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Even though my husband Steven is a citizen of Sootopolis City, as am I, we all knew he was born and raised in the West Coast of Hoenn because by five minutes after he announced that we were going to rescue our friends from Team Disrupt, he had us all working in committees.
There is a reason why the industrial capital of Hoenn is Rustboro, and that comes from the hectic and goal-focused attitude of Rustboro’s culture. The other Archons would playfully tease him for his “Rustboro Hustle”. He has this mesmerizingly enchanting quality of being able to move faster than time itself in times of stress, which I like to call his “Mega Evolved Form”.
That being said, anyone who doubts Steven’s commitment to Sootopolis is asking for trouble. After all, he was made an Archon of our city. This is why reading all this nonsense written by Team Disrupt just pushes my buttons.
“Did you find anything interesting?” asked Sophocles, who was also in my committee. He was looking up information about Team Disrupt on one of the computers, and he was trying to match the Pokemon to the appropriate trainers so that we can determine to the best of our ability how many trainers have been captured by Team Disrupt.
“Well,” I said as I looked up from reading the pile of literature in Weston’s backpack, “I did find a whole bunch of nonsense written about Steven. Look at this one.” I showed a Team Disrupt memo to Sophocles. “It’s by the Team Disrupt President Lusamine Mohn. She says that Steven is a crooked poser who lives in his parents’ basement and bought his position as Archon with his father’s money.”
“That sounds like my mom, all right,” said Lillie, as she turned her attention away from the table in the middle of the room. There, she was helping Steven work on a plan to take over the Team Disrupt Headquarters on Po Town. “She is always making up nonsense like that. The problem is, her people believe her. Even she believes her own nonsense.”
“But all of this is obviously false,” I ranted. “Steven doesn’t live in his father’s basement. He lives with me. His father’s doesn’t have a basement anyway because he lives in an apartment building, and the only things that live in the basement of his apartment building are several washing machines and the occasional Rotom. And there’s no way anyone can buy their way into becoming an Archon. It is a role that has to be earned, and by Arceus’ sake, my husband earned it!”
“Well, to put it one way, Lusamine is not known for her logic skills,” commented Kukui.
The doorbell rang. “I’ll get it,” offered Kukui as he opened the door.
“Alola!” shouted an older gentleman as he entered the house. He looked like the stereotypical Alolan grandfather from a tourism brochure.
“Hala!” said Lillie as he went to the door and gave him a pound-handshake.
“Wallace and Steven, this is Hala, one of our retired kahunas,” said Kukui as he introduced me to the newcomer. “Hala is also Hau’s grandfather.”
“Nice to meet you,” said Steven as he bowed elegantly. “And thank you for coming to help us.”
“Of course, no problem” replied Hala. “I heard what happened to Hau, and I can’t let Team Disrupt get away with this. By the way - I brought some malasadas and coffee for everyone.”
The whole team cheered. Lillie and I dropped what we were doing and rushed to help Hala put the delicious pastries and drinks on the table.
“Keep those malasadas away from Wallace,” joked Kukui. “Give him one or two and he will be knocked out for the whole day.”
“Well, I could just drink the coffee with it,” I responded. It was quite a weak response, but it was better than nothing.
“By the way, professor,” teased Steven, complete with his unbelievably charming hands-on-hips sassy husband pose. “You haven’t told us how your closest friend, the Masked Royal, is doing.” He sounded confident as ever.
“Oh, he’s doing fine,” replied Kukui as he looked away and tried to suppress his laughter.
“Come on, give it up, Royal,” said Hala. “Even these Hoenn folks can see the truth.”
“Especially since you have the Royal’s mask hanging in your lab,” commented Lillie as she pointed to a coat rack - complete with the incriminating evidence - on the wall.
Kukui, as dark as he was, still managed to turn a slight shade of red before letting out a previously-restrained guffaw. “I guess you’re right. There’s no use hiding it.”
“I’d like to see you do a show with Crasher Wake of Sinnoh,” I said with a laugh. “That would be hilarious.”
“Oh yeah!” replied Hala energetically as he punched the air in excitement. “That would be amazing!”
The doorbell rang. Again, Kukui ran over and opened the door.
