Wallace was in no rush to challenge the Elite Four and the Champion and as such he wasn't in a hurry to challenge Juan just yet. Instead he took the time to train with Juan once again, this time focusing on contests. He returned to Lilycove in due time and took the crown in both the hyper and master ranks. Soon his name began to spread throughout the region and he knew he was doing well when Steven sent him a message saying he'd seen him on the TV. He smiled at the message and realised that they hadn't spoken for a long time… Once he'd returned to Sootopolis he hadn't forgotten about Steven, but he definitely thought about him less. It wasn't that he didn't care, but it was so different now that he was surrounded by everyone again. It made him realise how lonely his journey had been.

Steven hadn't called him in all this time either, but he'd never been that talkative. Still, he selected Steven's number in the PokéNav. It rang…and continued to…until a voice asked him to leave a message. Wallace didn't know what to say. He really just wanted to catch up after so long. Instead he just replied to the message, hoping that Steven would reply whenever he was available (he didn't want to assume that he was in a cave, but he was probably right).

At least he often got to see Winona. Seeing as she was only a city away she often came to support him in contests.

"So what's next?" she asked after he won the last master rank.

"The Hoenn Grand Festival." He smiled at the prospect. That would be his dream come true.

"Wow. Do you think you can win?"

Wallace shrugged. "Maybe. If not I'll just have to train harder and come back next year. How is your training going?"

"It's good. I'm going to leave Fortree and start my journey soon."

"Wonderful. So, I guess I won't see you for a while?"

"Well I'll stick around for the Grand Festival, but don't worry, I'll stay in touch."

Wallace smiled. Maybe he would finally challenge Juan after the festival, regardless of the outcome.

A fortnight wasn't long to prepare, but Wallace entered anyway. Experience was good and he was more than qualified to enter. Winona sat with him as he watched the other competitors in the categories he wasn't entering.

"They're incredible," he whispered.

"You'll be fine," she reassured him.

"No, these people are amazing. I…I don't…Winona, look at them!"

She patted his shoulder. "I know, but you have to remember that you're amazing too."

He shook his head. "I try to act like I am, but honestly there is no way…what was I thinking?"

"I want you to go out there and act then. Be the child prodigy or whatever."

"I don't think someone my age has ever won."

"Then be the first!"

"The youngest person was Juan when he was nineteen. That's still a gap of -"

Winona cleared her throat loudly. "And who trained you, Wallace?"

"Juan."

"In which case you must be as good as he was when he won."

"No, but -"

She pressed a finger to his lips. "You've got this."

Her pep talk gave him a little more confidence, but he really wasn't ready to go face to face with these people. They weren't just Hoenn locals in a contest that ran weekly, these competitors had waited a whole year for this. They'd trained specifically for this and some had travelled from other regions just to display their talents. He was intimidated by each and every one of them.

The whole thing could have gone a lot worse than it did. He could have come last, but he managed to trump the only other teenager in the beauty category. Juan was waiting for him back in Sootopolis, full of encouraging words and all of the things Wallace needed to hear.

"You've done incredibly well, but it is a fierce competition. Return in a few years, trust me."

Juan's advice was sound, but nothing stopped Wallace from returning the next year. During the intermission between the festivals he trained hard and took on Juan for the final badge.

"I won't go easy on you," Juan warned him.

"And neither will I."

Water versus water was a tough fight for them both. Wallace managed to land a critical hit and take the upper hand. In the end he took the win with one Pokémon left, Juan applauding from the other side of the gym.

"It's been a while since I've had such a thrilling battle. Thank you, and congratulations." Juan held out the Rain badge.

Beating Juan was what gave him the confidence to pursue the Hoenn Grand Festival again. Just one more try and then he would leave it alone for a good few years. Once more he met Winona there. She had come a long way on her journey with only Sootopolis left to visit.

"I figured I could make the trip with you and you can watch me take my final badge."

