A/N: Hey guys! It's really late and I'm not sure if I've slept at all in about 48 hours. lol.

This chapter is some sorta angsty Steven Stone backstory. Which I also did in Safekeeping. This is too much of a pattern.

"Characters are like geodes; you have to break them open to see what they're really like."

That quote is literally Steven in a million different ways, so there's my justification for why I have to always destroy his childhood.

Anyways, hope you enjoy! I'd really appreciate feedback on this chapter, as it was really hard to write.


Ba-dump. Ba-dump. Ba-dump.

May's heartbeat echoed in her ears as she leaned her head back against the cold cave wall, shutting her eyes. The rain hadn't done much to help her condition; she was already weak, and being soaked to the toe hadn't improved anything. She could feel the warmth radiating off of Steven, though he was sitting nearly a foot away. It was probably just the heat of the fire, or of Blaziken, who sat several feet away on her other side.

All of her other Pokemon, save for Latios, were also out of their Pokeballs and huddled around the fire. Though several of them had been around Steven before, none had met him properly, and May took her time in introducing them. Linoone had taken a particular interest in him and quickly curled up into a ball on his lap. Steven had seemed startled by the sudden action, but eventually relaxed and let his hand fall in rhythm, stroking the ferret Pokemon's fur.

May had asked Steven to bring his Pokemon out, too, as she had never met any of them and didn't even know what he had, but he lamented that they were all too big. He did clarify for her that he had a Skarmory, a Metagross, and an Aggron. May's mind immediately flew to the Aggronnite that she knew was buried deep in her bag. Should she offer it to him? He would certainly have more use for it then her-

Except that he wouldn't. Because he wasn't a trainer.

Steven changed the subject from talking about their Pokemon, suddenly seeming to realize something as he reached for his bag. "I brought you something," he said, a bit excitedly.

May frowned, but couldn't help but feel a bit curious on the inside. "What? Steven, you already gave me the Devon Scope!" Her cheeks flushed, remembering that she had in fact left them sitting on the bridge, and it was in fact Steven who rescued them from the rain before gifting them to her. "Seriously, you know I'm bad with… handouts." Somewhat unconsciously, she used the fingers of her right hand to turn her Mega Bracelet around her left wrist.

Steven grinned over his shoulder, still digging in his bag. "You'll like it, I promise."

I don't doubt it, May thought. So far, all of Steven's "gifts" consisted of high-tech Devon material.

Steven pulled out a stone, handing it out to her. When she reached out to take it, she at first thought it was a fire stone, as its golden-red appearance would lead one to believe. But when her fingers wrapped around it, it sent a shock through her whole body. It felt like… a wave of power.

She stared at it in wonder. "Is this… a Mega Stone?" she realized.

Steven smiled. "Yes. It's a Blazikenite. You'll never imagine how hard it was to convince the scientists at Devon that a teenage girl would have more use for it than they would."

May could feel the blood rush to her face. Her heart seemed to beat a bit harder in her chest. "Steven, I don't even… I don't even know what to say. You didn't have to, really."

The silver-haired man ran his fingers through his hair, smiling and looking at her with… genuine care. Affection, almost. "I know."

May held the stone to her chest for a moment before tucking it into her bag. When Steven raised an eyebrow at her, his eyes flicking over to Blaziken, she explained quietly, "I'm not sure when I'll start having Blaziken use it. You can only Mega Evolve one Pokemon during battle, and right now I'm using Latios, since I need to get its level up. I don't want to give the stone to Blaziken and get its hopes up when I might not even be Mega Evolving it for a while." Steven nodded in understanding.

They both sat back once more, still trying to get warm. Steven had somehow seemed to get more thoroughly soaked through than she had. May had shed her red tanktop and was just wearing the black one underneath with her shorts while the other shirt dried at a safe distance away from the fire.

"So, what are your plans after you defeat Winona?" Steven asked calmly a while later, breaking the silence.

May opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling of the cave. It look damp, though no water dripped down. "Move on to the next gym, of course," she murmured in response.

"Where's that?"

May pursed her lips. Steven obviously knew, so why was he asking? "Mossdeep," she replied. "And then Sootopolis. And then to the League in Ever Grande."

"Are you prepared to take on the Champion?"

What kind of question is that? May thought, contemplating it. She didn't exactly know if she was ready. Hell, she still had three gyms left to beat! Plus Victory Road and the Elite Four! The Champion still seemed light years away.

She was saved from answering by the sound of a Pokemon's call coming from somewhere deeper within the cave. The sound didn't affect May in the slightest, but Steven was on his feet in a second, practically sending Linoone flying onto the cave floor. May slowly glanced up at the man, and then rose to her feet with a sigh. The action sent a small wave of dizziness to her head, but after a second, she stabilized herself.

Though nothing had appeared, Steven was still glancing warily at the darkness as if something was going to jump out and attack him directly. May dragged her eyes back to give him an annoyed glance.

"What?" he asked defensively, not meeting her eyes and instead choosing to continue eyeing up the darkness. "You heard it too!"

Though May had gotten somewhat used to Steven being overprotective and sort of nervous around Pokemon, this still seemed over the top. "Steven, we're in a cave," she ground out through her teeth. "There are wild Pokemon all over. They're not harmful, or anything. Get used to it."

She turned around to face him completely, met with a glare that she returned right back. "You don't know anything," he snapped.

She was taken back by the sudden hostility, but didn't let it affect her. "I don't know anything? You're not even a trainer!"

Steven opened his mouth to retort, then snapped it shut, his eyes widening. May knew there was a Pokemon behind her without even having to turn around; the look on Steven's face and the way her Pokemon all perked up was evidence enough.

She turned around to face a short purple Pokemon with large, diamond-like eyes. A Sableye! Though she had heard of them and seen them in her books, she had yet to encounter one in the wild. She had her Pokedex out of her pocket in a second.

"Sableye: the Darkness Pokemon…"

The Pokemon stared at them in what May had to assume was curiosity for a few seconds before opening its mouth in a hiss and revealing large fangs. Steven was staying oddly silent behind her, and she had to wonder if he was going to go into shock. Wild Pokemon encounters didn't exactly seem to be up his alley.

The Sableye moved into an attack position, and May's eyes widened. She wracked her brain. It was a dual-type dark and ghost, so it was weak to… fairy? Arceus, May hoped that was right.

"Linoone, use play rough!" she choked out, just as the purple Pokemon lunged towards her.

The ferret Pokemon intercepted the attack and tackled the creature to the ground just as Steven grabbed onto May's arm and yanked her back, making her drop her Pokedex. It crashed to the cave floor, bouncing a bit off to the side. The noise startled the Sableye, and it jumped out from underneath Linoone and landed on the ground where May had once been standing, staring at the piece of plastic. While its attention was diverted, Linoone delivered the blow. It had the desired effect. The wounded Sableye hissed at the ferret Pokemon before jumping back and retreating into the darkness.

In the confusion, May had somehow ended up on her butt on the ground.

Her Pokemon were all looking at her in shock at the quick commotion. Linoone was standing on its back feet, looking proud of itself. Though she was a bit winded, May laughed. After a second, her Pokemon all relaxed and returned to their spots around the fire.

Steven, still silent and now with a dark look on his face, reached a hand out to help her up. She took it warily, eyeing him up. Once she was on her feet, he dropped her hand as if it was scalding hot and retreated to the wall opposite of her. He leaned up against it, staring at his feet.

"You just proved my point," he eventually muttered, so quiet that May could hardly understand him.

"Excuse me?" she demanded. "Your point of what? Nobody was in any danger, Steven. It was just a simple Pokemon battle. I do this kind of thing all the time."

"You could have gotten hurt!" he suddenly exclaimed, and May jumped at the volume. Steven finally looked up at her, and she was taken aback by the genuine pain and concern in his eyes.

