A/N: Hey guys! This is a drabble for an anonymous person on tumblr who requested, "Steven being jealous of May and Red bonding over Pikachus." I'm still taking prompts for drabbles, so if you want to request one, you can PM me on here or send me a message on my tumblr, autumnoutboy.
Anyways, hope you enjoy!
"Who are we meetinnnnng?" May whined, glaring up at Steven and crossing her legs for the tenth time.
Steven just smiled reassuringly down at her and looked back towards the entrance of the Pallet Town Park. Why wasn't he here yet? "Don't worry about it," he said kindly, and the Champion groaned in frustration.
Steven had gotten May here (he on Latias, she on Latios) by telling her about how he had someone he wanted her to meet- the only person he'd ever met who was on-par with May's level of passion for Pokemon and Pokemon training: Red. Steven had met the boy (he said boy, as Red still appeared very young despite the aged look in his eyes, and despite the fact that he was actually the same age as Steven himself) during his soul-searching quest to Kanto. At the time of his journey here, Red had just been defeated up on Mount Silver by a girl named Crystal and he had come down from the mountain for the first time in years.
Red was... interesting, to say the least. Steven hadn't set out to meet him- in fact, he was only in Pallet Town to meet with the famed Professor Oak. He had accidentally walked into Oak's lab and into a hushed argument, Oak whispering angrily at Red and Red staring back stoically in return. That had basically been how Steven got to know Red- as a quiet, emotionless boy. But gradually, the two got to know each other, through many hours of Steven ranting to Red about an amazing girl he knew and how well the two of them would have gotten along, and Red blinking back, wordless, in return. They remained in touch even after Steven returned to Hoenn, and the rock collector regarded the former Champion as a good friend of his, though he wasn't sure that the man had any feelings towards him whatsoever.
Steven could tell May was waiting anxiously by the way she kept crossing and un-crossing her legs. He watched her out of the corner of his eye as she raised a hand to her lips to bite at her nails, and he smiled. "You'll like him, I promise."
"I hate surprises," May mumbled, and Steven laughed.
Then, he saw the man walk through the gates of the park, and he let out a sigh of relief. Due to the man's introverted nature, he had been a bit afraid that Red wouldn't show at all. But there he was, wearing jeans and a zipped-up black hoodie with his Pikachu sitting on his shoulder and clinging onto a lock of his dark hair.
Steven smiled and approached the man. Even without looking, he knew that May was probably gaping behind him. He reached out to shake Red's hand. "It's been too long, my friend." Red's lips curled up just a bit and he nodded in return.
Steven looked back at May, whose eyes were bugging out a bit in surprise. Steven smiled smugly; he knew that May would be starstruck, even if she herself was a Champion. May jumped up from the rock she was sitting on and slowly approached Red, her hand stretched out a bit. "Oh my god," she started. "You have a Pikachu."
Steven opened his mouth to say a, 'See, told you it was worth the wait,' but then he snapped it shut again when he realized what she said. He furrowed his brows. That was what she cared about?
Red's Pikachu, apparently also realizing what the girl had said, jumped down from the boy's shoulder excitedly. May fell to her knees to get eye-level with the thing, beaming. It jumped onto her lap and she nuzzled her face against its.
"May, um," Steven glanced at Red, who was just staring at the girl with a puzzled expression that didn't give much away. "This is Red. As in, Champion Red of the Kanto League."
May glanced up at him for just a second, smiling politely and saying, "Oh, that's cool! Congratulations!" and then returning her attention to Pikachu.
Bewildered, Red also dropped to the ground. The Pikachu looked at him, and then started dashing back and forth between the two trainers while Steven stared on in shock. Red smiled fondly at the Pokemon, the first real smile Steven had ever seen on his face.
"I've been wanting to catch a Pikachu for ages!" May gushed, looking between Red and Pikachu quickly with a burning passion in her eyes. "Where did you catch him?"
Red looked a bit taken off-guard at the question suddenly being directed at him. "Oh, um," he started, clearing his throat a bit. "I caught Pika near Pewter City, but he was originally from Viridian Forest. There are a lot of them there, but they can be pretty feisty and a bit hard to catch."
May grinned. "I think that I'm up for the challenge." She looked up at Steven. "Let's go there next, okay?"
Steven's cheeks were burning in embarrassment. This wasn't what he wanted at all! In all honestly, he had been hoping to impress May a bit by introducing her to Red. But all she cared about was catching a stupid Pikachu. He couldn't deny her what she wanted, though, not when she was looking up at him with her dark blue eyes and a huge smile on her face. "Sure," he agreed, forcing a smile.
"Awesome!" May turned back to the Pikachu, who was now doing flips. She laughed giddily. Red looked at her in wonder, and it made Steven's stomach turn. "So, what moves does he know?" she asked Red, meeting his eyes. Steven didn't miss as Red tried to mask the fact that he had been staring.
Their conversation continued on, with Red talking more than he probably had in years. The burning feeling in Steven's chest continued to grow. What was so special about Red? Why did he matter that he had a Pikachu? While the two of them laughed about something, Steven started to laugh along, pretending he was in on the joke. "Hey, May," he said through the fake laughter. "Remember the time that I gave you a Beldum?"
The laughing stopped immediately, and May glared at him with such ferocity it would have made a Rhydon quiver in fear. "You mean the time you left me?"
That shut Steven up, and he stopped trying. May and Red continued talking about Pikachus, and Steven walked off and kicked the rock May had been sitting on in frustration. He stood there with his arms crossed, brooding, and didn't look back at the pair.
After a few minutes, their conversation died down, and Steven didn't know May was approaching him until he felt her soft hand on his shoulder. "Hey, what's wrong?" she said softly, and it was so gentle and so innocent that Steven just couldn't hold it against her.
"Nothing," he said, trying to smile reassuringly. "I'm alright. Go back to Red. I know how much you love Pikachus."
May frowned. "Well, I don't want to talk to him if you're alone over here by yourself. Why don't you come back over?"
Steven opened his mouth to answer, but then snapped his shut. He didn't really know why it killed him so much to watch. Instead, he just shrugged, not meeting her eyes.
May studied him in silence for a few seconds, and then started giggling. Steven's eyes snapped up to meet hers, which were full of amusement. "Steven, are you jealous?" she asked, saying the word as if it was the most scandalous thing in the world.
Steven furrowed his brows. "Of course not!" he said, shaking his head probably just a bit too quickly. "Why would I be jealous?" He rolled his eyes at the girl, trying to play it off, even though he now realized that that was exactly it.
"Because you wanted us to bond over Red, but instead it's me and Red bonding over Pikachu." She looked at him with a knowing smile and amused eyes.
"Don't be ridiculous," Steven muttered, looking back down at his dress shoes and kicking the dirt by his feet.
May returned her hand to his shoulder. "Hey, don't worry about it," she said teasingly, slinking up to him a bit and wrapping her arms around him in what was probably just a friendly hug, but felt alluring all the same. "You're a lot more special than a Pikachu in my books." With that, she kissed his cheek and returned to play with Pika.
Steven continued to glare at Red, but raised a shaking hand to touch his burning cheek.