Chapter Text
Welcome to the wonderful world of pokemon, a beautiful place where people and pokemon live in harmony, reflecting each other's thoughts and feelings. When people smile, pokemon smile. And when pokemon cry, you'll find that people are crying as well. Here, a young boy is packing for his journey through the Hoenn region, with his pokemon partner by his side– a shiny beldum nicknamed Aster.
On the outskirts of Rustboro, a large city located on the Hoenn mainland west coast, there was a large manor. It was a rather grand building; tall ceilings, wide archways and shining pillars throughout. The front gardens that lined the driveway were filled with hedges trimmed in the shape of the jewel pokemon, carbink, who was the residents’ family mascot.
As it was early, three in the morning to be exact, most of the lights were off, with everyone fast asleep besides the security personnel, who were working hard to keep the property safe. However in one room, a young teen had just woken up and was preparing his bag for the big day ahead. Today was August 26th– today, Steven Stone, heir to the Stone family fortune, would be boarding an ocean liner headed for Littleroot port, where he would receive his pokedex in five days' time.
So, to prepare for the day ahead, he was… re-packing his backpack.. . for about the third time. Oh well, it was a good way to get into the habit of packing up fast.
The light blue haired boy turned to face his partner. “Hey Aster, would you mind bringing over the packing list?” A worn down piece of paper with a lilac glow surrounding it floated over to the teenager through the use of psychic energy. Despite the shiny beldum not officially knowing the move psychic, he could use the basic principles of it easily. “Thanks Aster, I appreciate your help.”
Steven first met his partner pokemon in the middle of winter just before his eleventh birthday when hiking through the woods next to the manor. The young pokemon was severely injured after falling off a cliff, but thankfully the local pokemon center was able to air lift him to safety. He had called them immediately after realizing he wouldn’t be able to carry the heavy metal ‘mon. After the beldum recovered, the two of them were inseparable ever since, and Steven caught him a month after the incident.
“Okay.. we need five pairs of shorts…” Looking around, he quickly spotted the articles of clothing; three pairs of dark gray cargo shorts and one rose pink pair. “Check. Next are two pairs of sweatpants, which are somewhere around here…” Beldum, having spotted the two dark gray pairs, brought them over using his telekinesis. Smiling at the gray and gold pokemon, Steven whispered a quiet, “Thank you,” before going back to checking items off his list.
‘Yes..’ comes a quiet voice through his head, filled with some subtle emotions such as excitement and happiness .
This was another key part of the friendship the two shared, a psychic link. Always active, though to a lesser extent when Aster was in his pokeball. With the link, feelings, concepts and fully formed sentences could be shared between the two of them. They had figured out how to open it a few months ago, so it was still a work in progress on both ends– Aster was still learning how to properly transmit his feelings into words that his trainer could understand. Steven was also in the process of figuring out how to project his thoughts back, which was rather difficult for someone without psychic training.
Hopefully, one day, Aster would be able to translate his other pokemon’s speech instantly into Steven’s mind, and the other way around as well. That was a good year or so out though, by the young teen’s estimations. But back to packing.
Since Hoenn was a rather tropical region, only second to Alola, he technically didn’t need to pack any long sleeve shirts or pants. However, due to the teen’s interest in caving, it was a necessity.
[ x ] Shorts (5 pairs)
[ x ] Sweatpants (2 pairs)
[ x ] Short sleeve shirts (6 pairs)
[ x ] Long sleeve shirt (1 pair)
[ x ] Windbreaker vest (1)
[ x ] Underwear (8 pairs)
[ x ] Socks (8 pairs)
He then put the clothes into a medium sized camping backpack, which from the outside looked normal as could be. However, the bag was instead an expandable storage backpack, made using the same properties as pokeballs to make it larger on the inside and really light. This specific model had a refrigerated compartment for food along with a safe for valuables. Technically, it was still in the ‘testing stage’ at Devon Corp, but with his Dad being the CEO and all, well… It wasn't hard at all to make an expectation.
Next on the list were the pokemon care items, all of which he’d decided on with careful consideration and a long conversation with his mentor, Tye Willardren.
Tye had first been introduced to the blue haired boy just after his 9th birthday. As a veteran trainer who frequently explored the Sinnoh underground, he was a perfect choice to teach Steven about both of his special interests; caving and pokemon.
