A Warm Heart For Hoenn

Some Alone Time at the Murals

Steven walked us into the cave and started to tell us about all the great stuff back in Sinnoh which was were he caught his all new Lucario. It sounded great whenever something funny came up.
"So...how's Cynthia?" I asked.
"She's fine...asks about you all the time," Steven told me and Iris.
Cilan and Wally were back there somewhere having fun while we stayed up front with Steven. I wanted to control myself whenever he was around or else I'll end up looking like a doofus in front of him.
I noticed Iris slowing down and letting the two of us walk on.
"Iris? What're you—?" I began.
But she just motioned Steven with her head and gave me a big smile. Oh no she didn't. I just slowly gulped and walked beside Steven in silence.
"What's up with you? I've never seen you become so silent before," Steven chuckled giving me a smile.
I looked away almost immediately because I didn't want to stare at him too much like a weirdo. Steven placed a hand on my shoulder and directed my face to his.
"S-Steven?! What are you doing?" I stammered.
"It's alright, okay? I'm here now and if you're having problems I can just talk to you, okay?" He assured me.
I blushed hysterically and tried to hide it by fake coughing (again). He seemed to notice though but didn't speak out about it. All he did was smirk and look ahead.
Then, I noticed his hand wasn't off my shoulder. He slid it down until it was in my hand.
"If you have a fear of dark caves and that's why you're really silent, then I'll stay with you," Steven whispered.
Listen, I had no idea what to say right now since I felt my breath heavy and my cheeks on fire, making my words all caught up in my throat but on the other hand, I was looking for an excuse to hold his hand so I went with:
"Sure, okay."
Emolga and Aggron smirked at me from behind and I gave them a look that went like hey, don't mess this up for me, clear?
They nodded which meant that they understood so thank goodness for that.
"Hey Steven? Can I ask you a question?" I started.
"Sure, what's up?"
"Listen, lately I've had some feelings for...a guy and I don't know how to tell him," I explained, beginning to shake with embarrassment, "Do you know what to do?"
"Actually I'm not too good with this stuff," he admitted, "but I think you should tell him. If he used to be your best friend, maybe he'll understand."
"Sure, thanks..." I paused, "will you join us?"
"What?"
"Do you wanna go through the Hoenn Region with us?"
Steven smiled gently at me and I felt his hand squeeze tighter in mine. "I'd love to, thanks."
Emolga flew onto my shoulder and made her way down towards my arm. She rubbed her cheeks and touched Steven's arm affectionately.
"EMOLGA! NO!!!"
The tunnel burst with electricity as the metal cuffs and rings Steven was wearing conducted the entire shock.
Iris and Cilan gasped while Wally fell to the ground laughing crazily. Steven shook his head and I moaned, getting up.
"Emolga please, I warned you about this," I said shakily.
Emolga giggled and laid her head onto my arm. Steven helped me up but I was still pretty wobbly to keep balance.
After a few seconds, I found myself leaning onto Steven's shoulder and he had a light shade of pink on his cheeks.
But he smiled and put an arm around my shoulder.
"Are you alright?" He asked me.
"Muh...how are you not hurt but I am?" I muttered sleepily.
"I've had this before trust me."
Iris dragged Wally to his feet and Cilan eyed me, taking Iris and Wally by the hands and leading them to a few different tunnels.
They're doing it again...I can't believe it.
When they were gone, Steven put Aggron back in his Pokeball and sat on the ground, inviting me to sit next to him.
"Here, you can put your head on my shoulder until you rest up," he nudged my head onto his shoulder and I didn't even fight it.
Steven blushed when he found me taking it way easily but he didn't react.
"Hey, Amy?"
"Yeah...?"
"Thanks for coming to Hoenn again...I don't think you'd believe it but ever since you beat me, I think I started to miss you already."
That jolted me back to reality. I shot up to my feet and I was about to collapse to the ground again if it weren't for Steven who also shot up to his feet and caught me.
"Whoa, whoa, you aren't there yet!" He told me.
"I just—you missed me?"
"I mean, sure I did! You're nice, kind and funny...you aren't the type that brags...I really like it when you tell me stories about the other regions," he said softly, "I can't go anywhere since I'm champion here. I can but only when I'm free for a few days...not the same though."
"I never really thought about that..."
Steven held my arm to make sure I don't stumble into a wall or something and we got to a part where the tunnel got a bit wider.
"Look at these murals," I gasped, "they're awesome...there's Groudon and Kyogre...and the one on the top is Rayquaza—"
"You know a lot about them, don't you?" He asked, slightly punching me in the arm.
"I really like Rayquaza...he's my favorite and I always wished to catch him," I smiled, "I am very fond of Pokémon but I really like Dragon Types most."
"Then you should talk to Drake, he's the best at that stuff," Steven laughed as I punched him back.
"The dude who drinks? Oh heck no, I will not start talking to a guy who's drunk twenty four seven," I yelped, shaking my head rapidly.
"I was kidding, but he's not drunk all the time...Phoebe keeps an eye on him, don't worry."
"Mm-Kay," I said.
There was a pause between the two of us. I really wanted to tell him about my feelings but then I went in my head: no! I should at least tell him later on.
Steven lifted my head up with two fingers and looked into my brown eyes. He hugged me slowly and I inhaled shakily, hugging him back.
"I have a feeling you want to say something," he murmured into my ear, "Don't be shy, tell me anything."
I blushed crazily and didn't answer for a moment.
"Amy? Are you asleep?" he joked.
"No, no! I'm awake," I whispered.
"Then what're you trying to tell me?" He asked again.
"I just really like—"
Cilan went leaping at us out of nowhere and pried the two of us apart.
"CILAN! WHAT THE HECK!" I screamed.
"You almost gave me a heart attack," Steven gasped, clawing at his heart.
"WALLY GOT IN TROUBLE, LET'S GO!" Cilan yelled, dragging me and Steven out of the cave.
*****
What's going on guys, RanbowHorsez here. We were looking into the views lately and realized the story needs to step up a little so if any of you have suggestions, you can tell us, okay?
The squad is OUT! Peace!✌️😼