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Chapter Text

Steven was back in school and that meant Greg didn't get much time to spend with his son as he was used to. But nevertheless, Steven seemed much more happier than he usually was after his first year at Blueberry Academy.

So, even though he missed his son, Greg was very happy that Steven was doing well. Besides, it was a the weekend now, Steven always came home on Weekends! 

After enjoying a nice morning jam session with his Pokemon, Rillaboom and Toxtricity, he made his way to The Beach House. He overheard the sound of laughter coming from inside the house. 

But some of the laughter gave Greg an ominous vibe. It was a laugh he heard before, one he associated with bad memories from his childhood.

"Well, Steven, you're alright!" A Man's voice said. Greg knew that man's voice all too well. "Noooo!" Greg cried in horror as he ran the rest of the way up the stairs, and then tripped through the door!

"What's wrong, Pinhead? Forget how to use doors?" A bald mustachioed man mocked. "Hey, Dad! Guess what? Uncle Andy talked to your parents and told them about me" said Steven "and well, they really wanted to meet me." 

An old woman came up and slapped Greg "How dare you give me a grandchild and not tell me about it!? Didn't I tell you better!?" "N-nice to meet you too, Mom..." Greg grumbled.

"And what's with that hair?! You look like someone combined a hobo with a hippy" The Old Man Remarked. "Yes, Dad..." Greg moaned.

"We're getting off topic here? How could you!? How could you not tell me I had a grandson!?" Greg's Mother interrogated. "I sent letters" Greg argued.

"Letters? Haven't you heard of a phone!?" asked Greg's Mother. "I did, but you hung up every time you found out it was me!" Greg tried to explain.

His mother was silent for a moment but then said "Lower your voice, please, we're indoors dear" she said, trying to dismiss the fact that Greg was right. 

Greg took a seat next to Steven and whispered "You okay, buddy?" out of concern. "Yeah, they seem pretty nice to me" said Steven. Greg was surprised by that, he had lived the first two decades of his life with those people, he knew how bad they were, but Steven thought they were nice? 

Had they changed in the past few decades? Or perhaps they were just acting how they did with their relatives?

"Well, you got yourself a nice homestead, better than that piece of junk you drove away in" said Greg's Father. "Dad, you gave me that van as a seventeenth birthday gift" said Greg.

"I know, that's how I know it's junk" Greg's father mocked "you think I'd have wasted the money on a decent vehicle for the likes of you? No, you want a good car, you get it yourself!"

"Hey, That Van's gotten me through some pretty rough times. You said you got me that van to give me some resilience" Greg argued. 

"Yeah, the resilience to get an actual job and save up to buy a better vehicle" Greg's father answered. "It really wasn't a good van, Gregory, dear" Greg's mother answered. 

Steven was starting to feel the tension, his grandparents seemed so nice to him, but they didn't seem to approve of Greg very much. 

"Anyway, as your boy put it, Andy told us about Steven, good things" said Greg's Father "not a bad kid you got here! If he didn't look so much like you, it would be hard to believe you're his father."

"Uh, thanks, yeah, I am proud of him" Greg answered. "Heh, I bet you are, because he's a son to be proud of" Greg's father mocked. 

"Hey, uh...it's noon, how about lunch?" Steven suggested. Greg's parents looked at the time "Oh! It is Noon, you should eat, you're supposed to take your noon medication with food, Arty" Greg's Mother told her husband.

"I know I'm supposed to take them with food, ten years I've been taking my pills with food, don't you think I would know to have them with food without you reminding me, woman!?" Arthur responded. 

"Well, sorry for trying to help. I try my best to love and care for people and what does it get me? A son who runs away and never tells me about my sweet, adorable, grandson, and a husband who doesn't appreciate me trying to help!" Greg's Mother ranted, trying to make herself look like the victim.

"Again with the guilt trip...serenity now! Serenity now!!" Arthur, Greg's Father, rolled his eyes.

Steven and Greg took Greg's parents to a nearby, higher class restaurant, a casual dining chain called Bob's Your Uncle, a chain restaurant that started in the city of Circhester in Galar. 

They sat at a booth right by the door. "So, uh, I know this is a touchy subject but...what exactly happened the day my dad decided to leave?" asked Steven.

"What happened? Well, it was a Tuesday I believe..." Arthur began but was interrupted by his wife. "Arty, it's cold, can we move?" asked Greg's mother.

"Marie, this was the only booth available" said Arthur. "But I'm cold" said Marie. "You know, I heard most heat escapes through the head. Perhaps you should close any large openings" said Arthur. 

"Why can't we sit over there?" asked Marie. "Marie, this is a perfectly good booth. I do not go all the way out east to some nowhere town just to eat at a lousy table. If I wanted that, I would have stayed home."

"Come on, we're right near the door, I feel a draft, I'm cold, why can't we sit over there?" asked Marie. "THAT'S NOT A BOOTH!" Arthur growled.

"WHY IS IT SO IMPORTANT YOU NEED TO SIT AT A BOOTH!?" Marie roared. "I DON'T GO TO A RESTAURANT TO EAT AT A TABLE!" "I DON'T GO TO A RESTAURANT TO EAT AT A DRAFTY BOOTH!"

They then remembered they were at dinner with their estranged son and grandson "So, uh, what was it you were asking, Stevie? Can I call you Stevie?" asked Arthur. 

"Uh, yeah, yeah, sure. And you know what? It was kind of a stupid question, really, not worth answering" Steven nervously answered.

Greg leaned in and whispered to Steven "Oh, don't worry, this is them on a good day." "Anyway, Steven, I couldn't help but noticed a neatly folded school uniform" Marie pointed out.

"Yeah, I go to Blueberry Academy" Steven answered. "Blueberry Academy!? I've heard of that place! That's the top educational facility in the region!" Arthur said in an impressed tone. 

"That school is tough to get into, how did you even afford to do it, Gregory?" asked Marie. "Oh, uh, I'm in on a full scholarship" Steven answered.

"Scholarship? Oh, a handout...well, that's not your fault, boy. It's your failure of a father's fault." said Arthur. "It's true, he had so much potential, but he could never live up to it" Marie agreed.

"Potential? No, we were trying to make something decent out of him, but he was too soft" said Arthur "and he still is, but you had Steven, so at least something good came out of you."

Greg stood up, he couldn't take anymore and left. "That's it, walk away you big baby!" Arthur shouted in his direction. "HEY!" Steven shouted. 

Arthur and Marie leapt out of their seats "Hey, careful, dear, you almost gave us a heart attack" said Marie.

"Look, I may not have had a normal childhood. The first eight years of my life in a van. He may be a bit of a slob and he may not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but he's still my Dad, and I'm proud to be his son, and I will not sit here and let you talk to him like that!" 

Greg's parents were in stunned silence "If you two are really happy to have me as a grandson, then you're going to apologize to him. If you don't, then don't bother coming back here, I won't ever want to see you again."

His grandfather stood up and glared at him "Boy, you've got one thing your father never had, a spine. You're a little soft, but made from tougher stuff than Greg is. Marie, stay here, I'll do the apologizing."

Marie looked at Steven remorsefully "Steven, I'm sorry you had to see this side of us. Me and your grandfather, ours wasn't really a relationship of romance, it was meant to be a one night thing. Your father inherited your grandfather's love of music...like him, he too was going to follow musical dreams, but then I got pregnant, it was a different time, so we had to get married. He had to give up his dreams of being a jazz musician, and he began to hate all music purely out of spite because of it. We simply stay together out of convenience now."

Meanwhile, Greg was out talking with his father, telling him the same thing Marie was telling Steven. "So...I was an accident?" asked Greg. "Yup. And Greg, I hate to admit it, but you're right" said Arthur.

"About what?" asked Greg. "Before you left, you told me that if you ever had a kid that you'd be a better Dad than I ever was" said Arthur "and, you did. You did just that. After all, you had Steven. All I ever got was you."

After an awkward goodbye, Steven and Greg waved goodbye to Greg's parents as they drove off.

"Steven...I heard what you said back there as I was leaving" said Greg "thanks, thanks for sticking up to me." "You'd do the same for me, wouldn't you?" asked Steven.

"Are you kidding? When I heard my old man's voice coming from inside that house, I was prepared to charge in there and do the same for you!" Greg answered "I'll always have your back...and I'll always be grateful to know that you've got mine." 

Chapter Text

Bismuth was coming home from the forge, satisfied from a hard day's work. She wanted to check up on her fellow Crystal Gems. She noticed Pearl and Trumbeak setting up the table. 

"Very good memorization of the utensil order. And their an equal distance apart from each other!" Pearl was praising her Pokemon "This is what I like about you, Trumbeak, I only have to teach you something once."

Pearl gave Trumbeak a congratulatory pat on the head. Amethyst was upstairs, watching TV with Zoroark. They were watching Foolishnes, a show on UTBAMTV (Used To Be About Music Television).

It was a show particularly aimed to the very low demographic of people who haven't figured out what the internet is. The main host of the show was particularly obnoxious, even for Amethyst.

Her Zoroark cackled as it took on the Host's appearance and mimicked his mannerisms in a manner most disrespectful, which amused Amethyst.

And outside, Bismuth spotted Peridot "plotting" with Ogerpon.

