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Mining day is probably your favorite day of the week.
Not only are you temporarily freed from the solitude of your shop back in Oreburgh, but it’s also more likely to see something interesting happen. Mount Coronet is open to anyone who dares to brave its winding pathways and natural, maze-like architecture. So it’s not rare to see trainers battling it out, miners discovering never-before-seen crystals, and the occasional hiker with a heartful of stories to tell.
It’s no different now, as you traverse the familiar path on the way to the ore reserve that’s thankfully open to civilians. Your Sableye ambles right next to you – tugging at the fabric of your pants in a subtle way of asking for something to eat. You shoot him an unimpressed look before digging up a small tarnished crystal from your pocket and tossing it into his mouth.
“You’re going to get fat eating all those calcium deposits, Rupee,” you joke.
Rupee burps out loud. You chuckle.
The caverns of Mount Coronet are relatively wider compared to the other caves you’ve visited in the past. Which isn’t much of a surprise, since Sinnoh’s mining industry forked over millions of Pokédollars for the start-up.
Those industrial mines are deeper in the mountain, of course, and you’re only a greenhorn so you always stick to the recommended mining areas instead. Though the ore and crystals are of less value, you’d rather not get sued for trespassing into a big-name company’s territory.
When you arrive at your usual spot, you’re mesmerized by the sight like always. Crystalline stalactites hang overhead, emanating an otherworldly glow that illuminates the desolate cave. The lights paint the cavern floor and walls with such a dazzling, luminescent blue that you can’t help but fashion a few pieces of jewelry from the abundance of ore. Some guy you met the other week even said that he’d ventured all the way from Kalos just to snap a few photos.
Oddly enough, this reserve seems emptier than usual. There’s a noticeable absence of tourists and travelers inside, but you could spot someone crouched near a cluster of crystals at the far end. You decide not to disturb him, and usher Rupee to a closer mining spot.
As you set down your knapsack and pull out your small pickaxe, you finally got to work.
Rupee watches in quiet anticipation as you carve out chunks from a bed of aquamarine crystals. Those that aren’t any good get tossed in the garbage disposal that is your Sableye’s stomach. Good thing he’s more than happy to munch through them as you appraise the pieces you’ve found.
About half an hour of mining around the vicinity later, you finally come into contact with the only other person inside the cave with you.
“Oh, sorry. Didn’t see you there,” he says sheepishly. You notice that the newcomer has flecks of dirt in his silver hair as he adjusts the goggles obscuring his face. “I heard civilian mining was permitted here because the crystals don’t have much value, but I’m guessing whoever they hired to take a look is an amateur.”
You can feel Rupee glancing up at you as if to ask, you know this guy?
Not understanding why he’s casually starting a conversation, you flash the stranger a confused look. “Um, what do you mean?”
He smiles – the kind of smile that tells you this might be something he’s a bit passionate about. “Can I borrow your pickaxe?”
You know better than to hand a potentially lethal weapon to a guy you barely know, but Rupee has a keen sense for people with ill intentions. With how calmly your partner is observing him from the side, you suppose he won’t cause any trouble.
The stranger strikes a section where the crystals have long been pilfered by someone else. You frown, wondering what he’s trying to accomplish until you see the craggy surface break, chunks of rock falling away once the man manages to hit it enough.
Then, you see a dawn stone glimmering underneath.
“See?” he chuckles, plucking it with a gloved hand before handing it to you. “If you’re out here mining, I’m sure you’d be interested in this kind of stuff.”
He isn’t exactly wrong. You’re no expert, but you run a jewelry store, for Arceus’ sake. If you’d known that there were dawn stones hidden underneath the quarry, you would’ve mined deeper ages ago!
Despite the man’s generosity, you politely decline the evolution stone he’s handing to you like it was a normal rock. “Thanks, but were you going to mine here? I can always just take another spot.”
“Nope, it’s fine. You’re the one who got here first,” he insists.
You shake your head. “You’re the one who found the dawn stone, so it kind of seems rude if I just take that and your spot.”
“I have hundreds of these in my collection already, I swear it’s alright.”
Wait. This guy has a hundred dawn stones?
As you both politely argue that the other should take the mining spot, Rupee alternates his gaze between the two idiotic miners who are too courteous for their own good. He’s spent enough time with you to know this might take a while, and since the other guy isn’t backing down either, your Sableye takes it upon himself to snack on some leftover crystals from the pile.
But then, Rupee freezes on the spot.
