A/N:
So little warning the start of this one is depressing as fuck, if you don't know much about Wally, to summarize he has something wrong with his lungs. If you don't feel like reading about my take on it then please feel free to skip this one. I have another chapter backlogged, which I will post shortly. For those of you who stick around, it gets better as it goes.
"Speech"
As I walked into my home city's gym, I saw a man with dark hair joking and laughing with a boy that had white hair. The two of them seemed close, and happy, almost carefree, I wished my dad and I could be like that again. Oh, I'm probably getting ahead of myself, my name is Wally Reeds.
I'm a native of Petalburg city in the Hoenn region. I also happen to have severe chronic asthma. Ever since I was five, whenever I got too excited I would start to have extreme asthma attacks that could actually have killed me. So my parents babied and sheltered me, forcing me to take all sorts of treatments and medications in an attempt to fix my condition.
When I turned 14, my asthma got worse, so my parents decided that I would be going to live with my aunt and uncle in Verdanturf Town, where the air was far less polluted. The problem was Verdanturf is in the middle of nowhere and is mostly populated by older folks, meaning there was nearly nothing for me to do there. Thankfully I had convinced my dad to let me get a Pokémon to keep me company before I left for Verdanturf.
One last key detail, my dad is the mayor of Petalburg city. So he was able to ask a favor of the town's new Gym leader without being automatically shut down. That is how I ended walking into Petalburg Gym, asking the Gym leader to help me get a Pokémon.
After watching the man I figured was the Gym leader and the boy for a little while, I spoke up. "Excuse me, is the Gym leader here?"
The man looked up at me and said "Oh, sorry about that, didn't see you there. Yes, I'm the Gym Leader, my Name's Norman." He then gave a brief look at the clock on the wall. "Ah you must be young mister Reeds. Here to get help catching your first Pokémon?" He asked.
My eyes went wide, I figured my dad must not have known that I would be catching my own Pokémon, otherwise he would never have allowed this to happen. Deciding that I would take the chance while I had it, I nodded and said, "Yes sir! Will you be coming with me?"
He turned to the boy and quickly whispered something. The boy looked surprised for a second, then smiled and nodded. "Actually I was thinking my son could take you, he's just started on his own journey, but he certainly knows enough to show you the ropes!"
"Oh ok then," I turned to the boy and said, "my name's Wally, what's yours?" The white haired boy responded, "I'm Brendan, nice to meet you Wally! Are you ready to go?"
"Yeah, I'm really excited, my parents usually never let me do stuff like this!" I chimed. The Gym leader chuckled "Well, I'm going to loan you this Pokémon while you're in the process of catching your own. Good luck, and try to be back soon. From what I hear you're leaving at 5."
"Yes sir, thank you so much!" I exclaimed. As we turned to leave I heard the Gym leader say, "Brendan please take your hat off, it's getting too hot for you to be wearing it all the time."
I heard Brendan grumble for a minute and then finally agree to do so. Much to my embarrassment and surprise, instead of just taking a headband off, he took off what I had thought was his hair. It turned out that he actually had more of an ash brown hair color.
"Alright Wally, let's head for route 102, we should be able to find a good Pokémon for you there!" Brendan said.
We made our way to route 102 and began our search. For about an hour our search proved fruitless, seeing as everything we ran across ran away very quickly. However during that hour, Brendan and I had got to talking. I learned that he was from Unova, and that he wanted to become a professional battler. I told him a little about myself, and a downplayed explanation of why I was leaving for Verdanturf.
"Jeez, that's awful. I understand that your parents want you safe and healthy, but they sound really overprotective." Brendan said with a frown.
"I know," I replied, "I just hope that going to Verdanturf will fix everything…I'm sick of being babied." I moaned.
"Well… how about this? What would you do if you didn't have to worry about your condition?" Brendan asked.
It took me a while to think of what I would do. The thought of what I would do hadn't crossed my mind, mostly because I never thought I would ever be rid of my asthma.
