Chapter Text
Steven Stone was a well-known figure in Pokemon World. Rich, handsome, smart and talented ensured that he was seen as a person of interest from the youngest age. He entered the Gym Circuit late, because when he was seventeen instead of the normal fifteen, fourteen. In a year he traveled all over Hoenn and won his badges, collected his team of eight and opted out of participating in the Ever Grande Conference this year. His badges would hold for five years and he would have more time to train his team to perfection.
He went to watch the Grand Festival with his friend Wallace instead and it was where he met her. She was fun, fiery and made him feel alive for a short amount of time. She was the other semi-finalist other than Wallace and she was definitely eye-catching.
For a few weeks, he tasted freedom for the first time in his life. He could go clubbing with people his age, he could drink alcohol for the first time and he could go on dates. It was definitely relaxing but for him, it was a short reprieve from his duties as an heir and not something he would be able to indulge in for longer.
His father let him go on a journey but he still needed to act as the heir to Devon Corporation, he still had his duties and he still had his dream of being the Champion.
His relationship with her, with his Rose, was a reprieve. She indulged in life in the way Steven never dared to and she had no shame in doing so. She was free, she was spirited and she was everything he wanted to be. Next to her he could let loose and let himself be. So they went out a few times, they partied and they had fun.
But it was not meant to be. Rose didn’t want to settle down in any way, she wanted to remain free while Steven needed to go back to his duties. He tried to convince her to give it a chance, to get their lives together but she didn’t want to, she wanted to continue this reckless and indulgent life of hers and he for the first time wondered why. One day he pressed her too much because she stormed out of their shared rented apartment and it was the last time he saw her.
When Rose stormed out he for the first time noticed the desperation and pain she was hiding under her carefree attitude and he berated himself for not noticing sooner.
But it was too late.
Rose disappeared.
Steven was very infatuated with her. He would definitely fall in love with her if their romance went on for longer and in a different world, they would stay together, create something great…
But Steven was not one to lose himself in grief and wondering what could have been, at least not for long. He returned to his life, grew to be comfortable in what he had and he went on to be successful. He traveled to train his pokemon, added some new members to his team, managed business deals for his father and then went on to win the Ever Grande Conference. And his dream of becoming a Champion of Hoenn was achieved when at only twenty-two years old he defeated Wallace who had been reigning Champion for a few years already.
Being a Champion was exhausting but rewarding work. There was a whole legal part of the job but there was also the satisfying part of protecting his region from harm. He worked to squash the terrorism, he helped when wild pokemon became too rowdy in certain areas, he battled trainers that challenged him and he thrived.
And while he had much less time for his hobbies like collecting stones, minerals and gems or his music he still had enough time for his friends, father and occasional excursion into the wild or the caves.
Those moments were all the more precious.
He sighed heavily as he glared at the paperwork he needed to complete before he could go home. Daydreaming about some time to relax wouldn’t help him, he knew. Unfortunately, when one was in a position of authority, documents were needed to keep track of things. Everything needed to have proof, everything needed to be kept track of.
And while a lot of it was being digitalized, a lot of it still needed to have physical proof. Sometimes, things were indeed a secret it would be a risk to put them somewhere it could be stolen as well. With porygons becoming more and more popular, the League couldn’t afford to have everything in one place.
Suddenly there was a knocking on his door.
The only one of his pokemon that stayed with him in his office, Claydol, woke up at hearing the noise and groaned weakly in protest. It caused him to smile like his team often did.
‘Enter!’ he called and soon enough he could see his secretary peeking from the gap of the opening doors.
‘Mister Stone, a guest is wanting to speak with you… And I think it’s urgent.’ Kora said.
Kora was a young woman with dark purple hair, caramel skin and yellow eyes. She was a petite, delicate-looking thing, her face always soft and kind. She was pretty, he supposed. She became his secretary three years ago after he helped her to get to the hospital with two years old her son who was seriously sick at the time. He could see how rugged she was and offered her this job as a kindness.
He didn’t regret his choice.
Kora was never a trainer. Like many young people, she couldn’t afford it. Pokemon training was expensive, after all. Unless someone was exceptional and managed to be noticed by someone willing to sponsor them. So Kora stayed in school, learned and built herself a life. When she was nineteen she got pregnant by a traveling trainer and so her son, Archie, was born.
