Red almost never left Mt. Silver. This was something that those who knew him personally, such as Green, had come to accept. But Red was hardly lonely, because besides having his Pokémon for company he had a near-constant stream of visitors: impossibly strong trainers who came to try and see if Red really was as strong as everyone said he was. Occasionally those challengers would win, but mostly they would lose, and Red considered those that lost to have gained the most. Win or lose, they would talk. Red would hear stories from places close as Blackthorn and Viridian to as far-flung as Hoenn and Orre and, in one particularly strange case, Unova. And whenever they asked for advice, Red provided it to the best of his ability.
One of Red's first visitors other than Green was the current Johto champion: a kid of about fourteen with a hat colored like an Ultra ball and with enough youthful enthusiasm to make Red feel old. Red won, but only after losing four of his team and resorting to Lapras to whittle away at Gold's Quagsire's health until it went down. Gold recalled his last Pokémon and then shamelessly asked if he could spend the night at Red's cave while his Pokémon recovered, and Red consented.
"...So anyway, he's kind of an asshole," Gold muttered through a mouthful of fire-roasted ramen. "I mean, I think he's got a reason for it, but anyway, he's really unfriendly and introverted and I just want to… get a bit closer to him, y'know? We both started training at the same time, but I don't think I've ever seen him for more than the duration of a battle."
Red allowed Pikachu to climb onto his lap and eat his noodles while he gazed blankly at the ceiling. A long silence followed, something that Gold was used to, before the Kanto champion spoke.
"Sometimes we can't change who we are," he said. "But I think even introverts could use someone to talk to, sometimes. Does he have a Pokegear?"
Gold shrugged. "Dunno. I never asked. I think it'd be tough, though, being a trainer without one. So, yeah, probably."
"You should challenge him to a battle," Red said. "If you win, take his number as payment. If you lose, take his number for a rematch."
"Now there's an idea! And if he doesn't have a Pokégear, I'll buy him one and make him take it when he loses!" Gold was grinning practically ear-to-ear, now. He then went on to talk about everything else that was on his mind, from tournaments to working on his Pokédex to how he really should call his mom more often, until Red excused himself and traveled deeper into the cave to sleep.
When he awoke the next morning and went to check on Gold, the boy's stuff was gone; he had left early in order to beat the upcoming blizzard.
A/N: Whoo, first submission. Here we go. The first chapter is so short because it is. If you look reeeeally close, you can see my preference for pairings, but that's neither here nor there. Reviews are much appreciated, especially suggestions for other characters to be featured.