Steven wiped the fine sweat from his forehead and walked out of the mine, letting the bright sunlight fall over him.
Buzz, buzz…
Steven pulled the constantly vibrating PokéNav from his pocket. He smiled slightly when he saw the name on the caller ID.
"What's wrong, Wallace?"
"Any news?"
"I've been in the mine."
"I'm not in Kalos."
Steven hung up, still confused, and tapped on the latest trending news. Every recent headline seemed to say the same thing: "True Dragon Master — Steven." The story had stayed popular for half a month already, and by now it had spread across the world. The first report came from Kalos, and soon official news accounts from every region had reposted it, sparking heated discussion online. Many people had even tagged Lance, the Dragon-type Champion, in the comments.
Utterly bewildered, Steven opened the article and found a large photo at the top. It showed a young man standing on the head of a black Rayquaza. The most striking thing about him was his silver-blue hair. Below it were several high-definition close-ups — unmistakably Steven's own face, though he looked a little younger.
"Is this... me?" He couldn't help but stare.
Maybe it's just someone who looks like me, he thought. Even high-definition photos could be faked or scanned digitally. But then, who could possibly get a shot like that, standing on Rayquaza's head?
He kept scrolling and found another photo — "himself" standing on a Shiny Metagross, staring straight at the black Rayquaza. That settled it. This was really him, or at least, someone wearing his face.
Steven glanced back at the mine behind him. He knew it wasn't him, not from this timeline.
"Hm?" He tilted his head toward a thick tree branch nearby. Someone was sitting on it, long legs swinging lazily.
"You are—"
Steven leapt down from the branch and looked at the Steven of this timeline standing before him. In order to have a proper battle with Steven, Steven had spent a full week resting and half a month training his Pokémon. Aside from Ash, Steven was the only person in this timeline Steven truly wanted to meet.
"Nice to meet you, Steven," he said with a smile.
It felt strange — not just in a psychological sense, but visually too. Steven realized he seemed to be a little taller than Steven. At this point in time, Steven stood only 176 centimeters tall. No wonder Joseph said I'd grown taller, Steven thought.
"You..." Steven studied the face that was almost identical to his own, clearly caught off guard. It was as if he were looking at himself from years ago.
"Let me introduce myself. My name is Steven Stone. I am you, and also not you," Steven said with a light chuckle.
Steven startled for a moment, then quickly arrived at another explanation. "My parallel self?"
Steven gave a small nod. "I've always wanted to meet you. So before I go back, I'd like to have a battle with you."
Steven considered this for a moment, then agreed. "All right. Right here, then."
Steven had no objection. The clearing had only a few scattered trees; beyond that, there was nothing but the mountain rising behind Steven.
As for how Steven had managed to find Steven— it wasn't through any special sense or tracking. He'd simply gone to Rustboro City, and when he ran into Joseph, the man had asked in surprise, "How are you back so soon? Weren't you supposed to be mining at—" As the Vice President of Devon Corporation, Steven's movements were never hard to trace, and Steven had used that to his advantage.
Steven would have liked to spend more time exploring this world with Steven, but he didn't have much time left. Earlier, after only a short while, Dialga had forcibly pulled him away. Still, he didn't want their meeting to end with just a casual, half-hearted battle. So he'd set aside time to properly prepare for this match.
The two trainers stood on opposite ends of the field. The rules were simple: a full six-on-six battle.
"Go, Skarmory!"
Both trainers sent out Skarmory at the same moment. Even more coincidentally, the two Skarmory seemed to be almost equally matched in strength — a result of how hard Steven and his Pokémon had trained to catch up to this world's Champion. Ever since Steven had stepped down from his position as Champion, his own training regimen had gradually slowed. He'd grown more interested in exploring mines and mentoring promising young Hoenn trainers.
"Spikes!"
Both sides gave their first command at the same time. Since most of Steven's team consisted of Steel- or Rock-type Pokémon, Stealth Rock wouldn't have offered much benefit — and it seemed Steven had reached the same conclusion. Both Skarmory scattered sharp, energy-formed spikes across the field.
"Steel Wing!"
"Iron Defense!"
Steven's Skarmory wrapped its wings in a layer of silvery-white energy, making them appear even larger. At the same moment, Steven's Skarmory's body took on a metallic sheen.
Clang!
Steven's Skarmory was struck and sent tumbling to the ground. Steel-type Pokémon already resisted the attack, and with Iron Defense active, the damage should have been minimal — but it wasn't enough.
"Return, Skarmory." Steven recalled his Skarmory the moment he saw the exchange. It seemed the tactics used by this version of himself, from another timeline, were noticeably different from his own.
"Go, Claydol!"
Steven sent out Claydol. Thanks to its ability, Levitate, it was unaffected by Spikes. Ground-type moves couldn't touch Skarmory in the air, and Psychic-type moves would be resisted by it as well. But since Claydol usually leaned on special attacks, it was still a solid answer to a Skarmory whose defense had just been boosted by Iron Defense. What's more, Psychic resisted Fighting-type moves, so even if Skarmory tried a Tackle after its defense boost, it wouldn't do much damage to Claydol.
"Guard Swap!"
The instant Claydol appeared, it channeled its psychic power and swapped its own defense stat with Skarmory's — transferring the benefit of Skarmory's Iron Defense onto itself.
"Return, Skarmory." Steven called his Skarmory back as soon as he saw what had happened. If the battle continued this way, Skarmory wouldn't hold up much longer.
"Go, Empoleon!"
Steven sent out Empoleon. The moment it landed, it stepped straight onto the scattered Spikes and winced in pain.
"Empoleon?" Steven looked at Steven's chosen Pokémon with some surprise. It seemed this parallel version of himself differed not only in battle style, but even in the Pokémon he kept by his side.
"Aowbo!" Empoleon let out a fierce cry as water began swirling around its body.
"Empoleon, hold on." Steven's voice stayed calm. The rising water slowly settled, and Empoleon turned back to look at him, puzzled.
"Let's face Steven with our true strength," Steven said.
Empoleon had already begun to draw on its hidden reserve of power, ready to unleash it fully. Normally, Steven wouldn't have held it back. But this battle carried real meaning to him, and he wanted Empoleon to face Steven without leaning on that extra edge.
"Aowbo." Empoleon nodded in understanding.
"Your Empoleon really caught me off guard," Steven said with a chuckle. The aura it had just released, even before revealing its full strength, had surpassed even Claydol's presence. For a Pokémon not yet at Champion level to burst out with that kind of power — it was hard not to be impressed.