As the heir to the Devon Corporation, Steven Stone was the primary link between it and the Rustboro City University's Students’ Advocacy Group.
From humane ways of producing Infinity Energy to better treatment of workers, Steven used his connections and charisma for the good of the people. Some at Devon called him a revolutionist. Others called him a radical. Still others called him a commie. But in terms of the Mohs Scale, Steven’s will was a solid 10.
He was a good man, in spirit, in morals, in looks. He was like a magnet, attracting all sorts of different people.
Including two other students: Wallace Papadakis and Winona Kimura.
He met them as part of his “new Champion” schedule:
Step One: Meet the Elite Four members. Easy enough—he worked in the same building as them.
Step Two: Meet the Gym Leaders. That required some travelling to each Gym to give a proper introduction, but that was all fine with a little help from Skarmory.
Step Three: Paperwork. Steven could do paperwork later.
Wallace and Winona were both very nice people, and not in the fake way that business “friends” were. They were genuinely nice with genuinely nice voices and genuinely nice conversations and genuinely nice shoes… They probably also had genuinely nice eyes, but Steven didn’t like eye contact, so when he got back home, he searched them up to confirm that yes, their eyes were very nice looking. Very aesthetically pleasing, like a pretty rock. Wallace was like green jade, while Winona was like lavender jade.
Steven learned more about them in a few classes that they shared and in their League related interactions. They were also vocal activists for everything from civil rights to environmentalism. Naturally, he interacted with them a lot: be it through meetings, battles, protests, rallies, or purely curiosity-driven visits.
-
“Wallace, do you know what rocks make up Sootopolis City’s crater?”
“No, I don’t think I do, Steven. Do tell.”
Steven smiled. He and Wallace were sitting on the fountain in the courtyard of Juan’s estate. “Well, the white colours indicate a rhyolitic composition, though further down, there are darker rocks—basalt.” Steven looked up to the sky, observing the marble arches overlooking the courtyard. “Though traces of iron and nickel indicate meteorites of some sort. The most popular theory is that Sootopolis Crater was once a volcano that got destroyed by a meteor.”
“My my, that’s fascinating. We Sootopolitans have been traders since ancient times, and as such we’ve seen many gemstones: turquoise, rubies, sapphires, emeralds… We mostly use them for artwork, where they sparkle like stars in the sky. We also use the beautiful, pristine, divine marble for—” Wallace stopped, blushing. “Sorry, I… get carried away when I talk about art.”
“No no no, I like it when you talk about art.”
“R-Really?”
“Yeah. Tell me about these marble statues you were about to talk about.”
-
“Look over here! This is my favourite spot in the whole forest!”
Winona ran over to a little clearing in the trees. The river fell down a waterfall and into a small lake—flowing down smooth slate, it seemed. Beautiful. Oddish rested in the komorebi, and Zigzagoon excitedly lapped up water.
Winona pointed up to a tree. On one of its branches, a purple flag flew proudly. “That up there? That’s my secret base. I’ve been going there since I was a little kid.” She sighed. “My mother… didn’t let me leave Fortree City or the nearby forest for a very long time, so I made up for that in any way I could with my imagination.” She spun around in the grass with her arms spread wide. “I just love the beauty of the trees and the sun and the sky…”
Steven smiled, and it even lit up his own soul. Gosh, Winona was so adorable when she got to talk about nature. It reminded him of how he would talk about rocks.
“Go on. Tell me about your childhood adventures.”
-
By golly, did Wallace and Winona have good thoughts and use good words, in different ways, of course: Wallace had very flowery language and beautifully woven metaphors. Winona's mind was in a fantastical world from which she could pull incredible ideas.
Over time, however, Steven felt a… change in his feelings for Wallace and Winona.
