Author's Note: Hello, everyone! This fanfiction will be my first go at writing a Pokémon story, so I'm very excited about exploring this fandom. Mostly it has been inspired by nostalgia for the old games and immense anticipation for the remakes. As such you will be unsurprised to find that it incorporates elements of both games. The story takes place 10 years after the events of Omega Ruby, and it mostly focuses on the highly turbulent relationship between Maxie and May because, in case you haven't guessed by now, I ship them. So, without further ado, enjoy the story, and let me know what you think!

Chapter 1

Restless

"Each of us is born with a box of matches inside us but we can't strike them all by ourselves." Laura Esquivel, Like Water for Chocolate

Why did I ever think it was a wise idea to date a scientist? May sighed, rolling her eyes skyward at the intense fluorescent lights of the laboratory ceiling. Rock enthusiast was a more apt description, but of late he had become a combination of both. Steven Stone, like the rest of the Pokémon world, had become ensnared by the mystery of Mega Evolution. Don't get her wrong, May was intrigued by the topic, too, and would love if one day her own Pokémon could mega evolve, but there was a line between interest and obsession, and she and Steven were on opposite sides of it. In the past four years, he had dragged her along to Kalos with him (which she wouldn't have minded if it had actually been for a vacation) several times so that he could meet with Professor Sycamore and discuss their findings in person. More often than not, those meetings saw May, frustrated, walking out to wander around Lumiose by herself, without Steven even having noticed. And if it wasn't that, then they were back in Hoenn, trekking through drippy caves (which was also fine, except Steven considered them dates), collecting samples, and picking up rocks. If she was lucky, and her luck seemed to be on an increasing decline lately, then they would do something fun maybe once every two months. Her definition of fun being battling, working on Professor Birch's brand new Pokedex, or exploring Hoenn, because May was absolutely not the lovey-dovey romantic type. All she wanted was someone to set her blood ablaze, so hot that it scalded her—that's why she loved Steven, or at least, she thought she did. He was that someone, when he had been the champion, before he got involved in Mega Evolution. Now that she had taken his spot, he had time on his hands, time to go chasing after the secrets of the Pokémon world that were supposedly locked within a couple of uninteresting chunks of rock. But not time for May. God, she felt so needy. She understood how much his career meant to Steven (she was the same way), but she had hoped he would at least try to make a little more room for her. Well, he did—he included her in all of his experiments and research projects—but that wasn't what she wanted out of their relationship. Science was not something she needed a boyfriend for, as she was plenty kickass at that on her own. No, she wanted a guy (or a girl, really, she wasn't picky) to ignite within her searing, explosive flames. What she got was meekly glowing embers that occasionally, rarely, burst into fire.

Still, all her complaining didn't mean she was ungrateful. Before Steven had befriended her, she had been in a jaded, frightening place, and he helped her out of it. She wouldn't quite say he helped her find herself—even though she had been pretty lost—because that was too dramatic and gushy. She knew who she was. He simply helped her accept that and work through the trauma of her precocious childhood. After all, it was because of him that she wasn't afraid of loving science again.

May spun around in the swivel chair she'd been rolling around the lab for the past five and a half hours. Tools such as microscopes, magnifying glasses, Petri dishes, chisels and assorted sizes of brushes, and reagent bottles with colorful sloshing chemicals blurred in her vision as she twirled. When she stopped, her gaze landed on Steven, all the way across the large room. She watched him. His back was to her, a too large white lab coat draped adorably over his shoulders as he leaned over the counter, peering down into a sample, hoping, probably that this stone would be the one that allowed him to see into the soul of Mega Evolution. He mumbled to himself frequently, as he did when he was deeply immersed in his work. Before he got to that point of no return, he would smile at May, explaining his work as he went, inviting her to examine and question, until he reached that place of concentration so focused even she could not reach him. He was beautiful, especially when he regarded something with all his attention, all his being, but more often than not, that something was a rock, not May. Beauty was beginning to mean precious little to her in terms of love; she would trade it in a blink for a relationship that was more meaningful. Perhaps they were meant only to be very close friends, as they had began and, seeming increasingly likely, as they would end.

