"Grandma Carolina! Please calm down first!"
Steven raised both hands high in a gesture of surrender.
"I can calm down, but go make me some food first," Grandma Carolina suddenly broke into a grin, pointing toward the kitchen.
"Huh?"
Steven stood frozen in surprise. Did her mood shift that quickly?
"Huh, what? Don't tell me you can't cook!"
"I can, I can! I'll go right away!"
Steven jumped up from his seat and headed straight for the kitchen.
"If it tastes good, I'll forgive you," Grandma Carolina said with a smile, resting her chin on her hand.
"I guarantee you'll forgive me!"
Steven responded with confident enthusiasm, his gaze sweeping over the refrigerator's contents as he immediately formulated a plan.
Scrambled eggs with tomatoes! Stir-fried pork with green peppers!
Just stir-fry them both!
No sooner said than done!
Steven devoted his full attention to preparing this simple dinner.
His movements were smooth and practiced as he readied the ingredients. Just as he was about to begin cooking, there was a distinct "click" from outside, followed by a camera flash that illuminated him.
"Hmm?" Steven tilted his head in confusion to look.
Grandma Carolina was secretly taking photographs with a camera.
"It's nothing, don't mind me. You continue, you continue," Grandma Carolina waved her hand dismissively, signaling Steven not to worry, before leaving the kitchen doorway looking quite satisfied with her camera in hand.
"Hahaha! I told Cynthia not to leave so early, but she wouldn't listen to me!"
Steven could almost imagine three black lines appearing on his forehead. In any case... Grandma Carolina was certainly quite straightforward with her intentions.
Soon enough, Steven had both dishes stir-fried and two bowls of rice served on the dining table.
He also sliced some fresh Berries for dessert.
"Looks pretty good," Grandma Carolina observed, seeing the two home-cooked dishes on the table. She nodded with approval.
"Please have a taste," Steven said with a polite smile.
"Hmm..." Grandma Carolina picked up a small piece of meat with her chopsticks and placed it in her mouth.
"Not bad at all. You're quite capable."
"I'll consider you forgiven."
"Thank you for your understanding," Steven chuckled softly.
"Oh, by the way, I remember Cynthia is a bit younger than me. Why did she go traveling already?" Steven asked curiously.
"This is entirely your fault."
"It's my fault again?" Steven didn't understand why everything kept circling back to him.
"What do you think? Cynthia sent you so many letters several years ago, and you didn't reply to a single one," Grandma Carolina said with clear irritation.
"When did that happen...?" Steven felt genuinely startled. "I never received any letters."
Grandma Carolina suddenly fell silent.
Seeing Grandma Carolina's lack of response, Steven also felt awkward about continuing the conversation.
The atmosphere grew quiet and somewhat tense.
It wasn't until Steven had eaten half the rice in his bowl that Grandma Carolina spoke again.
Her tone carried unmistakable worry.
"I'm a little concerned now... Is Cynthia truly safe traveling by herself...?"
"Why do you say that?" Steven asked, genuinely puzzled.
"She wrote letters, but you never received them. What does that tell you?"
Steven hesitated before answering, "Because... they were sent to the wrong address?"
Grandma Carolina nodded with resignation. "That should be the only logical explanation."
"Oh no..."
Thinking back to the adorably naive Cynthia at five or six years old, it actually seemed entirely possible.
"You were so quiet and indifferent to everything back then. You definitely didn't introduce yourself properly to Cynthia, did you?" Grandma Carolina's gaze sharpened, as if attempting to see straight through Steven.
"Uh... now that you mention it, that does seem to be accurate," Steven admitted awkwardly, scratching his face.
Steven genuinely hadn't thought to introduce himself back then. It was simply because Cynthia had clung to him so persistently, and he couldn't bear to see her left out and alone, that he had eventually started playing with her.
In the end, young Cynthia had simply called him "big brother."
Looking back at that adorably silly blonde girl from back then, if she had written the wrong address... and only referred to him as "big brother," who would possibly know she was looking for Steven Stone?
