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“Hey stranger,” May said, bumping her hip against Steven’s. They stood next to each other at the ball being held in Kalos for the new champion of the region. May didn’t really want to go, but Steven said it was her duty as champion to attend.
“Hello May. You look beautiful tonight,” he greeted, looking at her as she approached him. Her cheeks turned as red as her dress and she looked down.
“Thanks. I’m not a huge fan of dresses.” She grumbled, before looking up to watch people at the ball.
“Why don’t you go socialize with the others?” Steven asked. ‘Others’ meaning the other champions of the region. They all seemed to be young teenage girls. They were quite terrifyingly strong.
“Can’t I just stay here with ya?” She asked, frowning as the group of girls laughed about something. May wasn’t sure that they’d like her.
“Why? Don’t you want to be with people your age than get stuck with me?” Steven asked, now curious. The girl was usually more outgoing than this. “Is something wrong?”
“I don’t think they’ll like me, Steven. I’m different from them.” May explained. “I’m tanner and I speak differently too.”
Hoenn was a tropical region. Depending on where you lived in the region, it was possible you’d get a tan, an almost permanent tan. May had a tan to her, one that almost looked like her natural skin color. Also, the people of Hoenn did have a certain dialect to them, but every region had it. Steven guessed that Hoenn and Kalos had the most noticeable dialects out of all the regions.
Still, the others were different in their own ways too. “They’re all different, May, no need to be nervous.” He told her, but she shook her head and stayed by his side. While he did want her to make friends with the others, he didn’t mind that she wanted to stay by him. He enjoyed her company very much.
She stiffened when the music changed to an upbeat song and the dance floor cleared, no one really knowing how to dance to music like that. “Steven,” May said, serious.
“What?”
“Let’s dance!” She exclaimed and grabbed his hand, throwing caution to the wind. He was going to protest, but she dragged him out onto the floor. She listened to music like this all day. “This is my music!” She grinned to the male, who just tried to follow her moves as best he could. May’s music was any song, beat, or rhythm. She danced to anything. She clapped her hands with the music and spun, entertaining the crowd with her moves. Others soon joined, including the other champions.
Once the song ended, the other champions surrounded May, asking her to teach them how to dance like that. Steven waved to her and left the dance floor for the company of the older champions.
“Energetic one, isn’t she?” Cynthia questioned once he joined them.
“Very much. I’m just happy that she’s relaxed now.” He sighed, rubbing his now sore shoulder. May was pretty rough when dancing. She would yank her partner around if they allowed her to, and Steven almost always did. He watched her pull the other girls into another dance, and couldn’t help but smile.
May was very different from them. May was very different than everyone, actually. To Steven she was, anyway.
May was the fiercest opponent that had challenged him since he had become champion. The battle between them was something that could never be forgotten, much like every other memory the male had of the girl. Since the first time he met her, back in that dark cave just on the outskirts of Dewford City, she had been a presence in his life.
It seemed that she was constantly behind his eyelids whenever he closed his eyes.
“You admire her greatly, don’t you?” Cynthia nudged him, bumping him out of his thoughts. She wiggled her eyebrows when he looked at her, and he knew what she really wanted to ask him.
You like her, don’t you Steven?
He just turned away from her, sure his cheeks were lightly pink with embarrassment.
“I can tell. I’ve been watching how you look at her.” Cynthia giggled as Steven furrowed his brows.
Cynthia had a terrible habit of being right.
“I confess.” He admitted.
He did like May, very much. However, he was older than her, four years older than her. May was still a teenager, she had just turned nineteen a few months ago, and she was nowhere ready to settle down with one person. She was wild and free and constantly on the move. Steven had tried to reason with himself on multiple occasions, but it never worked. No matter how he looked at it, he had feelings for the girl that just wouldn’t go away. It was conflicting.
It was frustrating, because May was so confusing and hard to read. She flirted with him and teased him constantly, but Steven could never tell if she was being serious or if she was just joking around with him like she did with other boys. She didn’t mention liking anyone to Steven, but if someone brought the subject up, she’d usually blush and change the subject, or get annoyed and leave, so she obviously liked someone. Some days she would visit and spend all day with him, then disappear off the face of the world the next and not return his calls. It got to the point where he would take any attention he could from the girl, always too eager to see her or speak to her.
He was sure none of the other champions had these issues with their successors. He sort of wish they did, so at least he had someone to talk about it with, but now it seemed that he was alone in this issue. He was the different one now.
This hurricane of a girl was changing his life more than anything or anyone else.
“One thing is for sure, you’re never the same again after you meet her.” Steven sighed as he continued to watch her. Cynthia nodded and smiled.
“Steven!” May exclaimed, appearing right in front of him. He must have zoned out for a moment or two, because the music was slower and the lights seemed to be dimmed. Couples were on the dance floor, swaying to slow beat of the song. “Dance with me?” She said, sounding more like a question than a command that usually gave him when she wanted to dance.
“You want to dance with me to this song?” He questioned back, surprised. There were many men here that were her age that wouldn’t turn down a chance to dance with her.
“Yeah, that’s why I’m askin’ ya.” She growled, looking to the side before looking at him once more. He didn’t question further and took her hand, leading her out onto the dance floor. She was stiff, like she had been when the first arrived. She stiffened, even more, when he pulled her close, putting his hands on her waist. She hesitated, but put her hands on his shoulders and let him lead the dance, though it was mostly just swaying back and forth.
“You really will dance to anything, won’t you?” He murmured, hoping that talking would relax her. “You seem pretty uncomfortable though…”
“I don’t know these kinds of songs or dances. T-those other girls…” She started, looking at his chest instead of his face. “They told me that I should dance with someone that I liked to these songs. Someone that made me happy and nervous at the same time, someone who was different than everyone else.” She bit her lip, before exhaling a breath and looking up at him. “And you’re way different than anyone I ever met before.”
Steven smiled widely, leaning down so he was closer to her face. “You are far different than anyone I have ever met before as well.”
“Really?” May’s eyes lit up with excitement.
“Of course. You are a hurricane of a girl.” Steven told her. May bounced in place, elated at this statement and eagerly kissed Steven, who was eager to return the kiss.
“This means we’re a hurricane of a couple now,” May whispered as they pulled away from the kiss.