believed himself to be towards the people he was close to, but they essentially considered themselves just another regret on the hypothetical and nonexistent mountain of shame that his poor mother had to carry (even if she would've done it by choice or not), and just a further salt to rub on blue's wounds with just how much they outshined his own team (despite probably keeping the same cool headed rivalry that their respective trainers had with no bad blood, but that's up to interpretation) which further immortalized how much everyone viewed him as just "another kid who fell behind".

and in a way, they were probably subject to the same dehumanization(depokenization?) -> gloryfication treatment that red had received years ago, especially given how treatment towards pokemon themselves in the base game seems to be divided into those who see them as one thing or the other.

because when people saw red and his pokemon, they didnt see a person and living, breathing animals. they saw a figure. an idol. nothing more, nothing less. and his team? what were they but just names and numbers in the hall of fame? just mere creatures who were admirable (and possibly marketable) just as much as their poor, poor trainer was, and that treatment only fueled the need to leave it all behind.

even if they do not have a hand in the heartache that red has, they feel it. human or not, it hurts them all the same.

op..... I dropped on the floor reading this.... this is so well thought out.. I had thoughts about how his pokemon felt, but I didn't think far enough about them having their own burden and regret too.. IT ALL HURTS.!!! red and his team, they both understand each other so much,,, having gone through it together.. not knowing what to do in their situation.. at least.. on the very top of the cold mountain, they only have each other to look out for.. no more of those suffocating masses surrounding them, no more that their loved ones would have to deal with what they think it was their fault 💥