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Chapter Three: the Good, the Bad, and the Astronomer

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If there was one thing that Latias was good at, it was making an entrance. Several civilians and pokemon scattered as the Latias came to a slow in the middle of a park directly opposite from the Devon Labs skyscraper. "Thank you!" he called as she soared away. She roared in response, and soon the beautiful creature was over the mountains and out of his sight.

Steven ran a quick comb through his hair and returned it to his pocket, putting on his best cool face and demeanor. He was sure his eyes looked like shit, what with being both hungover and having just had cried, but he had some huge bug-eye sunglasses for that. Even if he didn't, he felt so confident that he felt like he could do anything. All thoughts of May were immediately whisked away as if Latias had taken them with her.

He strolled through the doors of the lab with hands in pockets and little Amelie merrily trailing behind him. A long haired female doctor looking very sour who he recognized as Doctor Jang was lecturing a smaller, greasy male doctor in sign language in the corner. It must have been Doctor Chevalier, or Uncle Chev as he and his friends affectionately called him.

Doctor Paisley was at the end of the room, frantic as usual. His puffy, curly hair bounced as he hopped from desk to desk, a purple pen in one hand and a coffee mug in the other.

"The good doctor!" Steven greeted him cheerily.

Paisley jumped in surprise and turned to him. "Oh, it's you," he said, looking relieved. "You sound so much like your father these days I almost didn't recognize it was you, Mr. Stone. Only you're a bit more of a baritone than your father."

Steven smiled and thought of his days of being a choir tenor. He hadn't been in a choir in years, but he was pleased at the thought of singing a lower part. He'd always envied those who could. "How are the new running shoes coming along, doctor?"

Steven's happiness must've been contagious because the head doctor returned his smile. "Doing marvelously, sir. Take a look here..." Paisley beckoned him over with his coffee mug and Steven obliged. On a perfectly round glass table were two racks of test tubes, each filled with a slightly different color. Steven was confused. There should have only been one rack.

"I had an epiphany, sir," he started. "Running shoes 2.0 was a huge step- no pun intended- for Devon. It would be the fastest shoe on the market, nothing Silph could catch up with in years. But this idea that came to me well, it would revolutionize travel forever. I call it the Jumping Shoe."

"The Jumping Shoe?" Ah, so that's what the heel was. A spring.

"Quite right. This shoe would help you be able to go quite literally where no man has gone before without the help of Pokemon or without traveling great distances."

"Great work!" Steven usually didn't really care about this sort of thing, but Paisley sure was happy about it. Plus, this new invention did come about under his authority and that would certainly give him points with his father and hopefully help him leave this place as soon as possible to continue his archaeological work. "I fully approve! Continue work and we'll grant you the money you need to make this happen." Ugh, work speak. "If that's all, it was great seeing you. If you'll excuse me..."

"Ah, ah, ah, Mr. Stone," he chided. "You know the rules. Yearly checkup time." And as if rehearsed, Dr. Seitan crawled from the depths of the underworld. Well, he probably crawled from the depths of the underworld this morning to go to work. Really he just came out of his office, but he had that certain demonic look in his dark eyes that sent shivers all the way down Steven's spine.

"Mr. Stone," he hissed delightedly in his strange accent. "Right on time. If you are ready, please step inside." He curled his already disfigured face into a sort of snarl. "And... that one stays." He pointed at Amelie. She whimpered. If Paisley was the good doctor, that made Seitan the bad one.

I will never be ready, Steven thought, but it wasn't like he had a choice in the matter, much like everything else in his life. So he took a deep breath and stepped through the gates of hell.

The room smelled like a mixture of bleach and rubbing alcohol. Steven was used to clean quarters but this was uncomfortably sterile. The walls were an unsettling mint green, and there was a single hospital bed in the center. "Change into," the doctor commanded and threw him a dress that matched the walls. So much for his fancy suit.

After a while of ungraceful changing and grumpy muttering, Steven reluctantly knocked on the door to let the devil back in. He sat down on a sickly green leather chair, and faced his peril.

"Glasses off," he commanded. Steven hesitantly obeyed. The room wasn't that bright luckily, but it was still painful.

The doctor checked his teeth first. "Brush them more often," he said. When Steven was home he sometimes brushed them three times a day, but there wasn't much he could do when he was rock climbing. "Do you floss?"

Steven made a face and shrugged, and was met by an unamused glare.