Meanwhile at Golden Forretress Prison, Steven was having yet another visit with Lapis "So, your parole hearing's coming up soon, huh? Are you excited?" asked Steven.

"It would be nice to get out of here, but I don't feel like I deserve it" Lapis admitted "I still think of that submarine crew sometimes..."

"But Lapis, you didn't mean to kill anyone, you didn't know they were in there" said Steven. "I know...but knowing that doesn't make it any easier" said Lapis.

"Well, just remember this, I don't think you're a bad person, not at all" said Steven "and if you don't believe that, I'll do the believing for you!"

Lapis smiled "You're a good friend, Steven. I...I'll try my best at my parole hearing, because you believe in me." A guard came from behind Steven "Sorry sir, but your visitation period is over."

The next Day, Steven was giving something to Peridot "So, My Dad bought me this, but I've got my Rotom Phone, but I think you'll like this" 

Peridot opened the box and inside was a tablet "A rectangle?" "A tablet, actually, it's a smart device" said Steven. "Doesn't look very smart to me" said Peridot.

"Well, it's not set up...just press this button right here" Steven pointed inside the package which had a special kind of silver Pokeball in it.

Peridot rolled her eyes and pressed the button and out came a Rotom, flashing throughout the room "Show it the tablet, Peridot, show it the tablet!" Steven urged.

Peridot held up the tablet, which the rotom took notice of and flew right inside the tablet, causing a lightning bolt shaped antenna to grow out of it and float.

Rotom's face then appeared on the back of the tablet, which then rotated and activated the camera, which had Peridot's face appear on screen.

"New user identified. Please say your name" said The voice of The Rotom, which could communicate via the tablet. "Peridot" she answered. "You said your name was: Peridot. Is this correct?" The Rotom Tablet answered. 

"Yes" "Registering...Registering...All registered! Welcome to your new Rotom Tablet. Perfect for all your work and entertainment needs! If you have any questions on how to get the best use out of your Rotom Tablet, simply say "Rotom" followed by whatever question you wish to ask!"

The Screen then displayed the tablet's desktop and Peridot was impressed. "You can keep a journal, do calculations or browse the internet, all on one device!" said Steven.

"It's like my limb enhancers!" said Peridot "But...what's this "Internet" thing...Rotom, tell me about the Internet!" Peridot instructed.

An icon of Rotom then popped up on screen "Certainly. The Internet is a worldwide network from which all sorts of information can be viewed. You can put stuff on the internet as well, but be careful what you post. And don't trust all information on the internet, as some can be fraudulent." 

"How do I access such a network?" Peridot asked in an impressed tone. "Please tap this icon on the taskbar" a small Rotom cursor said, pointing to a browser icon.

And with that, Peridot was hooked. Steven smiled, Peridot seemed happy. "Hey, Steven, could you help me with something?" asked Bismuth. "Sure, what can I help you with?" asked Steven. 

"I've decided, I want to have a Pokemon" said Bismuth. "Really? What made you want one?" asked Steven.

"Well, I've always wanted one. Heck, remember I told you I suggested to Rose that we should recruit some Pokemon in the Crystal Gems" said Bismuth "But, Rose didn't like the idea. She said that Pokemon are natives of this world and that this wasn't their war, and I kind of understood that, not like with the Breaking Point."

"Okay, so, where did you think we should look? All we have around here are Wingull" said Steven. "Actually, I've already had one in mind" said Bismuth.

"Ooh! Which one?" asked Steven.

"I don't know what they're called...but I remember, a long time ago, I was out with some comrades, gathering raw materials to make some weapons with, and I saw these pink ones, clanging metal together and making hammers with them. They were like little pink blacksmiths!" Bismuth explained "I wanted to take one with me to make into an apprentice."

"Hold on..." Steven looked through the Pokedex app on his phone "I think I know which Pokemon you're talking about, It's gotta be Tinkaton! Or one of its pre-evolutions."

Steven showed Bismuth the picture and a spark of familiarity hit her eyes "Yeah! That's the one! Yeah, It carried around the huge heavy hammers it made with one arm as if it were nothing!"

"Then we're off to Paldea then, that's where they're most common" said Steven "but first we should get some empty Pokeballs."

"Man, humans sure have come a long way, making balls that can contain Pokemon in them" said Bismuth.

"Yeah, apparently they used to be made using a hard, hollow, fruit called an apricorn" said Steven. "Far out" said Bismuth. 

Steven guided Bismuth to The Warp Pad. "Oh, Steven, where are you going?" asked Pearl. "Taking Bismuth out to catch a Pokemon, she wants to try and find a Tinkaton" said Steven.

"Alright, don't be out too late, you've got to go back to school tomorrow!" Pearl reminded him. 
 

Chapter Text

Somewhere in Paldea, a Warp Pad flashes, Steven and Bismuth had arrived in the Paldea Region. "Whoa, I remember being here..." said Bismuth "it was just as wide and open as I remember it being."

Off in the distance a herd of Tauros was galloping by "Whoa! Look at them all! So that's a Paldean Tauros!" Steven commented "even from a distance they look powerful!"

"And somewhere in this region, we're going to find a Tinkaton!" said Bismuth. Steven opened up his Rotom Phone and opened up the Pokedex App. 

"It says here that a sure sign of any member of The Tinkaton line being nearby is the sound of rhythmic clanging, like the sound of a hammer being used" said Steven.

"Well that's a good thing to go off of" said Bismuth "what else does it say on that device of yours?" "They also live in a horde of scrap metal used to improve or maintain their hammers" said Steven.

And so Steven and Bismuth began their search for Bismuth's coveted Pokemon. Steven continued to look at his Pokedex from time to time for other info on how to find one.

"We can also look for Corviknight flying overhead, apparently Tinkaton like to prey on Corviknight by using their hammers like a golf club to launch boulders at them and knocking them out of the sky."

"Heh, sounds like they're really good with their hammers" said Bismuth. They continued to search and search, far and wide. They climbed to the top of Paldea's ancient watchtowers.

On one of them, Steven thought he had found a treasure chest, but it was really a Gimmighoul, and it didn't like to be opened up. 

They kept their ears open, and that's when they heard, not a clanging, but a clinking noise. But it was rhythmic like a hammer.

Steven and Bismuth went around the corner, but what they found was not a Tinkaton, but a Tinkatink! "Hmm...I know they weren't that tall, but this Tinkaton is smaller than I remember" said Bismuth.

"That's because it's not a Tinkaton, it's a Tinkatink, it's the first stage of the Tinkaton line" said Steven "it evolves into Tinkatuff and then into Tinkaton." 

"And how do we get it to do that?" asked Bismuth. "I don't know, all sorts of Pokemon have different conditions for evolutions, the most common one is through battle experience, others through contact with special stones, some through trading, and others have complicated methods...I'm not sure what it is for this line."

Bismuth took a look at the Tinkatink, it appeared to be busy. "What's it doing?" asked Steven. "It appears to be working on something...I think it's a hammer" said Bismuth. 

The wild Tinkatink was indeed working on something, something most Tinkatink do, build their first hammer. "It's work is rather shoddy, but I can see potential in it" said Bismuth.

Of course it's "hammer" looked more like a rattle than it did a hammer. But Bismuth was taking an interest in its hammer crafting skills.

They were very unpolished but with a little guidence, this Tinkatink could learn to make some very fine hammers. 

Tinkatink then held up its hammer in triumph, happy with the final product. But then suddenly, a brazier landed in front of Tinkatink, causing it to throw up its hammer in shock.

A Bombirdier, swooped down and took Tinkatink's hammer in its beak and flew off making a mocking honking noise. Tinkatink looked distraught.

"Oh no, a Bombirdier, these things are known as pests in Paldea, they enjoy dropping heavy loud things to startle people" Steven commented.

"Hey! Get back down here you flying jerk!" Bismuth stormed in front of Tinkatink "Give this little one back its hammer! It worked really hard on it!" 

The Bombirdier flew around her and made mocking honking noises. Bismuth was furious. She wanted to grab the hammer from the obnoxious Pokemon, but it was too high up.

That's when she remembered what Steven told her about the relationship between Tinkaton and Corviknight. She grabbed a rock in one hand and turned the other into a hammer.

She tossed the rock up and smacked it with her hammer hand, but she missed. She tried again, but she missed again. She kept smacking rocks in the Bombirdier's direction but missed.

The Bombirdier kept up its mockery until SMACK! Bismuth finally got a hit in, and it felt so satisfactory, The Bombirdier fell to the ground and dropped the hammer.

Bismuth happily picked it up and gave it back to Tinkatink "Here you are, fella, took me a while, but I got your hammer back" Tinkatink was nervous but took the hammer and hugged it.

"You know, it's not half bad, that hammer you just built" said Bismuth "but, I bet you could make a better one if you wanted to, wouldn't you?"

Tinkatink took a few steps closer to Bismuth out of curiosity. "If you want, I could show you some of the stuff I made, maybe give you a few pointers on building one heck of a hammer" Bismuth suggested.

Tinkatink looked nervous, but then it nodded, it seemed interested in what Bismuth was proposing. "Alright, starting now, you're my Pokemon apprentice!" Bismuth announced.

"Then let's make it official!" said Steven, giving Bismuth an empty Pokeball. "So, how do I do it...you know, catch it?" asked Bismuth. "Just throw it...gently though" Steven advised.

