On a Night Like This

5. Steven

Steven counted down the minutes until the end of the night. He'd never been fond of events like this, and the ones in faraway regions were the worst of all. In Hoenn, at least, he had friends. Here in Kanto, he had nothing of the sort. Almost everyone knew his name, but no one knew him. Though they certainly did seem eager to meet him.

Or rather, they wanted to meet the heir to the Devon Corporation, the former Champion of Hoenn. They didn't want to meet Steven.

If it had been up to him, he'd be off exploring a mountain or cave, searching for precious stones along the way. But his father had persuaded him to attend Silph Co.'s Master Ball launch as a representative of Devon, and here he was. He'd given more interviews than he could remember, posed for countless pictures with the Kanto-Johto Elite Four, and been introduced to the entire Silph Co. board of directors. His work here was done.

But he couldn't leave, not yet. He'd be one of the first, and that wouldn't look good. Perhaps he could find a quiet place to sit down.

"Steven? Hi! I'm Whitney!"

Or perhaps he could have, if he hadn't been accosted by a girl who didn't seem to know the meaning of quiet. She was carrying an almost-spilling glass of champagne—not her first, by the look of things—and dressed as though she was attending her own sweet sixteen.

"It's nice to meet you," he greeted her, his patience wearing thin.

"I'm a Gym Leader, from Johto." If she noticed his indifference, she was choosing to ignore it. "I kept meaning to come say hi, but you're always so busy. But you're not now. So how cool is this party? Or do you just get to go to awesome stuff like this all the time?"

"Yes." Steven stopped at that. He didn't care to admit that it was rarely of his own accord, and that awesome was not the word he would use. To him, these parties were little more than a chore.

"So what's it like, being Champion? And being, like, crazy rich?" she asked, undeterred, when he didn't elaborate.

"I'm not Champion." He opted to leave the rest unanswered.

"Yeah, but you were. Why'd you quit, anyway? Did you get bored, or—"

"You'll have to excuse me." His calm façade was beginning to crack, and it wouldn't be long before this girl's relentless questioning shattered it altogether. He never said much about his decision to resign from the League. He wasn't going to have this conversation with some Gym Leader he'd only just met. "It's been a pleasure," he lied.

"But we barely even talked!" She grabbed his sleeve as he turned away, splashing champagne down his front. Her horrified expression gave way to nervous laughter as a throng of guests and staff, mostly female, rushed over with napkins in hand. "Oh my gosh. I'm so sorry. So, so, so—"

"Never mind. I'm leaving soon, anyway." And Steven made his exit, before she managed to do anything else to him.

All he wanted was a moment alone. Was that so much to ask?

Perhaps not, he thought, as uniformed waiters wheeled out a six-foot cake in the shape of a Master Ball, diverting all attention from Steven and his champagne-drenched suit.

That cake would keep everyone occupied, or so he hoped. As he headed for the door, he could feel himself relax already.

***

Outside, the chatter of the party had faded to a mere hum, and Steven could hear little else but the distant sounds of the city and the faint trickle of a nearby fountain.

As he moved to sit atop its edge, it took only seconds before he realized he wasn't alone. A girl whirled around to face him, her anxious eyes meeting his through the pattern of water between them.