Yawning, she stood from her chair and looked out of the wall of windows behind her as sunset came on. The sky bathed the grass outside in warm pinks, oranges, and reds, and May felt the urge to lay out under the sky again, as she had done so many times on her first adventure as a trainer. She missed that life of freedom, surprise, and adrenaline. Now her life was a stagnant pool of domesticity and complacency, only rippled into excitement every once in a while by a trainer who was lucky or competent enough to make it all the way to the champion. That was where the luck ended. She couldn't remember anyone even coming close to defeating her in all her years with the title. It was funny: May almost wanted to lose to someone, because it would give her a rival, an itch to improve herself. There was nothing to do at the top except atrophy and wallow in undeserved self-assurance.

"Goodness, May, what time is it?" Steven exclaimed, happening to pry his eyes away from his work to see her staring out the window.

"About eight, I guess." Summer evenings were sleepy, though, and it felt much later than that. Why was she tired when she had done nothing but sleep in, go to lunch with Steven, and then return with him to the lab to watch him work the rest of the day? What happened to the tireless girl who had chased down Team Magma almost completely on her own? May prayed and hoped with all her soul that she would come back to rescue her from this pit of boredom.

He groaned. "I am truly sorry, May. Time has escaped me again. Why didn't you say something? Arceus, you must have been terribly bored sitting here this whole time."

She shrugged, turned away from the window, and watched him gather up his things, nitpicking his workspace sparkly clean. "I didn't want to disturb your work."

Steven pushed light strands of hair out of his face, revealing apologetic blue eyes. "I'll redeem myself, I promise." He smiled, holding out his hand to her once everything was returned to its proper place. "Shall we off?"

May took it, their fingers curling together, and they walked home under the stars, their shoulders and arms bumping together as they went. It was soothing and peaceful and . . . mundane, and May resented it. Not Steven, no, she could never hate him. Only herself, a little, for not appreciating the stability that most people could merely dream of having. She wasn't normal, and she knew that. Whereas most people hoped for a cozy home and a family, May wanted her home to be the whole wide world and her family to be her ever-dependable Pokémon. She wanted to always feel the promise of an adventure before her and the memory of an old excitement behind her. She wanted the sweat of hard work and exertion to press her clothes against her back and the sun to beat down on her forehead. She wanted freedom. That was the one thing that Steven could never give her.

When they got home, Steven seemed dead set on making up the less than stellar day to May. He dropped his bags in front of the door, and in lieu of them, scooped her up into his arms. She pretended to be ecstatic and surprised as he carried her to their bedroom and delicately lowered her onto the bed, kissing her, caressing her, loving her. Physically, her body enjoyed it, but to her mind the sex was as anticlimactic as the previous five and a half hours had been. The fire was extinguished, gone, lost and buried beneath a pile of stone, cold rocks.

She imagined that Steven fell asleep thinking everything was okay again. May laid awake late into the night knowing that it was not.

When she woke the next morning from a tossing-turning, feverish, elusive nightmare sort of sleep, Steven's side of the bed was vacant. She touched the sheets and pillows, and they were cold. Shrugging, she turned the television on and scooched back beneath the blankets, burying herself up to her neck. He was probably already at the labs, and since today was Sunday, what reason did she even have to leave the bed? Sure, there was that whole affair of attempting to track down and incarcerate Maxie, but after five years of searching unsuccessfully for him, she was starting to think it was time to give it up. Most of his low level grunts had been arrested long before, and now there were only a few higher level admins and Maxie himself remaining at large. Not a comforting thought, but if she hadn't been able to track them down even with the help of Brendan, the police, and Archie and the rest of Team Aqua, then what hope was there left? To be honest, ten years ago she hadn't expected it to come to this. Outside the Cave of Origin-that hellish place from which she had never expected to leave alive-she believed him when he said that he would work with Tabitha and Archie to atone for his sins. The League, apparently, had believed in him, too. They gave him five years to present tangible proof of having aided Hoenn in some way, and, if he did not, then there would be life sentences for all of the significant Magma members and up to 15 years for the grunts. Well, it had been ten years, shy some months, since that fateful day, and no one had seen hide nor tail of Team Magma. Both May and the League figured it was a safe assumption that they couldn't be up to any good. Though they worked with a vengeance to round up Magma, as they had promised, the most rotten apples of the bunch continued to elude their grasp.

