The first time Steven saw the pokémon was the third time he and May had battled.
The first was at Ever Grande, where May had gracefully lost. The second was also at Ever Grande, six months later, when Steven crowned the new champion of Hoenn. The battle they were having today – another six months later – was more or less for old times' sake.
It occurred to him that they had never battled anywhere other than Ever Grande City. At that moment, the familiar walls caused him to feel empty and cold rather than welcomed.
But he was certain that it wasn't returning to Ever Grande that made him feel that way.
He didn't think May owned a metagross before.
The appearance of the unusually coloured pokémon shocked Steven so much that he completely missed his opponent's move, despite the fact that he was on his second to last pokémon.
May's metagross slammed into Skarmory with a well timed hammer arm.
"Skarmory, aerial ace!" he commanded, attempting to gather his wits again.
"Metagross," May yelled every bit as fierce as the last time they battled, "iron defence!"
If Steven hadn't been so startled by the appearance of a pokémon he thought was long gone, he would have been impressed by May's choice. His skarmory was faster than the average of its species, so Metagross was no match for his speed in regular battle.
Skarmory came back down to earth as quickly as he went up, crashing into Metagross with a loud clang as the two steel types collided.
"Metagross!" May exclaimed, and the pokémon rose at the sound of their mistress's call looking worse for wear.
Skarmory looked worse, however.
"Steel wing, now!" he commanded, as quickly as possible.
May jumped. "Hyper beam, Metagross!"
Steven was well aware that a steel wing was no match against a hyper beam, especially one delivered to a severely weakened pokémon by one in the type of condition May's was.
If he was honest to himself, however, the match was over the moment May released the metagross.
Steven had to shield his eyes as the blast from the hyper beam kicked up dust. Through it he could see his skarmory sprawled on the ground. He returned him silently.
As the dust settled, he could see May hugging her metagross. He smiled shakily.
"How about a reunion?" he asked and he pulled out his last usable pokémon. He always used his own metagross last, for symbolic and strategic reasons, but he never thought their match would end like this.
The light of his pokéball flashed, and he could see May covering her eyes in the distance. His metagross cried out as they were released.
May's metagross made a returning call before making their way towards the other of its species.
"Ah!" May exclaimed as her pokémon ran off, but grinned when she saw who was on the other side of the field.
"I didn't know you had a metagross," he murmured as he walked up to her. He could feel the knot in his stomach growing tighter.
"Oh yeah," she replied with a grin. "Some lady gave them to me a while back. They were my second pokémon, actually."
"During our matches…" he said, attempting to be subtle.
She smiled wanly. "Sick at home during our first battle, and knocked out during our second. I have no clue how I even defeated you without them, but Sidney got me good."
Steven nodded.
"…I never thought I'd see them again," he revealed after a moment of silence.
"They were yours?" May asked incredulously, eyes wide. "I never asked who the original owner was. The lady at the pokémon center just said that they deserved to go to a good trainer."
Steven nodded. "Yes, I'm glad they went to you," he said. He had never claimed to be very good with words, but they were especially failing him today. "Your metagross and mine are siblings," he replied helplessly, unsure of what else to say after May went silent.
"Yeah?" she asked, curiously. "What happened?"
Steven fidgeted with his tie – what was wrong with him? He never fidgeted – and cleared his throat.
"Your metagross is a lot older than you think," he finally replied. "They're twins, actually. I received an egg from my father when I was only a boy. I was so excited; it was going to be my very first pokémon."
May waited patiently for him to continue. "A beldum?" she asked when he struggled.
"Yes," he whispered. "Except two – you know that wild beldum and metang evolve when they fuse with each other? I theorise that it's this evolutionary phenomenon that caused them to be created together."
"But you split them up?" May asked, confused. Twin pokémon were largely unheard of, in some places they were still considered a myth. Knowing Steven, it would have been easy for him to keep both – a celebration of the unusual things he loved.
He cleared his throat again.
"I'm not proud of it but at the time I was about to begin my own adventure," he said lowly, "and I was also fighting with my father. I'm not even sure what we were fighting about, but I know I wanted to prove to my father that I could go on my journey on my own without his–his financial help. But I wasn't stupid, I knew that one pokémon was hard enough to look after for a new trainer let alone two – especially ones as unique as beldum."
"The dietary requirements alone cost more than all of my other pokémon combined!" May exclaimed.
Steven nodded. "I knew I couldn't… keep both of them. I wanted to, but I couldn't. So I gave one of them to a family friend. She's a judge for pokémon contests, and travelled for business. I told her to give the pokémon to a trainer who deserved it. I suppose she never found one, and gave the job to her assistants when she retired."
"Incredible," May breathed as the two pokémon lumbered around together, occasionally jostling her, "To think that I ended up with them after so long."
"Fifteen years," he said quietly.
"Why did you give up mine?" she asked suddenly. "A metagross coloured like mine is such a rarity, I figure you'd…"
"It wasn't anything symbolic or special," he confessed. "I didn't want my father to find me, and I knew that a beldum coloured like yours would only bring unwanted attention. Of course, I now know that my father never lost track of me really. He merely allowed me my freedom for a while."
May nodded as though she understood. Steven could tell that she was watching him, but he couldn't quite bring himself to catch her eyes. May was silent for a while, and Steven wondered what she was thinking about. For a moment, he thought she might be sad, or disappointed with him.
"I think that... you should take them. They were yours to begin with," she murmured as she placed a hand on the pokémon's smooth exterior, resting it against the luminous gold protrusion. "I don't mind if they go with you."
He turned to her, shocked.
"May, no," he said earnestly. "I couldn't–I couldn't possibly!"
"I want them to go on adventures," she said happily, though Steven could see tears collecting at the corner of her eyes. "I've been spending a lot of my time here at Ever Grande City now, and I know that Blaziken and Latias are both shut-ins so they don't mind, but Metagross wants to explore more – I can feel it."
Steven swallowed. It was no easy thing to take a beloved pokémon from their trainer.
"You've practically had them since they were a newborn, though," he tried to argue. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see his metagross and May's metagross playing as only the giant pokémon could.
"I've never seen them this happy," she whispered, watching the two of them alongside him. The pokémon did truly look like it was smiling, almost. "You're going to Kanto soon, aren't you? For that conference with Silph Co.?"
He nodded, surprised. He'd told her about it months ago.
"Then take them. Don't think of it like you're keeping Metagross, but you're just… borrowing them! Letting them see a bit more of the world while I'm working."
"But you're going to be champion for a while, May," Steven said, concerned.
She shrugged. "I'm a lot like Metagross, actually," she said with a smile, "I don't like being in one place for too long. I'll probably retire in a year, maybe go spelunking."
Steven looked at her for a few moments before laughing harder than he had in a while.
"Make sure you tell me when you do," he laughed. He placed a hand on her head and bent down, planting a kiss on her forehead. "Let Wallace take over as champion – he's been after it for years."
May grinned up at him, a light blush dusting her cheeks. "He'll have to challenge me first – so I'll need Metagross for that. Come back in one year, okay?"
Steven nodded and grasped May's hand. "It's a deal."