Chapter 2: When One Bonds With Others
Norman was just as surprised as the other two trainers once Wally released his newly-captured Ralts out into the open. The stunned expression on Norman's face was just as alike as Brendan and May's. Funny, eh? But, really, Wally didn't see what the big idea was. Ah, well. Soon afterwards, he received the much-needed Pokedex and a few Pokeballs to start the journey off right. Now he was ready to face whatever the world had in stored with me. Of course, Wally knew it would be easier said than done but it would be difficult to retain himself.
As the sliding glass doors of the gym opened up and left me out to the bright, shining world, Wally looked up at the sun and began to wonder. How long was this journey going to take me? How long will I be gone? At the current moment, his mind was focused entirely on the exciting journey and where it might take him, but Wally knew that he might eventually become homesick. Smiling to himself, Wally made his way back to his home near the path. Wally took out the key from his pocket and unlocked the door, then came in. Taking off his dirt-caked shoes, he made his way into the backyard where his mother was busy tending to the green plants and the colorful flowers.
"Hey, Mom!" Wally called out, and his mother immediately turned her head. Smiling, Wally's mother wiped her hands across her apron and placed down the watering can.
"Wally! You're back already? Gosh, you sure go by quickly!" She said cheerfully, smiling at Wally all the while.
"Ah, I'm just here to say my goodbyes. I already have my Pokemon and everything else I need, so I should be off." Wally said, sitting down on the bench where his mother soon joined him.
"Oh? Could I please see it? Maybe I could take a picture to treasure the memory…"
Of course, Wally agreed and allowed her to do whatever she wants to the silent Ralts. His mother was just as oblivious as Wally, not at all realizing the worth of such a rare Pokemon as a Shiny Ralts. Wally's mother, after she was done cooing over the Ralts, invited Wally in to have lunch. Wally, as eager as ever, devoured his food and stood up to leave.
"Oh! But couldn't you just stay for one more night? This will be the last time we'll be seeing you, after all…" His mother pleaded.
Wally walked over to where his mother was standing and, once again, wrapped his arms around his mother's thin body. "I promise you, I'll visit every once in a while, okay? I'm sure there'll be a way, but I'll come back. I promise you."
His mother sobbed. "My little boy… He's growing up to be such a kind gentlemen! I hope you have a nice time during your journey, honey. I just want you to have fun, that's all."
Wally smiled down at her and began to leave. At the door, Wally froze and looked back at his mother, who was standing idly near the dining table. "Uh, does Dad know anything about this yet…?"
She smiled kindly at Wally. "No. He assumed you were just out exploring and left to go fishing in the woods. He won't know about you leaving on the quest for a while."
"That's great!" Wally waved as he opened the door. "See ya, Mom!"
"Goodbye, Wally!" Wally's mother yelled as Wally was halfway down the path west. She stood there watching until her boy was far out of sight already. "You… You could've said your goodbyes…"
The father stood leaning behind the wall of the kitchen. "No… He doesn't need my goodbyes. He's a grown kid now, so he doesn't need a few words from his old man." He sighed deeply. "I remember the days I used to poke fun of him for being so skinny and weak… Boy, was I wrong…"
The mother came over and put an arm around his shoulder. "He's a good boy. He could always take care of himself, no matter what. What difference is there now?"
Wally's father smiled. "Yeah. I just wish he could've known how proud I was of him…"
Wally was in the same area where he caught his Ralts again. The view stayed spectacular, as nothing has changed, and Wally continued down the stone path. Down the road, he noticed the two trainers, Brendan and May, walking towards him from a distance away. When they finally encountered each other, Brendan was the first to speak.
"Hey, Wally! Y'know, since we have our Pokemon and all, how about we have a little battle? First time ever for all three of us, eh?"
"Ehh…? Wha…?" Wally hesitated. This truly was the first time Wally had had a battle, and he definitely had no idea how to have one. In other words, he was brain-dead to the whole new experience.
"Don't worry! We're all new at this, so we'll all have some trouble!" May spoke up when she noticed Wally wavering to the offer. "Besides, if we battle, I'm sure we'll gain some experience on how to battle, right?" May glanced between out faces, searching for some sign of answer.
Wally shrugged. "Ah, might as well. I've got nothing to lose."
"…Except your money…" Brendan muttered.
May smacked the back of Brendan's head, resulting in a cry from him, then scolded him, "We're all new at this! This wouldn't be fair for anybody!"
"Jeez, jeez, sorry, okay?" Brendan moaned.
Wally grinned. "Let the battling begin!"
