Novelux Copperridge Wharf

[Jackie Cat]

Laura's head crackled with the buzzing of anxious thoughts as she paced through the dockers' district and along the beachside promenades. It had been a little while since the museum, a time she'd wholly spent distracted and concerned, analysing everything said between her and Steven and Ralsen, and still no word from the Metang. Instead, as she bugged Betel for updates, she'd mentally tracked Steven's progress further and further away from public spaces, all the way to a part of the coast where no-one else would be around.

Solitude? Sure. Fine. Take your time. But Laura couldn't help but run a scenario over and over in her mind, of whether a Metang could voluntarily sink beneath the waves...

Do Metang need to breathe?

She heard the cry, and went down on all fours to run, something she had little practice with, but was still programmed into her feline brain, somewhere. She second-guessed herself with each step, asking if it would be worse to intervene, if Steven just needed privacy, if she was even close to being the best person to help right now, and on and on and on.

She came to a stop at a decaying wharf, looking along it at the grey figure ahead as she caught her breath. What could she possibly say to him?

She walked forward. She didn't know what to say to him.

She came to a stop just beside the Metang, and rested her forelimbs on the same railing.

"I'm here," said Laura.

 

[Panoramic_Vacuum]

From somewhere far away, Steven heard something. Did he even hear it, buried so deep in his grief? It was more like he felt it, traveling through the vibrations of the metal crunched in his grip. Someone was here. Here. Why was he here?

Slowly, Steven crawled his way back to the forefront of his mind, and cracked one eye open. Who was here?

"Laura?"

All that came out was a weak, half-garbled chime. ...Right, he had to project his voice.

"Laura?" he tried again. His voice was hoarse, like he hadn't used it in a while. Or he'd used it too much. "Why? You didn't have to--"

He stopped himself suddenly. Something screaming at him that he shouldn't push her away. She'd come all this way, tracked him down when he didn't even know where he was himself. Maybe that was it. Maybe he'd always needed someone to help him find himself.


"Sorry. I guess my housekeeper was right. I don't handle loss very well."

 

[Jackie Cat]

Well, that wasn't too bad. Maybe... Maybe this would go okay.

"Your... housekeeper—?"

Laura shook her head. Not important.

"It is a pretty big loss," she said, sighing. "You know it's normal to need some support for stuff a lot more trivial than, uh, dying?"

Oof, not a great line... She splayed her paws pads-up, gesturing at the enormity of Steven's situation. Sure, he looked alive and well, but he was basically trapped in a whole new life, rootless, helpless. She wasn't going to minimise that.

"Someone should lend you an ear at the absolute least," she murmured. "So, here I am."

Not a therapist or a pastor. Just some kid.

She'd do her best.

 

[Panoramic_Vacuum]

Ah. Of course that would be a strange statement to most people. Perhaps he should explain...

"I grew up in a... wealthy family in Hoenn," Steven began, gingerly working to release his claws from the mangled railing. "When my mother passed--" he wrenched one hand completely free-- "our housekeeper practically raised me herself."

"My father wasn't around much..." The grinding of metal on metal sounded as he worked another claw loose. "What with being busy running a company and all..."

With a final crunching screech, Steven reclaimed his other hand and promptly knitted his claws together, massaging them in an anxious, irregular rhythm.

"I've had support for these sorts of things," he protested lightly, regarding Laura with an expression that was less like sorrow, and more like... guilt. "I... I haven't had this sort of an episode since before... before I met Beldum. And now..."

He made a gesture with both hands, claws upturned and open. He didn't vocalize it, but Laura might recognize it as a sign of emptiness. It's all gone.

 

[Jackie Cat]

Laura made connections intuitively, with no way to know if she was right. Running a company implied a distant CEO of a parent, with impossible standards to live up to. (No wonder Steven liked Lucien so much.) Episode could mean an actual mental health condition, or just upper class embarrassment at a display of strong emotion. Beldum told her that Steven's ace partner was one, that he was a Metang now because of them, that they had been a companion he had depended on – and without whom his heart was breaking.

What was she supposed to say to this? She couldn't solve this. It was unsolveable. Platitudes and vague hopes weren't really Laura's thing, she couldn't make herself believe in things like that. Sometimes things were just shitty and awful and unfair.

"I miss mine too," she said, and immediately felt a pressure behind her eyes.

Deep breath, big sigh, don't cry.