Sighing, May flipped to the news and listened to the steady drone of reports she didn't care about. Five years she had been eagerly watching the news, waiting for the story that would proudly proclaim that Maxie was finally in custody, but it never came.

Just as she was nodding off again, she heard a chipper voice sing, "Good morning, love," and in walked Steven, carrying a tray with eggs, bacon, toast, and apple juice. Great, this scene is literally the epitome of domesticity.

But it was kind and thoughtful, and May smiled genuinely as he placed the tray on the bed and propped up her pillows for her.

"I was awake early, so I thought I would make you breakfast in bed." His cheeks reddened slightly as he said this.

"Steven, I don't deserve you." She laughed, hugging him and lightly kissing his lips. There was no fire in their lives, but there was love, and maybe she could learn to get used to it.

He sat on the bed beside her, frequently stealing pieces of bacon when he thought she wasn't looking. "So, why were you awake early?"

His whole face lit up, and immediately she knew it must have been something about work. "Professor Sycamore called at 4—time zones, you understand—and informed me that he has discovered someone whom he calls the Mega Evolution Guru. He hopes that the man will be able to shed much needed light on our research, and he has invited me to meet him. I'm supposed to leave for Kalos tomorrow," he said. "Would you grant me the pleasure of accompanying me once again? I promise I won't ruin the trip by working the entire time. We can go visit the Battle Chateau." He smirked at her small gasp of surprise, and kept grinning as he said, "I do listen, you know."

May's face lit up. She couldn't help it; she found his earnestness endearing, if not cute. And the fact that he was making a conscious effort to take a break from work for her sake made her want to laugh and smile even more.

"I would—"

"Special news bulletin." Curious, May broke off, turning toward the TV as a news anchor interrupted the weather.

"One of Team Magma's former admins—he refused to reveal his name—has been discovered and is being taken into custody."

A clandestine video captured with a Holocaster popped up on the screen, and May put her hand over her mouth. "That's Tabitha!"

"Well, there's good news all around this morning!" Steven kissed her on the head as he went to take her empty breakfast tray back to the kitchen.

"Do you know what this means?" May asked as soon as he walked back into the room, bouncing excitedly on the bed.

"Do tell," he said. He slid back into bed, propping himself up on one elbow and gazing at her with his undivided attention. Like he did with his rocks. Just the thought made May warm and bubbly inside.

"Maxie and the rest of his admins must be near wherever Tabitha was found. It means we can finally lock up all of Team Magma! Ihave to go find their hideout!"

Steven's face was not as supportive as she hoped it would be. In fact, he looked disappointed. "May, I know you've been restless lately, but chasing criminals across the region is not the way to change that."

She tried not to let her temper blow this conversation into an argument. "Maybe I have been getting bored sitting around all day at the Pokémon League, and maybe I do miss adventuring a little—a lot—but that's not what this is about. It's about me and the rest of Hoenn being able to sleep at night without worrying about some eco-fanatics fucking up so badly that the nearly end the world again!"

Steven sighed, those crystal eyes narrowing ever so slightly as they continued to watch her. "That's not your job, May. It is the duty of the police, who are trained professionals. Do you realize how dangerous what you're doing is?" He lowered his voice. "Do you know how much I worry every time you leave on one of your escapades? Every time you're out searching for them, I think, what if she doesn't come home this time?"

"I—" Never thought about it that way. "I'm sorry, Steven. But I'm careful, and come on, if I beat Maxie into the ground when I was 16, then what do I, as the champion, have to fear now? Besides, if I finally catch him, then this will be the last time you have to worry." The last adventure. Maybe that was all she needed to be able to settle down. One last memorable journey.

"I'm loathe to admit it, but I do understand your perspective. Adventuring is as important to you as stones are to me, and I can't knowingly deny you that. However much I worry, my conscience will not allow me."

May's face broke into a grin, and she hugged Steven tight, nuzzling her head into the crook of his shoulder. "I love you so much, Steven Stone."

He chuckled. "And I you. I assume you want to leave as soon as possible in the likely event that Maxie decides it is nigh time to relocate."

"Maybe." She blushed, always both amused and unnerved at the way Steven could read her thoughts.

"Very well. My flight for Kalos leaves tomorrow morning, so I must prepare. I will be gone for two months at least, and I will miss you terribly, but I trust that will be ample time for you to conclude the case file of Team Magma and perhaps partake in any additional side adventures which catch your fancy."

