skibalovesya
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*sneaks into view* Hiya, I'm Skiba, and I could've sworn I was registered on this forum but I guess not. I moseyed over here after posting a fic on FF.net, only to find that it got buried almost instantly and has yet to garner a single hit. This makes Skiba a sad panda.
It's an Originshipping fic, and a plethora of author's notes will preclude the start the of the fic; if you wish to skip them, be my guest, but they're here to explain some... creative changes I made to the plot of Ruby and Sapphire. X3
The full title of this story is: Five Times That Wallace Gave Steven a Pokémon, and the One Time Steven Gave Him One Back.
(Most of this is CP'd from my FF.net post. My username over there is Mewgar 2.)
This idea came to me while I was slaving away at Pokémon HeartGold (current 'dex level: 413 or so) and I checked Luvdisc's entry. For some reason, it gave me a wildly Originshippy idea involving Wallace giving Steven a Luvdisc. It eventually evolved into a potential "Five Things" fic, which is funny because I'm really not a fan of the whole Five Things... thing.
It only comes out to like, four times, though, because there were two Pokémon in one. I'm also not titling each section so there won't be any spoilers. ;3
Warning for ridiculous, and I mean ridiculous amounts of fluff, WAFF, sap, diabeetus, and cheese/corn. I have never written this pairing before, though I've always wanted to, and I've only read like two fics involving it. Needs moar Origin, if you ask me. (There's also a lot of alliteration, I'm a sucker for repeated consonant sounds. :3)
I also kind of reinterpret the events of Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald, making it look like Ruby and Sapphire happened simultaneously and that Emerald happens later. Also, I'm aware that Wallace isn't really allowed in the Cave of Origin but... plot device!
I don't know how old or how tall Wallace and Steven are, but I'd think that Wallace is taller given Sugimori's artwork. (I also chose to use their English names because, to be honest, I like them better. XD;;
As always, enjoy!
~ ~ ~
It was a Luvdisc.
Or, at least, that was what Wallace said it was as he held out the deep green Net Ball, other hand fisted at his side, giving a determined stare to Steven's right shoulder. Though the other boy was a year older, ten-year-old Steven Stone had at least three inches on him, and was currently looking down at the ball mere centimeters from his chest, in the hand of a boy still dripping with water.
Unable to think of anything more intelligent to say, Steven settled for a simple, "What?"
"It's a Luvdisc," Wallace repeated, steeling himself up with a deep breath and finally managing to make eye contact, a faint pink blush sneaking across his nose.
Steven eyed the Net Ball again and cocked his head, reaching down to take it. The moment the still-slick metal-and-plastic contraption left Wallace's hand, he snapped his arm to his side to mirror the other and continued, only the briefest hint of a stutter in his words.
"Juan told me that you're, um, supposed to give them to someone you like." One of Wallace's characteristic alice blue bangs, damp and steel-colored from the ocean, slithered down his neck, the boy instantly yet fluidly reaching up to brush it aside. "I figure, I like you well enough, so... I went and caught you one."
"I..." Steven began, tilting the ball in his hand before holding it to his chest. A couple of thoughts came to the forefront of his mind, two of which dueled mercilessly and a third that sneaked in somehow. He didn't want to hurt his friend by telling him he really only liked steel-types, but his father's gentle-yet-firm voice was saying, gratitude, Steven, there's nothing more important than saying you're thankful. Even if it wasn't something you really wanted that badly. (The third thought was a vague sense of admiration for the eleven-year-old's eloquence that made his heart beat faster inexplicably.)
After a moment, he smiled. "Thank you, Wallace, this's... really great. And, I, uh, I like you, too."
The boy's cyan eyes went wide a moment before he surged forward and gave Steven a quick hug, quite thoroughly soaking the front of Steven's polo. "Oh, you're welcome, I'll see you tomorrow!" Bouncing a few steps back, Wallace grinned and nearly skipped off up the stone steps toward his home by the lake in the center of Sootopolis.
Steven wouldn't find out until almost ten years later, but Wallace had gotten in trouble with Juan for taking one of his diving Pokémon without permission.
~ ~ ~
Truth be told, Steven originally wasn't that interested in battling. He certainly wasn't as business- or technology-oriented as his father, but he just didn't see the appeal in pitting the Pokémon against one another. It wasn't so much that he thought it was cruel, more that he preferred their company as companions and friends instead of fighting partners (and, well, he'd also prefer they didn't get hurt, too).