"Hey, at least you have a whole second life filled with pokémon," she joked through her voice cracking, with irony thick enough to taste like blood.

She reached out and put a paw on Steven's arm, unsure if it would even feel like anything, let alone comforting. Bloke had a whole new alien neurology now. He'd still take it as sympathetic, at least.

"Seriously, though... I can't even imagine how fucking bad this feels. I'm so sorry, Steven."

 

[Panoramic_Vacuum]

Four words. Four simple words that slammed into his bulwark of misery like a sledgehammer. Four words that took a rock pick to his heart.

There were a good number of humans in their group, humans who were trainers. Humans who left their beloved partners behind to answer a call for help across time and space. And in some way, they were all like him... Here in this other world, in new bodies, for an undefined amount of time. And none of them got to say goodbye, either.

Steven's eyes widened, and he turned towards Laura, only for his gaze to fall down to where her paw rested against his arm. There wasn't much warmth there; gods it was chilly here by the water, she must be freezing! But still she came all this way for him. Why?

It wasn't pity, he could see it in her eyes. She was hurting, too. Even if she did get to go back to her team in the end, she still didn't know when. It could be months, years even, before she saw them again. She was hurting, too.

There was no point in putting his hand over hers; there wasn't much warmth to bestow with a body of metal. Instead, he slid closer, tucking his arm against his body and tipping forward: the closest he could come to bowing his head. A sign of respect, mourning for the parts of them they'd both lost.

They remained that way for some time, listening to the creak of the old ship in the wind and the cries of some distant Wingull filtering over the water.

Finally, Steven broke the silence. "I... Laura. Thank you." He shifted, allowing her to more easily take her paw back if she wanted to. "I thought about what you said, and... You're right. It's a miracle I've even been afforded this chance. Coming here, meeting you and everyone else. Seeing this fantastical place. Getting the chance to make a difference."

He glanced up at the old ship. "I wonder if I'll meet another of my kind here," he said, holding a claw up in front of his face, implying he meant another of the Beldum line. "And I wonder if... if they'd understand me like my partner did."

"It's funny," he began, giving a weak, wistful laugh. "I'd thought to myself before, if Metagross was ever lonely. Beldum aren't native to Hoenn, you see. But they always reassured me they weren't. Because they had me."

Steven's voice wavered slightly before he clenched his fist tight, and turned back to Laura. "If I can offer that reassurance to another, I think... I think that's what they would have wanted."

 

[Jackie Cat]

Laura's face creased into a poignant smile. So, there was some way through, here. Some way for Steven to find a little peace.

"It is kindof a miracle," she said, "but that doesn't mean you have to be psyched about it at all times. Or that you can't grieve. I'd grieve, too, I think." She shrugged, and sighed away a lump of tension. "Your metagross, though – if they knew you made it here, I'm sure you're right. That they'd want you to find a place here, like they did with you."

What would Malachai want for her? What would he say to her now? Probably something about how she should be leading, never shy away from anything, find a way back to him. 'Stupid girl', she could almost hear him say...

"What about the rest of your team?" asked Laura. "You could tell me about them. If you wanted."

 

[Panoramic_Vacuum]

"My team?" At first, Steven's only reaction was his eyes widening slightly-- like he remembered something-- before his gaze darted down and away, awash with guilt.

"I didn't tell them about my plan. Metagross knew, I confided in them while putting everything together. But Aggron, Cradily, the others..." He covered his face with a claw before dragging it down in exasperation. "It was easier if we could just spring into action. There wasn't... Kyogre had to be stopped. We couldn't afford to waste time worrying about what-ifs..."

He seemed to deflate with each word. It was a weak excuse. At least it felt weak here and now, after telling Laura how much he loved his team. And here he was telling her he practically betrayed them. Was it really a betrayal though? Metagross hadn't thought so, and they had no qualms about voicing their disagreement. It was a sacrifice. A necessary one.

Steven fidgeted with his claws in a steady click-click-click, finally daring to make eye contact with Laura again. Originally, she had come here to console him. What would she think of him now?

 

[Jackie Cat]

Once again, Laura felt herself slip automatically into questions. She was used to this. Staying calm, not letting it eat at her, letting the other person feel they could tell her everything.

"There must have been a lot at stake," she ventured. "Was it just practicality, or did you want to make sure it was your life spent, and not one of theirs?"

