Chapter Text
League meetings are usually a bit of a chore for him - he would much rather be out in a cave, digging up the next shiny rock he could find. It’s part of his job of course, and Steven is nothing if not a hard worker, so he always takes his duties as Champion of the Hoenn region very seriously.
Still, the pleasant, polite smile on his face is starting to stretch a little thin, and the endless drone of Pokemon League rules and regulations, that somehow they must go over every single yearly meeting, is turning into a lullaby.
He feels his head droop a little as the meeting chairperson rattles on about gym leader statistics.
“And as a final order of events, we would like to introduce Flannery Moore, the new gym leader who will be replacing Mr Moore in Lavaridge Town,” the chairperson speaks, slicing through the hazy fog of Steven’s brain like a sharp knife.
Steven‘s eyes automatically lock onto the fiery neon flame of the girl’s hair as she shoots to her feet, almost jumping out of her chair. The bright red burns his eyes but he can’t bear to look away, not even for a second.
“H-Hi, I’m F-Flannery!” The girl squeaks, her voice shrill.
The room is hushed, all eyes fixing upon the girl with hair of fire. Steven offhandedly thinks to himself that he has a fire stone of that exact shade, when he realizes that it’s pindrop silent, and the girl is quaking in her boots.
“Welcome to the team, Flannery,” Steven quickly jumps in, cutting the uncomfortable silence short.
He huffs a sigh of relief as the room erupts in polite applause. Thankfully, no awkwardness has ensued. Then his eyes meet hers, and if he thought her hair was red, her eyes were a whole other level. There’s so much liquid gratitude in there that Steven starts to flush. He didn’t do that much, did he?
The meeting starts to adjourn, and Steven flicks his switch back to business mode - he still has some important documents for Devon left in his office that he had to deal with, and there are many stones from his recent trip left to catalogue and inspect. Time waits for no man after all, he thinks to himself wistfully, casting his thoughts back to his carefree university days, when paperwork was just essays and he didn’t have the world’s responsibilities upon his shoulders.
He’s up and ready to leave when someone grabs his arm untowardly. Annoyed, he snaps a glare at the offending perpetrator.
“A-Ah, sorry, please wait a minute!”
Flannery Moore is standing behind him, fingers curled timidly around the edge of his sleeve.
Her cheeks are flushed red, which somehow makes her even brighter to look at, and Steven almost shields his eyes in awe. She’s stunning up close, with ruby red eyes and unblemished alabaster skin stained rosy with embarrassment. She’s also dressed a little too casually for what just transpired - a crop top and a pair of loose blue jeans for a League meeting? She looks so completely out of place that Steven just can’t help but stare at her with bewilderment. To say he’s caught aback is an understatement - he almost feels his mouth hang open like a dead fish as he takes in her appearance. He realises that he’s been staring at her wordlessly for a little too long at the same time as she does.
“A-ah! So sorry again!” She yelps, flinging his jacket out of her grasp like she is tossing something into the sun.
“N-no bother,” Steven composes himself, clearing his throat. “Can I help you?”
There’s a bit of an awkward silence as she fiddles with her thumbs. Steven watches the emotions run past her face - her micro expressions would almost be amusing if he couldn’t feel the waves of anxiety rolling off her like a tsunami.
“I-I just wanted to say… thank you!” She hastily bows to him. “I don’t… I don’t really know anyone here… but you helped me out earlier, and… yea…”
He cocks what he hopes is a comforting and casual grin.
“No problem, we’re always looking out for the newer ones,” he says politely.
“What’s your name?” Her eyes peer into the very depths of his soul, and Steven almost balks at the sheer intensity of her gaze.
“S-Steven,” he croaks, before shaking his head minutely and continuing. “Steven Stone.”
The sudden plummet in temperature is obvious.
“A-ah… the Champion…?” She coughs weakly, looking almost about to faint. “U-uh… I’ll be in your service… Mr Stone!”
“No need to call me that, please,” Steven rebuts immediately, laughing awkwardly. “That makes me sound like my father. Please, just call me Steven.”
“U-um… Mr Steven?” She tries cautiously, but Steven retorts with a firm shake of his head.
She sighs defeatedly.
“W-well, thank you for your help earlier,” she flusters again. “S-Steven.”
He realizes that he likes the sound of his name with her voice.
“Again, it was no bother for me at all,” he smiles easily.
She makes a move to leave, and Steven immediately panics.
“W-wait!” He holds a hand out to stop her from retreating. “Do you…. Want to find rocks with me?”
There is a heavy, tense silence, and Steven wants to crawl into a hole and die in his sleep. He’s contemplating retiring when she lets out a burst of laughter, her eyes scrunching up with mirth. She’s a belly laugher, he notes with a soft smile, as he watches her crack up.
“S-sorry,” she finally regains her composure. “I didn’t mean to laugh at you… I just didn’t think your name was so… literal.”
Steven flushes in embarrassment, but quickly manouevres his way out of this manhole.
“I may drop by Lavaridge soon to appraise the gym, given the leadership handover, and it’s always good to get to know the newer ones on the team,” he recalls deftly.
At his words, Flannery blanches. Steven immediately holds his hands up to pacify her.
“Don’t worry! It’s an informal assessment,” he clarifies quickly, but she seems to wilt even more.
Steven racks his brain, thinking of how to rectify the situation, when Flannery brightens, perking up with excitement.
“Say… maybe you could tutor me?” She asks eagerly, rocking on the balls of her feet. “I-I mean, if it’s okay, Mr - I mean, Steven…”
What a genius idea, Steven almost wants to cry, but he holds in his emotions sternly.
“Yes, I would be very happy to mentor you,” he smiles, with what he hopes is a just-right amount of glee.
“That’s perfect!” She claps her hands ecstatically.
She’s the picture of joy at his words and he almost wants to photograph her. He dimly recalls the fire stone he compared her to… no, she is definitely much more vibrant than that.
He barely notices that he’s staring until her expression turns confused. He quickly shakes himself - Champions should be the perfect example of class and grace, he reminds himself and takes out his business card.
She gawks openly as he hands it to her.
“My Pokenav number is there, as is my Pokemail address,” he points to the two neatly embellished contact details, and musters up a cheery smile. “Please get in touch soon and we will arrange something.”
He swiftly checks his watch - gosh, he’s late… those beautiful stones would have to wait until he’s finished with his Devon work, and with that, he mumbles a hurried goodbye, his mind already distracted with the recent Pokenav extension project. He hardly realizes that he’s left the fiery girl staring at his retreating back.