The one thing he did have an intense zest for, even at the age of eleven, was a still-growing love for rare stones. The steel-type, his favorite, reminded him of the materials he so loved to collect, the main reason he was so fond of them in the first place.
When he finally did get his license, borrowing his father's Skarmory to take the trip to Littleroot and see Professor Birch, he found Wallace standing by the entrance to the lab, petting the feathers of a positively gargantuan Pelipper. Upon his landing, Wallace looked up and greeted him with an energetic wave. By that point, Wallace seemed to have hit a growth spurt and towered an impossible five inches over the once-taller Steven.
Returning the Skarmory to her Ultra Ball, Steven rushed over to the gate and gave his friend a short hug. "Hey, haven't seen you in a while," he commented, clapping the older boy on the shoulder and grinning like a moron despite himself. Wallace laughed and gave the younger a big-brother-esque hair ruffle, drawing him in close. "You're a disgrace, you know that?" he quipped with a light-hearted nudge.
"Hey-hey-hey!" Steven groaned, dislodging himself from Wallace's grasp, still chuckling a little. "You're only twelve, you're not even a whole year older than me, so you can't make fun of me for being a kid!"
"Go get your license," Wallace replied, leaning back on the Pelipper's side and looking pointedly away, a half-smirk still present on his features. Steven righted his hair, a mock pout on his face, and stuck out his tongue at the older boy before starting up the path.
"Oh, and Steven?" The younger turned back to look. "Tell Birch you have a Pokémon in mind."
When Steven later emerged victorious, license card in pocket, Wallace pushed a Great Ball into his hands, gave him a wink, and flew off on the Pelipper. Confused, Steven started to call after him, but he'd already breezed over the trees and was out of sight. The great ball in his hand wriggled then, popping open to free a small Beldum from its confines. It hovered in midair in front of him, one red eye blinking curiously, then shook from itself a small note printed on wave-patterned mail.
Steven,
Enjoy the Beldum. I think it's more your fancy
than the Luvdisc, huh? Level it up and come
to Sootopolis for a battle!
~ Wallace ~
Blinking back at the Beldum, Steven pocketed the note and sighed. "Guess I don't have much of a choice now, huh?"
The Beldum chirruped, and from its claws dropped a round, sparkling blue stone into Steven's hand.
~ ~ ~
Granite Cave on Dewford Island was one of Steven's favorite spots, and rightly so. Its walls were rich in minerals, and occasionally rare, exotic rocks that fit snugly in the gaps in his collection. It was helpful now that he'd obtained a few badges, thanks to his newly evolved Metang and the Skarmory that his father bred for him from his own prized bird. (He'd even pulled a few strings to let Steven use the Hidden Machine 02 before obtaining the Feather Badge, on the condition he only used it to fly between Slateport and Dewford.)
Wallace sometimes joined him, and this was one of the days he did; the same day he turned seventeen, he'd gone up to Shoal Cave and caught a Spheal. The aforementioned critter was currently rolling in circles below Steven's Metang, who was doing a splendid job balancing the two buckets Steven used to sort the rocks he uncovered on each of its arms.
"They're getting to be good friends," Steven commented, tapping the wall in front of him with the flat end of his miniature pickaxe. Much of the wall had easily chipped away to nearly free an impressive lode he'd like to take a look at once he'd detached it from the wall. Beside him, Wallace nodded, swiping his forehead with a gloved hand and looking back at the spherical seal with a smile. "I'm glad for that."
With another couple of gentle taps, the piece of rock came free, Metang floating over for Steven to drop it into the left bucket. Sitting back on his heels, he admired the shimmering wall, enveloped in the glowing light from Metang's body.
The moment of peace was short-lived, however, when a foreboding rumbling started up beneath Steven's knees. Before he could react, Metang had tossed the buckets and whizzed behind him, thrusting its arms under his shoulders to whisk him away from the wall. "Walla--!" he managed, just as a splitting crack tore open in the wall and sent it crumbling down, eclipsing the other in the rubble.
Tremors still followed as Metang held him back, tears stinging in his eyes as he watched more debris drop from the ceiling and onto a growing pile of loose rock. At his feet, Spheal barked despairingly, entire body quaking with the trembling earth. After what felt like hours, Metang let Steven gently to the ground, following the teen as he stumbled forward and began yanking aside small boulder by small boulder.