"But I wasn't," she replied quietly. Steven didn't say anything, and eventually May sunk back down to the floor. She stroked Linoone's fur and listened to the rain, still pouring down outside.

When Steven finally spoke, May had been lulled into a sleepy daze by the warmth of the fire and his voice made her jump.

"My mother died when I was very young."

Her eyes snapped up to him immediately. Whatever she had been expecting him to say, it sure wasn't that. His eyes were closed, and he was still leaning up against the cave wall with his arms crossed over his chest and one ankle tucked behind the other. His business suit was covered in dirt, and his silver-blue hair, once wet from the rain, had dried in fluffy tufts and was sticking up in several places. It was difficult to take him so seriously like this, but with those words, there wasn't anything else she could do.

"Steven, I-"

"She was killed. By wild Pokemon."

Whatever May had planned to say suddenly escaped her throat. She was on her feet in a second, sending Linoone scrambling away. Her mouth was dry and her head was spinning. There was no way she had heard that right.

Luckily, Steven didn't expect her to respond before he continued. "It was back around when my father was about to inherit Devon. My mom had all of these ideas about doing Pokemon research and how learning about Pokemon was the best way to develop new technology for trainers."

The well-known Devon slogan played in May's head: For all your living needs, we make it all.

"My mom wanted to know why Zangoose and Seviper hate each other so much," Steven continued. May felt her stomach drop. "But my father said it was too dangerous to research directly. So, she went out alone while he was at work. I guess she was watching a fight break out between the two species, and she fell down into their ravine. Her bag snagged on a tree, so she didn't have her Pokemon to defend her."

Steven finally opened his eyes. He smiled, a tired look that made May's chest hurt. Instead of sadness in his eyes, there was just nostalgia and loneliness.

"They found her body torn to shreds."

May didn't even think before moving. Before she even realized what she was doing, she had thrown herself against Steven, wrapping her arms around his neck. She tightened her hands into fists, fabric from the collar of his shirt clamped snugly in them. She felt, rather than heard, his intake of breath. Slowly, he raised shaking arms to wrap around her waist.

"I'm so sorry," she murmured against his suit jacket. The height difference between them was now clearer than ever. Her face was pressed in somewhere near his collar bone. She relaxed into his arms as he gently rested his head on hers.

"You remind me a lot of her," Steven said. She felt his breath hot on her ear, and she stiffened. "Or… I don't know. I don't really even remember her, but I feel like I do. It kills me to not know what's a memory and what's a story that my father told me."

May stepped back, and was surprised to feel reluctance as Steven released her. When she brought her arms down, his hand caught one of hers, squeezing tight. His fingers were cold. She didn't pull away.

"That's why I never became a trainer," Steven continued, once again smiling sadly. She locked eyes with him and felt that she couldn't look away, despite eye contact being something she had often struggled with. "My father became very protective over me after that- for good reason. The only reason I have Pokemon at all is because of my mom. My Metagross and Aggron were just a Beldum and Aron at the time; she had been wanting to raise them, and so they were left to me. I caught Skarmory by accident. It kept showing up in my backyard when I was a kid, and one day, it just didn't leave." A playful smile came to his face, and May mirrored it.

Still, the idea that Steven wasn't allowed to become a trainer because of that sent a wave of nausea over May. "Steven," she started slowly, knowing she should just bite her tongue. She didn't want to stir up any more bad memories. She had already caused enough trouble; now knowing why Steven was so wary around wild Pokemon, she couldn't believe the things she had said to him earlier. His hand squeezed around hers, reminding her that it was still there.

She finally tore her eyes away from his, looking down. "It… It's not fair of your father to prevent you from becoming a trainer. Is that what your mother would have wanted?"

She heard his sharp intake of breath, and his hand shook a bit in hers. "He had every right to keep me sheltered," he said shakily, his voice lower than usual. "It's dangerous out there!" She could feel his eyes practically burning through her, so she looked up at him through her bangs. "Which you fail to realize. That's why I'm so worried about you all the time. You're so… reckless."

