Going Up
Dec 26, 2020 21:32:09 GMT
Post by girl-like-substance on Dec 26, 2020 21:32:09 GMT
This is my second Yuletide fic of the year, written for Dramatic Melody! The prompt was for something featuring Wally and other Hoenn characters, and for something in which two people get stuck in an elevator for eleven minutes. No warnings apply, so let's get right on with it!
GOING UP
"… I lost."
That's all there is to it. Wally lost, right here in the courtyard outside the gym, and Sapphire won. And why should he have expected anything else? She's been out there on the trails for five months already, clearing out gyms left and right. Wally has literally read an article in Trainer magazine that profiled her as a rising star to watch; why did he think he and Cadoc even stood a chance?
Sapphire grimaces.
"Yeah," she says, one hand on her grovyle's shoulder, easing him back to her side. "Sorry about that. Is your ralts okay? Guess someone here just doesn't know his own strength."
She shoots the grovyle a look; he licks his eyes, unrepentant, and settles down to preen his trailing leaves.
"I think he's fine," says Wally, which is at least true; Cadoc is bruised, but still on his feet. He seems more angry at having lost than actually hurt. "I guess there's a little more to being a trainer than battling."
Sapphire shrugs.
"So I'm told," she says. "I gotta admit, I just sorta do it."
Which is kind of annoying, really, but Wally has a bigger problem right now. He takes a deep breath (and wheezes, again), and turns to his uncle. Still watching. That same look on his face, like he knew that this was how it would turn out all along.
The worst thing is, Wally can't even say he's wrong.
"All right," he says. "You were right. I'll go back to Verdanturf."
"You're making the right choice, Wally," he replies. "You need to focus on your health."
"Yeah, I know." Wally sighs. "I … I'm just gonna go to the training supply shop. Get some stuff for Cadoc. Meet you back at the car park?"
"Sure," says his uncle. "Don't be too long, now. You don't want to tax yourself."
Yes. That's Wally's defining characteristic, after all. The weakness in his lungs that nothing will shift.
"Right," he says, voice brittle as his alveoli. "Um … well, I'll see you around, Sapphire."
"Yep," she says, monstrously cheerful. "C'mon, Starr, it's time we checked in at the Pokémon Centre."
The grovyle hisses and paces off after her, his twin tails flexing behind him as he goes. That's probably the last either of them will ever think of Wally. Assuming they don't see him again. Which they probably won't, because he's going straight back to Verdanturf.
He sighs again. Gives his uncle a farewell nod.
"Okay, Cadoc," he says, heading across the yard to the concourse. "Let's go."
That's all there is to it. Wally lost, right here in the courtyard outside the gym, and Sapphire won. And why should he have expected anything else? She's been out there on the trails for five months already, clearing out gyms left and right. Wally has literally read an article in Trainer magazine that profiled her as a rising star to watch; why did he think he and Cadoc even stood a chance?
Sapphire grimaces.
"Yeah," she says, one hand on her grovyle's shoulder, easing him back to her side. "Sorry about that. Is your ralts okay? Guess someone here just doesn't know his own strength."
She shoots the grovyle a look; he licks his eyes, unrepentant, and settles down to preen his trailing leaves.
"I think he's fine," says Wally, which is at least true; Cadoc is bruised, but still on his feet. He seems more angry at having lost than actually hurt. "I guess there's a little more to being a trainer than battling."
Sapphire shrugs.
"So I'm told," she says. "I gotta admit, I just sorta do it."
Which is kind of annoying, really, but Wally has a bigger problem right now. He takes a deep breath (and wheezes, again), and turns to his uncle. Still watching. That same look on his face, like he knew that this was how it would turn out all along.
The worst thing is, Wally can't even say he's wrong.
"All right," he says. "You were right. I'll go back to Verdanturf."
"You're making the right choice, Wally," he replies. "You need to focus on your health."
"Yeah, I know." Wally sighs. "I … I'm just gonna go to the training supply shop. Get some stuff for Cadoc. Meet you back at the car park?"
"Sure," says his uncle. "Don't be too long, now. You don't want to tax yourself."
Yes. That's Wally's defining characteristic, after all. The weakness in his lungs that nothing will shift.
"Right," he says, voice brittle as his alveoli. "Um … well, I'll see you around, Sapphire."
"Yep," she says, monstrously cheerful. "C'mon, Starr, it's time we checked in at the Pokémon Centre."