He protected them, she thought. She instantly, immediately saw herself doing the same. Telling Malachai, and him alone – not Caesar, not Tamarisk, not Sleet.

 

[Panoramic_Vacuum]

Steven had braced himself, expecting scrutiny, maybe a gentle chastising (or not so gentle.) But when Laura didn't deliver either of those, he was taken slightly aback. Blinking, his fidgeting stopped.

"Well, there was no guarantee it would even work... It was more like a hope and prayer. But if it did work, and all it took was one life for the sake of everyone else's? Metagross agreed, that math made sense."

It made sense. He lost so much, but if he hadn't... So many others would have lost so much more. The phrase repeated in his head like a mantra. Something to cling to. It made sense.

 

[Jackie Cat]

Laura nodded, and looked out to Lake Cobalt. She imagined sinking into it, water in her lungs, trading herself for everyone else.

"I don't know if I'd have had the courage to do that," she said, quietly. For a moment, Steven seemed messianic.

Or, not courage. No, Steven had said that word—

"...Mm. You called yourself 'expendable'," she added. "You know it can be 'mathematically' the right thing to do and still be, like, a fucking tragedy, right? Sacrifice hurts, it's a loss. Just one you choose instead of something worse."

Why are you dispensing wisdom to this guy? You're barely an adult. He should be giving you advice.

'Expendable', like a resource. Did it make it easier to bear the loss, if he minimised his own worth?

You don't fucking care if it's easier. Better to grieve and hurt than to make yourself feel like nothing.

Laura swallowed.

"You seem like a much better fit than me for..." – she gestured to the Forlasan vista – "...all of this. So it's, uh. Kinda weird that you have such shit self esteem. I've got a lot less to be proud of than, like, saving everyone in a whole region."

No more 'reporter Laura'. Her voice didn't crack, but she could tell she sounded a little raw.

 

[Panoramic_Vacuum]

Courage? That's not how he would describe it. More like 'impulsive shortsightedness'... It annoyed him that he could hear the phrase in not just his father's voice, but Wallace's too.

"I know it hurts," he murmured, bringing a hand up to cover his heart. Or at least where the heart was in a human form.

"But I wouldn't sell yourself short, either. You're here, aren't you? Answering the call seems plenty courageous to me. Maybe you have the right idea, though..." He regarded Laura with a small, but genuine smile. "May your courage never be as foolhardy as mine."

His smile quickly disappeared, though, as Laura continued, giving way to puzzlement at the emotion in her tone. Was she somehow... envious?

"Self-esteem? Laura, it was my job. It is the Champion's duty to protect their region." He hadn't meant for it to come out quite so forceful, and he quickly tucked his claws together, not even realizing what he'd just admitted out loud.

 

[Jackie Cat]

"...Mm. You called yourself 'expendable'. You know it can be 'mathematically' the right thing to do and still be, like, a fucking tragedy, right? Sacrifice hurts, it's a loss. Just one you choose instead of something worse."

"I know it hurts. But I wouldn't sell yourself short, either. You're here, aren't you? Answering the call seems plenty courageous to me. Maybe you have the right idea, though... May your courage never be as foolhardy as mine."

"You seem like a much better fit than me for... all of this. So it's, uh. Kinda weird that you have such shit self esteem. I've got a lot less to be proud of than, like, saving everyone in a whole region."

"Self-esteem? Laura, it was my job. It is the Champion's duty to protect their region."

Laura blinked, stupidly, spending a few seconds wracking her brain for whether she should've known that already. Was he embarrassed because he'd said something daft, or because... he'd been hiding that he was Champion Steven—

Stone. Of course. That Galarish guy who ended up as champ in, what, south Nihon? Kyushu, Hoenn, whatever it was called. (He'd even mentioned Hoenn, she was a howling moron.) Yeah, the stones and fossils guy. Zero PR, no socmedia accounts, only had the spot for like, one season before that water twink took over. She only knew who he was because of some article about Devon Corp she read during her Macro Cosmos research binge.

So he was a bloody champion, and he was telling her that it was no big deal that he protected his region, it was only in his job description, so like, totally not something to have any fucking self esteem about. And she was some dropout with five badges and a weird haunted rock she couldn't figure out how to evolve. They were basically peers!

