[ he sways lightly with the push to the arm, rolling his eyes at the jib. but lance (while definitely a proud person) has the ability to admit that his genius (or whatever it is) has come with a lengthy list of experiences where he was not that smart.

everyone has flaws, so on and so forth.

he nearly corrects blue at the "that did you in" comment, because he did not lose, but. you know. it doesn't really matter. though he does make a mental note of that, when he eventually visits alola. ice types don't particularly scare him or make him nervous (the ice caves are a direct connection to blackthorn, after all, and lance spent more than a few long years as a child exploring them and training), but better safe than sorry. ice beams for dragonite to be avoided, and all that.

but: ]

And here you are, concerned that Kanto is falling behind.

[ amused, as he crosses his arms. there's something to be said, for how difficult it is to traverse kanto and johto. there is no high speed line, or train. you truly need to rely on your pokemon, to make it. there is no such luxury, there. though it is slowly changing, and cities like celadon and goldenrod are bastions of new in a world that is still very much old.

in lance's opinion, it breeds strength. but having visited unova, kalos, galar . . . it can be easy to look at kanto and johto and wonder what they're missing. especially if you're a teenager who hasn't known anything else.

lance definitely spent way too much time in goldenrod city the first time he left home, because it was just so big. ]

Even with the development of new leagues and expansion of understanding of Pokemon, the world will continue to look toward Kanto for guidance and leadership.

[ team rocket or not. and on that line of thought, lance pauses before glancing around at the surroundings, wrinkling his nose. ]

I suppose that trend is going to continue, here.

[ given it's . . . blue and lance.

what a tagteam of excellence. ]