For Her Hand

Chapter Sixty-Two

Allie waited patiently by the Galette Stand for Seth to arrive. The sun was setting and yet the streets were still as busy as ever. Many families were all gathered around and enjoying the most beloved treat in all of Kalos. She sighed as she looked at her holocaster, almost wondering what had gotten into her for suddenly asking him to come and meet her. While she didn't want to be showing any sort of favoritism, at least... not anymore, she didn't want to let a good deed go unrewarded. To her, this was a token of gratitude.

At her feet sat Furfrou, her faithful companion, who had decided to accompany her on her little rendezvous. Catching his familiar scent, Furfrou's ears perked up and her tail began to wag. Noticing her friend's elation, she turned her head in the direction Furfrou was looking and spotted Seth approaching the bench she was sitting on. Smiling, she stood up and waved to him. Seth returned the gesture and made his way over to her and sat down beside her.

"It's been some time. I trust all is well?" Allie inquired, reaching down and pulling up a bag of sweets that she'd bought earlier.

"I've been doing okay. It's been nice spending time with family after being gone for so long. How about you, how've you been holding up?" Seth asked, glancing down at the paper bag on the bench between them, the scent wafting from them causing his mouth to water slightly.

"Everything's been going well so far. Some are still earning badges while others have taken to visiting family as you are it seems. Then again, when you've already met the requirements for the halfway point in the competition, it makes sense that you'd opt to rest instead of continuing your badge hunt," Allie mused.

"Yeah, about that... I already got the badge from here so I'm a little ahead in that regard," Seth replied. "I couldn't pass up a chance to earn just one more badge. Since Lumiose was on the way back I figured I might as well."

"I don't recall there being anything in the rules that said you couldn't forge ahead. Four badges was just the requirement for entering the ball. It showed that you were serious in pursuing the end goal of this contest. Thus far, only a few have yet to obtain their fourth badge. But I've no doubt they'll have it by the end of the week," Allie chuckled, reaching into the bag to pull out a pastry with icing shaped like the Lumiose Tower on it.

"That's a lot of galettes," Seth observed, looking at the size of the bag Allie had with her.

Allie took a bite of her cream-filled galette and sighed happily.

"One can never have too many of these. Especially when they're covered in chocolate and are filled with different ice cream flavors. I bought extra so we'd have enough to share," Allie said as she took another bite before nudging the bag toward Seth.

Reaching in, Seth fished out a galette and took a bite after thanking her.

"It's been a while since I've had these. My sister loves these things. Sometimes she'd come home with several bags full and stuff them all in the fridge. She's got a huge sweet tooth," Seth laughed as he bit off another chunk of the sweet treat.

"Sounds like her and I have another thing in common. That girl is going places," Allie said, beaming as she finished her galette and reached for another one before standing up. "What do you say we take a walk, say... to Vernal Avenue?"

"Sounds okay to me. Just a sec though, I'm gonna let my new friend out for a bit," Seth replied, reaching down and detaching a ball from his hip.

Giving it a toss, Seth released the lightning fox from his chamber out into the open. Jolteon yawned and stretched himself out. That's when Furfrou took notice of the spiky-furred addition to Seth's team. Tilting her head, she observed him while he limbered up for a walk. Allie looked down at the newest addition to Seth's team and nearly squealed in delight.