From the start, Tye had been nothing like the nine year old’s previous tutors. Sure, he was still strict in his lectures, but he would always gently bring Steven back to reality when he spaced out. Sure, the boy was a natural genius, academically, and quick to pick up concepts, but that didn’t mean his former tutors had stopped pushing so hard.
Yep, the blue haired boy himself was a prodigy in his education, or as some might say, a genius. He was breezing through the majority of the elementary curriculum before most kids were even out of pre-school. By Steven’s sixth birthday, he had officially been invited to join the famous International Gifted Intelligence (IGI) online program, which thankfully, was much kinder than the tutors his parents hired. He graduated primary school at eight years of age, and middle school at 10, which would have made him eligible to go on a journey early if he chose one of the regional or gym starters.
But Steven had his mind set on steel types, and neither Professor Birch nor Roxanne gave out any pokemon that had or gained that type. So in the end, he chose to wait till thirteen, the time in which other kids usually took a gap year to go on their journey. Of course, he wasn’t just taking a single year off, since he would be continuing his education as a self-study program through IGI.
The second reason that made the red haired wheelchair user stand out, was that he was a past pokemon trainer. Not just a short term one either– Tye had a full team plus some more back at a ranch, mostly consisting of rock, ground and steel types. He had gotten third place in the Lily of the Valley Conference back in his day. Unbeknown to Steven, Tye also served as a member of the Sinnoh Ace Rangers; Rescue Division for a decade before losing a leg in an unfortunate landslide.
He had originally just been taking a few odd jobs, tutoring other teens left and right before their lack of potential made him quiet. So he wasn’t sure he would stick with teaching the famous heir… but well, Tye ended up seeing potential in the young boy in front of him, lots of potential.
So alongside teaching Steven how to excavate, mine, explore and cave both safely and properly, Tye offered Steven a trainer apprenticeship, as it was referred to in the general pokemon trainer community. It consisted of both proper education aspects such as study on pokemon biology, evolutionary, and chemical based sciences along with battle education lessons; basic and medium leveled strategies, clear commands, quick analysis, and how to avoid anxiety in battle. Then there were practical lessons, such as pokemon grooming/polishing and cooking. After he caught Aster, came the workouts for Steven himself, along with supervised move training and a few supervised wild battles for the shiny beldum.
It was safe to say that Steven and Aster were not just one, but probably about two stars above most starting trainers. Which meant they’d be facing more experienced pokemon once word got around of his success at Brawly’s gym. Tye was confident they’d win easily, since his rating wouldn’t rise until the first gym battle, it’ll be a quick and efficient 1v1.
But that would be later in the day. Right now, Steven still needed to finish packing. The care item section of the list included the following;
Ten pokeballs, ten basic potions, two super potions, and one pokemon first aid kit. Steel specific items as well (which Devon Corp also manufactured + designed) such as a large bottle of steel pokemon burn spray, and another of burn protection. Not one, not two, but three steel-type polishing kits along with three dental care kits. Extra antidotes, and small containers of flea spray were also packed just in case.\
Then the human care essentials, which he either already had in stock due to frequent adventuring, or was purchased by his parents;
Bug spray, sunscreen, travel bathroom items (body wash, shampoo, soap) and two towels. Used camping supplies such as a firestarter kit, a small collapsible tent and sleeping bag were placed at the very bottom of his backpack. A small cooking pot and frying pan were also included towards the bottom.
Placed in a separate bag which minimized space within it as well, was his caving gear, rescue rope and trusty pickaxe. Last but not least, the food went into the refrigerated section of the backpack.
“Looks like we have everything,” he whispered, genuine happiness coating his words. Steven let the corner of his mouth crinkle up into a small smile, before proceeding to throw his backpack over his shoulder.
Holding up a pokeball, the teenager pressed the button at the same time as he verbalized his command, “Aster, return.”
Although beldum technically could hover through the house, Steven knew that his mother’s clay pots were on the shelves in the kitchen, and some of her paintings in the stairwell down. She would probably burst into tears if anything happened to them, so it was better to be safe than sorry.
“Ah Steven, there you are!” Joseph Stone brightened up at the sight of his son. Sure, it was rather early, but Joseph was used to getting up around this time for flights to other regions for business meetings.
