A/N: Hey guys. My apologies for the wait. I've had a long and stressful week because of a week-long school event that I was in charge of. A friend of mine was also in the hospital and is now struggling to be back at school, so I've been helping her a lot. On top of that, there was that whole Valentine's Day thing, which was actually a two-day long event for my boyfriend and I (because of having to go to dinner Friday because we couldn't get reservations Saturday), lol.
Anyways. I'm not a huge fan of this chapter, but it's necessary because it leads up to the next chapter, which I've had planned out since I started this fic. The next chapter will follow immediately after the contents of this chapter, so maybe I'll start writing that after this is posted. As always, thank you so much to everybody for the support- especially the reviewers.
I hope you enjoy!
Rnnnnng.
Steven rolled over in bed, squeezed his eyes tighter together, and pulled the pillow against his face. There was no way his phone was ringing this early. It was obviously just a dream.
Rnnnnnnnnnnng!
Without opening his eyes, he let his hand flop around wildly on the bedside table until his fingers managed to curl around his vibrating phone. He dropped it onto the pillow next to his ear and hit the talk button.
"Hello?" he mumbled sleepily, and cleared his throat.
"Hello, is this Steven Stone?" a strong, feminine voice asked.
Steven opened his eyes and blinked in the darkness around him. "Yes, who this?"
"This is Winona from the Pokemon gym in Fortree City."
Steven stiffened. Though he was tired and a bit irritated, he knew it wouldn't be smart for a Devon representative to get on the bad side of a gym leader. "Oh, hello. My sincere apologies, but... is this urgent, or could it wait until a bit later?"
A long pause came from the other end of the phone until Winona, sounding a bit amused, said, "Mr. Stone, if you were planning to go back to sleep, I hope you know that it's nearly noon."
Steven shot up, fingers scrambling to bring the phone up with him, his eyes flying to the digital clock on his nightstand. 11:53. Huh. Guess I needed the rest more than I realized, Steven thought.
He cleared his throat once more, making his voice sound slightly deeper. "Yes, of course... Er... what was it you needed, exactly?"
Winona chuckled, and Steven could feel his face heat up. "There's been cases of mysterious invisible blockings popping up all over town. In fact, there's one in front of my gym. I haven't had a challenger in days because none of them can get here! The only reason I'm able to leave is because of my flying Pokemon, but trainers who challenge my gym can't use the move fly yet, so..." Steven coughed, and she took the hint and got back on track. "Anyways, I was told that Devon Corp might have something to help with seeing these things so we know how to dispose of them."
Steven thought about it. Mysterious invisible blockages? That sounded like the Kecleon incident that occurred in Lilycove City a few months back... "Yes, that's right," he said. "I believe the item you need is the Devon Scope. We have one on hand at our main Devon location and can have it out to Fortree within the hour."
"Excellent. Should I expect a Devon worker, or...?"
Steven tugged at a messy lock of hair, contemplating it. On one hand, it would be nice to just send a worker to do it so he could go back to bed. On the other, he had spent too many of his teenage years being a useless member of society and sleeping all day, and he wasn't ready to repeat that habit now at age twenty-one. And he did have his motives for going to Fortree.
It had been two weeks since he had seen May, and there was a chance that she might be in Fortree City around now. Knowing May, she would have breezed through the gym and been out of the town a week before, but if no one was able to access the gym, there was a chance that May was halted in the town. Steven had something to give her- something he had managed to pry out of the hands of the Devon scientists.
Steven swung his legs over the side of the bed and sighed into the phone. "No, you can expect me."
He could hear the sly smile in Winona's voice as she said, "Thank you very much, Mr. Stone," before hanging up and leaving Steven with a click.
May arrived at the bridge as if on cue.
Though Steven had been hopefully anticipating her arrival, he still didn't turn around when he heard footsteps squishing on the damp ground behind him. He was too eager- and too afraid of the disappointment that would ensue if it wasn't her.
But still, a second later, her voice hesitantly called, "Steven?" and he turned around as if in surprise. Above them, the sky was darkening. Thunder echoed in the distance. It would rain soon.
"Oh, hello, May," he said, still feigning shock. "What are you doing here?"
She was wearing her normal travel clothes, and her pigtails were as perfect as always- bow tied tight and neat on top. But her skin was paler than usual. Her bright eyes looked a bit glazed over. One hand was raised in the air in surprise, and the other was curling tightly into the fabric of her shorts.
The look only lasted before she shut her eyes with a giant grin, tilting her head and saying, "I'm in town to challenge the gym leader!" She opened her eyes again, frowning. "But nobody's been able to get to the gym..."
Steven didn't even hear her words. He was too busy checking out her overall appearance. A vein in her neck was visible even from his position several feet away. Her normally-confident stance was replaced by one that left her half-slumped over, with her feet facing inwards towards each other. Steven frowned, practically feeling his heart sink into his chest. "May, are you… okay?" he asked in a low voice.
