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Lyle hadn't been able to get to the Pokémon Center right after the tournament. The Pokémon League guys had to congratulate him take come pictures, and arrange to talk to him later about being the Gym Leader and signing some papers and stuff. Then they let him go heal his pokemon. He was kind of getting impatient by then because he didn't like to leave his pokemon knocked out for too long, so he kind of rushed and nearly bumped into someone on the way in. But after apologizing to the guy and talking with his briefly, Lyle headed on to the counter to get his pokemon healed.

Once he'd gotten Spinel back in his pokeball and handed all the pokeballs to the nurse, he went to sit down in the lobby. While he looked around for a seat, he spotted a shiny Charmeleon, and a moment later recognized the trainer stroking the pokemon's head. He'd fought Zak twice in the tournament, but he hadn't seen the Charmeleon. Then again, Lyle hadn't used some of his pokemon in the tournament, either.

After a moment, Lyle decided to go over and say hi. He stopped near the other trainer and said, "Hey, that was a good battle. You and your pokemon work really well together."

Lyle smiled and nodded. "Yeah, that's true. I couldn't have gotten this far without Spinel and my other pokemon," he answered. He never expected to win that tournament. Or win the rank that came with it. His smile kind of slipped at that thought and he sighed. Well, he'd think about that later. He shook his head to clear the thought and said to Zak, "I bet you'll do better next time. There's bound to me more chances sometime, right?"

Lyle nodded. "Sometimes it's just a matter of luck, if you and your opponent are about as strong as each other. One attack hitting or missing can make a big difference sometimes."

Lyle noticed Zeke heading over to him, but thought nothing of the pokemon sniffing at him. Pokémon got curious and did things like that sometimes. But when the Charmeleon pressed his forehead to Lyle, the young trainer was surprised by the gesture. "Oh. Hi there," he said, not knowing what the pokemon meant by it. Was he just being friendly? Or did he notice Lyle's mood and was trying to offer comfort? Either way, Lyle appreciated it. He started to lift his head to pet Zeke on the head, then realized that might be rude without permission and dropped it.

When Zak headed to the counter to pick up his pokemon, Lyle held his hands behind his back to resist the temptation to pat Zeke. He smiled at the Charmeleon though, before he turned to watch Zak. The older trainer was nice, and a good battler. He probably would have made a good Gym Leader. Of course, there was more to being a Gym Leader than battling. If that was all there was too it, Lyle would have no problem. It was all the managing rules and schedules and staff and stuff that was the hard part. Like, how was he supposed to pick gym assistants?

...Actually, that gave him an idea. He smiled and stood up a little straighter as Zak headed back over. Lyle opened his mouth to speak, but it turned into a giggle when Zue popped out and perched on Zak's head. It reminded him of Spinel. The little Sableye could fit on his head just fine, but a Crobat seemed too big to perch easily.

Once Zue seemed settled, Lyle tried again. "Hey, now that I'm a Gym Leader, I need gym trainers to battle challengers. Would you be interested in that?"

Lyle waited hopefully for Zak's answer, and his smile started to stretch wider at Zak's first words. But it shrunk again as the other trainer continued. Instead he nodded slowly. Yeah, that made sense.

"OK," Lyle answered. "I don't have a my own phone yet, but you can call the gym or stop by there to let me know what you decide. Oh, but I might not be there all the time, since I have to get back to Motterossa to bring over my stuff." He had to figure out when he could do that. Would he have time to go back and forth from one city to the other in between classes?

The headbutt earned a surprised "Woah!" from Lyle. He looked down at the Charmeleon with a grin. "You really want attention, huh? Like a cat-type pokemon that's demanding to be pet." If the pokemon was obviously asking for it, he figured it was probably OK to touch it, and reached up to rub Zeke's head.

When Zak started speaking again, Lyle looked back at him. "Oh, sure. I don't need to be anywhere right away." He glanced back down at Zeke, wondering if he should wander off and let the other trainer speak to his pokemon in private, or if he should stick around and keep petting the Charmeleon.

Fortunately, his decision was made for him when Lyle was called up to the desk to retrieve is pokemon. "Oh, I'll be right back," he said, glad of the excuse. He pet Zeke once more, then headed up to the desk to retrieve his pokeballs. He planned to take his time getting back to the other trainer.

After collecting his pokemon, Lyle took his time getting outside. He let Spinel out of his pokeball first thing, and the Sableye quickly climbed to his favorite perch on Lyle's hat. For the sake of wasting time, he also let out Comet to make sure the pokemon was all healed, then petted both pokemon and thanked them for doing such a good job during the battle. Comet seemed a bit big to leave out in the building though, so Lyle recalled the Floatzel.

Wondering if he'd given Zak and his pokemon, Lyle glanced out the window. It looked like the discussion was done, so he strolled out the door. "You all set?" he asked the other trainer.