He thought that was a great plan, hoping that they would both take home a prize. Wallace's year of specific training had helped a lot and he took to the stage like he was meant to be there. A few people who remembered him from the previous festival commented on how his stage presence was better and would get him further. Yet he still lacked the years of competition that the others had. It didn't bother him when he came somewhere in the middle of the ranking, it was to be expected. However, he made a promise to all of his Pokémon that the next time they came they would go home champions.

Wallace watched as Winona took her final badge. He had no doubt that she would win. His battle with Juan could have been a lot easier if he had agreed to face Juan's 8th badge team, but he had requested Juan face him with his usual team.

Winona returned to Fortree to start her on her path to taking over as gym leader.

"Don't you want to come to Ever Grande?" Wallace asked.

She laughed. "You think I'm ready for that? After you spent like two years putting it off I think I will too."

"That's not fair. I wasn't putting it off; I was busy with other things."

"Yeah, well, it's not like I need to face the Elite Four to be a gym leader, so I don't really want to. Not now anyway."

They parted ways and Wallace surfed across the sea to Victory Road. The thought that he might see Steven in there made him excited, but then he remembered how long it had been; Steven had probably moved on long ago.

The types of Pokémon he came across did his team a lot of good. He spent some time training before he finally took on the Elite Four for the first time.

The first run was going so well until he encountered Glacia. It was like facing Juan all over again, but this time with ice types. After facing two others Wallace's Pokémon were already tired and so his battle against Glacia ended quicker than anticipated. It sure was a tough challenge to beat 5 top trainers in a row, but he wasn't deterred.

He returned to training, refining his tactics for facing similar types. Even when he thought he had mastered that he still trained harder, knowing that he'd have two more challenges after Glacia.

Wallace walked through the doors several weeks later, this time carrying a stock of potions and revives. Originally he had wanted to beat all 5 without any help, but he realised it wasn't fair on him or his Pokémon.

Glacia was pleased to see him back and took defeat gracefully, wishing him luck. When he walked into the next room he wasn't surprised to find Drake waiting for him. The guy was a Hoenn legend, a master of dragon Pokémon, and as a celebrity everyone was warned when he took up the post as member of the Elite Four. Wallace was prepared with Walrein at his side, but even a type advantage was not enough to easily take Drake down. He really was one with his Pokémon and Wallace was so pleased to have been able to face him.

"Good luck, kid," he said as he unlocked the door for Wallace to progress.

On the stairs Wallace took time to prepare his Pokémon for the final battle. This was it…his whole journey had lead up to this moment. Once he beat the Champion he would enter the Hall of Fame and that would be it. It was like the closing of a chapter.

He pressed the button on the wall and the doors opened. This room was different to all the others he'd been in so far; it was bright and the raised arena was octagonal rather than rectangular. Wallace was so busy taking in the room that he almost didn't notice the man who had just entered through the door at the other end. The black suit stood out against the light walls. He looked at the Champion and then –

"Steven?!"

Steven lips curved. "Wallace." He stepped down to the arena. "It's been a while."

"I did try and call, but you never picked up," Wallace said, a little hurt in his voice. "So, this is where you've been."

"Yeah, I figured you'd drop by soon enough." Steven took a pokéball from his belt.

"It's been years…" He wondered how they ever became friends in the first place.

"I suppose it has been." Skamory popped out of the ball. "I'm looking forward to facing you. If you fight anything like you perform in a contest then I'm in for a tough battle."

Steven was getting straight down to business when all Wallace wanted to do was talk. Was he okay? As much as Wallace was annoyed that Steven had pretty much ignored him he was still worried that something had happened. After all, the last time they lost contact for a long period of time Steven's mother died. What if something else had happened and that's why he wasn't talking?

"Well, are you still up for taking home the title?" Steven asked. "Or do you not want to fight me?"

Wallace threw a pokéball. He wasn't giving up now and he couldn't allow the fact that he was facing Steven to put him off.

He concentrated on the battle at hand, barely looking at his opponent. He paid attention to the Pokémon in front of him, assessing their types and reacting accordingly. Steel really was a difficult type to fight, but Whiscash served him well. Although he was trying not to think about Steven, he felt that his emotions towards him helped him in the battle.