A look of surprise passed over her face before she quickly replaced it with one of happiness. It sent shivers down Steven's spine as he realized how easily she could fake a joyful expression. "Yeah!" May said with a grin. "I'm-" she broke off coughing, as if her body had realized her lie and was accepting it no longer.
Steven was there in an instant, one arm wrapped around her and the hand of the other one rubbing her back as she came down from the coughing fit. As soon as it was over, she looked up at him, her eyes watering a bit, and he jumped back. "Sorry…" he mumbled, his cheeks a bit flushed. She didn't say anything, looking down at her feet. "May, what… happened? Are you sick?"
She forced a smile once more, and something inside of Steven wanted to scream at her to stop. "Oh, no. I was just… on the bad side of a poison attack. My body's been having a bad reaction to it, that's all. I'm sure I'll be fine within a few days, like my Pokemon."
Steven wanted to hold her again, hating seeing the broken look in her eyes behind the smile. He had a million questions to ask her, but he felt as though he wouldn't like the answer to any of them. He was already burning with rage inside at the idea of her getting hurt during a Pokemon battle. "How long ago was that?" he demanded, and May flinched slightly at his tone.
"Just, uh… a week…"
Steven's eyes widened. "A week?"
"Maybe ten days," she whispered meekly.
Steven was pretty sure his heart stopped completely there. "May, are you serious?" She was shaking slightly, looking at him with a bit of fear. "Dear Arceus. I need to get you to a hospital..."
Her eyes widened, and she quickly shook her head. "No, no. I'm fine, Steven! Really!"
Before Steven could say anything in response, May said, "Oh!" and Steven could see the subject change before she spoke another word. He frowned, even as a genuine smile came to her face as she said, "You'll never guess what Pokemon I caught!"
Steven, though he still had a feeling of dread in his chest, forced a smile onto his face. "What?"
"I'll show you," May said slyly, running past him and further onto the bridge as she threw a Pokeball into the air.
Steven's eyes widened as the Latios materialized. He had read much about them, but never dreamed of seeing one in person. His jaw dropped as the legendary dragon flew towards May and bumped its nose against her face, forcing the weak girl back a few steps as she laughed. "Easy, Lati," she said quietly, smiling.
She turned back to Steven, keeping one hand on the neck of the Pokemon. Latios continued to nudge May with its head. Steven couldn't believe the affection that the legendary seemed to have for the girl- and so soon! "I was protecting Latios when I got hurt," she explained. The Pokemon cried out, sounding sad. "Shhh, it's okay," May assured it, stroking its neck. "It was worth it," she said with a grin, looking back to Steven.
"May, I can't believe… You…" Steven trailed off, at a loss for words. There had never been instances of regular trainers forming a bond with legendary Pokemon- well, not in Hoenn, at least. Legendaries were recognized as something to respect and fear. Their ultimate power was supposed to be far too strong for a normal trainer to conquer.
But May had defied that, as she did so many other things.
"You're going to be unstoppable now," Steven said, smiling. He curled his fingers against his leg. But you're also going to be a target.
May frowned at that, looking back up at Latios, who was cooing. "I wouldn't say that," she said. "Latios is still a baby. It's amazingly strong, but still low-leveled. We're going to have to train a lot if I want to use it in battle against the Champion. For now, though," she glanced down at her feet, one of which she was shifting back and forth, "I'm going to avoid using Lati in high-profile battles. Gym battles, I mean. I don't want to… draw unnecessary attention."
So May had thought that through, then. Steven had to remind himself that she was a lot smarter than he gave her credit for. Smart and strong. Unstoppable.
"You're right," Steven said, his expression darkening again. "Team Magma already wants your head, May. Don't give them any more reason to increase their efforts."
May frowned and looked ready to respond, but this time, it was Steven's turn to change the subject. He reached into his messenger bag and brought out the Devon Scope, which diverted May's attention enough for her to drop the topic.
"What's that?" she asked curiously, standing on her toes and leaning forward to look.
Steven smiled. "Walk down to the end of the bridge," he instructed calmly.
May raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Uh... okay?" she said hesitantly. She called back Latios before making her way down the rope bridge.
Steven counted down in his head as May hesitantly walked away, her feet still squishing on the wet wood. Three, two…
May hit the invisible blockage with a cry of, "Oh!" and a quick jump back. One.
She turned back to look at Steven in confusion. "It's… like the thing in front of the gym," she called, sounding surprised. "But, what am I supposed to…?"
Steven tossed the Devon Scope towards her, thanking Arceus that she had gotten good hand-eye coordination skills over the past few months of her journey- otherwise, he might have seen the technology toppling over the side of the bridge and into the river below. She started to raise it hesitantly to her face, more confidently when Steven nodded at her. She held the Scope to her eyes and looked towards the blockage. Immediately, she set it on the ground- practically dropping it, which made Steven cringe- so she could whip out her Pokedex with one hand and a Pokeball with the other.