Robin Stone, on the other hand, looked absolutely horrible. Yet when the sapphire haired woman heard her son, she was quick to brighten up. “Sweetie, do you have everything packed?”
Looking between his father’s twinkling gray eyes, wrinkled from the large smile on his face and his mother’s gentle yet tired aqua-eyed gaze, another smile made its way onto Steven’s face. “Good morning father, mother. To answer your question, yes, I do have all I need, I’ve checked four times now.”
“Well, are you excited for the big day?” his dad asked, though already knowing the answer.
Steven’s light blue eyes seemed to glow, the sunlight from the large windows hitting them in such a way that they appeared as a swimming pool reflecting the sky. “Very much so.”
Just then, the elevator dinged, and the doors opened. A redhead came rolling through the living room, where couches and other furniture were properly spaced for easy accessibility.
“ Steven! I was looking for you, but I guess you decided to come down early, ay?” The man exclaimed. This was Tye, the young teen’s mentor who lived in the manor with the family now. He was sort of an honorary uncle to Steven at this point, given that neither Robin nor Joseph had any siblings.
“Ah Tye, nice of you to join us,” his mother said calmly, taking a big sip out of her coffee mug.
“Of course! I wouldn’t want to miss the day we’ve all been waiting for… even if I did have to wake up at this arceus darn hour. ” The last part was mumbled, but Robin heard it anyways and snorted. “Well, what’s for breakfast?”
Right at that moment, a cook came walking in, holding up a large platter of Unovan styled, sunny-side-up eggs with a fruit salad and toast on the side. Steven felt his mouth watering, this dish being one of his favorites.
Another chef walked out of the kitchen, and waved to Steven. Ray, as they liked to be called, was from Unova and specialized in pokemon food. They had taught Steven all there was to know about making pokemon food, and also played plenty of Mawile the Gathering with the young adult.
“So, today’s the big day, huh.” For some reason, they actually looked a little … sad? “I’ll miss you and Aster both, and when you become the Hoenn Champion, you betcha I’ll finally beat your impossible deck!”
Steven nodded slowly. “ I’m sure you will beat my deck… someday– thank you by the way. For teaching me how to play MTG, how to cook, and so much more.” He paused here. “Though you might have to wait awhile for that rematch against my deck.”
Ray smiled, small tears falling down their face. Then, another voice came into the fray before Ray could responde. A tall woman with black hair with dyed yellow tips came around the corner. She chuckled, a deep sound echoing in Steven’s ears. “Nah, you’ll be champion in no time! Flashy water guy doesn’t stand a chance!”
Was it rude to talk about Champion Wallace in such an informal manner? Probably, Steven thought, recalling his etiquette lessons as a child. Would Camila, the housekeeper do it anyways? Of course she would~
“If you’re sure… then I promise you once I win my eight gym badges, the Ever Grande Conference, my battle against the Hoenn Elite four and finally win the championship, you both have another go at my deck.”
“I’m looking forward to it– bye Steven, bye Alabaster!” came Ray’s reply, before they headed off back into the kitchen, Aster’s bowl of pokemon food in its usual spot.
Steven chuckled under his breath, it had been awhile since someone referred to Aster by his full name. In the background, both his parents and Tye smiled at the goodbye between the two, fully believing in Steven’s promise to Ray and Camila.
Speaking of Camila, she gave a bright big smile before snapping a photo of the family. They all spun around to face her, alerted to the loud click. A humming sound followed as the picture printed out from the small camera.
“Heh, I just had to!” she said, handing the developing photo over to Steven. “You have fun, ya hear me? Everyone around the house will certainly miss those rock rants of yours.” The tall figure briskly walked away, only to come back to the dining room table with a glass of water. “Don’t forget to take your meds, kay! See ya, wouldn’t want to be ya!” And with that, she actually walked away, presumably to open up the blinds around the house.
Half an hour passed in the blink of an eye, and soon, the two parents, uncle and teen were sitting in the backseat of a rather fancy car, heading to the Rustboro harbor.
