When he first met his partner, he had been an over-sheltered young boy, sick with asthma and a want for freedom.
The girl who would become his inspiration walked beside him, telling him how to catch a Pokémon with a patience that astounded him. Surely a boy his age should know such things. Surely she had every right to be annoyed with the Gym Leader for putting this burden on her, with him for being so ignorant.
Yet she wasn't. She seemed happy and willing to guide him along, and her smile didn't so much as waver when he hesitated at the edge of the city.
She promised to protect him. And that made him so happy that he felt like he was flying, though he would eventually find out that neither experience was comparable to the other.
As he walked into the grass, he thought of the Pokémon he'd seen before – maybe he'd find a fluffy Zigzagoon, or an energetic Taillow.
He didn't expect the small, white-and-green being that poked through the grass.
"Raaaa...?"
He heard a small gasp from beside him, and the figure retreated behind a clump of grass.
"Hey, don't go..." Having scared away the Pokémon saddened him.
"Oh, sorry... Hey, that happens sometimes. You just have to keep searching," offered May.
Wally nodded, but as he moved to go forward, the creature from before poked its head out.
"Oh, you're back. We didn't mean to scare you," he said, kneeling down a bit in an attempt to meet its eyes.
The Pokémon made a trilling sound, lifting its head slightly. It still seemed hesitant to come forward, however.
"Hey..." he said, letting his knees touch the ground. "My name's Wally."
"Aaaal... Ral?"
A small smile graced his face as he watched the young-looking Pokémon.
"...I'm leaving to go live with my aunt and uncle. So I'm looking for a friend who can come with me."
His smile grew as the small creature edged forward with shuffling steps, seeming more curious now than scared.
A little light came to life in his mind as the small scrap of hope he had started to get bigger.
Slowly, he extended his hand, palm-up.
"Maybe... you'd want to come with me?"
The Pokémon looked from him to his hand, then back again, and kept doing so.
Feeling the little light go out, he said, "I- I mean, you don't have to... Then you'd have to leave, too... wouldn't you?" He suddenly felt selfish.
He closed his eyes and was just about to stand up again when he felt a slight pressure on his hand.
His eyes snapped open, taking in the sight of the Pokémon looking up at him, hand in his.
"Ralts."
He could hardly believe it. He suddenly felt choked up, but not like the way his asthma felt. It was in an almost good way, he was just so happy.
"Y-you'd do that? You'd come with me?" he somehow said, a true, happy smile appearing on his face.
"Raaa." A small nod from the Pokémon.
A small laugh escaped his mouth.
"I did it... it's my... my Pokémon!" He laughed some more, slowly, cautiously picking the Pokémon up.
"So... what are you called?"
"Ralts!"
"Ralts..." He said the name a couple of times, getting used to the feel of it. He liked it.
As he turned to May and thanked her, he reflected that maybe having to leave wouldn't be so bad after all.
He learned how to battle in Verdanturf.
There were plenty of opportunities, between the Battle Tent, the route to Mauville, and the random people who came through.
He worked with Ralts, training first so that they could protect themselves against the wild Pokémon on Route 117. His aunt and uncle gave him much more freedom than his parents had, and he wanted to be able to go with them and Wanda on their trips to Mauville.
One day, during his training, a young girl asked him to battle.
He wasn't sure of himself, but the first hit seemed to invigourate him, and a few minutes later, he stood victorious.
It was as if something had clicked. After that, the wild Pokémon just weren't as fun to fight against – the battles seemed nothing more than a distraction, like the painting and sewing his mother had given him back in Petalburg.
The boy from back then seemed almost completely different to him, though others wouldn't have said the same. The change was nearly all in his mind, and he largely acted the same.
Except when he was battling.
He had begun to seek out opponents on Route 117, and they were always surprised when the meek child led his Ralts with such vigour.
After every battle, their routine was the same – a thank-you for the opponent and for each other.
And slowly, unknown to him or his family, people started to talk about the green-haired boy and his strange capacity for battling.
The dark-haired boy destroyed him, though.
He barely managed his customary "thank you" as the boy brushed past him. It had gone all wrong – instead of proving himself, he looked like a naïve child, chastised by his uncle for being reckless.
