Chapter Three:
Pit Stop in Rustboro
Wally and his father walked through Petalburg Woods for the good half of an hour, traveling the trail that lead to Rustboro. The dense bushes and tall grass were prevented by going through a separate path that was meant for non-Trainers, and was generally safe from wild Pokémon. Wally was still on the lookout, though, just in case he needed to use Ralts to ward off a wild Pokémon.
"It's nice out here today," Wally's father commented as he shifted the backpack in order for it to be a bit more comfortable on his back. Wally nodded, still watching for Pokémon. His father noticed Wally's strange behavior and asked, "Is everything alright?"
Wally returned to reality once more, and looked up. His father was definitely tall, and Wally had been told that he would eventually be like that too. Wally, of course, preferred to be small and out of the way, but genetics would most likely not listen. "I'm fine," Wally smiled.
"I hope that Verdanturf will help you get better," Wally's father started to jog, leaving the ten year old behind. Wally didn't go any faster, worrying that his asthma would react if he did. "When you get better, maybe you'll be able to run like me!" He added, leaping over a fallen tree branch.
"Huh," Wally mumbled, interested in the fallen tree branch rather than his father's conversation. It seemed as though the trunk had an electrical burn mark, but there hadn't been a storm the night before. There were not any natural Electric type Pokémon in Petalburg Woods, leaving the only other option that he could think of; someone's Electric type Pokémon had to have hit it with an electric attack.
"That tree trunk must be very interesting if you keep on staring at it for as long as you have," Wally's father chuckled before moving on.
Wally finished his observation on the tree trunk, and continued his walk towards the north end of the forest. A couple of Beautifly fluttered past the two, fortunately avoiding the humans in search of sweet nectar. As they approached the end of the forest, Wally noticed two blue and white clad men, but paid them no heed.
They exited the forest, and were immediately visited by a girl with long brown hair. She shook the two's hands and shouted, "Hi, I'm Liz! My mom owns the flower shop over there!" She pointed towards a lone building adorned with many different kinds of plants. Wally was easily able to identify them, since he had spent ample time in the garden with his mother. "So where are you guys headed?"
"Verdanturf," Wally's father answered curtly, beginning to walk again. Wally followed behind, and so did Liz. He stopped and faced Liz, wearing a disturbed face. "Don't you have something else to do?"
"Well, I have my Skitty, but she doesn't want to train…" She mumbled, pulling out a Love Ball. She spun it on the tip of her finger, and pressed her finger on the button in the middle. The Kitten Pokémon popped out, and climbed onto her Trainer's shoulder, begging for food. "You see, I want to do the Hoenn Gym Challenge, but my mom doesn't want me to get hurt…"
"It's fine," Wally's father smiled. "I'm sure that she'll let you go eventually." He turned to the flower shop, and muttered in Wally's ear, "Maybe your mother would enjoy some flowers."
Wally nodded, and the group of three walked into the flower shop. It was mainly white, but there were little green decorations situated in the most convenient of spots. Because of that, it was a bit difficult to squeeze through the different parts of the store as his father gathered the perfect flowers for his mom.
"So how come you're here with some bags?" Liz asked as the two strayed from Wally's father.
"Um… I'm going to go live with my relatives in Verdanturf…" Wally rubbed the back of his head. "I… um… I'm going so then my asthma might get better…"
"Oh, asthma sucks," Liz huffed as she fed a PokéPuff to her Skitty. The Skitty ate it happily, munching on it quickly. "So do you have a Pokémon yet?"
Wally was not sure how to answer that. "Um…" He stalled, attempting to come up with a legitimate answer. He leaned in and whispered in Liz's ear, "I… um… I have a Ralts, but my parents don't know about it."
Liz let out an understanding "Ooh", and patted Wally on the back. "Good luck with that."
Wally's father returned with the purchased flowers and saw the two conversing quietly. He chuckled and said, "It seems like someone's getting along with more people."
Wally and Liz stopped talking and faced his father. There was an awkward silence for the next minute, and Liz easily broke it with an, "Uh, could I get your Pokénav number? So then we can talk whenever?"
