It took a few weeks for Steven to finally give up on his idea of being the perfect celebrity who replied to every single person. As soon as he made the decision to employ someone else to attend to his fanbase he felt a weight lift off his shoulders. Maria was Steven's favourite receptionist; now she was his personal assistant. After the first interview he found that more and more people wanted to see him and do business, so not only was she going through the mail, she was also in charge of planning his life.
"I feel like I barely have time to be champion," Steven said one afternoon.
"Well at least you don't get too many challengers," she said. "Someone wants to know what your favourite cake is."
"Chocolate." Steven had also given Maria access to his accounts so she could monitor those messages too.
"A perfume company wants you in their next advert."
"I guess I can agree to that."
"And Wallace is downstairs."
"What? Since when?" Steven jumped up and threw his jacket on.
"Since you agreed to have lunch with him today."
"Them."
"Apologies. You're going to that new café that just opened."
Steven nodded. "I remember. See you later."
"Wallace!" Steven hugged his friend. "Sorry for the wait."
"I was just admiring this helix fossil. I didn't know they could be so big."
"This one's from Kanto – Brock sent it over. I would have it revived but it's just too cool!" Steven stared at the fossil in amazement.
"But you could have an omanyte this big."
"I could, but I'd rather have everyone admire it like this. The big guy'll live forever in this form."
"I suppose omanyte isn't part steel."
Steven grabbed Wallace's arm and began to lead them away. "I'm not typist, I just know I wouldn't be able to give it the attention it deserves. Besides, it's Brock's find."
They walked down the streets until they came across the café which at the city's edge, built where the trees began. An illumise and volbeat were painted on the sign.
"This looks very cute," Wallace said. They walked in and found a table by an open window, looking back at the city.
"The city seems so far away, even though we haven't left."
Lunch was always a healthy affair when Wallace was involved. Salad and fresh fruits with tea, even though Steven was up for some chocolate cake after Maria's question earlier.
"So, how is the new recruit? Is it all working out for you?" Wallace asked.
"She's great, very professional. I don't know what I'd do without her to be honest. I'm still wondering how you do it alone."
"It's a simple answer, dear, you have a full time job unlike me. Sure, a gym leader's workload is more than the champion's, but if I ever need to do contest things Juan is there to hold the fort."
Steven smirked. "So I should give up working at Devon?"
"Doesn't your work involve at least one day a week in caves? I doubt you'd give that up."
"Dream bigger, Wallace, I could be in caves every day if I left."
"And sell rocks for a living? A risky business."
"It's an idea, but I wouldn't leave Father for some caves. Enough about me and my whining – sorry, I seem to do that a lot these days – how about you?"
Wallace's face contorted as they tried to contain their smile. "So, you remember I told you about the Wallace Cup? Well, I've officially made an application to set the wheels in motion."
"That's great!"
"It'll be a while yet, ironing out details of the competition, finding judges and places to hold it, all of that boring stuff, but it could be that this time next year it'll be an actual thing."
"I'm so excited! I want front row seats." Steven clapped. He was no contest buff, but he really appreciated all the effort coordinators put into training their Pokémon. Arceus knows he didn't have the patience for it.
OooO
The small print of contracts were often skimmed over by Steven, usually because his father would double check them before signing anything. Sadly, as this was not Devon business, the contract checking had been left to Maria and himself, and they hadn't exactly been thorough.
"Was this in the contract?" Steven asked as he stood in the dressing room staring at the flesh coloured pouch he'd been given.
Maria was on her PokéNav, frantically skimming the email.
There was a knock on the door. "Mr Stone, is everything okay?"
Steven opened the door. "Please give me a few minutes, something has come up."
"Er…here it is. 'Model agrees to be dressed as directed by the creative director' and then…wow it lists many things, painted, covered in food, and there it is, naked. Although it does say genitals covered, so there's that at least."
"Well, I feel bad for not reading that."
"It's a general modelling contract to be fair, although prior warning would have been appreciated."
Steven shrugged off his jacket. "I guess they saw my previous photoshoots and thought I would be fine with this."
Maria stood up. "So, you're going through with this?"
Steven nodded. It wouldn't do to destroy his reputation now; he didn't want people to think he was fussy.
"I'll let them know." Maria stepped out, leaving Steven to undress.
It started out better than expected. He went from a robe to a bed of silk and chiffon where they directed him into poses and took photos as well as long shots. Nothing taxing, he just had to hold a pose and look good. Then they got a few fans out and he had the task of looking good while his hair was flying in all directions. More shots of him gazing into the distance followed before he was introduced to another actor. Steven looked at Maria, eyebrows raised, asking 'was this also in the contract?' Maria shrugged dramatically before turning to her Nav to find that clause. There was nothing to be done now, but at least they'd know.
