A/N I already posted this chapter, but it was real bad, so I edited it and here it is again.
"I didn't even know Charles owned a Master Ball," May said, frowning. "I hope he still has it. And if he does, I hope he'll be willing to part ways with it."
"I imagine he will," Steven said, "once he considers the present circumstances."
He sounded relaxed, composed, and not at all like someone who'd just been involved in a bitter argument.
She glanced at him. He'd retreated back underneath his mask as quickly as an Omanyte retreated back into its shell.
How easy it was for him to shut her out.
Anger stoked the fire in her.
"He will," Drake assured them. "Charles has always been the type to help people."
May redirected her focus back to the conversation. "He has, hasn't he?"
She knew this better than anyone. After all, the man in question had gladly welcomed her, Hoenn's coward of a champion, right into his home as though she'd been a long-lost daughter. And despite all he'd done to help her, she was still going to ask him for something else. No, not just something else. She was going to ask him for one of the most powerful items in existence.
She wasn't going to blame him if he said no. But she certainly wasn't going to know what to do, either.
"I'll be heading out soon to see him," she told Drake.
"And where is it that we're going?" Steven asked, making it clear that he had no intention of being left behind.
The fire within her grew. Things were not fine between them, and yet he seemed content to pretend otherwise.
She definitely preferred the Ice King he'd been to the masked stranger he was now. The former had at least been honest with her.
As much as she wanted to goad him into dropping the act, she instead decided to join him. She, too, could pretend.
"Pacifidlog," she answered as brightly as she could. "Charles is in Pacifidlog."
"Is that right?" Drake frowned. "That's where he's been all these years?"
She nodded. "He lives there with his son. Beautiful home." A note of longing dimmed the brightness in her voice. How she wished she'd never left it.
"You've been there before," Steven said.
"I have. And we could probably get there by mid-afternoon if we were to leave now."
"When?" he asked.
"Mid-afternoon," she repeated. "Maybe around two or three."
"That's not what I meant." His expression was still unreadable. "When were you in Pacifidlog?"
"The last two years."
Everyone was watching her as though she were a performer on a stage. Only Brendan appeared unfazed, his gaze still focused on the ground.
This, she realized, was her first time telling anyone where she'd gone. She hadn't exactly been keeping it a secret, but she certainly hadn't been eager to share it, either. But now that she had – and to a room full of people, no less – she knew that she could never again disappear to the house on the water.
Her sanctuary of two years, killed by a careless slip of the tongue.
"Pacifidlog," Steven said slowly, as though he'd never before spoken the word. "That whole time, you were in Pacifidlog."
"Yes."
His reaction surprised her. He laughed.
"What's so funny?" she demanded when, after a few long seconds, he showed no sign of letting up.
"Nothing, nothing." His laughter ceased, but he still grinned as though she'd just cracked a joked.
"Doesn't seem like nothing to me."
At the sight of her expression, he tried to hide his grin in a cough. "It's just… How should I explain this?"
She waited.
The explanation he settled on was, "The world really is much smaller than I'd originally thought."
He'd said the same thing at the Devon Party. Why he found it humorous now, she had no idea.
Frustrated, she directed her attention to someone else.
"Winona," she called.
The gym leader had already been listening to the conversation. "Yes?"
"How much do you trust your students?"
"How much do I…?" Winona blinked and shook her head. "I trust my students one-hundred percent."
Around her, her students stood a little taller.
"Do you trust them enough to handle the evacuation while you join in the search for Wally?" May asked.
Winona's answer was immediate. "Yes."
"Great." May turned back to Drake. "I realize now that it was counterproductive to have created boundaries within a search party. From now on, there will be no assigned areas. You and the rest of the Elite can use your own intuitions to search wherever you see fit, just as I've been doing."
Drake nodded. There was a light of approval in his eyes. "Understood."
"And spread the word: all gym leaders are to join in the search, too. If Fortree's gym has taught me anything today, it's that its students are more than capable of watching over the towns while their leaders are away."
She looked at Steven, who'd finally wiped the smirk off his face. He was watching her, his eyes alight with the same quiet approval that shone in Drake's.
And for the first time since embarking on this crazy, exhausting journey, she felt like she was doing something right.
"Why didn't you teach Ali to fly?" May asked Lisia as Salamence carried them across the sky.
Lisia tightened her grip on May's shoulders. "Just because."
Before they'd left, Winona had given Lisia two things: the HM containing Fly, and the Feather Badge.