The ground beneath you starts to shake, and for a split second, you comfort yourself with the idea that this isn’t uncommon in Mount Coronet, but it doesn’t stop. You can feel the violent tremors wracking the entire cavern, making you instinctively dart your eyes towards the stalactites hanging from the ceiling. You can’t see what the strange man you were arguing with is doing, but when you realize that the crystalline spikes have snapped, you move purely out of instinct.
Not giving any more thought into it, you roughly shove the man away – making him stagger and fall on Rupee, who shouts in protest. You quietly pray that he’ll forgive you for that, but when the chunks of stalactite collide with the side of your head, you drop to the ground like a ragdoll.
Huh….
White noise rings in your ears before you vaguely hear a voice shouting in the distance. Your eyes are a little unfocused, but you catch the familiar light of a Pokémon emerging from its ball. Rupee worriedly calls out, rushing to your side, and you would’ve told him everything is alright, if it weren’t for the fact that your vision is spinning.
All of a sudden, the craggy ground is no longer digging into your body. You feel the slide of cool metal against your clothes before being lifted into the air. That makes you wonder if this is what it feels like when your soul ascends to the afterlife, but you’re ripped out of your concussion when the Metagross carrying you out of the cavern lets out a weird noise.
What in the…?
“Metagross, take us to somewhere safe!”
Forcing your eyes to pull into focus, you watch the stranger mount the head of this scary-looking Metagross – pulling Rupee safely in his arms as you all flee the scene. It must’ve been its Psychic typing, but Metagross manages to navigate through the tunnels where there’s less debris falling from the ceiling with ease.
In your listlessness, you can’t help but train your eyes on the stranger whose life you sort of saved (and saved yours in return). Those mining goggles are still on his face, so you can’t get a good look at him, but you do notice the way Rupee is comfortably relaxed in his grasp – making you sigh in relief.
When you finally make it out of the cave, Metagross sets both you and its trainer safely on the ground. Rupee scrambles out of the man’s arms, running to you with concerned cries. You chuckle before patting his head.
“Man, that was close,” you breathe as you attempt to ignore the way your head throbs with pain. “Thanks for the save, Mister…?”
You stare at the man expectantly, half-wondering if he’ll finally introduce himself. But both him and his Metagross are staring back with pale-faced looks (as pale as a Metagross can be, of course).
“You’re bleeding,” he says.
Cocking your head to the side, you dab your fingers around the spot where you figure you hit your head, and you can barely contain your surprise when you feel something warm and wet against your skin. The moment you check your fingers, you can confirm that, yep.
You’re definitely bleeding.
“Huh. Figures,” you grumble, suddenly feeling lightheaded again. “...I’m sure this is no–”
Before you can even finish, your legs give out and you nearly crush Rupee as you fall to the ground. Your Sableye lets out another distressed cry as the stranger rushes to your side.
The last thing you remember is a hint of steel blue irises – glinting with concern behind his goggles – before finally blacking out.
...
The people at Oreburgh City Hospital were a lot nicer than you remember.
When you regained consciousness, the nurse keeping an eye on you was quick to fill you in on what happened once she’s gone over your vitals. Apparently, there had been a mining accident in the deeper caverns of Mount Coronet, and the officials in charge were forced to take accountability for it.
“It’s a good thing you made it out before the entire reserve collapsed,” the nurse sighed. “Else, you and your friend might have ended up in the intensive care unit.”
You wonder if, by ‘friend’, she meant your Sableye – whose Pokéball just happened to be resting on your bedside. The sight of Rupee’s capsule, decorated with silly stickers you bought when you were younger, eased your nerves a bit. But the next words that came out of the nurse’s mouth made you stare at her in disbelief.
“Speaking of which, he already took care of all of your bills.” She smiled, already halfway to the door. “He was in a hurry though, so he had to go without saying goodbye.”
“Did he tell you who he was?” you asked hurriedly. “I…never got his name.”
The nurse’s cheery disposition morphed into a puzzled look, as if she’s speaking to an alien life form. You mirrored the same expression.
“Oh, dear,” she began. “Do you not know who Steven Stone is, sweetie?”
It’s been over a week since you’ve gotten discharged, and Arceus knows you’ve spent a chunk of your time doing your research on this Steven Stone fellow.
Apparently, he used to be the Hoenn League Champion, and you were none the wiser when you unknowingly saved his life (prior to him saving yours). For the past few days, you exhausted all means to contact him (information courtesy of his secretary back in Rustboro), but his Pokétch was either busy or out of signal range.
