He finds him, nearly collapsed in the midst of Sector oo1--the sky is colored a deep, vivid red, orange tinted mushroom clouds visible off in the distance. Fragments of cobblestorm, glass and asphalt litter the ground alongside the remains of decaying corpses and blood.
Azumarill peers up at Connor, eyes pleading and watering with concern as Talonflame warily leers over him. Crouching down, Connor grants them both a glance and a nod, and it’s almost as though they know--they know he means no harm.
“Wally,” he says, voice so soft, so benign as if he were lulling him to sleep. Tucking his arms underneath Wally, he heaves him into his grasp, Wally’s legs tiredly wrapping around his waist as he does so.
Physical contact had always been foreign to him--yet now, he brings his arms around Wally, pulling him into a warm, firm embrace. Wally’s head lies in the crook of his neck, seemingly lifeless if not for the way he shifts in his embrace. He braces Wally’s back with a single hand, the other wandering to the back of his head, his fingers then briskly running through his hair.
He closes his eyes, features softening--despite the carnage, despite the destruction, he smiles.
He smiles because he has instilled so much pride, so much faith in this boy--he smiles because so long as individuals like him merely exist, hope will forever remain.
“I’m so proud of you,” he whispers at last, voice low and hushed.
“You were incredible. And you helped us. All of us.”
Looking towards Talonflame and Azumarill, he nods--”I thank you two as well.” Heaving Wally into his arms, fingers insert into his pockets as they proceed to graze over his Poké Balls--with a click, Talonflame and Azumarill would disperse into a red, glaring light. Connor would soon follow, Wally in his arms as he dissipates, his body (alongside Wally’s) gradually becoming nothing more than a flurry of gold.
In the midst of the red that painted the sky, gold was visible, akin to a shooting star. Together, they would fly.