The First

She met him indirectly when she had first set out on her journey, when she was seventeen. May was nothing but a novice trainer from a tiny town (and the only child of Petalburg's Gym Leader, but that was neither here nor there).

She had just defeated the dork in the red suit for the second time today, and was on her way back to return whatever he stole; the police had been alerted, and were quick to deal with the thief.

Ruffles, her Torchic, made herself comfortable in her arms, exhausted from the stressful day. May absentmindedly stroked its coarse feathers as she was escorted through Devon Corp, wondering what the CEO would reward her with – money? A new and improved pair of running shoes? Maybe even an invincible type of Pokeball?

It was a letter - one she was to deliver to the CEO's very own son.

May stifled a sigh. It wasn't too much trouble, she supposed, seeing how she needed to head to Dewford sooner or later. She brightened a bit when Mr. Stone added the BuzzNav app onto her PokeNav Plus, which allowed her to watch some of her favourite TV shows and keep up with the current events while she trekked across the region.

May made to store the letter in her bag, but paused. "Um, Mr. Stone?" she asked. "I know I'm meant to deliver it to your son Steven, but how will I know who he is?"

The head of the most illustrious company in Hoenn chuckled. "Oh, I'm sure you'll know when you see him." When May remained sceptical, Mr. Stone conceded. "Hm, let's see… ah, there we go." He pulled a magazine from the drawer of his desk and flipped through its pages before coming to a stop on an article of the Devon Corporation. Mr. Stone pointed a stubby finger at an image of a young man. "That's him."

Whoa, thought May. Steven Stone is so…

"Beautiful," she whispered.

"I'm sorry?"

May jumped, and Ruffles squawked in surprise. "Uh, I mean, the Pokemon next to your son in the photo- it's beautiful."

"I…see." Mr. Stone clearly saw through her transparent lie, but helped May salvage what was left of her pride by letting the matter go. He straightened to his full height, which wasn't that great, to be honest. "Feel free to take this with you in case you forget what he looks like. I wish you luck on your trip, young lady."

May quickly composed herself and nodded. She placed the magazine in her bag along with the letter, looking forward to the path they would lead her to.

She met him face-to-face several days later. The Knucle Badge sparkled in the sunlight as she pinned it to her bag, tangible proof that she had defeated Brawly of Dewford Gym and was one step closer to becoming Champion.

Ruffles chittered excitedly beside her. Dewford was more a giant beach than a small island, and Ruffles was enjoying the novel feeling of having sand between her clawed feet. As a Torchic, she would have been far too scared to even go near the water, but she was a Combusken now, and with her evolution came a whole new level of confidence.

According to the Fighting Pokemon specialist, Steven was normally spotted in Granite Cave, northwest of Dewford. The tediousness of the trek was broken by the occasional battle-ready fisherman, whose Water types were either Pecked or Double Kicked away. Now calmer, Ruffles strode beside her at a level pace as they reached the cave.

Further in the cave slept a single Zubat. May frowned at the sight. Didn't Zubats travel in hordes? The last May had been in a cave was almost a decade ago, and her dad had pointed out that bats never travelled alone, and that she had to take care if she spotted one.

As May and Ruffles neared the anomaly, the Zubat shook itself awake. The wild Pokemon screeched and swept down towards them, forcing the duo to fight back in order to defend themselves. The Zubat bit off more than it could chew, though, and the fight was over quickly. Or so they thought.

Ruffles dealt the finishing blow, but the Zubat didn't stay down. Despite how much it seemed to hurt, it pushed itself up again. A quivering mess, it let out another battle cry, though this one was much weaker. Ruffles twitched and made to start again, but May said, "Stop."

Ruffles stilled, and even the Zubat paused. The Trainer crouched down so that she was more or less at eye-level with the bat. Even now, it was still struggling to rise. May smiled.

"It must be lonely," she said softly, "all by yourself in this huge cave." Huge to the small creature, at any rate.