The grovyle hisses and paces off after her, his twin tails flexing behind him as he goes. That's probably the last either of them will ever think of Wally. Assuming they don't see him again. Which they probably won't, because he's going straight back to Verdanturf.
He sighs again. Gives his uncle a farewell nod.
"Okay, Cadoc," he says, heading across the yard to the concourse. "Let's go."
*
Mauville is a weird city, a glassy, multi-level labyrinth that feels like the place shopping malls go when they die. Wally has no idea how it ended up this way – it had to have been designed; something like this can't happen by accident – but he just can't get the measure of it. All the signs seem to contradict each other, and all the atriums and passages blend into one big glass corridor. Back in Petalburg … but there is no 'back in Petalburg' any more, and if he starts thinking about that, he'll end up lost in the homesickness again, so Wally shakes it off and keeps going.
"I think maybe we're on the wrong level," he says, staring at a wall-mounted map that doesn't seem to make any sense whatsoever. "I mean, everything round here looks residential."
Cadoc hisses, his horn pulsing with inner light. Trying to communicate, but Wally's not yet been with him long enough to receive anything he transmits, let alone understand it.
"Yeah," says Wally, deciding that he was suggesting they ask someone. "That's, um … I don't think I can do that. Sorry."
The thought makes his throat close up in a way that has nothing to do with his illness. And some of the pedestrians are starting to look at him like they might decide to come and ask if the kid all by himself is lost, so it's time to move before anyone gets any ideas.
"Right," he says, going over to the elevators. "Cadoc, I'm making an executive decision. We're gonna go up a level."
It isn't a long wait, but he's relieved when it arrives, and even more so when it dings and slides open to reveal it's empty. A moment alone to wind down his nerves. That's what he needs. And then when it opens up on the next floor, he'll walk out, calm and collected, and be able to find his way again. No problem.
"C'mon, Cadoc," he says, hurrying in. "Up to Level 2."
He hits the button―
"Hey, can you hold that?"
Wally looks: there's someone running across the atrium towards the lift, clutching a bag and hairstyle that are currently both doing their level best to escape her.
"Oh," he says, looking frantically for the 'open doors' button and finding it a second before they shut. "Uh – okay, I got it!"
"Thanks," replies the someone, crashing breathlessly through the doors and stumbling up against the far wall. "God, this city. Like it was designed by the people who make mazes for lab rats."
Wally smiles nervously. This is clearly not going to be the chance to recentre that he hoped.
"Anyway. Thanks." The woman gathers up her hair and forces it back into a ponytail, though beyond the hair tie it immediately explodes out again into a giant crimson star. "Uh, Level 2, please."
"Sure."
Wally presses the button and the elevator judders into life, doors clunking together as it rises through Mauville's guts. And he's fully expecting that to be the end of it, to see the doors open on Level 2 a moment later – but what happens instead is that something crunches, then grinds, and the elevator stops moving altogether.
The woman looks at Wally.
Wally looks back.
"You're kidding me," she says. "The elevator's stuck? Like in a movie?"
"I, um, I guess so," he replies, screaming internally. "Uh …"
They keep looking at each other for a moment, unable to process the weirdness of it all. Then the woman sighs and thrusts a stray lock of hair behind her ear.
"Right," she says, coming over to the controls. "I guess there's a button to press?"
"Uh, yeah, I – I think it's …"
"Yeah, I got it." She jabs her thumb down on the button. "Let's see … oh, great." She presses the button a few more times, to no result. "Cool." Further button-pressing. "Great." She jiggles the button in and out, grimacing like it's a loose tooth, then gives up and swears loudly. "Sorry," she adds, a moment later. "I, uh, really didn't need this today."
Wally does his best to smile, but it can't help but come out a little wonky.
"I didn't either," he says.
The woman lifts an eyebrow, nods slowly.
"Yeah," she says. "I can't imagine anyone has 'stuck in a lift' on their bucket list." She leans against the rail, kicking her heels. "Well, I'm Flannery."
"Wally. This is Cadoc."
Cadoc glares – which, as he's a ralts and his eyes are almost invisible under his hair, Flannery does not seem to notice. Fortunately.
"Nice to meet you." She gives the elevator buttons a dirty look. "Wish it were under better circumstances."
"Hah. Yeah."
There's a long silence. It is weirdly quiet in here. No mechanical noises, not even the distant bustle of pedestrians and commerce.
"Hopefully they'll realise it's stuck soon," says Flannery.
"Yeah."
Another silence. This one might actually be longer. Everyone's worried about Wally's lungs, but honestly? Right now, he's pretty sure it's his heart that can't take this.