Looking up at Metang, face streaked with dirt, he cleared his throat. "Metang," he begged, "can you reach him? Psychically?" Staring at the mountain of rocks, he dropped his head to his hands and moaned. "Tell me he's still alive, oh, I knew it was a bad idea having him come here to help me..."
Steven? Wallace's voice broke through his thoughts, channeled by Metang.
Wallace, Wallace, are you hurt? Steven thought back desperately.
No, no, I'm all right, ankle might have been sprained, but there's someone else here who isn't, he replied, sounding shaken but otherwise calm.
A grueling half-hour of work, assisted by Metang, Skarmory, and Spheal, uncovered a large enough gap for Steven to slip through to help Wallace out. He found the older teen cradling a small, steel-plated Pokémon in his arms, part of its facial shield chipped off and broken.
"It's an Aron..." Steven noted, the tiny creature letting out a pitiful chirp. "They usually need the plates on their bodies to protect them until they evolve. I don't think they grow back..."
"Poor thing," Wallace cooed, holding it closer.
"I doubt it would be able to survive in the wild like this," Steven continued, observing where the plate had broken. "If anything, someone would need to fashion a makeshift shell for him, probably out of a titanium alloy of some sort." Shaking his head, he averted his gaze. "He probably won't make it otherwise."
Wallace looked up at Steven then, eyes suddenly clear. "You ought to take him."
"Wha-- me?" Steven stammered. "I mean, yes, someone should take care of him, but I hardly even started training and I don't even have the resources to be able to make an artificial shell for -- "
Wallace interrupted him by holding out the Aron and regarding Steven with a sharp gaze. "Steven. He'll die if something isn't done. Who else is smart and talented enough to be able to come up with an idea for a prosthetic, and don't tell me you don't have the money, just ask your father." Forcing himself to his feet, he continued on. "Who else has enough compassion to even consider doing something so drastic for a Pokémon? Who else is my best friend, Steven Stone, the boy who wouldn't battle because Pokémon are our trusted friends?"
Steven mouthed wordlessly at him.
"No ifs, ands, or buts, Steven. I'm entrusting him to you, we're setting for Slateport Pokémon Center this instant, and you're saving this Aron."
~ ~ ~
It had always been emphasized that no one, absolutely no one was to enter the Cave of Origin under anything but the direst of circumstances, and even then it was speculated no one would be allowed anyway. Wallace had been entrusted with guarding the cave since he'd succeeded Juan as leader of the Sootopolis Gym at the age of twenty-two, and, he related to Steven, that was what he was told.
Upon his succession, he had phoned Steven, who had finally obtained his seventh badge only ten years after he started his journey. (Often Wallace had berated Steven for moving so slowly, but confessed he was glad that Steven didn't rush things.)
The Aron he rescued had grown into a magnificent Aggron, the strongest anyone Steven encountered had ever seen before. His Metang had evolved into an intimidating Metagross, Skarmory remained as resilient as ever, and he had added a Claydol he caught as a Baltoy when he'd set off into the desert. Together, they posed quite a threat, however much they belied Steven's admittedly pacifistic tendencies.
When at last Wallace's Milotic had fainted, the older man rushed to Steven's side, embraced him heartily, and pinned the Rain Badge to his lapel. "There are no words," he remarked, drawing his arms close to himself and gently biting his finger. Steven smiled, recalling Metagross and leaning against the gym wall with a relieved sigh.
"It was some fight," he admitted. "You were tough, especially given the type disadvantage."
Wallace nodded in agreement. "But that Aggron! Hard to believe, isn't it?"
"He's something else, isn't he?" Steven patted the Poké Ball at his waist. "Thank you, for believing in me -- with the Beldum, the Aron, this whole journey."
The older man started to nod again, but paused as though something imperative just occurred to him. "There's something I need to show you," he said suddenly. "No," he corrected himself, "give you. Two things, actually. Come."
Steven followed him out of the gym and across the lake to the alabaster structured that framed the entrance to perhaps the most forbidding (and forbidden) place in all of Hoenn. Wallace stopped right at the mouth of the cave, glancing back at Steven. "May I borrow your Metagross?"
