Mauville City Powerplant, Hoenn Region
May, Aspiring Trainer.
May didn't mean to kick the power conduit.
It just sort of happened. Her Combusken had dodged a wild Magnemite's Thunder Wave with a well-timed roll, and May had tried to follow it up with a command. One thing led to another, and now her boot had a fresh scorch mark and the conduit was sparking like a birthday cake gone wrong.
"...Okay," she muttered, brushing ash off her sleeve. "That one's on me."
"Good instincts, bad aim," came a familiar voice behind her.
She spun around.
"Wally?!"
Wally, the same frail boy she'd helped catch his first Pokémon. So much time had passed, so many faces blurred, but his had stayed with her.
He looked different now, more at ease, with longer hair tied loosely back, wearing a Mauville Gym jacket open over his sweater. Ralts floated silently beside him, a neat Roselia stood like a well-kept bonsai at his feet, and next to them was-
"A bucket?" May blinked.
"Feebas," Wally said, as if that explained everything.
He was just as cheeky as she remembered.
"…Hi," May said to the fish. Feebas shot her a glare sharp enough to punch through steel, though, granted, it was hard to tell with fish eyes.
Wally nodded at her. "Good to see you."
"Hey! Didn't expect to run into you here." May stood with a hand on her hip, a playful grin tugging at her lips. "I'm training for Wattson's gym, figured battling wild Electric-types would give me an edge. What about you? Why the Mauville Gym jacket?"
Wally smiled faintly. "Long story short, I won a competition, got a trial as a gym assistant, and now I'm on assignment. There's some instability in the generator system, power surges making the city's lights flicker."
"They sent you to fix it?"
He tilted his head, voice dry. "Wattson was busy, said he was tweaking the barrier system again. Apparently, confusing challengers and staff is a weekly tradition."
May snorted. "Sounds about right. I've heard other trainers talk about his puzzles, they looked half-mortified just saying the word."
She waved at Ralts. "Looks like your days have been eventful."
Wally's eyes held quiet certainty. "Surely not as much as yours."
Ralts didn't say a word but edged closer to Wally.
"Is she jealous? So cute," May teased.
They fell into step together, their Pokémon trailing close. The corridor smelled of heated plastic, the overhead lights buzzing with electrical tension every few steps.
She watched Wally move through the maze of rusted metal and buzzing transformers with surprising ease.
"You seem awfully comfortable down here."
"I've been coming by often," he said, eyes scanning the shadows. "Looking for someone."
"Someone?" May raised an eyebrow. "Should I be worried?"
"A Pokémon. Likes mischief. And electrical wiring."
May squinted at the walls. "So… a Pikachu with a professor's degree?"
Wally smiled knowingly. "Rotom."
Her face lit up. "Oooh! That ghosty thing! Hangs out in TVs and toasters, right?"
He nodded. "Been here for days. Every time I almost find it, it slips away. But not today."
"Why not today?"
Wally paused, eyes locking with hers. "Because today, I met luck."
May blinked. "Is that… flattering me?"
"Possibly."
"Or is this another 'I can see the future' thing?" She nudged him playfully.
He shrugged. "The future is impermanent. Fluid. Mutable. Like electricity… or soup."
"Soup?"
"I'm hungry."
May laughed and pointed a finger. "Alright, fortune teller, if you're so tuned in, what's causing the power problems?"
"It's an Electrode," he said.
A beat.
Then a low rumble echoed down the corridor.
BOOM.
A glowing sphere rolled out from the darkness, sparks dancing wildly around its body. Its eyes narrowed. It looked furious.
"Speak of the devil," May muttered, rolling her eyes. Yep, déjà vu, just like that time when Wally caught Ralts. He may really know the future.
The Electrode unleashed a crackling surge of electricity down the corridor, setting off lights and alarms as it charged them.
"Okay! Combusken, get in there! Use Quick Attack to dodge and Double Kick!"
"Ralts, move wide and Confuse it if it targets Combusken!"
