Work Text:
...Stella POV...
A young woman in her mid twenties with long pale blonde hair tied into a high, thick ponytail with long bangs framing her face, lime green eyes, and light freckles hopped off of King, her Salamence, and wiped her brow with the sleeve of her light blue jean jacket. Under the jacket she wore a frame fitting yellow tank top that had a Lunatone Print on the chest and upper stomach, short blue jean shorts, long yellow socks, and blue and white sneakers with yellow laces. Clipped on the strap of her favorite large, blue and white purse was her PokéNav.
Her name was Stella Stone. She was the wife of the current Pokémon Champion of the Hoenn region, Steven Stone.
She thanked and returned her Pokémon to its Pokéball, and walked up to the guard standing in front of the entrance to Victory Road.
"Hey there, Todd!" She greeted.
"Ms. Stella! A pleasure to see you today!" Todd smiled back. "What brings you to Victory Road?"
He was tall and had short, light green hair, sharp eyes of the same color, and wore the typical Ace Trainer get-up.
"I'm going to do a little training, and then go all the way through to see my husband." Stella answered.
"I see." Todd said, jotting down her name on his clipboard. "Would you fill out this form and sign and date here with the current time?"
"Of course!" Stella took the clipboard.
A year ago it had become standard procedure for any and all trainers to fill out a form stating their full name, the date and time, Pokémon with them and their levels, and the reason for entering the large cave. They also had to have a PokéNav or other communication device, all eight Hoenn league badges or be Champion Rank, and have at least two Pokémon level forty or higher. Pokémon researchers and scientists, on the other hand, were allowed to enter, but had to have two or more Ace Trainer escorts with them at all times.
Apparently Drake's two young grandsons had wandered away from the League Head Quarters and their mother who had come to visit her father, and they had managed to get lost and injured inside Victory Road.
Drake had raised hell, and Steven immediately stationed guards to prevent anything like this from ever happening again.
"There all done." Stella said, handing the clipboard back to Toad.
He glanced over it.
"Okay, you're all set to go." He said after reading. "Have fun training, and give Steven my regards, yeah?"
"Yup, I will!" Stella said, "It's been awhile since me and my team have done some hardcore training. Figured we might as well do it today."
"Yes, well, I don't have to tell you how dangerous Victory Road is, right?" He grinned.
"Nah, but I'll be careful, as always." Stella laughed.
"Alright. Happy training then, Ms. Stone." He said, stepping aside and letting her pass.
...Hours Later...
"Phew!" Stella sighed, rummaging through her bag, "Well, done Duchess and Duke!"
She pulled out a Max Potion, tossed her bag aside, and sprayed it on both the Delcatty and Mightyena. Duke sneezed and sat down next to Stella's bag, while Duchess began to groom herself.
"I think we've all trained enough today." She grinned, "Ready to go see Steven?"
Duke jumped up and yipped, while Duchess purred and stretched. Stella laughed.
"Alright, alright, let's g-" Crashing and loud cries interrupted her.
Suddenly a hold bunch of Loudred appeared. They seemed to be fighting. Stella clamped her hand over her ears and Duke and Duchess pinned their ears against their heads. The cave started shaking. Stella staggered backward away from her Pokémon as rocks and debris began falling. Before she could do anything more, a large rock hit her in the head knocking her out.
...
Stella groaned and slowly came too. Her head was killing her. She tried to sit up but her left arm was pinned down. Panic surged through her, as well as pain, fully waking her. She knew she needed to calm down, so she took several deep breaths. Once calm she assessed the situation and luckily discovered she could move the rock and rubble that was on top of her arm.
She pushed against the rock, trying to lift it, and shimmy out from under it. She screamed in pain as she slowly maneuvered her arm out. It seems like it took hours of struggling, but was only a few minutes as she freed her arm, rolling away from the wall of dirt and rock. She pressed her head against the cool ground, trying to keep the bile down that was threatening to come up. Tears streaked down her dirty cheeks.
"Okay... Okay..." She whimpered, "You're okay. Come on, get up."