While you liked to think he must’ve paid off your bills out of the kindness of his heart, you never really liked feeling indebted to someone – afraid they might come to collect the payment later.
Still, your dilemma doesn’t deter you from your usual work.
Business is slow in your jewelry store today, and you’re itching to entertain some clients just to get your mind off Steven Stone’s questionable charity. But before you can let your anxiousness get the better of you, the bells on the front door chime with a customer’s entrance – making you perk up with delight.
Only for your face to fall when you see a familiar face in the small group.
“Wow,” breathes a young woman with quite the…interesting outfit. The moment you laid your eyes on her, you thought she was a walking Altaria. “Everything’s so pretty in here, right, uncle?”
Next to her, a man sporting equally flamboyant attire hums in agreement. “To think we’d come across a dainty jewelry shop like this one here, of all places. You’ve got a great eye, Lisia. We would’ve been bored to death if we let Steven drag us to another rock museum.”
Then, the same person you’ve been trying to hunt down for days clears his throat awkwardly. “It’s a museum meant to showcase the prehistoric Pokémon that resided in Mount Coronet way back.”
“Yeah. A rock museum.”
You’ve heard of Hoenn’s champion in passing. The one that wielded Steel types and has a strange affinity for rocks. You never bothered to learn his name or what he looked like though, so when he busted out his Metagross to save all of you from a collapsing cavern, you couldn’t exactly put two and two together.
It didn’t help that he was nearly unrecognizable in his mining attire. And you had a concussion at the time!
But now that he’s standing in the flesh inside your shop, you can’t even muster the courage to welcome their trio with a proper greeting. He’s wearing a pressed, deep gray suit that paints him exactly as his former title suggests.
The woman they’re with, however, notices you behind the counter.
“Oh, hello,” she chirps. “What a lovely store you have here. Have you been selling jewelry for a while? This place wasn’t mentioned in the Oreburgh itinerary.”
Itinerary? Only tourists bothered to look at those brochures. That only means…
These people must be from Hoenn, too.
“I-I don’t have money to pay you!”
The words leave your lips before you can fully process them, recoiling from their stares as if you’re speaking to robbers and not potential customers.
“...What?” the woman asks.
The genuine confusion laced in all their faces gives you the idea that maybe they’re not out to charge you for their prior kindness. Well, Steven’s prior kindness, but you can’t be too sure.
“Wait,” the man of the hour finally speaks to you directly – recognition dawning on his face. “Aren’t you…?”
With Steven having pieced together your identity, you both spent the next ten minutes explaining to his companions what happened in the mountains a week ago. You half-expected concerned reactions, but they simply nodded along as if hearing about Steven nearly getting caught in an accident is something that happens on the regular.
“Why didn’t you tell us you saved someone else’s life this time?” sighs the flamboyant man before turning to you. “I’m Wallace, by the way, and this is my niece, Lisia.”
“Nice to meet you,” Lisia greets. “Steven is a magnet for misfortune, especially in caves. You better stay away from him the next time you see him inside one.”
“You know that’s not true,” Steven sighs.
Wallace simpers. “It happens too often to be a coincidence, Steven. If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were the one causing the cave disruptions all along.”
Their teasing is momentarily interrupted by the sound of Rupee emerging from the back room of your shop. Right. You asked him to sort through your new batch of necklace chains, since fakes often get mixed in your orders. That reminds you that you should really find a better supplier in the next few –
Rupee cries out all of a sudden, making you snap your head in his direction. Did he sense something amiss?
But your worries melt away when you see him bound towards Steven almost cheerily, clinging to his trouser leg as your partner smiles up at the former Hoenn champion. It’s kind of adorable, but Rupee is rarely affectionate towards others.
“Oh, it’s you,” he says, patting Rupee’s head. “Do you still recognize me?”
Your Sableye makes a noise in affirmation, and when Steven smiles, you don’t know if your heart warms because of Rupee’s affectionate reception or how happy Steven looks.
“He’s actually the one who told me where the city hospital is,” he says. “If it weren’t for your Sableye, I might not have gotten you to the emergency room in time.”
You flash him a warm smile. “Rupee wouldn’t have been able to drag me to the hospital if we were alone, so I’m still grateful. You even covered my bills and everything…”
“Oh, it’s – it’s not a big deal, really,” he tells you sheepishly, and in the corner of your eye, you can see Lisia and Wallce branching off to check the other jewelry you have on display. “And you don’t have to pay me back at all. If anything, that’s my way of thanking you for saving my life. You pushed me away from the falling stalactites, remember?”
