There is a very strong chance we ship Steven and Winona. With each other or other people, depending on the story.

When Brendan was sure he had both his team and his strategy all planned out, he and his companions returned to the Fortree City Gym. Steven led the way this time, using the Devon Scope to scare away the Kecleon that had been in the way before, and let the kids go into the Gym first.

When he followed and the door had closed, Steven was the most surprised of all.

"Well," he said after a moment. "It looks like she's remodeled."

The Gym was a maze of large planks of wood, barrels of hay for nest materials, and revolving bars to act as doors. Sometimes one of the door's prongs were longer than the others, to catch it on something and force it to stop moving, forcing challengers to think.

"Do you have Latias with you?" Steven asked, and May nodded.

"I won't use her to let him cheat," she promised. "Besides, knowing Brendan, he's already making a plan." She glared at her companion. "Whether or not this plan involves demolition is up for debate."

Brendan faked innocence again, but there was something more to it this time. This time it was tinted with his complete pleasure that May understood him so well. "We don't need Latias," he promised the both of them, but the wheels in his head were already turning. "Are you coming with us, Steven?"

"Actually, I think I'll skip the puzzle." He released a Skarmory, who summoned a protective air bubble as soon as its trainer was on its back. "I'm not a challenger, so I'm allowed to cheat. I'll see you on the other side."

And Skarmory carried him away to where Winona waited, beyond their line of sight.

Once he was positive that they weren't coming back, Brendan looked at May, still with what she now realized was his scheme face. "Do you trust me?" he asked, and she had to give it serious consideration.

"Yes," she answered at long last. "Despite everything I know you're capable of, I trust you."

But Brendan wasn't done. "Are we friends?" he asked, and this time, May didn't even take a second to answer in the positive. "Best friends?"

"Brendan, you are a single-minded criminal with dreams of world conquest. Short of people who are actually in jail, you're the worst influence ever. If I can point that out and not feel guilty for choosing those particular words, I would definitely say we are best friends."

"Good." He gestured to the revolving door that stood tauntingly in front of them. "Because we're going to cheat by crawling under there, and I'll be honest, my butt might end up in your face. I just wanted you to know that it wasn't on purpose ahead of time."

That had been exactly what she'd been expecting. "Don't you dare fart."

Winona had warm-up trainers to discourage that very trick. Not that it stopped Brendan from doing it anyway, or from dragging his newly-declared best friend along with him. He just made sure to beat those trainers in battle.

And with Aron finally evolving into Lairon, he was positive he was going to be victorious.

"Took her long enough," he said once Lairon was back inside her ball. "Do you think she was trying to hold on to being cute?"

"I don't think she really cares. It's more Aron biology keeping them from evolution until..." May waved her hands around, trying and failing to find proper words. "Something."

"Something, huh?" Brendan laughed. "You're better with written words than you are with spoken ones, aren't you?"

"I thought I'd already made that clear," May snapped back, ducking under one of the door rods. "I guess you're just not used to paying attention to people, are you?"

"I thought I'd made that clear." Brendan looked ahead, where he could see Steven and a woman that had to be Winona. They were talking and laughing about something, but they were too far away to hear it. There was only a short walk and a few more doors between them, so Brendan took the time to heal his team with the Hyper Potions and Leppa Berries he'd stocked up on.

"Pikachu's got Electro Ball," he said to himself. "And Steven seemed to like the idea of Draining Kiss, so I'm assuming that's a good thing. And Lairon has Rock Slide, which is another good move for Flying-types. I'm going to lead with those two, and just hope for the best."

"And if not, you have Spoink." May held out her Pokeblock case. "And I've got his favorite bribes. We can't go wrong with that."

Brendan took her word for it, and ducked under the first of those last few doors.

Winona was young, looking like she was about Steven's age, and her hair was just as pale. She stopped Steven mid-word to take a look at her challenger, then turned back to the pretty man.

"You were right," she said, glancing back at Brendan and May. "They really don't look like much. I take it you're not lying about being an unstoppable force in battle, as well."

"Why would I lie?" Steven sat back in the stands as Winona took her place on the field. "I hope you know what you're up against. Both of you."

May scrambled up to take a seat next to him, sliding in the spot Winona had recently vacated. She looked up at Steven with that curious look that promised questions. "So, are you two related, dating, or just friends?"

"We're not related," Steven promised. "I can tell you that we are one of the remaining two."

"But you won't tell me directly," she realized.