Now, Kora was twenty-five and was one of the most loyal people working with him. She was competent, hard-working and never allowed people to walk all over her.
‘Who wants to meet me?’ he asked with curiosity.
For the most part, to meet with a Champion people needed to make appointments and even then a meeting couldn’t be guaranteed. Sometimes things just happened and needed to be attended to immediately.
‘Champion Cynthia of Sinnoh, sir.’ Kora informed him levelly.
That gave him a pause.
While there was no ban on travel between regions and Champions could travel as they pleased, most didn’t. Champions, current or former, had a duty to their people and traveling often collided with it.
While Wallace was still a reigning Champion of Hoenn he wanted to go to the contest in a different region. To do so, he needed to find someone to take up his duties for a time. Fortunately, the Ex-Champion, Drake agreed with a laugh and a good tease it was something Wallace needed to take into consideration.
For Cynthia to be here right now, unexpectedly, without booking an appointment (and for her, it would never be a long wait)… It meant that things were serious.
‘Let her in and make sure we’re not disturbed.’ he ordered, his entire demeanor shifting into the seriousness that the situation needed.
A moment later a familiar blonde woman came into his office, her face neutral but there was a tension in her shoulders, one that betrayed that there was indeed something wrong and the shadows under her eyes showed the world how tired the woman was. If he hadn’t get to know Cynthia over the years, he wouldn’t have seen the signs but he did.
She held a paper cup in her right hand and it smelled strongly of coffee, strong enough for him to smell. She hated coffee unless she was on her last legs.
Without prompting, Cynthia plopped down on the chair before him. For once she didn’t try to stay graceful and allowed her guard down.
(It was a thing, they who watched over their regions felt more comfortable among themselves. Maybe they shouldn’t, all regions had a history of fighting a war at least once and they should be ready to fight to the bitter end… But there was comradery, understanding and the same sense of duty linking them. And recently, their world was peaceful enough that only terrorists were making trouble.)
‘I would offer you coffee or tea but I see you are prepared already.’ he started with a little humor to make her relax.
He received a tired and short glare before it melted away.
‘Oh, don’t worry. We have enough matters to discuss that you will get your chance to get me coffee.’ she grumbled and from her small satchel on her hip took out a folder before setting it down between them.
Three names stood out on the yellow, thick paper, and two were familiar.
Rose King. Daniel King.
And the unfamiliar one, Alysanne King.
He felt dread creep up into the pit of his stomach. He wanted to snatch the folder to know, to see. How did she know? Why…? What happened?
For years he lived without Rose, for years he has forgone love and companionship. Rose became a fond memory, one tinged by pain, yes. But the fondness never went away. If she found her way to him in the last few years and wanted to try again, he would have tried. He would have wanted it too.
And there it was, the first whisper of the woman that could be his first love in ten years.
He looked back at Cynthia and silently urged her to speak.
‘Three days ago Daniel King and his daughter Rose King were killed in a raid conducted by Team Galactic.’ she said softly, gently. ‘It is unknown what they wanted to accomplish and there were no prisoners to interrogate. The team was all dead by the time authorities arrived on the scene.’
The news caused him grief, terrible sadness he had no idea what to do with. Rose and her father were dead, killed for some reason. Rose was dead, dead and gone.
Claydol came up to them and he cooed softly at him. It was sad and he looked at his friend. Claydol knew Rose back then and like all of his companions at the time, he liked her a lot. She was a coordinator and one of the ways she liked to relax was to care for pokemon, hers or his? Didn’t matter. His team liked being pampered.
Despite that, she was strong too. Powerful, smart and cunning. It earned her respect alongside her good will.
‘What does it have to do with me? And the third name?’ he asked tensely after a moment of silence.
Cynthia looked at him then and there was something sad peeking from under her calm and tired disposition.
‘Alysanne King is the daughter of Rose King and the only survivor of the accident.’ she said slowly, carefully. ‘She is nine years old. She and her pokemon are still unconscious but expected to recover fully.’
Cynthia’s words barely registered. His mind hung up on the fact that Rose’s daughter was nine years old. And Cynthia came to him with the accident that her region would want to keep a secret.
Then he started to do the math in his head. Ten years and two months ago he first met Rose, their little romance lasted for all of thirteen weeks and during this time Rose was with him and him only. It left him with just a month shy of ten years. Subtract nine months of pregnancy. Nine years and two months.