"So," says Flannery, to his immense relief. "What brings a kid like you to an elevator like this?"
"Oh, we were just on our way to the trainer supply shop," he replies, so grateful to break the silence that he almost doesn't even trip over his words. "We just … um, lost our first trainer battle."
"Mm." Flannery makes a face. "That always stings. You get used to it, though. Everyone loses."
"I'm not so sure about that," says Wally, thinking of Sapphire. "But thanks."
"No, I'm pretty sure about it. I've been doing this over ten years and my win/lose ratio's still hovering around 65:35."
"You're a trainer too?"
"Yeah." Flannery sighs. "That's why I'm here today. I just took over Lavaridge Gym."
"Oh!" Wally remembers seeing something about that – a feature in Trainer, maybe, covering the gym shake-up for the new training season. Double-page spread: Norman Windom on one side, Flannery Ahern on the other. But he didn't recognise her without the sunglasses. Or the undercut. "Yeah, I heard about that. You, um … look different to your picture."
Flannery raises her eyebrows, tightening her lips. Some grown-up expression that Wally can't quite parse.
"Yeah," she says, touching her hair self-consciously. "Trying something out. New gym, new me. But they needed pictures for the press pack and at the time I only had that one from last year."
"I see," says Wally, although he doesn't, and in fact never even realised that gym management or magazines had that much work put into them.
"So yeah," she says, kindly pretending to believe him. "I'm retyping the gym, you probably heard. Which means we need new badges. I wanted a local artist, but it turns out that there isn't even one designer based in Lavaridge, so I found someone who was born in Lavaridge and now lives here." Flannery checks her watch. "Except I'm now incredibly late and I can't find a phone anywhere."
"Right."
Oh God, not the silence again. Wally glances down at Cadoc, in case he has anything to add, but ralts aren't really known for being very vocal. No larynx. It's all hisses and grunts and projected emotions.
"So you, you're a new trainer, eh?"
"Oh. Not … really." He forces a smile. "I thought I could be. But I have a lung condition. My parents sent me to Verdanturf for the air, and I think they're right."
"Hm." Flannery folds her arms. "Yeah, I feel you."
What does that even mean? Wally's genuinely not sure.
"You do?" he asks.
"Yeah." She sighs. "I'm not really sure I'm cut out for the gym leader gig, myself. I can battle, sure, but … well, there's more to it than that. All this admin stuff, for a start. Public face of the League. Dealing with local pokémon emergencies. Supporting kids on their journeys, oh my God." She starts away from the rail, throwing one hand up in the air. "Like I barely have my own life in order, I've gone through two boyfriends, a girlfriend and about four thousand cigarettes in the last six months alone – how am I gonna tell some kid how to live theirs?"
So much that Wally had never thought of before. And a gym leader position is the ultimate goal for trainers anyway, isn't it? If you keep it up past a journey, into the pro battling circuit, then what you want, in the end, is to nab a League place.
No, it's a good thing he's given up. There's no way he could ever handle all that. Not even with Cadoc at his side. Sapphire? Sure, she could probably do it with her eyes closed, same way she can do everything. But he's just some kid with chronic bronchitis.
"It, um … does sound like a lot," he admits.
"You're telling me." She smiles ruefully. "Sorry. My brain just caught up with my mouth now. Didn't mean to go on like that."
"It's all right. It's …" Finish the sentence. Finish the sentence, Wally, it's not hard. "… a stressful sorta situation."
"Sure is."
Pause. Then Flannery looks ruefully at the doors.
"They're taking their sweet time, huh."
"Yeah." How long has it been, exactly? Too long. "My uncle's gonna kill me."
"Surely he can't blame you for this," she says. "I mean, a lift gets stuck, that's an act of God. Or mechanical engineering failure. One of the two."
Is that a joke? Wally hopes it is, because he's laughing, or a little bit anyway.
"Right," he says. "Uh, sorry―"
"What for? It's a joke."
"Ah. Um, right."
She holds his gaze for a moment, and then they both start laughing again. Cadoc hisses down at their feet, evidently feeling left out, so Wally picks him up and holds him the way he likes.
"You know," he says, still shaking off lingering splutters of laughter, "I always thought getting stuck in an elevator would be scarier."
"Hey, we still might die in here," she points out, which isn't funny at all, but it still somehow gets them laughing again.
"Right," he agrees, hugging Cadoc close, grinning over his head. "Right."
Flannery grins back, the last of her giggles fading.
"Hey, Wally," she says. "You know, uh … the trails are always out there, right?"