They moved in sync, the two trainers calling plays and adjusting mid-battle. Combusken darted left, ducked under a charge, and slammed both feet into Electrode's side. It rebounded like a ball, then aimed a Discharge at Ralts.
"Teleport!"
Ralts blinked away just in time.
May kept a sharp eye on Wally. His commands weren't flashy, but they were fast, tight, deliberate. No wasted words.
In the end, it took a combined push: Confusion and Water Pulse to break its charge, Combusken's Blaze-powered kick to knock it clean into a power dampener.
The lights flickered… then steadied. The air calmed.
"Well," May huffed, brushing her bangs from her face, "that was intense."
Wally nodded. "She was upset. Probably stuck for too long in one room."
"Glad she didn't explode. That would've been less cathartic."
Wally knelt beside the now-stunned Electrode and tapped a message into his PokéNav. "System's stable again. She'll be okay."
May let out a whistle. "You weren't kidding. You've gotten really good."
Wally gave a small nod, brushing dust off his sleeve. "You too. That Combusken's fierce."
"She's been working hard." May gave a proud grin, then paused. "Hey, so, did we fix the problem?"
"For now," Wally said. "With Electrode pacified, the generator's safe again."
"And what about your little toaster ghost?"
Wally looked up at the rafters. A faint crackle of static danced along a pipe far above them. A pair of glowing eyes blinked once, then vanished into a console.
He smiled. "Still running. But I'll catch it next time."
May eyed him. "You know, when I first met you, you were shaking like a Skitty in a thunderstorm."
"I still do, sometimes," Wally said. "I just shake quieter now."
She laughed again. "Well, I'm glad I ran into you. This was fun."
"Likewise."
They stood for a moment at the exit to the plant, just outside the big rusted door, watching the flicker of restored city lights across the horizon.
May glanced at him. "You'll let me know if you ever do catch that Rotom?"
"I will."
"And next time, we battle."
"Looking forward to it."
As she walked off, May grinned to herself.
Wally really had grown up. Not just stronger, smarter. Sharper. Still cheeky, sure. But something about him now felt solid.
Like someone who belonged on the path ahead.
Maybe even someone she'd run into again.
She glanced back once.
Wally stood beneath the buzz, bucket in hand, a bright smile on his face.
Maybe it was not bad, after all.
...
Powerplant, Landfill
Wally, Aspiring Trainer
By the second hour, Wally had been zapped, startled, mildly concussed, and nearly brained by a flying microwave.
He didn't complain.
The Rotom wasn't malicious. Just… evasive. And giggling. Always giggling.
It had darted through the vents, phased through six kinds of electronics, shorted out the backup lights, taken over a broken vending machine (which launched nothing but soup cans), and was now doing laps through a series of desk fans like it was a racetrack.
Wally, leaning against the wall, just watched. A little amused. A little tired.
Rotom zipped by again, cackling like a cartoon villain, then vanished into a toaster that promptly overcooked itself and exploded in a puff of bread smoke.
Wally fanned the air with his sleeve. "That's the third toaster."
No answer.
Well, not a verbal one. The ceiling light above him blinked in presumably Morse code. (Poorly.)
He blinked back at it. "...I don't speak Lightbulb."
Rotom emerged again, this time inside a desk lamp, its little electric form spinning in dizzy circles as the lamp flickered on and off.
Wally sat down on the floor, legs crossed. He waited. Gave a soft smile. Let the silence continue.
Rotom peeked out of the lamp's bulb, curious. No Poké Ball in Wally's hand. No sudden command. Just a boy and the hum of circuits.
"You're bored, aren't you?" Wally asked gently.
The lamp blinked once.
"You've been here a long time. Everyone's too busy to play with you." He looked around the dim corridor, still and silent except for Rotom's giggles echoing in metal. "Machines don't laugh back."
Rotom hesitated, then zipped from the lamp into a nearby rolling chair, which spun in place before tipping over in protest.
Wally laughed, quiet and genuine. "That was dramatic."
A vending machine nearby lit up. The display read: >:D
Wally reached into his pocket and pulled out a Berry, part of his snack stash. He gently placed it on the floor in front of the vending machine.
