Chapter 3: Helpin' Wally
"How much further?" Christina tugged on Angelina's skirt. The morning sun shone through the trees and onto the dirt path they followed to the next city.
"Not too far from here." Angelina said, clicking buttons on her Poke-Nav. A traveling gift from her Aunt Vicky; similar to the old Poke-Gear with functions to tell time, maps of current locations, and also a built in video phone.
"Ooohaaa…." A groan sounded in their ears.
"Are you that hungry? Stop whinning!" Angelina snapped.
"But it wasn't—"
"Oohaa…." It echoed again.
"It's coming from over there." Drew pointed to the bushes beside them.
"Hey, is anyone out there?" The underbrush spoke and the group jumped a little. "Can you help me?"
Jeremy walked up and pushed the bushes back. Sprawled on the ground was a young boy, about Drew's age, holding his ankle shakily. His green hair was a lighter color than Drew's and was a little wild, and his white shirt had a rip mark on the side. Right beside him was what looked like a large butterfly net.
"Oh man—are you okay?" Jeremy gasped and went to help him up.
"I bruised my ankle and can't walk. You don't think you can help me up, do you?"
"Sure," Jeremy took one hand and Drew took the other. With a gentle, but mighty heave, they pulled the boy up and put his arms over their shoulders.
"What were you doing out here?" Angelina asked, picking up the net from the ground.
"I was trying to catch some wild Pokemon when I fell out of that tree. I guess I'm not very good at this." The boy answered.
"With a net?" Christina blinked.
They started walking on the trail again, a little bit slower because of their injured passenger.
Angelina tried to balance Cocoa in one arm and examine the net at the same time. There were some words scratched into the side that were fairly legible. "…. your name is.…Wally Landry?"
"Yeah, how'd you know?" the boy looked back at Angelina.
"It's on your net. Are you a Pokemon trainer?"
"No, but I wanna' be one." Wally replied.
"Well you can't do too much on that leg right now, so we'll just take you to Petalburg City." Angelina told him. "You are from there, right?"
"Yeah, I live in Petalburg City." Wally told her. "What about you?"
"Oh, I'm from Pallet Town," Angelina replied. "So is my little sister Christina; but Jeremy and his brother Drew are not, though," she introduced the gang.
"Pallet Town? I think I've heard that before, " Wally examined Angelina closely, "Yeah, I remember now; you're the new Champion of the Kanto Region's Elite Four!"
"But how did you know that?" Angelina blinked, a little impressed.
"Every region's Elite battles are broadcasted live around the world, so anyone who watched knows all about you." Wally said.
In the distance, the small yet lush city of Petalburg came into view. The group shuffled out of the trees and onto the cool cement sidewalk.
"Wow, it's so nice here." Angelina said to herself as they marveled at the beautiful houses and buildings.
"Can we go shopping, Lina?" Christina asked hopefully.
"No, you can't do that kind of shopping." Jeremy snapped before Angelina got in a word. "I think we should stock up first, okay?"
"Yeah, I heard you." Angelina sighed, annoyed. Her eyes darted away from the various merchandise in the windows of the PokeMarts. There were so many products that could help Pokemon Trainers.
"Don't you ever give your mouth a break?"
"I heard that!" Jeremy shot at Drew.
Wally couldn't hold it in and started to chuckle a bit. "You four must have been friends for a long time. You fight like you're almost a family." He gave a warm smile to hide the wince he made from stepping on his injured foot.
"Where do you live, Wally?" Drew asked, his shoulder cramping from Wally's weight.
"Just keep walking down this street until you see the Petalburg City Gym." Wally replied. "I live close by."
The Petalburg City Gym resembled a Japanese-like dojo; the sun gleamed off the highly polished wood and the front door. It made Angelina excited as they crossed the street to it. She was anxious to storm through the doors and request her first gym battle—but had to control the impulse to get Wally home.
"My house is right there." Wally nodded his head towards the green house next to the gym. The smell of tulips drifted from the front yard and flowerpots decorating the windowsill. A wooden welcome heart was tacked on the front door.