She opened her mouth to make a snarky remark – wasn't it the champion's duty to get one billion corporate endorsements and constantly post thirst pics to Rotogram? – but no, this wasn't Leon, this wasn't Chairman Rose's pet himbo with a rigged win-streak that should've got him investigated years ago. Steven was that good legitimately, and he was actually fucking principled and brave and all that shit too. What the fuck was wrong with him?

"Howlers' crowns, what is your fucking problem?" she muttered, clenching the iron railing in her paws. Then she sighed, and planted her face in her cold palms. "Sorry, sorry. I just— Look. You can't, like, do this meek, self-deprecation shit in front of a broke, teen, uni dropout with no future. Get a new routine."

She didn't correct herself that actually she was probably twenty by now. Whatever.

 

[Panoramic_Vacuum]

It was Steven's turn to stare dumbly at Laura's outburst. "My problem? What?"

His gaze darted from her, to the ground, to his hands, then back to her, searching for an answer of what she was on about. "Routine?"

Did she think he was faking it? That it was all a lie? A song and dance to sway her opinion of him? He felt some of the ire from earlier at the museum bubble forth.

"Would you rather I brag about it? Should I demand a parade? Or perhaps a statue? Yes, that should be fair compensation for throwing my life away. I'll never get to see my friends or family again, but at least I have this statue."

Laura barely knew him, and already had decided his value. Just like everyone else. The words left him before his brain could abort the action.

"Funny, telling the dead man you're the one with no future."

 

[Jackie Cat]

Laura was taken aback for half a second. Then, once she'd processed what Steven had said, she squinted at him like he was an egregious typo.

I don't even have any fucking friends or family to miss, she bit back, clamping her tongue between her teeth. Not helpful, don't say that.

"I'd rather you be normal about it??" she said, gesturing helplessly with her paws. "Like, get some perspective, man. Aren't you like, old enough to be my freaking dad?"

Actually, she wasn't so sure of that. Steven Stone had been champion a while back. Water Twink had lost the title to some kid, and that kid wasn't even the current title-holder. This Steven could be a lot younger than the middle-aged bloke she was thinking of – though somehow she doubted he was less than twenty-five. Minimum.

She groaned into a paw and turned away. This had been going well. Sundered swords, what even happened just now?

"You're having a bloody shite day, so I'm gonna give you a pass for having zero self awareness. And for that fucked-up comment about the future. But you have to figure out how to talk about your past without, like, talking yourself down so bad that you make being champion sound like you cold-called people to sell timeshares in Paldea. Or having your head solidly up your own arse, I would not rather you did that either. Howlers' crowns..."

 

[Panoramic_Vacuum]

Steven realized his mistake the second Laura sent a scathing look his way. "Laura? I'm sorry, that was inappropriate of me--" He was halfway to raising his hands in apology when she unleashed the rest of how she felt.

If Steven had a jaw, it would have been on the floor. "Normal? Perspective? Your dad?! I don't see how that's even possible, didn't you say you went to university?! Gods, we're probably almost the same age!"

He waved his hands in an abortive motion, trying to stop the conversation, or at least pause it so he could figure out what the hell was going on. "What are you even saying? First it was okay to grieve, but now it offends you, and I don't know what I've done. What happened? What changed--?"

--you make being champion sound like--

Oh. Oh. He'd let it slip. Not that he'd been particularly focused on that matter, but Steven was hardly surprised that one word changed everything. It always did. The title meant he wasn't a person anymore. He was an idol, a figurehead, a target. A name to be loved and hated in the same breath. Anything and everything but him.

Laura had all but turned away from him. That told him plenty about how she felt. But there was something in him that didn't want to give up. She'd treated him with kindness and understanding. To have one, stupid word throw all of that away...

"The comment I apologize for. You're right, I'm having a bad day. But the rest...? Laura, I talk about the Champion position like this because ultimately I failed. Under my watch, I and my League allowed a rogue organization to steal a powerful artifact and summon a super-ancient pokemon. I could have had a flawless win-loss record, and if I'd left it at that, the only thing people would remember me for is the Champion who let Hoenn drown."

Very quietly, he added, "And I didn't want that..."

He sighed, knitting his claws together to fidget once more. "I don't know how else to explain this. Mistakes were made, and I did everything in my power to correct them, so the people of Hoenn didn't have to suffer the consequences of my actions. Laura... I don't know what sort of perspective you want me to have, but I know that being skilled at pokemon battling doesn't give me the right to say my life is more valuable than anyone else's. I sincerely hope no Champion thinks that way."

