Water Stones

"What are you fishing for?"

The aqua haired boy didn't respond, eyes fixed on the spot where his line cut the water's surface.

The older boy respected his determination and took a seat next to him, also watching for any slight movement in the water.

Minutes passed…then a bite! The boy jumped up and reeled his line in as fast as he could.

"Aw, not another magikarp!" He tried to unhook the Pokémon delicately, but the magikarp was flailing around too much and ended up splashing them both as it returned to the lake. The younger boy wasn't deterred and got straight back to hooking his line up with more bait.

"So, what are you trying find?"

"A barboach."

The older boy raised an eyebrow, not that the other noticed with his attention back on the water. "You do know that barboach aren't native to Sootopolis, right?"

The other tried to hide his surprise, but after spending hours out here he couldn't give up yet. "Yeah, but what if a random one just comes along? Like a little holiday? That's why you're here, right?"

"That happening is probably as rare as finding a shiny."

"Shinies aren't real," the younger said. "Only little kids believe that –"

"I've seen one."

"Well then you're a liar, just like the grown-ups."

The older rolled his eyes. "I'll show you. The old man who lives a few houses from me has a shiny tentacool."

"Mum says I can't leave the city on my own."

"When you're old enough come to Mossdeep and I will prove to you that shinies are real."

"Deal."

"I'm Steven, by the way."

"Okay, Steven, I'll come and find you in Mossdeep as soon as I can. My name's Wallace, don't forget."

Steven smiled. "I won't."

"So, where can I get a barboach?"

"They like caves, so the closest place to here is probably Victory Road."

Wallace gave him a look of disbelief. "I can't go there!"

"Get your parent to take you to a cave, like Meteor Falls."

"They'll probably say no. I'll just keep hoping for a barboach. So, do you have any Pokémon?"

Steven's eyes lit up, pleased at the chance to show off his friends. "Here's Beldum and Aron. I haven't had them for long, but they're really cool."

"Wow!" Wallace went to reach forward, but quickly retracted his hand.

"It's fine, they won't bite."

A huge grin was plastered on Wallace's face as he leant forward to pet Aron lightly. "They're so different to water Pokémon. I've heard about steel types, but never been this close. Is Beldum from around here?"

"They're pretty rare from what I've heard. I didn't actually catch this one myself, my dad gave me an egg to hatch."

"Woah, that's amazing."

"I want to get more steel types, but Mossdeep has lots of water Pokémon just like here."

"Really? What other -"

"Wallace!"

The boy spun around and saw his mother waving to him. "Aw, is that the time already?" He began to pick up his fishing gear. "Sorry, Steven, I have to go, but it was nice meeting you. Are you here tomorrow?"

"Last day tomorrow, might see you in the morning though."

Wallace smiled. "Awesome. If I don't, then you better wait for me to come and see that shiny!"

OooO

Almost a year passed before Wallace was allowed to surf to Mossdeep alone. His parents had offered to take him, but he had insisted that this would be good practice for when he went off on his own journey.

It was a beautiful summer's day when he made the journey, which he was thankful for because it took a lot longer than expected. He and Whiscash laid in the shallow waters, having a rest before trying to find Steven's house, but Steven had been waiting for them.

"Saw you from the window," he said as he offered Wallace a hand.

Wallace waved it away. "I think I'll rest here a little longer."

"So, a whiscash, eh? Did that random barboach finally show up?"

"Yep…." Steven's face said he wasn't buying that. "Nope. One of the trainers heading to the gym watched me catch this gyarados and she was disappointed because she had tried to catch one the day before. So I said I would trade for a barboach."

"Very smooth."

Wallace returned Whiscash to his pokéball and brushed the sand from his clothes. "So, this shiny?"

Steven led the way, pointing out different places around Mossdeep along the way. The old man was more than pleased to see them, happy to have some company. Not only did they get to see a purple and green tentacool, the man even gave them some lunch.

"How has the past year been?" Steven asked.

"I had school and then trained Whiscash after. Nothing really interesting," Wallace admitted. "How was yours?"

"Eh, same story. I spent some time in Rustboro with my dad, but it was only a few weekends and he tried to keep me in Devon when he was working."

"What's Devon?"

"Devon Corporation; a company my dad owns."

"Wow, so you're a rich kid? If my dad worked weekends do you think I could be rich too?"

Steven laughed. "Who knows? Maybe your dad could apply to work there. Urgh, why are we talking about jobs? It's summer! Free to do whatever we please."

"Are you coming back to Sootopolis for a holiday?"