"Yeah, what for?" Steven asked, detaching the Great Ball from his belt and handing it to him.
"It's rather dark in there," Wallace said simply. "I'll be right out."
"Wait, you're not -- ?" Steven tried, reaching out for Wallace's shoulder, but the man had already gone inside. Steven hoped he knew what he was doing.
He re-emerged only seconds later with two distinctly-shaped rocks in his hands. "This is a special gift from me to you, for attempting the Pokémon League challenge, winning all eight badges, and, especially so, being perhaps the best friend I could ever possibly ask for."
Before Steven could speak, Wallace continued on. "This one," he said, indicating the rock in his left hand, "is the Claw fossil, and contains the DNA of the ancient Pokémon Anorith. And this," indicating his right, "is the Root fossil, containing the DNA of Lileep. I found them on a trip to the desert and hid them where no one else could possibly find them." As he finished, he placed the fossils into Steven's hands and beamed.
"Wallace," Steven began, looking from the Root to the Claw fossil, hands shaking. "You risked your position as a gym leader just to give me what might possibly be the greatest gift I've ever received? I... I don't even know what to say."
"Don't say anything." Wallace smirked. "Go revive those Pokémon, take on the Elite Four, and be the Champion you deserve to be."
And he did.
~ ~ ~
Steven became champion about a year after Wallace had given him the last two members of his team and the motivation to become the best. Three years passed without so much as a glimpse of a contender, however, and Steven found himself drifting back to his collecting life.
Along the way, he met a trainer that had the perfect spark. He was Norman's son, Brendan, potential heir to the Petalburg Gym, and, in a vague, indescribable way, reminded Steven of himself. When Magma and Aqua began to make trouble, this boy stood in their way, displayed remarkable qualities unlike anything Steven had ever seen, and respected Pokémon in the same way he did.
It was only natural that, when all Hell broke loose, this boy would be the one to quell the storm.
At the same time, this brought Steven back to Sootopolis, a harried phone call from Wallace reeling him into the eye of the maelstrom.
The weather had gone completely insane, rain gushing down in torrents followed by hours of blazing heat. Magma had unleashed Groudon, and Aqua, Kyogre, the two dormant giants unaware of the havoc they wreaked in their slumber deep within the Cave of Origins.
Before he left, as he prepared all his supplies in his home on Mossdeep, he gazed at the enormous aquarium on his living room wall, took out an old, beat-up Net Ball, and withdrew the Pokémon behind the glass.
A quick flight to Sootopolis revealed an empty city, save for a lone blue-haired figure pacing outside the entrance to the cave. Brendan was on his way, but every minute he was absent was another minute the world might end in. There was something Steven had to do.
Skarmory landed on the shore, Wallace rushing up to his side as Steven hopped off the steel bird and recalled it, looking harried and stressed, his hair slicked with rainwater and trademark beret cast aside.
"How long?" Wallace asked, voice strained.
In a moment of complete primal instinct, Steven grasped Wallace by the waist and captured his lips with his own (a difficult feat given Wallace's height), kissing him like he thought he might never see him again. "Forever," he whispered against Wallace's mouth; when he pulled away, the older man looked torn between bursting into stress-induced tears and laughing hysterically at the way Steven turned the question about Brendan's arrival into something so ludicrously corny it went through every level of humor and back around to being entirely unfunny.
"Do you remember," Steven asked, still holding him close, "exactly fifteen years ago twelve minutes from now, when you gave me that Net Ball with a Luvdisc in it?"
Wallace looked confused a moment, then nodded slowly.
"They say you don't just give a Luvdisc to someone you like, Wallace. You give it to someone you love." Reaching to his waist, taking the rare moment of peace between the heat and the rain, Steven detached the Net Ball and tossed it into the lake.
A stream of silver light burst from the water's surface, and a Luvdisc five times its normal size surged into the air, twisting and whirling in an arc before splashing back into the water. The respite passed in that moment, marking its end as the heavens opened up and a brand new downpour began, thoroughly soaking the two as they awaited Brendan's arrival. Steven turned to look at Wallace, whose eyes had misted over with absolute adoration. Upon noticing Steven looking at him, he blinked and looked away.
"If we live through this, I'm using that Luvdisc against him," Wallace muttered, crossing his arms.
Steven laughed and kissed him again.
