he smiles. there was no further need to goad him over the fact unless he wants to turn the situation awkward. cian would take it seriously too, so he'd rather not to opt in.

"i don't think we have those in this garden though."

he turns to their patch of plants.

"we can ask the neighbors if they have some," he answers. "there's probably someone around here that supplies to flower shops. you can even do the bouquet yourself, or one of those fancy flower arrangement baskets, or whatever those are called."

kyle picks up a shovel afterwards and plants it on the ground.

"but that's after we fix this patch."

"i don't think he's looking for an avatar at the moment."

that was the only angle he can see from cian's intro of his presentation.

kyle watches it fly away, stifling a laugh until the thundurus is way out of their sight. only then does he let go, though he still covers his mouth with the back of his hand for some semblance of courtesy.

"you really should have led with another statement, hoenn hotshot."

he forgets the first 'h' once again.

somehow, an image of a young squire learning how to use a sword comes to mind.

"we'll be so bad at parenting, but i guess that's what's going to make it fun."

the subject of being a parent comes to him like a wave, almost in a nostalgic feeling, but it goes as quick as it came. there's a pensive smile that accompanies the thought, which was replaced by playfulness with his next statement.

"i'm not really sure what else i want though. i like the present as it is."

he sighs of contentment.

kyle finishes the rest of his sandwich, licking his lips clean and neatly folding the wrapper as soon as he's done with it.

"you can ask navy or merlo about it if you want."

she seemed acquainted with the two already anyways. if anything, they might understand how to talk to her more than him. as it is, they're more strangers who know each others names as opposed to a person who lends their pokemon to her, or someone who lets them decorate their gym..

he tries to wave it off with a motion of his hand, dismissing the topic if she wasn't interested in discussing it after the stunt she pulled off during the kyurem event.

"it's just something about you being in the spotlight now," he clarifies. "but i guess that's not something new for you and your current situation. you already know the precautions, probably."

as someone who ran away from rocket, it wasn't difficult to think that it was the case.

his hand was already hovering a pokemon that can change the weather, but his first move changes when he sees the pokemon that navy takes out.

"sometimes, i wish i was average so i can justify complaining."

the manectric pops out of the ball as kyle whines out a complaint against the gods that made him this way.

navy was right. he followed this path knowing the consequences, and so he doesn't have the right to grumble and moan. at least he likes the perks that came with it, as he's in the front seat of every major event hoenn has to face as a region.

"electric terrain!"

the surge of electricity covers the field, powering up the paradox pokemon if kyle understands quark drive well enough.

as the koraidon faces against navy's iron valiant, kyle turns to look at the koraidon on their side. it slowly regains its strength, eyeing the clash as it waits for an opportunity to join the fight again.

he looks up.

"no," he answers.

it's unnatural, almost as if a pokemon had done it. with eyes on their own tapu koko, kyle knows that it was from a third party that would be agitated at the scene he was included in.

drk triad, perhaps? maybe a rocket who found key members of the league and thought they would be easy targets. kyle wouldn't even discount the idea of it simply being wild pokemon.

"do you think you can strike back?" he asks tapu koko. "you know, just in-"

he wasn't even able to finish his sentence when the tapu koko obliges, not because of kyle's request, but because it, too, was bridled with curiosity with who the assailant was.

it shoots its own thunder at the sky in an attempt to strike it down in retaliation.

"oh, hey! thanks!"

he takes one and immediately takes a bite. the taste doesn't differ much since it's uses the same brand products, but it's the fact that matias made it that makes the difference.

as soon as he swallows the bite he took, he licks the crumbs off of his lips before turns to matias.

"you're being too stiff. is anything wrong?"

part of him is tempted to prod deeper and to tease him about it, while the other part tries to argue to let him answer first. the side of mischief wins in the end.

"did you add another month to your probation period again? i heard they've been noticing gaps of absence, hm?"

kyle holds the small pokemon inside his jacket as they travel through area zero.

"-and it's fine. you're more likely to die than i do anyways."

they had been holding a conversation as they walked, voices hushed as to not let their exact location known. kyle's own efforts wouldn't be effective though, but it pays to play it safe than not.

kyle elected himself to accompany matias on his trip. while he's aware more destruction could be warranted had he not been around him, possible repercussions from it wouldn't be something he finds himself agreeing with.

it would've been much easier if he hadn't been attached.

"oh, yeah. let me know if i should stop talking. you're more attentive when it comes to these things."

while he does have some level of acute perception of his own, reliance to his own dog pokemon for it dulls the senses. besides, it was cute when matias takes responsibility of his own.

"call me kyle," he tells them. "nice to meet you, lutgarde."

his tone was casual, bordering friendly. there is no sense of authority in his voice, true to his nature as a carefree being. even had he not been someone of his title, he still would be here.

the mightyena beside him follows his trainer's beat, trotting alongside them in their trip to sate their curiosity.

"the nice thing about terastalization is that it's at least simple enough to understand in concept," he says in an attempt to ease his companion. "i'm sure it'll come to you naturally."

it did to most of the people who had tried it.

"hey, want to give it a go while it's still quiet?"

"i've never been in this room before," he tells cian. "i just wanted to see how well i vibe with it, you know."

he can only vibe well since there was a floating fan rotom, courtesy of rotomtv, sponsor of cian's early days, keeping him cool.

"besides, i'm the substitute. substitutes should do it wherever the person they're replacing would have done it."

part of him was glad that MATIAS SILPH was out with a date with Elisabeth Fiorelli since he assumes that cian was one of the people who should have a negative opinion of the guy.

knowing cian though, he'd more likely blame himself for the loss of his relationship with PENELOPE LIVY rather than matias.

"don't worry," kyle releases his pokemon on the field, "you'll have a different experience here than there. we'll save the change of scenery for when it matters."

both kyles are hyped. one is excited to see dynamax in action when it comes to a fight for sport, while the other was seemingly interested in how the gym's appearance meshes well with the scene.

"let's go!"

two giants would find themselves face to face: the bear throwing out its fist while the canid musters its max knuckle towards the opposing gigantamax pokemon.

fists were exchanged, and as they collide with each other, the fabric of reality shatters as shards of space crack with the force.

pieces of what they see in front of them scatter away from the point of impact, and the gym that they designed is quite literally teared apart. they break on the ground on impact, disintegrating into pixels as a new scene lays in front of them.

"a celebration's not really my style, but i guess that's a good excuse to waste time and money for fun."

the kick underneath the table doesn't go unnoticed. it gets a smile out of kyle as he leans forward on the table, arms sprawled lazily atop the unsanitary fast food top.

the champion gazes up to the gym leader, a flush of red tinting his cheeks.

"we can have something more than that, if you want," he offers.

a fry is taken as chewed while his mouth continues to move.

"it's not like you can get rid of me, you have to remember that. we even signed a contract and everything."

he returns the kick from under the table.