The blonde girl who had walked in was also nude, barring some silk draped over her form, and Steven realised this was about to get ten times more uncomfortable. It started out with some longer shots of her approaching him, but soon it was time to get up close and personal.
"I'm sorry," he whispered as he was directed to place his arm across her chest to cover her.
"It's all part of the job," she said as he reached up to put her arms around his neck, back to him.
"Not a job I'll be doing again."
They held the poses while Steven prayed that there would be no more. The photographers flicked through their cameras, checking with the director before the shoot was declared to be finished. Steven rushed off set immediately, happy to be reunited with his clothes.
"So it turns out they mentioned you'd be filming with another actor. It was a short sentence tacked onto a large paragraph on how the day would go," Maria said once they had left.
"Well, I think we learned a lot today. Before I go signing up for anything like this again we need to find out exactly what it entails."
"Agreed. But for what it's worth I think you did a good job."
"Really? I felt awkward as fuck – sorry, I mean I felt really awkward, astoundingly so." He didn't like to swear around his colleagues, even though Maria was not really in that category anymore. The nature of her work had required her to be more of a friend - a work-friend? He didn't really know how to describe their relationship, but the word colleague seemed cold and inappropriate.
She placed a hand on his shoulder. "I promise I'll be more thorough next time. Don't let it get to you. You did the job and the director didn't make you do any retakes."
"I suppose. Are you okay to get back to Rustboro?"
Maria nodded and threw a pokéball. Her swellow appeared and she hopped on. "See you next week."
He waved before letting his own skarmory out for the ride back to Mossdeep.
OooO
To repay their recent kindness, Steven had invited his aqua-haired friends over to his house for once. Lisia hadn't been able to make it due to her monthly fan meet-and-greet, but Wallace had arrived in the early afternoon.
"Honestly, Wallace, it was just terrible," Steven said as he began to slice a lemon cake – Wallace's favourite.
"You make it sound like they were making you star in porn."
"Well, now you say that, wouldn't you class these kinds of adverts as borderline softcore porn?"
Wallace looked thoughtful. "Yeah, I'll give you that. Still, it's a great story for your first filming experience."
"Don't you have any modelling stories?" He set the cake down in front of Wallace who smiled at the small sized slice – he knew Wallace wouldn't appreciate it being any larger.
"I only really do clothes modelling, so the worst story I have is the time someone hired me for womenswear and when they found out I didn't possess a female body they dropped me on the spot."
"Oh yeah, I remember that. Didn't you say they should have read your profile before hiring?"
Wallace smirked. "Just like you should have read your contract. But yes, I was flattered nonetheless that they hired me based only on photos."
"We can be too good looking together," Steven joked.
Wallace stared at him. "Interesting idea."
Steven looked confused.
"What if we did a photoshoot together, perhaps for your rock business?"
"Ooh, what if you picked out your favourites and we did a collection called Wallace's Stones?" It wasn't the most creative name, but was in-line with the business's name of Steven's Stones.
"We should try and do some water shots using the gym's pool. Oh my, I have so many ideas…"
They were off in a world of their own, throwing ideas back and forth until they had perfected their vision of how they wanted their campaign to look. They toured Steven's rock collection, looking for suitable ones for Wallace's idea. It didn't take long for a mock photoshoot to happen, Wallace holding those they liked while they draped themself across Steven's bed.
"This was you in the original ads," Wallace laughed as they struck a pose.
"Hey, my face didn't look that ridiculous!"
"I need more fabric around me, this cotton bedsheet isn't enough. Where's the silk, darling?"
Steven rolled his eyes. "I'm sorry I'm allowing you to lie on such coarse fabric, your highness, but it adds to my rock aesthetic."
"You need to have a cave photoshoot too! Let me plan all your future ad campaigns."
"Damn, you're on fire tonight," Steven said. "Bottom floor of Shoal Cave, surrounded by ice…"
Another session of planning commenced, both of them laying on the bed and fiddling with the stones as they talked. The sun had set by the time they had finished.
OooO
"Wallaaaace, I blame you for this."
Wallace gave Steven a thumbs up and tightened their scarf. Meanwhile Steven was being told to lie on the ice of Shoal's deepest floor. He had been cold enough just standing around with his shirt open, and kneeling on the ice had been more than enough chill for one day. Still, for the sake of Wallace's vision he lowered himself to the ground, back arching at first as he tried to get used to the cold.
