Gold
The wind was fierce, and Gold was unbearably cold. His Typhlosion Jeff shuddered in his wake. Gold wanted dearly to offer words of encouragement to his exhausted team, but it was as if his mouth were frozen shut. The biting sleet crashed across his grim visage as he struggled to remain standing. Finally, the last of his will extinguished by the unrelenting blizzard, Gold collapsed into unconsciousness.
Red
Meanwhile, Red had his own problems. "Honey, there's a new batch of fan mail in the box," his mom called out.
"Throw it in the pile. Arceus, mom, are you completely dim?"
A few years ago, Marlene wouldn't have stood for this kind of behavior from her son. But now... You have to remember, he's a big celebrity now, she kept telling herself. And yet this all seemed wrong. Her little boy, 17 now, and champion of the Pokémon league. His cute little Charmander, now a ruthless, powerful dragon. It all seemed like time was passing too fast... "Mom!" Red's easily recognizable tone snapped her out of her daydreaming. "I need a Full Restore, STAT!" Marlene sighed. There would be other days.
Gold
Gold woke up in an unfamiliar cabin. There were signs of recent occupation scattered about the room - coffee-stained coasters on a glass table, half-open magazines, even empty Potion bottles - but not a soul to be found. He checked his backpack and sighed with relief to discover all his items and Pokémon intact. And yet, it still felt as if something was wrong. Something was definitely wrong. Gold walked cautiously towards a large, ornate oak cabinet. He checked a dresser drawer - and fainted immediately. It was filled to the brim with dead, bloodstained Pokémon.
Red
Red was not happy.
Not at all.
He knew he should be. After all, he was the most powerful person in the world, even higher than the president of the United Regions. He was enormously successful, and to be honest, kind of a douche. He had money, power, and somewhere in the region of 50 girlfriends. And yet he yearned for the days when all he had was a Charmander and a heart full of hope. But those days were gone now, and he had a meeting with the UR Council in half an hour.
In Hoenn.
"Charizard, use Fly.
Gold
Gold came to in his own bed, in his own home. "Okay, what in Johto just happened? Silver, was that you?!" Silver walked in nonchalantly, but obviously a bit perplexed.
"Was what me?" he replied innocently. "I've just been standing outside your room, listening to you sleep-talk about your imaginary girlfriend." Gold's cheeks flushed. He didn't know Silver knew about his sleep-talking habit.
"Listen, buddy, this might sound crazy, but-" Gold began.
"Let me cut you off right there. I am not, and never will be, your 'buddy'. Continue."
"Fine. I was in a snowstorm on Route 75, and I must have fainted, because I woke up in some sort of cabin. I had all my stuff still, and - Oh no. Oh Arceus no."
"What? What's wrong?" queried Silver with the smallest hint of concern in his voice. All appearances to the contrary, he actually cared quite a lot about his former rival.
"My bag. My Pokémon - Jeff, oh no, oh Arceus this is bad. Silver, you gotta help me, man!" Gold was going into a state of panic.
"Relax, you melodramatic imbecile. I've got your bag right here."
Gold stared at Silver. Silver stared back. All of a sudden, Gold fell right back to sleep. Oh, right. Narcolepsy. Silver hadn't remembered Gold's condition until just then. He laid the synthetic leather rucksack at the foot of Gold's bed and turned off the light. "Sleep well, old friend," he whispered, before gently closing the door.