While it was not required by law to name the father of a child after birth it was often easy to find out anyway. The League and the governments had access to people’s medical files. And it was a requirement for genetic material to be stored. There were laws that only allowed it to be used to identify the bodies if tragedy struck.
Like when an orphan found herself without any legal guardian.
So either Rose got pregnant just after they went their ways and named him in her will or the girl was his.
They met in September and she was gone at the beginning of November. The child would need to be born before the end of July to be his.
‘When… When was she born?’ he asked, his voice carefully blank.
‘June tenth.’ she confirmed his suspicions.
‘Fuck.’ he swore and hid his face with his hands.
‘We would need to do additional testing but… the kid looks a lot like you.’ Cynthia sighed.
He groaned and tried to calm down his racing thoughts. He didn’t know how to feel about the facts. He had a daughter that just lost her mother and grandfather. A daughter that never knew him, a daughter he had no idea about. For some reason, her family was targeted by terrorists and for all his fame and power he wasn’t there to protect them.
Rose never told him. He never suspected. He never checked.
He felt guilty. He never thought to check Rose. He allowed her to disappear. He had enough resources to search for her, he had enough resources to find her.
He was hurt because she never told him, too.
Rose was dead and their daughter was left with the parent she had no idea about.
With renewed determination, he reached for the folder.
There were reports from the people who noticed the commotion as the sounds of fighting reached Camellia town. Then there were reports of the police who got on the scene. And it was not pretty. Rose’s team was all dead with the exception of Arcanine. The team of Daniel King was all dead with the exception of the Lucario he was so known for. They killed five operatives of Team Galactic, all of them with teams containing six pokemon each.
Alysanne was found in the office of her grandfather with the corpse of one of the operatives and three of his pokemon. Lucario was found in the same room, in critical condition with no less than six broken ribs, a broken arm, a thigh and several burns and lacerations. But he was not the one to kill the terrorist… It was a young Sylveon that according to the files must have evolved during the fight.
Sylveon was one of the two pokemon that his daughter (his daughter!) owned. When found she had a head wound and a cracked skull, a nasty cut in the side and poison coursing in her veins. The other was a Riolu. He was found in worse condition but surprisingly he was conscious and ready to defend young Alysanne and his other living companions. Riolu was poisoned, half of his body was badly burned and no less than twenty bones in his body were cracked.
Arcanine though was found outside, where the majority of the fight took place. Several lacerations, his side torn out by the teeth of a Garchomp, three of his legs broken in at least three places at once and a nasty case of paralysis.
Daniel was found inside, guarding the entrance to the deeper parts of the house and he and his team (consisting of nine pokemon) killed no less than fifteen pokemon and two Galactic operatives. He was strangled by Tangrowth, his pokemon mauled and one of them, an Absol died the same way her master did. Apparently, she tried to get to him and rescue him and paid the price.
Rose was found outside, her team of eight with her. They killed twelve assailants and two of their masters. Rose was torn to pieces and her pokemon were often either crushed, mauled or buried alive.
And Alysanne … she had three broken ribs, her shoulder was dislocated, she had a crack in her jaw with a nasty bruise, her right ankle was twisted and she was stabbed through her side. She had some small burns on her left leg and it was suspected her Riolu tried to shield her from it but didn’t succeed fully. On the back of her head was a bump and she most likely obtained it by being hit with something hard on the head.
It was nauseating.
While it happened in their jobs and he could deal with it, he would out when it was someone he cared about it was harder to compose himself.
He needed to put down the file because it was becoming too much. Idly, he noted that his hands were shaking and that Claydol plastered himself to his side, clearly trying for a glimpse of the file and to offer him comfort.
Those deaths… were gory, horrific and taken straight out of horror.
And to think that a young girl survived it all. The trauma would follow her for the rest of her life. No one deserved something like that and it was his daughter.
She would need months of therapy, months of recovery.
‘There are no leads as to why Team Galactic attacked?’ Steven asked tensely.
‘No.’ Cynthia confirmed and grimaced. ‘Daniel King was an Aura Guardian though, he could have some information they wanted. Aura Guardians often keep secrets from anyone, even from the government. And King family is well known for their long history of Aura Guardians.’