“Kaixo, everyone,” said Normandy Takahashi as Kukui let her in the door. She was wearing Alolan fashions; without the Petalburgher accent, I could have mistaken her for a local. She was also wearing a Pokemon GO keychain. “Zer moduz? Am I too late to join the fun?”
“Normandy!” shouted Sophocles as he ran towards the door and gave her a big hug.
“How are you, Sophocles?” she asked. “And I’m sorry about taking over your gym at the Pokemon Center.”
“Gym at the Pokemon Center?” I asked.
“Oh, it’s just Pokemon GO,” replied Sophocles. “She’s on Team Valor. That’s why she’s a little crazy - but we love her anyway.”
“Hey,” pouted Normandy in a comical faux-offended way. Her expression then turned a bit more serious.“Let me see if Lillie, Steven, and Kukui need help,” she said as she excused herself from the banter and walked towards them.
“Where’s Hau when you need him?” joked Sophocles. “Maybe he’s going to get saved by his celebrity crush!” Sophocles, Hala, and I threw our heads back in laughter.
“That’s the most romantic thing of all, am I right,” I commented. “I think it’s just heartwarming to be rescued by Steven, my Prince Charming.”
“I heard he likes rocks,” said Sophocles with a straight face.
“Well, that’s an understatement,” I responded with a chuckle. “Of course he does. His family name is Stone.”
“He should meet my wife,” replied Sophocles. “Her name is Olivia, and she’s one of the Kahunas.”
“I think he already did,” I responded. “She gave him a Piplup, I think.”
“Oh yes,” said Sophocles. “I remember that.”
“When he’s done with the discussion at the table,” I said, “ask Steven to show her to you. She’s now a fine Prinplup.”
“That sounds great,” replied Sophocles. “So, do you go caving with your husband?”
“No,” I said. “I’m not into that.”
“Me neither,” responded Sophocles. “I’ll write you my gamer tag so when our spouses go looking for rocks, maybe we can play some video games.”
The doorbell rang. Again.
“I’ll get it,” said Sophocles as he ran towards it. He opened the door. “Hey, Spark! It’s really you!”
“Yes it is,” replied the trainer, whose smile was as bright as his Jolteon companion’s coat. “I heard there was a party here?”
“More like a rescue party!” responded Hala excitedly. “But it doesn’t mean we can’t have some fun along the way!”
“What are they doing?” asked Spark as he pointed to the table where Professor Kukui, Lillie, and Normandy were crowded around. Steven was making small piles of Pokeballs with post it notes by each one, and he also seemed to be drawing a diagram on the dry erase board.
“Oh, they’re the party planners,” explained Hala. “They’re planning something exciting for us! Meanwhile, take one of these malasadas. They’re delicious!”
“Looks like Sparky Junior here found a new friend,” commented Spark as he pointed his Jolteon playing with Steven’s newest Beldum. “Pokemon are amazing. You sometimes put two of them together and BAM, instant friendship.”
The doorbell rang. Again.
“I got it!” announced Hala as he ran over to the door. “Hey, Gladion! It’s great to see you!”
Gladion crossed his arms and looked at Hala with a straight face. “Where is Lillie?” He seemed less than impressed with the joyous atmosphere.
“Lillie is at the planning table in the back, with Professor Kukui, Steven, and Normandy,” I replied in a polite manner. “I can bring you there if you’d like.”
“Please do,” Gladion said with a dour mood on his voice. “Get me away from all that noise.”
-----0-0-0-----
He and I walked quietly, each without saying a word, to the back of the room where Lillie, Steven, Professor Kukui, and Normandy were doing work. Even though the Kukui Lab was very small, the front and the back of the lab seemed to be two different buildings just because the atmosphere was very different. Even though I could hear the fun from the men in the front of the lab, here at the back there was a mood of intense focus.
“Brother!” said Lillie excitedly as he ran towards him. They gave each other quick hugs.
“Hello, Lillie,” responded Gladion. “You called me?”
“Yes, I did,” replied Lillie.
“What do you need?” asked Gladion. “You know I am a busy man. I have the Aether Foundation to run.”
