Chapter 5
Cities, Palaces and Processions

Luckily for May, Wallace's predictions were right. He set her up in a small room in one of the many hotels on land. She was afraid to ask what this place was called, for fear of looking like, well, a fish out of water, so she was determined to learn everything she could about her new abode as subtly as possible.

As soon as she was settled in, Wallace declared that he would be back in the morning to check up on her and promptly left. She assumed he didn't want people to get the wrong impression and wasn't offended by his sudden flight. She took the time to get accustomed to her dry accommodations and felt very odd sleeping in a bed with so many stifling layers.

When she woke up in the morning, she changed into the fresh set of clothes that had been waiting for her when she'd arrived the previous night. She made sure to wear her bandana as a reminder of her home, but was oddly surprised at how much she liked the human clothes. She actually felt like a human. Now all I need to do is act like one.

Just like he had said, Wallace appeared shortly after she was dressed and ready. "Did you sleep well?" he asked.

"As well as I could," she responded with a smile. I don't think I'll ever like human beds. How can they stand the heat and so many layers? "How about you?"

"I didn't get much sleep last night, to be honest," He put a hand behind his head and looked down at the ground. "I was up worrying." He shook his head suddenly and looked up at her. "But I'm just being dramatic. Do you have any plans for today? I was wondering if you wanted to go for a tour of Mossdeep City, seeing as you're not from around here."

Is it really that obvious? May thought. "Well, you're right about that. I'm actually from…" Think, May, think! What's a name that'll make you look like you live around here but something that won't give you away? Weren't those kids outside the hotel talking about some place named Fallarbor Town? That sounds like a good name! "…uh, Fallarbor Town."

Wallace smiled a bit. "Well, you must have gotten pretty tired of all that volcanic ash, right?"

What's a volcano? They sound like fun. "Yeah, I got tired of being so limited back at home, so I decided to spread my fins here."

Jeez, now you've done it!

Contrary to May's fear, the man started laughing. "That's a saying I've never heard of before. So what do you say? Ready for the most thrilling tour of your life?"

"That would be awesome!" May said a little too enthusiastically. "I mean, I've never seen a city this big before, so it'd be great to have someone show me around." Before they departed, May packed a few things in her bag, including the beautiful pin and headed out.

The morning sun almost blinded her as she stepped outside. She was still unaccustomed to its intensity on land and hoped that she'd become used to it soon. Wallace showed her the staples of the city, including the Pokémon Centre, where he claimed nurses (whoever they were) would heal your Pokémon for free (which seemed a bit too farfetched for her. So many people could abuse the system!), and the Pokémon Mart, where she could buy supplies for her journey (if she was on one) and medicines for her Pokémon. The tour was nice, but it became even better when they began to walk along the shoreline.

Without even noticing it, Wallace had taken her to the place where he'd found her. It was a surreal experience, to say the least, as May was now on land rather than frolicking in the sea. She wanted to jump back in and dive down to her home, but she knew that was basically impossible. A documentary on the television in her room (which was another strange device that showed people's faces through glass) told her that one man had dived to the bottom of the ocean and had to hold his breath for as long as he could. Soon, his lungs became the size of oranges. She didn't know what an orange was, but she assumed it wasn't very big.

While Wallace took a break to let his milotic swim in the water, May slipped off her shoes and reveled in the feeling of the cool water on her feet. It wasn't anything like being fully submerged, but it was just homey enough to make her feel better about being so far away.

"You know, Mossdeep isn't the only city out here," Wallace said. May raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "Over there," Here, he pointed to a far off rocky-island in the distance. "is Sootopolis City. That's where I'm from."

She whistled, impressed. "Wow, you live in a cave?"

"It's more like a hollowed out shell, if you ask me. See, there's this huge hole at the top of the cave that allows the sun to come through. Sure, there are a lot of rocks around and below us, but it's cozy, once you get used to it." He suddenly struck a very random pose and added, "I'm also the Sootopolis City Gym Leader."