That… sounded plausible.
Steven knew exactly one Aura Guardian, Riley. He was mysterious but loyal, kind and with a strong sense of justice. If all Aura Guardians were like that then he could believe some of them hid secrets that would make even Champions shiver.
‘And what about Alysanne?’ he asked finally.
Because it was important. What would happen to her now? What about the burial of her family? Where would she go? Did Cynthia want to make him take her in? What about her recovery? What would they do if Team Galactic came for her to finish the job?
And Steven wanted to take her in. There was surety in his mind that told him that yes, Alysanne was his daughter. He wanted to meet her, to see for himself if she was alright. He wanted to protect her. He had no idea if he could be a father or if she wanted one but he still longed.
Cynthia wouldn’t come to him if the genetic testing didn’t show them related. If Team Galactic wanted to mess with this, they could. In theory, at least. This is why they would check it again. But, still…
He longed for the last part of Rose in this life. A being that came from them both.
‘Right now she is under heavy security in Sunyshore. Volkner knew her mother and he knows Alysanne so he is invested in making sure the kid is as well as she could be. The doctors monitor her but expect her to make a full recovery. Lucario, Riolu and Sylveon are awake, conscious but still healing. Arcanine is still in a drug-induced coma.’ Cynthia said thoughtfully. ‘What after she wakes up? Therapy and rehabilitation. Volkner assured me he would take her in, he would be able to protect her but there’s you.’
‘There’s me.’ he sighed.
And oh how much it burned. Someone else could be acting like a parent to his child… While he had no clue before. Were Volkner and Rose involved? Was Volkner the parental figure for his daughter?
Jealously was a terrifying thing.
‘I need to go with you to Sinnoh, yes?’ he mused. ‘To do the testing at least.’
Cynthia took a sip of her coffee and gave him a searching look.
‘I thought you would be more disbelieving.’ she sighed. ‘What will you do when it becomes clear she is yours?’
‘I don’t know.’ he admitted softly. ‘I… I wouldn’t mind being a father in truth but…’ he clenched his teeth in rising nerves, annoyance and anger. Most of it directed at the murderers of Rose and Daniel King.
‘But she is a traumatized child and you would be disrupting her world even more?’ she suggested with a grim and doubtful expression.
‘Kind of? She may hate me for not being there.’
‘Bullshit. You clearly didn’t read more of the file than the report so I will enlighten you. Alysanne King is known as a prodigy, a genius. And while she is a child, she is smart enough to understand that you could have not known. Taking her out of Sinnoh? Could help her if she didn’t feel the need to look over her shoulder all the time. You’re powerful and can protect her. And I know you, you would never treat her badly. You could be good for her.’ Cynthia ranted hotly.
One could look at the situation this way of course…
‘This is why you came.’ the realization came suddenly and he pinned her with a hard stare. ‘When you saw her, found familiar features… you checked. You came here because I could protect her better than Volkner. And the distance between Sinnoh and Hoenn would be convenient. You think she knows what Team Galactic wanted and she would want to protect it as well. She would take whatever they wanted with her. Be it knowledge, artifact or Arceus knows what else.’
With his every word, Cynthia seemed to be hardening her resolve. She was determined to see whatever plan she decided on going through and she wouldn’t let anyone or anything stop her.
‘That is a part of it but I was serious. You could be good for the girl.’ she allowed and Steven frowned at her.
Was he angry? No, he understood. They were protectors of their regions and getting Alysanne out of the situation could help. Cynthia was doing her best in the terrible situation. It just grated him that she wasn’t honest from the beginning.
The plan was not without its dangers as well. Steven was powerful, he was able to protect himself and he would be able to protect the girl but Team Galactic could go for them if they desired whatever they were searching for. Even Champions could be brought down with enough force and preparation.
While terrorists usually stayed in their regions, some cases stretched into the international field. Team Rocket was the one that had their fingers in more regions than their original Kanto and Jhoto. Team Plasma was smuggling resources from other regions and to other regions. Team Skull often was encountered in port cities without rhyme or reason before they would disappear back to Alola. Team Aqua and Team Magma were often found investigating legends and knowledge all around the world.
‘Then you should have said so.’ Steven sighed and leaned back in his chair. ‘How do you see it happening?’ he asked after a moment of silence.
