Author's Note: Thank you guys for deciding to read this story! I am truly grateful! This will be the last chapter having both Steven and Wallace apart. They will meet each other for the first time in the next chapter.

Disclaimer: This story is cross posted to AO3

The air was sizzling.

The explosion brought massive amounts of energy into the arena.

The collision of Thunderbolt and Hydro Pump.

The room smelled of smoke, and the mist raised the temperature up to be almost sweltering.

When the mist cleared, only two Pokémon could be seen.

Manectric and Milotic.

While Manectric was looking tired and barely holding on, Milotic wasn't even breaking a sweat. Milotic's scales shined bright with not a scratch on her.

And before the over trainer could even recover his bearings, Wallace called out "Melody, use Hyper Beam!"

Instantly, Milotic responded.

A beam of energy shot through the air hitting its target straight on.

The Manectric never stood a chance.

*Ring*

The referee raised her flag, and the battle was declared over. The winner was Wallace.

The other trainer fell to his knees; tears were streaming down his face.

Wallace called back his Milotic and said softly, "Thank you my friend."

Wallace walked over to the trainer who was kneeling and put his hand out. The trainer, now sobbing, looked at Wallace's hand and swatted it away.

"You have been the bane of my existence since I started the Gym Challenge. One day I will defeat you!"

He then recalled his Pokémon and fled the building.

During his time in the gym, Wallace had gotten used to these reactions. Trainers that were emotional and high strung after losing were almost always rude, callous, and mean. He didn't take it personally any more.

Even with the threat of being a rival, Wallace just laughed and thought "they can try." Even the repeats that he sees don't usually beat him. The empty threats were just words from trainers who didn't put in the work and who he didn't care about.

Wallace had been working at the Sootopolis City Gym for five years, and the way trainers act towards him had gotten worse each year.

Wallace started working at the gym right after his tenth birthday when children of this age are eligible to start the Gym Challenge. While his family encouraged him to go throughout the region and travel, he just wanted to stay in the city.

The decision to start training at the Sootopolis City Gym was an easy one. He knew that one day, he would be taking over the gym after his Uncle Juan. So, he decided that this would be the best plan of action for his immediate future.

Sootopolis City was occupied by an indigenous group known as the Originates. The ruling family of these people have political control of their ancestral lands, and they also have control of the Sootopolis City Gym.

The Sootopolis City Gym was one of only two Pokémon Gyms in the region that was ruled by an ancestral line; the other being the Lavaridge Gym in Lavadridge Town. Because of this, the Gym Leaders of these Gyms were chosen through a hereditary line.

Because of the nature of who controls the gym, Wallace had to go through a special test in order to become a gym trainer. All Originates who wanted to be gym trainers in the Sootopolis City Gym had to undergo it. It's rigorous, and the test is proctored by the current gym leader, the region's champion, an elite four member, and a representative of the state.

Wallace passed the test and proved that he deserved and earned his spot at the gym.

With each year spent at the gym, Wallace kept becoming stronger and stronger. To say these were some of the most grueling years of his life would be an understatement. When Wallace first started, he had little battling experience. Most trainers that come to work in the gym have already been on their journey around the region and have come back to either train to complete the gym challenge or to stay and make a living.

Even though Wallace passed his test that gave him entrance into the occupation, he still did not have the same level of experience as the others. So, he worked and worked and put his blood, sweat, and tears into his training.

It was hard hearing that he would never amount to anything or that he would never be good enough. Only a few of the other gym trainers knew that he was next in line to be the Gym Leader of the gym. Because of this, the remarks from them were even worse. If you want your spot at the gym, you have to earn it. There are those that get kicked out because they were not progressing or meeting the level required of them.

Eventually, through all his pain and tears, he became so strong that he became the strongest gym trainer in the gym. This led him to being the final obstacle a gym challenger would have to overcome before they could challenge the Gym Leader. He had been the head gym trainer for three years.

