A/N: Hey guys! So, here it is! My newest chaptered fic! Ever since finishing Safekeeping, I've been wanting to write this. Today, I finally sat down and started.
The atmosphere of this story is so different than Safekeeping, for so many reasons. First and foremost, Safekeeping was written with the premise that May and Steven had known each other for years and were very close friends. In this fic, they're just meeting and will be getting to know each other over the course of the story.
This is weird to write, as I'm writing it with the idea that Steven has never actually been a Pokemon trainer. Instead, he was forced to work at Devon Corp his entire life up to this point. So, this may greatly affect May's journey. The butterfly effect, and all that.
Well, I really hope you guys enjoy! As always, all feedback is extremely welcome. I love hearing what you guys have to say!
"You'll find Mr. Stone upstairs in his office," the secretary said, lightly pushing May into the elevator despite the girl's protests.
She hadn't minded retrieving the Devon Goods. The Devon Corp scientist had been panicking and saying he didn't know how to get them back on his own, and May was a relatively strong trainer already, so she wasn't afraid to take on some jerks who were willing to steal parts from a corporation and Pokemon from their trainers. She wasn't a hero for doing it, or anything; she was just a decent human being, and it was something that any decent human being would have done. Plus, she wasn't just going to let Team Magma get away with it! She had a feeling they were up to no good and that she might encounter them again on her journey.
So, she really didn't get why she had to personally return the items to the boss of Devon Corp. Why couldn't the scientist she helped out have just take them back himself? Sure, he said that the boss would want to thank her personally, but... she really didn't feel that she had done anything special. Plus, she needed to be getting a move on! Mr. Briney had said that he could sail her over to Dewford Town tonight in return for her saving his Pokemon, Peeko, and it was already nearing sundown. She needed to make this quick, and she hoped that the president of Devon Corp wasn't a chatterbox.
She shifted her feet back and forth nervously in the elevator. She had only been on her Pokemon journey for about a week now, and she was already learning how nerve-wracking it could be to meet people in positions of power. Battling other trainers her own age wasn't bad, but when everybody older than her looked down at her as just a simple kid and underestimated her based on that, she struggled to maintain a professional aura. It shot down her confidence tenfold.
The elevator ding!ed as it reached the top floor, and the doors opened at a murderously slow pace. May stepped out quickly, the bag containing the Devon Goods hanging on her left wrist jumping up a bit in time with her bouncing feet.
Though the top floor was apparently just Mr. Stone's office, there were several secretaries as well. One was sitting at a desk typing away, and two more were pacing back and forth from their desks over to the printers, where they nervously looked over papers. The room wasn't particularly... organized. May had expected a bit more order in the office of the biggest CEO in Hoenn, but hey, Devon Corp wasn't exactly struggling, so she guessed whatever worked for them must be fine.
She walked through the secretaries' area, ignoring the glances they shot her and heading straight up to the main office. The door was hanging open, but the man at the desk was standing and faced away, seemingly talking on the phone. May hovered in the doorway, wanting to knock but unsure of it if would be more rude to knock and interrupt the phone call, or stand there silently and be basically eavesdropping on the phone call.
Instead, she settled for coughing slightly, which caused the man to whirl around, mid-sentence.
"-and since we don't know the exact number needed," the man paused, his eyes revealing a bit of shock on his otherwise-calm face. He blinked a few times at May, and then cleared his throat. "I'm going to have to call you back, Gina. I forgot, I have to... uh, I have an appointment." He said his farewell, and set the phone back down on the receiver.
May stared at him in shock. She wasn't expecting somebody so... young. May herself was seventeen, and the man before her couldn't have been more than a few years her senior. He had shocking silver-white hair and dark eyes that she couldn't exactly determine the color of from this distance. He was wearing a purple-and-black suit. Was this really the CEO of Devon Corp? May wracked her brain, remembering all of the ads for Devon products that she saw everywhere- on TV, in magazines, and on billboards all over the region. Still, she couldn't ever remember seeing a picture of the president. Maybe if she had ever been interested in celebrity magazines, like her mother had wished she had as a teen, she would have known. Instead, she had been much too busy reading up and learning about all kinds of Pokemon and preparing herself to be a trainer.