Cases like this were common, her dad once told her. The runts of the lot, the unsuccessful alphas, the weak, the outliers – they were cast out more often than not, forced out of the pack and left in isolation.

May held out her hand to the Zubat.

Zubat didn't even hesitate. It rested its head in May's palm, surprising the teenager with its show of utter trust. She grinned and tapped a Pokeball against its head, allowing it to rest completely.

Ruffles chirped as she rose, and May scratched her best friend's chin in response. "Let's go find Steven Stone."

"There's no need."

May whirled around so fast she slapped her poor Pokemon, who cried out in indignation. She stroked her Combusken's feathers in apology, but kept her eyes on the new presence.

Steven Stone.

The magazine hardly did him any justice. His hair was a unique shade of steel blue, and at first May assumed his eyes were the same, but revised that notion the more she took him in. They were a tinge darker, and flecked with another colour, but she wasn't sure what it was…

It was only when Steven blinked those confounding eyes of his did May snap out of her trance. She had been staring- and he had caught her staring and- oh no. She felt her face heat up in embarrassment.

"Can I help you…?"

"May," she said behind her hand, hoping to hide most of her blush. "You're Steven Stone, right?" Like she hadn't glanced at the magazine's photo every now and then.

Steven nodded and smiled politely. "Yes, I am. How can I help you?"

May grinned. "I have a letter for you," she said brightly, rustling through her bag.

"A letter?" he repeated, watching as she pulled the crisp letter free. "From whom?"

"Your father."

It happened so fast May wasn't sure if she saw correctly. Steven's smile grew stonier, the light in his eyes darkening a little. But then his expression was courteous once more. "I see. Thank you."

Glee gone, May nodded slowly. "No problem."

"You're too kind," he said lightly. "It must have been some trouble taking time to track me down."

He really was a nice guy. Maybe his previous lapse was a trick of the light. (But May knew better.) "It's okay, really," she insisted, smiling. "I had to make my way here anyway, if I wanna be the Champion one day."

Steven's eyes sparkled with interest. "Oh, so you're here to take on Dewford's Gym."

"Nope."

"No?"

Grinning, May flipped her bag to the front of her waist, revealing her Badges. "I've already won."

She was sure Steven's smile grew a touch warmer. "Congratulations."

Aaaaand there was the blush. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Since you're a Trainer as well, I'm sure you'll find this quite handy." Steven withdrew a sleek disc from the inner pocket of his expensive-looking suit. "It's the TM containing my favourite move: Steel Wing. Please accept it."

"Oh, um…" Well, she couldn't really deny him, not when he was being so straightforward. "Sure. Thank you, again."

He stared at her for a moment, and seemed to come to a decision. "If you don't mind, could you come with me?"

It had been long imprinted into May's mind that, were she ever asked to follow a strange man, she would firmly and vehemently say, "No!" But Steven wasn't a strange man, not really. Okay, so he was a little mysterious, and okay, that might just be a little attractive, but she could tell he was a nice person.

"Sure," she said calmly. She'd follow him to the ends of the earth if he asked her to.

He led the way, providing May with ample time to scrutinise (ogle) him. It wasn't like she could see much, though, since his suit covered almost everything. It was a shade of purple so dark it was almost black, while the cuffs seemed to be made out of steel itself.

So weird, she couldn't help but think. But no less good-looking. Which begged the question…

"Steven, how old are you?"

Said man's steps faltered for a moment before continuing on. He glanced over his shoulder at May, who finally noticed that he was a whole head taller than her. On the one hand, swoon, but on the other, tall jerk.

"I'm twenty."

May rubbed her chin thoughtfully. A three-year gap… Not too bad, but not great either. Still, she knew age wasn't exactly the problem, but the developmental stages they were at. A sixteen-year-old dating a nineteen-year-old was inherently worse, because one was technically an adult while the other still a child. Maybe not physically, but emotionally. Hell, even a sixteen-year-old and eighteen-year-old was bad. It wasn't the distance between ages, but maturity.

She was seventeen, though, so she wasn't too far off from reaching his level.

