I think I've finally accepted that updates are essentially once a month. I guess that's the trade-off when the chapters are longer. I'm making the drive back to Oklahoma tomorrow for school and work again, and I'm determined to constantly be writing during all the long boring sessions of training that I've already sat through in the past :p Anyway, thanks again to everyone who's been keeping up with this story and keeping in touch with me, it really truly means a lot, and hardcore shoutout to tumblr user pokemonsavvy for making comic-styled pages of everyone's favorite scene in Chapter 6. If you're a fan of this story, then I heavily encourage you to check out her work. I hope you all enjoy this latest installment and don't forget to let me know what you think!
Of Hoops and Holists – Chapter Eight.
Steven had left more than just a Pokéball and a letter.
The next morning, May woke up to the smell of…pecans? It was something nutty. She began to shift to get out of bed, and her Delcatty mewled next to her as May's movement woke up the cat-like Pokémon, to which May had a moment of confusion.
"Oh hey, Mina…" May said in her still-low morning voice, "I don't think I remember letting you out last night…"
Oh no, that was right. She stayed at Wallace's again. This was Lisia's room. She was drinking last night. And Steven…'slept in his respective room last night,' May reminded herself. Which was good. She got through a night by herself, and must have let her Delcatty out just in case, and she at least didn't remember any nightmares or having any issues getting through the night. May tried to smirk to herself as she pushed a hand onto Mina's head and rubbed behind an ear, which resulted in contented purring filling the previously silent room.
May didn't bother to recall Mina, either, but instead, nudged the Pokémon to follow her out of the room as she made her way to the kitchen to whatever smell was wafting through the house.
"Oh, did your Delcatty want some pancakes, too?" Wallace cooed as May sat at the table and her Delcatty lied down at her feet. "I'm actually in shock that you're awake before Steven," Wallace said, serving up an abnormally tall plate of pancakes filled with pink fruit pieces and setting down a syrup bottle. "I hope that's going to be enough for you, Miss Champion, and let me know what you think. I'm trying out some new recipes. Pecha berries in the pancakes and a pecan Razz syrup."
May cocked an eyebrow at Wallace, but that didn't last long when her nose caught her pancakes. "Hey now, I'm not a Snorlax, you know," she said, simultaneously shoveling a huge bite from the huge stack laid out before her.
"Forgive me, at least you taste your food," Wallace mocked, watching May devour her huge bite with no remorse or restraint, and brought a small plate of pancakes down for her Delcatty. May paid him no mind though, especially after she saw that he brought another plate out for Mina. What did get her attention though, was when Mina stopped eating and trailed down the hallway, before she stopped and began mewling and pawing at a door.
"Sounds like someone wants Steven to get up for the day," Wallace noted, this time bringing two plates of pancakes to the table before he sat down, so one must have been for Steven.
"What you mean to say, is that it's neither of us," May joked back, laughing at her Delcatty. The Pokémon must have heard him getting up and that's why she ran to the door. What was interesting to May though was that she wasn't sure if her Delcatty had ever met Steven outside of battle, to have such a reaction to him getting up. May bit her lip for a moment, realizing that this quite possibly was one of those 'I need to be more in tune and listen to my Pokémon' moments that Drake was talking about.
A 'click' was heard, followed by several sets of footsteps, and continuous energetic meowing. A drowsy Steven appeared, and excitedly circling him as he came to the kitchen table was May's Delcatty.
"I probably could have slept forever, but between the smells of breakfast and Delcatty at the door, I didn't want to miss out," Steven drawled, but at the same time ruffled a hand on the cat Pokémon's head, despite his words revealing aggravation. As soon as Steven sat at the table, Mina seemed satisfied and trotted back to her own plate of pancakes.
After petting the Delcatty some more, Steven spoke again. "Cynthia doesn't think it's worth it for us to try to get to Sinnoh again, at this point," he informed them.
May and Wallace didn't look shocked, but instead showed mild concern. "That makes sense right now…" May replied, "Especially since she's the expert on legends and mythological Pokémon in Sinnoh, right?"
"That's what they say…" Wallace clucked, giving a knowing glance to Steven, "So if that's her advice, then it's probably best to listen."