What's a Gym Leader? May asked herself. Is it like the mentors we have underwater, like Dad? I guess they have more space to train and grow then we do. But the way he acted when he said that makes me think that's something important. Maybe I should act accordingly. "Really?" she said with a hint of surprise.

He nodded. "I mean, I don't expect you to know much about me, considering you haven't taken the League Challenge—am I right?"

"Um, yeah," she responded sheepishly, making a mental note to learn more about it later.

"Don't feel too bad about it. Everyone and their poochyena are taking the challenge right now, so it makes you look unique to have chosen not to. And besides, there are so many things worth exploring in Hoenn. It's kind of overwhelming at times."

"What do you think I should be doing then?" May asked.

"I would tell you to enter some contests. They're basically performances where Trainers and Pokémon display their power in an elegant talent show. They have a contest Hall in Fallarbor, don't they?" Wallace laughed and added, "My niece is also one of Hoenn's rising stars in the contest district, so I am a little biased."

"Whoa, you have a niece?!" May said in shock. "But you're so—"

"Young? Attractive? Devilishly handsome?" Wallace interjected. "I know, I get that a lot. But my sister's a few years older than me and happened to find her soul mate."

"That's great to hear," May said with a smile. "You look like a doting uncle."

"I am. I mean, sometimes I'm afraid I'm being pushy when I visit Lisia after shows, but she's always so happy to see me and it makes me happy too."

The two fell into a comfortable silence as they watched milotic swim in the sea. May began looking around and noticed that there was something glimmering on the hillside behind her. "Wallace, what's that up there?" she said as she pointed to it.

He chuckled a bit and answered, "That's where the prince lives."

May's mouth dropped. "He lives in that?"

"I know, hard to believe," said Wallace. "But that's where he is. Well, where he's supposed to be."

"What do you mean?"

He shook his head sadly and said, "Lately, he's been in a bit of a rut. What I mean to say, is that he's off trying to find himself. His father recently passed away and he's not ready to take over the throne yet."

"Oh," May said, lowering her head. "I'm sorry, I didn't know."

"Not a lot of people do. Steven's tried to keep it all hush hush so people don't think he's being reckless by running away. In my opinion, he is being reckless, but I know that's what he needs to do."

"How would you know that?" she asked, confused.

"Because the prince is my best friend."

May's mouth dropped faster than the bass at a nightclub. "You're kidding me!"

"No, I assure you that I could pass a polygraph test right now." Wallace looked out over the sea and sighed. "We grew up together when we were kids. Went to the same Trainer's School, had the same friends. Even our parents liked each other. But as we grew older, our mutual friends began to drift away. Thankfully, we stuck together. He decided to pursue his passions, and I mine, but we never let our friendship get pushed to the side. That is until…"

The now-human mermaid blinked, anticipating more to the story. "Until what?"

Wallace suddenly returned his milotic and began walking back towards the city. "Follow me."

May hastily picked up her shoes and followed the man as he returned to the heart of the city. It was now midday, and the sun was harsher than she could've expected. People bustled around, running errands, visiting friends or playing with their Pokémon. She wondered what he could want to show her.

As the two walked closer to the palace, May noticed a stream of people approaching the castle. Forming an orderly line, they all wore matching red outfits with a black 'M' on the front. To her, they seemed too stifling to be worn in the Hoenn heat. At the front of the procession was a spectacled man with flaming red hair. The stern expression on his face sent shivers up and down her spine. He led with confidence and the way he carried himself implied that he was an important person.

"Who's that?" May asked as she pointed to the man.

"He's what I wanted to show you," Wallace said sternly. His tone of voice took May by surprise. "That's Maxie, Prince Steven's advisor. He's in charge of making sure that things run smoothly while Steven's out finding himself. He's a very serious guy and always wants things to be structured. Like right now-he does this every day. He goes for a tour of the city, just like we did, though he goes everywhere, ensuring nothing's out of line. I could say that Maxie's kind of taken the whole 'watch over the region while I'm gone' thing a bit too far."

