A/N: Chapter two! Not bad, huh? Okay, so I know the pokedex entries make pokemon out to be freaking demigods, but I headcanon most of the pokedex entries as grossly inaccurate. You know them. You know what I'm talking about. With that said, I hope you enjoy this (not so thrilling) installment of my fic!

Later on, Steven would come to categorize his life into three segments: before Wallace, after Wallace, and after after Wallace. The last few months of the tenth year of his life, he considered the beginning of "after Wallace".

Following their reunion on that fateful day in the middle of the sea, the two young seafaring trainers did everything together. Every free moment of Steven's was spent in Sootopolis (which was a lot of time considering the fact that he was homeschooled), and when Wallace wasn't busy doing whatever it was that the little mariner did, he was out wreaking havoc with his best friend Steven.

Best friend. The phrase alone was enough havoc for the both of them. The phrase rung of two young boys having the times of their lives in the waters surrounding Mossdeep and Sootopolis, creating memories that they would carry for a life time. With every adventure, their area of influence would expand, and they would conquer one small island after another and expose themselves to all sorts of new pokemon.

However, as the young boys explored and discovered, they hardly learned a thing about each other. Sure, Steven knew that Wallace liked the water, and he thought that maybe Wallace knew that he had some sort of affinity for rocks… but beyond that, they really knew little about each other as people. Steven attributed the carelessness to their blissful adolescence, but even that was no excuse for ignoring each other's personal lives completely. He procrastinated the matter until one day, when the duo was drifting off of the coast of Ever Grande, when Wallace got this smart idea.

"Steven," he started, the light sea breeze ruffling his aquamarine locks of hair, "Lets go to Victory Road."

Steven had entertained the notion before, but always considered it too silly of an idea to actually suggest. His eyes traced the sheer cliff face all the way from where the waves crashed against the rocky sides to the very top, where he could only imagine what was hiding beyond the edge.

He bit the inside of his cheek in careful contemplation. "How would we even get up there? Don't you need waterfall to reach to top?"

"Steven, your Metang literally hovers in mid air."

"It's not like it can hover as far as it wants! Only a few feet of the ground, max, on a good day."

Wallace accepted the point without pressing him further. His eyes shifted from the top of the cliff to the bottom. "Maybe we can find a low part, and I can stand on Gyarados's head, and he can stretch me all the way up."

Even the Gyarados found the idea to be farfetched. the serpent let out a low rumble and cast its rider a sideways glance as if to say, "You can't be serious."

"Wallace, that's ridiculous."

"Well, do you have any better ideas, Mr. smarty-pants?" Wallace mocked, his hands on his hips.

Steven's eyes once again found themselves running up and down the sheer cliff face, his mind calculating the best approach to the impossible task.

"We could always just climb up." He kept his eyes on the cliff. Surely Wallace was giving him a look of disbelief, but he was confident they could do it. "It'll be easy, we'll find a low spot with a lot of flat places and just work our way up. Metang can spot us with its telekinesis."

Steven finally let his eyes catch Wallace's. The boy looked unsatisfied with the idea, and uneasy about scaling a cliff.

"What," Steven scoffed, his lip tuning up in a childish smirk, "afraid to get a little dirty for once?"

"I am not!" That definitely struck a chord with the other young trainer. "Gyarados, let's show Steven what we're made of!"

It was easy to tell that Gyarados's roar was a little uncertain, but he submitted to his trainer's whims without resistance. Steven followed Wallace as he migrated to a spot that looked like it would be an easy enough climb, and watched as Gyarados pushed itself out of the water as far as it could to give Wallace the best chance of reaching the top. Steven huffed, following quickly behind.

"Alright Metang, let's do this."

Metang's reply rang metallically as a pink energy engulfed Steven until he was coated in a translucent layer of the psychic energy. His body was raised slowly off of the Metang, and placed gently on a rocky ledge. The energy did not disappear as his small hands gripped onto the rocks of the cliff.

