Chapter 3: Let's Be Honest
An awkward silence lingered between the two of them. They were standing in front of the gym, having only moved a bit to the side so as not to be blocking the entrance to the gym. The air around them had an uncomfortable tension, which contributed to Wally's nerves.
There were many reasons that Wally was stressed. He had just had a public asthma attack which left him feeling awful both physically and mentally. It didn't help matters that the attack had only happened in the first place because the new gym leader, Norman, was a jerk who did a poor job of hiding that fact.
Wally dreaded the news of his asthma attack getting back to his parents (he had spotted one of their neighbours across the street, it was already a foregone conclusion). So he had that to look forward to later.
All of that paled in comparison to the pokéball currently in his hands, given to him by the previously mentioned jerk gym leader for the purpose of catching himself a wild pokémon.
Without gym leader Norman there to supervise.
'It's okay, I'm fine, I just have to work with a pokémon that I have no information on. It could be anything... and it will probably think that I stole it!' Thought Wally. He could imagine so many different ways that this could go wrong, and as he did, his mind began to spiral evermore out of control until it was little more than frayed nerves and stress. 'I bet this pokémon's gonna lash out at me! Who just gives gym trained pokémon to random unskilled novices!?'
Wally's runaway train of thought was violently derailed by a series of high-pitched noises that one might mistake for a melody. He quickly turned, and he saw something else that was contributing to his building stress.
The gym leader's son, Ruby.
Ruby looked up from his phone at Wally's quick movement and their eyes met; Wally felt like the other boy was staring into his very soul. Wally felt like he couldn't move, not as long as he was stuck under that red eyed gaze.
Before he could begin to panic properly, the moment passed. Ruby's intense stare moved off of Wally and back onto his phone, which he seemed quite puzzled by.
Wally sighed in relief. He didn't know what to expect from the other guy. All Wally knew about him was that he also found Norman annoying and that he made violent threats when he was angry.
'Then again, wasn't their argument about Norman taking one of Ruby's pokémon away from him?' Thought Wally, shuddering at the idea. He couldn't imagine abusing someone's trust like that. He really hoped he was misunderstanding something about the situation.
"104 or 102?" Asked Ruby, looking up from his phone and focussing on Wally.
"Huh?" Wally blinked owlishly at the subject of his troubled musings. "What?"
Ruby tilted his head to the side, but his expression was left unchanged, and his intense gaze continued to boor into Wally. "Routes. Which route do you wanna look at?"
"Oh," murmured Wally. He took a moment to calm his nerves to little success. He shouldn't let his anxious thoughts rule his actions. Ruby probably wasn't as intimidating as Wally was making him out to be.
"Are you okay?" Asked Ruby. He looked concerned as he once again derailed Wally's train of thought. "You've been staring into space for a bit now."
'I need to stop getting lost in my mind,' thought Wally, doing everything in his power to not grimace at the other boy's show of concern. It gave Wally a twisting feeling.
"Fine! I'm fine!" Wally chuckled nervously. "You asked about routes? Probably 102. I had a bad experience on 104 when I was a kid with a vicious wingull, and I'm worried that it'll remember me."
"I'm not familiar with that pokémon, but given the name I'll assume it's some sort of bird?" Asked Ruby with an almost playful lilt to his voice, which was the most positive emotion that Wally had heard from Ruby in the short time they had known each other.
"Mm-hmm, you've got it." Answered Wally with a nod of his head.
Ruby was actually smiling now, which did a lot to ease Wally's worries. He did think there was something unusual about the smile though. Wally felt like he was missing a crucial social cue, but he reminded himself that it was just as likely that he was reading something into nothing.
'He really is quite cute,' mused Ruby to himself, as he covertly admired the other boy. Or at least, he hoped it was covert. He really didn't want to present himself as some drooling fool. It wouldn't make for a great first impression, especially given that the other boy had seen Ruby's heated discussion with his dad earlier.
If Ruby were being honest with himself, he could acknowledge that his quick affection for the other boy was probably a tad inflated. Ruby knew that he looked for distractions when he was stressed, and what was better than a cute boy to take your mind off your dad's latest manipulation? Maybe an equally cute girl, but Ruby's options were currently limited.
Ruby was fairly sure that Wally wasn't involved in Norman's plans. Norman wouldn't have been so rude to Wally if the boy was involved, never mind the fact Norman hadn't been in Petalburg long enough to con a local into his plans.
Ruby hoped.
'Mother did tell me I should make some friends today,' thought Ruby, while actively trying to ignore that she had been talking about Sapphire, which was all a part of another scheme devised by his dad to get him interested in being a pokémon trainer. Ruby cringed. 'I really don't want to unpack all of that right now.'
"So, this wingull," said Ruby, desperate to get his mind on anything else. "What happened there?"
"Oh, um, it stole my chips." Wally's face went crimson and he suddenly had great difficultly meeting Ruby's eye. "Well, it tried to at least. It swooped down out of the sky, knocked my cone of chips into the sand. Then it landed and just... watched me, as it ate my ruined snack." Wally pouted. "It was a smug bird."