You nod. “Who would’ve known that us being too nice to take a mining spot could lead to that?”
Earlier today, you thought you wouldn’t be able to escape the monotone of your day-to-day routine, and now you’re presented with the most pleasant coincidences in your life. Steven Stone, despite how important a public figure he is, stands just a few feet away, chatting you up about what sorts of minerals you go for when you’re up in the mountains, and how exactly you fashion your craft.
But as much as you’d like to spend the entire afternoon telling him about how you started off as a jeweler, you hear Lisia gasp at the other end of the shop.
“Uncle, look at this!” she nearly squeals, pointing excitedly at one of your newer pieces displayed behind a glass case. “That would go amazing with my new coordinator outfit, wouldn’t it?”
Wallace ambles to her side right away, checking the label on the bottom right of the display case. “Hmm… A dawn stone necklace. You wouldn’t want to stand next to a Kirlia wearing that, then. Non-consensual evolutions are really difficult to sort out, you know.”
“I’ll only wear it when there aren’t any male Kirlias in the vicinity then,” Lisia huffs.
You and Steven decide to stride over to where they’re having their chat – feeling a bit flattered that Lisia took interest in your latest piece – while Rupee dismisses himself to do something else. (You did leave a bowl of Pokémon food for him in case he got hungry in the back.)
Right after you got home from the hospital, you found a couple of dawn stones inside the bag you’d brought to the mountains despite not pilfering any before the earthquake. You figured that your savior – Steven – put them in there, and you decided to channel your week-long brooding session into making new jewelry. Turns out, your effort isn’t all for naught after all.
“Please get me the necklace.” Lisia pouts. “Please, please!”
Wallace chuckles, shaking his head. “Lisia, you’re a top coordinator across several regions. You even stole my thunder back in Hoenn. I’m fairly certain you can afford to buy this yourself.”
“But aren’t I your favorite niece?” she huffs, crossing her arms. “You used to get me whatever I wanted when I was little.”
“Yes, but you’re not so little anymore, are you?”
While the familial exchange is quite the endearing sight, you glance at Steven in a silent attempt at asking for more context.
“Wallace and Lisia are Pokémon coordinators,” he explains. “They were invited to an event in Hearthome City, and they decided to pay me a visit since I was staying here in Oreburgh City for some business.”
Oh. Well, that certainly explains their eye-catching outfits. “I feel like I’m entertaining a bunch of celebrities right now.”
Steven chuckles. “Trust me, we’re anything but.”
“Okay, fine,” Wallace sighs in defeat after Lisia’s relentless pleading. “If you win Fantina’s contest, I’ll get you that necklace. Does that sound like a plan?”
Lisia clasps her hands gleefully. “Of course! I’ll mop the floor with everyone there tomorrow. Just you see!” Her fiery proclamation is then followed by the top coordinator turning around to face you excitedly. “You’ll come watch with us tomorrow, right? Getting you front row seats is the least we can do to compensate for the inconveniences Steven caused you.”
“Didn’t I already take care of that by paying off their hospital bills?” Steven asks dryly.
“Nope,” Lisia deadpans, taking your hands in hers. “Any friend of yours is a friend of ours, Steven. Show them a bit more courtesy.”
The former champion opens his mouth as if to say something, but eventually gives up on it. You have to bite down the urge to laugh.
“So, what’s it gonna be?” the coordinator asks. “Are you going to watch the show?”
With the weight of not one, but three expectant stares, you find it a bit hard to say no to them. But it’s not like you were going to decline in the first place.
“Sure thing,” you say, and for the first time, you feel like the gears of your uneventful life are finally cranking into motion.
You just hope it’ll keep going at that same, steady pace.
…
While you’ve never been inside the contest hall in Hearthome City, you’ve watched a lot of Pokémon contests on TV as you grew older. It’s something that you never really had an interest in personally, but seeing coordinators with their dazzling Pokémon was always something you enjoyed.
As promised, Lisia and Wallace secured you a front-row seat right next to Steven, who’s quietly appraising a stone he found on the side of the road. You’re not one to judge people’s hobbies but maybe Wallace wasn’t exaggerating when he called him ‘rocks-for-brains’ before they left your shop the other day.