May released his hand then, stepping back once more. She could feel the fire dangerously close to her bare leg, but the slight tingle from the heat served to ground her a bit more. Her head was still spinning, and she wasn't sure if it was from her being still-weak from the poison, or from the sudden influx of deep information about the man she hardly knew but still felt so close to.

"I don't try to be reckless," May mumbled, her voice as wobbly as her knees. "It just comes with being a trainer. You have to take risks for what you love."

Steven stayed oddly silent then, and May glanced up at him curiously. His eyes were trained on her, and the sheer intensity in them brought a blush to her cheeks.

"What?" she muttered, feigning annoyance and glancing away.

She jumped when he reached out and placed a soft hand on her cheek, cupping it, but after a second, she unconsciously leaned into the touch. Steven smiled when she did. His hand was still cold, but it felt refreshing against her skin; between the warmth of the fire and the intensity in the air, May was burning up.

"Just stop scaring me, okay?" Steven said quietly, smiling.

May frowned. Though both his smile and the happy look in his eyes were genuine, there was something off about it that May just couldn't put her finger on. "Okay," she affirmed anyway, returning his smile. His hand slipped down from her cheek, and she immediately felt too-hot once more.

Though there was a newfound silence in the air, it wasn't an uncomfortable one. Although May was still trying to process all that Steven had told her about his mother, she was past the initial shock of it and was now just pondering why he had trusted her with it- when, in fact, they had only met several times before.

The silence did lead May to notice something, though. "The rain stopped," she observed, glancing in the direction of the cave opening.

"Oh, yeah," Steven agreed. May could detect a note of disappointment in his voice, though it stayed well-hidden. "I presume you're going to go challenge the gym now?"

I want to stay here with him, a part of May realized, and she was internally slapping herself. No, I have to go challenge the gym, she argued. Why do I care so much, anyway? We just spent a good hour together. It's not like we're really that good of friends, or anything.

She knew she was just lying to herself, but she didn't have time to think about it right now. Instead, she pushed the matter into the back of her head; she'd deal with it another day. "Yeah, I am," she confirmed, beaming- though her heart wasn't in it. "Six out of eight."

"You'll do great," Steven assured her, grinning. The reluctance was still somewhere in there, but lesser now. "I hope to see you around soon."

May's chest hurt at the obvious parting words, but she didn't let it show. "Yeah," she agreed with a smile. "You know, you always seem to turn up when I'm challenging gyms, so maybe I'll see you in Mossdeep."

Steven's grin grew. "I'd bet on it."

"Mossdeep it is, then," she promised.

"Maybe sooner," Steven said, slightly teasing. It felt almost… flirtatious.

May's cheeks reddened. "Y-yeah," she stuttered. "Maybe sooner."


As expected, May defeated Winona will little trouble. Well, maybe a tiny bit of trouble; that damn Altaria with its roost and cotton guard!

Nevertheless, May won the badge from an impressed Winona. May took immense pride in her Absol when the gym leader commented on how well its thunder attack was coming along. She graciously thanked the woman and excitedly rushed out of the gym.

Though it was late and she knew she should probably stay in the Pokemon Center overnight rather than make the long journey to the next town, she couldn't help herself but run out to the bridge where she and Steven had met earlier. The battle hadn't taken that long. It had really only been a few hours since they had first run into each other. Still, the day felt long, and those hours felt like weeks had passed.

Of course, Steven wasn't there. It was foolish of her to even imagine that he might have waited for her to finish her gym match. He was a grown man with a job and a life. She was probably just a child to him, anyway.

Still, she couldn't help but smile and shiver a bit in anticipation when thinking about his parting words. She reached into her to grab for a water bottle, but her hand hit the Blazikenite he had so kindly gifted to her earlier. Touching the stone sent a small wave of electricity through her. She smiled.

Maybe sooner.