"I know we didn't battle," Winona had said, "but I want you to have this badge. You won't be able to teach your Altaria to fly without it."
Lisia had held the items in her palms without curling her fingers around them. "Why are you giving me these?"
"So that you'll be able to take yourself to safety if the situation calls for it. And look," she'd added before Lisia could say anything. "I know you don't want my help after… everything. I understand. But don't do this for me. Do this for your family. Please."
But the HM remained in Lisia's bag, unused.
The guys and their pokémon were flying just to their right. Brendan glanced over at Lisia, who quickly looked to her left.
May rubbed the side of her head. Their group was in shambles. Steven's humor had long vanished, leaving him as reserved as he'd been before he'd found the idea of Pacifidlog so funny. Their earlier argument had yet to be resolved, and by the look of things, so did Lisia and Brendan's.
The tension weighed on all of them like a sack of bricks.
Another hour of silent flying passed before they made it to the town.
Salamence landed on the dock supporting Charles' house. She and Lisia dismounted while the guys landed their pokémon on neighboring docks.
May closed her eyes and pulled in as much of the salty sea air that her lungs would allow. She wished she could stay, but knew that she couldn't.
She opened her eyes. Strange, she thought as she looked around. Nobody was outside today. On a day like this, with the sun high and bright, most of the locals would have been out for an afternoon swim.
"Return, Salamence." May withdrew him, and then walked right into the house. Lisia followed close behind.
"Charles?" May called. "Are you in here? It's me, May."
Silence.
"Charles?" she tried again. "Gus? Anyone home?"
More silence.
Her forehead started to dampen. "Where are they?" she asked, more to herself than to her friend.
"Maybe they went out for the day," Lisia offered.
"That's just the thing. They never go out." She walked further into the house.
They weren't in the living room or the kitchen. Nor were they in any of the upstairs bedrooms.
She raced for the front door as Brendan and Steven walked inside.
"Geez, May!" Brendan stepped aside just before she could barrel into him.
Steven caught her by the shoulders. He studied her face. "What's wrong?"
"They're not here," she said, quickly stepping out of his grasp. "Why aren't they here? They're always here."
They were gone. Her second family was gone.
"We've only just gotten here," Steven said. "Let's keep looking."
But every house was also vacant. Nobody was here. Pacifidlog had become a ghost town.
May assumed the worst. "What if Wally attacked them?" she asked nobody in particular as she paced back and forth across one of the docks. "What if they got hurt? There's no gym here to protect them. And I didn't even think about having someone come out here to patrol the area. I'm such an idiot."
"You're not an idiot," Brendan said. "Dense, yeah, but not an idiot."
"Dense," Lisia repeated without looking at him. "Yeah, that's what every girl wants to be called when she's clearly freaking out. Real helpful, Brendan."
Brendan turned to her. "I said I was sorry, Liz. What do I have to do to make it up to you?"
Lisia didn't appear to have heard him.
May was still pacing. "They're gone. Charles, Gus, Lane… They're all gone."
Her breathing started to hitch.
"No, you don't." Steven caught her by the shoulders again.
If he noticed how she stiffened underneath his touch, he didn't show it.
"They're fine, May."
"You don't know that."
"No," he agreed calmly. "I don't."
As usual, Steven could lay her fears to rest. But where she usually felt calmness, anger took its place.
Was he really going to keep pretending that they were okay?
She was sick of this. She was sick of feeling like the crazy one while he pretended that nothing ever affected him.
He must've sensed her anger, because when he spoke again, his voice had softened.
"Look around you, May. Does this look like a town that's been attacked?"
She reached up to push his hands off her shoulders. "I'm just worried that they -"
His hands grabbed her wrists. "Does it?"
"No," she said reluctantly. "It doesn't."
In fact, the town appeared as though it had been exited in an orderly fashion. All the lights were off, and all the beds were made. There was even a Closed sign hanging outside the pokécenter's front entrance.
"But we still don't know where everyone is," May continued, "or why they left."
He let her go when she stepped back.
"Who are you calling?" he asked as she dug out her nav.
"The police."
The next few hours reaped no new information. The police were just as baffled as her by the vacant town. A squad did another search of the houses, dove underwater, and made calls to every town and city in Hoenn. Still, nobody had seen nor heard from Pacifidlog's residents.
"Keep searching for them," May told the squad. "Our search for these people is just as important as our search for the blue orb. And please notify the Elite Four and all the gym leaders. The search for one boy has now increased to an entire town."