"Huh?"
"You know. When you're better. Look, I'm not a doctor – not even close – but … just 'cause you can't go out training right now doesn't mean you won't ever."
"Oh." The blood rushes to his cheeks. "I don't know, I'm – I'm not all that good at it, anyway."
"I mean. Same. Started my career with a twenty-eight battle losing streak." Wry grin. "Sure, there's always some hotshot who's tipped to be the next Champion the same year they start out, but you know. They're not normal. They're the freaks, not us."
All the muscles in Wally's body stiffen up at once; his lungs tighten threateningly, his arms clench around Cadoc.
"You – mean it?" he wheezes, as Cadoc whines and wriggles free again.
"Sure, I mean it." Flannery's grin broadens. "Normal people lose constantly. It's not about that, anyway. It's about … I remember, way back, coming out onto Silver Strand down on the south-east coast with my torkoal. Sunlight on the ocean like the breath of God blowing life into the world." She shakes her head, movements slow and heavy with memory. "That's what it's about, Wally. Getting out there and seeing it all."
Seeing it all. Sapphire mentioned the cliffs over Dewford, the high mewling calls of the wingull and the gannets. The salty sting of the wild, belonging for that moment to her and Starr alone.
Wally opens his mouth – coughs – closes it and tries again.
"Flannery," he says.
"Yeah?"
"I, uh … I think you know how to give advice to kid trainers after all."
Her jaw drops. Actually drops, like a cartoon.
"Well, would you look at that," she says. "Cheers, Wally." A kind of surprised, self-satisfied twitch of her head, of her eyebrows. "Yeah," she says. "Well. I'm, uh … happy I could help."
"Yeah," he says. "Um … me too."
She smiles. He smiles back. And the elevator groans, clanks, and judders into life.
"Holy crap." Flannery stares at it, then at Wally. "Does this thing run on the power of friendship or something?"
And Wally really doesn't have an answer for that.
"I think maybe we're on the wrong level," he says, staring at a wall-mounted map that doesn't seem to make any sense whatsoever. "I mean, everything round here looks residential."
Cadoc hisses, his horn pulsing with inner light. Trying to communicate, but Wally's not yet been with him long enough to receive anything he transmits, let alone understand it.
"Yeah," says Wally, deciding that he was suggesting they ask someone. "That's, um … I don't think I can do that. Sorry."
The thought makes his throat close up in a way that has nothing to do with his illness. And some of the pedestrians are starting to look at him like they might decide to come and ask if the kid all by himself is lost, so it's time to move before anyone gets any ideas.
"Right," he says, going over to the elevators. "Cadoc, I'm making an executive decision. We're gonna go up a level."
It isn't a long wait, but he's relieved when it arrives, and even more so when it dings and slides open to reveal it's empty. A moment alone to wind down his nerves. That's what he needs. And then when it opens up on the next floor, he'll walk out, calm and collected, and be able to find his way again. No problem.
"C'mon, Cadoc," he says, hurrying in. "Up to Level 2."
He hits the button―
"Hey, can you hold that?"
Wally looks: there's someone running across the atrium towards the lift, clutching a bag and hairstyle that are currently both doing their level best to escape her.
"Oh," he says, looking frantically for the 'open doors' button and finding it a second before they shut. "Uh – okay, I got it!"
"Thanks," replies the someone, crashing breathlessly through the doors and stumbling up against the far wall. "God, this city. Like it was designed by the people who make mazes for lab rats."
Wally smiles nervously. This is clearly not going to be the chance to recentre that he hoped.
"Anyway. Thanks." The woman gathers up her hair and forces it back into a ponytail, though beyond the hair tie it immediately explodes out again into a giant crimson star. "Uh, Level 2, please."
"Sure."
Wally presses the button and the elevator judders into life, doors clunking together as it rises through Mauville's guts. And he's fully expecting that to be the end of it, to see the doors open on Level 2 a moment later – but what happens instead is that something crunches, then grinds, and the elevator stops moving altogether.
The woman looks at Wally.
Wally looks back.
"You're kidding me," she says. "The elevator's stuck? Like in a movie?"
"I, um, I guess so," he replies, screaming internally. "Uh …"
They keep looking at each other for a moment, unable to process the weirdness of it all. Then the woman sighs and thrusts a stray lock of hair behind her ear.
"Right," she says, coming over to the controls. "I guess there's a button to press?"