"Wally, when you said that you lived closed to the gym, I didn't think you meant right next to it." Jeremy said skeptically.
"Yeah, well, if you wanna' point out every little detail. Just knock on the door and my dad should come." Wally told him.
Angelina brushed up to the front door and rapped on it rapidly. There were a couple of silent seconds before the door vibrated with a sudden rattle and swung open.
"Yes?" said a man, who's voice was as hearty as his stomach. His hair was just like Wally's; wild and green. His yellow shirt and blue shorts reflected the sun so brightly that Angelina thought it should've been illegal to wear them in the summer. "Wally? What happened to your leg?" He gasped.
"I just fell and hurt it, Dad, but these Pokemon trainers helped me here."
"C'mon, let's get him in, shall we?" Mr. Landry helped Drew and Jeremy carry Wally and they all walked inside the house.
Unlike the outfit Wally's dad wore, the living room invited a rushing fury of the blue ocean. Angelina sat on the fluffy ocean blue couch that dipped under her weight and gazed at the wall decorated with model ships, some in bottles. The fresh sunlight streamed through the windows onto the ocean-waved carpet. Jeremy, Drew, and Christina took a seat besides Angelina as Wally's father propped his son in a reclining chair.
"I made sandwiches for the lot of you." A thin, yet very pretty woman with long green hair stepped out of the other room. In her hands was a large silver platter that was over-piled to the top with triangle cut sandwiches. "Sorry they're just sandwiches; you came on short notice so I had to find something quick." She apologized, setting the platter on the coffee table with a warm smile.
"No need to apologize, Mrs. Landry; we appreciate your hospitality!" Angelina replied, watching her little sister and Pikachu dig into the sandwiches.
"You have a lot of ships in your house, Mr. Landry. It looks like the ocean." Jeremy observed the decorative ships.
"Yes, my family and I traveled to Slateport City last year and I kinda got carried away with the souvenirs." Mr. Landry replied to him. "Anyway, I'd like to thank you for helping my son, Wally. You see, Marion and I worry about Wally because he's.… well.…"
"I'm afraid I'm not as strong as most kids." Wally answered for his father. "I really want to become a Pokemon Trainer, but I'm just a little weak. But if I were to catch a Pokemon of my very own, I could be just as good as anyone." He stood up on his feet and winced a little.
"Wally—" "Maybe you should sit down." His parents started, but he shook his head.
"I wanna' go out and try again. I'm going to go back and catch a Pokemon."
"You're not going anywhere on that leg, young man!" His mother said in a final tone of voice, "We keep trying to buy Wally a Pokemon, but he insists that he catches one on his own."
Angelina stood up after she finished off a sandwich. "Do you really want to catch a Pokemon, Wally?" she asked.
"Yeah, I really want to!" Wally clenched his fists with excitement.
"Then while my friends are out and about, I can help you catch a Pokemon," Then Angelina added hastily, "If it's all right with your parents, of course."
"So how about it, Marion?" Mr. Landry turned to his wife.
"Don't worry, Mrs. Landry. I'll protect him like he's my own brother." Angelina assured.
The damp smell in the afternoon air smacked the young trainers in the face as the sun's rays peeped through holes in the clouds. Wally didn't dare walk too fast for the sake of his leg. Angelina was, once again, admiring the stores filled with "over-priced" items she wanted so badly. She barely seemed to notice Cocoa, who was in her arms, playing with the Crystal Bell like a kitten would a ball of yarn.
"Can you really help me catch a Pokemon, Angelina?" Wally asked after a moment of silence.
"Well of course! I'm a master at catching wild Pokemon!" Angelina replied, happily. "Just take these—you're gonna' need 'em." she used her free hand to dig into her backpack and pulled out two small Pokeballs. Wally took them, slipping them into his pocket.
They stepped off from the city and onto Route 102, the path Angelina and her friends had taken to Petalburg City.
"Wally, I'd like you to use my Mudkip to help you catch a wild Pokemon." Angelina said, calling out her Water-type Pokemon. "Is that okay with you, Taura?" she asked, and Mudkip nodded eagerly.
