Chapter Text
The strange weather events pulled Juan back to the cave, or so he told himself long after all had returned to normal.
Indeed, so it was at the time; unattended pollution here, ailing populations of Feebas and Luvdisc there. Most would chalk it up to the standard impacts of environmental desecration and work to clean the ocean themselves, praying all the while to a handful of mythical entities. But Juan knew better and, having mentored him on the modernities of the Pokemon world as best as someone whose mind was occasionally twenty or thirty years in the past could do, the man decided to go and have a word with his temporary charge, the Deity of the Sea, himself.
Now, as he descended, he couldn't help but notice that the cavern – or rather, the undersea deity’s “porch” – seemed far darker than he recalled it being. “It has been a full year since I last came here,” he muttered, somewhat uneasily. “My memory could be failing me.”
What he well recalled, however, was a dutiful Milotic near the seaweed-draped entrance to the dwelling, sitting on guard to attack any unauthorized intruders who dared stumble into the deity’s home, accident or no. Ignorance of divine law was no excuse. Instead, the entrance was unprotected, and Juan walked in without so much as the usual impulsive Bubble Beam he was often doused with during his time as the mentor.
“Well, now. This cavern wasn’t so dark before.” He dared not run, heaven forbid he panic, but he broadened his step, especially when he saw the unattended room of sea-glass sparking warningly.
“Wallace? Where are you?” he cried, looking all around and squinting against the darkness. The currents of the sea crashed above as he neared the bedchamber, nearly passing right by before something snagged his jacket, halting him, and he turned his head around. “Milotic? What do you think you’re-?”
Juan didn't finish his sentence, for Milotic dragged him into the room.
There, in bed, lay Wallace, the faint light around him being the only trait indicative of a deity in that moment. That glow was but a flicker, like a small candle on the brink of death, and his skin was gray and colourless. His flowing robes, though elegant and beautiful as ever, hung off his skin-and-bones frame, his long hair mussed and spilling onto the floor. Milotic nudged him and crooned softly, looking at Juan with dark, wide eyes.
Juan, for his part, shook Wallace. “Wallace, Wallace, wake up! Wallace, what’s the matter? Are you ill?”
The troubles of the ocean were immediately forgotten, and though this deity could not die, Juan’s heart still pounded at the sight. Even a year ago, Wallace seemed to be in good health, except for a deep distance in his eye Juan, try as he might, could not get rid of. He turned to Milotic. “Do you know what’s wrong with him?”
Milotic shook her head, nudging uselessly at Wallace once again.
“Can you wake him?” Another mournful head-shake.
“How long as he-?”
Crash! Bam! Thump-thump-thump. Juan and Milotic each snapped to attention, turning to the hallway as if the trouble lay there. Even Wallace jolted, and though his eyes were closed, he managed to speak in a soft voice, barely heard against the currents above.
“What… what in... Milotic, would… would you…” He fell asleep again before he could give his command, and Juan decided to override it.
“You stay here, Milotic, and help Wallace to the entrance if he awakens. I’ll go and see what the matter is.”
With that, Juan rose to his feet and ran to the entrance, pulling aside the seaweed to find someone face-first in the ground. His eyes having since adjusted to the darkness, he immediately recognized who this was, as anyone who didn’t live under a rock in Hoenn would.
“Steven Stone…?”
The intruder stirred, lifting his head and spitting out the salt and dirt, mirroring Juan’s wide eyes.
“Juan…?”
“What in the world are you doing down here?!”
Steven jumped to his feet. “I was doing some caving when I misstepped and fell down the hole above. What are you doing down here?”
Juan froze. “I… I am investigating something that is not for the regular mortal eye to see. You’d best turn around, lest a terrible fate fall upon you!”
“Terrible fate…” Steven squinted at Juan. “Like what?”
“Like… getting hit with a Hydro Pump! The most painful Hydro Pump you can imagine! It just ruins the material of a good jacket. And... and you may be cursed!”
“‘May.’ As in, it may not happen either.” Steven shook his head. “Just tell me, in plain language-”
“What’s going on here?”