Steven was taking the earliest commercial boat heading south to the small town known as Littleroot, which left at 7am. Hoenn League registration opened in six days time, and the boat ride would be a total of 5 days at sea. From there, Steven would wait until the morning to start the hike to the regional professor’s lab. That was the plan at least, which the Stone family was going over one last time before sending Steven off.
The family car parked in a private harbor parking lot used by the more well known residents of Mossdeep Island at 6:45am, fashionably late. Joseph was dressed in his office clothes, Robin still in her pajamas, and Tye in an oversized sweater and jeans. Steven was wearing an off-white shirt with gray cargo shorts (with lots of pockets) and hiking boots. He also had an orange headband on to keep his hair out of his eyes.
Tye spoke out first. “You’re going to do absolutely amazing. You have so much potential– and I tell you this not just as your honorary uncle, but also as your tutor and mentor. I’ve seen the spark in your eyes, and I know you’ll be breaking records sooner rather than later.” He was tearing up a little.
“Steven, I hope you know how proud of you we are,” Joseph started. “Reach for the stars, and if you miss, cherish the knowledge that you made it to space in the first place.”
Robin continued from here; “Remember, we’ll be supporting you the entire way, so you go out there, make some friends, have fun.” She too was crying a bit, tears of joy trickling down her cheek. The family opened their arms for a hug, which Steven returned, before quickly pulling away. Hugs were never a favored form of affection to him anyways.
A whistle blew out from the boat’s speakers, singling the 15 minutes till departure.
“... Me and Aster… we’re going to be the very best, and we’ll do it side by side.” Steven spoke out. He quickly took off, rushing in the direction of the boarding terminal, his citrine earrings dangling against the wind and Aster safe in his pokeball as he took his first step onto his journey.
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The boat ride was rather uneventful, with Steven keeping up with his workouts by jogging around on the open air deck. The boat itself was a large ocean liner named Oar-sola, a pun based on the water and rock type pokemon known as corsola. It had a small pokemon training area with loads of signs that made it known no large pokemon were allowed to be out.
For Aster, who was still rather small in the grand scheme of things, being able to train here was a great added bonus. He was able to make a breakthrough in learning the move psychic, and informed his trainer that he should have it battle ready by the first gym, Dewford.
That’s right, Steven was forgoing the Petalburg gym until after at least two weeks had passed. There were two reasons for this, the first being that Norman Maple was often regarded as being very tough on high-level teams, especially later in the season. Because of this well-known fact, trainers just starting out on their journeys often attempted to get his gym out of the way early on– this meant that the wait would be extremely long, even for someone partially sponsored by Professor Birch such as himself.
Secondly, Steven wanted to add to his team early on, and Granite Cave was the best place in Hoenn besides the extremely high-level Valley of Steel to do so. Where was Granite Cave located you might ask? On Dewford Island. What else was Dewford Island home to? Gym leader Brawly, and his fighting type gym.
It was around 4am when Steven heard a voice through his dreams. He was already regaining awareness as feelings of Worry, Anxiety, what ifs passed through his head through the telepathic link shared between person and pokemon.
‘Steven?’
Now he was fully up. 'What is it Aster?'
His friend remained silent for a good few moments before projecting his emotions again. More feelings of worry, embarrassment and unease rippled through the teen’s mind before they rapidly were wrapped under by Aster.
The beldum was eerily quiet once more. ‘I am worried. About replace. By others. Sorry with early wake up.’
Ah, it was another one of those nights. Despite what many inexperienced trainers may think, just because a pokemon has an outer shell of metal does not mean they are simply ‘emotionless.’ That is as far as one can get from the truth. While many species of pokemon classified as Mechanical
'Oh Aster.. Do not feel guilty for having emotions, they are just as valid as any other pokemon or person, whether made of metal or not.' He sent the concept over in a raw form, not in words or anything of the such. From Aster's single eye tearing up, Steven knew he was understood.
Steven opened up the curtains to the porthole window. The moon shone brightly, the forest coastline was but a distant line on the horizon, and according to the announcement last evening, and in about ten hours time, he would step into both Littleroot City and the start of his journey.
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After finishing packing and later, a bittersweet goodbye between both family and friends, the young teen known as Steven Stone, heir to the world-famous corporation, DevonCorp, got on a ship heading south to a small coastal town. What will await our hero when he arrives in Littleroot Town? Find out, as the journey continues!