Cynthia hummed softly and took another sip of her coffee.
‘As fast as we can establish you in her files, you would become her temporary guardian. There would be an interview if you’re capable but it won’t be a problem. If they accept then you would be her proper guardian… Then paperwork would need to go through to make her a citizen of both Sinnoh and Hoenn. Then authorities would demand that you arrange rehab and therapy for Alysanne… But that’s it. From the League… She is too young to have ownership of pokemon unless registered by a parent/guardian so the ownership would be transferred to you. You know the drill.’ Cynthia waved her hand dismissively.
And he knew the drill alright. Only people with a trainer’s license could have pokemon unless said pokemon was registered as a pet… Which hardly anyone did. But children could have pokemon as long as parents took responsibility on themselves. Steven wouldn’t force Alysanne to give up her companions and this was not something he would protest.
Then there was an issue with Lucario and Arcanine.
In the files, both pokemon were classified to be on a Champion level. No one with a sane mind would allow a kid to have two such powerful pokemon and certainly not until said kid would be on a similar level. Leaving said pokemon in the system was also out of the question as it was not only cruel but they would waste away, most likely sent to gyms of their types. Not a bad life for a pokemon but not great either. Letting them into the wild was a tragedy in the making as well for many reasons…
In practice, it meant that Steven would need to take both Lucario and Arcanine in as well.
And he would have no problem with that, not really. Alysanne would most likely cling to them after everything and they would be protective of her. They fought until the last attackers were removed even if their original owners were long dead.
But League didn’t like to transfer rare pokemon. Even to the Champion of Hoenn. And it was not Cynthia who would protest but all the other officials who unfortunately worked alongside the Champions.
‘So it is rather standard.’ Steven mused.
‘Yes. And I’m going to expedite it as well.’ Cynthia admitted with a tired sigh. ‘I have to return soon too. There’s so much mess to take care of.’
He gave her a tired but sympathetic smile that must have looked more like a grimace.
Fortunately, she didn’t appear put out by his expression as only understanding poured out of her very being.
Not even five minutes later he was alone with Claydol.
He groaned as his forehead hit the cool surface of the desk. He needed to prepare for at least a month of leave and he would need to talk to his father and his friends…
At least his father would have his grandchild and maybe, just maybe he wouldn’t nag him too much for a while. After all, there was a ninety-nine percent chance that Alysanne was his.
Claydol nudged him in the side and gave him a concerned look and Steven smiled tiredly at one of his oldest companions, third right after Metagross and Aggron.
‘I’m alright. Just shocked and exhausted.’ he reassured the psychic.
‘Understandable.’ the serene mental voice of his friend answered gently. ‘You’re going to be a good father, Steven.’
‘I hope so.’ he answered with trepidation brewing in the pit of his stomach.
She was small, was his first thought.
The hospital bed, too big for her, didn’t help. The sheets and pillows seemed enormous and he wondered if a nine-year-old girl should be so small. Her hand, bruised and partially wrapped in bandages was so petite next to his own.
A week.
An entire week since he learned he had a daughter and she was definitely his child.
It was all in her features, she was his mini copy flipped to be female. The only thing she inherited from Rose was her orange curls and her vivid blue-green eyes if her files were correct.
It didn’t take long for them to confirm for one hundred percent that she was his.
Three days since then and she was still unconscious.
Steven couldn’t spend all this time in the hospital by her side as he had documents to sign and things to organize. The transfer of the pokemon into his care, the apartment Cynthia helped him rent for at least a month, staying in contact with Wallace for the entirety of his stay in Sinnoh, talks with Child Protective Services and with League officials.
There were a lot of proceedings going on and he was in the middle of it.
‘You look tired.’ a male voice sounded behind him and he turned immediately.
In the doorway stood a familiar figure of Volkner, the leader of Sunyshore Gym. The man looked just as tired as he felt and just as worried. He was not surprised, not after Cynthia told him that he was friends with Rose.
They didn’t have the time to talk in the last week but it was something on Steven’s to-do list. He had a feeling he was on Volkner’s to-do list as well.
‘Right back at you.’ he sighed but straightened in his chair. ‘It’s nice to meet you.’ he added, just to be polite.
The blond frowned before his face smoothened out and a corner of his lips came up in a painful-looking half-smile. Steven didn’t have enough energy to spare to return this smile, but he supposed he couldn’t be blamed in the situation.