"So for now, we need to collect the seventeen plates…" Steven said, reiterating for Wallace what May had said the night before.
"What on earth for?!" Wallace cried, "I mean, don't get me wrong, that completely sounds like a recipe for some big and ultimate thing, but big and ultimate things usually need a why."
Steven gave May a guarded look, waiting for her to explain. It was true, May had breathily declared last night that they needed to find the seventeen plates, but she never said why, or even how. May's face took a look of caution before she carefully spoke about all of it further. "In my dream…" she said, taking her time, "the seventeen plates were brought together, and managed to save us. I don't quite get it but…" she trailed off, but looked toward Steven, intending to speak directly to him, "remember when we were on Southern Island, and we could tell Latios was sending us messages? How one message seemed to be for you?"
"Those whose memories fade, seek to carve them in their hearts," Steven recited, "Yes, I haven't forgotten. There was another message, too, correct?"
"Right," May affirmed, "All dreams are but another reality. Never forget…"
"You think all of this was a set up?" Wallace asked, less critically this time, "That the duo of Eon Pokémon had a sense for what was in your futures, and tried to give you your best chance possible of dealing with the outcomes…and how to move forward…"
May nodded with determination, her spirit returning now that Steven and Wallace were then seeming to understand where she was going with her interpretations. "Does collecting the plates make a little more sense now?" she asked them.
"It's in the ever slightest, but yes," Wallace answered. "This is truly beginning to sound like an omen, though, and I'm not quite sure how much I care for it, especially without knowing exactly what's going to come from all of this."
"Well," Steven said in between bites. He was finally eating. "I'm going to do whatever you're wanting to do, May. It was your dream, so I think you should call the shots."
May looked a bit overwhelmed at Steven's response, but she did her best to stay on track with the potential task on hand. "Wallace," she spoke, staying on topic, "you had mentioned something earlier about having the Splash Plate? Whatever happened to that?"
"Right…that thing…" Wallace said bemusedly, a combination of trying to remember and debating on giving an answer, "I lost it in a bet to a friend in Kalos. I didn't know anything about it, just that my Ludicolo really loved it, and its water attacks were increased in power while holding it."
"That's still just one plate," Steven mumbled. His pancakes were gone now, but Wallace eyeballed him curiously as he got up and helped himself to the kitchen and opened the fridge. "If your friend in Kalos even still has this Splash Plate, that still leaves fifteen other plates on which we have no leads."
Wallace remained silent, but he tapped his chin, thinking. It almost seemed similar to the way Norman was acting on the phone the night before. May stared at him until she got his attention, to which he gave a defeated sigh.
"I know I shouldn't worry…" Wallace admitted, "but something about all of this isn't quite sitting right with me. And everything with the legendaries of Hoenn sat with me just fine."
"Well, Hoenn turned out just fine," May offered. She didn't realize she had her fists in balls on her knees until she felt her Delcatty trying to wedge herself underneath her arms to be pet. This wasn't the conversation she had expected from Wallace. Sure, they were close, but she always saw him as the "let's make sure everyone's drunk enough at the contest after-party" friend, not the "let me check on your mental health and well-being" friend.
"Yes, that's my point, and look at you," Wallace countered, gesturing a hand toward her this time. May felt her stomach lurch. She knew where this was going. "I get that it can't always be helped, since you are the heroine of Hoenn after all; Arceus won't let me forget it. But please, don't forget that you can ask for help sometimes, too."
May subconsciously grabbed her Delcatty's ears to nuzzle the feline Pokémon. She didn't have a response just yet to Wallace's concern. What, was she supposed to ask for help before? Was it all some kind of a test, and she failed?
The room was uncomfortably quiet for a moment, until Wallace eventually grunted to himself, and decided to make a quip at Steven. "Were my pancakes not enough for you?" he asked, just as Steven came back to the table and set down a plate of Razz berries. Steven didn't answer, he just continued to eat.
Wallace reached an arm up to scratch behind his head, then said, "There was someone in the League who could use clairvoyance, a psychic ability that pinpoints the location of items. I can't remember who for sure, but I know that such a person exists in our ranks."