His impact on being the head gym trainer was immediate. Less and less trainers were able to battle Leader Juan. The impact was so great that the League commented on it in their yearly reports. They stated that for three straight years, there had been a decrease in trainers eligible for the Ever Grande Conference. The numbers decreased by 22%, 28%, and 33% respectively for each year that Wallace was the head gym trainer. The league did not attribute this to Wallace, but they did state that they attributed the decrease to challengers not being able to obtain the Sootopolis City Gym's badge.

This led to Wallace not only being famous among his fellow gym trainers across the region, but also being famous among all trainers in the region. This garnered him the nicknames "Undefeated Specialist" and "Prince of Sootopolis."

Wallace was indifferent towards the nicknames. In a way being "Prince of Sootopolis" was actually true; so that was kind of funny and ironic to him. While being the "Undefeated Specialist" never made since to him. It wasn't always like this for him. He had to work to get to the level he was at now. And even if was having a winning streak right now, it didn't mean that he wouldn't meet a trainer that could defeat him later on. That particular nickname felt like a bad omen; something wishing him defeat.

With this newfound status also came with newfound enemies and rivals. People that could never beat him the first time could never beat him in subsequent times. Those challengers always said that they would one day defeat him or that he was now their rival. Wallace never took any of them seriously. How could they be considered rivals if they were never competition to him in the first place. The rivalry was one sided.

Wallace made his way to Leader Juan's office. A perk of being the Gym Leader's nephew is that he can go there whenever he wants, even when the leader is not there. Since most people did not know he was the Gym Leader's nephew, they just attributed this perk to him being the head gym trainer.

Normally, gym trainers go to the one of the Pokémon centers located in Sootopolis City after a match. This way, they can keep up with their Pokémon's' health and keep them in good condition. However, Wallace liked to avoid them as often as he can.

With living in Sootopolis City, most people know what Originites look like. Due to this, he and his Pokémon would not be treated as well as someone who wasn't an Originite. Even when he was in different towns and cities that wouldn't be able to identify him based on looks, he still avoided going there.

So after battles, he usually just went to his Uncle Juan's office and used either modern medicine or the traditional medicine of his people to treat his Pokémon.

Leader Juan's office was clean and very immaculate. There were tall ceilings with white furniture and blue trimming. It felt like you were at the beach. There were photos of Juan with his Pokémon and his family. There were also some beautiful abstract paintings that described the depths of the ocean and the height of the mountains.

Wallace only let out his Milotic, Melody, that he used in battle. All of his battles were three on three, but he only needed to use one Pokémon to defeat his opponent this time, and Milotic wasn't even his strongest team mate.

As Wallace started taking care of Milotic's scales, he started thinking about whether or not he would take her on his journey.

He had a plethora of Pokémon that he had raised, breed, and captured over the past five years, but he wanted the chance to capture new Pokémon now that he decided to go on a journey.

Wallace never thought he would ever go on a Pokémon journey. He never had a desire to. He knew that one day he would take over the Sootopolis City Gym; so he wanted to focus on that. Being a gym trainer at the gym was the first and only start that he had wanted.

For most of his time as a trainer, he felt content. He was content at the gym. He was content with his life. However, around 2 years ago, he went to an exhibition contest that his uncle was participating in. He didn't expect much. He never really paid attention to them before, but he wanted to be able to support his uncle in all his endeavors.

Uncle Juan was mostly retired; so Wallace had never really seen him participate in contests before. However, if anyone asked for a lesson, a special training session, a workshop, or an exhibition match, Juan would be there.

At this exhibition match, Wallace saw his uncle in action for the first time. It was incredible. It was stunning. It was magnetic. It was beautiful. It was life changing.

This was the moment that Wallace decided that he wanted to be a coordinator.

For the past two years, Wallace had been receiving extra training from Leader Juan in Pokémon Contests.

