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Heavy is the Briefcase
Florian was an oddball kid. The kind that dropped a toaster down the stairs leading up to Naranja Uva Academy just to see how many steps it would fall.
He was picky about colors, and persistently requested a transfer from the Uva dorms to the Naranja dorms on the first day of school because he hated the Uva color scheme.
Some of his Pokémon he caught for the strangest reasons. Pokémon like his Totodile, he caught because he liked Pokémon that gave friendly nibbles as signs of affection.
He sometimes rewound parts of his shows to watch certain bits that most found uninteresting.
Adding to the list of his oddball quirks was his fandom of Larry.
Larry was a popular choice for Paldea’s favorite Gym Leader, whether it was he used Normal-type Pokémon, or his representation of the average working citizen with his constantly overworked mood.
Florian’s reason for Larry being his favorite wasn’t any of the usual reasons.
His reason for Larry being his favorite was entirely Larry’s briefcase.
That answer usually attracted some strange looks from those who asked the question, and when asked to explain further, he didn’t really have an answer either. He just really liked Larry carrying that everywhere.
Eventually, Florian approached Larry himself with an unusual question.
“Can I ride in your briefcase?”
Larry glanced up from his current stack of paperwork to stare at the visitor across his desk. It wasn’t uncommon for someone to walk into Larry’s office without an appointment, but it wasn’t usually to ask a question like that one.
“Ride in my briefcase?” Larry repeated, confused.
Florian nodded. “Yeah!”
After a long moment of Larry processing that was certainly the boy’s question, the businessman slowly asked, “Why…?”
“Because I thought it would be fun,” reasoned the young champion, “you take it with you everywhere you go.”
Larry muttered a soft and confused, “…Fun?”
Florian pressed his hands on Larry’s desks earnestly. “Please! Take a break from work and walk down to the Treasure Eatery for rice balls or something with me in your bag then come back.” He pointed at the leather briefcase by Larry’s chair. “I want to know what it’s like in there.”
Well, that explained why the boy often looked down at Larry’s bag whenever they met; the young champion thought he was being sneaky with the quick peeks, but Larry saw them.
Larry’s stomach grumbled.
He supposed he did need a lunch break, and it looked like Florian wasn’t going to leave without getting his request granted.
It was just down to the Treasure Eatery and back, he could do that.
Larry sighed, slouching defeatedly. “…Fine. I’ll give you a ride in my bag.”
Florian jumped back from the desk in victory. “Yes! Thank you, Larry! I’ll owe you a favor for this, I promise!”
Figuring they would need all the space available, Larry bent down to his briefcase and removed all his other office supplies, putting them on his desk to repack later.
“Alright, get in,” said Larry once the bag was empty.
Florian laid down with his back against the bottom of the bag, and curled up his knees to make himself small enough to fit in the confines of the briefcase.
Larry grabbed the zipper, beginning to pull it up. “Make sure to stay quiet until we get back here; we don’t want people getting the wrong idea.”
The boy smiled as Larry closed the bag, the zipper passing over his face.
Once the zipper was shut, Larry grabbed the briefcase handles and stood upright. The first thing he noticed was that Florian wasn’t much heavier than the amount of paperwork he was accustomed to carrying around with him, which reminded him that he worked way too much, and the second thing he noticed was the sides of his bag bulged more than usual as they were normally flat instead of round.
He wondered if the regulars down at the restaurant would notice the bulging, but if they did, he could explain it as more work than usual.
Making sure he had his wallet, Larry left his office and took the elevator to the ground floor.
“Hey, Larry,” the receptionist greeted as he passed through the office lobby, “did Champion Florian find you okay?”
“Yes, he found me. Going on lunch break,” Larry said shortly, waving his free hand as he exited.
The walk to the Treasure Eatery was always part of Larry’s way to unwind from work. He could lock away all the mind-numbing numbers and words, and focus on the sights, sounds, and smells around him.
However, today was different because the cargo in his briefcase was different.
