One Year later…

"I tried to keep on walking but I could not..

I still remember clearly- that time."

It was raining hard where Wallace was standing, his eyes downcast and the umbrella long since closed. Juan had taken Lisia back inside the hotel, and Mr. Stone had left with the rest of the watchers. That left just Wallace..and a headstone with the name "Steven Stone; Beloved son, Pokemon Master, husband, and friend." engraved.

Since no one was here, it was easy for the gym leader to finally let loose the tears to which he kept hidden. At first it was just one..maybe two. But by the time he realized what he was doing, the tears flooded his tear ducts and spilled onto his face, mixing with the rain.

He never felt so alone...

Aqua eyes opened, the room dimly lit by the morning sun through the closed curtains. An audible sigh, frown on his face. It was another painfully dull day.

Wallace sat up in his bed, the sheets he'd been buried under pooling on his lap and his hair in disarray while his mind went back over the dream- no..memory. "Why did I have to think of that.." he groaned and ran a hand down his face. It'd been a year, he expected the pain to subside..but it didn't.

His breathing hitched when he realized he had been crying again. 'Stop it you fool.' he thought angrily, rubbing his forehead, fighting an incoming headache. It was over..forgetting the rock slide- the argument.. would be best, right..?

"We chose to let go, and so.."

Five years later…

"The scenery that I see every day..

it trapped me in and it blocked the way.

The sunlight was reduced to a

r . . . .. ..- -"

As Wallace slept in his bed, a silver haired man watched him quietly from a chair in the corner. His pale lips drawn in a frown as he watched the man, eyes intent on not moving from the spot. He never used to sleep in this, wasn't he always the one who said something like "For every time you sleep in Steven, the person you talk to will always know more than you." to him once? Yes, he could remember easily. "Wallace what are you doing.." he said quietly, just above a whisper- but oh no..that seemed to wake him up.

Wallace's eyes were wide and he looked around for a moment silently, turning over on his back and putting an arm over his face. "You're hallucinating Wallace." the teal haired man had told himself. "Steven isn't here. Steven isn't here."

Oh if only he knew how wrong he was…

He'd already upset Wallace enough for one day though. He could hear the quiet sobs coming from the bed..he never did like people seeing him cry.

"Pull yourself together- don't feel it." Wallace told himself over and over. The guilt eating away at his carefully built resolve. The first two years had been..easy, if you could call it that. But now that time went on and the guilt built up, the mask he had made was crumbling. Wallace was left to desperately keep it together…his mind going back to that time before all this...

"Wallace I'll be fine." Steven said for what he felt was the umpteenthtime, his friend in frontof him had his arms crossed and a frown on his face. "I can't put my finger on it- but please don't go to the dig site." It was absurd- he's never had a problem before this, and here Wallace was telling him what to do- like everyone else. Did he think Steven didn't have good judgement? "I think I can tell if there's danger for myself, thanks." Now it was Wallace's turn to get irritated. Steven wasn't even listening. "Fine. If you're so keen on going- if you get hurt don't whine to me about it Steven." They had parted ways like that, a petty fight really. Steven had felt bad after he got to the site in Johto- maybe if he called Wallace..they could at least get an understanding. Shouting had pulled him out of his thoughts and he hurried to the problem. Very clearly something heated- he saw one of the workers walking towards another, who had explosives lining the front of a closed off cave entrance. "We need t get into the cave some how!" the worker with the dynamite ignition box in his hands. The heir now was on the move "What's go-" he never got to finish. The man had already moved and then set off the ignition. The dynamite exploded in a loud BOOM that shook the mountain. Other shouts could be heard now, and the diggers running away from Steven..what in the world- he looked over, seeing boulders and dirt and dust crumbling down the mountainside towards him. A rock slide.. everything slowed down,and his brain screamed for him to run, but he stood there like a deer in headlights, unable to move. 'This is what Wallace meant..I'm so sor-" It happened too fast. pain- crushing pain..darkness...he can't breath- -..darkness..the pain is numbing, he just needs to s l e e p… .. . They finally dug until they found the crushed, bloody body of Steven Stone. Wallace fell to his knees once he heard the news over the phone, eyes wide and mouth open. For five seconds, the world stopped.

Ten years later…

Milotic was locked in a fierce battle with a Banette. The hexmanic looked calm and collected, clearly she didn't need to give her pokemon much direction. Wallace liked that, a challenge. "Milotic, shall we finish this then?" He called and snapped his fingers before confidently pointing out. "Hydro Pump my dear." The serpentine pokemon reeled her head back, shooting a jet stream of water towards the tired ghost pokemon. The hit had been direct, and the pokemon screamed in pain. Finally, it fell to the ground, fainted.

"Banette is unable to battle." The referee concluded "Wallace and Milotic win."

"That was a very interesting battle, you handled your moves with a brilliance and beauty, you must be proud of Banette." Wallace complemented, walking over to his pokemon and the challenger. "Thank you." she said simply, returning her pokemon and whispering something into it. As she went to put her pokeball away though,s he paused and looked up suddenly.

"...He said he knew you could do it." Wallace blinked, surprised "Excuse me..?" The girl looked over to him, and then looked away. "He says not to get upset." was all he got from her, she had already started walking away and left a very stunned gym leader behind.

He felt a sudden warmth, and a particular smell entered where he stood. Earth..familiar. A hard bal developed in his thoat as he attempted to choke back the tears. No- no no no..

A whisper was heard- almost as if it was clear as day. "Wallace it's okay…"

Finally he dropped to his knees, hands to his face. "You're imagining it-" but the feeling didn't go away, and when he closed his eyes the voice only got louder. "Don't feel guilty..please. I'm sorry."

Whatever resolve- part of the mask was left after all these years, they finally crumbled and the sobs became louder. Words like "Sorry" were bunched with everything else. He hated it- crying in front of the female trainers that lined the area for the challengers- but he couldn't help it.

"It's okay...okay"

Milotic made a sound and wrapped herself around her trainer. She'd never seen him so sad before..she had to see if he was okay.

"But when we finally faced the truth

it seemed that deep down we already knew.

The person at fault was neither me nor you."

Steven smiled sadly down at Wallace. It hurt to see his friend cry like this, but with every choked sob, the burden on them both lightened until finally the fallen champion could look up, and see the light he wanted to see for so long. He closed his eyes and whispered "Thank you." before disappearing.

Wallace looked up, feeling alone all of a sudden while he tried to wipe the tears away. "...Come back.." he whispered, hardly registering Milotic putting her head close to his chest.

"We were scared of what we might become

And from the past we had run

but now the door has opened once more.

And so then, before the fourth dimension colors fade out

We changed them without a doubt.

And something in me cried aloud."