She slowly sat up and checked out her arm. She couldn't move it from the elbow down, concluding that it was broken and useless to her. The rest of her was not doing so hot either. There were cuts and bruises marring her skin and she felt a large gash on the back of her head. She was dizzy and hurting, and her clothes were all torn. She also suspected she had a concussion.
Stella frowned and looked around her. The roof and sides of the cave had collapsed, forming a wall and trapping her in a small room. There wasn't much room to move around, but there did seem to be a bit of an opening on the top of the rubble.
"Maybe it's bigger than it looks and I can crawl out of here." She said to herself hopefully.
She shrugged off her ripped jacket, stifling another cry of pain. Slowly and carefully she tied it into a sling around her neck and torso and placed her broken arm into it.
"That was so difficult to do one handed..." She whined in frustration. "And painful...very painful. But not as much as what comes next. Ughh, okay! Let's do this!"
Stella grabbed a rock that was jutting out and pulled, testing if it would hold her weight. When she felt it would, she pulled herself up. Carefully stepping and pulling herself up, she gradually made it to the top. She peaked into the hole and her heart sank. While it was plenty big on her side, it was very small on the other.
She let out a frustrated cry. A moment later she heard the cries of her Pokémon on the other side.
"Duchess! Duke! Are you both okay?!" She yelled frantically.
The responding barks and meows told her they were just fine.
"I need you two to take my bag and go get help!" Stella ordered.
She heard her Mightyena whine in uncertainty.
"It's okay, Dukie! But I need you to listen to me," Stella said, "I'm hurt, and I'm trapped, and I need help. You remember the way out, right?"
Stella heard Duchess suddenly hiss and a smack sound, and she smiled. That was her Delcatty all right, always the reasonable one, swatting some sense into Duke. They had been the last gifts, a Poochyena and Skitty, she had received from her dad before he died, when she was seven, and been with her the longest out of entire her team.
Duke barked, in what he had assumed annoyance, and before the two could fight Stella spoke again.
"Enough! Don't fight!" She yelled, shutting them both up. "Go! Go now! Get help!"
She heard her two Pokémon shout their names in affirmative and what sounded like one of them picking her bag up, and the two took off.
Stella blinked hard a few times. She was now all alone, and could only hope her Pokémon would be okay and succeed.
She clasped her hands together, "Please, find Steven... Please..."
...Steven POV...
Steven sighed, tossing the file down on his desk. It was a lot to govern the whole of Hoenn, and so very tiring... Being a Pokémon Champion was no small feat.
He let a soft smile come to his face, and wondered if Stella would want to go traveling around with him for a bit. He could call it a vacation, postpone any future battles in attempt to claim his Title, and make Wallace take over the office bit for a while.
Steven was just reaching for his PokéNav to call is wife when Sidney burst in, startling him.
"Is the world ending or something?" Steven asked, raising his eyebrow at the panicked expression on the normally snarky, punk man.
"Parts of Victory Road's basement floor have collapsed." Sidney said, getting Steven's attention.
"How long ago, and what of the Trainers and Pokémon inside?" Steven asked, standing and throwing on his suit jacket.
He moved towards the door and out into the hallway with Sidney following him.
"About an hour and a half ago." Sidney said, shaking his head in frustration. "A bunch of trainers have made their way out a reported it, but it was slow moving through the cave. Apparently a bunch of Loudred were fighting and caused it all."
"That's not good." Steven murmured.
"It get worse..." Sidney grabbed Steven by the shoulder and made looked him in the eyes. "A Mightyena and Delcatty made it here with a bag. Stella's bag. She's one of the trainers that's unaccounted for."
Steven paled and took off into a run.
"We have no time to wait!" He yelled.
Please... Be okay, my love!
...Stella POV...
Stella panted softly. The air was now pretty thin. She had no idea how long she had been trapped, and it was getting harder and harder to stay awake. She had sat down against the wall to try to conserve her strength after she climbed down. She gave a weak groan and fell to her right side no longer able to keep herself upright.