Ruby was speechless for a moment. He hadn't even processed Wally's story, as he was too mesmerised by a flushed and pouty Wally. 'I can't believe I have been blessed in such a way.'
Then the story connected in his mind and he laughed.
"Hey, it's not that funny!" Yelled Wally, which only caused Ruby to laugh harder. Wally's annoyance didn't last, and a moment later Wally was giggling at the situation.
It took a moment for the two of them to calm down, but eventually they both quietened down and Wally's face lost its blush. Ruby would miss it, but it was probably time to focus.
They had things to do.
"So, we should head to route 102, then? Since you're a local, you lead us, right?" Ruby glared down at his phone once again. "I don't really trust my phone's map app, since I've just moved here and all."
Wally cocked his head to the side. The shorter boy's forehead was furrowed, and he stared at Ruby as if in deep thought. Wally's eyes glazed over and it was clear to Ruby that the other boy was lost in thought again.
Most wouldn't consider thirty seconds to be a long time, but most people didn't have cute guys staring through you.
Ruby was starting to get worried, but before he could snap Wally out of it, the daydreamer woke up. Wally gave his head a little shake, before giving Ruby an awkward smile.
"Sorry about that, just thinking," said Wally, "sure, I can lead us. We should hurry!"
Ruby didn't have a chance to respond; Wally was already walking towards forest route that bordered Petalburg.
'I wonder what that was about?' Thought Ruby apprehensively.
There was little Ruby could do beyond follow.
As soon as Wally stepped past route 102's signpost he felt a wave of giddy excitement settle over him. He had only just entered the route and Wally had already seen some pokémon darting around the forest floor. Most of them would quickly scurry off and hide when they noticed Wally watching them, but that didn't tarnish Wally's mood.
'They're skittish, maybe because we're so close to Petalburg?' Mused Wally to himself, as a big grin grew on his face. 'We'll probably find some braver pokémon if we head further in!'
"Out of curiosity, what kind of pokémon do you want?" Asked Ruby, once again bringing Wally out of his thoughts.
At least Wally hadn't jumped this time.
"I'm not sure," Wally hummed as he gave the question some thought. He was a bit distracted keeping an eye out for wild pokémon, so it was taking a while for his mind to make the right connections. After a pause that was a bit too long, he continued. "I think I'd be happy with any pokémon, really. Except grass types."
Wally heard some rustling and his focus instantly shifted. He turned around just in time to see a poochyena disappear into a bush.
"Got something against grass type pokémon?" Ruby asked another question. He sounded amused.
"No, of course not..." began Wally, only to trail off when he turned to look at the other boy.
Ruby was leaning against a tree, casual and relaxed like he'd been there a while. He was looking at Wally with a small smile on his face.
Wally flushed. "Huh?! Are you... have just been watching me this whole time?!"
"What can I say? You seemed so excited!" Said Ruby with a shrug of his shoulder. "Who am I to get in the way of that?"
Wally could feel his blush double in intensity. "Don't tease me!"
He instantly realised that that was the wrong thing to say, and Ruby's playful smirk only confirmed it. Fortunately for Wally, Ruby decided to show him mercy.
"So, grass types?"
"Huh? Oh!" Wally practically leaped at the chance to change the subject. "Some grass types give off pollen, and scents, and other... stuff. It can trigger my asthma, but not every grass type does it. I could meet two different bellossom and one could trigger me, but the other could be okay. I don't have a way to tell the difference beyond exposure to the grass type and waiting for an attack."
"Wow, that sucks," said Ruby, "makes sense, though."
Wally smiled awkwardly and shrugged. "It's just what I have to deal with."
"You know, you've got me curious," said Ruby, looking at the other boy inquisitively. "Now that we're here, you seem really excited about all the pokémon around us."
"I just really like pokémon," answered Wally, though he wasn't really paying attention.
He had just spotted a troop of lotad slowly marching along the forest floor. They were oddly in sync, but Wally found it charming. 'Must be searching for a new pond or lake.' He reasoned to himself. 'It's a shame that they're grass types, though.'
Wally's musings were interrupted by a piercing whistle; the sound caused a full body flinch. Wally looked around in a panic while clutching at his frantic heart, only to find Ruby staring at him with a deadpan expression. It only took a moment for Wally realise what had happened.
He could feel his face heating up again, a sensation that was becoming far too common. He huffed. "Was that really necessary?"
"Not at all, but I thought it was funny," said Ruby with a playful smile. "Anyways, I just wanted to ask why you don't already have a pokémon."
'I'm getting a feeling of déjà vu,' thought Wally bitterly, his face twisting into a scowl.
Whatever expression that Wally was making must have been bad; Ruby gulped and began to frantically wave his hands around as if that could dispel Wally's negative mood.
"I didn't mean it like that!" Yelled Ruby in a panic. Anxiety practically radiated off of him.
"I'm sure," said Wally with a blank face and monotone voice. His mind was both present and wandering. He was focussed on Ruby and what he was saying, but he had also started fixating on the concerns that he had had both earlier that day and for the last seven years. It was not a pleasant headspace. "Then what did you mean?"
