As far as Hoenn’s climate goes, today isn’t a cold day—yet Steven is still dressed like it is, with a duffel coat and scarf. It will take time to shed how attuned he’s grown to Alola’s sun.
Not that the chill deterred him from venturing to Rustboro’s gym. Usually, he’d try to visit its leader at home… but that would involve waiting for it to close, and that’s out of the question when it’s been long enough already. He can afford to bother her at work just this once.
At least the place is quiet when he enters, splaying his arms as he comes to stand between her glass cases. There is a touch of the theatrical to the way he moves, savouring his chance to make a grand entrance—though his grin is crooked when he speaks.
“Might you have time for one last challenger today?”
The last couple of weeks had been rather slow when it came to gym challengers. Not that Roxanne had expected anything more; her years of being a gym leader taught her to expect low activity this time of year. Knowing that fact didn’t make her idle time any less dull, though.
She took out a book she’d gotten from the trainer school and paper to not a few things down on. She needed to come up with a few more lesson plans before the semester resumed anyway. Plus, being productive was always better than sitting doing nothing.
She was in the middle of jotting something down when she heard someone approaching. She immediately pulled herself up, assuming she finally had a challenger, but through the lenses of her glasses she realized this was something better. A visitor—and one she knew all too well at that.
“I don’t know,” she replied, motioning around the gym, “I mean, as you can see, it’s been awfully busy around here.” She laughed, and went in for hug. She’d missed Steven quite a bit since he’d departed for Alola. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but something about Hoenn just wasn’t the same without him.
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