A lovely day for a fun adventure with a bunch of other trainers close to his age.

When Hideo had been given that flyer by one of his siblings (and had his Beheeyem read it for him), he couldn’t pass it up. Of course, he had the hurdle of getting his parents to let him go. But with a bunch of other kids? And with supervision by a League member they knew well? That made his parents a lot more pliable. And they weren’t doing anything too dangerous; just trailing around the forest to find some rare Pokemon to catch.

Of course, his parents made sure that he was well-prepared for the excursion, his backpack packed with more than he probably needed. But better to have and not need than to need and not have.

Hideo walked along the sidewalk, headed to the meeting location. He’d been around here before, and even had the same Pokemon guiding him - his Ambipom held his free hand with a tail while his other hand tapped away on the ground with his cane. Her familiarity with the area was why he had her guiding him instead of Rocky, who was still within his Pokeball.

It didn’t take long to reach the meeting point. Hideo wasn’t aware if there was even anyone else here until Pom raised his hand up, waving it ahead towards someone else.

She was also sure to shoot Epitaph a bird with her free tail.

“Hey there!” Hideo said as he was awkwardly forced to wave. “You here for the Pokemon Hunt too?”

John Sullivan , Andy Blackadder , Eris Halla , Ruby Walker , Arashi Akiyama , chryssa glasgow , Aedan Quigley

aedan wouldn't have even found this place if it wasn't for swain, his corvisquire, chancing upon one of andy's fliers and leading aedan by the nose. it was a miracle his parents agreed to let him tag along, though he would've just played hooky if it came down to it. school shmool!

flash forward to the west gate at mauville. aedan stumbles across a tawny haired kid and blackadder, the latter reclined against a bench while the former stood on their own two feet. wow, andy's here? it was relieving to know everyone around him wouldn't be a stranger. but it did mean they would be putting up with his incessant quips like as not. that'd take some warming up to.

"hey, andy! didja get the flier too!?" aedan offers greetings to the more familiar face before turning to the stranger. "hi. i'm aedan." aedan wears a bashful grin and a faint flush, evidently eager to seem cordial. "so... are we it?" amber orbs flick betwixt them.

Andy Blackadder Hideo Kino

The distant sound of an engine soon reached the gathering area as the silhouette of a vehicle appeared in the distance, approaching from the direction of route 111.

A pick-up truck looking straight out of a catalogue from the 1940s rolled up to the group, manned by a sleepy black-haired youth sporting a straw hat with artfully sewn patches of plaid and checkered fabric, and a single carnation slipt into the straw.

The youth audibly and visibly yawned as he came to a stop before the group, smacking his lips while blinking blearily for a moment before leaning back into his seat.

"Reportin' for duty, fellas. What's crackin'?" He said as he swung the door open and stumbled outside, looking dead on his feet.

Don't let appearences fool you, though! He had only pulled a single all nighter to get all the paperwork sorted out so he could be there. He was totally up for anything!

As soon as... he got... just a few minutes of shut eye...

The youth wavered in his feet, blinking slowly... before noticing a familiar silhouette.

"Oh, Hideo!" He said, the sleepiness seemingly slapped off him as he jogged up to the smaller youth, kneeling down besides him to ruffle his hair. "Got mom to let'cha come? Nice goin'!"

Still grinning wide, he looked around the area, nodding at Andy Blackadder with his chin before turning over to the rest of the group, looking over them.

Hell yeah, no stinky adults in sight. No offense, Zac Ramsay, Ki.

"Hello y'all! Name's Doug. Thought many might turn up, so I got a mechanic friend to fix up that old bag of bolts over there for a short trip." He said, gesturing over his shoulder with his thumb at the pickup truck behind him.

"'pologies me the lateness! Mind if we go over all the names 'gain?"

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TAG: Hideo Kino chryssa glasgow Andy Blackadder Ruby Walker Arashi Akiyama Eris Halla

Hideo grinned when he heard Andy respond to him. Little surprise Andy was the first one here - he was the one arranging this whole thing! “Just had to make sure~” he teased, lowering his hand. Pom tilted her head, a little disappointed she didn’t get another flip-off competition from the Gengar.

