random thought that just occured and its been a minute since i read rs so forgive me if im completely offbase or something
is wallace/winona supposed to be a foil (is that the right word??) to ruby/sapphire?? maybe??
For sure!! I think they represent both the things they need to learn for balance and also what could be. Wallace has to instill in ruby the importance of bonds with his pokemon (and by extension others) and this lesson is effective because of how much ruby admires Wallace, though Wallace also deceives like him and likely destroyed his relationship with Winona because of it.
Winona on the other hand has to show sapphire balance, she’s strong but notably feminine, but her fault is the amount of pressure she puts on herself as a leader. She struggles in her role because of how unforgiving she is to herself, which is similar to what sapph deals with.
Frantic struggles partially because of Ruby’s lying and how sapphire doesn’t prioritize herself. They’re both self effacing in different ways, and these things both led to Wallace and Winona’s struggles as well.