"Want to play?" he asked. "No battle. Not yet. Just... tag?"
For a moment, the lights dimmed.
Then Rotom phased into the nearby ceiling fan and spun it to life, the blades whirling with a shrill buzz as it shot out across the room like a comet.
Wally ran after it, laughing softly.
They played for hours.
No Poké Balls. No strategies. Just gleeful chases through dusty corners, improvised obstacle courses made of crates and cables, and occasional pauses where Rotom tried to possess increasingly stupid objects, a stapler, a mop bucket, a broken radio that played nothing but static.
The lights flickered again.
Somewhere behind the wall, another terminal exploded in a harmless puff of static. Rotom squealed with laughter, then zipped into a rusted office fan. The blades spun for two seconds before sparking out with a dramatic sizzle.
Wally leaned against the control console, breath shallow, a sheen of sweat on his brow. His jacket was too warm, but he didn't take it off, he didn't have the energy.
Still, he smiled.
"I'm getting better at not losing you," he whispered, voice thin but amused.
Rotom poked its head out of a filing cabinet drawer and made a face at him. Then vanished again.
Wally's chest ached, had been aching since midday, but he straightened slowly, refusing to sit. If he sat, he wasn't sure he'd get back up.
"Tag," he murmured. "I'm still it."
He dragged his feet forward and followed.
For three hours, they played.
No Poké Balls. No battle. Just him and an electric phantom flitting between screens, drawers, generators, even once, a stapler.
Rotom cackled through every transformation, sparking joy in every broken circuit it passed through. It was a mischief of pure energy, spinning through the silence like a child locked in a world that had long stopped noticing him.
Wally noticed.
He wheezed a little when he finally reached the other end of the hall, palm pressed flat against the wall, knuckles white. His legs trembled. But he didn't say a word.
Rotom had phased into an old, hanging light fixture and peeked down at him.
"You're lonely, huh?" Wally said softly, between breaths. "All this time, just waiting for someone to notice."
The light dimmed. Then brightened again.
"I notice." Wally smiled faintly. "I see you."
Rotom floated down, half-in and half-out of the lamp's metal shell. Its giggling quieted to a gentle whir.
Wally reached into his coat and held out a small wrapped Berry. "Sweet. Just a little bit."
Rotom stared. Then zipped away again, no answer.
He didn't mind.
It was nightfall by the time Rotom finally stopped playing.
Not out of exhaustion. Just… watching. Waiting.
Wally leaned heavily against the side of a supply crate. His fingers trembled, but he still managed to pull out a Poké Ball.
"You want to come with me?" he asked. His voice was hoarse, but the words came clear. "It'll be fun. We go places. Meet people. And I promise… no one's too busy for you."
Rotom hovered in place, thoughtful. For once, it wasn't grinning.
Then, on a nearby broken screen, glowing green text blinked to life:
BATTLE.
Wally chuckled once, soft and rasping. "Of course."
He reached for a second Poké Ball and whispered, "Briar."
Roselia emerged in silence, her roses raised, graceful as ever. One glance at Wally's face and she narrowed her eyes, concerned with a hint of complaint, but focused.
"Start with… Leech Seed."
Briar fired a cluster of seeds from her blooms. They struck Rotom cleanly, clinging to its form as small green vines began to sap its energy. It trembled, slowed.
"Now… Vine Whip."
Briar didn't hesitate. Her vines cracked like whips, slicing clean through the air, lashing Rotom out of a fan before it could escape again.
Rotom sparked violently, screeching with surprise, then laughter.
He liked this.
One more Vine Whip sent it spinning into the wall, dazed. Its glow faltered.
Wally swayed on his feet. His vision blurred at the edges, but he fumbled the Poké Ball from his pocket and whispered, "Go."
The red light flew.
The ball hit.
It shook once.
Twice.
Three times.
Click.
The hall went quiet.
Wally stood there, still as stone. Then slowly, very slowly, he knelt down, sitting with his back to the wall.
He picked it up, smiling qently.
"Welcome to the team."
...
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