Larry felt the weight in his hand, glancing down at his bag every time he came to a street corner he had to cross and sometimes switching hands to relieve his grip of the strain. He wondered what Florian thought about his little ride so far.
Florian’s excitement was high from the moment the zipper closed above his head, sealing him in darkness.
He felt the bag leave the ground, and he sunk down to the bottom a little bit more. Now that the zipper was shut, Florian decided to uncurl his legs slightly to relax them as best he could.
The briefcase rocked briefly then Florian heard a dinging noise, allowing him to deduce Larry had left his office and gotten on the elevator he had taken up before. The dip in the elevator felt like going over a pothole in his mother’s car, but smoother.
“Hey, Larry, did Champion Florian find you okay?” He heard the receptionist ask as the swinging sensation continued.
Florian quietly giggled to himself.
“Yes, he found me. Going on lunch break,” he heard Larry.
For a while, Florian swung back and forth softly, listening to the muted sounds of cars on the street, people talking as they passed, and other noises. Occasionally, he felt the bag stop then go again, realizing Larry was likely crossing intersections. Sometimes there was even a sideways swing, which he figured was the gym leader switching which hand he was using to carry him.
Then he heard a door open followed by someone saying, “Right on time, Larry. Going to your usual seat at the counter?”
“Of course, thank you,” Larry said.
A minute later, he felt the briefcase being put down and listened to a chair scooting.
“My usual rice balls, please.”
Larry took a deep breath as he approached the Treasure Eatery. He had walked this far, and nobody suspected anything about his briefcase.
Now was the test to see if he could eat a meal in peace and get back to the office.
He walked through the front door of the restaurant, and was greeted by the cashier.
The cashier waved. “Right on time, Larry. Going to your usual seat at the counter?”
Larry nodded in return. “Of course, thank you.” He walked toward the back of the restaurant where the kitchen was, passing tables along the way, and arrived at the eating counter. Carefully setting down his bag, he sat down and addressed the familiar chef. “My usual rice balls, please.”
The chef nodded and turned to begin her prep work.
While she did that, Larry glanced down at his briefcase sitting by his feet with its sides bulged out. After a moment of thinking, he added to his order, “and an order of fried eggs, please. I’m meeting a friend back at the office after this, and they might want something to eat.”
After several minutes of waiting, during which Larry looked at stuff on his Rotom Phone, his order arrived and he began to eat. Occasionally, he peeked down at his bag to check on it. Since it stayed still the whole time, he wasn’t sure how Florian was enjoying the trip.
Almost done with his food, he felt a sense of dread when the waiter that handled takeout orders approached him.
“Larry, there’s a challenger preparing to take the gym test. They should be back in a few minutes,” the waiter informed him.
Shocked, Larry accidentally nudged his briefcase with his foot and caused it to tip over. There was a soft grunt, and Larry quickly moved to stand it up again.
“Sorry,” Larry said to the waiter, hoping they didn’t hear Florian. “I wasn’t expecting any challengers today.”
The waiter nodded. “Yeah, they surprised me too. Just be ready, okay?” The message relayed, the waiter returned to their station.
After the waiter went away, Larry looked at his bag before turning toward the counter and pinching the bridge of his nose. “Arceus…”
If the challenger passed the gym test, he would have to battle while Florian was in his bag, prolonging this little excursion and making the risk of someone finding out their situation greater.
Hopefully, whether he won or lost, the battle was quick.
Finishing his rice balls so they wouldn’t go to waste, he soon heard his cue. “Larry, you’re up!”
Larry slid the bag of fried eggs over to the chef. “Hold onto these for me.” Then he picked up his briefcase and stood to greet the challenger.
After Larry ordered the fried eggs for him, Florian began to grow bored. The briefcase going still meant nothing was happening, and that was boring. Usually he would have taken out his Rotom Phone to prevent boredom, but he figured the bright screen in the dark space would hurt his eyes, so he decided against it.
With nothing else to do, Florian felt himself drift into a short nap.
He woke up when he felt the bag tipping over onto its side. Not expecting it, he grunted as quietly as he could so Larry wouldn’t get in trouble.