The Kecleon must have realized that it had been spotted, for it changed back to its normal color and let out a cry of anger. "It's a Kecleon," May said in wonder, mostly to herself. Steven smiled and shifted his weight onto the other foot, happy that he was going to get to witness May battling again.
May tucked her Pokedex back into her pocket and threw the Pokeball. Steven expected to see Latios again, but instead, he was met with a Pokemon of May's that he had not known she had: an Absol. She must have just caught it recently, then. Steven knew there were some areas around her where they could be found. The thing landed in front of her and threw its head back, snarling. Steven's eyes widened at its immediate aggressiveness, but he could hear May laughing gleefully.
She threw her hand out in front of her as she yelled, "Absol, use thunder!"
Steven jumped back in shock as the Pokemon channeled the the electricity forming in the air from the coming storm. A thunder bolt materialized and struck the Kecleon directly. The poor Pokemon didn't even have the chance to attack before it was crying out and retreating into the forest.
Steven could hear May laughing and thanking the dark Pokemon as she called it back into its Pokeball. He was still in shock from the sudden and powerful move that May had chosen to use. She couldn't have used something like… bite? Or slash? The ground around where the Kecleon had been standing was black and singed, smoke curling into the air.
May returned to their conversation spot, bouncing on her toes. There was a newfound air of excitement surrounding her, likely from the adrenaline that came from battle. Steven wondered what that felt like.
"Too bad you didn't get to catch it," Steven commented offhandedly, trying to brush off how the quick battle had shaken him.
May shrugged. "It's cool. I don't think it would have been a great addition to my team, anyway. Plus, I already have six Pokemon." A look of something crossed May's face, but she seemed to brush it off.
"What is it?" Steven asked. May looked away. "Hey, come on. What's up?"
"I just…" May was chewing on her lip. Steven's eyes locked on the area for a moment before he snapped them back up to her nervous eyes. "Would I be a horrible person for sending one of my Pokemon back to live with Professor Elm so that I can catch another one?" she asked quickly.
The question was so simple and unexpected that it stumped Steven for a moment. He wasn't a trainer, so he had never considered that this would really be an area of conflict. Trainers wanted to be the best they could be, right? That often required switching out parts of their team for more powerful ones. It was just something that came with being a trainer- or, at least, that was the impression that Steven had gotten.
Why was May so different?
"No, May, that's…" Steven was the one biting his lip, now. He reached a hand up to brush his bangs out of his face, tugging on them slightly. "That's just… part of being a trainer. Everybody switches up their team at some point. I'm honestly very surprised that you haven't swapped out any of your Pokemon yet."
Despite Steven's reassuring words, May still looked sad. "You're right. I just… I've spent so much time training Beautifly, and I really love it, but I don't feel like it brings enough to my team. Plus, it's half flying-type, and I already have Swellow for that. I really need a grass or water type to even out my team, too."
Steven smiled. She has such a kind heart, he thought.
"I'm sure your Pokemon will understand," he said softly, and he meant it. May had a connection with her Pokemon that he hadn't seen many other times. If anybody's Pokemon was going to understand being swapped for something more powerful, it would be May's.
Finally, a real smile came back to her face. Her eyes were a bit watery, and she squeezed them shut and tried to brush it off. "Thanks, Steven."
Before he could say anything else, another crack of thunder echoed across the sky, now directly above the pair. Steven felt a drop of rain hit his face, and within seconds, the sprinkle turned into a downpour.
"Shit!" May swore, pulling her bag off of her back and wrapping her arms around it to protect the contents from the rain.
"There's a cave over there!" Steven called, pointing to the rock structure just on the outskirts of the nearby forest. He could barely hear his own voice over the echo of the rain on the bridge.
May nodded and took off in that direction. Steven followed suit.
They ducked within the lip of the cave. Within several feet, the light provided from outside had disappeared, leaving them surrounded by pitch black darkness. The silence of the cave was interrupted only by their wet footsteps on the rock and faint dripping sounds coming from deep within.
He couldn't see May in front of him, but his footsteps were halted when he felt her arm shoot out to block his path.
"One second," she said quietly, though there was no reason to whisper. In the silence, he could hear the sound of a Pokeball opening, and a second later, May's Blaziken was in front of them. The flames coming off of its back lit up the cave around them.
"Smart," Steven commented, following May as she let Blaziken lead them deeper into the cave.
They quickly came to an area that the ground looked smooth and dry enough to sit down on. Both of them dropped their bags. May, with the help of Blaziken, started a fire, ignoring Steven's concerns that it would eat up the oxygen in the tunnel.
Their makeshift camp complete, Steven and May sat back and let the fire warm them up as the rain pattered down outside.