"I don't think so, but we can still have day trips like this. I bet I could even ask my mum if you could stay over."

Wallace let out a little squeak. "Really?! That would be so awesome! I'll ask my parents too and you can stay with me as well!"

And so began the best summer of their lives so far. Their friendship blossomed over the hot months they had to themselves. From building sandcastles (Steven won purely because he had land based Pokémon to help) to large scale water fights (Wallace's forte). It was sad when it had to come to an end, but they promised next year would be just as fun.

Though it wouldn't be long before they would see each other again. Steven made his way over to Sootopolis on a cool winter's morning, rushing to find Wallace.

"What's the matter?" Wallace asked when he opened the door to find an out of breath Steven.

Steven held out a pokéball. "I caught it because I didn't know how else to get it here. It's a feebas that washed up on Mossdeep's shore. I don't know how it got there, but it looked hurt. I know you can help it, Wallace."

Wallace took the ball and rushed upstairs to start running a warm bath. "Make sure it doesn't overflow," he told Steven. Then the boy disappeared back downstairs.

"Mum, do we have any potions?"

"In the top draw."

Minutes later Feebas was soaking up the warmth with a potion to make him feel better.

"Will he be okay?" Steven asked.

"Hard to tell. Might need something a bit stronger. Why didn't you just take him to a Pokémon centre?"

"Because I wanted to give him to you. You do know how they evolve, right?"

Wallace nodded. "Beauty is the key."

"Then how better to make your Pokémon beautiful than forming such a strong bond at the start?"

"That was deep. I think you just wanted to hang out with me for a little longer."

"Maybe." Steven said with a shrug. "But I'm not sure Feebas will be around much longer."

Wallace gave the Pokémon a little more potion before checking it over. "Looks like it's been stung. Could be poison. I'll run to the pokémart and get an antidote!"

Steven was left to watch over the fish, worried that it would die under his watch. "Come on, little guy, hold on for my friend."

He concluded that Wallace could run pretty fast because he was back minutes later. The antidote was administered and Feebas perked up and actually started to move around the tub.

"Maybe you should work in a Pokémon centre with those healing skills."

Wallace laughed. "I want to be a star on stage. I don't think I'm cut out for hiding away healing Pokémon."

"Something we don't have in common. I'd be happy to be cooped up in a cave doing my own thing."

"What kind of job is that?"

Steven looked thoughtful. "I guess I'd find rare rocks and sell them to crazy collectors – if I could part with them myself, of course."

OooO

Feebas became a great addition to Wallace's growing team. Just like he had trained Barboach every day with diligence, so did he train Feebas. Recently his training had taken a turn for the better and occasionally passers-by would stop to watch. The Pokémon World Contests had been broadcast on TV not too long ago and since then Wallace had been training his team to fight as elegantly as those he had watched. One day he wanted to be competing alongside them and then taking home the title.

The kids at school had laughed when he said he'd take Feebas to a contest, they said he was 'ugly and worse than magikarp.' None of them had the patience to train a magikarp, so how could he expect them to understand Feebas's hidden gift? However, his teacher was impressed with his progress and offered to help him make poffins. Improvements were seen immediately, but it took a while for him to work out which aspect each Pokémon should excel in.

"Finish with bubble!" Wallace threw his hand up in the air as Feebas concluded today's session.

Someone behind him clapped. "That was quite impressive, young man." Wallace turned to see the city's current gym leader, Juan. "Say, how would you like to do a little performance in the gym as part of next week's festival?"

Wallace was speechless, but quickly responded, trying to impress the man he considered an idol. "Really?! Imeanyes." Maybe too quick. He paused before continuing. "That would be an honour."

Juan smiled. "I look forward to seeing what you bring to the pool."

Wallace waited until Juan was out of earshot before cheering loudly and giving his Pokémon a high-fin.

When the day actually arrived Wallace found that his dream of being a star was a lot more nerve racking than he'd anticipated. Luckily Whiscash, Luvdisc and Feebas seemed to be looking forward to showing off their moves. If they believed he'd trained them well enough, then he'd just have to believe it too – or at least look like he did.

One last check in the mirror, flashing a smile and reminding himself to keep it up while he was out there, and then he walked out to a cheering crowd. All he had to do now was perform as usual, with the added pressure of everyone (including his parents) watching and Juan narrating his every move.

Luvdisc was the show-opener, as always. She used charm to introduce herself, followed by agility, dashing around the pool to create a small whirlpool in the centre. Wallace released Feebas into the centre who used water gun to create the illusion of a small fountain. The audience cheered, ready for great things to come.