~ ~ ~
Ending A/N: That Luvdisc, by the way, is ten feet long, five times its normal size of two feet (and a pun at that). ;3
It's an Originshipping fic, and a plethora of author's notes will preclude the start the of the fic; if you wish to skip them, be my guest, but they're here to explain some... creative changes I made to the plot of Ruby and Sapphire. X3
The full title of this story is: Five Times That Wallace Gave Steven a Pokémon, and the One Time Steven Gave Him One Back.
(Most of this is CP'd from my FF.net post. My username over there is Mewgar 2.)
This idea came to me while I was slaving away at Pokémon HeartGold (current 'dex level: 413 or so) and I checked Luvdisc's entry. For some reason, it gave me a wildly Originshippy idea involving Wallace giving Steven a Luvdisc. It eventually evolved into a potential "Five Things" fic, which is funny because I'm really not a fan of the whole Five Things... thing.
It only comes out to like, four times, though, because there were two Pokémon in one. I'm also not titling each section so there won't be any spoilers. ;3
Warning for ridiculous, and I mean ridiculous amounts of fluff, WAFF, sap, diabeetus, and cheese/corn. I have never written this pairing before, though I've always wanted to, and I've only read like two fics involving it. Needs moar Origin, if you ask me. (There's also a lot of alliteration, I'm a sucker for repeated consonant sounds. :3)
I also kind of reinterpret the events of Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald, making it look like Ruby and Sapphire happened simultaneously and that Emerald happens later. Also, I'm aware that Wallace isn't really allowed in the Cave of Origin but... plot device!
I don't know how old or how tall Wallace and Steven are, but I'd think that Wallace is taller given Sugimori's artwork. (I also chose to use their English names because, to be honest, I like them better. XD;;
As always, enjoy!
~ ~ ~
It was a Luvdisc.
Or, at least, that was what Wallace said it was as he held out the deep green Net Ball, other hand fisted at his side, giving a determined stare to Steven's right shoulder. Though the other boy was a year older, ten-year-old Steven Stone had at least three inches on him, and was currently looking down at the ball mere centimeters from his chest, in the hand of a boy still dripping with water.
Unable to think of anything more intelligent to say, Steven settled for a simple, "What?"
"It's a Luvdisc," Wallace repeated, steeling himself up with a deep breath and finally managing to make eye contact, a faint pink blush sneaking across his nose.
Steven eyed the Net Ball again and cocked his head, reaching down to take it. The moment the still-slick metal-and-plastic contraption left Wallace's hand, he snapped his arm to his side to mirror the other and continued, only the briefest hint of a stutter in his words.
"Juan told me that you're, um, supposed to give them to someone you like." One of Wallace's characteristic alice blue bangs, damp and steel-colored from the ocean, slithered down his neck, the boy instantly yet fluidly reaching up to brush it aside. "I figure, I like you well enough, so... I went and caught you one."
"I..." Steven began, tilting the ball in his hand before holding it to his chest. A couple of thoughts came to the forefront of his mind, two of which dueled mercilessly and a third that sneaked in somehow. He didn't want to hurt his friend by telling him he really only liked steel-types, but his father's gentle-yet-firm voice was saying, gratitude, Steven, there's nothing more important than saying you're thankful. Even if it wasn't something you really wanted that badly. (The third thought was a vague sense of admiration for the eleven-year-old's eloquence that made his heart beat faster inexplicably.)
After a moment, he smiled. "Thank you, Wallace, this's... really great. And, I, uh, I like you, too."
The boy's cyan eyes went wide a moment before he surged forward and gave Steven a quick hug, quite thoroughly soaking the front of Steven's polo. "Oh, you're welcome, I'll see you tomorrow!" Bouncing a few steps back, Wallace grinned and nearly skipped off up the stone steps toward his home by the lake in the center of Sootopolis.
Steven wouldn't find out until almost ten years later, but Wallace had gotten in trouble with Juan for taking one of his diving Pokémon without permission.
~ ~ ~
Truth be told, Steven originally wasn't that interested in battling. He certainly wasn't as business- or technology-oriented as his father, but he just didn't see the appeal in pitting the Pokémon against one another. It wasn't so much that he thought it was cruel, more that he preferred their company as companions and friends instead of fighting partners (and, well, he'd also prefer they didn't get hurt, too).
