[Tobias tries to lean into the hug as best he can, looking at the little Lance!figure with an odd expression. He doesn't know why, but... it kind of hurts. Even if he only ever fought the man in the Elite 4, even if he just saw him that once in the cave, it's only being able to think clearly that Tobias can understand what Lance had done.
Lance had gone in to find him knowing the dangers. He had tried to help for Tobias' own good. And when the accident happened and he was dying in the most agonizing way Tobias could think of, Lance used the last bit of his strength to make it clear that he never blamed Toby. That scar Tobias held, that guilt and sick feeling and pain, it was something that would probably never go away. But Lance, even in that way, was important. Because...
Lance was the first person who wasn't afraid of him. Even dying, he was never afraid. He never hated.
And Tobias can't let him fall away and be forgotten. Not this time.]
...He was really strong, you know? His Pokemon loved him a lot, and even after I won, he was smiling. I think he liked us.
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[Tobias tries to lean into the hug as best he can, looking at the little Lance!figure with an odd expression. He doesn't know why, but... it kind of hurts. Even if he only ever fought the man in the Elite 4, even if he just saw him that once in the cave, it's only being able to think clearly that Tobias can understand what Lance had done.
Lance had gone in to find him knowing the dangers. He had tried to help for Tobias' own good. And when the accident happened and he was dying in the most agonizing way Tobias could think of, Lance used the last bit of his strength to make it clear that he never blamed Toby. That scar Tobias held, that guilt and sick feeling and pain, it was something that would probably never go away. But Lance, even in that way, was important. Because...
Lance was the first person who wasn't afraid of him. Even dying, he was never afraid. He never hated.
And Tobias can't let him fall away and be forgotten. Not this time.]
...He was really strong, you know? His Pokemon loved him a lot, and even after I won, he was smiling. I think he liked us.