"Yes, Champion May." The police took to the air.
"Okay," Brendan said to her. "Now what?"
"Now I join in the search."
"But it's late."
"Search parties don't have curfews. And besides, now we have far more to look for than just Wally." She paused. "Where are Lisia and Steven?"
"Liz has been cooped up in there." He pointed at Lane's house. "And Steven just went inside the former champ's house. You don't think these people will mind that we've all but moved in, do you?"
"I'm sure Lane and Charles wouldn't mind," she said. "Did you and Lisia make up yet?"
Brendan rubbed the back of his head. "Er, no."
"Oh. Sorry."
"It's alright. We've had arguments here and there before, so this isn't our first rodeo." He gave a smile that was much too small to be genuine.
"Brendan. What happened today wasn't your fault. Wally was way too fast – there's no way you would have been able to stop him."
"But I still should have done something. Winona did." He ran a hand through his hair. "Maybe I chose the wrong path."
"What are you talking about?"
"I just think that maybe I shouldn't have become…" He gestured at his tucked-in shirt, trousers, and leather shoes. "This."
"You… you regret becoming a professor?"
"Well, what good is it if it hasn't made me strong enough to protect the ones I love?"
This was coming from a boy who, before now, had never let anything, not even a defeat in battle, even scrape the surface of his confidence. Hearing him sound so insecure was no less shocking to her than when Steven had sounded the same.
"Brendan, you can't let one incident make you rethink everything you've become. You're a great professor, and you are strong."
He turned his head to stare into the dark ocean waters. "Sometimes, I wonder how much stronger I would've been if I'd stayed a trainer."
She often wondered that, too. But he didn't need to know that now.
He looked back at her. "Do you think she'll forgive me?"
"For what happened with Wally, yes. For what happened with Winona…" She hesitated. "I don't know."
He released a heavy breath as though he'd been holding it in this whole time. "Alright. I'm gonna go talk to her."
She released an equally heavy breath. "And I suppose I should go talk to Steven."
"Why do you say that?"
"Haven't you noticed? Me and Steven aren't exactly on the best terms right now."
His brows shot up. "Wait, really? What happened?"
"After you and Lisia left the Weather Institute, we got into a… a bit of a spat."
"Over what?"
"Conflict of interests."
"Huh. I would never have guessed. I mean, I did think you looked pretty tense today, but he seemed perfectly fine."
"I know," May grumbled. "It's annoying."
Brendan grinned. "You guys will be just fine."
"I hope so."
"You will." He turned to go, paused, and then pulled her in for a quick hug. "Thanks, May."
She hugged him back. "Anytime."
She saw Steven as soon as she walked into Charles' house. He had his back to her as he rifled through the contents of his backpack. A single oil lamp had been lit, enveloping him within a pocket of glowing amber.
The last time she was in this town, Steven Stone had been just a fond and distant memory. She never would've guessed that he would one day be in this very house, that he would one day come to mean so much more to her.
"We need to talk," she said.
He didn't say anything, and her heart began to race. Did he intend to keep pretending like nothing had happened today?
Finally, he answered. "I know." He tossed his bag onto the ground and turned around to look at her. "I am sorry for the way I spoke to you today. I didn't mean to be so terrible."
She waited for him to offer more. An explanation perhaps, or maybe another round of icy words.
Instead, he was content to allow more silence to fill the space between them. She, however, was not.
"Is that it?" she demanded. "Is that all you're going to say?"
"What else do you want me to say?"
"You're not going to tell me that I pissed you off today?"
"I was actually angrier with myself than I was with you."
"Well, I really can't say the same. You really upset me today."
"I know. I'm sorry."
"Stop that," she snapped. "Stop apologizing and fight back."
He blinked. "Why?"
"Because I know you were also upset, but you keep pretending like you weren't."
"I was upset, yes, but I was also wrong, and I see no reason to try to justify my terrible behavior."
"Okay, well, I was wrong, too, but I'm still angry at you."
"I know."
Exasperated, she threw her hands up. "You're allowed to feel, Steven. You don't have to keep making an effort to look so calm all the time. Not for me. I'm not your father, and I'm not Wallace. You can let me in."
And just like that, his mask came off. The look he gave her was one full of surprise, as though he were just noticing that she was in the room.
Finally, he was showing something.
She watched as the surprise settled into quiet consideration.
"I can't always help it." His voice sounded small within the dark and empty house. "But just know that it's never been my intention to shut you out."