"You're letting me use one of your Pokemon?" Wally asked in disbelief.
"How else are you supposed to catch one?"
"Thanks a bunch, Angelina!" Wally smiled and picked up Mudkip very carefully. He then started to push through the bushes in a frantic search for any wild Pokemon. He didn't care what kind he got, as long as he had one.
Angelina watched him on and off, but occasionally glanced off at the side to find a wild Pokemon for herself. She wondered what kind of Pokemon roamed this part of Hoenn. After a little bit of rummaging through the bushes and shrubs, Angelina and Wally started to grow a little bored.
"Aww, man! I thought that we'd be able to find a whole bunch of wild Pokemon around here." Wally complained, sifting through another bush.
Angelina stared up at the trees airily, letting out a small yawn as Cocoa and Taura sat next to her, just as bored.
Wally continued searching through some more bushes. "There's gotta be a Pokemon for me somewhere..." He thought to himself as he pushed the shrub leaves out of the way. His hand suddenly hit something smooth and he pushed it off to the side.
"Raaaalaaa!" It staggered back onto the ground beside him.
"Oh!" Wally jumped back from the Pokemon he just flung. It's body resembles a nightgown and a green helmet of hair covers its eyes. Sticking out of its head were two flat red thorns. But instead of retreating or attacking, the Pokemon just stood there and stared. Wally stared back at it without blinking.
"It's about time." Angelina pulled out the Pokedex from her pocket.
"Ralts, the Feeling Pokemon. Ralts has the ability to psychically sense the emotions of people by using the horns on its head. This Pokemon rarely appears before people, but when it does, it draws close if it senses that the person has a positive disposition." Angelina's Pokedex spoke.
"You can take it from here, Wally." Angelina pocketed her Pokedex. "Command her to attack."
But instead of using Mudkip, Wally reached into his pocket and pulled out a Pokeball. Even though his action seemed weird, Angelina still looked on with interest.
"I don't think I have to use your Mudkip for this one, Angel. I can't explain it, but it's just a feeling." Wally pressed the button in the middle and the Pokeball became palm-sized.
Ralts didn't even dare to move; Angelina couldn't tell if it was confused or scared. Maybe it was even egging Wally on. Wally and Ralts played a kind of staring game as they remained silent at each other. Now, it was just becoming plain creepy.
"….Go, Pokeball!" Wally hurled the Pokeball through the air and watched it spin to its target; it bounced a little off of Ralts' head before sucking it up in a bright red light. It dropped to the grass, wiggling and bouncing. "C'mon.…" Wally watched it closely. It shook a little bit more before the button in the middle flashed red.
"That's odd; I was always thought that a Pokemon had to be weakened first." Angelina spoke to herself.
Wally walked over and claimed his catch. "Oh, yeah! I caught Ralts!" He held the Pokeball into the air, allowing the sun to gleam off of it.
"Congratulations, Wally," Angelina smiled.
"Thank you so much, Angelina!" Wally said and hugged her.
Angelina laughed, patting the boy on the head. "You're welcome. Let's head back to the house."
Angelina, Jeremy, Drew, and Christina stood with Wally in front of Wally's house. The sinking sun painted the sky a beautiful orange, yellow, and crimson.
"Good luck, Angel. And the next time we meet, we're rivals." Wally held out his hand and Angelina shook it.
"Right, we're rivals."
With that; Angelina and her companions waved as they left down the sidewalk from their newest friend's house behind.
§To Be Continued§
*Wally is the character from the games Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, and its remakes Omega Ruby, and Alpha Sapphire.
*Angelina and her traveling companions meet Wally, injured from falling.
*Wally lives across the street from the Petalburg City Gym.
*Angelina helps Wally catch a Pokemon, letting him borrow her Mudkip.
*Wally captures a Ralts without weakening it first.
*Wally wants to become a Pokemon trainer, Angelina becomes his rival.
Thanks for reading! I'll be back, leave a comment, please!