Quickly, he noticed the briefcase being turned upright.
“Sorry, I wasn’t expecting any challengers today,” he heard Larry say. He wasn’t sure if he was talking to him, or if the gym leader was talking to someone else.
“Yeah, they surprised me too,” someone else outside said, “just be ready, okay?”
Then the other person walked away.
Overhearing that exchange, Florian had two feelings. The first feeling was happiness that he would get a few more minutes in the bag, and the second feeling was jealousy that he wouldn’t get to watch one of Larry’s gym battles.
Maybe someone would record the battle and post it to Mewtube.
Unable to fall back asleep, he laid there silently until he heard the voice from before call Larry for the match.
That was when he felt the briefcase being picked up again followed by a short walk. He listened to Larry greet the challenger, and then it was time to take positions.
He was set down again, and even though he couldn’t watch the battle, he could listen to it.
The challenger mentioned having four badges already, so Florian knew Larry’s lineup for the match since he also battled that set.
From the way things sounded through the leather walls surrounding him, Dudunsparce was giving the challenger a run for their money and the restaurant customers spectating the match loved it.
Larry Terastilized his Staraptor, and that was too much for the challenger to handle, so Larry was declared the winner of the match.
Once he heard Larry return Staraptor to his ball, he was lifted off the floor.
Larry approached the challenger with his bag in hand.
“Good effort, I guess. Dudunsparce gave you a hard time, but you pushed through to my final Pokémon. Train a little more, and we can have a rematch. You’ll probably get the badge then,” he advised the challenger. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to pay my bill and get back to my other job.”
Stepping off the gym floor, Larry went to retrieve the fried eggs from the chef, and after he had those, he walked to the front of the restaurant.
The cashier at the front desk gave him his total, and Larry set down his things on the desk so he could pull out his wallet. He felt mildly strange paying for his meal, knowing Florian was in his briefcase on the desk, but shook it off since this would be a one-time occurrence.
“Thank you,” he said to the cashier, “see you tomorrow. Probably.” He picked up the takeout bag and his briefcase then turned to leave before the cashier could even think about commenting on the appearance of his briefcase.
The walk back to his office was slower than the walk to the restaurant, probably because he was full of food, was carrying an extra bag of takeout he didn’t have before, and was tired after a battle. Also, he couldn’t switch hands carrying his briefcase this time because of the takeout bag. He probably could, but it would take a bit more fumbling than he cared to deal with now.
Finally, Larry arrived back at his office, unable to wave at the receptionist this time due to his occupied hands. When he got off the elevator and reentered his office, he was more than glad to put his bags on his desk.
“We’re back,” Larry stated, grabbing the zipper of his briefcase and tugging it down. “What did you think?”
It was at that point Florian knew the little ride was coming to an end. He heard Larry ask the chef for the fried eggs then a short walk to the front of the restaurant, where he was once again set down. He felt mildly strange, laying there in the bag while the cashier rang Larry’s meal up, but shook it off once Larry picked him up again.
He could tell the walk back to the office was slower than before, not only was Larry’s stride slower but the swinging of the bag had decreased too.
Eventually, the receptionist greeting Larry told him they were back where they started. The elevator dinged, then the rise of the elevator made him feel like he sunk to the bottom of the briefcase even further although he couldn’t.
For the final time, he was put down and the zipper began to move.
He squinted as his eyes readjusted to the light, and sat upright.
“What did you think?” Larry asked him.
The smile Florian was wearing at the beginning of the experiment returned with his answer. “It was fun! Sure, it got boring while we were waiting for the food, but I liked the rest of it.”
“Let me help you down from there. Wouldn’t want to be getting your shoe marks on my desk,” Larry replied. He held out his arms toward the young champion. “May I?”
Florian nodded.
Larry picked him up under the arms, taking him out of the briefcase, and placed him on his feet on the floor.
Florian stared up at him brightly. “I really do owe you one for this, and for the fried eggs.” The boy pointed to the takeout bag.
“Oh yeah, you should probably eat those before they get too cold.”
The End