 

[Jackie Cat]

The same age? Yeah, this was a younger Steven. Early twenties or something. He was like... definitely middle-aged in her world. Which meant he survived, he wasn't dead, but don't assume anything. Adjust, adjust, he was her peer, practically...

Then he said all that shit about his failures, and Laura could only give a weak, bewildered laugh.

"Steven, I... oh man. Howls, how do I say this? You're a title-holding pokémon trainer, not bloody Interpol, and you, like, gave up your life to protect your region. Meanwhile, my regional champ was literally working for the man who unleashed a volatile legendary that practically turned the capital city into a smoking crater. And it turns out his flawless win-loss record was 'cause his matches were fucking rigged. And he competed wearing one billion corporate endorsements and constantly posted thirst pics to Rotogram 'cause he had an ego the size of Wyndon. Everyone spent years dick-riding him and he did fuck-all except make a shithead scumbag filthy rich. You aren't a failure, you're..."

She threw up her hands and sighed in exasperation.

"You're just a guy. Okay? You're just some bloke. You were a bloody talented trainer, you treated your pokémon well, you were good at your job and you weren't fabulously corrupt or vain or insufferable on Chatter. You weren't invincible or perfect. You made mistakes. And you did something brave and noble because you put others before yourself."

Laura looked at Steven and tried to see him fresh. A young adult who loved pokémon, with a shitty dad and shitty self esteem, probably at least a little queer and/or neurodivergent, and flung into a strange world away from all that. She could relate to all that.

"You can be good at shit, and be in over your head, and have value as a person, and not be a hero with parades and statues, and be kindof an oblivious nerd who's better at geology than deep conversations. You contain multitypes, or whatever the fuckin' quote is. So just... if you can?? Please just try and talk about yourself without setting the bar so high it's in the fuckin' sun and it, like, blinds you or whatever."

Laura pushed her paws into her temples, and wished she was better at delivering profound, meaningful revelations. Fuck.

 

[Panoramic_Vacuum]

Steven had to work to keep his growing horror in check as Laura outlined what sort of Champion she'd been accustomed to. Rigged matches were already appalling enough, yet that paled in comparison to the fact that he'd aided and abetted in the destruction of his own region. No wonder she'd looked like she was ready to throttle him earlier.

That, and it certainly put things a little more into perspective... Ah, right. She'd said that, hadn't she?

But as Laura continued, Steven wasn't able to hide his emotions any more. Sheer relief flooded his expression at her blunt honesty. She was clearly still frustrated with him, but he got the impression he frustrated a lot of people for one reason or another. Why oh why could he hear her words so clearly in Wallace's voice in another timeline?

Probably because he was all of those things. Oblivious nerd, though? Alright, yeah, he deserved that one, too. Oh... Was this the self-awareness part?

His fidgeting had stopped, but he kept his claws tucked together in contemplation. When he spoke, his voice was quiet, but devoid of the lingering sorrow that had tinged it for the bulk of the conversation. "You're right, Laura. I'm sorry. Old habits and all that, but... I'll try."

"And maybe... it'll be easier if I had a partner to work on it with." He gave Laura a meaningful look.

"All those things you said, about making mistakes and being imperfect and still having value, I don't think that only applies to me. Well, maybe the geology nerd part, that might be exclusive to me. I just think we both can benefit from learning how to be gentler with ourselves."

He extended a hand her way. "What do you say? Can you help me out with this?"

 

[Jackie Cat]

Steven stopped fidgeting, he listened, he screwed his own head back on somehow. Oh, holy shit, had she actually gotten through to him?

"Good," she said, with a half-chuckle, as he told her he'd try.

Then she had about 1.4 seconds of thinking that by 'partner' he was asking her out and fucking bluescreening before remembering they were in the Wild West and realising what he meant—

At least she could laugh at his geology nerd humility. Yeah, that was how to be humble without being obnoxious. And... maybe he had a point about her being more gentle with herself, as well.

"Yeah," she said, smiling with relief, "I'll do my best."

She took his hand – cold, cold, why was he made of metal, why was it winter, fuck fuck fuck – and shook firmly.

"Rrrrighto then," she said, all but teeth-chatteringly cold at this point. "How about we get back indoors somewhere? I want a hot chocolate. And to bitch to you about Leon some more. Sound good?"

Judging from Steven's expression, it did.

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