"Then talk to me. Tell me how upset you were."
He walked around the coffee table to sit on the sofa. He looked at the ground. "Very," he said.
Okay, she thought. This was a start.
She walked over and sat next to him. "Tell me what it was that upset you."
"There were a lot of things, May."
"Alright. So tell me."
He leaned back, his gaze moving from the floor to the ceiling. "Listening to you talk like a martyr was one."
"And when I let Wally get away is another, I'm assuming."
He turned his head to throw her a sharp glance. "You didn't let Wally get away."
"But you were still angry."
"Well, watching you drown certainly didn't do anything to lift my spirits."
"Almost drown," she corrected. "Thanks to you."
He rubbed his face. "Don't thank me. I knew it would end badly as soon as you went in the water, but as usual, I didn't do anything."
She lifted her arms and then dropped them onto her lap. "And that, Steven, is exactly what upset me today."
"The fact that I didn't do anything?"
"No, the fact that you keep saying it."
"But it's true."
"No, it's not. And I don't know what I have to say to make you believe me." She turned toward him, bracing an elbow against the top of a cushion. "Do you want me to list out all the ways you've helped me?"
"You won't end up with a very long list," he said dryly.
"I'll take that as a yes." She turned forward again and folded her arms across her chest.
"You gave me the meteorite," she started. "And you defended me against Wally's family, even though what they said was true."
He opened his mouth to say something, but she kept going.
"You had your Metagross block the paparazzi in Mauville, and then had your Skarmory save me from Wally in Fortree.
"And you make me feel… I don't know. Calm. You've talked me from the ledge so many times." She looked at him. The silver in his eyes was vast in its depths, taking in her every word.
"I never meant to make you feel useless, Steven, but just know that I do rely on you. And I'm going to start relying on everyone else, too. I know that I can't do this on my own."
"Does this mean that you're going to stop throwing yourself into danger?" he asked, his voice considerably softer than when he'd last spoken.
"No," she said, "but it does mean that I'm going to take you all with me when I do."
"Good." He closed his eyes for a moment, and then stood up and scooped his bag off the floor. "Well, then. I suppose it's time to head out."
She felt the blood leave her face. Everything she'd just said hadn't been enough to make things right between them.
He was leaving her. Again.
She felt him sit beside her again.
"You're breathing heavily again." He took her hand in his. "What's wrong?"
She turned to look at him, her neck as stiff as though it were in a cast. "Where are you going this time?"
His brows pulled together. "This time?"
"Are you going back to Kalos?" she asked. "Or another region?"
His brows were still furrowed in confusion. Then, understanding slowly straightened them out.
"May," he said slowly. "Do you think I'm leaving you?"
"Aren't you?"
"No."
"But you just said that it was time to head out."
"Yes. To join the search. With you."
"Oh. Um. I didn't think that's what you'd meant." Obviously. "It's just… You usually try to get me to rest before we head out."
"I would certainly like you to," he said. "But after everything that happened today, I assumed that there would be nothing I could say to convince you to stay here for even a little while."
Relief poured into her. He wasn't leaving. "You assumed right," she said.
He didn't appear to share her relief. On the contrary, he looked troubled.
"May." His hand tightened around hers. "I won't leave you. Not again."
The powerful depth of his words brought color into her face. "I-I didn't mean to imply that you absolutely had to stay," she stammered. "If you did want to leave, then that would be your decision, not mine."
"You're right. But I've decided that I'm not going anywhere. So don't you leave again, either, or I'll be forced to find you."
She turned her face to the side before he could see the color there intensify.
He released her hand and looked around the room.
"But to think you were here this whole time..." He grinned.
She turned her head back. "Steven. Tell me why it's so funny to you that I was in Pacifidlog."
"Because this is the one place I didn't think to look for you."
Her heart skipped a beat. "You looked for me?"
"I did."
He looked for you, May.
Brendan had been telling the truth.
"Where did you look?" she couldn't help but ask.
"Everywhere, May. I looked everywhere for you." He was still smiling, but his eyes belonged to a man in pain. "I went into every cave, through every forest, up every mountain, to find even a sign that you had been there. I must've looked ridiculous, flying over the country with a set of binoculars." He gave a short, hard laugh. "Your friends didn't know where you'd gone, and I couldn't bring myself to ask your parents. Not when I was the one who'd left you to suffer."
"That's not true," she said, though her throat had become too dry to give any strength to her words.