It was Wally's single Ralts against both of the other two trainer's Pokemon. Of course, this was really a free-for-all, but all three trainers were still at a disadvantage. Wally had his blue Ralts out while May had a Shinx and Brendan had a Aron.
"Hah! Try to hurt mine!" Brendan declared loudly for all to hear. May sighed and rubbed her forehead as Wally continued to stare blankly ahead.
"Shinx! Thundershock!" May yelled. The Shinx dashed in front of the frozen Aron and shot out thin sparks of electricity from its mane. The Aron absorbed the shock, barely feeling the attack at all.
"Tackle that sucker, Aron!" Brendan yelled, and the Aron responded by dashing into the Shinx, knocking it over.
Wally stood there on his far corner, staring blankly as the two other Pokemon duke it out on the battlefield. He glanced unsurely at the Ralts that stood like a statue in front of him; it might be sleeping for all Wally knew. "Umm… What can this thing do…?" Wally scratched his head doubtfully.
"You could try to do something, you little twerp!" Brendan called out as his Aron was throw back from an electrifying tackle.
"Oh… Um… Confusion-" Wally had no time to finish his sentence as the immovable Ralts unleashed a wave of devastating mental energy. The purplish wave washed over the entire battlefield, throwing both Aron and Shinx backwards. The Aron was thrown far to the side and smashed into the tree, implanting a deep dent into the solid wood tree. Shinx was thrown overboard as it flew into the middle of the forest of trees somewhere. May and Brendan were dumbstruck as they glanced from wherever their Pokemon had landed to Ralts and then towards Wally's equally surprised face.
"What the Hell was that!?" May screamed, then turned her back on Wally and Brendan and ran into the woods to where her Shinx had landed.
"I knew I should've caught that thing!" Brendan hissed angrily as he tended for his Aron, who lay injured on its back.
Wally blinked and stared at his Ralts, who silently stared back. "You did that…? What the Hell are you…?" The Ralts kept its stone-hard face still as it continued to stare back at its trainer.
The two trainers, May and Brendan, of course, immediately rushed to the Pokemon Center after the fierce encounter with the killer Ralts, and afterwards, they both bid their farewells to Wally and got a head-start on starting their journey. Wally rested at the Pokemon Center, wondering where to take his journey next. The ordinary trainer would always head towards Rustboro City first, so that's where Wally intended to go to.
It was soon nighttime, the woods sparkling with light as the stars flitted through the treetops. The tiny leaves rustled in the cooling breeze, making a comforting sound that could put anybody to sleep. Though the darkness made everything look dark and gloomy, the moon that shone above and let its light fall onto a small brook of sweet, cold water made it all look more beautiful than it seems. The Pokemon were all asleep, except for a few nocturnal Pokemon, whose eyes glowed through the darkness and always seemed to be staring at you all the while.
Wally trudged through the darkness, swinging his arms about to make sure that he doesn't trip or run into anything. The darkness seemed to be gripping Wally as he went deeper and deeper into the woods as his only source of light seemed to be disappearing quickly. Wally was about halfway through the woods, and it was definitely past midnight. Wally yawned deeply and loudly. That was quite a day. He finally decided to set up camp there, near a thin shallow streak that flowed directly through the forest. Within minutes, the tent was up and the pot of food was slowly cooking on the portable stove. Wally yawned again and lay onto his back, relaxing and enjoying the cool night.
"I'm sure Ralts might want to come out…" Wally murmured to himself with his eyes closed. Reaching into his pocket, Wally pulled out the Pokeball and pressed the switch in the middle. A great burst of white light fired out from the open Pokeball and slowly began to form into the familiar figure of Ralts.
"Hey, there, Ralts. You tired of being cooped up in the Pokeball?" Wally asked casually. Perhaps he could somehow get to know this silent creature…somehow… Instead, the Ralts just blankly stared at his trainer as before.
"Can you do something else besides stare at me…?" Wally asked with a smile. When Ralts continued to stare into empty space, Wally reached out with his hand in an attempt to pet the little creature. With one swift movement, the Ralts tilted its head forward and fired a burst of energy, knocking the pot over and flinging Wally back into the nearest tree.