The one thing he did have an intense zest for, even at the age of eleven, was a still-growing love for rare stones. The steel-type, his favorite, reminded him of the materials he so loved to collect, the main reason he was so fond of them in the first place.
When he finally did get his license, borrowing his father's Skarmory to take the trip to Littleroot and see Professor Birch, he found Wallace standing by the entrance to the lab, petting the feathers of a positively gargantuan Pelipper. Upon his landing, Wallace looked up and greeted him with an energetic wave. By that point, Wallace seemed to have hit a growth spurt and towered an impossible five inches over the once-taller Steven.
Returning the Skarmory to her Ultra Ball, Steven rushed over to the gate and gave his friend a short hug. "Hey, haven't seen you in a while," he commented, clapping the older boy on the shoulder and grinning like a moron despite himself. Wallace laughed and gave the younger a big-brother-esque hair ruffle, drawing him in close. "You're a disgrace, you know that?" he quipped with a light-hearted nudge.
"Hey-hey-hey!" Steven groaned, dislodging himself from Wallace's grasp, still chuckling a little. "You're only twelve, you're not even a whole year older than me, so you can't make fun of me for being a kid!"
"Go get your license," Wallace replied, leaning back on the Pelipper's side and looking pointedly away, a half-smirk still present on his features. Steven righted his hair, a mock pout on his face, and stuck out his tongue at the older boy before starting up the path.
"Oh, and Steven?" The younger turned back to look. "Tell Birch you have a Pokémon in mind."
When Steven later emerged victorious, license card in pocket, Wallace pushed a Great Ball into his hands, gave him a wink, and flew off on the Pelipper. Confused, Steven started to call after him, but he'd already breezed over the trees and was out of sight. The great ball in his hand wriggled then, popping open to free a small Beldum from its confines. It hovered in midair in front of him, one red eye blinking curiously, then shook from itself a small note printed on wave-patterned mail.
Steven,
Enjoy the Beldum. I think it's more your fancy
than the Luvdisc, huh? Level it up and come
to Sootopolis for a battle!
~ Wallace ~
Blinking back at the Beldum, Steven pocketed the note and sighed. "Guess I don't have much of a choice now, huh?"
The Beldum chirruped, and from its claws dropped a round, sparkling blue stone into Steven's hand.
~ ~ ~
Granite Cave on Dewford Island was one of Steven's favorite spots, and rightly so. Its walls were rich in minerals, and occasionally rare, exotic rocks that fit snugly in the gaps in his collection. It was helpful now that he'd obtained a few badges, thanks to his newly evolved Metang and the Skarmory that his father bred for him from his own prized bird. (He'd even pulled a few strings to let Steven use the Hidden Machine 02 before obtaining the Feather Badge, on the condition he only used it to fly between Slateport and Dewford.)
Wallace sometimes joined him, and this was one of the days he did; the same day he turned seventeen, he'd gone up to Shoal Cave and caught a Spheal. The aforementioned critter was currently rolling in circles below Steven's Metang, who was doing a splendid job balancing the two buckets Steven used to sort the rocks he uncovered on each of its arms.
"They're getting to be good friends," Steven commented, tapping the wall in front of him with the flat end of his miniature pickaxe. Much of the wall had easily chipped away to nearly free an impressive lode he'd like to take a look at once he'd detached it from the wall. Beside him, Wallace nodded, swiping his forehead with a gloved hand and looking back at the spherical seal with a smile. "I'm glad for that."
With another couple of gentle taps, the piece of rock came free, Metang floating over for Steven to drop it into the left bucket. Sitting back on his heels, he admired the shimmering wall, enveloped in the glowing light from Metang's body.
The moment of peace was short-lived, however, when a foreboding rumbling started up beneath Steven's knees. Before he could react, Metang had tossed the buckets and whizzed behind him, thrusting its arms under his shoulders to whisk him away from the wall. "Walla--!" he managed, just as a splitting crack tore open in the wall and sent it crumbling down, eclipsing the other in the rubble.
Tremors still followed as Metang held him back, tears stinging in his eyes as he watched more debris drop from the ceiling and onto a growing pile of loose rock. At his feet, Spheal barked despairingly, entire body quaking with the trembling earth. After what felt like hours, Metang let Steven gently to the ground, following the teen as he stumbled forward and began yanking aside small boulder by small boulder.