And that was even before May came up.
The girl that had helped him find Ralts, whose words had been what allowed him to step foot into the tall grass, had seen him fail.
Even though he had always been resilient for the issues he had, he just wanted to run back to Verdanturf and hide. But he couldn't even do that.
He couldn't stand another person ridiculing him like the dark-haired boy had, judging like his uncle had.
He was so surprised when she had defended him, had insulted the other boy, had told him that he had done really well when, no, he really hadn't done anything.
She walked home with them, and using her Pokédex, they finally found out that Ralts was a male.
He also learned that Ralts only appeared around happy people.
Regardless of her insisting that it was all him, really, he thought that it was her who gave him that opportunity in the first place.
She ended up staying at their house that night, and they stayed up far too late talking.
Almost a week later, he had made his decision.
The first evolution happened while he was traveling to Fallarbor.
It hadn't been too long after he had begun his journey, and he had been in a bad position. After finding out that the cable car was closed, he had decided to continue on to Fallarbor. It would give him more training, and perhaps he could get to another Gym before it opened back up again. There were a lot of problems with this, he found. Fallarbor was a long way from Mauville, and even from the cable car station. Fallarbor didn't even have a Gym in it. Normally, he would have gone to Slateport and gotten a boat ride to Dewford or Rustboro, but...
That would require going back to Mauville. He felt horrible already for leaving the way he did, and there would certainly be people looking for him. If he got caught, he'd probably never be able to leave again, even if he was allowed – the guilt would keep him stationary. He'd probably go back himself if he went that way.
He felt so selfish.
The only way to go was north, and he had no way to protect himself from the harsh desert sandstorms (not that he would have wanted to go that way anyway – going into the dry, particulate-laden desert air was practically begging for a severe asthma attack), so he had to go through the Fiery Path.
Not that it was better.
The air on the other end of the spectrum from the desert air, being humid and steam-laden to the point where it was hard to see. The heat was almost unbearable, sometimes briefly surging even hotter, and he found himself belatedly realizing that he probably should have gone through Rusturf Tunnel when he left Verdanturf.
He had his shirt off almost immediately, and he could feel his lungs growing irritated at every step. He looked at Ralts, making sure that he wasn't suffering as much as he was, and while he did look uncomfortable, he looked nowhere near as bad as Wally felt. Ralts had seemed uncomfortable a lot of the time lately, which bothered Wally, but he didn't know what the problem was. He had learned a new move – Magical Leaf – so he wondered if that had something to do with it.
They had made it a little more than halfway through the thankfully short cave when a spurt of fire leaped out in front of them, courtesy of a bubbling, flaming Pokémon that Wally vaguely recognized, but couldn't place a name to, despite the nagging feeling that he knew it.
"Ralts..."
He didn't need to say anything more as Ralts used its psychic powers on the wild Pokémon, which was a good thing for Wally, who couldn't seem to get the words out of his mouth.
The wild Pokémon suddenly launched a fist-sized rock at him, which he barely managed to stumble out of the way of. His brain felt as foggy as the cave they were in, and his breathing was fast and shallow. Somewhere, vaguely, in the back of his mind, he realized that he was in serious trouble, and that he needed to get out now.
Another blast of psionics was sent towards the wild Pokémon, but it still remained standing.
Another burst of fire – Ember, he thought hazily - was sent at Wally. As he moved himself out of the way, his legs seemed to give out underneath him, and he fell to the burning ground, the searing pain both numbed and magnified by his unclear mind.
The wild Pokémon saw his vulnerability, and raised another rock, this one larger than before.
A glowing shape threw itself in front of the hurled stone, then righted itself, wasting no time in unleashing a significantly stronger Confusion at the flaming Pokémon.
"IiirrLIIII!"
With the immediate threat gone, the newly-evolved Kirlia turned to his Trainer, only to be greeted with the sight of him collapsed, burnt, and breathing heavily.
Wally's eyes shifted slightly towards Kirlia.
"R... Ralts...? What..."