Wally handed over his Pokénav, and she recorded his number in her own Pokénav. She handed the device back, and Wally pocketed it before anything could happen to it. He smiled, knowing that he had gained a friend, but it faded quickly when his father commented, "Now you have a girl's number."
Wally blushed bright red, making his skin look more life-like than before. "Father!" He muttered, and said nothing else about the subject.
"It looks like we have to go now," Wally's father smiled. "Feel free to visit us at any time, Liz."
"Okay!" Liz said, giving her Skitty a toy to play with. "And good luck Wally!" She added as the two headed towards Rustboro.
Of all of Wally's least favorite places, Rustboro City had to be at the top five. It stank, it felt a bit too crowded, and the place made him feel like his lungs were going to pass out. His father, however, seemed to like it, hence the reason why he went to go shop there any chance he could get. Granted, it had a nice taste to it, but the style did nothing to ease the pollution.
"Don't worry, Wally," His father smiled as they past the PokéCenter. "We'll be out of here in a jiffy."
"Why didn't we go around the city? Why not go through Slateport and Mauville?" Wally sighed, shifting his bag's weight on his other shoulder. "That way we wouldn't have to go through here…"
"Your mother insisted on going through here," His father retorted.
"Sometimes I wonder if she just wants to go ahead and kill me already…" Wally sighed, hoping that his father would not answer. Luckily, he didn't, and the two headed towards the exit that lead to Route 116.
Wally was watching the townspeople to see what their daily behavior was like. Not surprisingly, it was very different from the people in Petalburg, with businesspeople speed-walking and the regular group of Trainers that stood at the Rustboro Gym.
He then heard someone yell, and he looked towards the northern exit that led to Route 115. A group of suspicious-looking people in aqua blue and white striped shirts and ripped black shorts were harassing a kid with an Eevee. "Hand 'im over!" One of the men shouted.
"No!" The kid refused to give up his Pokémon. "Eevee's mine! If you take him from me, that's stealing!"
"Oh well," A woman teased, snatching the Evolution Pokémon out of his grip. "We don't care about the law."
"Eevee!" The boy cried, pleading for the lady to give his Pokémon back. The little Evolution Pokémon struggled in the woman's grip, but she had her hands clasped on it's scruff. It would not be able to get away.
Wally looked at the scene with absolute horror. His father had not noticed the tragic scene that was unfolding, and Wally was not sure of what to do. An idea then formed in his head, and he dropped the bag that held all of his things for Verdanturf. He started to walk towards the mob when his father asked, "Wally, what are you doing?"
Wally ignored his father, and stood behind one of the members of the group. He tapped his shoulder, and the group turned around. "H-hey," Wally stuttered, nervous about the outcome of the encounter. "G-Give the E-Eevee back to the k-kid."
One of the thieves laughed. "Ha! It's just a kid!" He pulled out a Pokéball and said, "Let's give this nosy kid a lesson!" He tossed out his Pokéball, which revealed a Poochyena with a brilliant bright light.
"I-I don't want to f-fight," Wally held up his hands defensively, trying to talk the man out of attacking him. "I just want t-the Eevee to be r-returned to it's Trainer…"
"Too bad," The man smiled slyly. "Poochyena! Tackle!"
The Poochyena listened to it's master, and did as it was told. It rushed toward Wally, and pushed the ten year old to the ground. Luckily Wally had not sustained any head injuries, but he felt like he was going to be bruised for a while.
"Wally!" His father yelled from afar. "Get back here!"
But Wally did not listen. He stood back up slowly, and opened his bag. "I didn't want to do this, but…" He pulled out a singular Pokéball, which he tossed into the air. His Ralts gleefully popped out, ready to battle.
Wally looked back to his father, whose jaws were wide open. He made no comment about Ralts, but he did not intervene.
The ten year old turned back to the battlefield, where Ralts was awaiting his command. "Okay, Ralts," Wally smiled. "Tell me what you're made of."
