"Hello?" a voice spoke to the green-haired young boy as he awoke in a bed an unfamiliar room. His eyes fluttered a bit and he let out a slight groan as he sat up and noticed a tall young man with neck-length black hair and gray eyes standing next to the bed, staring down at him.
"Bonjour," said the man, giving him a smile and slight wave.
"Hey..." the boy responded with a puzzled look on his face, "Who are you?"
"Calem Beaumont is the name," the man replied with a slight smirk on his face, "And you?"
"M-my name is... W-Wally... Wally Kincaid..." the child responded nervously.
Calem let out a loud laugh, "Is that short for Wallace or Walter?"
"No! It's just Wally!" Wally replied. He then looked over to his left and noticed his Gardevoir, Perseus, was floating by the bed next to him.
"Oh, I didn't noticed your Gardevoir there. What's her name?" Calem asked.
Perseus wore an indignant expression on his face.
"His name is Perseus!" Wally exclaimed.
Calem let out another hearty laugh and said, "A male Gardevoir, seriously? He could've been a Gallade!"
Wally copied Perseus's facial expression, "Don't judge us, Calem! He's my very first Pokémon! He's also my best friend! I like him just the way he is!"
Calem chuckled a bit, "Whatever, Wally," he replied, "But that's beside the point. Tell me a bit about yourself."
"Uh..." Wally hesitated. Who am I exactly? I don't really know...
"What exactly do you want to know about me?" he asked.
"First of all, how old are you?"
"Fourteen."
"I see," Calem pondered, "Can you tell me a bit about your family?"
Wally swallowed hard, "I-I d-don't r-really know... I don't really know why... but I really don't remember much about my family... or even myself for that matter... The only thing I really remember is that I had two friends named May and Brendan..." he said before erupting into a coughing fit.
"Woah! Are you okay?!" Calem questioned.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Wally answered as his coughing subsided, "I have asthma."
"Ah..." Calem tapped his chin in thought.
"Anyways," Wally inquired, "What am I doing here? How did I get here? What is this place, anyway?"
Calem looked into Wally's eyes intently and said, "I found you all beaten up on the side of the road, it looked as if you had been attacked by some wild Mightyena."
"Oh," Wally replied, looking at the bandages placed on different areas of his arms and torso. He then turned back to Calem and asked, "What about you? Why did you save me? Where am I, anyway?"
"Well..." Calem stated, "You're in the infirmary of the soldiers' living quarters. You see, I'm a knight, mon ami."
That last sentence put a starry-eyed expression on Wally's face. Since he was a young child – and by that he meant as far back as he could possibly remember from the little bits and pieces memory he had – he had been completely entranced with the knights of the kingdom of Mianna.
"Oh my Arceus! Are you really a knight?!" Wally exclaimed brightly. He had always wanted to be a knight since he was a child, he was now old enough to become an apprentice, but his less than perfect health had prevented from ever becoming a fighter.
"Yep!" Calem responded, "I can see that really impressed you, didn't it?"
"Oh, yeah! I've always been fascinated with the Miannan knights!" Wally exclaimed, "Always wanted to be one, too..." he mumbled at the end.
Calem gave the boy an inquisitive glance, "Are you saying that you want to become my apprentice?" he asked.
Wally returned his question with a wide-eyed expression, "Really? Can I? Because that would be great!" he replied excitedly.
Calem pondered Wally's request, "I don't know... Training is really hard... And you just told me that you have asthma..."
"I can handle it! Trust me! I'm a lot stronger than I look!" Wally reassured him, "Please? This is my dream!"
Calem's lips curled into a warm smile, "Okay, I'll sponsor your apprenticeship. Just remember that this isn't an endeavor to be taken lightly."
"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" he responded elatedly. This can't be real! Wally thought to himself, I'm finally going to prove myself as a warrior!
Calem smiled and let out a slight laugh, "I've never seen an applicant so enthusiastic about joining. As long as you realize what you're getting into, I would love to see you become a true warrior."
He then took a few steps towards the door, glanced back at Wally, "You rest up, your body needs to be working in tip-top shape when you begin your battle training," Calem said to him as he left the room.
After Calem shut the infirmary door, Wally turned to Perseus wearing the same starry-eyed expression on his face and said, "Did you hear that?! He's gonna train me to be a knight!"
"I don't know, Wally..." Perseus spoke to him telepathically, "I have a bad feeling about this guy..."
"Whataya mean, 'bad feeling'?" Wally asked, "He seems nice enough..."
Perseus shot Wally a concerned look, "You don't understand, do you?"
"What is it that I'm not understanding?" Wally inquired.
Perseus closed his eyes, "I'm a psychic-type, remember? I have a heightened sense of intuition. I can just tell that there's some sinister energy floating around this Calem dude..."
"I realize that you don't like him, man," Wally responded, "But this is my dream! I may never get this opportunity again!"
Perseus sighed, "It's up to you, Wally. I just hope you know what you're getting yourself into..."