In the beginning, Wallace was horrible. He was constantly getting corrected by Juan. Each time they trained, he always left with a long to-do list on what he needed to do to improve. It was also hard for him to balance the different training sessions that he had with his Pokémon. Wallace thought that having the different training sessions would help him to learn the skills needed to be a coordinator quicker since he had a dedicated time to focus on them.

In the end, it only proved to be more time consuming and stressful. It was only in one of his many training sessions with Juan that everything clicked. Uncle Juan said something to him that completely changed the way that he trained. He said that there really isn't that much different between contests and battles; there is even less difference in the way to train. He said that he trains for contests the same way he trains for battles.

Those magic words changed everything. From that day forward, Wallace started consolidating his training sessions. He even saw training differently too. Most people thought that if you focused on being a coordinator that it meant your Pokémon would be weak. This made Wallace really think. Why couldn't Pokémon be powerful and beautiful at the same time? If they are executing a move gracefully, why couldn't it also be powerful?

With this change in thinking, Wallace's growth in both battling and contest grew exponentially. He started getting less and less general critique from Juan and instead received critique more specific. It went from being about everything he did to just the nitty gritty.

Soon, Wallace decided that he wanted to travel around Hoenn to participate in contests so that he could become eligible for Hoenn's Grand Festival. Ever since he saw his uncle participating in a contest for the first time, he became voracious for content.

Wallace constantly looked up Pokémon contests. He watched those that took place in Hoenn and those in other regions. He also started going to see contests in person. He even started to watch old, pre-recorded contests of Juan's and other coordinators of the past. He soon found some of his favorite coordinators that he started to follow on social media.

Because of this desire to participate in Pokémon contests, Wallace decided that he would participate in the Gym Challenge too. Since he would be travelling around Hoenn anyway, he might as well.

There weren't that many trainers that participated in both contests and the Gym Challenge, but Wallace wasn't deterred by that. If anything, that made him want to do them both even more. He was always excited for a good challenge.

After Wallace was finished glossing up his Milotic's scales, his uncle came through the door of his office.

"I see you defeated another gym challenger."

"I did," Wallace smiled, "He was easy to defeat. He was already arrogant about the fact that he had many electric types on his team. However, it wasn't enough to defeat me. He would have been too weak for you."

Leader Juan just laughed.

"You've grown so much," Juan said looking at Wallace with pride, "You have truly become an excellent battler."

"Thank you," Wallace giggled, "Hopefully, when I have my gym match with you, I will be able to defeat you."

Juan just chuckled.

"If you continue to grow like this, you will surely defeat me and hopefully become even more power than I."

Wallace just smiled and looked away from his uncle. Wallace knew there were other trainers that were more powerful that his uncle, but he had never met any in person. To him, his uncle had always been the best and most powerful trainer. It made him feel giddy to know that Uncle Juan thought that he would surpass him one day.

"You've taken very good care of your Pokémon," Juan said while petting Milotic, "Will you be using Pokémon centers on your journey?"

Wallace flinched.

"No," he said resolutely, "I will not be using their services. I have enough knowledge on my own to heal my Pokémon."

Juan just nodded his head.

"After what happened by Lia," Wallace said with a quiet voice, "I do not trust them anymore. Even if no one will know what I am when I go there in other cities. I just cannot bring myself to go there."

Juan just nodded his head.

"Have you thought about which gym you would like to take on first?" asked Juan, changing the subject.

"Yes," said Wallace, "I want to start by challenging the Rustboro City Gym. It is the gym that is the furthest away from home. I would like to end my journey at home and then head to the league."

"Wise choice," smiled Juan, "It looks like I will be your last opponent then. I look forward to our match."

Wallace just smiled. In all the years that Wallace had spent at the gym, he had never been able to defeat Leader Juan in a battle. He hoped that by the end of the journey, he would be able to defeat him.