Bismuth tried to lightly toss the Pokeball, but she underestimated her own strength, as the Pokeball went too far, but Tinkatink happily ran after it, leapt up and tapped the button on the ball, causing it to open up and capture it.

"Alright, it worked!" said Bismuth. "Not yet" said Steven. The Pokeball was shaking on the ground three times until it snapped! "There, now it worked" said Steven.

Bismuth then picked up the Pokeball "Can't wait to teach it my tricks of the trade" 

Chapter Text

It was a cold winter's storm at The Beach House. Steven was looking outside at the blizzard, he hadn't seen one since that time in the Norova Region. 

"Man, it's really coming down out there" said Steven. "Yeah, thanks for letting me stay the night" said Greg. "Well, I don't think The Van's warm enough for this weather" said Steven.

"Yeah, that little heater I have can only do so much" said Greg "makes me wish I had a fire type..." Greg felt a sudden chill as his Rillaboom and Toxtricity glared at him. 

"Erm, but The Pokemon I have are great!" Greg nervously said. Terapagos, Trumbeak, Sylveon, Diancie and Palafin were all huddled up against Pyroar for warmth, not that it minded. 

Bismuth then warped in from the forge with Tinktink riding on her shoulder. "Ah, man, Me and Tinkatink were forging up a storm in there" Bismuth laughed.

"Ah, so we have Bismuth and Tinkatink to blame for the storm" Sylveon joked. "I don't think it ever snowed like this around here ever" said Steven.

"Not true, it snowed like this once, fourteen years ago" said Greg. "Fourteen years ago? Hey, I'm fourteen!" said Steven. "Oh, Greg...are you talking about...?" Pearl then laughed.

"How could we forget?" Amethyst also laughed. "Oooh! My story senses are tingling!" said Steven. "Yes, fourteen years ago, there was a storm just like this and you were only a few months old" said Garnet.

"Oh! Now I remember, it's been so long I forgot!" said Sylveon. Many Pokemon biologists and psychologists both observed that many Pokemon emotionally and mentally mature faster than humans do.

Greg began singing a small song that would lead into the story, as he usually does with most of his stories...

*Winter, 14 years ago*

While Vidalia was visiting her relatives for a family winter get together. So, while she was gone, she let Greg do some housesitting for her, which was helpful since the forecast called for extreme cold weather.

With him being the father of four going on five month old baby, he was thankful for this opportunity. He hurried inside from his grocery run. 

He checked the swaddled blanket but found a loaf of bread inside, he momentarily panicked until Rillaboom tapped him on the shoulder with its free hand, Greg breathed a sigh of relief when he noticed Baby Steven in Rillaboom's hand. 

And out of the Grocery Bag popped out Eevee's head. Thankful to be back inside where it's warm, Greg decided to make himself a sandwich and warm up Steven's bottle.

After giving Steven his bottle and burping him, it was time for him to nap. Eevee came right up next to Steven, wanting to play.

"No, Eevee, Steven needs his rest" Greg whispered. Eevee let out a noise that suggested disappointment. Greg gently pat the disappointed Pokemon to console it.

"Yeah, I know, you and Steven have gotten along pretty well from the moment you first met" said Greg "but it's gonna be alright, once he's rested up, you two can play."

Greg wasn't sure about Rose's idea of giving Steven a Pokemon as a gift, a just being born was a bit too young for someone to be given their first Pokemon, but seeing how Steven and Eevee both bonded the moment they met, right after the two of 'em were born, he began to think that Rose might have been on to something.

Just then, Steven stared to cry in discomfort "Whoa Steven, what's gotten into you, care to show me your new dance moves?" Greg joked "Alright, out of your swaddling!"

Greg undid Steven's swaddling to see that he had undone several of the buttons on his baby clothes "Hey, you undid the buttons on your romper!"

Greg took it upon himself to redo the buttons, but then he noticed Steven was cooing uncomfortably, trying to undo them again, particularly around the gem.

"Does your gem need to breath!?" Greg undid the buttons. Baby Steven was then breathing in relief. He decided to do up the buttons, leaving only the buttons around his gem to be undone.

"There, that's better" Greg commented. Eevee was sniffing Steven's gem out of curiosity, the sniffing was tickling baby Steven. Eevee then went to look Steven in the eyes as baby Steven reached up to Eevee's face. 

Eevee in response licked Steven's palms, making the baby laugh even more. "You two are going to be one heck of a team" said Greg as he put on his favorite anime, The Adventures of Ash and Pikachu. 

That's when he heard a knock on the door "Oh! Rillaboom, look after Steven and Eevee while I check the door" he said as he went to answer the door.

It was Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl at the door "Hey! It's you guys!" "Hi Greg..." Pearl said dismissively. "We got gifts for Mini Rose!" Amethyst announced.

"Amethyst" said Garnet "we've been over this. Steven is a...?" "Human baby..." Amethyst answered. "And Steven is...?" "Not Rose..."

"Thanks guys, why don't you come in?" Greg invited them in. "We're only here for a little while and then we're leaving!" Pearl said dismissively and that's when she noticed Rillaboom and Eevee. 

"Why are those creatures near the baby?" Pearl asked in an angered tone. "What? Rillaboom and Eevee? What's wrong with them?" asked Greg.

"I suppose the bigger one is more well trained, but this little beast? Are you quite certain it's safe enough to be around him?" Pearl investigated like one of those mothers who's so quick to judge how other people raise their own kids. 

"Eevee's been pretty gentle with Steven, they seem to love each other's company" said Greg. "Impossible, this beat could be carrying harmful germs that could make it very sick or worse" Pearl scolded. 

Pearl decided to remove Eevee from the couch but was answered by a snarling noise as Eevee growled at her. "Uh, P? Maybe you should put it back?" Amethyst suggested.

Pearl then put it back and Eevee was back to its normal docile self. Garnet then gave Baby Steven one of the first gifts. "He'll, uh, need a little help opening that" said Greg.

"Oh, it's just a box that looks like it's been carefully wrapped up" said Garnet as she lifted the lid of the box, revealing a men's razor inside.

"Whoa!" Greg took the box away "he's...uh, a little young to be needing that, won't he?" "Oh but he will need it, in the future" said Garnet. 

"Oh, here's mine!" Amethyst gave Greg a huge present, which he opened "Oh! Diapers! How practical! Thanks Amethyst...huh? Hey, these are adult diapers! Those are waaay to big for him!"

"Ah, he'll grow into them, couldn't you? Little Rose!" Amethyst said, growing herself into a taller form. "Amethyst, his name is Steven. That's the name we chose for him" said Greg.

"Okay then, little Ste-man!" Amethyst cooed. "Here, Greg, he'll get more use out of this..." Pearl handed Greg a book she had gotten for Steven, which she didn't even bother to wrap.

"Oh, what is this? A story book?" asked Greg. "It's a dictionary. Something that where he can learn the most rudimentary aspects of the common language" Pearl sighed.

"Maybe you should use it to look up what a baby is" Greg sighed "Look, Steven's too young for all this stuff. The only stuff that interests him now is this!"

Greg took out his car keys and began jingling them. This began to entertain Steven and Eevee. Baby Steven was laughing and so was Eevee. "Carabina! Carabina!" Greg chanted.

The Gems surrounded Steven, all adoring the little one. "Well, next time, we'll just give him a box of keys" Garnet joked.

Steven amusement continued until his gem began to glow, immediately catching everyone's attention!

Chapter Text

"Wh-what just happened!?" asked Greg "Did he glow? Are babies supposed to glow!? Is he going to turn into a laser!" "It's Rose" said Garnet. "Is this possible!?" asked Pearl.

"Relax everybody, I've got it all figured out, baby Rose is trying to shapeshift back into her old self" said Amethyst. "What!?" Greg exclaimed.

"Amethyst, she can't shapeshift because she's trapped inside this baby" Pearl criticized. "Trapped inside a baby!?" Greg exclaimed. 

Eevee was sniffing Steven's gem. "Creature, get out of the way" Pearl pushed Eevee aside "Rose! Rose, it's me, Pearl, are you in there? Glow twice for yes!" 

Steven giggled and grabbed Pearl's nose "Baby, please, I'm trying to talk to Rose..." 

"Rose hasn't shapeshifted and she isn't trapped" said Garnet "Steven is a fusion, Rose is trying to unfuse." "Well, whatever he is, something's happening, and I-what can I do to help?" asked Greg.

"Well, what do you do with a human baby when it glows?" asked Pearl. "Well, first off, they don't glow, and secondly...what if they do?!" asked Greg "Wait! Vidalia has books on babies that I've been reading!"

Eevee was sitting down, looking at Steven. Baby Steven reached up to pet Eevee, and Eevee responded by licking Steven's cheek as he giggled in response. 

Greg went into the kitchen to look through Vidalia's guidebooks, Babies for Dummies, I'm A Talk Show Host Who Prioritized Her Career Over Her Daughter So I'm A Better Parent Than You, What's The Deal With Babies, Babies Huh? And I Want My Baby Back, Baby Back, Baby Back Ribs...which believe it or not was a parenting book.

As soon as he found the one Vidalia recommended the most, he heard Pearl scream and Steven crying.