"Hello," the man said gently with a kind smile, startling May out of her thoughts. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"
The words made May's cheeks flush slightly, but she immediately shook herself out of it. No reason to be getting flustered right now. This was simply business. "I, u-uh... I have the Devon Goods," she stuttered as stumbled the last few steps into the office and held the back out. She mentally face-palmed. Nice, May, she thought sarcastically.
The man hesitantly took the outstretched bag, looking inside of it and then looking back at May with a mix of confusion and surprise. He raised an eyebrow. "I... I battled Team Magma to get them back!" she clarified. Shit, had he thought that she was the one who stole them? She was sure that her cheeks were now a bright red. She had thought that talking to condescending adults was nerve-wracking, but talking to this attractive young man was so much worse.
The man still looked confused, so May took a deep breath to compose herself before she spoke again. "I'm May," she said, putting on her best smile and stretching her hand out to the man across the desk for him to shake. "I'm a trainer from Littleroot."
The man finally smiled and shook May's outstretched hand. "Oh! So, you're the one I have to thank! I sent a scientist to retrieve them, but... he must have failed to. I never expected somebody so..." he trailed off and gave May a somewhat apologetic smile.
"-young?" May finished, and she failed to hide the bitterness from her voice. "I could say the same to you, Mr. Stone."
The man blinked, then said, "Oh! No, sorry. I'm not Mr. Stone. That's my father. You can call me Steven." He laughed awkwardly. "How rude of me. I didn't even introduce myself."
May furrowed her brow in confusion. "So, you're not... the president of Devon Corp?" she asked.
Steven grimaced. "That's... debatable," he said, and May raised an eyebrow in gesture for him to explain. "Technically, I'm the vice president, but over the past few months, my father has spent a lot of time out of the region. Therefore, most of his duties have been passed to me. I'm an only child, and my father doesn't really trust anybody else with running the company, so I've been left to do it."
"But that's not fair!" May blurted out, confusing even herself. It wasn't really her business, and she didn't even know this man, so why did that make her so angry? Still, she continued with, "He shouldn't just up-and-leave and expect you to do his work for him!" Steven stiffened, and May realized that she was probably crossing a line with somebody who she had just met minutes before. "Sorry," she mumbled, deflating a bit. "That's not really any of my business."
Steven smiled politely, saying, "That's okay." He changed the subject, adding, "So, you said you're a trainer? Are you taking on the gym challenge?"
May perked up immediately. She could talk about her journey for hours, even though she had just started it. "Yes!" she exclaimed eagerly, and a surprised smile crossed Steven's face for a split second. "I just left home a week ago, but I got my first gym badge today!"
"Congratulations," the man said, and May was shocked by how genuine it sounded. "It's great to see such potential in a young trainer."
"Are you a trainer, too?" May asked, feeling that it was only polite to do so.
Steven's smile faltered for the smallest second, but then it was back on his face as if nothing had happened. "I'm not," he said, with a sad resolution. "I have several Pokemon of my own, but they're merely my friends. I never went on a journey."
May wanted to press on and ask why, as it seemed that he was regretful about that, but had already learned her lesson about being nosy. "My Pokemon are my friends, too," she said instead, grinning. "I love them so much already, and I'm so excited about the road ahead." She knew it sounded cheesy, but she didn't care. She was finally getting to talk to somebody about her journey who actually seemed eager to listen; everybody she had met up to this point was either too immature or thought that she was too immature to even give her the time of day.
Steven's grin grew. "I'm sure you'll go far." Then, he seemed to remember something, for he exclaimed, "Oh!" and started digging in a drawer in his desk. He pulled out a small box and handed it out to her. "Here. This is the newest version of the PokeNav. I'd like for you to have it to show my gratitude to you for retrieving these parts."
