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I was teased awake to a familiar blend of scents - the salty ocean air and my husband’s alluring cologne. As my other senses came to, I recognized the rhythmic rocking of my world as well as the bright sunlight. I tossed a bit, and just as expected, I found my husband napping beside me. His eyes and face had this peaceful expression, one that was quite adorable, even with all the bruises that he’s gotten over the past few weeks.
“Wallace!” greeted Juan as looked at Steven and me in our hammock. “It’s good to see you again!”
“Same here,” I said as I stepped out of the hammock. To be honest, it took several tries. It was way too comfortable over here, right next to my husband. After what has happened this week, could I ask for any more?
“Has Steven awakened yet?” asked Juan.
“No,” I said. After a pause and a sudden realization, I continued. “Wait - what happened to Steven?”
“He had just been defrosted a few hours ago,” explained Juan. “He’s probably catching up on some sleep and just taking in the heat.”
My eyes opened widely. “Defrosted!” This was when it hit me - the last memory I had before I woke up was during the rescue mission. “What happened over at Po Town?”
“Lusamine decided to freeze your husband in a block of ice,” said Juan casually, “but before your team left the Team Disrupt headquarters, this metal fella decided to give Lusamine the ice cold treatment.” He pointed to Metagross, who was taking a nap right next to our hammock. Near one of Metagross’ legs, Beldum and the Rotom Pokedex were also taking naps. “When that happened to Lusamine, those little ones were overjoyed.”
I chuckled. “Did you manage to save the other Sootopolitans that were held by Team Disrupt? An Admin earlier mentioned that there were several of us there.”
“We got everyone who was held prisoner,” said Juan. “The Sootopolitan government sent me to take all of our citizens home, but the other prisoners were also freed.”
“Did anyone else from Sootopolis get seriously hurt?” I asked.
“Besides you and Steven - one other,” answered Juan. “His name is Weston Waterman. He gave it his all when he was fighting of Team Disrupt. We had to leave him in a hospital in Alola because his injuries were very severe. He will make a full recovery, though, and we have others in the hospital to keep him company.”
Juan showed me a picture of Weston in the hospital. Weston was all bandaged up but also happened to be waving at the camera with a wide grin on his face. Beside him, Hau and Gladion were making funny expressions in the camera, and Hala was laughing heartily. Weston himself was also carrying a stuffed Feebas plushie.
“He also has a message for you,” said Juan as he showed me his phone and played a video.
-----0-0-0-----
“Hey there,” said Weston to the video screen. “This is Weston Waterman. This message is for Archon Wallace Stone. I … I may not see you before I leave the hospital, but I just want to say thank you for everything.”
“How do I say this … you’re the first person who believed in me as a person, as Weston Waterman, and not as a minion or a grunt. You saw me as someone who could make decisions for myself, and your respected that power. People were always like - Weston, you’re a hipster. You must join Team Disrupt and go with the hipster crowd, as well as its rigid values. You must use the same vocabulary and feel the same feelings, or else you’re a traitor. I felt like I was an actor in someone else’s play, and that my life consisted on reading a script and acting on it and making my own decisions.”
“I left my former friends behind, and you know what? I’m freer because of that. Plus, I have some new friends right here, and they are much better than my old ones.” He pointed to Hau and Gladion. “Hau was one of the prisoners that our team saved early on, and Gladion - he ran from the Kukui lab to help us out when he heard we hit a snag. Okay, not literally, he also flew on his Pokemon - but you know what I mean. All three of us have wildly different personalities but … but we shared an experience together. It is something that binds us together, more than, say, people who dress like me or listen to the same music as me or even think like me.”
“You are amazing. Kukui tells me you made a six hour journey to Alola by standing on top of your husband’s Metagross, which means you had to stand on a platform smaller than the table in this hospital room for the whole trip. Somehow you managed to get some sleep on the journey, I heard, but you managed to stay on Metagross anyway just so you could get to Alola in time. If you could do that and still be part of the rescue squad, I figured that I at that time could do more than I think I could. So I did.”
“I know I’m rambling or something, and I’m not the most elegant speaker in the world, but you get what I mean, right? Thank you so much, Archon Stone. I feel like a new person today, thanks to you.”
“P.S. Your husband is also amazing and inspirational, and by Arceus, he showed Team Disrupt that he is not one who should be trifled with. Please say hi to him when he wakes up.”
-----0-0-0-----
“He is one of the bravest men I ever knew,” I said as I processed the Weston’s video. “A true Sootopolitan, definitely. You know, Juan, sometimes in this modern world, we have this idea that the only way to show one’s courage is to be a Pokemon Master. To beat all other trainers in battle. We as a society, sometimes we have this narrow definition of bravery. You know how the saying goes - the goal is ‘to be the best there ever was’. Like Steven - he’s considered one of most courageous men in Hoenn because he is the Hoenn Regional Champion.”
“But there is a different kind of bravery,” I continued, “one that is not so flashy and obvious. Like, in Weston’s case - only the most courageous of us could throw away an old lifestyle for a new one, especially when that means giving up all your friends and social connections and giving up your old identity. It also means admitting to one’s self that you were wrong about yourself. It’s a kind of silent bravery, and wow - I honestly did not expect to find it in a young adult like Weston.”