"I see," she said. "I couldn't really tell. When's your birthday?"

"The fifth of March," he replied, a hint of confusion colouring his cool voice.

"Ah, damn, I'm the twenty-third of April."

"You're disappointed? Why is that?"

May's eyes darted around for a distraction, which came in the shape of an enormous mural. "Whoa," she breathed.

They had reached the end of the cave. The entirety of the back wall was decorated with what could only be an ancient drawing. It depicted a horrendous sight, with tumultuous waves of what she hoped was water but, judging by the volcanos erupting in the background, seemed to be lava instead. Dominating the scene was a giant dragon-like Pokemon – sans wings – which breathed out what could only be a torrent of fire. Several strange figures were being blown away by the creature, but May couldn't make them out. (She refused to go with her initial instinct, because the thought of people being subjected to that horror made her gut clench.)

There was a slight pressure on her shoulder, and May's gut clenched for a whole other reason. She looked up into Steven's concerned features and, despite herself, part of her seemed to melt.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

She nodded, but almost regretted the action when he retracted his hand. She turned her attention back to the wall. "What is that?"

Steven sighed. "An ancient piece of art I came across today. It depicts a primal world from thousands of years ago, when a Legendary Pokemon threatened humanity itself."

"Not just humanity," she said, frowning. "Other Pokemon too, I'm sure."

From her periphery, May could see that Steven was staring at her again before darting to what she assumed were the Pokeballs on her belt. "Yes," he said slowly. "Them too."

"There have been issues recently," May said suddenly, "all over the world. Kanto, Johto, and our neighbours Sinnoh… The Legendaries appeared because of certain people…" Her dark blue eyes snapped over to Steven. "Will something happen here – to Hoenn?"

Steven's eyes widened in shock before narrowing shrewdly. "How do you know about all that? It's been hushed up in other regions, especially to the general public."

"I'm not from Hoenn," she said quickly. "I've travelled, so I've heard things."

It seemed Steven really was Mr. Stone's son, because he didn't buy her lie either. His body tensed. "We're not certain," he admitted. "But things have been stirring in Hoenn. Certain people have been behaving oddly."

May's mind flicked back to what brought her here in the first place. "Team Magma," she murmured. When Steven's expression demanded an explanation, May obliged, informing him of the criminal that had plagued Rustboro City.

By the time she finished, Steven's face was grave. "I see. That must have been a tough ordeal for you."

May wasn't sure how to respond. No one had expressed such concern for her after she had dealt with that criminal; most were simply relieved that it was no longer a problem. "It's okay," she found herself saying. "His Pokemon were really weak."

A frown marred Steven's features. "It's okay to admit you're scared sometimes."

"What- What do you mean?"

"When you were talking about him, your hands were trembling."

May clenched her traitorous hands. "You're right," she admitted in a small voice. "I was scared. That man… Even though his Pokemon were weak, his intentions weren't." She could still remember his cruel eyes, his vicious determination all too vividly.

Perhaps sensing her distress, Ruffles whined and nudged her shoulder. May smiled slightly and nudged it back. Inhaling deeply, she met Steven's eyes once more.

"But I won't let this fear hold me back. This Team Magma…" She thought of her parents, of Wally, of Brendan. "If they're anything like Team Rocket, they must be defeated."

"By who?"

"Me." May glanced at Ruffles. "Even if the whole world is complacent, my Pokemon and I will take them down."

Steven nodded. "You do look quite capable. But if that's your goal, you need to be the best of the best. You'd need to be Champion."

May bared her teeth in a grin. "I was planning on that anyway."

"Then I wish you luck on your journey. I must be on my way. It was a pleasure meeting you, May."

May nodded, hoping none of her disappointment showed. She didn't want to part with him, not really, but the son of Devon Corp was undoubtedly busy. Still… She bit her lip. "Will we meet again?"

Steven smiled, so sweetly and confidently that May couldn't help but believe his next words whole-heartedly.

"Of that, I have no doubt."