Ralts let out a loud Growl, trying to intimidate his opponent. The Poochyena did not seem to take the hint, though, as it went to Tackle the Ralts. The Feeling Pokémon dodged the attack gracefully, countering with Confusion. It, however, did no damage, since Poochyena was a Dark Type.
"It's okay, Ralts!" Wally encouraged. "Try to use something non-Psychic!"
Ralts nodded, and returned back to the battle. Poochyena was about to Bite him, but he was able to dodge it as before. Ralts then started to build up a bright ball of energy, and shot it at the Bite Pokémon. It hit the Poochyena head on, and it was devastatingly weakened by the attack.
"Dazzling Gleam," Wally beamed. This battle was going to end well. "Again, Ralts!"
Ralts performed another Dazzling Gleam attack, and hit the Poochyena again. This time, the Dark Type could not move at all. "NO!" The Bite Pokémon's master yelled in despair. He returned his Pokémon to it's Pokéball and groaned. "Oh, the Boss isn't gonna like this…"
"Come on, let's get out of here," Another member shouted before the group ran off into Route 116. The woman returned the Eevee to the other boy before running off with the rest of the group. And before they disappeared inside the Rusturf Cave, someone shouted, "Team Aqua forever!"
There was a moment of silence before anyone said anything. Wally turned back to the little boy, whose Eevee was cuddling him forcefully. "I'm glad you got your Eevee back," Wally smiled as he returned Ralts to his Pokéball.
"Thank you so much for taking him back!" The boy hugged Wally, almost crushing his ribs with the amount of strength the kid had. "Thank you so much!"
"It wasn't much," Wally mumbled, rubbing the back of his head slightly.
"I've gotta thank you somehow!" The boy started to fish through his bag when Wally stopped him.
"No no, you don't need to give me anything," He said.
"Are you sure? Because I've got a lot of stuff in here…" The boy pulled out a rainbow-colored marble, and held it out to the ten year old. "Come on, just take it! You deserve it!"
After a moment of thinking, Wally finally extended his hand, and the boy dropped the marble into his palms. "Thank you," Wally smiled as he rolled it in his hand for a moment. The marble was surprisingly smooth, even though it looked as though it had been worn with age. It had to have been made thousands of years ago, just by looking at it. "Are you sure?"
"Yes yes! Take it! It'll be good for you!" A woman's voice called out from one of the buildings towards town, and the boy turned around to see them. "Hold on, I'm coming!" He shook Wally's hand one final time. "Good luck on your Pokémon Journey!" He shouted as he ran back home.
Wally waved goodbye, and then turned back to his father. He was still a bit shocked about Ralts, but he seemed less surprised than before. Neither of them could say anything for a moment; anything rushed would have an odd outcome.
Finally his father said, "So how did you… oh, that doesn't really matter right now. You have him now, and we can't make you get rid of him." Wally silently celebrated at that statement. "But let's keep this a secret between you and me."
"Okay," Wally smiled, picking up his bags again. The two started walking through Route 116, and luckily there was not a Pokémon to be seen.
And, as if time had sped up all of a sudden, they stood in front of the Rusturf Tunnel. Wally feared that he wouldn't have an asthma attack in there, with all of the dust and dirt particles that were stirred up by travelers. But he was the first to walk in; Ralts seemed to encourage him to go, even though the Feeling Pokémon was safely kept in his Pokéball.
"The faster I can get through this, the faster I can be in Verdanturf." He thought that the whole way through.
Author Notes
I'm SO sorry about how long this chapter took to get published! I had been kinda caught up in my other story (climaxes are always fun), but I'm back! Lemme run through the reviews!
Meh (Guest): Thanks! I'll have more! Or did you mean that there's more grammar cp?
Soooo I get the idea that there's a whole copy and paste review type thing out there. PLEASE DON'T DO THAT. No one wants to get an email saying the got a review and they actually get that. It's not very thought provoking.
So thanks, PatrioticSwellow, for addressing that issue!
And now, I have nothing to rant about. See you guys next chapter!