Greg ran back into the living room to see what was the matter, and saw Pearl holding Steven and Eevee chomping down on Pearl's nose in anger.

"Get it off me! Get it off me!" Pearl put Steven in Garnet's hands and tried to pull Eevee off of herself, but it was a struggle. What had happened while Greg was in the kitchen was that Pearl and The Gems decided to take Steven and drive off with his van.

But Eevee was having none of that, with them being born around the same time, Eevee viewed Steven like a littermate, a much weaker one that it was its duty as the more able sibling to protect him.

Pearl was eventually able to pull Eevee off of her nose "I can't believe you'd allow this dangerous creature anywhere near a baby!" Eevee was barking at Pearl angrily.

Garnet noticed Baby Steven was stretching out his arms towards Eevee and crying "I think you should give me the Eevee, being separated from it is upsetting Steven." 

"Did you not see what it just did to my nose!?" Pearl snapped "This thing should not be around him! I am doing the right thing." Eevee then smiled maliciously "And just what are you grinning at?" Pearl scolded.

Suddenly, a stream of yellow liquid came out from Eevee's nether regions "Uuuuuuuugh!" Pearl let go of Eevee in disgust "That's horrible, gross! Disgusting! Not even Amethyst is this vulgar!"

"Quick, now let's get out of here!" said Garnet as she and Amethyst scrambled out the door, with Pearl following after them. "Hey! Wait! Where are you going!?" Greg ran after them with Rillaboom.

He scrambled out the door to see Pearl enter the back of the van and the van taking off. "My Van! Give me back my babies!" Greg called out in dismay.

"Rillaboom! Drum Beating!" Greg commanded. Rillaboom scrambled out and took out its stump and drummed as hard as it can, sending vines after the van, but the van was too fast and far away for the attack to do anything.

"Nooo!" Greg cried out in dismay. Rillaboom looked back at Greg and pointed towards its own back "You're right! I've gotta save my baby, and my son! Alright!" Greg hopped on Rillaboom's back, Eevee climbed onto Greg's back.

Rillaboom took off on all fours, as fast as it could go. Meanwhile in the car, Pearl was driving as Garnet and Amethyst sat in the back, Garnet was holding Steven in one arm.

*Present day*

"You kidnapped me!?" asked Steven. "At the time we thought it'd be better to handle things our way" said Pearl. "That doesn't make it right" Steven argued.

Amethyst on the other hand was chuckling "Ha ha ha! I forgot Sylveon peed on you back then" "Desperate times call for drastic measures" Sylveon commented. 

"Greg looked mad back there" said Amethyst. "He'll thank us for this later" said Pearl. "Greg was doing well up until this point. But the situation has changed, Steven is clearly a gem" said Garnet.

"All right Rose. We saw that glow, so why are you still a baby? Is it like, really fun or something?" Amethyst then shapeshifted into a baby "Garnet, hold me!"

Garnet held Amethyst in her other hand "Okay, I get it, this rules, but it's been so long! Months! That's longer than I was a toilet! Come on Rose, you have to change back! It's easy, watch!"

Amethyst then began shifting from Baby to her normal form "Baby...normal...baby...normal...baby...?" But Amethyst saw that Steven was merely giggling at her antics.

"It's so easy, why can't she do it!?" Amethyst stressed. "Because, this isn't shapeshifting, this is fusion" said Garnet "Steven, I understand that Greg is a part of you and you don't want to unfuse in front of him, that would be rude. But he's not here now, It's just us, you can take a break. Here, I will too."

Garnet gave Steven to Amethyst as she separated into Ruby and Sapphire. Steven however seemed upset, looking around for Garnet, and began crying when he realized she wasn't there.

Ruby and Sapphire panicked and refused into Garnet "I'm here! I'm here! You know me! You know them too! I...I don't understand!" 

Pearl pulled over the van, turned off the engine and joined Amethyst and Pearl in the back of the van and took Baby Steven from Amethyst.

"Look, everyone, calm down" she instructed "Look. We can all see her, she's right there! She can't reform because she has this...baby around her. Rose, I know you're in there, we can let you out, and we can be together again."

Pearl reached her hand towards Steven's gemstone with the intent of pulling it out, but she then heard the sound of Steven laughing, and that's when the guilt overwhelmed her.

"I...I can't! She wanted this so much! I just...don't understand why! Everything should grow, everything should change! And isn't it amazing how it comes so natural to humans? Well it's not natural to us!"

"But it will be for him" said Garnet. An awkward silence filled the van. "But what about Rose?" asked Amethyst. "This isn't about Rose, from now on, everything has to be about Steven" said Garnet.

"Heeeeeeey!" Greg threw open the door, as Eevee hopped off of his shoulder and leapt right next to Pearl, angrily barking at her. 

Greg took Steven from Pearl "Why did you decide to take Steven for a joyride in the middle of a blizzard!? What's the big idea!?"

"It wasn't a big idea...it was just a bunch of little ideas that didn't quite work out" said Amethyst. "My apologies Greg, we thought we knew what Steven was, but we didn't" Garnet apologized.

Greg sighed "Honestly, I don't know either, I mean, I never glowed when I was a kid" "We were never kids" said Pearl. Eevee still glaring at Pearl, hopped up next to Greg and nuzzled Steven.

Steven began to feel comfortable by the warmth of Eevee's fur. "Eevee really isn't the savage brute you think he is, he was trying to protect him, you know?" said Greg "look, I don't know how we're gonna figure this out, but we're going to figure this out together..."

*Present Day*

"You guys were wrong about everything" said Steven. "Well, it was a really long time ago" said Pearl. "Cut us some slack will ya?" Amethyst chimed in.

"Well, I gotta say, without Rose, you three are a whole mess a trouble" Bismuth commented "I mean, what next? You gonna groom Steven into being Rose's replacement?" 

Pearl blushed in embarrassment "well..." "Anyway, you three are wrong about how changing and growing's not natural to gems" said Steven "look, Amethyst and Pearl, you guys have Pokemon now, Peridot is starting to appreciate Earth...in her own special way...and Bismuth, remember you tried to kill me before we became close friends."

"Heh heh, yeah" Bismuth blushed. "Say what now?" Greg nervously gulped. 

Chapter Text

Steven was called into Headmaster Cyrano's Office after his classes for today had concluded. When he got in, he noticed that The Headmaster had a very serious look on his face.

"Steven, have a seat, we need to have a talk" He said in a very serious tone. "Why, what's wrong, sir?" asked Steven. "We need to have a talk about your grades" said Cyrano 

"My Grades? What's wrong with my grades!?" asked Steven, becoming increasingly more worried. "Well, let me be honest, I've been hearing a lot of things about you from your teachers" Cyrano continued.

Steven had nothing to say, what could he have done wrong? Were his grades not high enough? "I've heard...you're an exceptional student and your grades are spectacular!" He said in a suddenly positive tone. 

"Wh-wha!?" Steven babbled. Cyrano began laughing so hard, he was pounding on his desk "Man, you should have seen the look on your face! I can't tell you how many times I've pulled that whole "You're in trouble" gag on students, i get a kick out of it every time!"

Steven then caught on "Oh! You were joking!" "Ha ha, yeah! Anyway, I didn't call you in here just for this gag, Steven, there's another reason I called you in" said Cyrano as he wiped a tear from his eye. 

He turned his computer monitor around so that Steven could see, it was a banner of a beach like landscape and text that read "Annual Joint Field Trip"

"Mr. Universe, because of your grades, you've been selected as one of three students to attend this years Joint Field Trip with Naranja Academy, one of our two sister schools in Paldea" Cyrano announced.

"No way really!?" asked Steven. "Yup, indeedie-yo! Your grades have actually raised your class's GPA, that's Grade Point...uh...something with an "A"...but whatever, the point is, you've proven yourself to be a model student, good enough to go on this field trip."

"Wow, didn't think you'd have to be this good at school to go on a field trip" Steven humbly answered.

"Well, this isn't a normal field trip, it's an opportunity to strengthen relations with our sister school and work as a bit of a cultural exchange" Cyrano clarified. 

"So, where will we be going?" asked Steven.

"This year's field trip is to the Isle of Armor in Galar. There you and the other students will be staying at a place called The Master Dojo. You'll be learning from a former Champion" said Cyrano.

"That sounds so cool!" said Steven. "Good, now, I will need the signature of either one of those Crystal Gems or your father" said Cyrano "now, I couldn't help but notice that the Gems don't really have an email so I had to print this one...it's been a looooong time since I last used a printer, I almost forgot how to use it!"

"Oh, heh heh, sorry, I'll uh, give them a crash course sometime" said Steven. "Ah, that's fine, just give me a signature within the next two weeks" said Cyrano.

Steven left the office feeling excited, he had to hop on the next train to The Beach House to have his permission slip signed.

It was evening, Pearl asked why he was home so early and Steven explained the whole thing to Garnet and the other gems. But Garnet abruptly said "No."

"No? Why?" asked Steven. "I can't let you go to that island, I'm...I'm concerned" Garnet said.

"Concerned about what? The Island can't be all that dangerous, they built a dojo on it, and it's still in use!" said Steven. "Steven, just trust my judgement on this" said Garnet. 

"It's a chaperoned school field trip" Steven argued "come on guys, back me up here!" "I don't know, if Garnet's concerned, there's got to be a good reason for it."