The feeling of his hands against the earthy substance was comfortingly familiar. As if he were in his natural habitat, Steven began to ascend the cliff face like he was born to do it, Metang's psychic energy spotting him every step of the way. Grip. Heave. He pulled himself onto the ledge where Wallace was waiting.

Well, waiting was one word for it. In reality, the boy was plastered to the rock face, afraid to move his body an inch. Steven let out a breath of short laughter at the sight, despite the fact that his friend was very obviously screaming internally.

"Don't laugh!" He protested shakily, "I've never done anything like this before!"

Steven chuckled regardless, and extended a hand to his fearful friend. "Here, take my hand."

"Are you crazy? I'll have to let go to do that!"

"Just trust me." Wallace stared bitterly into Steven's eyes for a good four seconds before he finally conceded. His hand found Steven's and the pink energy began to spread to the other boy's body.

"Wow," Wallace wondered, eyes wide as his arms began to float. "I feel so light."

"Yeah, but don't take advantage of it. Metang isn't made of this stuff."

Wallace nodded. Steven cast his eyes to where the water met the land, and his fast was washed with a gentle spray. Metang's steel claws were dug into the bluff only a few feet below them, and it let out a metal sound when it noticed its trainer watching it. Beyond Metang, Gyarados still poked out of the water.

"Now follow me," He cast his attention back on the task at hand, his fingers finding another ledge to grab onto. Ahead of them was another good thirty feet of rock, but for Steven it was nothing. For Wallace, however, the task would be daunting. As the duo approached a rather flat spot, Steven plopped himself down with his legs kicking over the edge. The view behind him made his stomach jolt in the best of ways.

Right next to him, Wallace breathlessly heaved himself into place next to Steven. Four feet below, Metang stuck it's claws into the rock. Forty feet below, Gyarados swam in impatient circles. But for miles in front of them, countless islands dotted restless waters. To the north-west, he could make out the white rock that encased the city of Sootopolis just sticking the horizon like a spear.

"Wow," Wallace panted, "there's," huff, "so much beauty here."

"I know, isn't it amazing?"

"It's breathtaking."

"C'mon we're not even at the top yet." Steven stood up, the few seconds of rest were enough for him. He grabbed Wallace to hurry him along, but the other just waved him off.

"Hold on Steven, just give me a minute!" Wallace fell silent as his eyes fell back on the beauty before the two of them. Of course he would become transfixed by such a scene, this was Wallace, after all. Steven yielded to the request, similarly transfixed, not on the sea or the islands or even the rocks before him, but on Wallace. He looked excited, yet peaceful; his eyes sparkled as they explored the breathtaking scene.

"No where in the world could have a view like this." Wallace smiled gently, his breathing beginning to grow steady from all of this sitting down. The wind gently whipped the turquoise locks of hair that framed his face, the aesthetic of a moment trapped in time creating a sense of harmony between Steven and Wallace.

"No where but the top of this cliff," he retorted casually.

"That's not what I mean."

Steven didn't press further. He understood the meaning of Wallace's words, and chose not to delve deeper into the topic. Instead, Steven coveted his stoic gaze to the sea. As his eyes roamed the horizon, his imagination followed suit; it was nearly impossible not to let his thoughts wander as he beheld everything the light touched. How he wished he could fly, just him, without the aid of a pokemon. If only he could feel what a Skarmory felt. Or a Murkrow, or a Pelipper. If only he could leap from the edge of the cliff, only to feel himself suspended in the air as high as he wanted. It really was a world away from the shores of Mossdeep, or even Sootopolis. Maybe he and Wallace should climb to the top of the crater that encased that city… that would certainly be a worthwhile adventure.

"C'mon Wallace, let's go." After what must have been ten minutes of staring silently, Steven finally nudged his sitting companion with the toe of his shoe. As much as he hated breaking up the landscape, he also had to admit that they had to keep going. If they stuck around on this ledge for any longer, they would be burning precious daylight.