Steven yelped as he saw who stood before him. Wallace had managed to rise out of bed, the light around him flickering softly as he clung to Milotic’s neck for support.
“You… I don’t believe it…” He took a few steps forward. “You’re just supposed to be a myth!”
Wallace scoffed, standing up somewhat straighter.
“So my legend precedes me now, does it? Then you should know better than to be here… uh…” He turned to stage-whisper to Juan. “You seem to recognize the young fool.”
“That isn’t how…” Juan sighed. “This is Steven Stone. Heir to the Devon Corporation, Champion of the Hoenn League.”
“The very same league you’re a gym leader in. Hmph.” Wallace carefully unwrapped his arms and crossed them as Milotic glared at Steven. “Don’t think your connections to my mentor here will save you, Mr. Stone. You’ve trespassed on sacred territory, and I’ve never tolerated trespassers.”
Milotic geared up her Hydro Pump, and blasted Steven with it, soaking the young man from head to toe. Steven shook himself off and pulled out a Poke Ball.
“Well, I’ve never backed down from a challenge. Deity or not, if you think you can push me around…”
In a flash, Steven’s own companion, Metagross, popped out of its Poke Ball, staring down Milotic and her mythical trainer.
“Wait, wait a minute, both of you!” Juan shouted over Metagross’ Bullet Punch, which Milotic dodged. “Steven, just turn around and go home! Wallace, there isn’t need to fight an intruder unless they hurt you! Especially not-!”
Steven gave Juan a hard look. “Even if I did want to leave now, I can’t. No running from a Pokemon battle, remember?”
“Yes, but this isn’t-”
“Save your breath, Master,” Wallace interrupted as Milotic Bubble Beamed in return. “I’m not one to run away, either.”
Juan shook his head, standing back as the battle commenced. The years had taught him it was better for his own sanity not to argue with brick walls. In that case, all you could do was hope that some natural consequences would break them down.
“Metagross, use Earthquake!” Steven commanded, and at once the ground began to shake. Wallace scoffed.
“It will take more than that to… fell the dwelling… of…”
Wallace could not keep steady, the ground’s trembling sending him swaying. When it stopped, he fell to his knees, leaning against the wall as his light dimmed once again. Juan snapped to attention, rushing to his side.
Only then did Steven truly see the Deity of the Sea, his hollow cheeks and trembling, gangly limbs, and how the light clung to him almost desperately. It didn’t match at all the artwork of the deity Steven had seen on the surface of Sootopolis, bright and mighty. Something in his stubborn heart stirred, and he quietly approached Wallace, ignoring Milotic’s leer.
“Hey… hey, there, I-I... Did I hurt you?” Steven spoke softly, even knowing that this could very well be one of the god’s undefined “illusions” that he had heard about.
Wallace shook his head. “No… no, I…” He coughed, the light dimming with it. “I… haven’t been well lately… that’s all.”
Juan squeezed Wallace’s bony arm. “There’s hardly anything here… stay still. I’ll get you something to eat.” With that, he rose again and hurried down the hall.
Steven and Wallace, meanwhile, sat in silence. Whenever Steven tried to get closer to Wallace, Milotic slapped his hand back with the fin of her tail. At last, he removed his backpack and dug through it, pulling out a thin plastic bag of berries.
“Do you… like berries? Have you ever had some?”
Wallace opened his eyes a crack, seeing the storage before what lay inside it. The light brightened slightly.
“...First you intrude upon ancient territory, and now you bring litter into it. Have you no manners, Mr. Stone?” Regardless, he took the bag and opened it with shaky hands, tentatively popping one into his mouth just as Juan returned with a steaming bowl.
“Wallace? I brought you some - gah!” Juan turned his head away, for Wallace’s light flared enough to fill the porch.
Steven rubbed the blinking colours from his eyes, unable to hold back a satisfied smile. “I take it you like them?” he asked.
Wallace’s light steadied and dimmed again, and he nodded. “They’re… all right. Awfully sweet, but they’ll do.”
