[center][h2]Thomas Thorne[/h2][/center]

Tom was procrastinating. There wasn’t really any other way to put it.

He wasn’t running late. He wasn’t lost and trying to find his way; this was his damn hometown for one thing and was too small to get lost in to begin with for another. He wasn’t taking his time.

He was just… trying to put off deciding if he was actually going to go through with this.

Things would have been simpler if he had never won the lottery. Then he could just say it was bad luck and go back to beating his head against the wall that was trying to be an independent trainer. Maybe he would have even seen the Champion and the lucky lottery winners pass him by like everyone else did and he could scoff at them and say it only happened because they got a free ride and he didn’t. The indignation from that would give him another little boost so he could keep trying for a little longer. Hell, things would have been better if he had never entered at all.

But he had won, by some miracle or curse. His ticket had been chosen and he was given the chance to take that free ride with the others. And he was having a hard time coming to terms with that, knowing that he would have sneered at the kids who won in his place if he hadn’t.

Because that? That would make him a hypocrite. It would mean all of the things he had said and the fights he had had about exactly this kind of thing and how right he had felt as he had said them were actually wrong; it would mean he was wrong. It would mean he had wasted his time, his Pokémon’s time, but doing things wrong this whole time. Except, if he had done things differently then he would even have his Pokémon would he? He would have different Pokémon and any choice that meant he didn’t have Storm and Night with him [i]had[/i] to be the wrong one, right?
 
But [i]god[/i], he was so sick of not making any progress.

So, it wouldn’t hurt to just go along with this for a little while, get passed this one hurdle and then go his own way, right?

Right.

With a sigh, Thomas picked up his backpack and pushed off of the wall he had been leaning against. It was a short walk to the meeting place, he had only been right around the corner as he made his decision after all, and he soon found himself only a few paces away from the Champion himself. Thomas looked eyes with the man, but didn’t say anything for a few seconds as he just stared, words he didn’t know the form of right at the tip of his tongue.

Then he broke eye contact and went to sit at the end of the bench as far away from the man as he could.