Looking up at Metang, face streaked with dirt, he cleared his throat. "Metang," he begged, "can you reach him? Psychically?" Staring at the mountain of rocks, he dropped his head to his hands and moaned. "Tell me he's still alive, oh, I knew it was a bad idea having him come here to help me..."
Steven? Wallace's voice broke through his thoughts, channeled by Metang.
Wallace, Wallace, are you hurt? Steven thought back desperately.
No, no, I'm all right, ankle might have been sprained, but there's someone else here who isn't, he replied, sounding shaken but otherwise calm.
A grueling half-hour of work, assisted by Metang, Skarmory, and Spheal, uncovered a large enough gap for Steven to slip through to help Wallace out. He found the older teen cradling a small, steel-plated Pokémon in his arms, part of its facial shield chipped off and broken.
"It's an Aron..." Steven noted, the tiny creature letting out a pitiful chirp. "They usually need the plates on their bodies to protect them until they evolve. I don't think they grow back..."
"Poor thing," Wallace cooed, holding it closer.
"I doubt it would be able to survive in the wild like this," Steven continued, observing where the plate had broken. "If anything, someone would need to fashion a makeshift shell for him, probably out of a titanium alloy of some sort." Shaking his head, he averted his gaze. "He probably won't make it otherwise."
Wallace looked up at Steven then, eyes suddenly clear. "You ought to take him."
"Wha-- me?" Steven stammered. "I mean, yes, someone should take care of him, but I hardly even started training and I don't even have the resources to be able to make an artificial shell for -- "
Wallace interrupted him by holding out the Aron and regarding Steven with a sharp gaze. "Steven. He'll die if something isn't done. Who else is smart and talented enough to be able to come up with an idea for a prosthetic, and don't tell me you don't have the money, just ask your father." Forcing himself to his feet, he continued on. "Who else has enough compassion to even consider doing something so drastic for a Pokémon? Who else is my best friend, Steven Stone, the boy who wouldn't battle because Pokémon are our trusted friends?"
Steven mouthed wordlessly at him.
"No ifs, ands, or buts, Steven. I'm entrusting him to you, we're setting for Slateport Pokémon Center this instant, and you're saving this Aron."
~ ~ ~
It had always been emphasized that no one, absolutely no one was to enter the Cave of Origin under anything but the direst of circumstances, and even then it was speculated no one would be allowed anyway. Wallace had been entrusted with guarding the cave since he'd succeeded Juan as leader of the Sootopolis Gym at the age of twenty-two, and, he related to Steven, that was what he was told.
Upon his succession, he had phoned Steven, who had finally obtained his seventh badge only ten years after he started his journey. (Often Wallace had berated Steven for moving so slowly, but confessed he was glad that Steven didn't rush things.)
The Aron he rescued had grown into a magnificent Aggron, the strongest anyone Steven encountered had ever seen before. His Metang had evolved into an intimidating Metagross, Skarmory remained as resilient as ever, and he had added a Claydol he caught as a Baltoy when he'd set off into the desert. Together, they posed quite a threat, however much they belied Steven's admittedly pacifistic tendencies.
When at last Wallace's Milotic had fainted, the older man rushed to Steven's side, embraced him heartily, and pinned the Rain Badge to his lapel. "There are no words," he remarked, drawing his arms close to himself and gently biting his finger. Steven smiled, recalling Metagross and leaning against the gym wall with a relieved sigh.
"It was some fight," he admitted. "You were tough, especially given the type disadvantage."
Wallace nodded in agreement. "But that Aggron! Hard to believe, isn't it?"
"He's something else, isn't he?" Steven patted the Poké Ball at his waist. "Thank you, for believing in me -- with the Beldum, the Aron, this whole journey."
The older man started to nod again, but paused as though something imperative just occurred to him. "There's something I need to show you," he said suddenly. "No," he corrected himself, "give you. Two things, actually. Come."
Steven followed him out of the gym and across the lake to the alabaster structured that framed the entrance to perhaps the most forbidding (and forbidden) place in all of Hoenn. Wallace stopped right at the mouth of the cave, glancing back at Steven. "May I borrow your Metagross?"
"Yeah, what for?" Steven asked, detaching the Great Ball from his belt and handing it to him.
"It's rather dark in there," Wallace said simply. "I'll be right out."