‘I’m surprised how well you’re managing this mess.’ Volkner sighed and sat down on the other side of the bed and his eyes landed on Alysanne.
‘Unfortunately, my job consists of managing the messes others cause.’ he chuckled mirthlessly.
‘True enough.’ his temporary companion agreed easily. ‘It will serve you well with this little troublemaker.’ he added in a bittersweet tone.
He looked at Volkner then and what he saw was not anger or betrayal, and not even a shred of will to fight. What he saw was a tired man who cared for the young girl on the bed, a man full of grief, doubt and longing.
‘Is she a troublemaker?’ he asked, curious about his daughter.
‘Somewhat.’ Volkner smiled wistfully. ‘She can’t help herself. It’s either her sense of justice, her desire to help or the reality of her being too smart for most people. She’s a bit of a smartass without filter and well…’ he chuckled sadly.
‘Wonder where that comes from.’ he mused, intrigued.
‘It’s all her, I think.’ Volkner snorts. ‘She’s a spitfire, a force to be reckoned with. There’s nothing that would keep her down for long…’ he trailed off and Steven heard the unsaid message full of hope that Alysanne will survive this and that she will recover.
The comfortable silence filled the room for a few moments.
‘I thought you’d be…’ he stopped himself from completing the sentence.
‘More of a bother?’ Volkner sighed heavily. ‘Don’t get me wrong, I love this kid and I think of her as my niece, just like I thought of Rose as my sister. I adore her, truly. And I there’s nothing that will stop me from keeping in touch with Alys… but Rose should have told you.’
And that? That was the kindest thing someone told him since Cynthia barged into the office. People often looked at him weirdly when they learned he was not there for so many years and it grated on his nerves because while he was not perfect, he had no idea that Alysanne existed. Checking up on Rose seemed weird and stalkerish so he didn’t.
‘Why didn’t she?’ he asked in hopes that the other man would know.
‘She was a bit of a coward.’ Volkner said without hesitation. ‘Some of it was the fact she didn’t want to share her daughter. Some of it was spite. Some of it was the pride and how it must have hurt that you were kind of right when she walked out.’
‘I had the right to know.’ he grimaced. ‘And she’s not there to explain herself.’
‘I’m sorry.’
‘Not your fault.’
The very next day, he gets a call from the Pokemon Center that all of the pokemon he now owns are ready to be picked up. A week was enough for them to be well enough to be discharged but Alysanne didn’t even wake up yet.
Pokemon sure were resilient.
It wasn’t even an hour before he was holding four unfamiliar Pokeballs, two in each of his hands.
‘You’re hesitating.’ the mental voice of his starter, Metagross sounded in his head.
He looked at the robotic being next to him and grimaced.
He was hesitating, but really, how could anyone blame him? Their situation was so bad, that Steven felt like crying when it was just him and his team in private. He did cry the first night after seeing Alysanne.
He was not usually an emotional wreck and yet, he did have a problem how to deal with it all.
His entire world got turned upside down.
‘I have no idea what I’m doing.’ he answered. ‘It’s so… It feels more real. Overwhelming.’
Metagross hummed thoughtfully.
‘They were informed that you would be taking them now. So our new companions should be calm, somewhat at least.’ he assured Steven. ‘And didn’t Miss Rose say all those years ago that her father’s Lucario could speak? It would help.’
‘That’s only a part of it…’ he sighed.
But putting this off wouldn’t help either.
With renewed determination, he moved toward the open space behind the Pokemon Center. It would be a perfect spot to sit on the picnic benches there and talk. According to the nurse who relinquished the Pokeballs to him, the group didn’t know anything other than Alysanne was alive but not how well she was, as the Pokemon Center wasn’t eligible for that information.
Metagross followed after him silently.
The idea was that if there was only one of his pokemon present, Lucario, Arcanine, Sylveon and Riolu would be more comfortable as his team was… quite intimidating. He had eleven pokemon in total, less than some trainers but normally quite average. But every single pokemon he had on his team was a champion level. They could be very dangerous.
And other pokemon would be able to feel it.
Without further delay, he released Arcanine first.