This was terrible. Would Cynthia hate him because of this misunderstanding?!
"Ahem, so does Cynthia hate me very much?" Steven coughed lightly, clenching his fist nervously while testing the waters.
"Not exactly... I just know she kept asking me, 'Why doesn't big brother ever reply to my letters? Does he dislike Cynthia or something?'" After Grandma Carolina finished speaking, she gave Steven a pointed look that clearly said, "You figure out the rest yourself."
This was awful. He suddenly felt incredibly guilty about the whole situation.
"Moreover, I only knew you were Joseph's son back then. Why were you so withdrawn and silent when you were little?" Grandma Carolina wore a mischievous smile, as if ready to enjoy watching him squirm.
"Ahem, Grandma Carolina, please allow me to formally introduce myself," Steven said with visible awkwardness.
"My name is Steven Stone."
"It's useless telling me now," Grandma Carolina chuckled knowingly, her meaning crystal clear.
"My poor Cynthia was so afraid you disliked her that she didn't dare come to Hoenn to find you," Grandma Carolina sighed deeply.
"I was at a critical juncture in my research back then, otherwise I would have personally traveled there to confront you."
If he listened to any more of this... Steven felt like he was about to receive a death sentence!
He had actually failed to properly connect with the blonde girl who had come seeking him out back then!
Was this the mindset of someone who had been single for over a decade? How frustrating!
Most importantly, Steven had never imagined that the imposing future Sinnoh Champion would have such an endearing childhood nickname!
When he had carefully polished those black gemstone accessories and watched Cynthia put them on with such delight, he had suddenly realized something profound.
Could this truly be destiny at work?
He was Steven, yet not the original Steven Stone, which meant there were numerous differences between this world and his fragmented memories.
This was clearly another parallel world altogether.
"I genuinely feel that I was completely wrong," Steven said with a deeply rueful smile.
"Too late for regrets now!" Grandma Carolina's lips curved upward knowingly. "Do you know what Pokémon I prepared as Cynthia's starter?"
That particular smile made Steven's heart skip nervously.
"Gible."
Even if this world differed in various ways, such iconic and representative Pokémon shouldn't change fundamentally.
Just like his own Shiny Metagross.
"Oh? How did you figure that out?" This time, it was Grandma Carolina's turn to appear genuinely surprised.
"Because since you know my father gave me a Pokémon, you should also know it was a Beldum. Following that logic, you would naturally prepare a similarly late-blooming Pokémon for Cynthia."
"In the Sinnoh Region, the only appropriate late-blooming Pokémon would be Gible."
"You're quite clever indeed," Grandma Carolina's eyes held a glimmer of genuine appreciation.
He had already known the answer beforehand, so wouldn't it be simple to work backward from there?!
"It's your first time visiting here, and I haven't prepared anything special for you, so how about..."
Steven's face flushed red, and he quickly waved his hands defensively. "No, no need! After all, I didn't bring anything when coming to see you either."
Grandma Carolina raised an eyebrow sharply, radiating an unmistakably ominous aura.
"Why are you blushing like that? Do you think I'm about to give you my precious Cynthia? Hmm?"
"No! I wouldn't dare think such a thing!"
"Smart boy," Grandma Carolina remarked, glancing at Steven with approval.
"Actually, I encountered an extremely troublesome Pokémon some time ago, and Cynthia simply couldn't handle it properly, so she had to send it to Professor Rowan for safekeeping."
"As a result, that particular Pokémon still hasn't been chosen by any new Trainer."
"So you're planning to dump this problem onto me?" Steven asked in genuine surprise.
"Hmm?"
"No, that's not what I meant at all!"
"Think about it this way—if you can successfully handle a Pokémon that even Cynthia couldn't manage..." Grandma Carolina smiled slightly, giving him a knowing "you understand what I'm implying" look.
"Cynthia's impression of me will improve significantly!" Steven suddenly realized with dawning comprehension.
"Exactly right!"
Grandma Carolina thought to herself privately:
Actually, I just want to successfully dump this troublesome Pokémon on you.