Next he did his vitals. "All healthy," he said. Steven's good mood was deteriorating with each test.

"Take a deep breath."

"Tell me if this hurts."

"Ow!"

"Okay."

"Kick."

Scribble.

Test after test after test.

Poke. "Ow!" This man had to have taken pleasure in his work.

"Alcohol level in bloodstream is... unnaturally high."

Gulp.

Scribble.

More tests.

"Finish."

"Ugh- wait, really?" Steven's eyes glimmered with hope.

"Wait- I lie."

"Oh, f- OW!"

"Now done."

Steven breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank Arceus."

Seitan chuckled low, which snapped Steven alert again and made the hairs on the back of his neck bristle. He walked over and jabbed Steven in the arm with his bony finger. Steven's hand instinctively covered the stinging spot. "You are get a bit more muscle, Mr. Stone. Must be from rock looking for, yes?"

Shiver. "Yes, doctor. Now if you will excuse me, I'd like to get dressed."

"Riiight," he drug out for a little too long and slipped out the door like the slimy slug he was.

What a creep. Steven hurriedly pulled on his clothes and left without looking back.

Steven's eyes stung. Everything in the office was a blur of bright light now. He was almost to the door when something suddenly blocked his way. He stopped dead in his path. No, no no...

"Hey, Steven!"

Wait. He recognized that voice. Steven rubbed his eyes and donned his sunglasses. Grey hair, round glasses, kind smile...

"Doctor Cozmo!" Steven was elated. Even living in Canyonville Steven rarely got to see Cozmo in person. It was usually just his grunts.

"Hey there, kiddo. Just coming by to drop off the recent lunar readings. It looks like there's a bit of extra activity and that's why I wanted to come here in person. I'll notify you if it turns out to be important, but really I'm just getting a second opinion."

"Oh, okay." Out of the corner of his eye he could see Seitan rushing toward him. He was calling his name. "Uh, sorry to cut this short, but I'm really late for a meeting, so... I have to go." Steven started backing up, fear in his eyes.

"Always so busy... but aren't we all?" Cozmo chuckled. "Well, you take care, now."

"Thanks, you too!" Steven said too quickly and pushed through the doors. Seitan was now yelling at him to stay put. He stopped and spun around on the sidewalk. "Cozmo!" he called.

The doctor turned around.

"Come visit more often." Steven smiled warmly. Cozmo returned the smile and carried on with his business. Seitan was now jogging.

Steven took off into a sprint. He thought of the Eon Flute in his pocket. Well, if it worked once it'll work again, he thought. He considered himself lucky to be in such good shape, otherwise playing the flute while running would have been a huge pain.

Amelie was barking beside him and panting, going as fast as her tiny stub legs could take her. "Arceus, Amelie!" Steven was grateful that the Aron was still a baby, weighing in at around 130lbs instead of upwards of 800. A glint came from the mountains. Latias had come back for him. He was so grateful. He was certain he would've been caught before long running from six-and-a-half foot tall Seitan, being only 5'9 himself. He always supposed he got his height from his mother's side since his father was barely 5'3.

The mighty roar echoed over Rustboro. Though flying pokemon and their loud noises weren't uncommon, onlookers from all directions turned their heads up to see what all the commotion was about. Steven furrowed his brow. Something about this roar was different. Something about it was... deeper.

In an instant the creature was beside him. It was the same build as Latias, sure. Broad wings, snow white back... but it was not her. "Latios?!" This day was full of surprises. The way the Eon Flute worked was it would call whichever pokemon was closest, either Latios or Latias. This meant that either Latias was hurt and couldn't come to his aide or... it meant that May was nearby. While Steven set Latias free to roam the word as she pleased, he was almost certain that May kept Latios close.

He shook his head. Getting lost in daydreams wouldn't help him. Steven grabbed Amelie and flung her onto Latios' back, then hopped on him himself. "Let's go!" he called, and in an instant they were soaring, only narrowly escaping the clutches of Doctor Seitan. Steven couldn't help but snicker, watching Seitan jump and yell and get smaller and smaller as he was whisked away.

Now that that crisis was averted, there was one more to be dealt with. "Latios..." he murmured, rubbing the great beast's head. "Will you take me home? And... where's May?"

Latios made a deep rumbling sound. He knew it to be a sound of contentment, which helped Steven's mind rest a little bit easier... but his heart? It seemed like it was beating a mile a minute.

Hmm...

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