"Garnet does have a 90% success rate when it comes to her predictions" said Amethyst. "Impressive, The Amethyst has used percentages correctly" Peridot muttered.

"Look, I don't know much about this "school" or "field trip" stuff...but I'm siding with them" said Bismuth. "But...I was selected...from a list of high scoring students" Steven argued.

"Well, we're happy you're grades are exceptional but the answer is still "no", you may not know why now...but in time I will explain everything..." said Garnet.

"This is so unfair!!!" Steven stormed out of the room. Pearl looked through a book she pulled out of her gem entitled "Teenager Phrases To Look Out For"

"Wow, this book is accurate! "This is so unfair" The Teenager's equivalent to a Temper Tantrum" said Pearl "I should keep an eye out for the other phrases, it says here the early teens are like a second toddlerhood, the influx of new hormones as they transition to adulthood can lead to more erratic behaviors..."

"Please, those books and research papers are just something older generations use to generalize younger generations in order to keep them down" Amethyst responded dismissively.   

Steven was fuming, Sylveon was following along "Come on, I bet that trip would probably be lame, waking up at the crack of dawn, get to breakfast on time or it's gone, backbreaking labor...and Tai Chi! The most boring form of martial arts! It's like that random throat lozenge in a Candy machine!" 

"Thanks for trying to cheer me up, Eevee, but I was really psyched to go. I was chosen from a list of top scoring students" said Steven "it's like I won an award only for the rug to be pulled out from under me..."

"Aw, cheer up, Bud, maybe you'll be picked again next year and they'll let you go then?" Sylveon suggested. "Maybe..." Steven sighed. 

Just then, Steven bumped into Greg who was leaving The Big Donut "Hey, Shtu-Ball! I heard about that field trip, congratulations" "Thanks, Dad, but..."

"Yeah, I got the Email from the Headmaster, it sounds like a lot of fun!" Greg continued, interrupting Steven. "It does, but, you see, The gems..." Steven tried to explain.

"I mean, you get to stayover at a Dojo for a whole week! Like in some martial arts movie, and you were selected from among the best students to go on it! How could I not sign that attached permission slip!"

"Dad, you're not listening, The Gems...wait, what?" Steven asked. "Yup! You're all good to go!" said Greg "now, what was that you were about to say? I wasn't listening, sorry. I was just to excited for you."

"Well, I didn't know you signed the permission slip, I was going to ask The Gems to do it, but Garnet was really against it...then Pearl took her side, and just as I was counting on her...Amethyst took her side too..." Steven sighed.

Greg stroke his beard for a few moments "Well, Garnet can see into the future...." Steven began to look dejected "Et Tu Father!?" He thought to himself.

"But, even clairvoyants can be wrong from time to time" said Greg "you've been such a hard worker at that school, you deserve to go on this trip!"

Steven smiled in relief. Greg put his arm around Steven "Just keep it between us! A little father son secret? How's that sound?" "You got it, Dad...also, try putting on some deodorant..." said Steven.

Greg paused to sniff his own armpits "Yeesh! Looks like you're not the only hard worker, heh heh..." Greg blushed.  

Chapter Text

Steven found himself looking at a pink structure surrounded by beautiful pink flowers, it was a pristine view, but he also felt a little...sad. He was sniffling a little, too.

He had no idea why, it was such a nice view. Perhaps it was such a beautiful view that it bought him to tears, but suddenly, he felt pressure on his chest, it felt like two front paws.

Steven suddenly woke up and realized he was dreaming...and crying in his sleep too, apparently. He was in his dorm room at Blueberry Academy.

"Steven, you alright? Were you having that dream about Seviper and how they don't have any arms?" asked Sylveon.

"I don't know about that, but I saw this beautiful structure that was surrounded by flowers, I think I've seen it before" Steven reached for the book he borrowed from his library.

He skipped to the page where he knew he saw this structure before, The Palanquin! "I knew I saw this before, but why am I seeing it now?" Steven wondered.

"Who cares? Are you forgetting what today is!?" Sylveon asked. "The field trip! I've gotta be at the main entrance in two hours!" Steven realized.

He quickly put on his school bathrobe, headed to the boys washroom, showered, brushed his teeth, went back to his dorm, got dressed and went to the cafeteria for breakfast. 

Steven was relieved he had an hour and a half to spare after all that rushing. He had plenty of time to make sure he had everything he needed for the next week. 

He then took some time to train up his Pokemon in the Terrarium before headed to The Front Entrance, just in time, his Homeroom Teacher, Ms. Briar was doing a headcount of all students present.

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised they let you come along" said a familiar sounding voice. "Oh! Connie!" said Steven "you're on this trip too!? Awesome!"

"Alright everyone, sorry to be all pushy, but we've got a plane to catch" Briar said in an apologetic tone "so, down into the subway everyone, we've got to get to the airport two hours before our flight!"

Briar led the chosen four students down to the subway which they took all the way to Mistralton, to the Interregional part of the airport. There, they were introduced to the four students from Paldea's Naranja Academy.

Afterwards, they were on the plane to Galar. As luck would have it, Steven was sitting next to Connie. Steven couldn't even begin to imagine why Garnet would ever have been worried about anything.

Steven was also excited because this was his first time on a plane, and it was Connie's too. The backs of the seats in front of them had little touch screens they could watch movies on too. 

And as soon as they arrived in Wyndon Airport, they took the monorail to Wyndon's train station, afterwards, they took their connecting train to the Specialized Corviknight Taxi Station.

Steven and Connie sat across from each other, talking about the upcoming field trip and how far they've travelled today "Oh! Steven look!" Connie pointed out the window as the train left the tunnel.

"That's Galar's famous Wild Area Park" Connie explained. "Some of the trees their look strange" said Steven.

"The Wild Area Trees evolved that way in order to survive the constantly changing weather of the wild area" said Connie. "The weather changes a lot here?" asked Steven. 

"Yeah, it's true. It's due to the high concentration of power spots in the wild area, all that Dynamax energy localized here disrupts natural weather patterns and so it's constantly changing every one or two hours" Connie explained.

Steven had Sylveon out of its Pokeball so that it could see the Wild Area, Connie decided to the same with Samurott. Samurott liked riding on vehicles, well, land based vehicles, it enjoyed the vibrations.

Sylveon, had other interests. "Hey! Total babe across from us" said Sylveon. Steven looked across and saw a student from Naranja Academy in her early 20s.

"You mean her?" Steven whispered. "No, on her lap!" said Sylveon, pointing to the Espeon on her lap. "What are you two talking about?" asked Connie. "Oh, I think Sylveon might have a crush" Steven whispered to Connie. 

"Oh, you mean with that Espeon? That's so cute" Connie said. "Heh, heh, heh, well, if you two will excuse me, I'm gonna make my move" said Sylveon as it used its ribbonlike feelers to straighten up its "bowtie" 

Sylveon leaped off of Steven's seat and crossed the aisle to say "hi" The Espeon's trainer noticed Sylveon "Oh! Hello, there!" she greeted before noticing Steven and Connie "Oh! Your the students from Blueberry, is this Sylveon yours?" 

"He sure is" said Steven. "Well, since we're going to be in the same place for the next week or so, I should get to know the students from my Academy's Sister School, I'm Isabella, and this is my Espeon" The Naranja Academy Student changed seats to sit next to Steven.

"So, are you two friends at your school?" asked Isabella. "Actually, we're dating" said Steven. "Wait, really?" asked Isabella. "Yup, for a new months now" Connie answered.

Isabella immediately stood up "Oh dear, I'm sorry! I hope you didn't think I was intruding or anything!" "Don't sweat it, you're fine" said Connie "besides, this trip is to strengthen the bond of our two schools."

"Oh...good, sorry, I'm kind of...socially awkward, I don't pick up on social cues as much as I should" Isabella apologized. "So...is it true that your school is open to all ages?" Steven asked, wanting to calm her down by changing the subject.

"It sure is, well, the general studies track at least, some tracks are age specific" Isabella said in a suddenly calmer tone "It's really neat, the teachers in the general studies track are able to put together a course curriculum in such a way that students of all ages will be able to grasp, no matter how complex the subject. I hope to become a teacher there one day and maybe learn the secret to how they're able to do it!"

After talking with the Naranja student for a while, the train conductor announced they were at their stop. All the students got off and transferred to a special Flying Taxi.

It was as wide as a bus, and was carried by a team of five Corviknight. Connie, having her own Corviknight, was very interested by the sight of it.

Briar did one more headcount, making sure everyone was present and accounted for before everyone got on. And after everyone was on, she gave the thumbs up to the pilot, signaling everyone was ready to go. 

"So, this is a Corviknight Taxi" said Isabella as she took the seat in front of Steven and Connie "originally we were going to have Corviknight Taxis in Paldea, but wild Tinkaton proved to be a huge hazard, as the initial test flight shown, so instead, our flying Taxis are powered by a team of Squawkabilly." 

As the humans were talking, Sylveon winked at Isabella's Espeon, who blushed and giggled in response. 

"Attention all Passengers, before we take off, we recommend you return all your Pokemon to their Pokeballs for the purposes of safety and the efficiency of this flight. Thank you for your cooperation and enjoy your trip to The Isle of Armor." The Pilots voice announced through the intercom. 

