“I beg to differ.” There’s a scoff evident in his voice, playful doubt in his tone to almost deny Wallace of truth in what he’d just said. “You are a better match for certain trainers, while I am the better match for others. Perhaps those populations may overlap, but who is to tell, hmm?” Though there was no way to argue the fact his friend had defeated him in a match, witnessed by the Pokemon Association itself, Steven held fast to the belief that they had failed to bring out the best in one another in that match – the one time it mattered the most.
That was the reason he wished to one day, battle his longtime friend once more.
The question Wallace voiced, however, drew an end to the playful tone of the heir, Stevens eyes darkening briefly as he looked to the table between them. He allows an uncharacteristic expression to take form on his features, visible for only a moment before he whisked it away under a rather serious and contemplative mask.
“My roots have, and always will be, in Mossdeep, my friend.” At last he looks up once more, steel blue irises capturing Wallace’s gaze. “However, I have been able to travel far from them…in the future I will not be so lucky. It’s likely that I’ll be restricted to the Hoenn region – not that I have qualms with such a location. But, even in an entire region I find myself with the ability to, as many call it, ‘go stir-crazy’.”
The truth of the matter, as he was sure Wallace knew quite well, was that such a prospect was nothing short of GRIM to Devon’s heir.
‘ perhaps one day, my dear steven, you will learn to SETTLE. for your roots are drawn out rather thin, and hardly stay properly seated in the soil you claim to be your home. you tend to... shift them, rather often. ‘
the bangles along his forearms chimed together as he reached out, dropping a couple of cubes of sugar into his coffee, and fetching his spoon to stir it.
‘ i could not imagine trying to travel as much as you do---and i already travel plenty, given my status. ‘
champion AND guardian.
it was a struggle, at times, to maintain both identities, but love and devotion kept him afloat, rather than sinking deep.
‘ maybe you will be able to find balance. splurge on the occasional vacation, and flee from hoenn the moment it arises. certainly, your father is capable of escaping his desk, every once in awhile? ‘
surely not as often as fidgety steven stone, but surely often enough.
‘ it is not as if we have TRAPPED you here. you are a man with a free will, just like any of us. ‘