This was only their first meeting, and Wallace already had a favorable impression of him. The next time they met, their relationship would likely grow closer.
Of course, the 'feelings' and 'good impression' here referred to friendship.
Steven had come to participate in the Contest hoping to encounter Wallace.
He simply wanted to meet him in person.
Due to his arrival in this world, the Pokémon world had changed significantly—even raising the minimum journey age to sixteen.
Steven had waited until his journey began but still hadn't met Wallace, so they could only become acquainted during their travels.
It seemed Wallace's personality hadn't changed much, remaining largely as Steven remembered from his knowledge.
Steven discreetly slipped away while the audience clamored for Wallace's autographs and photos.
If he had waited any longer, he would have been trapped there too.
Steven took out his Pokégear. Wally had sent him a message:
"Brother Steven, your performance in the Contest was amazing!"
Steven chuckled softly and replied, "Thank you."
Even through the screen, he could imagine the admiration in Wally's eyes.
Scyther's performance had been outstanding. Steven returned to his Pokémon Center room and prepared various flavored Pokéblocks as a reward for Scyther.
However, Scyther seemed somewhat distracted while eating.
"Metagross," Steven beckoned to Metagross.
"Meta?"
"Can you find out what's bothering Scyther?" Steven whispered.
"Meta!" Metagross nodded.
It went to talk with Scyther.
Before long, Metagross returned, picked up a pen and paper, and started writing rapidly.
"So that's what it is..."
Steven finally understood: Scyther had agreed to follow him because he resembled its former Trainer.
Because of its former Trainer's abandonment, it had decided to follow Steven to uncover the truth of what happened.
Although Steven knew Scyther had a purpose in following him, he only now fully understood Scyther's specific objective.
Knowing the details, Steven could better help Scyther.
As for whether Scyther would stay or leave after learning the truth, that decision would still be up to Scyther itself.
All he could do was be himself. The best outcome would be if Scyther chose to remain with the team.
Once Scyther was stable with the team, it would be time for it to evolve.
As for the resources invested during this period, Steven didn't consider it a big deal. At the very least, by the end, Scyther and he would have developed some bond.
He now also knew the name of Scyther's previous Trainer—Aran.
They would meet one day, eventually.
The next morning, as soon as dawn broke, Steven immediately set off for Mauville City.
While traveling through Route 117, Steven spent a week training and journeying simultaneously.
During this time, he encountered challenges from several Trainers.
They say when Trainers' eyes meet, they must battle!
But they didn't say anything about getting completely crushed!
Aron and Skarmory grew incredibly fast. Just the two of them managed to defeat every Trainer who challenged them along the way.
Compared to Red's rival, Blue, who was known as the "Super Trainer," Steven's current progress was still relatively modest.
In the future, when Blue served as the Viridian Gym Leader, it took him about three months to raise a new team of powerful Pokémon.
That meant in three months, he cultivated at least a full team of Elite-level Pokémon.
Steven, after a little over a month, had only brought Aron and Skarmory to Advanced level.
Steven still had considerable room for improvement before reaching the terrifying skill level of the "Super Trainer."
"Give it back to me!"
"Hmm?"
Steven noticed some kind of dispute occurring not far away. Driven by curiosity, Steven called out Metagross, preparing to investigate.
"Kid, take my advice—the Pokémon in that egg won't do you any good."
A man in a black cloak wore a sneering smile, making his "advice" seem completely untrustworthy.
In front of him, a boy covered in scrapes and with dirty clothes clenched his fists in frustration, glaring angrily at the cloaked man.
"Are you sure this egg is a Bagon egg?"
Another man, wearing a mask and sporting a rooster-like hairstyle, leaned in and whispered into the cloaked man's ear.
"Of course! I saw it with my own eyes! It looks almost identical to this egg!"
The cloaked man sounded very certain.
"Then let's go. This place is close to Mauville City. If we attract the Gym Leader or Officer Jenny, it could be troublesome." The rooster-haired man frowned, looking impatient.
"What's there to be afraid of? Nobody usually wanders around here. What, are you telling me someone's going to fall from the sky?" The cloaked man said dismissively.
What threat could this defenseless boy pose?