"Wait, you're not -- ?" Steven tried, reaching out for Wallace's shoulder, but the man had already gone inside. Steven hoped he knew what he was doing.
He re-emerged only seconds later with two distinctly-shaped rocks in his hands. "This is a special gift from me to you, for attempting the Pokémon League challenge, winning all eight badges, and, especially so, being perhaps the best friend I could ever possibly ask for."
Before Steven could speak, Wallace continued on. "This one," he said, indicating the rock in his left hand, "is the Claw fossil, and contains the DNA of the ancient Pokémon Anorith. And this," indicating his right, "is the Root fossil, containing the DNA of Lileep. I found them on a trip to the desert and hid them where no one else could possibly find them." As he finished, he placed the fossils into Steven's hands and beamed.
"Wallace," Steven began, looking from the Root to the Claw fossil, hands shaking. "You risked your position as a gym leader just to give me what might possibly be the greatest gift I've ever received? I... I don't even know what to say."
"Don't say anything." Wallace smirked. "Go revive those Pokémon, take on the Elite Four, and be the Champion you deserve to be."
And he did.
~ ~ ~
Steven became champion about a year after Wallace had given him the last two members of his team and the motivation to become the best. Three years passed without so much as a glimpse of a contender, however, and Steven found himself drifting back to his collecting life.
Along the way, he met a trainer that had the perfect spark. He was Norman's son, Brendan, potential heir to the Petalburg Gym, and, in a vague, indescribable way, reminded Steven of himself. When Magma and Aqua began to make trouble, this boy stood in their way, displayed remarkable qualities unlike anything Steven had ever seen, and respected Pokémon in the same way he did.
It was only natural that, when all Hell broke loose, this boy would be the one to quell the storm.
At the same time, this brought Steven back to Sootopolis, a harried phone call from Wallace reeling him into the eye of the maelstrom.
The weather had gone completely insane, rain gushing down in torrents followed by hours of blazing heat. Magma had unleashed Groudon, and Aqua, Kyogre, the two dormant giants unaware of the havoc they wreaked in their slumber deep within the Cave of Origins.
Before he left, as he prepared all his supplies in his home on Mossdeep, he gazed at the enormous aquarium on his living room wall, took out an old, beat-up Net Ball, and withdrew the Pokémon behind the glass.
A quick flight to Sootopolis revealed an empty city, save for a lone blue-haired figure pacing outside the entrance to the cave. Brendan was on his way, but every minute he was absent was another minute the world might end in. There was something Steven had to do.
Skarmory landed on the shore, Wallace rushing up to his side as Steven hopped off the steel bird and recalled it, looking harried and stressed, his hair slicked with rainwater and trademark beret cast aside.
"How long?" Wallace asked, voice strained.
In a moment of complete primal instinct, Steven grasped Wallace by the waist and captured his lips with his own (a difficult feat given Wallace's height), kissing him like he thought he might never see him again. "Forever," he whispered against Wallace's mouth; when he pulled away, the older man looked torn between bursting into stress-induced tears and laughing hysterically at the way Steven turned the question about Brendan's arrival into something so ludicrously corny it went through every level of humor and back around to being entirely unfunny.
"Do you remember," Steven asked, still holding him close, "exactly fifteen years ago twelve minutes from now, when you gave me that Net Ball with a Luvdisc in it?"
Wallace looked confused a moment, then nodded slowly.
"They say you don't just give a Luvdisc to someone you like, Wallace. You give it to someone you love." Reaching to his waist, taking the rare moment of peace between the heat and the rain, Steven detached the Net Ball and tossed it into the lake.
A stream of silver light burst from the water's surface, and a Luvdisc five times its normal size surged into the air, twisting and whirling in an arc before splashing back into the water. The respite passed in that moment, marking its end as the heavens opened up and a brand new downpour began, thoroughly soaking the two as they awaited Brendan's arrival. Steven turned to look at Wallace, whose eyes had misted over with absolute adoration. Upon noticing Steven looking at him, he blinked and looked away.
"If we live through this, I'm using that Luvdisc against him," Wallace muttered, crossing his arms.
Steven laughed and kissed him again.
~ ~ ~
Ending A/N: That Luvdisc, by the way, is ten feet long, five times its normal size of two feet (and a pun at that). ;3
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