Together Luvdisc and Feebas used water gun in short spurts before turning to face each other and creating an overlapping stream into which Wallace released Whiscash. On hitting the water Whiscash used aqua tail which knocked Luvdisc and Feebas away, drawing all eyes to how powerful he was.

Water pulse was up next, both Feebas and Whiscash creating smooth ripples on the water's surface. Wallace could hear Juan praising how synchronised his Pokémon were, but he couldn't let it distract him. Luvdisc came between the two and rose up from the depths in an aqua ring, hovering a few meters above the surface before bursting the ring and returning to the bottom of the pool with the other two.

Feebas resurfaced first, blowing bubbles lightly towards the audience, followed by the others using bubblebeam to fill the gym quicker. Finally, Feebas used light screen to make the bubbles shine. Then Whiscash used round to pop them all in unison, water droplets still glistening in the air.

Wallace bowed while his Pokémon made circles in the water. The crowd applauded, but suddenly faltered and murmured with excitement.

"I can't believe what a treat we have here," Juan said over the microphone.

Wallace looked up to see Feebas glowing with light. He was smiling from ear to ear as he watched Feebas change form, growing into a serpentine shape. The light faded and a beautiful Milotic floated in the water where Feebas had been just seconds ago. Nothing stopped Wallace from diving into the pool right then and swimming over to hug Milotic.

"I knew you could do it," he said.

The crowd roared louder than before and he motioned for Luvdisc and Whiscash to join him in one last bow before leaving the still cheering stadium.

He was drying off when Juan joined him backstage. "That was very impressive. Thank you for delivering a once in a lifetime performance."

Wallace twirled the longer bits of his hair around his fingers shyly. "Thank you for the opportunity."

"Say, why don't you pop down to the gym sometime? I know you train a lot in the lake…"

"What? You mean challenge you? No way, I'm not ready for that."

Juan chuckled. "That's not what I meant, although do feel free to challenge me any time." Wallace sighed in relief. "No, what I was suggesting is that instead of training outside you come and train in here with me."

"Are you offering to mentor me?"

"I guess you could call it that. I'll help you with power training and contest training – if you want, of course."

He couldn't believe he was actually being given this chance. "Of course I want to! I mean, I would never turn down such a generous offer."

Juan smiled. "It's okay to be excited."

The smile Wallace had been trying to hold back took over. "Thank you, Mr. Juan, really."

"Just Juan." He looked at his watch. "I'd love to stay and chat, but the festival must go on. Au-revoir."

Wallace watched in awe as Juan left. Wait 'til he told Steven about this.

OooO

"Wallace, I need you tell you something," Steven said as they sat on Mossdeep's beach, the waves washing over their feet. "I'm going to start my Pokémon journey once summer's over. So, I'm not going to be around here much anymore."

Wallace's face fell. "So how can I contact you?"

The other shrugged. "I guess we'll just have to part ways for a while… I'm sure we'll meet again."

"I'll find you," Wallace said. "Even if it's years from now, I'll catch up and find you."

Steven looked at his friend and saw the same determination he'd seen on the day they first met. "I'll look out for you too."

"Promise?" Wallace held out his little finger.

"Promise." Steven held his out too and shook it.

The day before Steven was to leave, Wallace made his way to Mossdeep as he had done many times, but this time he knew it would probably be the last for a long time.

They spent the day doing all the things they loved and making sure they did everything they'd always said they would do. By the end of the day they were more exhausted than they'd ever been, but neither of them would change it for the world.

"I'm really sad that you're leaving," Wallace said. "I'll really miss you."

"Me too, but it's time for me to leave this place and see others. And then maybe when we meet again you'll be strong enough to have a little battle with me, unless you want to now?" Steven wiggled his eyebrows.

Wallace shook his head. "Let's end on a happy note, not one where I lose."

"Aw, and just when I thought a battle would fire you up to get better and seek me out one day."

"I'll do that anyway, you know. Oh – I almost forgot -" Wallace dug into his bag and took out a pokéball. "I want you to have this."

"Huh? One of your Pokémon?"

"No, I caught this one just for you."

Steven threw the ball and a luvdisc appeared.

"I wanted something for you to remember me by. They say you should give a luvdisc to people you care about."

"Thank you, Wallace… Well, I guess this is goodbye…for now." Steven held out his hand. Wallace took it and shook it briefly before pulling his friend in for a hug.

"Bye, Steven."

The ocean was calm as Wallace surfed away, waving to Steven who stood on the shore until they could no longer see each other.