"Uh, yeah, I – I think it's …"
"Yeah, I got it." She jabs her thumb down on the button. "Let's see … oh, great." She presses the button a few more times, to no result. "Cool." Further button-pressing. "Great." She jiggles the button in and out, grimacing like it's a loose tooth, then gives up and swears loudly. "Sorry," she adds, a moment later. "I, uh, really didn't need this today."
Wally does his best to smile, but it can't help but come out a little wonky.
"I didn't either," he says.
The woman lifts an eyebrow, nods slowly.
"Yeah," she says. "I can't imagine anyone has 'stuck in a lift' on their bucket list." She leans against the rail, kicking her heels. "Well, I'm Flannery."
"Wally. This is Cadoc."
Cadoc glares – which, as he's a ralts and his eyes are almost invisible under his hair, Flannery does not seem to notice. Fortunately.
"Nice to meet you." She gives the elevator buttons a dirty look. "Wish it were under better circumstances."
"Hah. Yeah."
There's a long silence. It is weirdly quiet in here. No mechanical noises, not even the distant bustle of pedestrians and commerce.
"Hopefully they'll realise it's stuck soon," says Flannery.
"Yeah."
Another silence. This one might actually be longer. Everyone's worried about Wally's lungs, but honestly? Right now, he's pretty sure it's his heart that can't take this.
"So," says Flannery, to his immense relief. "What brings a kid like you to an elevator like this?"
"Oh, we were just on our way to the trainer supply shop," he replies, so grateful to break the silence that he almost doesn't even trip over his words. "We just … um, lost our first trainer battle."
"Mm." Flannery makes a face. "That always stings. You get used to it, though. Everyone loses."
"I'm not so sure about that," says Wally, thinking of Sapphire. "But thanks."
"No, I'm pretty sure about it. I've been doing this over ten years and my win/lose ratio's still hovering around 65:35."
"You're a trainer too?"
"Yeah." Flannery sighs. "That's why I'm here today. I just took over Lavaridge Gym."
"Oh!" Wally remembers seeing something about that – a feature in Trainer, maybe, covering the gym shake-up for the new training season. Double-page spread: Norman Windom on one side, Flannery Ahern on the other. But he didn't recognise her without the sunglasses. Or the undercut. "Yeah, I heard about that. You, um … look different to your picture."
Flannery raises her eyebrows, tightening her lips. Some grown-up expression that Wally can't quite parse.
"Yeah," she says, touching her hair self-consciously. "Trying something out. New gym, new me. But they needed pictures for the press pack and at the time I only had that one from last year."
"I see," says Wally, although he doesn't, and in fact never even realised that gym management or magazines had that much work put into them.
"So yeah," she says, kindly pretending to believe him. "I'm retyping the gym, you probably heard. Which means we need new badges. I wanted a local artist, but it turns out that there isn't even one designer based in Lavaridge, so I found someone who was born in Lavaridge and now lives here." Flannery checks her watch. "Except I'm now incredibly late and I can't find a phone anywhere."
"Right."
Oh God, not the silence again. Wally glances down at Cadoc, in case he has anything to add, but ralts aren't really known for being very vocal. No larynx. It's all hisses and grunts and projected emotions.
"So you, you're a new trainer, eh?"
"Oh. Not … really." He forces a smile. "I thought I could be. But I have a lung condition. My parents sent me to Verdanturf for the air, and I think they're right."
"Hm." Flannery folds her arms. "Yeah, I feel you."
What does that even mean? Wally's genuinely not sure.
"You do?" he asks.
"Yeah." She sighs. "I'm not really sure I'm cut out for the gym leader gig, myself. I can battle, sure, but … well, there's more to it than that. All this admin stuff, for a start. Public face of the League. Dealing with local pokémon emergencies. Supporting kids on their journeys, oh my God." She starts away from the rail, throwing one hand up in the air. "Like I barely have my own life in order, I've gone through two boyfriends, a girlfriend and about four thousand cigarettes in the last six months alone – how am I gonna tell some kid how to live theirs?"
So much that Wally had never thought of before. And a gym leader position is the ultimate goal for trainers anyway, isn't it? If you keep it up past a journey, into the pro battling circuit, then what you want, in the end, is to nab a League place.
No, it's a good thing he's given up. There's no way he could ever handle all that. Not even with Cadoc at his side. Sapphire? Sure, she could probably do it with her eyes closed, same way she can do everything. But he's just some kid with chronic bronchitis.
"It, um … does sound like a lot," he admits.
"You're telling me." She smiles ruefully. "Sorry. My brain just caught up with my mouth now. Didn't mean to go on like that."