It didn't take any sort of psychic powers to realize that there was another threat, possibly even more urgent than an attacking Pokémon.
Now acting under the knowledge that his Trainer was in significant danger, Kirlia mustered up his strength and teleported himself and his Trainer down the hall.
And again.
And again.
And again.
He finally, in a time that seemed like many minutes rather than seconds, brought them both outside, and then into the unfortunately minimal shade of the trees. He rummaged through the bag, searching for one of the water bottles that he knew Wally had packed.
There.
He unscrewed the top, then used his telekinesis to fling the water onto his Trainer.
He did it again, and again, and again, until finally he reminded himself that they needed water to drink, mentally praising the boy for thinking to pack so much.
Realizing that the new ability he had developed during the battle might help Wally, he began to send out a pulse of healing energy, which he continued until he finally succumbed to sleep.
He slept far too long, but when he did, he found Wally had his eyes opened and was propped against the nearest tree.
"Kirrr!" He rushed over to his friend and tackle-hugged him.
The boy seemed shocked for a minute, but he finally responded with a hug of his own before asking, "What happened?"
Kirlia pondered how best to inform Wally of what had happened before deciding to try and project something into his mind. A few seconds of silence passed before Wally said, "Oh."
Surprised but thankful, he gave Kirlia another hug before saying, "Thank you, Ralts. Although... You're not a Ralts anymore."
Kirlia shook his head. "Kirlia."
"Is that what you're called?"
Kirlia nodded his head. "Raaa."
"Kirlia... Kirlia, I'm tired. Can we stay here longer?"
Of course. The thought registered as no more than a vague feeling of approval in Wally's mind, but he felt it nonetheless, and smiled at his best friend as he laid down again.
Wally didn't like Fallarbor very much.
He supposed it wasn't really the town he disliked; it was the ash that constantly fell in it. At this time, there was a particularly large amount of ash, and he didn't want to be outside in that.
As such, he was constantly indoors, which he also wasn't too fond of, since he was always worrying someone would recognize him.
Compounding the problem was the fact that Fallarbor was a rather small town, and he could only spend so much time in the Pokémon Center without getting restless.
So he often found himself at the Battle Tent.
He didn't have enough Pokémon to compete, so he would simply watch. It was informative; he learned a lot of tricks from watching the battles, though he probably would have learned more from a longer battle. He also kept Kirlia out, much for the same reason. Of course, Kirlia was almost always out anyways.
About three days after he had arrived, he witnessed a young man stride confidently up to the counter. Wally thought he would lose; certainly, every other Trainer with that kind of confidence had been wiped out on the field.
The young man stepped onto the field on the opposite side from where Wally was sitting. He had short blonde hair and wore a simple outfit of the type that one would commonly see on any person. There was a sort of headband tied around head, a vibrant red which stood out against his pale locks.
The battle, as with all of the ones in the Fallarbor Battle Tent, was frantically paced. This speed did not prevent Wally from noticing that the man's Pokémon were unfamiliar, however.
The one he sent out in the beginning was blue, with deadly-looking red spikes extending out of its hands and a mask-like marking on its face. It seemed to have been a bad match-up, as the strange Pokémon fell quickly. The next one was also blue, but gave off the aura of an honorable fighter rather than the trickster the other Pokémon had seemed. It traded fierce blows with its opponent before it was taken out in a tie match.
His last one, however, was magnificent.
It stood proud, gleaming white and green, blades extending out of its arms and a blue crest reminiscent of a helmet resting on its head.
It was strong, too; it took out its opponents in a matter of seconds, leaving Wally starry-eyed. He was somewhat disappointed by the battle's end and wished once again that the battles were longer – though perhaps not for the same reason as before.
As the man was congratulated, Wally looked down at Kirlia to find him staring as intently as he had been. There was also a look to him that Wally couldn't quite decipher, something that showed deep thought.
He looked back to the mysterious Pokémon just in time to see it give a salute to its Trainer before being recalled. The Trainer looked into the stands, and Wally met his eyes for a brief second before he turned and exited.
Wally waited for the next battle to start, wondering about the strange Pokémon and why it had seemed so familiar when he was positive he'd never seen it before.