She could listen to Steven talk all day. His words flowed together as gracefully and mellifluously as music, and damn did she have a soft spot for men who had a mastery of words.

He leaned away from her to rummage around in his closet, returning with a sleek black suitcase. He flipped it open, and inside the velvet plush linings sat a stone. It gleamed light green, mint colored, like Steven's hair and eyes.

"This is a Gardevoirite. You found this, actually, on one our trips to the caves, and only recently was I able to identify it as a mega stone. I had intended to give it to you for Christmas, but I would like you to have it now. Just in case you come into danger." He slipped the ring he always wore off of his finger. "Take my mega ring with you as well."

"I can't take that from you! It's too precious to lose."

He placed the ring on her wedding finger. "As are you. I pray you will not need it, but as a contingency."

Leaning down, he kissed her on the lips, and she wrapped her arms around his lean waist, pulling him closer to her. He tasted like the bacon he had secreted off her plate, with a hint of strawberries. They were in season now, and they were his weakness.

She smiled when they pulled away. "See you in two months, Steven."

"Farewell, May, love."

He left her alone to prepare for her own adventure; probably he was already off to the labs.

After she showered, dressed, and packed all the necessary supplies, she headed to her "office" (what had once been her bedroom before she and Steven started dating—long story) to try to pinpoint the Magma hideout's location. Tabitha had been found by surfers who reported seeing him riding a Lapras near the sunken ship, not too far from Dewford. But May had already checked that area, so how could she have missed them?

Unless, she realized, they had been hiding on one of the island chains too tiny to even bother putting on the regional map. She had to admit that it was a genius idea. Who would ever look for Team Magma in the middle of the ocean? Searching the internet for maps of the area around Dewford, she found that there were six chains of minuscule islands in the area around the sunken ship. That was doable for one person in the time she had, but she wanted to find Maxie as quickly as possible. Before he eluded her again.

May called Brendan on the Holocaster. "I think I know where to find Maxie," she said, skipping over pleasantries and even a simple hello.

By now, though, he was used to her blunt nature. "That's amazing, May! Where?"

"One of the islands around the sunken ship and Dewford. Come with?"

"I wish I could, but I'm very busy helping Professor Birch at the labs. We're studying the process of Pokémon evolution to see if it leads to any clues about Mega Evolution." Brendan groaned. "That means that I am stuck training all the test Pokémon until they evolve."

She sighed. Mega Evolution, Mega Evolution, Mega Evolution. God, wasn't there anything else to talk about? "All right, Brendan. Thanks anyway. Tell the professor I said hello."

He waved at her, and the call clicked off. She dialed another number. A very tanned, very muscled man appeared on her screen, grinning broadly. "Well if it ain't my little scamp!"

"Hey, Archie. I've got some good news you might like to hear."

The sleepless lines under his eyes made him look a lot older than she remembered him. "I could use some of that right about now."

"I think I know where to find Maxie."

His eyes lit up and she heard boisterous laughter through the speaker. "That's my girl! I knew you'd find that bastard!"

"You want to be there when we catch him, don't you?"

Sighing and rubbing his head, he said, "Oh, May, you know how badly I want to see the police have his head, but I can't. We're stretched thin enough as it is battling some band of insane Pokémon thieves that keep popping up. I can't leave work."

"Dammit, Archie, you deserve to be there," May said. "Anyway, I'd hate to have to go alone, not knowing their numbers."

"Why don't you work with the police force? They'll be more than willing," he suggested.

"I hate working with them. They're too noisy and slow. No, I'll just find it myself, take the coordinates, do a bit of recon, and then report as soon as I can."

"Stubborn as ever. Well, be careful. I don't have to tell you how dangerous he is."

May shrugged and ended the call. This would be the first time she ever went looking for Maxie on her own. She was somewhat nervous, but she didn't doubt she could do it. They didn't call her the champion for nothing. Still, her left brain was strongly protesting that decision. She ignored it.

Before she headed out, she stopped at the Mossdeep City Pokémon Center to make sure her team was in good health and to stock up on potions, revives, full restores, and plenty of repel. Only in retrospect did she realize she should have bought an escape rope.