"But then," he continued, "there was news about you. Finally. They'd said that you'd been spotted in Kalos. So I went. For a week, I did there what I had done here – I looked for you. I came back for the party only to appease my father, but I was making plans to go back to Kalos. And that, May, is when you finally appeared."
His smile turned bitter. "So, yes. I find it funny that you were safely tucked away in a nice home while I nearly drove myself to the brink of insanity, wondering where you were and if you were safe, for an entire year."
She swallowed. "Once I came back," she said, "why didn't you ask me where I'd gone?"
"Because it didn't matter. Because once I saw you, I vowed that I would never let you disappear again." He frowned. "So I'm sure that you can imagine my distress once you left the party without a single word."
"Steven. It wasn't your fault that I disappeared. There was no need for you to… to guilt yourself into looking for me."
His eyes flashed. "You think that's why I looked for you?"
"Well, why else?"
He took her chin back in his hand. "You really have no idea, do you?"
Before she could ask him what he meant, his mouth was on hers.
Shock came first. And then, nothing but warmth.
Once again, he'd ignited a flame inside her. But this time, the heat did not explode into a firestorm of anger and hostility. Instead, it made her feel as though she were glowing on the inside, like the light from a thousand Volbeat had been placed right underneath her heart.
She'd been waiting for this kiss. She just hadn't known it until now.
A small noise escaped her throat. She wasn't sure if it was a laugh or a cry.
Steven pulled back. "Is this unpleasant for you?" he asked, his voice low and hoarse.
"No." Her voice was little more than a gasp. "No, not at all. I just –"
His mouth reclaimed hers. One hand tangled into her hair, the other pressed against her lower back. She was trapped against him, but she didn't necessarily want to be free.
She'd been kissed before this. Her first time had been a quick, dry peck with a boy back in Johto, and as such, she'd equated the act of kissing to something fun, lighthearted, and innocent.
But this was something else entirely. Something fierce, hungry, and all-consuming.
She wondered, through the haze in her mind, how he'd learned to kiss like this.
The thought of Annette Harrison hit her like a splash of ice water.
She pushed against his chest. He released her immediately.
"What's wrong?" he asked, slightly breathless.
"Are you dating Annette Harrison?"
"Am I what?"
"Annette Harrison," she repeated. "Are you dating her?"
"I'm sorry." He shook his head. "I'm confused."
"Just tell me: yes or no."
"Where on earth did this come from?"
"Can you just answer, please?"
"Of course I'm not dating Annette Harrison."
"But have you ever dated her?"
"What is this about, May?"
She grit her teeth. "Have you ever dated Annette Harrison, Steven?"
"No."
"Then why does she know that you like black coffee?"
He looked even more confused. "What?"
Frustrated, she stood up and started pacing away.
He was right on her heels. He caught her by the shoulder and turned her around.
"I'm trying to understand what this is about, May, I really am. But I could use a little help. Tell me why we're discussing Annette Harrison."
"Just…" She stepped out of his grasp. "There's just always seemed to be something more between you two, and I'd rather not be kissed by someone who's already in a relationship."
He arched a brow. "Can you explain what you mean by 'something more'?"
Did he really have to ask? "At the Devon Party, and in Mauville, you two were just so… physical."
"May." The corners of his mouth twitched. "Are you jealous?"
"What? No." She waved her hands in front of her. "Like I said, I just don't want to kiss anyone who might be involved with someone else."
His smile was growing. "I think you're jealous."
"I think you're wrong."
"I think not." He leaned in and kissed her.
She turned her head away. "Don't kiss me if you're going to make fun of me."
"I'm not making fun of you. I actually think you're being quite adorable."
"See? You're making fun of me." She pushed at him.
He didn't budge. "How did you know that Annette knows my coffee preferences?"
"Because she bought you a cup when we were in Mauville."
"No, she didn't."
"She did. I was supposed to deliver it for her, but I threw it away."
"Is that right?" His eyes danced with amusement. "Such a waste. I would've enjoyed it, too."
She really didn't see the humor in any of this. "Tell me how she knows you like black coffee."
"Probably because I met her at a coffee shop."
"For a date?"
He grinned. "I never would've thought I'd enjoy seeing you so jealous."
"I'm not jealous. Please answer the question."
"It wasn't a date. I was there, and she was there. That's all. And this was years ago."
"Still," she said. "Annette really likes you. You do know that, don't you?"
"I do. And I've told her what my feelings are."
"Which are?"
He kissed the side of her face. "That I've always really liked someone else."