Chapter Text

When everyone left the station on The Isle, they were greeted by a kindly looking old man with really long eyebrows and behind the old man were younger people all dressed in a yellow and black uniform.

"Welcome students of Naranja and Blueberry Academies!" The younger people said in unison.

"Yes, welcome, welcome to The Isle of Armor!" The Old Man Added "My name is Mustard, I'm the shifu of The Master Dojo, I also happen to own the island! Ho! Ho! Ho! I'm pleased as cheese to meet you all!"

Steven and the rest of the students from both academies both felt nervous "Thanks for having us, Shifu!" everyone said in unison.

Mustard laughed "Now, now, there's no need to be so formal! After all, you're our honored guests! Now, to get here, you were all on a plane, then you took a train and an special Flying Taxi just to get here, you must be tired of all that sitting! Let's get that blood pumping back into your legs with a nice run to The Dojo! Follow me, everybody!"

Mustard immediately took off like a rocket! For an old man, he was surprisingly fast and spry! Mustard's students ran after him, that's when Steven and the rest realized they had to start running now.

The Naranja and Blueberry Academy students ran after Mustard and his students at breakneck speed, doing their best to keep up with him.

They didn't run for very long though, as it turned out the Master Dojo was close by "Aaaaah! Nothing like a good run and some fresh air to put a little spring in your step, eh? Well, here we are, your home away from home for the next week! The Master Dojo!"

The building behind Mustard was exactly what Steven was expecting a dojo to look like, traditional Johtonian architecture, and a tranquil location.

"I bet you were surprised to see one as old as me run so fast, didn't ya? Well, if you take care of yourself well enough, old age won't be able to hold you back from too much" Mustard explained "Well, enough standing around, let's get inside, shall we?" 

The inside of the dojo was also what Steven thought the inside of a dojo would look like, lots of training equipment and a battleground in the middle of the entrance.

"Hello everyone, welcome to our humble home" said a rather beautiful looking woman, beside her was a young boy, much younger than Steven.

"Those must be his daughter and grandson" Steven thought to himself. "My name's Honey, I'm Master Mustard's wife and this is our son" The Woman introduced herself.

"Wife and son!?" Steven and Connie whispered to each other in shock. "We have a lot of fun activities planned for you this week!" Honey continued "Of course, participation isn't mandatory, but we do recommend you make the most of your time here! You're free to explore the island at your leisure, plenty to see out there! Great photo ops!"  

"Indeed, now, at This Dojo, we're not as rigid as one might think, we do not have a master/student mentality here. We like to think of ourselves as one big happy family" said Mustard "however, as a family, the upkeep of this place is our shared responsibility, and as of right now, you are now part of that family. But worry not, although you may have to do some chores, you'll find they'll take no time at all, because we all work together, even me! Many hands make light work!"

"Speaking of which, your first chore doubles as your first activity!" Honey announced. "Awwwww" The Naranja and Blueberry students collectively moaned.

"Now, now, don't be like that, this chore and activity will be very rewarding" said Honey "you'll be helping gather ingredients for dinner tonight, Max Soup!" 

"And we're looking for one specific ingredient...Max Mushrooms!" said Mustard. Mustard's son came up with his Rotom Tablet and turned it around to show everyone a picture of a cluster of huge reddish pink mushrooms with a swirly pattern on its flat cap along with white spots.

"This is what Max Mushrooms look like" said Mustard's son "and don't worry about mistaking another kind of mushroom for Max Mushrooms, The appearance of Max Mushrooms is unique to its species alone, no other mushroom even resembles them. So you'll know them when you see them!"

"Ha ha! Rightly said, Hyde, my boy, rightly said!" Mustard praised. Hyde blushed and hid his face behind the tablet "I-it's not like I was trying to get your approval or anything..."

"Ah, Hyde, as humble as ever! Anyway, as he stated, yes! Max Mushrooms stand out pretty easily with their unique appearance! However, foraging for them is easier said than done! You'll most likely find them in caves or humid forests, but even searching such places won't guarantee success. But worry not! I have full confidence some of you will be able to find some!"

"Be vigilant! You can do it!" Mustard's students all said in unison. "That's the spirit! A real family picks each other up!" Mustard praised. 

"And before you start searching, I had these ordered for each of you" said Honey as she handed out a bunch of high tech arm bands. 

"These are Dynamax bands!" said Honey "with you being students from Naranja and Blueberry Academy, I assume you're familiar with the Terastal Phenomenon, well, with these you'll be able to harness the power of Galar's regional phenomenon, Dynamax! In case you haven't been taught about it yet, The Dynamax phenomenon causes your Pokemon to turn giant! It's also the source of Galar's electricity!"

"Enjoy it at your leisure" said Mustard "Now, off you go! Me and my students must finish our lessons for today!"

Afterwards, Briar had everyone gather out in the front yard "Well, we have our first activity everyone! I know your participation in these are optional but I believe we'll have an easier time if we all work together! Now, let's spread out, you're going to be divided into groups of two, one student from my school and one from Naranja Academy."

Briar proceeded to pair everyone into groups of two, and Steven was paired with the student he and Connie met from Naranja Academy, Isabella.

Briar arranged for a time for everyone to rendezvous and had everyone go off. Steven and Isabella went to check out the humid forest of focus. 

Steven was a bit worried that Connie would suspect he was cheating on her, but before everyone separated, Connie assured him that she trusted him, that and she was too old for Steven.

Sylveon and Isabella's Espeon seemed to walk together. "Wow, our Eeveelutions seem to get along, don't they?" asked Isabella. 

"Yeah, they really do" said Steven. "And speaking of Pokemon, I have one they might be able to help us!" said Isabella "Come on out, Lechonk!"

 Isabella let out a black round Pokemon with a large pink nose "I may not look like it, but my dad's a merchant by trade at Porto Marinada City in Paldea! Thanks to his teaching, and Lechonk's impressive nose, I am an excellent forager! Me and Lechonk would often find truffles to send back to my dad to sell at the Porto Marinada Market Auction! He would then share the sales with me! You have no idea how good it feels to think that an ingredient I found is probably being used in Paldea's finest restaurants!" 

"Whoa! Cool!" Steven commented. "Your trainer's pretty smart" Sylveon said to Espeon. Espeon, however, looked at its trainer in worry.

"You are right to be impressed, Steven, my boy, for with Lechonk, there's no ingredient I can't track down!" Isabella bragged. "So, does Lechonk already know what a Max Mushroom smells like?" asked Steven.

Isabella suddenly froze with a stunned expression in her eyes, she then fell to her knees in a tragic slump "Oh, who am I kidding...? I'm a terrible forager, such an obvious problem in my plan and I couldn't see it..." 

"Whoa whoa whoa! Hey, why are you so sad all of the sudden? It was a good plan, really!" said Steven.

"No it wasn't...Lechonk can only find scents it recognizes, it needs to learn a new scent to find a new ingredient..." Isabella continued in her melancholy tone.

Their conversation was interrupted by Lechonk squeeing to get its trainer's attention. "What is it, Lechonk?" asked Isabella as she curiously went over to where her other Pokemon was standing.

"Oh my goodness! I can't believe it!" Isabella picked up a clump of three Max Mushrooms. "Hey! It found them after all!" said Steven "but how?"

Isabella examined the forest "Hmmm, some of the plants around here look familiar...perhaps Lechonk focused on the scent it didn't recognize..."

"Well, you see? Your plan wasn't bad! Sure, you didn't think things through, but lots of people don't do that" said Steven in an encouraging tone "now lets get back to the Dojo and tell everyone the good news!"

Isabella then wiped a tear from her eye "Thanks...and sorry for that. Must have been awkward to see an adult totally lose it, huh?" "Hey, let's keep it between us, alright?" said Steven.

"Connie is lucky to have someone like you" said Isabella "who knows? Maybe if I'm lucky, there's more guys like you out there...preferably ones around my age." 

Chapter Text

Later that evening, Steven and his fellow students were gathered at the dining hall of the Master Dojo along with the students from Naranja and The Master Dojo. 

"Tonight's meal is thanks to the effort of our honored guests! What do we say, everyone?" asked Mustard. "Thank you!" Mustard's students all said in unison. 

"And, Honey, this Max Soup looks great! I think you may have outdone yourself" Mustard praised his wife.

"Well, we have so many guests over, I felt the need to put a hundred and ten percent into my cooking!" said Honey. "Ha ha! Well, everyone tuck in! For those of you who haven't had max soup before, you're in for a treat!"

Everyone's Pokemon were also served max soup from the huge pot on the stove. Steven looked down at his bowl and noticed three small clouds swirling around the soup, and that his soup was glowing slightly.

Steven raised his hand and asked about the small clouds and the glow. "Oh, that glow's just the result of the Dynamax radiation from the Max Mushrooms" said Honey.

"Radiation?" Steven asked in a concerned tone.

"Oh, not to worry, this soup isn't radioactive. Dynamax power is very different from nuclear power, its radiation is harmless to humans, and don't worry about your Pokemon, the radiation from this soup isn't enough to make them Dynamax immediately, it needs a stronger dose for that to happen" Honey explained. 

Steven decided to try it, and to his surprise, he liked it! The soup itself had a unique savory taste to it. And it also felt warm and comforting to eat. 