"I fail to see how it's of any importance." Steven did have a mild interest in her questions, though. "I will be cheering for her, of course, though I will understand if Brendan wins."

"Same here," May said weakly, "except in reverse."

"I'm not putting my money on either," Steven continued.

"I'm just bad at making bets."

An annoyed glance from Winona silenced them both, and the Gym Leader and challenger each sent out their first Pokémon.

A Pikachu against a Swablu was the first choice. Of course, Brendan's first instinct was Electro Ball, and of course, Swablu went down in one hit.

"Not bad," Winona said to herself. "But the battle is just beginning. You're on, Tropius!" she called, and sent out her second choice.

Brendan looked into the audience, and caught May's eye. He mouthed a single word and had her burying her face in her hands, shoulders shaking. Even Winona had to smile a little.

Steven had missed it. "What was that?"

May peeked out from between her fingers. "He said, Bananasaur."

Steven coughed into his hand. Brendan, deciding that the time for jokes had passed, called Pikachu back. "Adam, do the thing!"

Adam's Blaze Kick had taken care of the Tropius and the Skarmory that had come after, and Pikachu had been called back out for the Pelipper. Now she was standing off against an Altaria, a Pokémon she had only ever seen in Lisia's ownership. She knew that this was not Ali, but she had never battled him, either. All she knew was that it was part Flying and part Dragon.

She also knew she had Draining Kiss, but there was one little problem.

"Altaria, use Earthquake!"

"Electro Ball!" Brendan called helplessly, and Pikachu launched her attack at the same time Altaria did. The Electro Ball hit first, wiping Altaria down to half her health, and the Earthquake left Pikachu at the last of her strength.

May was a better trainer than he'd thought, it seemed. He'd expected Pikachu to go down after one super-effective hit.

"Another Electro Ball," he commanded, deciding not to go for the Draining Kiss - it might have restored some of Pikachu's strength, and had the Fairy-type advantage, but an Electric attack got a power bonus just from being the same type as its user.

"Dragonbreath," Winona ordered, and, once more, the two attacks passed each other on the way to the target. The difference was, this time Pikachu managed to duck in time, and the Dragonbreath only touched the tip of her ear.

Altaria fell. Pikachu stood up, shaking a little, and wiped the dirt off her skirt.

Brendan had earned the Feather Badge, and both Steven and May were cheering.

"You've won it," Winona said as she handed it over, "but I'm still not sure if I should let you pass."

"You should," Steven cut in. "They're necessary for the salvation of all of Hoenn."

"They didn't solve my puzzle," Winona complained, but May gestured back toward the doors.

"If you look at it from a creative standpoint, we kind of did." She grinned and patted Brendan on the back. "There's more than one way to get things done, as my dad always says - usually before entering a Poochyena den, but it still applies. You didn't set strict rules."

Winona floundered for words, and Brendan took the opportunity to leave, badge in hand. When the kids were out of earshot, Steven took the opportunity to point a few things out.

"They stopped Team Aqua from getting their hands on the Devon Goods," he told her. "Then they stopped Team Magma from forcing a volcanic eruption, or whatever idiotic scheme Maxie thought was a good idea at the time. The girl was even trusted by Latias herself to be her trainer."

"So you're using your father's money to fund these kids?"

"Not entirely. I'm using my father's influence. If it comes to money, I will listen to their requests before I make a decision. I'm not a fool, Winona."

"Funny," she said, the corners of her mouth turning. "I seem to remember somebody asking a girl out with a rock pun a few years back."

Oh, she was going to bring that up, was she? "I seem to remember getting a date out of it."

Winona clicked her tongue, but they'd been playing around like this since they had met. "You're very lucky you're pretty, Steven. They're children - this can't be a good idea."

"All ideas are good ideas."

"I'm sure that's what Team Aqua and Team Magma think."

She had him. She had him and she knew it. "Well," he said after a moment of thinking, "how much would you like to bet on that? A Mega Stone? Your dignity? Your hand in marriage?"

Winona lightly smacked his shoulder, not taking him seriously. "If you're going to propose, do it properly. I've heard stories about how this turns out."

"So you're telling me to use a rock pun instead," Steven said with a stereotypical wise head bow, equally lacking in seriousness. "I'll think of one, I promise."

"Please don't."

"Too late. Bars are set."

Her little frustrated sound and half-hearted "Get out of my Gym" was the best response he could have hoped for.