"So like a human itemfinder?" May asked, her pep suddenly back again. At the end of the day, Wallace was going to do what he could.
"Precisely," Wallace answered, followed by a sigh. "I'll…make a few calls, then get back in contact with you when I get some details straightened out." He paused and looked at the duo before him. They really were an unlikely combination, one from white collar and the other from formerly blue. He let himself chuckle before speaking again, "Why don't you two go figure out some more of Steven's memories?"
May and Steven exchanged glances. If May didn't know any better, she'd say his expression was on the dazed side. She was the first to stand up, followed by recalling her Delcatty into its Pokéball. "Thanks for breakfast, and for letting us stay again," she said sincerely, although how quickly she was moving indicated otherwise, "but I guess we'll get out of your hair for now."
"You know that's not what I mean!" Wallace called after her as she disappeared back into her guest room again to change for the day and collect her things. Wallace sighed again, and took a good look at Steven, whose face was just as confused as ever.
"I keep getting this feeling…" Steven began to confide in his friend, "that I'm going to mess everything up, somehow."
Wallace's heartfelt expression only lasted a moment, before it shifted into a cheeky grin, and a hand on Steven's shoulder. "Just work with May on getting your memories back," he tried to assure, "I'm sure what you're feeling right now has more to do with your uncertainty, unlike these omens May keeps getting from your Eon Pokémon."
Steven's eyebrows pinched in thought, and he then asked, rhetorically, "Why do I trust her so much?"
Wallace tried to keep the humor he found in Steven's question to himself, but it turned into a laugh as he collected plates from the table. "I don't know that anyone quite knows, except that you just always have," he said, realizing that Steven might actually need the answer to his question considering his current condition.
May returned to the living room, dressed for the day and ready to go, and Steven promptly rose from his chair when he saw her. Wallace snickered, but got up as well nonetheless.
"Have fun," Wallace said in a teasing voice, "and behave. I swear, if I see one more Buzznav story about one of your rendezvous then I'll have no choice but to fly to Mauville and spill everything about you two myself." He realized his teasing might have gone too far after seeing their scrunched faces in reaction, but he couldn't help himself. They were hopeless. "Please, just go," he said, motioning with his arms to the door this time, "I'll call you when I know more about the plates."
"Alright, May, where are we headed today?" Steven asked as they made their way down the steps of Sootopolis from Wallace's home.
"Let's take a stroll through Route 120," May proposed, "You, uh, gave me some more things there, and well, my secret base is there, too, so I thought we could maybe stop there for a bit."
"Route 120?" Steven mulled. "If your secret base is there, why don't we go to Fortree first? Aren't there secret base shops we can check out?"
"W-what?" May stuttered and blushed. "We really don't have to do that…"
"Nonsense!" Steven said, his Eon Flute now in hand, "we'll already be in the area, so we might as well see what they have!"
Shopping with Steven was an experience. Yes, they had gone to Lilycove together before, but that was shopping for necessities. Shopping for items for May's secret base was a whole new game, because it wasn't shopping for needs, it was shopping for wants, which Steven seemed to deem just as necessary as needs.
"This Swablu doll looks like something you'd like."
"I don't know that I have room for it, though…"
"Okay, then let's get you a small nightstand so you have more display space."
"Steven…"
When May turned around, her stomach turned to knots as she watched Steven purchase not only the Swablu doll and nightstand, but he looked like he was pointing behind the counter to the more expensive electronics. She rushed up to his side to see what else he was ordering, but by the time she got to the counter, the cashier was already entering the order into the system.
"And this is going into May Maple's account," Steven ordered.
"Of course. Your total comes to P300,000."
May swore she could've fainted.
"Ready to go decorate?" Steven asked, grinning, and not understanding why May looked so sick. May was still trying to process the amount Steven spent at home time, on decorations and furnishings, and forcibly turned her body to exit the shop.
When they crossed the bridge on Route 120, May stopped walking when she realized Steven was no longer following him, and turned to see him standing facing the water, hands on the rope, staring down at his reflection.