Connie suddenly felt an update on her phone, It was the Pokemon Status App. Something had happened to her Corviknight...a strange symbol was on its status screen. 

"You're probably wondering what that symbol means" said Mustard "It means your Pokemon has gained the Gigantamax factor." "How did you know?" asked Connie.

"You probably have a species of Pokemon with you that's capable of having the Gigantamax factor" said Mustard "it happens with eating Max Soup. What Gigantamax is, when a Pokemon Dynamaxes, it doesn't just turn gigantic, it also changes its appearance and gains an exclusive G-Max move. You'll have plenty of time to test it out tomorrow, but tonight, we'll eat dinner and go to sleep, we've got an early day tomorrow!"

After dinner, everyone helped cleaning the dishes and everyone was off to the sleeping areas. It was all one big room where everyone slept, except for Mustard & Honey, and their son Hyde, who had their own area of the Dojo to sleep. 

That night, as Steven slept, he had that same dream he had last night, in front of the ruined structure that seemed all too familiar! It was the same dream he was having last night, except this dream was taking place at night.

He felt himself sniffling, until he heard someone whisper his name.

He woke up and saw Connie sitting over him. "C-Connie? What are you doing here?" asked Steven. "I heard you sniffling in your sleep, sounded like you were having a bad dream" said Connie. 

"I was?" asked Steven. "Don't worry, every one else is asleep, I was just coming back from the bathroom, nobody noticed" Connie assured him.

Although, Steven would have preferred it if Connie hadn't noticed either.

"Well, I've had this dream since last night" said Steven "and it wasn't really a sad dream, it was actually peaceful, flowers fluttering in the breeze, and a strange pink structure" said Steven "I think I've seen it before..."

Steven then got an idea as he pulled out his bag and pulled out the book he got from the Buddwick Library. He had it kept safe in a protective plastic case, given how old the book was.

He flipped the pages until he got to one titled The Palanquin. It looked exactly how it looked in his dream! "You were dreaming about this?" asked Connie "do you think there could be some hidden meaning?"

"Maybe, let's take a closer look" said Steven "It says here he found this on a huge island to the east of Galar's mainland...isn't that where we are right now?"

"Think we should investigate?" asked Connie. "Yes, this could be why Garnet didn't want me coming here" said Steven. "Garnet didn't want you coming here? You didn't tell me that" said Connie.

Yeah sorry..." Steven apologized "anyway, The Gems have been keeping me in the dark about a lot of things. I'm sure it's to protect me, and I know they mean well...but they can't protect me all the time. Whatever this is, it could be important." 

"Then let's get searching" said Connie. "Hey...where's Sylveon?" asked Steven. Just then they heard the door creak and in came Sylveon and Espeon.

"No...Sylveon, you didn't..." Steven thought to himself. "Oh. Hello, didn't know you two were up" said Sylveon. Sylveon scampered over to Steven's futon. 

"Sylveon...what did you do?" Steven interrogated. "I think you mean "who". Heh heh" Sylveon replied. "Sylveon, why?" asked Steven. "Hey, come on, it was all above board" Sylveon responded.

"That's not the problem here, Sylveon, I may see you as my brother, but in the eyes of everyone else, I am your trainer, your actions are my responsibility" Steven hissed "I could get in trouble!" 

It was than that Isabella's Espeon came over and murmured something in Espeon language to Sylveon "Isabella's not in her bed?" asked Sylveon "she could have gone to the bathroom."

Steven then translated what Sylveon said to Connie. "I don't think I saw anyone on the way to the bathroom" said Connie "where could she be?"

Sylveon turned to Espeon and then back to Steven "Espeon says Isabella usually goes out foraging at night...but she's also saying that she doesn't think Isabella should be out right now and that we need to get her back here."

*Wyndon City 12 hours Ago*

At the top of the Battle Tower, formally known as Rose Tower, Leon was looking over some footage from the Isle of Armor, provided to him by a Galarian Legend Watch Agent.

Next to him was Galar's current Champion, Victor. "This is one big gem, should me and hop get over there?" asked Victor "We've got Zacian and Zamazenta on our side, and if things get hairy, we also have Eternatus tamed and ready to battle too."

Leon nodded "Yes, you and my brother are more than enough to take care of this, I've got the utmost faith in the both of you. However, I don't think your skills will be necessary, just look at her. What do you think she's doing?"

Victor looked closely at the footage of a huge hooded figure, kneeling down in front of The Palanquin. "It looks like...she's mourning" said Victor. 

"Exactly, she seems to be mourning and not much else. Right now, we don't know what she's capable of, and aside from that, if the intel we got from the Unovan branch of Legend Watch, according to the description of the gem known as Peridot, currently under custody of The Crystal Gems, this would have to be one of The Diamonds, who are the matriarchs of The Gem Empire..."

"So, you're saying if me and Hop were to Engage, we could be triggering an interplanetary war?" asked Victor. "Correctamundo" said Leon "for now, let's keep an eye on her and hope mourning is all she's doing..."

Chapter Text

Steven and Connie left The Dojo in a hurry to find Isabella, who may be in danger if her Espeon's predictions as translated by Sylveon would suggest.

"Where do you think she could have went?" asked Connie. "Maybe she's near where The Palanquin could be" Steven suggested.

"That could be a possibility, but we should keep an eye out along the way!" said Connie. "Right! Let's hope she's still close by!" said Steven.

Meanwhile, at another end of The Isle of Armor, The Gems along with Greg had warped in "Guys, come on, can't we just call him? Or at least wait until morning here? It's almost midnight in this timezone."

"No! We need to get him out of there now!" said Garnet in a fearful tone.

"And since he wouldn't listen to us and you're the one who signed that permission slip behind our backs, you should be the one to come get him. He'll take it better if it's you!" said Pearl.

"What are you, crazy? I'm not forcing him away from this field trip! Unlike most adults, I actually remember what it's like to be a teenager" said Greg "you know how the other kids will react if they see Steven get picked up by his daddy because this islands too dangerous for his precious little boy? They'd never let him live it down! I refuse to embarrass my son like that! He'd never forgive me if I did!"

"Greg, you don't understand the type of danger that's present on this Island!" said Garnet.

"Well, I don't care how serious this is, I will have no part in this humiliation of my son, I'd rather have him hate you for the rest of your lives than me" Greg walked away.

"I mean, Greg does have a point? Couldn't we just wake him up and explain the situation then leave?" Amethyst suggested. 

"Fine! Whatever will get him off this Island! Let's go!" Garnet impatiently answered due to the urgency. 

Meanwhile at a beach on the far end of the island, a ginormous humanoid figure was staring down gloomily at the Palanquin, it was a Pink Gazebo like structure with broken spider like legs.

And it just so happened that Isabella was close by at the far end of the beach, picking up seaweed that washed up along the shore. 

"Oooh! This species of seaweed is rare! And quite the delicacy! If I were to give this to my Dad to sell at next week's auction, we'll make a killing! There must be more by the bay!"

"What's that noise?" she heard a gloomy voice say. It was then that she noticed the ginormous Blue figure looking down at him. Isabella was frozen in terror for a moment, but she noticed two sticks on the ground.

There was only one thing she could do...Sudowoodo tactics! She lifted up the sticks and held them up the same way a Sudowoodo would hold up its "branches" to mimic a tree. 

Right by the big blue hooded figure was a blue pearl "It's only a native..." "Bring it here" The Blue Figure said calmly. Isabella kept still as the Blue Pearl approached, hoping her Sudowoodo tactics would work.

"I'm a tree. I'm a tree. I'm a tree" Isabella muttered in futility. Before she knew it, she found herself holding the hand of The Blue Pearl as she bought her over to The Blue hooded being.

She soon found herself being stared at by the huge Blue Figure "Uuuuh, H-hello...Please don't hurt meeee!" Isabella pleaded.

"It's alright, there's no need to be afraid" The Blue Figure said in a gentle tone "I am merely here to grieve the loss of someone dear to me..." 

"Oh...okay! Well, I, uh, didn't mean to interrupt!" Isabella responded "I was just looking for rare herbs and seaweed to sell at the market, I didn't know you were here!"

The Blue Figure chuckled "My, for such a small primitive creature, you certainly do have good manners. Would you mind staying here for a bit, I wish to speak with you when I'm finished"

Isabella was still scared out of her mind but said "Sure...go...go right ahead...." 

Meanwhile, Steven and Connie were approaching their destination when they bumped into Greg. "Dad!? What are you doing here!?" asked Steven.

"The Gems wanted to come and get you, they told me that they didn't want you to come on this trip" Greg admitted "of course, they're probably going to make a scene out of requesting that you leave, and you'd probably die of embarrassment like that...so, I decided to go for a walk, didn't want to play a part in your humiliation."

"Well, I'm starting to think, Garnet's right! One of the students on this trip could be in danger! We gotta find her before it's too late!" said Steven.

"Oh! That's why you two are out so late on your own! I was just about to ask...Oh thank goodness!" said Greg in a relieved tone. "Thank goodness for what?" asked Connie.

"Oh, well, when I saw you two out in the middle of the night, I was worried you two might have sneaked off to...you know what? Never mind! Let's go find that fellow student of yours!" said Greg. 