Wallace nodded, slowly creeping back into reality. "Yeah, alright." He scurried to stand, and they resumed their climb.

It was mid-afternoon when they finally reached the top. It was Steven who's eyes broke the edge first, followed eventually by a struggling Wallace. At the top of the cliff, ten-year-old Steven couldn't help but gasp in wonderment at what he saw. Sure, the view of the ocean extending for miles was something, but this… this was magnificent. The landscape was a stunning green, the windswept grass the most beautiful he had ever seen. Patches of pink and violet dotted the fields, interrupted by only terraces of rock and a solitary Pokemon Center. At the far end of the area, rocky escarpments sprung from the grassy meadows and housed what Steven knew as victory road. There were lightly colored paths that led to the entrance, a large mouth that swallowed the light menacingly. Steven knew exactly what was hiding in the cavern, and knew even more about what was lying beyond. The Elite four. Hoenn's most seasoned trainers and the most expert battlers that the Pokemon Association could produce. One day he would climb their ranks like he climbed the crags of EverGrande City… that was a fact.

Wallace heaved himself onto the grassy ledge and rolled onto his back, his arms and legs spread like a Staryu. "I'm never using my arms again," he moaned.

Steven couldn't reply. There was too much to look at.

"It's pretty up here," Wallace remarked, finally getting his footing. He scurried to his feet and dusted his hands off on each other. "But my clothes are a mess for it."

All Steven could do was nod his head in agreement. 'Pretty' was an understatement. This place was gorgeous.

"Your clothes look fine," he noted, without even turning his head to look at them. Only a few dozen yards in front of him was the largest cave in Hoenn. Steven wasn't in the business of wasting any time.

The wind wasn't as strong here as it was on the cliff face, so Steven's hair minded it's own business for once as he strode confidently forward. Metang floated closely behind him, finally rearing its metal head over the top of the cliff.

"Huh? Hey, Steven, wait up!" Wallace galloped after him. "What's the hurry?"

"I just really want to go explore that cave. It's the biggest one in Hoenn you know."

Steven could just hear him grumble,"It's always about caves with you, isn't it?" But the statement was quickly replaced with, "It can't wait a few seconds?" Wallace twisted his head to look behind him at the ocean before returning his focus to Steven.

"Not to be rude or anything," Steven started, timid smile on his lips when his eyes found Wallace's, "but we just spent a good ten minutes staring at the Ocean."

Wallace shrugged grantingly. "You got me there." He caught up to Steven, now walking side-by-side with him. They fell silent for a few heartbeats, and the only sound that interrupted the tranquility was the sound of the wind whispering softly as it caressed each blade of supple grass.

"Wow," Wallace wondered, "these are the pastures that everyone's always talking about. This is the other side."

"Yeah, it really is." Steven's arms swung by his side. He kept his eyes on the mouth of the cave, and it was only a few moments before he was finally standing within spitting distance of the cold, unchanging rock. He peered into the depths, cautiously. It was only then that it crossed his mind how much trouble they could get in for hanging around here without even a singly gym badge.

Steven lurched forward to touch his hand to the precipice… it felt rough and dusty, and as he withdrew his fingers, Steven felt the dirt between his fingers. Must be limestone, he deduced.

The stagnant air wafted from within the cavern. The scent was musty and earthy, but crisp. Steven inhaled deeply through his nose, getting a good whiff of a familiar smell.

"So? Are we gonna go in, or are we going to stand around out here all day?"

For the first time today, Steven began to have reservations about this excursion. As he looked into the cave, he realized that this just wasn't the time. Like… we was not yet worthy. Sprawled out in front of him was the adventure of a lifetime, and he wasn't ready to take it. He stepped back.

"Actually, Wallace, I don't think we should." Steven's voice was quiet, his tone soft.

"We came all this way, I even tarnished my beautiful sailor outfit, and all so you could chicken out at the very end?" Wallace looked borderline offended. It made Steven want to snicker.

