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Steven chipped away at the stone, sighing in exasperation. It used to be effortless, losing himself in the excavation and hunting until he realized he hadn’t eaten for days. But these days, every moment seemed to tick slower and slower because of a terrible affliction: love. Perhaps that was why he had chosen this site. After all, this place was where they had first met. He remembered it vividly, seeing her bright eyes and adventurous grin. She had been clueless and lost, yet held the demeanor of a veteran when she delivered the letter from his father. She had on that same grin when she took on the very incarnate of the sea and spared Hoenn a terrible fate. Every moment they spent together he treasured like the artifacts that he spent his entire life searching for. But with these sparkling memories came a dull pain. She was too young.

Steven scoffed out loud. As if she even saw him in that light.

The ground shuddered. He immediately halted his work and tuned into his surroundings. It wasn’t uncommon for tremors to happen on this side of the region, but he had to be vigilant of any structural shifts around him. For a moment, there was an eerie silence. Then, he heard a shout followed by a deafening roar. Was there someone else in the cave? He called out Metagross and dashed towards the sound… and could not believe his eyes. Wedged between the rocks, curled up and unconscious was the very person who had been haunting him for the past weeks-- ______.

He held his breath, his heart on pause as he checked her pulse. She shifted and groaned, and he allowed himself to exhale. She was alive. Slowly, meticulously, he began to pull her from the rubble, Metagross preventing the bulk of the rocks from collapsing. When he unwound her, he was astonished to see a shuddering Aron in her grasp, so young that it was yet to develop a protective shell. It hit him. She must’ve dove to protect it when the rocks fell. He set the Aron on Metagross’ back and finished wrestling ______ from the gap in the rocks.

It was pure luck that she hadn’t been crushed.

When he reached the surface, the sun was just setting. He was quick to wake a campfire, beginning to check her for injury. Other than being knocked out cold, it seemed the only wound she had was a deep gash in her arm. He tugged a handkerchief from his pocket, feeling for the ointment in his pack and untwisting the cap. Carefully, he took hold of her arm to clean the blood. The moment the cloth touched her skin, she started awake. He gasped. “Are you alright? ______?”

She struggled against him, delirious. “What are you... What are you doing to me?”

“______, it’s me. You're safe.” He said, trying to keep her from hurting herself in her confusion.
Her eyes focused as if she had finally caught up to reality. She jolted to a sitting position.
“Steven! The Aron...!"

"Is perfectly sound." He nodded to the other side of the fire where the pokemon slept nuzzled against Metagross as if it wasn't made out of cold steel.

______ relaxed, breathing a sigh. “Sorry you had to go through all this trouble.”

“You shouldn’t apologize.” Steven said. “What were you doing in the cave, anyway?”

Her cheeks flushed. “I was thinking of the time we first met.”