"It's all right. It's …" Finish the sentence. Finish the sentence, Wally, it's not hard. "… a stressful sorta situation."
"Sure is."
Pause. Then Flannery looks ruefully at the doors.
"They're taking their sweet time, huh."
"Yeah." How long has it been, exactly? Too long. "My uncle's gonna kill me."
"Surely he can't blame you for this," she says. "I mean, a lift gets stuck, that's an act of God. Or mechanical engineering failure. One of the two."
Is that a joke? Wally hopes it is, because he's laughing, or a little bit anyway.
"Right," he says. "Uh, sorry―"
"What for? It's a joke."
"Ah. Um, right."
She holds his gaze for a moment, and then they both start laughing again. Cadoc hisses down at their feet, evidently feeling left out, so Wally picks him up and holds him the way he likes.
"You know," he says, still shaking off lingering splutters of laughter, "I always thought getting stuck in an elevator would be scarier."
"Hey, we still might die in here," she points out, which isn't funny at all, but it still somehow gets them laughing again.
"Right," he agrees, hugging Cadoc close, grinning over his head. "Right."
Flannery grins back, the last of her giggles fading.
"Hey, Wally," she says. "You know, uh … the trails are always out there, right?"
"Huh?"
"You know. When you're better. Look, I'm not a doctor – not even close – but … just 'cause you can't go out training right now doesn't mean you won't ever."
"Oh." The blood rushes to his cheeks. "I don't know, I'm – I'm not all that good at it, anyway."
"I mean. Same. Started my career with a twenty-eight battle losing streak." Wry grin. "Sure, there's always some hotshot who's tipped to be the next Champion the same year they start out, but you know. They're not normal. They're the freaks, not us."
All the muscles in Wally's body stiffen up at once; his lungs tighten threateningly, his arms clench around Cadoc.
"You – mean it?" he wheezes, as Cadoc whines and wriggles free again.
"Sure, I mean it." Flannery's grin broadens. "Normal people lose constantly. It's not about that, anyway. It's about … I remember, way back, coming out onto Silver Strand down on the south-east coast with my torkoal. Sunlight on the ocean like the breath of God blowing life into the world." She shakes her head, movements slow and heavy with memory. "That's what it's about, Wally. Getting out there and seeing it all."
Seeing it all. Sapphire mentioned the cliffs over Dewford, the high mewling calls of the wingull and the gannets. The salty sting of the wild, belonging for that moment to her and Starr alone.
Wally opens his mouth – coughs – closes it and tries again.
"Flannery," he says.
"Yeah?"
"I, uh … I think you know how to give advice to kid trainers after all."
Her jaw drops. Actually drops, like a cartoon.
"Well, would you look at that," she says. "Cheers, Wally." A kind of surprised, self-satisfied twitch of her head, of her eyebrows. "Yeah," she says. "Well. I'm, uh … happy I could help."
"Yeah," he says. "Um … me too."
She smiles. He smiles back. And the elevator groans, clanks, and judders into life.
"Holy crap." Flannery stares at it, then at Wally. "Does this thing run on the power of friendship or something?"
And Wally really doesn't have an answer for that.
*
"Well, I guess this is it."
Level 2 looks much more familiar. There's a sign for the store that Wally's after, right there on the wall. And another for the car park where his uncle will be waiting.
"I guess so," he agrees. "Thanks. It was nice meeting you."
"Couldn't have got stuck in a lift with a nicer guy," says Flannery, shouldering her bag. "Thanks for the pep talk."
"No, thank you."
"Heh. I guess." The corner of her mouth turns up, just a little. "Now, I gotta run, but I'll be looking out for you at the gym. No rush. Take care of your lungs and all. But I'll be waiting."
She winks – and is gone, hurrying off down the hall with her hair bouncing behind her. Wally watches her go until she turns the corner, chest tight in a way that has nothing to do with his bronchitis. Then he sighs and looks down at Cadoc.
"What d'you think?" he asks. "You think we've got a chance?"
Cadoc meets his eye, bunching his tiny fists.
"It's going to be difficult," Wally warns him. "We'll have to convince Uncle. Or sneak out. And we're going to have to do so much training."
Cadoc growls. Which, as he's a ralts, is much more cute than threatening, but the intent is crystal clear.
"Well, okay." Wally grins and picks him up, nestling him into the crook of his arm. "We'd better get going, then. Partner."
And he can tell right away that the deep purr of satisfaction in Cadoc's chest will still be echoing in his ears when he finally arrives at Lavaridge Gym.