Wallace saved Milotic for the last leg of the battle, when Steven was down to only Metagross. It was the face off they'd both dreamed of, but while they had both envisioned it ending with Metagross winning, in reality it ended with Milotic standing tall at the end, Metagross unable to support itself any longer.

Wallace looked at Milotic and they both understood what this meant. He walked up to Milotic and threw his arms around the Pokémon.

"You did great."

From the other side of the room Steven clapped. "Well then, I have to welcome you, Wallace, to the Hall of Fame." He walked back to the door he came from and opened it.

Wallace kissed Milotic's nose before returning him to his ball and following Steven through to the place only the best trainers ever got to see. Before he had taken all of it in Steven was asking him for his pokéballs. As he watched them register on the screen it finally started to set in that he had won.

"So, do you want to be Champion?" Steven asked.

"What?" He had never really considered the options that opened up to him if he won.

"You know, stick around here, be the Champ, face people now and then."

"Not really," Wallace admitted. Sure, he wanted to win, but sticking around? He had things he wanted to do after this. "Do you not like doing this?"

Steven shook his head. "I love it here. Victory Road's right outside and I don't often get challengers that make it past Drake. But, seeing as you beat me I have to ask. I guess I should congratulate you; you're the first person I've been able to ask."

"Really? In all this time?"

"I don't know what you think 'all this time is.' I know you must have heard about me going to Sootopolis, but I didn't beat the previous Champion that soon after. I spent a very long time in Victory Road. Do you know how big that place is? There are three levels of cave to explore!" Steven looked more than happy to be talking about caves. He probably didn't get the opportunity very often. "And then I took some of my findings to Dad and did some more business work with him. So after all that I've only been here for a few months."

"Right. And yet earlier you suggested that you'd been waiting for me."

"I have. You know it's not hard for my father to keep track of PokéNavs and for me to listen out for you as you did for me. I beat the old Champion and said that I'd take over from her when the time was right."

Wallace stared at Steven. "I don't understand you at all. Why didn't you just ask me yourself? If you knew where I was, how difficult was it to just pop over and see me?"

Steven looked at his feet, fists clenched. Silence filled the room, but Wallace waited for an answer.

"…I don't have a good reason," Steven admitted. "I wish I could tell you that something physically stopped me from contacting you, but it's not true. Wallace…I really value our friendship, but I realised that I was letting it slip away not long after we met in Rustboro. I said we'd stay in contact, but again I let myself get lost in my own world, hidden away in caves alone. The longer I left it the harder it became. Then I saw you on the TV and…well, I was… Okay, it sounds a bit ridiculous, but I was intimidated by you. I thought about all of these new people you were meeting and how I was probably just that childhood friend you'd outgrown. I honestly believed that." He sighed. "So I decided to wait for you here, hoping that if I was Champion then I would feel as if we were on the same level and that I wasn't just some kid who spent all his time in caves living off the wealth of his parents. But then you waltz in here acting as if nothing's changed, as if it hasn't been years since we've seen each other."

Wallace placed a hand on Steven's shoulder. "I really appreciate you sharing that. However, I think you'll find that you're the intimidating one. You always seem to be so calm and cool about things that it occurred to me that maybe you had outgrown me."

Steven gave a short laugh. "Hardly. I always try to appear like that, but in the end I'm just pushing everyone away with that façade. Honestly, Wallace, you're pretty much my only real friend and I even managed to push you away. I'm sorry."

"Don't worry, we'll try this again, but this time you've got to promise to pick up the phone when I call. And if you're in a cave at the time, then I want you to promise to call me back when you get out, okay?"

"Okay."

Wallace smiled. "And don't forget, I know where you live now – and I expect you to tell me if you give up being Champion."

Steven nodded and stood there awkwardly, unsure of what to do now.

"Chin up; everything's going to be fine." Wallace closed the distance between them and hugged Steven, noticing how much they'd grown since they'd last seen each other.

Steven tensed up at first, but slowly relaxed into the embrace, patting Wallace on the back lightly. "I can't believe you're taller than me."

"Finally," Wallace said as he released Steven.

"That only makes you more intimidating. Please don't grow any more."