"I don't know, maybe I would travel throughout Hoenn, I always wanted to see more of the region." I eventually explained.
"That's a good goal," Brendan said. "Hoenn's a beautiful region from what I've heard and seen so far. Maybe when you do get better we can travel together?" Brendan suggested.
"Really, why would you want to travel with me?" I asked.
"Well, traveling with friends is better than traveling alone, and you seem pretty cool." Brendan shrugged.
"Really? Thanks! I don't think that I'm really ever going to get better though." I sighed sadly.
"Hey don't think like that, if you do you're only ensuring that you won't get better. If you keep your spirits high and take care of yourself, you're sure to get better in no time."
Brendan then continued. "As a little kid I was really prone to getting ear infections, my parents and I never thought that it would get better. But my grandpa explained that he had the same problem when he was little. He told us to keep our hopes up, and encouraged me to take my meds and vitamins. Eventually my immune system figured out what it needed to do, and I haven't had any problems since I was 7. Just trust you'll get better, take care of yourself, and you're sure to come out on top." He encouraged me.
Hearing this I couldn't help but smile. It had been a long time since I had heard anything but doom and gloom, so the reassurance that I could get better reignited something in me. For the first time in a while I felt really and truly happy. It was right then that we ran across the Pokémon that would become my partner.
Before us appeared a small, white colored Pokémon, with green hair and a pair of pink crests coming out of its head. Brendan pulled out his Pokénav and showed me the Pokédex entry.
"Ralts senses the emotions of people using the horns on its head. This Pokémon rarely appears before people. But when it does, it draws closer if it senses that the person has a positive disposition. Ralts has the ability to sense the emotions of people. If its Trainer is in a cheerful mood, this Pokémon grows cheerful and joyous in the same way. This Ralts is male and has the ability Synchronize."
"I think we've found the Pokémon for you." Brendan grinned. "Do you need any help, battling or catching?" He asked.
"I don't think so… I've read up on how to catch Pokémon, so in theory I'm good." I said nervously. "Alright, Come on out!" I yelled as I sent out the Pokémon Mr. Norman lent me.
From the pokéball came a Zigzagoon which called out as it entered the battle. I could've sworn that I heard Brendan chuckle after it appeared but a quick glance at him showed that he was watching with a neutral expression.
"Ok Zigzagoon, use tackle!" I yelled. "Zig, Zig Zagoon!" It responded, and then rammed into the Ralts. I called out for one more tackle, then Brendan said "That should be enough, throw the pokéball now!"
I wound my arm back, closed my eyes and took a deep breath, then opened my eyes and threw the pokéball. For a moment I was scared that I would miss and the Ralts would run away, but much to my relief, the pokéball struck true. Then came a moment of deafening silence. The pokéball shook once…then twice… and after what felt like an eternity, it shook a third time and then the button glowed green. A chime echoed through the clearing.
I couldn't believe my eyes and ears… I did it! I stood there dumbfounded for a minute, processing the fact that I actually caught a Pokémon. Before I could snap out of it, Brendan cheered and patted me on the shoulder. He then said, "Congratulations Wally, You've officially caught your first Pokémon!"
I grinned and walked over to collect the pokéball, happy that I wouldn't be all alone in Verdanturf now. As we walked back to town Brendan and I exchanged Pokénav numbers, and I began to get to know my new partner.
I returned Mr. Norman's Zigzagoon, and Brendan and I talked until I had to go. When it finally came time for me to leave, Brendan said, "well Wally, I hope to see you on the road!"
"Thanks, and thanks for helping me find my partner!"
"Absolutely! And hey, don't be afraid to message or call if you need someone to talk to, you seem like a nice guy!"
"Thanks, good luck on your journey!" I said. I turned, said goodbye to my parents and got into my uncle's car. Little did I know it, but this day would mark the start of the biggest adventure of my life.
Alrighty. That's it for this chapter, sorry if it was a bummer. In just a little bit here im going to post chapter 8, which covers the journey through petalburg woods. Stay tuned!