Needing no rest, she spent her night swimming the seas of this region, learning about the Pokémon who swam the depths, only recognising a few as Pokémon who also resided within the seas of Kanto.
When the dawn broke, she returned to the island where her item had been lost. She would have to approach the human, asking him casually if he had seen an item she had lost on the beach. Perhaps that was the best way to regain it without arising any unwanted suspicion on his part. A human digging around to find the truth is quite a dangerous human indeed.
She stepped onto the beach, a grouchy Gyarados had given her a lift after he had fallen to her during a challenge he had started. She figured that riding onto the beach would be less suspicious than just stepping from the depths of the sea onto the land.
The city was quaint; it had a certain charm about it she could not lay. The people who walked its streets were cheerful, many of them greeted her happily even though none of them knew her or had even seen her. She stopped and asked each and every one of them about the item, detailing its appearance to all of them so that she did not simply barge into the male who had taken it and demand it of him. All of them politely apologized and said they had not seen any strange item on the beach.
Thanking each and every one of them she travelled deeper into the city, keeping an eye out constantly for the boy, his unique hair colour would surely give him away in an instant.
"Sorry dear," An elderly woman said sadly, "I haven't been on the beach today, but you might have better luck asking one of the younger people who live here, they always bring back things from the beach, there's one who lives on the outskirts of the town, he has a knack for finding all sorts of stones in unusual places, try him, he may have found your item."
"Thank you very much, that's very helpful!" She exclaimed, now very practiced at faking emotion while speaking with people. She did feel emotions yes, but mostly anger, irritation and hatred. Rarely did she feel a positive emotion when she was among humankind.
She travelled in the direction the old hag had suggested, finding herself at the house she knew belonged to him. She raised her fist, tapping at the door, restraining her strength, ensuring she didn't punch a hole straight through the thin wood of the door.
She could hear footsteps on the other side of the door, then a lock clicked open and the handle turned downward, each movement of the lock, key and handle making a sharp metallic noise which was so easily overlooked by human ears but which stung her more sensitive ones.
She was greeted by a curious face. "Good morning," She started, plastering a false-cheery smile across her face, "I'm looking for something I lost on the beach last night, a kind old lady said that you had a habit of finding strange objects. So I was wondering if you had seen it at all." She articulated her words perfectly, putting enough emphasis on the right things, trailing away into a question at the end, making herself seem like an innocent tourist.
"Please, come in," He said softly as he stepped aside and opened the door fully, "Please excuse the sparse décor." He walked towards a large table which took up a lot of the floor space of the room.
She walked into the house, all her senses on red alert. She was entering the territory of a human and should take great caution whilst she remained within these four walls.
"Is this your item?" He held it up to the light, the spherical shape well known to her. "I found it last night after a great wave washed over this end of the island."
She peered at it, pretending to consider its appearance before answering, "Yes that's the one! I've been looking for it all morning! I thought I'd lost it!" She let a beam cross her face, giving her the appearance of being greatly overjoyed at seeing the item, when really great steams of hatred for the little item whistled within her chest. She wanted to see it crushed, splintered into a million little fractures and scattered across the world so that it may never be put back together again.
"Well here you go then." He handed the item back to her quickly, smiling semi-amused at her gleeful reaction to it. "It must mean a lot to you, but I couldn't quite figure out what it was for."
"It was a present from my mother before she passed away. I don't know what it's for but I can't stand to be apart from it." She smiled up at the male innocently, making her amethyst eyes illegally large and full of false emotion. All that flew through her mind was how much of a pathetic display she was putting up for this human and she should leave before the entirety of her dwindling dignity was sapped away from her by such a miserable display of stereotypical 'innocence'. Plus, it was making her feel rather nauseous.
"Well I hope you figure it out soon." She looked around the room quickly as she turned on her heels. There were many stones in glass boxes around the edges of the room, each with little neatly handwritten labels indicating the type of stone they were and where they originated from.
Brief amazement flickered through her mind, this human had dedicated so much time to hunting down these rocks and identifying them. He must be an avid lover of the rocks. She vaguely thought of gemstones she knew, she didn't recall how she knew them, but she knew them. Their bright colours snatched up the intrigue of her wandering mind.
"Excuse me." The voice pulled her out of this daze of shining objects. She turned back to face him again. "May I ask your name?" He stared directly at her, a kind smile still gracing his lips.