Still, you find comfort in Steven’s presence. Hoenn champion or not, he seems like a pretty down-to-earth guy. Someone who didn’t really care about titles, and put their passion before anything else.
It’s quite…admirable, really.
Your quiet observation is interrupted when the contest announcer, Marian, finally appears on-stage. To your amusement, Steven is courteous enough to pocket his silly stone once the program begins. But once he catches you staring, you’re quick to avert your eyes, a little red in the face.
“I hope you’re all holding on tight to your seats, folks, because this is the most star-studded Pokémon contest you’ll see in your life!” Marian’s voice booms through the auditorium, followed by a round of applause. “From the living legends of Hoenn to the rising stars of Johto, they all ventured all the way here to the Hearthome Contest Hall to give us a show to remember!”
Before she and Wallace headed backstage, Lisia was kind enough to fill you in on what exactly was going to happen today. Apparently, she was invited as one of the celebrity contestants for today’s contest, and Wallace accepted the offer to be one of the judges. When you asked him if he’d be slightly biased towards Lisia’s performance, he only laughed it off.
“Alright, since everyone seems fired up already, let’s meet our judges!” Marian drawls into the microphone, and a spotlight flickers onto the judge’s table just a few meters in front of the front row seats. “First we have the charismatic Gym Leader of Sootopolis City, and a former top coordinator himself – Wallace!”
Your newfound acquaintance rises from his seat, sporting an even more grandiose outfit than the one he wore to your shop. He turns around to wave at the crowd that erupts into a fit of high-pitched squeals.
Huh. He really is a big shot after all.
While the show is underway, you can’t help but notice how Steven brings out the same stone he’d been examining earlier before he fidgets with it – startling a little every time the crowd shrieks with cheer. You frown. Is he not good with crowds?
Your attention is momentarily derailed when Marian finally introduces the contestants on-stage, starting with Lisia and her Altaria nicknamed Ali.
“What’s up, Hearthome City!” she greets into the microphone with a lilt in her voice. “Ali and I made it this far all thanks to you! Hold on to your seats ‘cause we’ll blow you away for sure!”
As if on cue, Ali flaps his fluffy wings, conjuring a tailwind that blew some of the glitter on his feathers into the crowd – creating a shimmering mirage across the contest hall. The audience gasps in delight before incessantly cheering, Lissi! Lissi! Lissi!
You stare around in wonder, catching a fleck of glitter on your fingers before turning to Steven. “Is Lissi her stage name or – ! Steven?”
To your side, you watch Steven who’s sunk into his seat, letting out a sneeze as specks of glitter fly past his face. You shoot him a concerned look, debating if you should ask him if he needs to step out of the auditorium, but he’s more cognizant of your worried glances than you think.
“Don’t mind me,” he chuckles uneasily. “It’s just…no matter how many times I attend these contests, I can never get used to how loud the audience is. Spending lots of time in quiet caverns can make your hearing a bit sensitive.”
“You could’ve declined their offer to watch if it bothers you so much,” you say, brows creased. “I’m sure Wallace and Lisia would’ve understood.”
Steven shakes his head. “This is the least I can do for everything their family has done for mine.”
You decide to leave it at that.
When the contest proper starts, you watch Steven from the corner of your eye every now and again – glad that he looks considerably calmer now that the cheer has died down. Meaning, you can breathe easier.
Since this is an All-Star event, instead of being divided into three portions, the contest consists of a single round robin, where contestants get to duke it out in the most glamorous way possible – as is the standard in Pokémon contests. Lisia got pitted against a woman named Jasmine for her first match; one that she easily dominated thanks to her Altaria’s charismatic prowess.
But when push finally comes to shove, Jasmine uses a trump card.
“Steelix, it’s not too late!” she shouts, thrusting a fist with a ring glowing bright on her finger. “Mega evolution!”
The crowd roars once again, and you look around, slightly confused. But when you turn to Steven, you see that his steel-blue eyes are finally fixated on what’s happening on-stage – mouth agape as Jasmine’s Steelix transforms right before your eyes.
“Oh, come on!” Lisia groans before thrusting out a hand forward – her puffy sleeve glowing with the same, iridescent light as Jasmine’s ring. “Show ‘em what we’re made of, Ali! Mega evolve!”
And just like that, you watch an already fluffy Altaria become even fluffier, and more badass at the same time. Ali lets out a triumphant noise as the so-called mega evolution completes, shooting a fired-up look at the Steelix he’s up against.