The cloaked man held a blue egg with silver and yellow markings near the bottom.
Sometimes, you just shouldn't tempt fate with your words.
Boom!
A large foot descended from above, landing squarely on the cloaked man's face.
He was sent flying backward.
The newcomer performed a somersault in midair and landed steadily. The Pokémon Egg that the cloaked man had dropped was safely caught by Steven.
"Since you said that, I felt I'd be letting you down if I didn't drop in from above." Steven chuckled lightly, then turned to look at the rooster-haired man.
The rooster-haired man glanced back at the cloaked man lying unconscious on the ground, then cursed angrily:
"You idiot!"
"Mightyena, tear him apart!"
The rooster-haired man immediately threw a Poké Ball, and Mightyena, emerging from it, lunged at Steven without hesitation.
"Metagross!"
"Meta!"
The silver-white Metagross slammed a powerful arm onto the ground, its immense force sending Mightyena sprawling.
"Bullet Punch!"
Metagross looked at the Mightyena it had knocked down and without hesitation swung its metallic arm to strike.
"Flamethrower!" The rooster-haired man quickly threw out a second Poké Ball.
Whoosh—
Camerupt's body was primarily orange-red, with lighter skin around its mouth and three bright blue ring markings on each side of its body. The humps on its back resembled volcanic craters, it had three upward-curving tufts of fur on its head, and hooves on its feet.
Camerupt, emerging from the ball, swiftly unleashed a scorching stream of fire from its mouth.
"Metagross, use Psychic on me." As Steven gave the command, his free hand tapped his waist.
His body then levitated, instantly dodging Camerupt's Flamethrower.
Metagross delivered a punch to Mightyena, making its eyes spin, then turned to face the aggressive Camerupt.
Steven handed the Pokémon Egg back to the boy, smiling gently:
"How are your injuries?"
"Huh?" The boy shook his head, indicating he was fine.
Seeing the offered Pokémon Egg, the boy quickly hugged it close to his chest.
"Now then..."
"Air Slash!"
"Psychic!"
Camerupt had just finished its Flamethrower when several crescent-shaped Air Slashes struck it from the right side.
Slash, slash, slash—
The Air Slashes all landed on Camerupt. Unable to dodge the damage, Camerupt was instantly immobilized by Metagross's Psychic.
"When did he..." The rooster-haired man looked in shock at the suddenly appearing Scyther on the other side, then realized with a start.
It was that tap on Steven's waist just now that released Scyther!
"Who are you?! How dare you interfere with us Pokémon Hunters!"
"Oh—so you're Pokémon Hunters!" Steven's expression suddenly showed feigned surprise.
"You know it now, and if you leave immediately, I can let bygones be..."
"Let bygones be bygones?"
Steven's feigned surprise vanished completely. His lips curled into a slight smile, and his eyes gradually turned cold.
"What a coincidence—I have a score to settle with Pokémon Hunters."
Although he'd already settled it on the spot last time.
"This guy..."
The rooster-haired man didn't dare underestimate him and quickly threw out all his remaining Poké Balls.
Dusclops, wrapped in gray bandages with only one large eye visible; Shiftry, with a brown body, white mane, and leaf-like hands; Granbull, resembling a bulldog, entirely purple with a powerful jaw.
And an "old acquaintance"—Honchkrow.
"Attack!"
A deep purple Shadow Ball, a black Dark Pulse, rapidly spinning leaf blades flying like shurikens, and Granbull spewing fire from its mouth all charged toward Scyther.
"Metagross, give it a close encounter!" Steven pointed at Granbull with one hand, then turned to Scyther and commanded:
"Swords Dance into Counter Shield!"
Metagross's eyes glowed blue. It hurled Camerupt forward, which collided with the charging Granbull, sending it flying backward.
Scyther's gaze sharpened, and its body spun rapidly. The swirling air currents it released swept Shadow Ball, Dark Pulse, and Razor Leaf into the vortex.
Boom!
The three moves collided, causing an explosion!
Scyther's figure shot out from the black smoke, wisps of dark smoke trailing from its body.
However, it had only been slightly affected by the explosion and remained mostly unharmed.
"Time for the counterattack! Both of you!"
"Scy!"
"Meta!"