"Be careful on your journey," Juan said solemnly, "Very few take kindly to those who decide to jointly pursue battles and contests. The road was hard for me when I first started; not much has changed. Even with their being more trainers who pursue contests and the gym challenge than when I started my journey, very few are good at both. I have no doubt that you will be great in both disciplines, but you will still face many hurdles along the way."

There was still much discrimination around those who pursued both contests and gym battles. Whether it was from trainers one would meet along the journey or from contest judges to other gym trainers, there was still a large stigma with pursuing both disciplines.

People thought you were unfocused and lacked commitment if you pursued both. The road was harsher for these types of trainers. Even though Wallace knew this, it didn't deter him. He has lived his entire life facing prejudice and discrimination in his own city. There wouldn't be much difference when he went on the road. The path was difficult, but he was ready. He was going to show everyone that he could pursue and excel in both disciplines.

Wallace recalled his Milotic, and then gave his uncle a hug and a kiss before he started to head home for the day.

Wallace and his family lived in a mansion on a compound in the middle of the city near their people's most sacred site, the Cave of Origin. Even though there were many people that lived in the compound, there were only 10 people (including Wallace) that lived in the mansion permanently; they were his mother, his father, his older brother and his spouse, his older sister and her spouse, Uncle Juan and his spouse, and his niece.

Wallace was very close with his family. He was also close with others in his community; after all, he would one day be their leader.

When Wallace was at home, or with other people of his community, he would speak in Originales, the native tongue of the Originate people. He is also called by his Originite name, Orion, as well.

When Orion arrived home, he went straight to the backyard to let out his Pokémon. Then he went back inside the mansion and headed to the kitchen to get some food.

"Welcome home," said his brother Anterro.

As Wallace was sitting down at the kitchen table beside his sister, Nerissa, and his niece, Petra, Anterro passed him a plate filled with crackers, cheese, and fresh fruits."

"Thank you, brother," said Wallace giving a slight bow, "I did not know you and Nerissa would be here today. I thought both of you were off to do business on the Southern Island."

"We did," said Nerissa feeding Petra, "But we wanted to make sure that we are spending adequate time with you. With you leaving for your journey in a few months, we will see you less."

Orion's heart felt full. Even though his twin siblings were twice his age, they still spent a lot of time with him to develop their sibling bond. He was very grateful for that. The people that he knew that had a large age gape with their siblings sometimes did not have a good relationship with them.

There's a common belief that when siblings have a wide age gap, one of them was a surprise baby. In Orion's case, this was furthest from the truth. A few years after his siblings were born, a prophet told his family that they need to wait much later to have their heir. The prophet stated that Wallace needed to be born under a wandering star.

Years later, Wallace was born under a wandering star and became blessed by Almega (1) Darkrai and Almega Cresselia. From their blessing, he received the ability to see the past, the present, or the future in his dreams. Not all of his dreams were visions, but he would always be able to tell which ones were because they would have one of the Almegans always present.

"Have you had any visions of you on your journey?" asked Anterro.

Orion shook his head, "The dreams that I have had did not seem important. I only see myself laughing or winning battles."

"Well, those seem like good signs to me," said Nerissa, "Isn't that right Petra?"

Wallace chuckled, "I guess you are right. Those do seem like good omens, but I will still prepare for the worst should it come."

"We wouldn't expect anything less," said Anterro smiling, "Just continue to be vigilant. Even though there may be those that don't know who you are, we still want you to be careful. You are our precious baby brother. We do not want anything to happen to you."

Wallace just smiled.

He knew that out of everything, he would miss them the most.

Word Count: 3,362

Uploaded: Saturday, June 12, 2021

Author's Notes:

(1) Almega is a hybrid word of the two words Alpha and Omega. All of the deities in Arceus' pantheon are given the title of Almega. Some ethnic groups have specific titles for their chosen deities

Thank you all for reading this chapter til the end. Please comment what you liked, what you disliked, and what you would like to see!