Lyle wandered into the waiting room that he’d been directed to. Since nobody else had made it through the tournament undefeated, there would be a tiebreaker round between two of the other participants. So he'd been given a break, enough time to heal his pokemon, relax a bit, go to the bathroom, or whatever. Lyle had already made sure his pokemon were healed, and now he had time to think.

And he didn’t like what he was thinking. He flopped onto the nearest couch and stared at his feet. Spinel had been riding on his hat as usual, and the Sableye slipped from his perch to tumble onto the cushion. The little pokemon was still quite excited from his win, and he bounced around a bit before flopping down in imitation of his trainer.

Normally this would make Lyle smile, but he wasn’t paying attention. He was thinking about the future more seriously than he ever had. Namely, about what could happen after the tournament. Obviously he knew that the purpose of the event was to select a Gym Leader for the Katarina Gym. But he’d thought he would never get close, maybe win a battle or two and go home. He was only a junior Gym Trainer after all, far from the best trainer in the region. Much better trainers were sure to enter. Yet now here he was, about to enter the final battle, and winning was a very real possibility. Noticing that he was staring at his shoes, Lyle started to kick one idly, watching the laces bounce.

What would he do if he won? He’d be made a Gym Leader apparently, despite being just a kid. Did he really want that? When he entered the Motterossa Gym Leader search, he thought that would be the coolest thing. But now that he’d actually lived and worked at the Motterossa Gym, he saw how much work it took to keep running. He leaned his head back and heaved a sigh.

Spinel looked up, surprised. His boy never sounded like that. He’d been too hyped up before, but now he noticed that his boy was much less excited, and just staring into space. “Sable?” he asked, his tone concerned.

Lyle looked down at his pokemon. “Hmm? I’m fine, Spinel,” Lyle told him. His tone was not convincing.

Spinel shook his head vigorously. “Sable, sableye!” the pokemon insisted, clambering upright to be closer to eye-level to his boy.

Lyle paused, then sighed and flopped his head against the backrest again. “Why did I enter this, Spinel? I can’t be a Gym Leader. I don’t know anything about managing gym staff or keeping a budget like Leader Shina. I don’t even know if I’d have a budget. I can’t afford to run a Gym! All my money since I’ve been a trainer has come from Leader Shina, as payment for being a gym trainer. I can’t expect her to fund a whole other Gym, especially since I couldn’t work for her any more. Mom and big bro and sis can barely fund my family, so they couldn’t help. And nobody ever said if the Pokemon League funds the Gyms. And I’m still in school! The whole Gym would end up being me in the dusty stadium of the old Gym, holding battles on weekends if I didn’t have any homework.” He stopped to picture the sorry scene, then muttered, “I’d be the lamest Gym Leader ever.”

Spinel did not like this. His boy should not be like this. He didn’t really get most of what his boy was talking about, since about all he knew about money was it was a thing humans needed to get other things, and his boy’s family didn’t have a lot of it. He didn’t understand why it was so important, but he did understand that his boy was unhappy, and he didn’t want his boy to be unhappy. His wide mouth drooped into a frown. “Sableye, leye,” he said, trying to say something like “cheer up,” but stopped. His boy never understood him. Could he do something else? “Leye,” he muttered. Then again a bit louder, “Leye. Leye…l? Leyel!”

Lyle looked up, startled. “Did you just say my name?” he asked, incredulously.

“Leyel!” Spinel repeated happily. When he saw Lyle smile at that, he grew more excited. “Leyel leyel!” he chirped, then clambered up onto his boy’s hat and hung his head upside-down over the brim. That had made him laugh before. “Leyel!”

Lyle had to grin at that. “Spinel, you’re really clever. I never thought you’d be able to say my name!” It was impossible to be upset when his best buddy was being so smart and funny. And resourceful! Sableye could only make a few sounds that humans could understand, but he’d managed to rearrange them into something that sounded like a real word.

…Could Lyle be that smart? He didn’t have much, but maybe he would find a way to make it work. And he wouldn’t be expected to run a whole Gym alone, right?

Before he could think about it too much, a loudspeaker crackled out a message to call him to the field. Lyle stood up to go, and Spinel shifted back on his hat so that he didn’t topple off. Whatever happened next, at least he was starting the battle feeling better. “Let’s go kick some butt!” he said, raising his hand up by his head, palm towards his hat.

“Leyel!” Spinel agreed, reaching out a hand to high-five his boy. Together they headed off for the final battle of the tournament.