Lillie explained the situation to her brother. In the meantime, I could not help but look at the guys celebrating in the front of the lab. Sophocles, Hala, and Spark seemed so happy - as if there was nothing bad happening out in the world right now. I mean, right now it looks like they are having a masalada-eating contest. Then there was Gladion, with his eyes hiding no secret about the disgust of what he seemed to view as debauchery and Lillie, who seemed to remain upbeat despite the seriousness of the situation. Kukui and Normandy were in some kind of heavy conversation, and Steven seemed focused on completing some sort of diagram. Those steely gray eyes were intense, and as steaming hot as I thought they were, I knew that it was a sign that he was in deep concentration.
“This is ridiculous,” said Gladion. “You are trying to have a rescue mission here, and a third of your team is just having a party as if it is someone’s birthday. I can’t believe that people could be so immature.”
I took a deep breath before responding. “Gladion,” I said, “I understand where you are coming from, and I know that the mission means a lot to you. All of us want to rescue our loved ones from Team Disrupt. Yes, sometimes it’s frustrating when there are lots of distractions. Pretty much everyone in this room has been affected by the kidnappings, and many of us are stressed out. Some of us take out the stress by doing what seems to be like partying. Others may seem to shut down.”
“I speak from personal experience,” I continued as I remembered the first time that I had recalled the first time I had dealt with a major crisis in my life - protecting Sootopolis City from certain disaster. “I remember feeling powerless as a powerful ancient Pokemon transformed and, enraged, emerged from its place and threatened destruction right in front of my hometown of Sootopolis City. Even though I wanted to do what was right, the sunlight was oppressive and scrambled my thoughts. I ended up having to delegate my duty as an Archon to those more braver than I, and I essentially ran from my post. It wasn’t the best decision on my part, but the world ended up being saved, thanks to others.”
“For years, I have mentally beaten myself up over my decisions from that day,” I continued. “I kept calling myself a coward and wondering what could have happened if I been able to face my problems like an adult. As years passed, however, I realized that we all react to stress in different ways, and the best thing that I can do after the fact is to reflect on my actions, prepare myself for the future, empathize with others in need, and help others who are going through stressful times.”
At this time, I did not even know if what I was saying made sense. And honestly, I didn’t care. I was speaking from my heart these feelings that were too tough to put into words. I gave them the best explanation I could with the time I had with Gladion and you know what, that was enough for me. It was up to him to decide whether it was enough for him.
“Okay, I get that they’re stressed,” replied Gladion. “But could they at least be helping with these plans?”
“Sophocles, Hala, and Spark may seem like they are going on a tangent,” I responded, “but in reality they are just expressing the grief that they have over the situation. For example, Sophocles’ wife, one of the kahunas of Alola, is one of the many people that Team Disrupt has already kidnapped. Maybe it was too much for Sophocles at the moment to be involved with the planning portion, but he showed up here because he wanted to help out in some way. Let us - and I say us as a team - do what we are capable of, and if we do our best - no matter what that best will be - we will be fine at the end.”
“I have no idea what you are talking about, you teal-haired philosopher,” counted Gladion, “but for the Tapus’ sake, I hope that you are right.”
“Everyone, attention!” called out Steven, who was now also wearing his white champion’s cloak. After a bit of chatter, the lab went silent, and all eyes fell on Steven. “We have our plan of attack. Let’s gather around the couches for the briefing.”
All present gave Steven and Kukui their undivided attention as they explained the rescue plan. There was going to be three teams - one to guard the Kukui Lab and two to attack the Team Disrupt headquarters in Po Town. Lillie read the list of people who were known to be prisoners of Team Disrupt. The list was rather long, but Steven insisted that we would try out best to rescue everyone.
“If anyone has changed their mind,” said Steven. “I am giving them the last chance to leave this mission. If you leave now because you do not think that this is for you, I will not hold it against you. That being said, if you commit to this mission, I ask you to commit to the very end. It is a very complicated plan, and I want to make sure that all of us are as motivated as I am to save our loved ones. If you are willing to join us - 100% willing to join us - I want you to say ‘aye’!”
“Aye!” shouted everyone, including me.
I glanced at Gladion. He was genuinely surprised.