Chapter 9: Wally
A big thanks to Cheshire Cat Queen of Hearts, shadowmwape, Chaos D ragnarock, Kirino Tsuki, and Verra2 for following, favoriting, and/or reviewing this fanfic.
Disclaimer: Okie-dokie, I've gotta say this. Bear with me people, it's a formality at this point. I don't own the rights to Pokémon.
As it turned out, Sapphire was even safer than she had thought. The fall had not broken any bones, but she had sprained something in one of her legs, most likely her ankle. When she had awoken the morning after her tumble it was red and swollen. Not wishing to make the injury worse, Sapphire had wrapped it up as best she could, and Shade had created ice packs for her to use.
With their trainer out of commission, the Pokemon had plenty of time to train. Shadow, though still a bit uncertain as to whether or not he should trust the human that had caught him, nonetheless ended up scouting Route 102, watching out for pursuers. The Poochyena was the natural choice, as he was the only Pokemon of the four that did not stick out in the area. He could have been any one of the many wild Poochyena that inhabited the path through the wooded area between Oldale Town and Petalburg City. It was Shadow that watched May and Brendan traverse the well traveled path, unknowingly passing the very girl they sought to pursue, and it was Shadow that brought news he had learned from the wild packs that roamed the region home to his own pack every night.
The Pokemon also trained with each other, perfecting their attacks. Sapphire too kept busy, thinking of strategies to implement with her friends. But still the days dragged by. By the third day Sapphire was able to move her ankle with little to no pain, by the fourth she was upright, and on the sixth when their supplies were about to run out she limped into Petalburg, collapsing in a room she had rented at the Pokemon Center after handing her Pokemon over to Nurse Joy to be taken care of.
The kind lady had come by to check on her later, and had rewrapped her ankle so that it was better stabilized, while at the same time nagging the teenager about walking into town on the injured foot. Nonetheless she had informed Sapphire - who had given her name as Alpha - that she should be able to walk on it in a few days.
Those few days - by now Sapphire was getting rather antsy being this close to where her father had his gym - dragged by. The runaway remained in her room, only ducking out for meals at odd hours when she knew her father would not be up and about. The girl knew his disciplined schedule like the back of her hand, and thus made sure to leave the safety of her room only when he was busy training. Norman was a man of many habits, and one of them was to train in solitude with only his Pokemon for two hours in the morning, two hours in the afternoon, and two hours in the evening. Sapphire ran her errands then. She bought more supplies using her money, though she was careful to only buy the bare minimum and not make frivolous purchases. Though she had saved up a lot of her money in the months leading up to the move to the Hoenn region, the girl did not wish to run out when she needed it the most. The only thing she splurged on were a pair of wristbands to store her Pokeballs on, and even that was a somewhat necessary item. It would not do to have her Pokemon in her bag if she ran into a problem and needed them by her side in an instant.
Walking was still painful for the girl, but Sapphire did not want to stick around in Petalburg City any longer than she had to. That night she was planning on slipping out of the city and cutting through Petalburg Forest. From there she would go to Rustboro City, hike over a mountain range, and get to Verdanturf Town. After that it was just a short trip to Mauville City, and then a hop a skip and a jump on down to Slateport. She'd be home soon.
The girl had gone for a walk during one of her father's evening training sessions when someone bumped into her. She stumbled slightly, a bit annoyed at what had happened.
"Oh, I'm sorry." The culprit turned out to be a small, frail boy dressed in warm clothing, warmer than what could possibly be comfortable for the climate. He had a shock of green hair that matched his sad looking green eyes, and a raspy cough shook his thin body. Despite the fact that he had bumped into her, Sapphire couldn't feel mad at him.
"It's alright." She replied in a somewhat gruff tone. "Mind telling me where you're going that has you in such a hurry...um…?"
"I'm Wally." The boy still had an apologetic look on his face. "I was going to go see if Mr. Norman would give me a Pokemon. You see, I'm moving away soon to a town that I've never been to before, and I'm kind of scared. I was hoping that having a Pokemon might help."
"Sorry to disappoint you, Wally, but the gym leader's busy training." Wally's shoulders slumped at the news. "But I'll tell you what. I'm not busy at the moment, so I'll help you catch a Pokemon."
"Really?" Sapphire nodded as she led the boy to Route 102, handing him a few empty Pokeballs. Pausing, the girl let out a piercing whistle. Moments later the trees began to rustle, and Shade dropped down out of the branches. Sapphire had let the Pokemon go for a walk, knowing that being cooped up in his Pokeball all day was maddening for the dark weasel. Once they got out of the general area of Petalburg there would not be a need to conceal the Sneasel as much, but this close to the city there was a rather substantial risk that Norman would recognize the Pokemon he had caught for his daughter.
"This little fella's a Pokemon called Sneasel." Sapphire explained to the awestruck Wally. "His name's Shade. Shade was my first partner, but you can borrow him for now. Okay?"
"O-okay." Wally smiled at Shade, who shrugged and clambered up onto Sapphire's shoulder. The Pokemon trusted his trainer, and knew that if she was comfortable around Wally, then he was obviously trustworthy.
Sapphire gave the boy a quick lesson on Sneasel's attacks and demonstrated a small scuffle between the Dark type and Beldum, before it was time to begin. The teen knew that she was taking a risk staying out past her father's normal training times, but she had promised Wally to help him and did not wish to let the child down. The group hunted for Pokemon for a while, the girl growing steadily anxious as the time flew by, until finally a pair of Ralts burst out of the underbrush. Apparently they had startled the Psychic and Fairy types, for they let out a pair of Growls.
"Alright then." Sapphire said as she called out Shadow. "Why don't you battle the one on the left, Wally?"
"Um, right!" Shade hopped down in front of the boy and gave a glance back at his temporary trainer. "Shade use, um, use Scratch!"
"Sneasel!" Shade darted forward to rake its claws across the Ralt's back. The little Pokemon let out a soft cry and used another Growl.
"Again!" Shade obeyed, effortlessly landing another hit. Wally felt a grin crawling onto his face. His very first Pokemon battle! The adrenaline coursing through his veins, the thrill of seeing two Pokemon give it their all as they collided in a battle of wills. It was exciting. Perhaps his new friend would enjoy battling as well.
"Be carefully, Wally." Sapphire's voice broke him out of his thoughts. "These Ralts aren't that powerful yet, and you don't want to faint them. I'd use your Pokeball soon."
So saying this she lobbed one of the spheres at the Ralts her Poochyena had been battling, the flare of white light surrounding the Pokemon and drawing it into the ball. It wiggled a few times as it rolled around on the ground before clicking softly, the Pokemon inside giving up the fight.
"Go Pokeball!" Wally called out as he mirrored the girl's earlier actions. Ralts let out a soft cry as it too met with the same fate as its friend, being trapped in the Pokeball. The Pokemon struggled valiantly, almost breaking free, but had been worn out too much from the battle. The ball remained sealed, and soon the capture was completed.
"I..I did it!" Wally cheered happily as he picked up the Pokeball. "I caught a Pokemon!"
"That's great, kid." Despite the late hour, the girl couldn't help but feel happy for the boy. "Come on, it's probably past nine at this point. I would imagine your parents would be worried about you. We should head back."
Finished! So, what do you think? Leave any comments, constructive criticisms, and compliments in a review for me! Flames shall be eradicated by Kyogre's ability Drizzle!