Steven, Connie and Greg ran closer to The Beach when all of the sudden, he started tearing up "Guys, wait! My eyes...they're acting up! Whatever this is...I think it could be related to my dreams of the Palanquin!"

Steven, Connie and Greg decided to switch to stealth mode, Greg didn't fully understand what Steven meant, but it sounded serious.

When they looked around the cliffside to The Far Beach on the other end of The Island...they found Isabella...with a huge, towering Hooded Figure. 

Chapter Text

Right in front of The huge Blue Figure and Isabella was a pink structure, The Palanquin! And he couldn't stop shedding tears, and he didn't know why, it was like some sort of invisible onion was hovering in his face. 

For the moment, it didn't seem that Isabella was in any immediate danger. "I should have done more, Yellow says it will be over soon" said The Hooded Figure "I wonder what you would think. This is your planet after all, at least I still think it is." 

Isabella wanted to ask her what she meant, but she was too afraid of pissing off the literal giant before her. Behind the bushes, Steven suddenly collapsed as the tears intensified.

"Steven!" Connie whispered. "What's wrong, Buddy?" Greg asked. "My dreams...they weren't dreams...I was seeing through her eyes, I've been crying her tears!" Steven realized.

All of the sudden, The Blue Pearl made her way to the bushes where Steven, Connie and Greg were hiding. "Where are you going?" The Blue Figure asked. "I heard a noise" said Blue Pearl as she went to inspect.

"Don't worry, I'll handle this" Greg whispered. Steven and Connie used their body language to suggest that was a bad idea. But it was too late "Hey-ey-ey!" He burst out of the bushes, shocking Blue Pearl "Nice night, huh? Didn't see you there, what's uh...what's up!"

"My Diamond, there was another native" said Blue Pearl. "Oh yeah, I'm here alright!" said Greg. "Bring it here" said Blue Diamond. 

Steven and Connie watched in horror as Greg was taken to the humungous Blue Diamond. "First we came across one, now we have two" said Blue Diamond "how curious. I'm impressed by humanity's ability to survive in the wild."

"Well...we're not all in the wild" said Isabella "I mean, my dad told me which plants and mushrooms are poisonous and how to build shelter in emergencies and other survival tips, but most people live in towns or cities."

"It's so interesting, there are so many creatures on this world more stronger than a human, and yet you are the dominant organic species, what a strange planet" Blue Diamond commented "Where else would a fragile being such as a human being thrive, while a being as powerful as a Diamond perish? This was where it happened, you know, where she was broken"

"Were you close?" asked Greg. "Very" Blue Diamond answered. "I'm awfully sorry, I know how it feels to lose someone close to you" said Greg.

"You do?" She said as a tear fell from her eye, which simultaneously caused a tear to flow from Steven's eye. 

"I lost someone precious to me too" Greg explained "I miss her everyday, and I think about her all the time. And that feeling is hard to be okay with."

"I'm surprised a human being is able to understand how I feel" said Blue. "Well, maybe you should get to know us...you might learn we have more in common?" Isabella nervously suggested. Blue looked at her closely.

"Erm, I mean, o-only if you feel like it!" said Isabella. Blue Diamond giggled "You humans are adorable! So precious! It's a shame. There's a geoweapon incubating in your planet that will destroy everything shortly. But you don't deserve that, do you?"

"G-g-g-geoweapon!? You mean...we're all gonna...die!? Noooo! No!" Isabella panicked "I'm six months away from graduation! I haven't even kissed a guy yet!" 

Blue Diamond inched forward to the two humans "You know, I really shouldn't be here, but I'm glad I came back one last time. I can save one last piece of her legacy."

She suddenly grabbed Greg and Isabella, Greg panicked but Isabella fainted in fright. "Whoa! Hey! Put us down! Put us down, please, your highness!" Greg pleaded.

A blue, more intact, larger Palanquin emerged from the ocean as Blue Diamond, followed by Blue Pearl walked into it. "Wait! Stop!" Steven cried as he and Connie emerged from the bushes.

A huge blue arm emerged from the clouds as The Palanquin began rise into the sky! "STOP!" Steven called out, leaping up high into the air, trying to reach for The Palanquin out of desperation.

Blue Diamond's Palanquin attached to the palm of The Giant Blue Arm, which clutched it and turned towards space before taking off "No! DAAAAAAAAAD!" Steven cried out.

The sheer force of The Blue Arm taking off sent Steven plummeting back down to the ground. When suddenly, Garnet came from the ground and caught him. 

When they were both back on the ground, Garnet embraced Steven "Steven! I'm so sorry! I should have just told you right from the beginning! I knew she was going to be there! I saw her see me and all of us! I couldn't risk it happening!"

"No, this...this is my fault!" Steven cried. Connie put a hand on Steven's shoulder "Steven, you don't know that..."

"It wasn't your fault Steven...that woman Blue Diamond took along with Greg, she would have been captured anyway...but we'll save them. Somehow, we'll save them" said Garnet.

The Next Day, at a conference room in Wyndon City's Pokemon League Tower, A meeting of the M9 was being held, along with all regional heads of Legend Watch.

Nate, head of Legend Watch Unova had the security footage of Blue Diamond taking Greg and Isabella. "One of the leaders of Gem Kind, the ones who tried to destroy the Earth with a Geoweapon, was right here! on Earth! You chose to do nothing, to not report it, now look what happened!"

"But at the time she wasn't really doing anything" said Leon "I thought leaving her be was the best course of action. I couldn't just send people after her, it could have triggered a war. And we're not quite equipped for that. We don't know what The Gem Homeworld is capable of."

"You could have captured her, held her as leverage against The Gem Empire!" said Nate. "Nate, That's not how we do things!" said Iris.

"Indeed, we are not Team Rocket, Team Aqua, Team Magma, Team Galactic, Team Plasma, Team Flare or Team Skull. Taking hostages is what criminals do, and we are above such low down tactics" said Lance of Indigo Plateau. 

"We are already in contact with The Crystal Gems, they are planning a search and rescue operation as we speak" said Geeta "they have stopped the rampage of Groudon in what we call its Clusterized state, and we are prepared to assist them in every way we can."

"That's our problem, ours was supposed be an agreement of cooperation with The Crystal Gems, but lately, we've just been leaving everything to them" said Nate "we've put the Homeworld Agent Peridot in their custody, now they have one of their old comrades who just conveniently showed up!"

"Nate, what are you saying?" asked Iris out of concern.

"I'm saying, The Crystal Gems can't be trusted anymore! They've been letting too many things slip by! I'm beginning to question their competence" said Nate "it's time we took our planet's security into our own hands! Mossdeep Space Center has already developed spacecraft capable of intergalactic travel, we can rescue those two people ourselves! I'm tired of just "watching" gems, it's time they know that Earth can stand on its own two feet and will not take any threat against them!"

"We can't risk public safety by recklessly declaring war on a spacefaring society that's probably thousands of years ahead of us" said Wallace.

"Indeed" said Cynthia, Sinnoh League Chairwoman and Legend Watch Worldwide Chief "we understand your distrust of gems, but your comments just now are concerning...I'm afraid we may have to strip you of your position as Unova Branch Chief of Legend Watch!"

"What...? You, you can't be serious...I'm the only one here, taking the gem threat seriously! If you think you can threaten to take away my position, you can forget it! I quit!" Nate stormed out of the room.

Upon leaving the room, a man just a bit older than him but within the same age range was waiting on the other side of the door. 

"You're not wrong, you know" He said. "You...you're Red, I battled you at The World Tournament!" said Nate. "Yeah, I remember you" said Red "they're fools, the whole Pokemon Association."

"You...agree with me?" asked Nate. "Tell me, have you ever had to spend the last years of your childhood with a target on your back?" asked Red.

"Can't say that I have" said Nate. "I did. When I thwarted Team Rocket at Silph Co. I had no idea how big of an operation they truly were, every day, a new assassin from Team Rocket came after me, I beat 'em every time...but I got tired of it, I turned to the association for help, but The Pokemon Association at the time, they couldn't help me, had to fend for myself, and eventually seclude myself. Until some plucky young kid from Johto took care of what was left of Team Rocket and I was finally free."

"Why are you telling me all this?" asked Nate. "What I'm saying is, The Pokemon Association's current way of doing things has been outdated for years, and it allows for criminal organizations like Team Rocket to come out of the woodworks. There needs to be more discipline, more authority, I'm not suggesting overthrowing them, but changing the rules. The Pokemon Association hasn't changed its ways since it was first incepted two hundred years ago, but the world's changed since then, it's time it changed too."

"You're suggesting a world government" said Nate.

"The Pokemon Association is already a government in all but name, and it's time it starts acting like one, and Nate, what you were suggesting may have been risky, but it sparks a conversation everyone in there is too afraid to have, not you" said Red.

Nate was taken aback by Red's words, but was still unsure "The public won't accept our idea, not unless we rally some support for it first" said Red as he offered his hand "we need to work together to show why a radical change is necessary. Gemkind presents an unprecedented threat to Earth, and all the regions of the world must truly stand together to help mitigate it."

Nate thought a lot about it, it's not like the Crystal Gems were bad, and Steven was a good kid, but he can't sit idly by and do nothing as Homeworld's hands itch ever closer to Earth.

"Oh what the heck, the let's do it" said Nate as he accepted Red's offer.