Hideo listened as more people began to show up. He didn’t immediately recognize the first (new) person to talk to him, but he kept his smile. “Nice to meet you!” he said, waving to Arashi Akiyama without assistance, “Pretty sure it won’t just be us though.”

And he was quickly proven right; one person seemed to drop from the air. A couple more simply approached them, one sounding nervous while the other sounded more reserved. He didn’t recognize any of these three though.

And then he heard a car pull up by them. He half-expected it to be an adult sent to supervise them - only to immediately recognize that voice. And even if he didn’t recognize the voice, that hair-ruffling was an immediate tell. “That’s ‘cause they knew you were coming too!” he giggled, trying to fix his hair with his hand. “I didn’t know you had a license!”

Though judging from Andy’s comments, it wasn’t the highest-quality ride. Eh, not like he expected something fancy from a guy living in a homeless camp.

Ah, right, introductions. Though he couldn’t resist teasing Doug a little first. “Forget my name already? And you just said it too!”

Joke made, he turned towards where he heard everyone else. “I’m Hideo Kino. I’m also from Slateport.” He paused for a moment, thinking over whether to share more - and noting it was probably best to just let everyone know now. “I’m blind, but my Pokemon are trained to help me, so I can do just as well as anyone else. Doug and Andy can back me up on that.”

His Ambipom offered a thumbs-up with her free tail, attesting to that.

John Sullivan , Andy Blackadder , Eris Halla , Ruby Walker , Arashi Akiyama , Aedan Quigley

"Oh, that's cause I don't." Doug said to Hideo, grinning as he re-ruffled his fixed hairdo. He winked, both at Hideo and everyone else present. "Let's keep that to ourselves, eh?"

Andy came next, and Doug could only choke up on a laugh, before fixing himself up with an exageratted pout and slapping both hands atop his thighs, rising from his squat.

Had Andy gotten shorter? Eh, whatever.

"Ya were you the one who wanted to keep the League as far away as possible." Doug said to Andy Blackadder dryly, crossing his arms over his chest. "Ya should count yerself lucky me and the boys found this old, decommisioned thin' at the warehouse."

Camp Winstrate was old as balls, and it showed in the equipment that had been left to gather dust.

"Luckier yet that our Mechanic could get it to work like new." He said, his forced pout turning to a grin as he turned to face the vehicle. It really did look like it came straight out of a 40s catalogue- the paintjob was intact (that is to say, new), and the tires were also new.

His gaze turned to one blonde youth- Arashi Akiyama, he said his name was. Somehow, he was even shorter than Andy but looked and sounded older; a strong jaw and a (relatively) deep voice could do one wonders.

"Pleasure to meet'cha, Arashi! Name's Doug! Like Hideo, I'm from Slateport, too. We should hang out!" He said, trying to look through his mental schedule, find the best day to ditch studying to hang out.

His gaze shifted to the young lady, Eris Halla. He was from Western-Kanto, and his accent was certainly not the regular- but he could pick it up when he heard it alright.

"Hello, Eris!" He said cheerfully, kneeling down before holding out his fist towards her. "Pleasure to meet'cha, eh?"

There was no point in bringing such a thing up in front of everyone else; he could only imagine the things she might have seen.

They were all there to have fun.

This brought him to the last person to speak- Ruby Walker.

Doug stared at her with a slightly loose jaw, before making signals at her while everyone paid attention. THE 'Saint of Slateport' Ruby Walker?

Doug grinned wide.

"Pleasure to meet'cha as well, Ruby. We'll be leaving comms to ya, then, eh?" He said, looking the girl up and down once more. The Saint of Slateport- One of the heroes of the Blacephalon fiasco.

He wouldn't have expected to meet her there. Things just getting better and better for their squad!

He turned on his heel, facing the old vehicle once again as he spoke to Andy.

"This baby was used as transport in wars- Getting us from point A to point B should be easy, yeah?" He said, turning his grin back down to Andy, before throwing an arm around his shoulder and turning back to face the crew, clapping him in the back with a grin. "Now enough whining- introduce yerself proper to yer squad, commander!"

Andy had organized this expedition- so he was in charge of it. They could consider him the chaperone if they wished, but he was as young and as up for mischief as any of them.

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TAG: Hideo Kino chryssa glasgow Andy Blackadder Ruby Walker Arashi Akiyama Eris Halla