"Steven, are you okay?!" May called out to him, coming back to meet him on the bridge, and he held a hand up as if to stop her from coming closer.
"I'm…alright," he muttered. He knelt on one knee on the side of the bridge, pinching his forehead in his fingers as he squinted at his reflection in the water below. "I just need…a moment."
May watched as Steven silently struggled. He must have been recollecting more memories of her, and even though she knew it wasn't her fault, she still felt some guilt over what he was going through because she knew he was regaining memories of her. She knelt down next to him, only offering eyes, and after a few seconds, he returned her look. She tried to read his face, but his was full of searching hers, too. Steven's eyes flickered back to the water for a moment, before he looked back at her with his soft smile and said, "Let's get to your base."
Now, Steven had imagined that May's secret base was probably going to be on the more decked out side, but the interior was actually quite quant. With only a bed and a small dresser with a Mudkip doll and standard laptop on top of it, it was minimalist at best.
"I know it's not much," May stammered quickly, "but it's really just a place to stay when I'm tired of staying in a Pokémon Center."
Steven walked straight to her laptop and his fingers started tapping the keys. "Well, now it can be more of a hangout for you," he said, and her new nightstand appeared next to her bed, and in a moment, the Swablu doll on top of it. "Your secret base should be your home away from home."
"I know," May replied, helping herself to going up to her new nightstand and admiring her new Swablu doll. She'd be lying if she didn't admit that she really had wanted it. "I just never really gave it much thought."
May just about peed herself when the Skitty TV appeared on her wall, but when she recovered from shock, she said, "Wait, I don't remember seeing that when we were in Fortree…"
"I might have been able to still order it from the Lilycove department store and still have it put into your account from Fortree…" Steven bashfully said.
May could only gawked. A TV. She had her very own TV now. And it was shaped like a Skitty.
An attract mat appeared on the floor, and a jukebox next to the wall. A Pikachu family poster was hung up on the wall by her bed, several cushions appeared near and around the attract mats, and some colorful plants were placed near the entrance of her base.
May was flabbergasted. "Steven…you didn't have to do all of this for me…" she said, still looking around her newly furnished base.
"I recognize that," Steven said, allowing himself to have a seat on one of the cushions on the floor, "but I wanted to. If I knew your base was this barren, I would have gotten more things for you."
"No, really, this is more than enough," May said, coming to sit down with him on a cushion, and not quite sure what else to say. The man had just spent P300,000 on her, and that was just on decorations for her home away from home, not anything they needed.
"There's something that's started to bother me since I regained my memories on the bridge, if you don't mind me chatting," Steven said. He was sitting relaxed now, with an arm resting on his propped knee, and looking up at the newly decorated walls. May audibly gulped, but she nodded in response.
"I still don't remember anything about how you saved Hoenn and became Champion," Steven explained, "so I also don't remember any of my own involvement with everything that was going on. Did I just disappear?"
May's brain hit a dead end. To her, in that moment, that seemed like an odd question. "No, you hadn't disappeared yet," May said, beginning to feel heat in her face and trying to ignore it as she replayed the scenes in her mind, "and you helped and encouraged me through everything I went through."
"I did? That at the least is some comfort, despite…me apparently still disappearing at some point," he said, his voice trailing softer in the end, "but here I'm wondering why I wasn't more involved. I was the champion. It should have been my responsibility to handle things as I saw fit and lead Hoenn in the proper direction, not yours."
"Well, you certainly gave me direction," May said. He sure did make the conversation more serious after he thoroughly spoiled her. Did he buy all these things because he felt like he needed to make up for something? "You helped me understand everything that was going on, and clearly laid out to me the options."
Steven stayed silent for a moment. "I realize it might be meaningless to only continue theorizing about it, but I can't help but feel that there was more I should have done, and at this point I don't know why I didn't try to do more."
"For whatever it's worth, not once did I think you should've done more," May responded naturally. "Things were hectic, and sometimes tensions were high, too. You," May did think carefully this time before continuing, "were probably acting within your limits."
Acting within limits? Steven repeated in his head. On one hand, it made sense to an extent. On the other, as he currently understood how events had played out, he was still having a hard time comprehending why everything had fallen on May, and why he hadn't stepped up more throughout any of it.