He was startled when he felt a light tap on his shoulder, and quickly turned to find the blonde Trainer behind him. Wally's eyes widened a bit as the man, younger than he had thought, chuckled a bit.
"I saw you looking at my Pokémon."
Wally wasn't sure if this was a good thing or not, and so fell back to apologizing, earning another chuckle from the man.
"Hey, don't apologize. I didn't mean it in a bad way. I saw you had a Kirlia, so I thought maybe you'd like to learn something."
"Oh... S-Uh, that would be nice!" Wally cringed a little at how childishly eager he sounded – everybody already thought he was much younger than he was.
The man reached into his red jacket and brought out a Pokéball.
"Careful, Eru," he said, releasing the majestic Pokémon from earlier. Wally let out a small gasp at being so close. He then felt a tug on his shirt; it was Kirlia, with a slight frown on his face.
"Oh, I'm sorry." Wally picked Kirlia up and set him in front of him, a much harder task than it had once been. "I didn't mean to make you jealous..."
"This is Eru. He's a species of Pokémon called Gallade. What gender's your Kirlia?"
The question seemed a bit sudden to Wally, but he answered regardless. "Kirlia's a male..."
The man grinned. "Ah, good! Then there's no need for him to be jealous." This statement baffled Wally, and it must have shown on his face.
"You see, Gallade is one of the possible evolutions of Kirlia."
Hearing this made Wally feel a bit giddy, but he looked down at Kirlia, who seemed to be indifferent to the information. He certainly couldn't make Kirlia evolve against his will... Then something occurred to him.
"One of the evolutions?"
"Yeah, Kirlia can also evolve into a Pokémon called Gardevoir. You should probably learn more about that before you make a decision, and I'm not really the best guy to ask about that." The man grinned. "I prefer Fighting-types, myself." Wally nodded, looking down at Kirlia once again. "But, just in case..." Wally looked back up as the man reached back into his jacket. He pulled out a bright blue stone which seemed to have its own light.
"This is a Dawn Stone. I'm sure you've heard of evolutionary stones before, right?" Wally nodded; that was one of the things he and May had talked about the night she had stayed with them.
"Well, this one is rather rare around here, it seems. So not many Kirlia evolve into Gallade. But, since you seem to like Gallade a lot..." The man handed Wally the stone. "You can have this."
"R-really!?"
"Yeah. If you decide you want to evolve one of your Pokémon with it, just have them hold it."
"Thanks... Thank you so much!"
"Heh, you're welcome. Use it well." And with that, the man turned and left, his Gallade following and Wally staring after him. Then he looked down at the bright stone in his hand, and then to Kirlia.
They didn't find out what a Gardevoir was until quite a bit afterward, and while both Wally and Kirlia agreed that it was a beautiful Pokémon, Wally didn't feel the same sense of awe about it.
He still didn't want to force Kirlia into an evolution, though, so he kept the Dawn Stone in his bag and told Kirlia that he could evolve into whatever he wanted. He was so concerned, though, over not forcing Kirlia into an evolution that he failed to recognize anything from Kirlia. Anytime the subject got brought up, he would simply say, once again, that it was Kirlia's choice and he didn't want him to feel like he had to do anything because of him.
And so the stone stayed in the bag, and Kirlia stayed unevolved.
Kirlia knew he would evolve soon. He could feel the energy building up in him like it had before his previous evolution. He couldn't understand why Wally was so unwilling to just let him evolve.
So, he decided to take matters into his own hands.
They had settled down for the night on Route 119, close to the river. They settled down for their usual routine – Wally would release the rest of the team for one last stretch, then recall them and settle in for some sleep. Kirlia would quietly sit and meditate for a while, then recall himself.
Tonight, however, when he rummaged in Wally's bag, it wasn't for his Pokéball.
When he laid eyes on the stone, he immediately felt the energy within him drawn towards the stone. He took the faintly glowing object in his hands, examining it. He remembered the Gardevoir he had seen, and Eru, the Gallade, the only one he had ever laid eyes on. He closed his eyes and pictured the crest, the blade, the tall, slim figure, and he felt the energy within him align.