"Gaah!" Wally cried out as the wind was knocked out of his body. The tree shook and fluttering could be heard, but Wally took no notice as his head was spinning from the impact. Something then suddenly fell onto his lap, and Wally opened his eyes to see what it was. In his hands, a large Zubat sat there with its fangs gleaming menacingly in the moonlight, hissing angrily at him. He cried out and threw the Zubat into the air while scrambling back towards his tent. Within seconds, furious screeching shattered through the silence of the woods and the entire sky was clouded with black dots. The cloud of Zubats swooped low and surrounded Wally and Ralts. Ralts fired wave after wave of shockwaves, many of them coming in contact with Wally. However, though many Zubats fell to the ground, many more took their places and continued to dive in for the attack. Wally threw his arms over his head, but the Zubats took this an opportunity to dig their fangs deeply into the flesh of Wally's arms.
We're in trouble, Wally thought, disheartened. If they stayed here any longer, then they'll be one large feast for these swarms of Zubats. They had to get out of there quickly. The cloud of Zubats continued to encircle the two, the sounds of flapping wings and screeches sounded like a chorus of devils reaching up to the world. Wally opened his eyes a slit, fearful of the Zubats swooping low to claw out his eyes, and saw his poor little blue Ralts, its external body glimmering in the starlight. Its body was ruined with scars, blood seeping through the many slashes all over its body. Its breathing was heavy, and tiny purple sparks lit around its large head, signifying that the Ralts was out of energy. Its entire left arm was stripped of most of its flesh, giant craters of red decorating the rest of its scarred, white arm. If Wally didn't get the Hell out of this forest, neither of them will. Wally averted his eyes skyward to see the moon blocked out as a Zubat, with its single mouth wide open with a shriek, shot down towards the Ralts.
"No! Ralts!" Wally screamed over the loud sounds of the forest. Wally dashed forward, his arm pumping at his side and no longer shielding his face. He leaned forward to dodge an incoming flush of Zubats and snatched up a thick tree branch.
"Raaagh!" Wally snarled and swung the branch. He felt the heavy thud as the branch smashed against the Zubat, and it was thrown it back into the forest from where it came from.
"Who wants some more!?" Wally screamed as the Zubat halted its onslaught and merely hovered in place. Continuing their screeched, the Zubats resumed attacking. Wally calmed himself down and looked about in the darkness. As the Zubats came closer, Wally swung the branch with little effort and smacked them back. However, despite the many that Wally knocked out, there were still too many, and the Zubats were just getting angrier and angrier. A loud sonicwave racked the air around Wally, and he threw his hands to his ears, screaming, as the sound seemed to shatter his eardrums. Out from the darkness, giant war-torn Golbats with menacing red eyes flew out, its drastically large fangs glistening in the light. The Zubats retreated behind the leader Golbats as the Golbats fixed their gleaming eyesight on the persistent human and the injured Pokemon that dared oppose the Zubats. Crouching over, they shot up high into the air, then began to dive-bomb Wally and his Ralts from above.
"Ahhhhhh, shit!" Wally screamed. He whirled around and snatched up his Ralts, who cried out in pain from the contact against its wounds. Out of pain and anger, the Ralts pitifully sent waves of psychic energy through Wally's chest. Wally's body trembled and buckled, but Wally took no notice of it as he dashed as quickly as he could through the woods. The trees were invisible from the naked eye, but they came into view as Wally came closer. He made sure to dodge them and continued to glance back to see if the Zubats and Golbats were still in pursuit. They were. It was like being run down by the black plague, that's what it seemed like. The multitude of flying bodies swerved through the trees with ease unlike Wally. They kept coming, never faltering for even a moment. Wally's lungs were close to bursting, his head feverish. But if he stopped now, death would await him. The Ralts stopped attacking Wally and was breathing as slowly as it could. As slowly as it could. If anything, its breathing was growing shallower.
"Damn!" Wally screamed, letting much of his precious breath escape his lungs. The exit out of the forest was glowing within sight. The lights of the city out ahead of Wally could be seen from where Wally was as if they were stars. The sounds of the bustling city grew louder and louder by the second, but Wally's breath was the loudest of all and so was his throbbing head.
"Haaaaaaaaa!" Wally cried out and jumped onto a boulder, launching himself forward and out of the forest. Wally looked back and was dismayed. The Zubats and Golbats were certainly persistent. Out in the open, they screamed as they were sure that victory was theirs. Every single one of those bats flew high up into the air and came diving down…towards Wally and Ralts.
"No!" Wally screamed once he stopped in place, his legs unwilling to move any farther. Suddenly, a loud gunshot blasted through the air, and a small explosion could be seen in the sky. A single Zubat, its bottom-torso blown off, fell to the earth, and the rest of the bats in the night sky scattered and returned to whence they came from. Wally's eyes blurred heavily as he tried to examine who had saved him but immediately dropped onto his back, unconscious.