“Whoa! I didn’t think we’d get to see Megas this early into the game!” Marian voices out in awe. “Ladies and gents, here we have the sought-out Mega evolutions! Since Megas aren’t given a greenlight in the Sinnoh region yet, you guys best feast your eyes on this momentous occasion while you can!”
Feast your eyes you did, as the two Pokémon take each other down with their flashy forms, and even flashier contest moves.
“What are those?” you murmur to no one in particular.
“Mega evolutions,” Steven supplies, much to your surprise – not peeling his gaze away from the stage. “It’s the pinnacle of the bond you have with your Pokémon. Your partner will only mega evolve when it trusts you through and through…”
Even when Lisia finally secures her first win, Steven still takes it upon himself to describe the intricacies of mega evolving as discreetly as he can. He said he’d first encountered it on a trip to the Kalos region, and how he and his Metagross have grown impossibly closer since. The former champion even showed off the brooch pinned to his coat – a catalyst for activating his Pokémon’s mega evolution.
“I thought that was just an accessory,” you say.
“In a way, it is,” he laughs, and you find ease in the fact that he seems less uptight now. “But it’s also so much more than that.”
As Steven continues talking about Megas, like it’s something he’s equally passionate about as rocks, the way his eyes shine with excitement reminds you of newly polished gemstones. You always loved keeping your jewelry squeaky clean, and you can’t say you feel any different seeing his blue eyes glimmering in the dim lights.
What an interesting guy, this one…
When the contest finally concludes, Lisia ends up bending the knee to Fantina in the last round – much to your surprise. Wallace comforted her with the idea that no one can beat a seasoned coordinator in their own home-court, but you think Lisia took the loss harder than any of you expected.
“You guys can go on ahead if you need to do something else,” Wallace says almost apologetically as Lisia sulks off somewhere else in the lobby. “She just needs a bit more time.”
You nod. “Thank you for letting me watch. Really, it’s an honor.”
“The pleasure’s all ours,” the Gym Leader chuckles. “Now, Steven, you better be a dear and fly them home safely. I don’t think it’s safe to walk all the way back to Oreburgh this late.”
That makes you pause.
Steven Stone? Accompanying you home?
“Alright,” he replies without missing a beat. “I’ll meet you two back at the hotel later?”
Wallace smirks. “If you come back for the night.”
The insinuation in his words immediately clicks in your mind, and you feel your face burn a few degrees higher. Did he just…?
Surprisingly, Steven merely cocks his head. “What do you mean?”
“Oh, it’s nothing. It’s nothing,” Wallace insists, patting both your shoulders as a silent send-off. “Not like you’re bright enough to woo anyone to bed anyways.”
“Why would I have to woo anyone into their bed?”
“...Just get your Skarmory and go, please?”
...
Fortunately, Steven doesn’t feel any of the awkwardness that you’re brimming with since Wallace spoke those brazen words earlier. He still engages you in small talk as the two of you ride on his Skarmory’s back. He made it so the Pokémon doesn’t fly so high that you wouldn’t hear each other over the wind.
“So, you mean to tell me that there are dozens of Pokémon who can mega evolve, too?” you ask him. “Why haven’t we ever heard of it in Sinnoh, though?”
Steven laughs softly. “That’s because the phenomenon was discovered in the Kalos region just recently. You can only get mega stones from that region, as well.”
“I take it that mega stones are part of your cool rock collection, too?”
“...How’d you know that?”
Another laugh, punctuated by an amused smile. “So are you going to show me what a Mega Metagross looks like? Or a Mega Skarmory?”
Your companion shakes his head. “Skarmory doesn’t have a mega evolution. As for Metagross…if you come to Hoenn one day, maybe I can show you.”
For a moment, you’re unable to decipher the meaning behind his words. Is he saying that he’d like to meet you again someday? But that’s virtually impossible, isn’t it? After all…
He’s the former champion of Hoenn – the son and heir of a multimillion-dollar corporation. You’re just a simple jeweler residing in a small city. With how many people Steven probably meets in his travels, you’d easily fade from his memory soon enough.
“Have you ever had battles before?” Steven asks, startling you out of your haze of self-deprecation.
“Trainer life isn’t for me,” you say. “Plus, Rupee isn’t much of a fighter. He likes lifting stuff around the shop more than battling.”
The former champion stares up ahead, carding his fingers through silver hair. You wonder if you said something weird.
“He cares about you a lot though,” he murmurs. “Way more than you think.”