Wally was woken up by the bright white light that seemed to pay no heed to his eyelids. As he blinked, groaned, and covered his eyes, he found himself wondering what its source was.
He finally opened his eyes as the light faded away with an audible shimmer, and saw a figure standing over him, white body bright in the moonlight as it examined its new body.
"Ki... Kirlia!?"
The Gallade snapped to attention at the sound of his master's voice. He walked over, holding out his hand, which Wally took, standing with wide eyes and a delighted grin on his face.
"You evolved! You're... a Gallade now!" The boy's jubilant laughs filled Gallade's ears as he hugged his partner.
Definitely worth it.
Victory Road.
The final test for would-be Champions, for those who wished to become professional Trainers, and the current location of an anxious boy and his Gallade.
He turned the pendant over in his hand.
Flip. Flip. Flip.
"I'm still not sure how this works."
I'm not sure of the specifics myself. I suppose we will just have to try and see. They regularly communicated by telepathy now.
"I guess so..." responded Wally, uncertainty showing in his voice. They heard footsteps, but unlike just a few months earlier, they no longer hid.
Not that he would have ever hid from the owner of those footsteps, which stopped short as they rounded the corner.
"...Wally!?"
His head snapped up as he heard the voice of the one who had put him on this path. He smiled as he laid his eyes on the girl in orange and green.
"May!"
"What are you doing here? We were worried about you for so long! After you disappeared like that..."
"I'm fine! I've got Gallade with me; he'll protect me."
"Gallade? Who..." May trailed to a stop as Gallade stood up.
"...Is that..."
"Ralts? Yeah! He evolved!"
"I didn't know Ralts could evolve into that. What did you call it, again?" she asked, pulling out her Pokédex.
"Gallade."
Some documenting later, May pocketed her Pokédex away in her bag once more.
"So... Victory Road? I never thought I'd see you here, definitely not this quickly. How long has it been, eight months?"
The words stung a bit, even if he knew they hadn't been meant that way. He looked down to the ground, his hands tightening up.
"I'm a lot stronger now, May. And I mean it this time – I'm not going to be defeated just by some Lombre this time." He winced at the memory of his humiliating defeat at the hands of the black-haired boy. Then he looked back to the girl he respected so much.
"In fact, I'll prove it! You're here, so you've got all of the badges. You're strong."
"So I challenge you to a battle!"
May's eyes widened at the boy's new-found boldness. But she found herself smiling regardless.
"You've got it! Let's go, Swellow!"
"Altaria!"
The battle was a back-and-forth of fierce blows, the type May never would have expected from Wally. Nevertheless, she slowly gained an edge, pulling ahead until it was two of her Pokémon, Banette and Blaziken, to his Gallade.
Wally stood, hands balled up into fists. This couldn't be happening, not after he had been so confident earlier, not when it was May. His eyes squeezed shut and his teeth clenched, he felt his eyes prick, but he shook his head and willed the feeling away. No way. Not in front of her.
"I..."
He wasn't weak.
"I..."
Not anymore.
He was going to win.
Suddenly, a light burst from the stones worn by both him and Gallade. Though his eyes widened ever so briefly, a new sense of determination flooded him. A crystalline shell formed around Gallade and then shattered, dissipating into light. He took in the sight of his empowered partner, the large red blades, the almost pure white body, and the cape flowing behind him.
Wally smiled and met May's gaze.
"I'm not going to lose anymore!"
Hallo! Night here with a piece just in time for ORAS! (No, really, I just finished it today.)
Wally is one of my favorite rivals, and it's always saddened me just how few fics there are about him. Hopefully ORAS will help fix that, but I figured I'd do my part.
This piece doesn't quite follow my headcanons, mostly because it's a bit of an amalgamation of RSE and ORAS.
I wish you all as much success as Wally in your ORAS endeavors!
I HAVEN'T PLAYED ORAS, PLEASE REFRAIN FROM SPOILERS. Not to mention that it's general courtesy.
Reviews, suggestions (for this story or otherwise), favs, and follows (if you're so wonderfully insane!) are always appreciated!
-End Message, Nighttyger