May raised an eyebrow. "So you don't like him?"

Wallace shrugged. "Well, it's not that I don't like him per se, I don't like his way of thinking. What I'm trying to say is that I think he should slow down a bit. He's a great person for organizing and maintaining, and Steven wouldn't be where he is power-wise if it weren't for him, but some part of me thinks he's enjoying the prince's absence a bit too much." He sighed. "I wanted to show you who he was because if you're gonna stick around here for a bit, you'll have to watch out for him. He doesn't like change—at least change he isn't planning on making. Don't tell this to your friends or anything, but I think he's the reason Steven's been gone for so long. Usually, he'd be out of his little rut by now and back to his normal schedule. But I think Maxie has something to do with it and I don't like it."

She nodded. "It sucks that you're so suspicious of him. Especially since Steven's your best friend and all."

Wallace sighed and flipped his hair. "I didn't mean to throw all this on you on your second day of being here. It's just that…since he's left, there haven't been many people I can talk with. Sure, Lisia's around, but she's always practicing for her next show and I don't want to burden her with all this. But you seem like a trustworthy person, and I'm sure no one in Fallarbor Town will care about what happens in the big city."

"That's sad to hear, Wallace...but I'm glad you're being honest with me," May cleared her throat. "I don't think I'd be as happy as I am now if you hadn't shown up and saved me from…whatever that thing back in the sea was," She watched as Maxie ascended the stairs to the palace and promptly disappeared after the doors shut loudly behind him. Hoping to lighten the mood a bit, May perked up and said, "What else can you tell me about the prince? He seems like an interesting guy."

Wallace's face lit up. "I could go on and on about Steven. Besides the fact that he's my best friend, he's an excellent businessman. He gets it from his dad, you know? He's always crunching numbers and figuring out ways to better the region. He's a bit reserved, but that comes from being in the business world. Can't let them break you down out there. Did I mention he's obsessed with rocks?"

May's face was skeptical. "Rocks? Really?"

"Well, he'd take offense to that if he ever caught me calling them rocks, but that's what they are. No, he's actually interested in stones. They could be anything, evolutionary ones, shiny ones, heck; he'd even like a stone that didn't do anything!"

The more Wallace talked about the prince, the more May wanted to know about him. "What made him so passionate about stones?"

"Story time," Wallace started to make ridiculous arm gestures as he continued, "He told me once that he saw a woman swimming in the ocean late one night as he was looking for—you guessed it—rare stones. He saw that she had the most beautiful stone he'd ever seen in her hands. He claims that it was glowing in her hands and that he could see the waters around her calm down. Personally, I don't believe that for a minute, but as soon as he got up to ask about it, she was gone. He's been on the hunt for her—and the stone—ever since."

May chuckled a bit. "If I didn't know any better, I'd think he was using the stone as an excuse to see the girl again."

The man smiled and said, "That's actually what I thought too. But Steven's a unique guy. He doesn't get caught up in politics or the stupid games they play when you're in his position. And he's honestly not that interested in settling down, at least not at this point. I think he will be when he's finally uncovered every stone in the world. Then he'll want to lay back and stare at them all day long."

"I'd love to meet him one day," May said with a smile.

"I can't guarantee a private audience with the pampered heir, but I can try my best." Wallace winked. "Well, that is when he gets back."

"Of course," May replied. "I've probably taken up too much of our time, especially since you're a gym leader and all."

"Yes, I'll have to send you the bill for my services,"

May blinked.

"I'm just kidding!" Wallace laughed. "Now, since you know everything there is to know about Mossdeep, why don't you explore for yourself? There's a science center near the palace and more than enough Trainers to satisfy your battling appetite."

"You just said the magic words," she smiled as she fingered her mudkip's pokeball.

I think it's time I introduced myself to this new world!

A/N: A lot of background info in this chapter, but more excitement is on its way!