[color=0076a3][center][h2]Sebastien Tomas[/h2][/center][/color]

Sebastien felt that he wasn’t properly dressed for a meeting of this severity, but given that none of the others were either it seemed to be okay; at least he wasn’t as hung over as some of them seemed to be. Keeping his drinking light and alternating between alcohol and water had done wonders for that, though it also meant he was one of the few people sober enough at the end of the night to be roped into cleaning up after the rest of them before he could go home himself.

Following up on all of that by then waking up early the following morning to have enough time to get ready for the opening ceremony the next day had him questioning [i]why[/i] the drinks had been scheduled the day before the second biggest event of the year for trainers across the region. It couldn’t have been because they had expected people to show some restraint, given how some of the other leaders had immediately gone for the heavy stuff; it felt ill-conceived from the get go.

None of that mattered much now though; the opening ceremony was cancelled and though they didn’t say as much, he had to assume that the gym challenger and Galar Cup were as well. There was much point to hosting it with Ryker missing after all; you couldn’t have a championship with no champion, not to mention that carrying on as normal and holding a tournament to take the crown of someone who’s fate was apparently up in the air would be callous to say the least.

Would the minor gym challenge also be cancelled? The trainers challenging the minor league weren’t fighting for entrance to the Galar Cup, but rather than chance to take part in the gym challenge next season; technically you could beat all of the minor gyms and try to challenge the major league straight after, but doing so put you at a huge disadvantage so most trainers would just let their free ticket roll over to the following year. It could feasibly continue with the champion missing.

It felt rude to ask. The other gym leaders were more concerned with what had happened to Ryker than what was going to happen to them or their roles; rightfully so, since they all knew the kid and were worried for his wellbeing. Stepping in to ask about his job in the middle of all that seemed crass, even if he was frustrated that the whole thing would be cancelled during his first year.

[color=0076a3]“So what happens next?”[/color]