Neverending
He remembers the first time they met.
Strength.
That was what Steven had saw a long, long time ago in those eyes that had stared wearily at him as the boy had entered the cave and handed a letter over.
A letter from the President Stone, of the Devon company - his father. He had quickly opened the letter, suspecting its importance immediately. A grim smile fixed itself onto Steven's lips as he read the words that his father had quickly (from the looks of the handwriting) jotted down. A quick nod at Ruby, the Pokémon Champion folded the letter neatly and placed it inside his pocket and thanked the boy before he left.
...the first time they met.
"Trainers that catch my attention?" he asks over the call, and blinks in surprise when his friend merely grins. "Lance?"
"Nothing," Lance replies, the grin on his face saying otherwise. "Though, Steven, are you trying to tell me that you've been a Champion for so long, and yet, you haven't sought anyone strong enough to fight by you?"
Uneasily, Steven shrugs. "There were a few trainers here and there..."
"A few," Lance echoes, "do tell."
"A boy and a girl by far. Ruby - the son of Norman. And Sapphire, Professor Birch's daughter," he explains, "They have the talents, but they are still beginners and what will happen in Hoenn..." Steven frowns at the dark look that crosses Lance's face.
"The danger here has passed, but the journey from Johto to Hoenn..." Lance contemplates, but is interrupted by Steven.
"It's fine. We can handle it here," he says firmly, "we have to."
Silence, and then - "Are you sure, Steven? I don't think Red or Blue would mind making the long trip. Blue, especially, seems to take extreme pleasure in telling me all about how bored she is."
Strength - that was what he had seen in those eyes, hadn't he...?
So Steven raises his head and nods. "Yes, it'll be fine."
He only has to believe.
'I hope we meet again.'
And perhaps they will, Steven muses to himself as he steps off Skarmory and faces Ruby, studying the younger trainer carefully in their third - third? It seems so, but only if his memory does not fail him - meeting. Almost curiously, he throws a look to the space beside him, spotting that familiar stripe hovering in the air. Grinning to himself, he offers Brendan a choice - deciding mentally this will be a good time to take another look at the trainer before... Before he makes his decision.
Strength - determination. There it is again.
Steven grins and reveals his secret weapon - a research that the scientists inside the Devon Corporation had been working on for months.
The Devon Scope reveals the hidden Kecleon and it is defeated within a matter of seconds via a combination of Mud Slap and Water Gun. Impressed, Steven hands the Devon Scope over to Ruby, and wishes him luck in defeating Winona. The female gym leader's name brings a hidden smile to Steven's face, for which he does not explain to Ruby, as he steps onto Skarmony, and heads for his next destination.
Pressing a few buttons on the device around his wrist, Steven stares into the other's eyes and nods. "I've made up my mind."
"I do hope this isn't another foolish side of you, Steven."
"Lance," Steven murmurs, shaking his head. "I know. Ruby is... The look in his eyes. I've seen it somewhere else before."
The ex-Champion of the Kanto League frowns. "Somewhere else?"
"In you."
Ruby does not understand why he crosses path often with Steven, does not understand why the champion of the Hoenn League would bother himself with him. True, his father is Norman, the recently elected gym leader; true, he is striving to collect all eight badges to qualify himself for challenging the Hoenn League, but still...
"Are you following me?" he had asked Steven once, out of annoyance.
The other hadn't even looked offended. "What makes you say that?"
Ruby could only shrug in reply and waited in the silence until --
"Of course I am."
The younger trainer had glanced up, shocked, and then quickly averted his eyes. "But why?"
At that time, the Champion had only smiled...
The teenager scrolls through his pokédex and glances down at the resting Kecleon, smiling slightly as he tucks the Devon Scope back into his bag. "Alright, think I've most of the pokémon in this region caught and taken care of. And that's six gym badges - the seventh gym is in..." He opens up the Navigator and studies the generated map carefully. "Mossdeep City..."
Mossdeep City, over the seas, home to the Hoenn Space Station and -- home to the Champion of the Hoenn League.
"I don't get you," someone - a person long forgotten, had told him once. I don't get you. Steven had not known to react to a statement like that and a few years later, upon contemplation, he realised how embarrassing it must have been for both parties.
It was both an achievement and a nail in his heart - that he would have someone close enough to dare tell him this, and yet, somebody close who found that they didn't understand him at all.
And it felt good, to be distant from people - to be just by himself, to be alone. He turned to seeking stones, precious stones that would make up his collection, just like they did to his father's. Stone-seekers, his father once said, are lonely people. Nobody understands our search for the stones. Nobody but us sees the value in these stones before they are polished.
The thrill.
"It's beautiful."
Steven hesitates. And looks up. "Beautiful?"
The trainer nodded and points at the raw stone hanging from his belt. "That. It's beautiful. Is it a sun stone…?"
Steven swallows and nods. "Yes, it is. Or will be, as soon as the stone is processed --"
"I think it's better this way."
It's beautiful, huh? Steven mused to himself.
It was.
Swampert and Skarmory - Steven himself had never seen an odder team, made up of a steel and a water and ground pokémon. Water and steel had never really gotten along very well in the first place - water, after all, held a rusting effect on metal, and…
"Hydro pump!" Ruby commanded.
"Aerial ace," Steven said, watching as Skarmony glowed.
The battle was won in no time; the horrified Team Magma grunts quickly escaping as Ruby quickly summoned his Swampert back into its pokéball. "That was hard," the younger trainer commented, wiping his forehead with the back of his palm.
"You've grown," Steven offered, a quirk in his lips.
"Maybe," Ruby replied, smiling a bit. "I'm not as good as you are yet." He paused. "Are you still stalking me?"
Steven laughed as he reached one hand out and stroked Skarmoy's metal body. "Do you want me to?"
The answer surprised him.
"Yes," the other said.
Steven does not know how it came to this - they had, after all, only been companions in their early journey, he was but the stand-in Champion, following a trainer he saw great skills in, and Ruby was but the new trainer that caught his eye.
It had started with a meeting, by chance - no, Steven thinks, not by chance, as he grips the letter that Ruby had delivered months ago in between his fingers.
Not by chance.
Steven does not believe in fate, but this…
His life is ending.
He knows this much.
"Ste…ven…" Ruby murmurs. "You can't…"
Steven smiles, albeit weakly.
"At least… they are… back," he whispers.
Groudon… and Kyogre.
"Yes," Ruby replies and - he's crying. "Steven… why? Why did you --"
The attack had been aimed at Ruby, had been aimed to kill. Steven had, out of instinct, pushed him away, and hit fatally.
"The nurses - doctors! They'll be here soon - they'll…!"
Ru… by…
"Please… Just don't… go…"
Tears. Tears falling.
You'll be fine.
Their first meeting in a cave; Steven had never expected for anything to end like this.
I love you.
He mouths this, and Ruby sobs harder - sobs until the sun rises from the far end of the horizon; Steven's eyes close as he feels his strength slowly fading away…
"And her opponent is Ruby - all the way from Petalburg City! Let the match begin!"
Ruby faces his opponent, a determined look on his face as he throws two pokéballs out - Aggron and Shiftry.
His Aggron roars, and Ruby has to bite his lip to keep himself from crying out, to keep himself from smiling at the same time. Even if Steven is gone, he knows Steven is here - because trainers live on in their pokémon, and memories live on in the heart.
For Ruby, their -
Their first meeting never ends.
fin.