Panic flickered through her busy mind, leaving a bitter taste in her mouth which opened to say the first word that popped into her head, still bustling with the gemstones she had been thinking of. "Garnet." Immediately she wished she had picked something else. But now it was said she could not take it back. "My name is Garnet." But, she thought with a small portion of her mind, it was the colour of her hair now, and her eyes before, she shut this off as he spoke again.
"Well, Garnet, my name is Steven." He offered his hand; she knew this, this action, a 'handshake' yes, the way of greeting another human. Such a strange thing really but there was much that you could learn from a handshake. Garnet learned that he had performed a lot of manual labour, perhaps while looking for these magnificent rocks, as his hand was toughened by the activity. Also, she learned he was kind, as he took her hand lightly so not to hurt her - as if he was capable of such a feat - delicately shaking her hand.
"It's nice to meet you." She had heard many humans say this after or during a handshake, it seemed to be a tradition of sorts.
"The pleasure's all mine." His curious smile had never left his lips, not a menacing grin as Garnet was used to from human males, but a genteel smile which boded no ill-will. She examined his face closer, his shockingly silver eyes were both sharp - observant - and soft, what a curious specimen he was. "Are you taking on the League Challenge here in Hoenn?" He asked, examining her attire, observing the trainers she wore on her feet, they were worn down but still looked comfortable to wear, her jeans were equally worn, the hems of each leg frayed from many days walking, her three-quarter length sleeved shirt was both thin enough to cool on a warm day and thick enough to insulate on a more chilly day. She was wearing smart clothing only usually worn by the travelling trainer.
"I haven't any Pokémon sadly; they all stayed back in Kanto." 'Idiot! Now he knows where you've come from! Now he can identify you!' She simply smiled at him sadly, as though her Pokémon free state was a true burden upon her very soul.
"Why not take this Pokémon?" He offered a PokéBall to Garnet. "It's just a baby at the moment, so it's perfect for you who are just starting your journey!" 'There's something wrong with this one.' She eyed the sphere sitting in his palm.
"But why would you give me this? You don't even know me. Why trust me with a Pokémon of yours?" She blinked several times, for once; the emotion - confusion - on her face was one hundred percent genuine. She could not understand someone like this, actually trying to give her something for nothing. Curious, very curious.
"I can tell you're trustworthy simply from what I've seen of you. Take it. It'll be of great help to you I am sure." He took her hand, placing the ball in her palm then folding her fingers around it before she regained awareness of what was happening. "Take good care of Beldum for me."
She blinked once again, never before had she done this action more times within a minute, her mind was spinning into other spiralling galaxies of unsure bewilderment. "Are… Are you sure?" She looked to his face once again, hating how she was unable to read this human's face like she could all others. What was it about this one which was so very, oddly, different to all others she had ever known? Was it simply because he was caring and giving? No, this can't be right; humans aren't like that at all! Are they? Her mind flashed at the speed of light, analysing all the humans she had ever known, none of which were like this one. None apart from... apart from one.
"Very sure, I can tell you will take care of Beldum and once Beldum grows, he will take care of you as well." She wasn't sure of what to make of this teen. He was such a stranger to her, both in the fact she had only just met him and the strange kindness he had shown her after this brief encounter.
"Thank… Thank you," Her voice was layered with true emotion - it seeped from her - the gratitude she felt towards this human. It was such a strange but small gesture, giving her a Pokémon, but it made her feel so warm inside. Like this human actually cared for her wellbeing, not knowing her but not caring about that. He was the strangest person she had ever met in all her years of existing on this planet. "I'll take good care of Beldum!" She threw the PokéBall into the air, releasing the small Steel-type Pokémon.
It stared at her, before zooming towards her, thumping directly into her chest, nuzzling her lovingly. Startled, she hugged the small Pokémon, laughing her shock away before pulling it away from her, staring into its ruby red eye. Its body was a shining white colour, it was such a pure and pretty little thing, even though it was so peculiar and most people would think it rather ugly. But it had a subtle grace about it that was hard to see through eyes blinded by bias. She immediately loved this little Pokémon just as much as she loved her friends back in her home region. Who knows, this region may become her new home after all. If there were any more people as kind and generous as this male then she would rather much like to stay here for years to come. Heck, even if there weren't she still would like to stay, even if it were just to observe this specimen for a little while longer and learn about him and what made him the way he is today, so unlike other humans that inhabited this world.
She thanked him once more before waving and exiting the house, wondering where to go first on her new adventure through this beautiful, tropical region. She looked down the road, taking the first few steps down the path which would change her fate forever, the shining Beldum floating merrily at her side.