"No, it's not that. It just doesn't feel right,that's all." How sentimental that sounded. "We could climb even higher if you still want to seize the day."

The gears in Wallace's mind turned. "Mm.. okay. But only because by then, we'd probably be the highest anyone in Hoenn has ever been. Unless you live in the volcano, that is."

"Or have a pokemon that can fly," Steven contributed, grinning at the idea of reaching the peak of the hill that encased Victory Road.

"Yeah, or that."

Fortunately, the rest of the way was more of a slope than an incline, so it was a fairly easy hike to the top. Halfway up, Wallace took Steven's typical spot atop Metang, who had little problem keeping balance among the rocks.

"I wish we'd brought some snacks. And some water. I'm parched. And my arms and legs feel like they might fall off. Jelly, I tell you. Why don't we ever learn from these kinda things?" Wallace blabbed, laying on his back with his head and legs drooping over the side of Metang, and his hands neatly folded on his chest.

"I don't know."

"And look at this," Wallace held his arms in the air in front of him, in order to inspect his hands. "I have more dirt under my fingernails than there are Zigzagoons in Hoenn. Why do we keep going on adventures if we end up bringing all of the dirt home with us?" Metang had begun to rotate lazily in the air.

"Mhmm," Steven agreed, concentrating more on his footing than the conversation. He supposed he was a little hungry and/or thirsty too… he hadn't really thought about it a whole lot.

"I guess we couldn't have known it was going to be a big day… you know, where we did something big. I mean, I would say this was pretty big, wouldn't you?" Wallace sat up on Metang, urging the spinning pokemon to stabilize.

Steven only nodded his reply.

"Steven, what's the biggest adventure you've ever been on?"

Now that was a pretty good question. Nothing particularly large was coming to mind… in fact, there was only one obvious answer that really stuck out at him. "I feel like I haven't been on my biggest adventure yet."

Oh, how he would later come to realize verity of that statement.

"Philosophical, aren't we now?"

"What about you?" He asked with genuine curiosity, "What's the biggest adventure you've ever been on?" He lost Wallace while the turquoise-haired trainer delved into his memories.

After a few quiet moments, "I think I feel the same way. Although... this one is pretty up there in bigness."

"Yeah," Steven smiled haphazardly, "I suppose it is."

The day was beginning to wind down when they reached the highest point. The sun was on the decline by the time Metang dumped Wallace unceremoniously onto the rocky ground at the peak, making the young boy squawk. The action made Steven snicker. From the top of the hill, miles upon miles of ocean was visible to the West, but to the East, Steven and Wallace just barely make out the mainland on the horizon. Steven watched as Wallace stared, once again transfixed, on everything sprawled out and at their scrutiny.

"What an amazing region we live in," Wallace said dreamily, to which Steven nodded his head in agreement. "Makes you wonder what other regions have to offer, doesn't it?"

"You don't even know what this region has to offer! Have you ever even been to the mainland?"

Wallace shook his head. The two were sitting on the ground facing east, Wallace sitting criss-cross and Steven resting his weight on his arms, which were keeping him up from behind. "No. We should go together."

Steven huffed. That sounded like a great idea. Maybe he could bring Wallace with him next time he visited his dad. "Yeah, we should."

"While we're there, I can finally be a coordinator in a contest." Steven did recall that little dream of Wallace's from when they were six, but this was the first time the other boy had brought it up since then. Steven realized that before now, he and Wallace had never really actually talked. "And I suppose you want to take on the gym leaders?"

With the mention of his own goal, Steven smiled. "Yeah," he said confidently, "who wouldn't?"

"Yeah, even I want to take the challenge, just to see if I can. Maybe one day I'll wind up here on Victory Road."

"I know I will," Steven remarked. "In fact, I'm going to be the champion of Hoenn."

Wallace's gaze drifted to Steven. "You sound very sure of yourself."

