Steven had never given much thought to the afterlife.
Despite being aware- acutely so- of his own mortality, the idea of what would come after had never really occurred to him. There were far more important things to worry about, from pokemon training and his passion for geology as a young boy and now to the crisis currently facing his home region in his adulthood, so he never had the time to stop and give any consideration to what would happen when his life finally came to a screeching halt.
…now that moment was staring him straight in the face and Steven found himself gripped with a strange doubting fear. He knew this would happen- it was why he stepped aside and implored Wallace to take his rightful place as League Champion- the said man standing next to Steven now as his vision became cloudy and his reactions slow, and Steven wondered if Wallace knew the reason why he had passed the Champion cloak onto him.
It was the reason why he had led the Elite Four in their search for the three Golems, and why when all other avenues that he and his father had explored to stop Teams Magma and Aqua from awakening the ancient Gods of Land and Sea led to dead ends, (I'm sorry Dad) Steven was the one who headed the charge to Sootopolis.
The death of one man is nothing weighed against the lives of everyone in Hoenn, and possibly the world and so Steven steeled himself and knowingly went to his death, and he was certain that he was ready.
But now, as Steven felt himself growing weaker by the second, head light and his body ever so tired, his mind was the only thing still clinging onto life as he faintly made out the blurred form of Rayquaza snaking it's way through the parting clouds and Groudon and Kyogre quietly slipping back to the depths of the Cave of Origin. He knew that Wallace was speaking to him but he couldn't really make out what he was saying, and although they were both battered and bruised and exhausted Wallace's excited tones told Steven that his work was done and peace finally reigned in Hoenn once again.
He thought he could see Norman lying cold and still, with his son crying over him, but was he just too weak to make any sense of it all.
What would he face now? Was this the time for Steven to repent for any transgressions committed in his past and embrace religion, or maybe make a final panicked phone call to his father, the man who had raised Steven since the death of his mother when he was still a small boy, and tell him that he loves him? What would become of his father now that he had endured the deaths of his wife and his only child, knowingly sending his son to his death for the sake of the lives of everyone else?
Steven had never given a lot of thought to that either. Or perhaps he had just chosen not to.
Steven's breathing was heavy and laboured and his time was running out- it was too late for that now.
Anger came to him- he was still a young man, and he wasn't a bad person, so what had he done to deserve having his life cut so short? If only he had just a little longer, maybe he would spend more time with his father, finally giving into his constant nagging for Steven to find a nice girl and settle down and succeed him, or maybe he would make a point of seeing what the rest of the world had to offer in case it came so close to destruction again…
He hoped that they would all be happy, that his father would find the strength to carry on now he was alone, and that Wallace and Winona would find finally stop pretending otherwise and confess their love again, and that most of all those two brave children, without whom Hoenn would surely have been doomed, would come through this disaster stronger people and that their generation would ensure history never, ever repeated itself.
If Steven could have, he might have cried, but all he could do was give a weak smile and breathe a few last words as finally, his mind went blank and he collapsed upon the cold, metallic back of the great Registeel with a dull thud.
He didn't feel the impact, nor did he feel Wallace shaking him, or hear him screaming Steven's name and pleading with him to open his eyes.
The time for doubt was over. A hero in death, Steven could face whatever awaited him with his head held high.