"Maybe you should give me that scarf to lie on."
"If you stop complaining it'll be over before you know it. And hey, at least I'm keeping your jacket warm." The black garment was draped over Wallace's shoulders, something they were grateful for when they realised long sleeves wouldn't be enough to keep them warm. "What about a shirtless shot?"
Steven laughed dryly. "How about a very swag shot with me back in my jacket with the cravat? Maybe with glasses – I hear my fans really like that."
Wallace shrugged. "Glasses or nipples? Tough choice."
The photographer chimed in, "I'd suggest a suit shot seeing as we've got shirtless shots in the water shoot."
Steven smiled. "I'll be taking this back." He removed his jacket from Wallace and threw it back on. "It's times like this I wish I trained fire Pokémon."
Soon enough it was over and Steven was glad to ascend back to daylight. He stood on the sand and looked up at the sun, letting its rays warm him, something he rarely took pleasure in.
"Be careful, Steven, you might burn," Wallace jested.
"Piss off, you and your freezing ideas."
"Aw, still cold?" They walked forward to embrace him. "But I'll remind you that it was you who suggested the ice floor. I merely suggested a cave."
"Then it's your fault for letting me go ahead with it." He shrugged Wallace off and began to jog on the spot. "Those hot springs in Lavaridge would really hit the spot right now."
"Shall we?"
"What? Seriously?" Steven hadn't meant to imply they should go.
"If you want to travel over there, I'll go with."
Steven considered it. "If we take Aerodactyl we can make it in about half an hour, but you better be ready for the ride of your life."
A very windswept pair arrived in Lavaridge. Wallace was holding onto Steven for dear life, their hat scrunched up in one hand.
"Wallace, you can let go now."
Slowly they released their grip and Steven jumped off.
"Can you give me a hand?"
Steven reached up and helped them down.
"I don't know how you were planning to get back later, but I am not doing that again."
Steven smiled as he quickly ran a hand through his hair, fixing it back into place. He petted Aerodactyl and fed him some berries before returning him to his pokéball.
Wallace had been preoccupied with trying to fix their hat and make themself presentable.
"Shall we?" Steven led the way into the Pokémon Centre which housed the entrance to the hot springs.
The warm water was a welcome feeling to the both after their wild ride – at least that's how Wallace viewed it. They were surprised to learn that Steven often used Aerodactyl to get around, although it made sense seeing as Ever Grande and Rustboro were so far from each other.
Steven laid back against a rock and closed his eyes. "This is nice and relaxing. Thank you for suggesting we follow through with this idea."
"Aren't my suggestions always great?"
Steven opened his eyes to stare them out. "We'll have to see if freezing my butt off in a cave was worth it. I better get double the amount of suggestive letters."
"Is that how you measure success now?" Wallace smirked.
"N-no, I mean, I want to sell more rocks." He sighed. "I guess that's just how I expect my 'fans' to react. Not that I know what I'm being sent with Maria dealing with that side of things."
"Ignorance is bliss? How is the social media going? I see your posts, but how many do you actually write?"
"The general rule is if a photo is posted then it was me, but otherwise it's Maria."
Wallace nodded. "Well, I was fooled. She does a good job to make it sound like you, even down to the emojis."
"Well, we talk a lot in real life and over the Nav. I'd hope she was able to replicate my style."
Wallace was staring at the water, ideas forming in their mind. "What about a hot spring shoot?"
Steven was speechless. "Wallace, we literally have just done two shoots and they haven't even been published. Maybe we should slow down."
"I just really love planning these things. It's the contest coordinator in me."
"What else can we do here that we haven't already done?" Steven asked.
Wallace smiled, glad to be asked. "We've marketed your products with a male face, drawing in young women, soon we'll market with me, non-binary, but still with a male physique, which will be interesting to see who jumps for that. But then we haven't got someone who draws the heterosexual male eye. I propose we also use a female model."
"Uh-huh, that sounded like a really long-winded explanation to get me to agree to letting you organise another photoshoot."
"I just think we should have equal representation in your marketing strategy."
Steven shrugged. "Alright then, I suppose I can agree to one more. I'm thinking we go for the obvious choice."
Wallace furrowed their brow, unsure of who they were meant to be thinking of.
"Roxanne is literally the rock-type gym leader."
"Of course. So…"
There were many more ideas between them, although it was a lot harder to come up with a course of action when the person is question hadn't agreed to any of this.