Wallace laughed. "Only if you keep your promise."

OooO

Wallace returned to Sootopolis, but as decided he didn't pursue the Grand Festival for the third year running. He still participated in the odd contest to keep his Pokémon in practise, but he now spent his days in Sootopolis gym. Like Winona he was on his way to becoming the gym's leader. Juan had offered him the position and currently he couldn't think of anything he'd rather do.

"Oh, so you accept the leader offer, but not the champion offer?" Steven asked over lunch at a small café in Sootopolis. "Surely being a leader is more work?"

"I guess… Being a leader suits me better. Juan will still be around to cover when I'm not there and I get to stay in Sootopolis. No offence to Ever Grande, but the place is a little too quiet for my taste. Besides, I'd have put you out of a job."

"True. I guess I'd have ended up back in Rustboro – not that it's a problem, but I am enjoying the freedom that comes with the position."

"I suppose it does allow you to get around. Thank you for coming today." This was only the second meeting they'd had since their league battle. Wallace had a mental tally of how often he met with Steven and Winona. They were both even at the moment, so he guessed that was a good sign.

Although Steven hadn't met Winona, he hoped they'd all sit down together one day. After all, it was Winona who phoned him to mention tough challengers and when they passed through Sootopolis he would ring Steven and pass the message along. Occasionally Steven would return the call saying someone had beaten him and Wallace would let Winona know whether she had betted correctly.

Being a gym leader wasn't as taxing as Wallace had imagined. When Juan had first started to train him he was astounded that Juan had the time, but now he realised why. It was easy for him to perform all of his duties and train for contests. It wasn't long before the Grand Festival was on his mind again. He went to the festival every year, but only as a spectator, and every time he watched he was reminded of why he was waiting before he re-entered.

Several years of watching and waiting passed before Wallace finally took to the festival's stage again. This time all of his family and friends came out to watch, which honestly put him under a lot more pressure, but with all the confidence he had gained from his time as a gym leader he was sure that this time he could go home with a title. Of course he wanted to win, but he would settle for top three.

"I said we'd go home champions this time," Wallace said to his Pokémon. "So let's give it our all and show everyone that we deserve to be champions of contests as well as the league."

His team really had grown over the years. As he performed he remembered the first time in Sootopolis gym and he tailored his performance to take inspiration from it. With Walrein on his team he was able to create beautiful ice formations, built from the water patterns created by his other Pokémon. Milotic's twister was a particularly favourite move of his. Yet the part he favoured the most was when he used rain dance followed by aurora beam to create the effect of a rainbow after a stormy day. Gyarados's thunderbolt during rain dance was the cherry on top.

All of his hard work paid off when he stepped up to take home the trophy. He stood holding the ribbons before the crowd; the cheering was loud as he looked up to see his closest supporters. He could see Winona with her hands in the air as she cheered. Next to her Juan stood clapping with a smile on his face. Wallace brought a hand to his lips before extending it in their direction. He could never have done this without them.

As soon as they were together again he had Winona jumping on him yelling "you did it! You did it!"

He laughed as Juan pried her off him. She really was stoked about him finally winning after all the years she'd spent supporting him through various contests.

"So what's next?" she asked. "Are you leaving us to do the other regional festivals? Or – oh yes – Wallace, you need to do the World Grand Festival!"

"I guess those are all things I could do. I think I'll take a break first."

Juan waited until later to mention becoming a full time coordinator.

"So, are you thinking about travelling the world and becoming a full time coordinator like Winona suggested?"

Wallace shook his head. "Not at all. It would be a great experience, but I'm not ready to go out there and try. I like it too much here."

"I see. Well, know that I'm willing to watch over the gym if you ever decide to take a few years out."

"Thank you. In the mean time I think I'll wait for the World Festival to come round."

Juan raised his eyebrows. "Really? I'd like to see you win that."

"Yes, and I'd like to see you compete."

"Haha, I doubt I'd do very well being so out of practice."

"You have two years to train before it gets here."

Juan smirked. "Well then, maybe I will put in some time and meet you there."

"I look forward to it."