"That's because I am. Why wouldn't I be? I'm a strong trainer… I have Metang already, so I won't even be starting my journey from scratch. Aron will be evolving any day now, I'm just sure of it. That's two strong pokemon already… what's four more?"

"Hmph, yeah, I guess you're right. But that would mean that I sorta have a head start too, since I already have a Goldeen and a Gyarados."

"Heh, so you do. Where did you get that thing anyways? Gyarados, I mean."

Wallace scoffed. "He is not a thing, he's a living, breathing pokemon. And I got him when I fished him right out of the water in Sootopolis City." Wallace was bearing a smug look if Steven had ever seen one.

However, Steven was taken a little aback. "A Gyarados? In Sootopolis? That can't happen very often," he remarked.

"It doesn't! Fortunately, I spend a lot of my time fishing."

"And why is that?"

Wallace shrugged. "I dunno… I guess I just like the thrill of reeling in a catch. It could be anything… that's the thing with water, you never know what could be hiding under the surface until you're willing to fish it out, literally. It's like a mystery, and I just want to unravel it."

For some reason, Steven found that statement strangely relatable. "Yeah, it's that same thing for me… but," he paused, unsure of how to come out a huge nerd. "but for rocks."

Wallace crinkled his nose. "What's so mysterious about rocks?"

What a question. Steven had no direct way to answer it… but he'll be damned if he didn't have anything to say about it! "It's not always the rocks that are mysterious. It's caves, its the dirt, its everything thats hidden by all of this hard stuff." He stomped his foot down onto the limestone. "Beneath us is a massive cave system, with endless nooks and crannies that have never even been seen before. And the rocks inside… the crystals, the minerals, gypsum, calcite, naturally forming edges that are completely flat!" He didn't realize how worked up he was getting until Wallace stopped him.

"Okay I get it," he said, smiling at Steven's sheer happiness as he got to talk about rocks. "you like rocks."

"Not to mention the rare stones that have enough power alone to trigger pokemon evolutions!"

"Okay okay okay!" Wallace was giggling. "You don't have to be such a loser about it," he teased.

Steven sighed, calming himself. "Yeah, I know. I just get excited about this kind of thing."

"I can tell."

They settled into a comfortable silence. The only sounds were those of the wind, the waves, and the occasional familiar and faraway squawk of a wingull. Two friends with the world at their fingertips. Steven was suddenly filled with a fluffy feeling of cozy-togetherness, and he silently wished that he could have this moment forever.

"Wallace?" He broke the pleasant silence.

"Yeah Steven?"

"I want to go on a pokemon adventure."

"Yeah," he breathed out, almost a chuckle, "me too." He was surely recalling their prior conversation.

"Let's go together." Steven's metalic blue eyes were earnest as he looked over at his best friend.

"Yeah, let's do it." Wallace paused, his eye's meeting Steven's. "Together."

.

Unfortunately an eternity in this moment was not meant to be. The setting sun from the top of the bluff was one of the most beautiful sights he had ever seen, but also one of the most disappointing. It was time to get going. It would definitely be dark by the time they got home, safe in their respective beds.

"How are we supposed to get down from here? It's getting dark now, the hike down will probably kill us."

Steven smiled widely. He'd been in this situation enough times to make the answer obvious. However, this time he was a lot higher up. Hopefully it would work the same.

He glanced between Wallace and Metang, who was stirring quietly, preparing for the descent. "Isn't it obvious?" he asked, his expression sly, "We're going to ride Metang!"

"But I thought you said he couldn't carry the both of us?"

Steven felt like correcting Wallace's use of gendered pronouns for his genderless pokemon, but he ignored it for now. "Well that was up a cliff face. Going down is completely different."

Wallace still looked uneasy, but willing to try anything once. Before he could protest further, Steven heaved himself onto the top of his pokemon, the feeling quite familiar as he had done it a million times. "Hop on!" he said excitedly.

