Wallace: the Sootopolis Gym Leader who became Hoenn Champion

He is the only Gym Leader to reward a win with an HM. Wallace runs the eighth and final Gym of the Hoenn League, in Sootopolis City, where he fields Water-type Pokémon. His story doesn't end there: promoted to Champion in Emerald, a guardian barred from the Cave of Origin, uncle to a Coordinator and a regular on the Contest stage, he holds almost every position the region has to offer.

Contents

• Sootopolis City, the Rain Badge and a one-of-a-kind reward
• Emerald: the Gym Leader becomes Champion, his mentor takes over the Gym
• A Water-type team built around Milotic
• The Contest side: his niece, his cup, his manga
• In the anime: the title lost, then the Gym regained
• Wallace at a glance
• Frequently Asked Questions

Sootopolis City, the Rain Badge and a one-of-a-kind reward

In Ruby and Sapphire, Sootopolis City closes out the Gym circuit, and Wallace is the one waiting there for the player, surrounded by Water-type Pokémon. The Rain Badge he awards is the eighth and final official Badge of Hoenn, the one that finally opens the road to Ever Grande City and the Elite Four.

His battle reward breaks with the norm for the rest of the series. In Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, Wallace is the only Gym Leader to hand out an HM rather than a TM: he gives you HM05 Waterfall, the very move his Badge lets you use outside of battle, whereas Ruby and Sapphire still had him hand over TM03 Water Pulse. The victory and the right to use the move come in a single gesture.

The character also carries a duty that has nothing to do with the League. As one of the Sootopolitan people, it falls to him to watch over the Cave of Origin, but the rules of his own people forbid him from entering it, just as they keep him out of the Sky Pillar. A guardian kept at arm's length from what he guards.

Emerald: the Gym Leader becomes Champion, his mentor takes over the Gym

Emerald reshuffles the deck of the Hoenn League. There, Wallace leaves his Gym to become Champion, in place of Steven Stone, and becomes the last opponent you must get past before entering the Hall of Fame.

The seat he leaves empty doesn't go to a stranger: it's Juan, his own mentor, who takes over the Sootopolis City Gym. The manga confirms this lineage by making Juan Wallace's master, which gives the handover the feel of a deliberate step back.

Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire lay the groundwork without spelling it out. Several lines of dialogue hint that Wallace is destined for the Champion title, both at the end of the Delta Episode and after you beat him in a Contest. The same games stress how close he is to Steven Stone, a bond the mobile game later takes up in turn.

A Water-type team built around Milotic

Milotic isn't just one Pokémon among many on his roster: it's his favorite, and the game writes that preference into its positioning rules. It's sent out first in Single Battles, takes the right-hand spot in Double and Triple Battles alike, and the center spot in Rotation Battles.

At the Pokémon World Tournament in Black 2 and White 2, his team becomes partly unpredictable from one match to the next. Milotic, Sharpedo and Swampert always keep the same Ability, while Walrein alternates between Thick Fat and Ice Body, Ludicolo between Swift Swim and Rain Dish, and Starmie between Natural Cure and Illuminate. The gender of his Pokémon varies too, except for genderless species.

The mobile game added him on April 30, 2020, and gives him two looks. In his Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire outfit, he teams up with Milotic; in his New Year's outfit, he pairs with a Blacephalon for pyrotechnic illusions. There he's nicknamed "the prince of water," with a refined battle style and an avowed taste for graceful Pokémon.

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The Contest side: his niece, his cup, his manga

Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire add a branch to his family tree. There, Wallace is the uncle of Lisia, his older sister's daughter, and once you've beaten his niece in a Contest, he enters the competition himself.

The anime takes this side even further: there, Wallace is both the Champion of the Hoenn region and the holder of the Pokémon Contest Master title. Season 11 devotes five episodes to his very own competition, the Wallace Cup, held on the shores of Lake Valor, where Dawn earns one more Ribbon.

The manga makes him a talented Coordinator and gives him a romantic motive. There, he long turns down the Champion title to stay close to Winona, with whom he is in love, and he surrenders to Team Aqua the day a Tentacruel holds her hostage. A language quirk in passing: he sometimes slips English words into his sentences.

In the anime: the title lost, then the Gym regained

The anime doesn't leave him at the top. The Mega Evolution specials strip him of the Hoenn League Champion title: the rank he earned in Emerald doesn't survive there.

An episode of the Journeys series brings him back and states his fall plainly — Wallace has become the Sootopolis City Gym Leader again. Passing through Lilycove City, he runs into Ash, who has come along with Goh to watch Chloe compete in a Pokémon Contest for the first time.

He tells Ash he has followed his run in the World Coronation Series and wants to battle him. The three-on-three battle that follows goes to Ash, and Wallace gives him a second Rain Badge, along with his scarf.

Wallace at a glance

Frequently Asked Questions

• Which Badge does Wallace give, and what is it for?
  The Rain Badge, the eighth and final official Badge of the Hoenn League. It opens the way to the Elite Four at Ever Grande City. Wallace is also the only Gym Leader to reward a win with an HM rather than a TM, and that move is the one his Badge lets you use outside of battle.
• Why is Wallace no longer a Gym Leader in Emerald?
  Because he is promoted to Hoenn League Champion, replacing Steven Stone, and becomes the last opponent before the Hall of Fame. The Sootopolis City Gym then passes to Juan, his own mentor.
• What is Wallace's signature Pokémon?
  Milotic. The game makes it his favorite Pokémon and gives it a fixed spot: sent out first in Single Battles, on the right in Double and Triple Battles, in the center in Rotation Battles.
• What is the connection between Wallace and Lisia?
  He is her uncle: Lisia is his older sister's daughter, a detail revealed in Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire. Once you've beaten his niece in a Contest, Wallace can take part too.
• Does Wallace appear in the Trading Card Game?
  Yes. His first appearance is in the Sword & Shield—Silver Tempest expansion, released in France on November 11, 2022, and he has since appeared on other cards.

In short

Wallace is one of the few characters to have held all three positions in turn: Gym Leader, League Champion, then Gym Leader again. Between the guardian barred from his own cave, the uncle who steps onto the Contest stage and the Trainer who hands out his Badge twice, he's less an end-of-the-road boss than a character you keep running into. Milotic, for its part, has never left the front line.