Juan set the bowl in Wallace’s lap, and the deity carefully sipped from it. Steven caught a whiff of the concoction, then pulled back, trying to subtly scrunch up his nose.
“What, you’ve never had seaweed-brine soup before? It’s… well, really one of the only foodstuffs that can be made down here.” Wallace took another sip, then dug his hand into the berries, eating them as voraciously as a weak and shaky deity could.
“Well, I never… I don’t recall you eating half so much in one sitting when I was your mentor,” Juan said softly.
“I suppose eating the same things each day gets boring, especially if… do you have to eat?” Steven asked, holding back the thousand questions that were on his tongue already.
“Hm… that’s part of it.” Wallace drank the last drop of his soup, then dug his hand back into the empty bag. “Ah…”
The distance in his eye was briefly, slightly replaced with everyday, earthly disappointment, and Steven’s chest felt tight. With a half-decent meal inside of him, the deity glowed brighter, though hardly enough to fill the cavern. Even so, it etched a beauty into Wallace’s features that made Steven feel dizzy.
“I’ll bring you more tomorrow!”
Juan and Wallace looked at Steven with wide eyes, and Milotic stared at him like he was a madman.
“Er… I’ll bring you more food tomorrow, if you’ll let me. Consider it an offering to the Deity of the Sea, for protecting the water so diligently for… however long you’ve done this for.”
The corner of Wallace’s mouth twitched, but then he bolted right up, steadying himself against the wall. “The sea glass! I haven’t checked on it in days!”
Wrapping his arms around Milotic, Wallace bolted the best he could to the room filled with sea glass. Juan followed behind, and Steven, after a moment’s hesitation, allowed his curiosity to overtake him, and he followed after the pair himself to this sea glass.
“Oh…” Steven stopped in the doorway to the room as Wallace strolled right in the centre, looking around with knitted eyebrows. It looked like a large geode, the glinting glass inside jutting like the crystals.
“The poor ocean… Milotic? Would you…?”
Milotic didn’t waste a second – her companion did not even need to finish his sentence. She bent her head, and Wallace wrapped his arms around her. With a flick of her tail, she flew around the room, and he brushed his hands against the glowing glass until it calmed again. Soon, the room’s light was steadied and stilled, with just the faintest hum filling it. Juan crossed his arms with a proud smile as he glanced at Steven. “Now, isn’t that something?”
“Y-yes.” Steven dared not ask if that actually did anything. Now that Wallace seemed healthier, incurring a god’s wrath did not seem like such a good idea.
Wallace, meanwhile, leaned heavily into Milotic, dropping to the floor as his legs buckled. Juan ran inside, but Steven stood uncertainly outside as the former picked the deity up and led him to the door.
“...My apologies, Master,” Wallace breathed. “I… I am not entirely well yet, am I?”
“It always takes a while for illnesses to heal. So let’s get you back to bed, and don’t forget Steven’s offering.”
Wallace was silent as they walked to the bedchamber again, Steven on his left side and Juan on his right to steady him. Only when they stood at the entrance did Wallace look Steven in the eye again. “I accept your offering, Mr. Stone, on one condition.”
“And that’s…?” Steven half-hoped he would be sent on some grand, mythical treasure-hunting quest, but he was quite all right with the deity’s true task.
“Don’t go running off as soon as you’re done. You seem… interesting, challenging a deity for the sake of it and digging around in caves. I think I’d like to know you better.” At this, the ghost of a smile appeared on Wallace’s lips, like he was trying to recall how to do so.
Steven smiled right back. “I accept that condition.”
With that, Juan helped Wallace back into bed, and the deity curled up under the covers, Milotic resting her head on his stomach. When his breathing had deepened and slowed, Juan returned to Steven to show him the exit.
“Do you know what’s wrong with Wallace?” Steven asked quietly as they ascended. Juan was quiet a moment before he spoke again.
“I think I do, yes. But you needn’t worry. Do as he bade you, and I’m certain he’ll be well again before the month is over.”
For, indeed, beneath the sea, deeper than most humans can fathom, except for two now, the Deity of the Sea slept in such peace that he had not known for centuries.