"Steven... Help...me..." She wheezed, her vison turning black around the edges.
She thought for a moment she heard her husband yelling her name, and suddenly an Aggron burst through the wall of rock and rubble. Then a red light surrounded it and it was gone.
"Stella! Oh, Arceus, Stella!" A voice cried out, and then she felt her hair being swept away from her face.
With a lot of effort she opened her eyes. The blurry outline of her husband knelt in front of her, and she smiled.
"I knew...you would...save...me." She murmured and her vison went completely dark.
...
Stella slowly blinked her eyes open and squinted against the bright white room. When her eyes adjusted she found her self in one of the Pokémon League's hospital rooms.
"Why am I...ow!" Stella cried out when she sat up.
Her whole body hurt and her left arm was in a cast and sling. Bandages covered her head and several other parts of her body.
"What the... Oh... That's right..." She murmured, "I was trapped in Victory Road..."
Stella began to shake and tears welled up in her eyes. She placed her good hand over her eyes and willed the tears not to spill, but as if they had a mind of their own, they cascaded down her cheeks.
She heard the door to her room open and shut, and someone took her hand, gently pulling it from her face.
"Steven!" She cried out, and threw her arm around him, grasping his shirt and gasping at the pain, but not letting go.
He hugged her back, just more gently, with a hand holding her head and the other wrapped around her back.
"You have no idea how worried I was when I learned you where one of the seven trainers trapped in Victory Road." He murmured. "You've been asleep for three days."
Stella pulled back and looked horrified.
"Three days...? And there were more besides me?" She asked, "Are they..."
"All alive. Some in better condition than the others. Duke and Duchess are well. They weren't injured to badly, and Nurse Joy healed them up nicely." Steven confirmed, and then looked sad, "You were last person we found... And any later and you would have..."
"But I didn't." Stella said firmly, "Thanks to you and Aggron, I was found and brought to the hospital."
Steven nodded, a sad smile still on his face.
"Ya know what we need to do?" Stella asked, a mischievous grin on her face.
"Go on vacation?" Steven asked, with a wry smile.
"How did you know I was gonna say that?" She exclaimed.
"It's ironic actually..." He chuckled, "I was going to call you about going on vacation, but then Sidney burst into my office with the worst news of my life."
"From what I saw it was a bunch of Loudred that were fighting." Stella said, "Do you know what caused it?"
"From what we investigated it was a territory dispute." Steven answered.
"Wow..." Stella said, and sighed. "Have they calmed down?"
"Yes, thankfully." He nodded.
There was a comfortable silence for a while, and then Stella's stomach growled. She felt her cheeks heat up.
"I'll go get you something to eat." Steven said smiling.
"Thank you, Love." Stella chuckled.
...A Year Later...
"Thank you for riding with us, enjoy your stay!" The attendant said as Stella and Steven stepped off the train and into Lumiose City, Kalos.
"This city is huge!" Stella exclaimed, throwing both of her arms up and out.
It had taken four months to heal from being broken, and then another seven months to be rehabilitated into working normally. Though it still hurts her every now and then. Once her doctor deemed her safe to travel without any issue, the two made plans to vacation in Kalos.
"I believe it is the largest city in Kalos now, what with all the expansions and wild areas added to it." Steven remarked, looking around as they walked.
"Oh wow!" Stella said, smiling widely, "I want to check those out as soon as possible!"
"We will, but we need to meet with Diantha first." Steven chuckled.
"I can't wait to see her!" Stella said.
It was customary, after all, if a Champion from another region come visit to greet the Champion of that country. Stella had become close friends with Diantha and Cynthia, having traveled with Steven to other regions often.
"Steven! Stella!" A child ran up to them.
"Ansha! Look how big you have grown!" Stella exclaimed, swooping down and enveloping the child in a hug.
"How old are you now?" Steven asked, smiling, and patted her head affectionately.
"I'm eight as of last month." Ansha smiled. "Come, my dear mother is waiting for us at Café Soleil."
"Then we better not keep her waiting!" Stella laughed, letting the girl take her hand and pull her along.