With only a tentative glance, Wallace heaved himself onto Metang. It was tight squeeze for the both of them, but Metang remained steady in place. Almost scarily steady, as if the pokemon was on a separate plane of reality, unaffected but the physical realities of this world.

"Okay, hang on really tight. And I mean really tight." Steven anchored his hands around the skinny parts of Metang's arms, his knuckles white from the pressure. Wallace was wary at first, avoiding touching the other boy as much as he could. When they started moving, Wallace would get the idea.

Metang lurched forward and Wallace let out a yip of surprise. His arms immediately reached to cling to Steven, the possibility of him falling off all too likely. Metang began to drop in altitude as the pokemon used its magnetism to suspend itself off of the ground. It picked up speed as it flew downwards, and Steven hunkered closer to the metal to cut down on the wind resistance as Wallace wrapped his arms tighter and tighter around his middle. There was always the possibility of catching the wind and being thrown off… he didn't want that to happen, so he plastered himself as far down as he could with Wallace still clinging to him for dear life.

Metang only gained more and more speed as he flew towards Ever Grande City. Wallace began to wine in protest when it appeared that they might slam into the ground, but metang made the transition to flat land smoothly and with no intention of slowing down. The landscape wisped by them in a flash as they rocketed off of the hill, and Wallace began to scream when they rocketed right over the bluff that they had scaled only hours ago.

Steven marveled as Wallace screamed, his eyes probably welded tightly shut. They were suspended, gliding gently through the air for a solid two heartbeats. Wallace ceased his yelling, and Steven could imagine the other boy peeking out from behind his eyelids. Steven observed that it seemed to be only the three of them and the sunset, alone together in the sky. The oranges and yellows and pinks melded perfectly with the sea… if it were not for the land that broke up the scene, it might have been impossible to identify where the sky ended and the sea began.

However, it only lasted for so long, and they began to drop again. Steven guessed it could have been about a 70-foot drop to the sea. As they began to lose altitude once again, Wallace picked up his screaming again as he could feel them lifting off of the safe surface of Metang. Steven's sure grip was all that anchored the two of them to the pokemon. They only dropped for a few seconds before slowing and eventually skidding against the surface of the sea like a skipping stone as they continued to rocket towards home.

Steven could feel the decreasing momentum and the decreasing pressure of the shaking arms around his waist. When they finally slowed to a stop, Wallace looked so shocked and frazzled that he might actually fall off of Metang. Steven twisted his body and held onto his friend, just to be safe.

"That was…" He started.

"Yeah?" Steven asked impatiently.

"There are no words to describe how awesome that was!" Wallace slowly came to.

"Right!?"

At that moment, an indifferent Gyarados swam into the radius of relevancy. Maybe it was worried. Steven couldn't really tell.

"But really, get me off of this death trap. That was terrifying."

"Don't say you wouldn't do it again."

"I wouldn't!"

"Liar."

Wallace mounted his own pokemon just as the sun began to sink completely out of sight.

"We better hurry home. If it gets too dark we might get lost." Steven was pretty confident his pokemon knew where it was going, but he liked to know too.

"Pft, yeah, speak for yourself!" Wallace boasted confidently.

Steven couldn't help but smile at the comment.

For a few minutes, they were able to surf together on their way home. By the time they were forced to part ways, however, the sun had disappeared completely and it was terrifyingly dark. Wallace and Steven floated on the water together, shrugging their goodbyes in the dim silver light of the moon. Steven watched as Wallace parted to the west. His heart ached… he hated to see his friend go. His body swiveled to the north-east, towards Mossdeep.

His eyes focused on his pokemon as it zoomed over the sea. His silver-blue hair flapped wildly in front of his eyes, but he could still see the sheen of Metang's azure surface in the light of the moon. His soft, childish, fingertips dared to free themselves of the grip he held as he brushed them over the steel; endlessly in wonder of the texture. A sigh escaped the young boys lips. Despite the company of Metang, Steven felt loneliness seize his heart.

Reviews are much appreciated.