May's heart twisted at seeing Steven's face still contorted in thought. "Why don't we go to Route 128? That's where you met up with me after the weather became disastrous, the prophecy of what was depicted in Granite Cave."
Steven was about to agree when his Pokénav began to ring. He pulled it out of the inside of his suit jacket to answer, and sure enough, it was Wallace again.
"I hope you have good news?" Steven said to answer the call.
"Right you are," Wallace replied, "I did some thorough snooping, and I discovered who it was with clairvoyance. His name is Morty, and he's a gym leader in Ecruteak City in Johto."
May couldn't hear much of what Wallace said, but her attention was caught with the word Johto, and she tried to listen in more.
"Fantastic," Steven replied, his faith becoming restored in their adventure, "so how are we proceeding from here?"
"I managed to schedule a video phone date for you with him," Wallace continued, "All you need to do is get to a Pokémon Center at 8 o'clock tonight, and call the Ecruteak Pokémon Center. He'll be th-r- wa-t-ng, -nd –e'-l h-p-f-l- b- a-l- t- t-l- y-u t-e –o-a-i-n- o- t-e p-a-e-"
"Wallace?"
"S-e-e-? S-i-, n-t t-i- a-a-n."
Steven pulled his Pokénav away from his face to see if the call was lost, but the screen was actually covered in static.
"No…" May automatically whispered when she saw the screen after Steven lost the call, "that's probably not good."
"This is the first time my Pokénav has ever dropped a call," Steven said, still staring at the screen of the malfunctioning device.
"My Pokénav has only noticeably done that twice," May explained slowly, "when I went into the Cave of Origins, and when Mossdeep was transported to Kanto."
It only took a moment for May and Steven to exchange fretful glances before they leapt to their feet and exited the secret base. When they got outside, May was able to let go of the giant breath she was holding.
"We're…still on Route 120," she breathed in a relieved tone. They looked around, and everything looked the same. The small pond was before them, the bridge was above, and the sky was as beautifully blue and clear as ever. May took her Eon Flute out of her fanny pack to summon Latias, but when she played it, there was no response. No Eon Pokémon swirling down to them from the air. May gave Steven a worried look, and he promptly took out his own Eon Flute to summon Latios. He also failed to receive a response.
"We should travel to Southern Island to see if Latias and Latios are there," Steven said, taking a Pokéball off of his belt and taking out his Skarmory. "You still have your Eon ticket, right? Let's go to Slateport's dock and see if we can catch a ferry to Southern Island."
Steven mounted his Skarmory, and May called out her Altaria to do the same. The flight to Slateport was closer to two hours, and that would've been just a wee too long for both of them to be riding one of their own Pokémon that wasn't Latias or Latios. Their flight was uneventful, but things seemed off as soon as they got to Slateport.
May tried showing the sailor her Eon Ticket, and the sailor only eyed her suspiciously. She frowned, and held the ticket up higher, but the sailor still remained silent. "Is there someone else I need to show this ticket to?" May asked, not satisfied with the sailor's response.
"No, I know exactly what that is," the sailor replied, "but the man designated to administer that ticket has not done so yet."
"The man designated?" May repeated with scrutiny, "yeah, that's my dad, so I'm not understanding why this is an issue."
"Miss Maple, I understand that the one in charge of giving Southern Island permissions is your father," the sailor said, also acknowledging that he knew who she was, "but I have specific instructions to hold off on Southern Island right now."
"I don't understand," Steven said under his breath, so that only May could hear him, "haven't you come here with your father before?"
May turned around to face Steven so her back was towards the sailor. "Yes, but something's telling me that doesn't matter to this guy."
"Should we go see your father, then?" Steven asked.
"It's sounding like we have to," May answered, already getting her Pokéball with Altaria inside ready, "I don't like that neither Latias or Latios responded to the Eon Flutes."
Steven pulled his Pokénav out again just to check, but his eyebrows pinched together as he looked at the device. "It's still all static," he said, holding it up to show to May. May reached into her fanny pack to check her Pokénav as well, only to see that hers was also completely covered in static.