Wally noticed that the other boy's hands had began to clench shut and then quickly open again. Ruby did this a couple more times, before his whole body froze and he stood rigidly straight. Wally thought that it looked uncomfortable.
"It's just that you have a lot of passion, is all," said Ruby. Wally blinked at that. He didn't feel like it had really answer his question.
Ruby saw his confusion and kept trying to explain.
"Look, I'm not really a good judge for what's normal, really that's more my dad's department." Ruby chuckled darkly. "But normal people our age don't light up like you do around pokémon. You only see that sort of passion in children and people whose professions involve pokémon. So, to me, you seem like the sort of person that would already be a trainer, or at least have a companion pokémon." Ruby shrugged meekly. "I'm sorry if I overstepped, I was just curious."
Wally tried to focus on keeping his breathing even. He wanted to fill his mind entirely with that task, because the alterative was thinking about Ruby's observations and their implications, which he really didn't want to do. That would not be a productive thing to fixate on.
Wally began searching the forest again with a manic energy. He desperately hoped that he would see a pokémon that would grab his attention and distract him long enough for the sad thoughts to go away, but it was a futile effort.
He failed and he spiralled.
Eight years was a long time to be told 'maybe later' but Wally could be patient. It was about his dream, after all.
He had always been interested in pokémon. When he was a kid it was the first thing anyone ever learnt about him, a reputation that would follow him. For better or worse, basically everyone in Petalburg knew who Wally was.
He used to spend a lot of time hanging around the pokémon centre and gym, just watching people interact with their pokémon. Wally would talk about the things he wanted to do when he could train his own pokémon and people would tease him about the upcoming day when his journey would begin.
It was hard to pinpoint when things changed. Those teasing comments first changed to concerned when it came out that he hadn't left on his journey yet because of his asthma, and then into awkward half-hearted assurances whenever he mentioned that he still wanted to be a trainer.
Eventually, Nurse Joy had gently taken him aside and explained that he couldn't loiter at pokémon centre unless he was using their services as a trainer; the lack of a pokémon registered to him disqualified him.
He was still allowed to watch gym battles, but the gym trainers started to recognise him. Either they pitied him, which Wally was only just starting to acknowledge infuriated him, or they would mock him for lacking the skills and experiences that were so universal, like Norman had.
Wally didn't want to admit that it all led back to parents. He had spent ten years waiting for his own pokémon adventure, and then for the best part of the next eight years he had his parents giving him false hope. Being told 'maybe later' when really they were expecting him to give up on his dream.
All because they had decided that his asthma was too big an obstacle to overcome.
The worst thing about it to Wally was that they expected it to work. His parents thought he was a quitter.
Was that their vision of him?
'I hate it when I fixate like this,' thought Wally, deeply frustrated with his own mind. 'I need to redirect, focus on anything else.'
Wally blinked as something occurred to him. Ever since they had left the gym Ruby had been derailing Wally's train of thought, but this spiral felt like it was going on for a while. He glanced over to Ruby, and found the other boy watching him with concern in his eyes. The concern began to fade away when Wally focussed on him.
Wally just tilted his head to the side, a silent question, without breaking eye contact.
Thankfully for Wally, Ruby was quick on the uptake. "Whatever you were thinking about seemed... like a lot. I thought you'd be angry with me if I interrupted you."
Wally huffed. It figures that only when he actually wanted his thoughts interrupted did he get the space to think.
"Well, alright then. To answer your question, I did want to be a trainer, most kids do," said Wally, with a sad smile. "But the decision has always been out of my hands. I still love pokémon, but it's too late for me to be a trainer."
The silence that followed was incredibly uncomfortable. Wally was beating himself up for oversharing and losing control of his emotions in public, again, and Ruby wasn't even looking at him anymore. Wally couldn't imagine how this situation could be more awkward.
"Hey, who's that pokémon?" Asked Ruby with a hint of desperation in his voice.
'Well, that could do it,' thought Wally, as he gaze snapped to Ruby and he stared at the other boy with a mixture of distain and frank disbelief. He shook his head lightly. "Was that a Marisol reference?"
"Who?" Asked Ruby. He turned to look at Wally befuddled for a moment, before turning to look at something behind Wally. "No, there's a pokémon over there. It just appeared there, I think it might have teleported. And... it's heading towards us?"
Wally quickly span around; the prospect of a new pokémon brightened his mood a bit and he was a still desperate for a distraction.
He wasn't expecting to see a ralts looking up at him, with their head tilted so far back that Wally could see their red eyes from beneath the bowl cut like hair that all ralts seemed to have. 'Their eyes sort of remind me of Ruby's,' was the stray thought that crossed Wally's mind. 'It's kind of neat.'
The ralts beamed up at him, they were practically radiating a cheerful aura.
Whoa, I actually posted another chapter in the same year? A cause for celebration.
To be honest this chapter didn't turn out how I wanted. I spent a lot of time tuning it, but nothing clicked for me. I guess sometimes you just have to power through.