“It’s not just about bravery,” explained Juan. “It’s also about character and moral virtue. It’s about being an excellent role model to others. You indigenous Sootopolitans traditionally call it ‘arete’. It’s hard to explain, as you know, but it’s a quality that differentiates Steven from, say, Gary Oak of the Kanto region. Both Steven and Gary are regional champions, but Steven is a role model. He gives back to the community, and he helps those in other lands. He does things that seem scary to others so that our people and others can live a better life. He has the grit to hang on when others give up, and he has the idealism to believe that his actions can make a positive impact on the world. He is someone inspirational. Gary on the other hand - he just fights Pokemon. There’s nothing wrong with that, of course, but that also means that Gary doesn’t have as much of an influence on Kanto as, say, Steven on Hoenn. When Steven goes to Alola or Boise, for example, he is Hoenn. Gary, on the other hand, is just another trainer with a title.”
“Is that why so many people want to attack Steven?” I ask. “At least, so many people with evil plans?”
“That is part of it,” explained Juan. “Capturing the symbol of Hoenn is part of their way to attack the spirit of the entire region. As he is also an Archon, capturing him is also a way to attack the idea of Sootopolis. Other times, such as the incident with Professor Liz Merkel at Steven’s university, it’s about an attempt to shut up his values - and by extension, the values of Sootopolis and Hoenn.”
“So, let me think about this aloud,” I said. “Steven is the symbol - an ambassador, really - of Hoenn. That’s part of the reason why he wears the champion’s cloak in public, to show that he is representing the region. And, there is this idea we indigenous Sootopolitans have about being one with the land, drawing our pride and our memories and our connections with our ancestors, whether they be our blood ancestors or our intellectual ones, and expressing that in our Pokemon battles and contests. I know that Steven has this deep connection with his Pokemon as well as this other connection that’s hard to name - that’s why his battling is so elegant.”
“And that is why he is still the champion, year after year,” explained Juan. “There are some people who do nothing in their lives except train Pokemon, and they still can’t defeat Steven because of that connection he draws from the land and the culture. In a previous generation, the Champions were people who had the best Pokemon. Now, being a Champion means, as you said earlier, being an ambassador.”
“I know that one’s connection to the region is also how people become Gym Leaders or Pokemon Professors,” I responded. “Kukui has a deep love for Alola, and I know Birch, as fun-loving as he is, just loves Hoenn. The Takahashi-Mitxelena family, who will be the head of the Battle Etxea - with Norman Takahashi as the future Pokemon professor and Maialen ‘May’ Birch, his eldest daughter, as one of the Elite Four - represent the Boise area with its deep connection with the city’s Basque American community. And I know you and I were chosen to be Gym Leaders because of our connection and love for Sootopolis.”
Juan thought for a moment and then said, “I’m going to tell you something that I do not tell many others. As you know, I am a second-generation Sootopolitan. My mother and father immigrated here from Unova. Even though they lived in Sootopolis for the rest of their lives, it was very hard for them to see themselves as Sootopolitans first. They always considered their home as Unova. As for me - I chose a different route. It was a lonely road at first since I did not have much support from my family, but I found friends and role models that helped me. I hope Weston will have the same experience, and if he keeps looking, people will help him.”
“Good morning, Wallace and Juan,” said Steven as he approached us. He seemed a bit slower than usual - probably a combination of just waking up, the injuries he received, and possibly feeling the remnants of the frosty experience. “I hear that you are having a deep conversation. Care if I join?”
“Of course,” said Juan. “The more the merrier.”
“So,” I said to Steven, “excuse me for going to a serious topic so quickly but -” I have learned that when communicating with Steven, it is best to address topics directly but politely. He doesn’t take hints very well. “- I feel like a loser.”
“Do you want a hug?” asked Steven. I nodded, and he gave me a warm embrace.
“I feel like I just ran in and got caught,” I said. “I didn’t do it on purpose, but it just happened that I slipped in the hallway and - argh, I feel like I’m no good at this. I feel like - I feel like I just hold you back.”
“I think you were very important,” replied Steven. “If you hadn’t brought Metagross, then who knows what would have happened? Releasing Metagross in the hallway might not have been your first plan, but hey - it helped Sophocles and Spark to reach the breaker.”
“Wait, I released Metagross?” I asked. “I don’t remember that. I thought I was knocked out before I was able to reach the Pokeball.”
“One thing I love about you is that you don’t quit,” explained Steven. “From what I heard, you were being pummeled, but you managed to release Metagross anyway, along with the Rotom Pokedex. That, and being able to encourage others, such as Gladion and Weston, was very important. Without both of them, our rescue mission would have been a failure.”
“As for the second concern,” he continued, “if I felt that you just held me back in life, I would not have married you. After all, I am a busy person, so I try to spend the most time with people who are important to me. Considering that I spend the most time with you - you are one of the most important people in my life. The way I see it is that you and I are two complete people, but our love and our teamwork helps us to become stronger as a couple than if we lived our lives separately. We may not have the same strengths but hey, isn’t that what makes us a strong couple?”
“Wallace, you are a strong and amazing person,” he continued. With that, Steven gave me a kiss. “Our love for each other is rock solid and has grown stronger through times of crisis. Even more importantly, you inspire me to become a better person.“
Steven and I held hands as we stood on the deck of the boat. We did not let go until the sun set and we headed for the hammock. This was the last weekend that Steven had before he had to go back and work at the university, and we wanted to make sure that it was a relaxing and romantic one.