"First, we visit your father," Steven said, "and then we head to Devon to get this," he waved his Pokénav in the air, "situation figured out. There's no reason why neither of us should not be getting service right now. Not to mention…" Steven paused, and looked around the port before speaking again, "now there's something else that's bothering me. Isn't it nearly impossible for us to be in Slateport without being swarmed with the paparazzi?"
"Now that you mention it…" May muttered, now also taking a look around the port. It was nearly empty aside from them and sailors who worked at the dock, "this is unusual. You're right."
"I mean, I'm not complaining," Steven added, taking the lead to exit the building now, "but it doesn't make me feel any better about you being treated oddly here."
Just like before, May and Steven flew on their respective Pokémon, but this time to Petalburg City, and landed right next to the Pokémon Gym where May's dad worked.
"You don't want to come in with me?" May asked, noticing that Steven seemed to be lingering outside of the gym instead of following her inside.
"Ah, I think I'm just going to wait here," Steven replied in an oddly inflected tone, using a finger to loosen his ascot. He was acting oddly out of character. May stared at him as his fingers fumbled at his collar, then the buttons of his suit jacket, then his lapel…
"Steven…does my dad scare you?" May asked in a teasing voice, but also finding the question itself ridiculous, "you were the one who suggested coming to see him in the first place."
Steven's eyes snapped to May's. "What? Of course not," he cracked, his words sharper than he meant them. May's face revealed her complete disbelief in his response, but she managed a shrug.
"Okay, okay, I'll hopefully be right back," May said, and disappeared behind the gym doors.
Steven glanced around the quaint, quiet town as he stood outside the gym. He couldn't remember really ever spending a whole lot of time in Petalburg previously, but part of that was also that there really wasn't much business to be conducted there. Sure, there was the gym, but Norman was always able to commute to wherever League meetings were being held and there wasn't ever a reason to hold business in Petalburg. It was peaceful, and much less bustling than the Rustboro he was more used to frequenting, but that wasn't a bad thing.
"Steven?" a familiar voice came from behind him. He spun around, and there was May already coming back outside from the gym but…she looked different. Did her dad have a change of clothes for her?
"Did you change clothes?" Steven couldn't help but say first thing. It was peculiar; she definitely wasn't wearing green and orange before. In fact, Steven was pretty sure he had never seen that outfit on her before.
"Spend so much time in a cave that you forgot what I look like?" May taunted back, but she was brimming with so much energy that she hardly realized his question, and that's when Steven noticed that her badge case was clutched in her hand. Again, peculiar.
"So what did you figure out?" Steven tried asking instead. May really was acting strange, and he needed her to get back on task if they were going to figure out what.
May paused to think about this question this time. "I learned that no matter what, my dad just wants what's best for me, and wants to see me succeed," she said in an oddly protagonistic tone, holding her badge case to her chest and looking off to the wind. Steven was dumbfounded. What was going on with May? Her Pokénav started to ring, and when she reached to answer it she only giggled before she said, "Are you playing a joke on me, Steven? Why would you call me when you're right here?"
When Steven saw May's Pokénav though, something in his brain clicked. That was an outdated model of the Pokénav, and he didn't think he'd seen that specific one in years, let alone knew for a fact that that wasn't the one he had given to May.
He quickly whipped his Pokénav out from within his suit jacket, to see if he accidentally dialed May, but low and behold, his screens were still completely full of fuzz. And when he lifted his head in a panic to tell May that it was impossible for his Pokénav to have called her, she was already running toward Route 102.
"Well, I've got to get going, I'm meeting up with Brendan, but I'll catch you later, Steven!" May called out to him as she ran out of town. Steven was completely bewildered. This made absolutely no sense. His chest tightened. Was she playing some prank on him? Was this his punishment?
Then…no, was he seeing double? Soon to exit the gym was Norman, but behind him…was May again, back in her regular outfit, and pale as a ghost.
No.
This was not right. May had just left town. Was he dreaming?
He wasn't dreaming.
"This definitely explains it then," Norman began to confirm stone-faced as they approached Steven, "You two are not from this timeline."
