Steel Bond || Steven Stone x Reader

6

Steven shot up from his sleep in a cold sweat, fear evident in his eyes. He'd gotten to the hospital late that night, the doctors had treated Y/N's shoulder, being clear that she'd have to be careful with it for the next month, or she'd face permanent damage to it if she does over work it. Steven sighs wiping away the beads of sweat off his forehead. These nightmares plagued him every night for years, last few months getting considerably worse for him.  The vivid memories flooding back to him as he slept. Watching the girl die in front of him. Die from his actions, if he hadn't gotten close to her, if he was better, Arceus why was he a failure at being the champion, why, why, why-

"Steven?" Steven was snapped out of his thoughts as Y/N called his name, he must admit that hearing her say just his first name was odd as he'd gotten so used to being called strictly by his last name from her. "You look pale as hell Stone, what happened?" Y/N asks as she slowly sits up in the bed. "I, ah, yeah I'm fine. How's your shoulder?" Steven diverts from her question, she picks up on his attempt to divert the conversation, though goes with it not wanting to argue with him more than she already does.

"Hurts like a bitch, but it's better than before" Y/N tells him, though it came out more blunt than she intended. "Thanks for getting me out of that mess. And for the love of Arceus, don't say it's because that's your job as the champion" Y/N sighed laying back down in the bed, the sigh coming from the fact she hated hospitals, and also knowing this was something that Steven might use as an example as to why she should go back to Kalos. "Even if I wasn't champion I would have helped" Steven says and for once actually gave her a small smile. Showing her that he in fact, is human that is capable of having emotions other than serious. 

"How's my Pokémon?" She asked him, since the last she remembered most of her Pokemon were knocked out and badly injured, she was mainly concerned about Combusken since it had taken hit after hit from the pack of Magma's Mighyena. 

"They're all fine, Combusken got the worst of it but it's recovering in another room right now with nurse Joy and Chancey" Steven told her ever so tempted to again ask her to leave Hoenn, but as Flannery told him, she's not leaving even if Steven begged her to. "Good, I was worried Combusken took the brunt of the Mightyena attacks, also as much as I don't want to we have to discuss how the hell I can continue on without worrying about Magma" Y/N said looking over at the steel haired man sitting in the chair next to her hospital bed. "Well, for starters, the only way you'll ever truly be safe from them is if you leave Hoenn. But I know that's not something you want to do. May I ask where are you headed next?" Steven asked her, contemplating what could happen so that she could continue to journey Hoenn without threat of Team Magma constantly. Though he believed that this was mostly a one time incident, even he would get overwhelmed if that many grunts jumped him. "Well I have to head back to Petalburg for the gym there, now that I have four gym badges Norman is finally letting me challenge his gym" Y/N tells him and she see's him bring a hand up to his chin to think about his response. She hated to admit it but Steven had started to grow on her, rather harshly as she did not really want to be in some sort of protection program, but she couldn't really do much else after this last encounter with Team Magma. 

"Look, I know you don't like me all that much. But I also have some business in Petalburg I have to attend, and for both of our safety I think it's best if we traveled together for the time being" Steven proposed his idea hoping she would agree since this was his only current idea other than shipping her off to Mossdeep to wait until he dealt with Team Magma. 

Y/N begrudgingly thinks about it for a moment, thinking that she didn't exactly want to just fly to Petalburg since she actually wants to experience Hoenn. "On one condition, that I know you may not necessarily love the idea of, which is that we don't travel by air. Despite the shit that's been happening I still want to experience Hoenn" Y/N tells him, and he is taken aback by the answer as Metagross was his main way of travel. Steven hadn't traveled by foot around Hoenn in a while, and from his own experience he didn't want to take away from her chance to see Hoenn. "May I have a condition?" Steven says back to her, and Y/N nods her head in curiosity as to what his condition would be. "We can at least travel by air to Mossdeep city after we finish what we are required to do in Petalburg" Steven says, showing that he fully agreed to her terms and he did have some intentions of her meeting a few important people in Mossdeep. "I think that's fair, you've got yourself a deal, Stone" Y/N smiles, and he swore that was the first time she had actually given him a genuine smile. 

----------Authors Note------------

Well shit here we are, it's been a hot minute but here's finally another part!