It took the dog pokemon a moment but he looked in his direction tiredly. Without many words, Steven just assessed the health of the dog and he grimaced internally. On Arcanine’s side was a fresh scar, still pink and bare. It looked painful and from experience, he knew it would take quite a while before the fur would grow in this place.
With a sigh, he came closer to the only pokemon left from Rose’s team and hesitantly reached to scratch the dog in his favorite spot behind the ear.
‘Hello, Arcanine. I hope you remember me.’ he said gently and in answer, the pokemon leaned into his touch with a sad whine. ‘I wish it could be in better circumstances that we’d meet again but life is cruel, it seems.’
The dog whined again, this time louder and longer. Steven got the impression that the fire type was agreeing with him.
‘I’m going to release the rest and then we should talk. I’m sure you all are very impatient to know what’s happening with Alysanne, yes? And I hope you help to calm others if needed.’ he asked and gently patted the neck under his hand.
This time he was answered with a hesitant tail wagging.
And so, Steven opened the next pokeball. This time Lucario appeared out of a bright, reddish light. One long, assessing look he noticed that the Aura Pokemon was in a much better condition than Arcanine as other than shorter fur in a few places, there were no visible scars or injuries. From the stretch the canine pokemon did it was easy to see his bones were healed nicely.
Of course, the nurse told him all of the pokemon were fine now. Not ready for heavy combat or even harder training but fine nonetheless. Arcanine was the only one who would need physical therapy to help with his scar but it shouldn’t take more than three months before he was cleared from it completely.
‘Hello, Lucario. Despite circumstances it’s good to meet you.’ he smiled at pokemon, his smile bittersweet.
The canine looked at him for a long, tense moment before nodding in something like begrudging respect but he didn’t speak like he was said to be able to do. Not like Steven felt it as an insult or anything. They were strangers and both Riolu and Lucario were known for their reluctance towards humans, especially new ones.
Next, he released both Sylveon and Riolu at the same time. They were the youngest and the least experienced so he feared their reaction the least. After all, it’s much harder to subdue a Champion-level pokemon than two pokemon that didn’t even battle in the conference. Even if those pokemon most likely were better than normal starters, as evidenced by the beautiful fairy that materialized before him and Riolu that definitely didn’t look weak.
For a moment they looked disoriented but it faded as they looked around. They seemed to relax as they noticed both Lucario and Arcanine, though it was Arcanine who looked rather surprised when he saw Sylveon.
The fire type barked shortly at the fairy and it sounded inquisitive at which the younger of the two wiggled a bit in place with something proud on her face before fading into something more solemn and a bit sad.
Riolu grunted and was promptly answered by Lucario.
And then at once all four pokemon looked at him expectantly.
‘Right. You want to know about Alysanne, right?’ he clarified and was answered by impatient nods. He sat down on the bench and didn’t react as both of the younger pokemon jumped to sit next to him. ‘She is still unconscious but is expected to make a full recovery, at least physically…’ he trailed off with a pinched expression on his face. ‘The doctors say she should wake up soon but we cannot be sure when it will be.’
On the side, Metagross hummed softly but Steven didn’t hear his mental voice in his head so he must have been communicating something to the others. Lucario nodded before looking him straight in the eyes.
‘When will we be able to see her? And what about us now?’ A smooth voice asked and it was a strange feeling. It was different than mental conversations with psychic types but still comfortable.
‘I think you all could see her tomorrow.’ he responded easily. ‘And from now on, you will stay with me just like Alysanne will after she wakes up.’
Sylveon put a paw on his knee and crooned at him with a question and plea at once. And he didn’t really need a translator for this one.
‘I do not intend to separate you from her.’ he promised and scratched the fairy behind her ear and the fox seemed to melt into the contact, relief mixing with anticipation and gratefulness.
He couldn’t help it as he smiled, kind and patient.
Steven may not know those pokemon personally but it was going to change soon. And the truth of things was that despite being mostly inclined towards steel types, he did love all pokemon. You didn’t choose to be a pokemon trainer without a great love towards pokemon in general.
‘She’s going to be okay. It may take time, but she will be alright.’ he promised quietly, partially trying to convince himself as well.
It prompted Riolu to plaster himself to his side and Arcanine to put his head on his lap. From Matagross he felt a small wave of contentment and encouragement in the back of his mind. As he looked up at Lucario he saw mostly stoic expression but in those calculating eyes was approval.
It was enough for now.