No, it wasn’t that he was starting to hate them. Quite the opposite, actually; he was feeling a new kind of liking them. He noticed how smooth Wallace’s hands and fingers were—he liked touching and holding them for as long as he could. He noticed how soft Winona’s hair was—it smelled nice too, like lavender. When he was with them, he swore his heart skipped a beat or two. He found himself trying to spend more and more time with them, trying to spend more and more time looking at them. They were… what was the word… alluring?
It was selfish to admit, but Steven wanted both Wallace and Winona, in some way.
Steven never had crushes on people in his life. No puppy love in elementary school, no awkward horny feeling in middle school, no dating in high school. Granted, he was a social outcast, but surely he would have felt something. In fifth grade, he settled on the fact that he just wouldn't ever have crushes. He didn’t have friends either, except for his Pokémon. Is this what his feelings for Wallace and Winona were? A crush? But didn’t people only get crushes on one person at a time?
But the way Wallace spoke poetry, even when he wasn’t reading from his books; the way he spoke like a lithophone; the way his face was carved by Hephaestus. The way Winona stayed so in tune with nature, especially the wind; the way her voice was like a wind chime; the way her hands felt like river-polished stones.
He loved them both. He wanted to kiss them both. He wanted to hold them both. He wanted to have them both.
…Maybe this is what people were talking about when they talked about having a crush.
But it couldn't be a crush! People knew what they were from a very young age! People knew whether they were straight or gay or bi or whatever as soon as they knew what romance was! It couldn't change!
Why were emotions so confusing?
-
Steven was supposed to go to Mauville City and Fallarbor Town to talk to their respective Gym Leaders about maintenance. He had gone to the former, only to get in a two hour long conversation with Wattson about technology. Then Steven got sidetracked by rocks on Route 111.
He regretted not flying over on his Skarmory. Then again, at least he got to look for rocks.
The sun was setting as he trekked up a ledge. The riverbank had been full of various sedimentary rocks, while the ledges above had lovely samples of scoria.
Ever curious, Steven climbed further up the ledges until he came upon a road. It probably led from the bottom. If that was the case, Steven hadn't seen it, as he had gone the long way of climbing up the ledge. It didn’t seem that any cars or people were coming up any time soon. With nothing stopping him, Steven walked up the road.
A cool, gentle breeze blew across Steven’s face. He took a deep breath and sighed. He subconsciously gasped when he saw a red car overlooking the route below.
He first took a moment to take in the view the car had gotten a hold of: Route 111, with grand cliffs of reddish stone and the desert beyond. He could even see a little house. The browns and reds of the ground, the blues and greens of the lake, the oranges and yellows of the sunset... not even the greatest of painters would ever be able to capture the beauty of the sight.
He then looked at the car: a lovely looking car: smooth, red, smooth… okay, maybe Steven didn’t know too much about cars, but he knew enough to know that it was a good car. And a lucky one, too, to get such a nice view. Maybe this was a date spot. Or a photo op spot.
There didn’t seem to be anyone in the car, though, so he took a moment to walk around the car and admire the tires, the bumper, the side view mirrors…
… oh.
He realized too late that Wallace and Winona were making out in the passenger seat. From the way their clothes were half unbuttoned, they seemed to be close to, uh, more than kissing.
Well, at least they had all noticed each other sooner rather than later.
Steven gave a nervous smile and a nervous wave, and Winona waved back with a shy smile. Wallace buried his face in her chest, and he was… blushing? From embarrassment, or arousal? Blushing was strange.
“I, uh, I can leave you two alone…” Steven stopped. The two probably couldn’t hear him from the inside of the car, so he instead pointed back to the road and slowly began walking away.
A lot of emotions and thoughts swarmed in Steven’s head; mostly embarrassment, but there was also… sadness? He was happy for them both. From the looks of it, they seemed happy together, in more ways than one. How long had they been a couple? Did anyone else know? Did their families know? The other Gym Leaders?
But he still felt jealous of both of them for having each other. Shit, it was such a weird feeling to be feeling. Why couldn’t feelings be simple?
