Part 74: Wally and Emerald

Pokemon Adventures - Wally



Wally is, as he is in the games, a sick child with some sort of lung condition. He initially hopes that Norman can help him catch a pokemon, but Norman goes to his parents and learns how ill he actually is and that his parents are taking him somewhere to recover. Norman can't guarantee Wally's safety and the world of Pokemon can be dangerous (As Norman well knows) and he doesn't want to bring Wally, who clearly can't take it (He was wheezing and clutching his chest from trying to catch a pokemon on his own earlier) into that world, and instead he should focus on getting better.

Ruby, because he's of the opinion of "Fuck my dad" and because he takes a liking to Wally, gives him his Ralts on loan and leads him out to capture a pokemon, Wally's first capture is a Keckleon (To Ruby's disappointment, as it's ugly.) and Wally feels better from having actually pushed himself and made the capture. Before they can return though an earthquake rips through the area and Ruby falls to his apparent demise, Wally left with his Ralts. He knows Ruby's survived since Ralts can detect his emotions through its horn, so he decides to look after Ralts till then and grow stronger for his friend.

We don't see Wally for a long time and the next time he does appear is at Pacifidlog Town, he's got a new respirator suit that features a face mask to help him regular his breathing, he's caught two more pokemon, evolved Ralts, and he can even fire pokeballs from his sleeve.



However this is right about the time Kyogre and Groudon are waking up, causing Hoenn to get rather fucking ruined, as Wally spots a floating Pokeball containing Treeko, he uses his Cacturne to retrieve it with Needle Arm, along with the Pokedex. Aaaaand here's where things get strange.

In the magazine release of Pokemon Adventures, Wally registered his name in the Pokedex, becoming the third holder. At the time it seemed there wasn't going to be an addition of an "Emerald" and they'd already established Wally's name as being 'Wally' So instead he wore all green, used green pokemon, and was Emerald in all but name... Until they released the volume version, changed it so he never registered his name, all so they could introduce... this asshole.


I'm not going to do an Emerald breakdown, so I'll cover him in quick here... So at the end of the GSC arc they do a bookends bit with the opening of the GSC games and the radio show where Oak introduces someone unseen to the world of Pokemon, Emerald reveals that to be, well, Emerald. But Oak didn't let him have the Pokedex because of how young he was, and also because he was an asshole towards Pokemon. Emerald lost his parents and grew distant from Pokemon and treated them more like tools, you could call him a version of Smogon/Competitive player incarnate, looking at Pokemon in terms of their statistics and moves and not, ya know, partners or living creatures. To the point he resents himself for winning a match by crying out for his pokemon to succeed. He's an asshole.

Emerald is just annoying, bratty, unlikable and portrayed as way too skilled for way little effort in comparison to all previous protagonists, we're also supposed to accept him as equal to Red in terms of battling and well... he isn't. Worst of all, he's the reason Wally isn't the third protagonist. And Wally is gloriously cool and seeing his growth and becoming healthier is super neat.

Anyway, enough about the dweeb. Norman is there to witness Wally saving Treeko and asks if Wally wishes to train with him as he's in need of his strength at the Sky Pillar. Wally agrees and they travel to the Sky Pillar, his first task is to climb the Sky Tower alone, all 50 floors in a single run. Doing so evolves Treeko to Grovyle and gets Wally strong enough to reach the top, Norman gives him a Flygon (Notice his all-green team) and then starts training him in double battles. Wally's last moment is to assist Norman in reaching Rayquaza and waking the dragon up, before passing out from exhaustion.

At the end of the series he'd return the Pokedex, Grovyle and Kirila (Who had evolved as well) to their respective owners and faded into the background. Wally doesn't have a big role, but he's still neat to see, and it's a pity they decided to make Emerald rather than use Wally.