May took the box and stared at it in shock. The picture on it indeed showed the newest model of PokeNav, which hadn't even come out in stores yet, though it had been hyped up for weeks. They were supposed to be very expensive. May knew that most trainers had PokeNavs, but she hadn't yet been able to save up enough money to buy one for herself. Steven giving her this one was far more than generous.
She couldn't take it, though. She hadn't done enough to earn such a big gift, and she wasn't yet desperate enough to start accepting hand-outs. "I can't accept this," she said apologetically, attempting to hand the thing back to Steven and frowning when he refused to take it back. "I wasn't doing some great deed, really. You have nothing to be thanking me for. Anybody would have done it," she explained. When he still wouldn't take the box back, she dropped her arm and furrowed her brow.
"Not just anybody would have done that, May," Steven said with a smile, and May felt butterflies in her stomach at the sound of him saying her name. "Most people would have been too scared, or just too indifferent because it wasn't directly affecting them. But you're different. I can see so much potential in you, just from this. You care for other people, and also for Pokemon. Maybe you'll be the Champion of the region some day."
May felt her cheeks heat up once more and she spluttered. Champion? Sure, that was her long-term goal, but that was still so far away. Plus, it wouldn't be easy. She'd be competing with Brendan, who was already a step ahead of her, along with all of the other trainers out on their journeys right now. She wasn't even ready to think about being Champion, yet. "You're too nice," she mumbled, averting her eyes. The floor was white marble, and it met the seafoam-green walls at a mahogany trim. May couldn't tell whether she liked the color scheme or not, but it diverted her attention and allowed her to control her embarrassment ever so slightly.
"I just see potential," Steven said confidently. The room suddenly felt smaller, even though there was an entire desk separating him from her.
"I, uh... I should be heading out," May said uncomfortably, tugging on one of her pigtails and finally looking back up at the man. "It's getting dark out already, and I still need to make it to the next town tonight..."
Steven frowned. "You're leaving tonight? You should stay in Rustboro until morning, at least. It's dangerous out there at night."
May smiled, feeling some of the tension leave the room despite Steven's worried look. "You don't really know much about being a trainer, do you?" The question was light-hearted, but she still saw a pang of hurt on the man's face. "I'm not afraid of some scary bug Pokemon jumping out at me. Plus, I have a ride; I'm not walking too far."
A look of relief crossed Steven's face. May wondered why he cared so much when they had only just met. He didn't even know her, so why was he so concerned? "Where are you going next, then?" he asked, a little too eagerly. He seemed to notice this, so he added, "Just in case I need to get in contact with you for some reason."
May found that a bit weird, but still answered, "Dewford Town," then added, "And then Slateport next, probably," as an afterthought.
Steven smiled. "Perfect. I may be in touch. Perhaps I'll have you try out Devon's latest projects, so that I can have a trainer's perspective on how well they really work." Steven's grin gave nothing away, and May had no idea whether he was joking or not.
May laughed nervously. He hadn't allowed her to decline the PokeNav (which she had now tucked into the side pocket of her book bag), so she doubted he would let her decline the new technology if he really did offer it up to her under the premise of wanting her opinion. She should probably get better at receiving gifts, then. That is, if Steven was actually serious. Maybe he was just being nice, and she'd never see him again.
"Thank you again for the PokeNav," she said, half-mumbled, and Steven chuckled.
"You're very welcome. Thank you for rescuing the Devon Goods."
"Anytime," she replied, grinning. Behind Steven and through the large window spanning most of the wall, May could see just how dark it had gotten outside. She needed to get out and get to Mr. Briney's house before he thought that she had forgotten about him.
"Well, I'll see you around, Steven," she called, already rushing and half-out the door.
She had only made it a few steps out of the office before he called, "May?" She paused and turned around. He was now out from behind the desk and was hanging in the doorway. He looked as though he had something important to say, but then seemed to change his mind last-second, as he simply called, "May our paths cross again someday."