His words have you thinking even when Skarmory lands in front of your apartment complex. You’ve had Rupee for as long as you can remember. It’s only natural for you to care about him, and vice versa. You take out Rupee’s Pokéball to stare fondly at the fading stickers on the surface, wondering just how deep your bond as partners has become over the years.
When you hear Steven call your name, you turn to him inquisitively.
“Uh, I was going to give you something but I forgot it at the hotel,” he says sheepishly. “Do you mind if I head back to Hearthome and get it?”
He…wants to give you something?
“You already gave me a ride back home. It’s fine, Steven,” you insist, more out of courtesy than anything else. “I don’t want to impose more than I already have.”
The former champion shakes his head. “You humored me when it was starting to become uncomfortable for me in the auditorium. I’m showing my gratitude.”
You sigh. “Why do I feel like we’ll never stop doing nice things for each other?”
As Steven mounts his Skarmory again, he flashes you a somewhat coy smile.
“What’s wrong with that?”
…
You have the slightest feeling that Rupee is judging you.
As you quietly prepare dinner for two – frying strips of breaded pork and preparing some crab and corn soup – your Sableye’s glinting ruby eyes watch your every move with an air of contempt. Almost like he’s saying: you never cooked for me like this before.
“I’m just returning the favor!” you explain. “Steven said he’s going to give me something, and I just want to even the score, yeah? ‘Sides, it’s time for dinner anyways.”
Rupee makes an unimpressed noise as he leaves the kitchen, making you scowl at him.
So much for a happy family dinner.
Once you’ve set the small dining table, your heart starts to beat off the charts. You haven’t invited anyone over for a meal for so long, and you’re not sure what the protocol is for having dinner with a former champion.
You patiently wait for Steven to return, despite having little to no reassurance that he’ll be coming back. The option of contacting him through his Pokétch is there, but you remind yourself that he doesn’t have the slightest idea that you have his contact info.
So, not wanting to be a creep, you decide to wait.
Until the seconds dragged onto minutes. The minutes into an entire hour.
What once was a smoking hot bowl of soup has now cooled to room temperature, and when you break off a piece of fried pork, the breading isn’t crunchy anymore. In your peripheral, you can see Rupee observing you from behind the door to your bedroom – probably judging you for waiting on someone who probably isn’t going to come back.
You sigh.
So this is what it’s like to be stood up.
However, before you can wallow in your own disappointment, the sound of the doorbell ringing jolts you back into awareness. Rupee cocks his head from your bedroom, probably wondering who that might be as well.
You don’t dare to hope it was Steven. After all, you can only handle so many disappointments in a day. The fact that you met him, Lisia, and Wallace is nothing but mere coincidence. You’re simply an ordinary person that crossed paths with those who led extraordinary lives, and that’s all there is to it.
But when you open your front door and see Steven – who’s panting and sweating all over – on your doorstep, you think that maybe hope isn’t such a bad thing after all.
“Sorry,” he breathes. “Roark spotted me flying over his Gym and told me to come down and have a chat. Then a bunch of people started crowding us, and I was kind of forced into an ambush interview. As you can see, I barely escaped with my life.”
You continue to stare at the man in front of you – silver hair disheveled, suit more rumpled than usual – before stifling a soft laugh.
“I told you, you didn’t have to go back and give me anything,” you sigh. “What is it anyway?”
Steven perks up, as if only remembering why he was here in the first place at that second. The former champion scrambles to fish something out of the pocket of his coat, offering it to you without a second thought.
It was a small, velvet box that slightly resembled the ones where you would put engagement rings. You meet his eyes, pale-faced.
“Steven, what…?”
“Look inside,” he says. “It took me a while to find the right stone, but I’m confident that’s the right one.”
Your eyes widen at what he just said.
Is this guy…proposing to you?!
“...Don’t you think this is a little too soon?”
You stare at the box in your hands, wondering what you must’ve done in your previous life to warrant such a blessing from Arceus himself. You haven’t even known Steven for two weeks, but he’s already gotten you an engagement ring? Holy –
“Too soon?” he asks. “It’s never too soon to give a deserving trainer a mega stone.”
Just like that, your assumptions are sucked down the drain. Right. If there’s anything you’ve come to learn about Steven in the few days you’ve known him, it’s the fact that he’s embarrassingly inept when it comes to romantic cues.
“Never mind,” you tell him dryly, trying to pick up the pieces of your shattered pride.
