[ aw, hydrapple. archaludon joins in with a bell-like echo of his own, and drayton laughs too. the pokemon were already committed to doing their best in this weird situation, it seemed.

and, well... he had wanted to patch things up with kieran. the lingering bitterness after that, uh, whole league debacle was taking time to fade fully, but he missed being able to battle the guy without all the weird tension. this sure was a bizarre path to making that happen, but hey. when life gives you sitrus berries. ]

Sure thing. Sorry you're stuck with me an' not your sis or that transfer student buddy of ours. [ a pause. ] Pretty sure that one'd find a way outta this somehow, anyway.