As you open the box, however, Steven might as well have gotten you a ring with how stunning the mega stone looks rested between the plush cushions inside. Yellow, magenta, and violet – just like Rupee’s colors.
“Sablenite is pretty hard to come by, but I don’t think I’ll regret giving one to you,” Steven explains with a smile. “How about we test it out on Rupee?”
You can’t even muster the right words. This man just gave you an item that can allow your lifelong partner to mega evolve – that being, the apex of your friendship. You didn’t even know that Sableye could mega evolve in the first place but…
“How do we activate it then?” you ask. “Won’t I need a catalyst or something? Like the one on your coat? Jasmine’s ring, and Lisia’s arm bands?”
For a moment, the silence of the night rings in your ears, and you realize that you still haven’t invited Steven inside. The former champion simply gapes at you at your front door, like the current dilemma at hand didn’t cross his mind at all.
You wonder if champions from other regions are as air-headed as he is.
“Right, about that,” he begins awkwardly, “I might’ve forgotten that mega stones only work if the Trainer has a mega ring. But you can still keep the Sablenite! I swear I’ll get you a mega ring from Kalos and we can test it out on Rupee in no time!”
You stare at him in disbelief. Is this guy serious? Why is he so willing to go all these lengths for a person he barely even knows?
But, knowing that you won’t be able to change his mind anyways, you let out a defeated sigh – opening the door wider to welcome him into your apartment.
“Fine,” you surrender with a fond smile. “I’ll accept your gift and future gift if you have dinner with me tonight.”
Others would’ve probably been flustered at the prospect of being invited to a meal inside another person’s home. But Steven, who has zero awareness for all things suggestive, beams at you anyway.
“I’d love to!”
...
A few days later, Steven is set to go back to his villa in the Battle Frontier, and you’re left with a promise of a mega ring that he vowed to give to you one day. While you tell yourself not to expect too much, you still can’t help but feel giddy.
When the bells to your shop chime for the first time today, you’re in the middle of fixing a special package for a client who called in earlier today. Inside the gift bag you prepared is the dawn stone necklace Lisia fell in love with the first time she walked into your shop – and it’s due to be picked up by none other than Wallace himself.
“You work pretty fast,” the Gym Leader comments as he leans against the counter. “It hasn’t even been thirty minutes since I called.”
“Well, I was surprised that you’re still buying the necklace for her even though she lost to Fantina,” you admit, handing him the neatly wrapped package.
Wallace laughs softly. “This is less of a gift to commemorate her victory, and more of a reward for conquering her fears.”
“Her fears?”
“Lisia might exude the same level of confidence I do, possibly even more, but she’s always been terrified of taking on the international stage,” he sighs. “The fact that she made it to the final round despite that is already an achievement in and of itself. And as an uncle who still likes to spoil her every now and again, I’d say she deserves it.”
Well, you couldn’t really disagree with that either.
Once Wallace is done making the necessary payments, you wish him safe travels back to Hoenn. He mentioned that he and Lisia are en-route back to Slateport City later in the day, and while it saddens you to say goodbye to another memorable client, you had to make do.
…That’s until he slides a white envelope across the counter.
“What’s this?” you ask, picking it up and scanning its contents. When you see a glossy sheet of paper that looks suspiciously like a ticket, you shoot Wallace a perplexed look.
His lips spread into a conniving smile. “You see, our good friend Steven never really gets attached to the people he meets all around the world. I just found it quite…interesting how taken he is with our new favorite jeweler.”
You wave the ticket in front of him incredulously. “That doesn’t explain why you’re giving me this though.”
“Oh, I just thought you’d like to watch the next Hoenn Pokémon League in a few months. VIP tickets are already on sale as early as today, and I know anyone would love to see Steven take back his crown,” Wallace explains thoroughly. “Though, you’re free to decline if you’re truly not up for it, of course~”
Your gaze alternates between Wallace’s smug face, and the ticket in your hands. The date embossed on the fine print isn’t until three more months, and you wonder if you’ve got enough money saved up for a quick Hoenn getaway. To your surprise, Rupee tugs at your pant leg, nodding at you as if egging you on.
(Of course your decision isn’t further influenced by the fact that you want to see Steven and his Mega Metagross like he so-casually suggested last time. That is definitely not the case!)
When you finally meet Wallace’s gaze head-on, though, he matches the grin on your face with one of his own. As if he already knows what your answer is going to be.
“I’ll see you there, then.”