Hideo eagerly accepted the sandwich put in his hand, bringing it to his mouth and taking a bite out as soon as Zora let go. Perfect balance of crunch and flavor; just as he liked it. “Thanks,” he said, mouth still half-full of bread, beef, and lettuce.

He could hear something run along the picnic blanket. Sounded small and light, which didn’t narrow down much; there were plenty of Pokemon out there, newborn or fully evolved, that were that small. But neither of his Pokemon seemed overly concerned about the runner, so it must’ve been one of Zora’s.

Still, it wasn’t a good idea to let a little Pokemon run around in the wild. Who knew what was lurking in the grass?

“Gramps, you mind keeping an eye on her Huey?” The Drampa blinked, looking over at the wandering Oddish. He grunted, slowly making his way over to the other Pokemon, making sure it didn’t run off too far.

Back to Zora’s question. “Well, it’s my first time doing one of these without my parents,” Hideo said, taking another bite out of his sandwich. “They usually just bring me to picnics like this and don't let me do much, so it's kinda nice doing this by myself. Of course, that ain’t saying I’m completely alone.”

He reached over to his Ariados, his hand meeting her back. He brushed lightly against her, getting a series of happy chirps from the large spider.  "So what kind of Pokemon is Huey? He sounds like a small one."

@zora

Gramps let out a deep sigh, watching as the Oddish ran away as he approached. This wasn’t going to be an easy day for him, he could tell.

Still, he tried his best to keep an eye on the Oddish, even as it ran further into tall grass. Gramps groaned; this was one of the most dangerous places the little guy could’ve run off to. Who knew what lied in wait to ambush some unaware Pokemon?

Well, one decided to show itself; a Ladyba emerged from the tall grass, staring straight at Gramps. Gramps would have completely ignored it, had it not decided to fire a String Shot at him. It managed to wrap around his lower neck - barely slowing down the massive dragon. He glared at the little bug, and promptly removed it from the area - by slapping it with his head, the Ladyba flying off with a cry.

While the Drampa was back to keeping an eye out for the Oddish, Hideo was busy enjoying the picnic.

“Yup.” Another bite out of the sandwich - after offering a piece to his Ariados, who happily devoured it. “Ash long ash I know who’sh who, any name’sh good. And if they like it.” Squeeze, for example, did not like the name “Clingy”. Hence why she was Squeeze.

“Simple shtuff’s easy to remember anyways. It can be hard to remember hard namesh when you gotta remember what they should and feel like.” He finally swallowed what he was chewing - table manners (or rather, picnic manners) weren’t his strong suit. “It’s probably a lot easier to tell them apart when you can see them. I got a Beheeyem that kinda helps me with that, but he’s not always around.”

A long-winded, half-assed way to pretend he didn’t just suck at nicknames.

@zora

Gramps grumbled; this Oddish was not making things easy for him. He wasn't able to catch sight of it, but he could definitely see the tall grass shifting as something moved through it.

But he tensed up once he heard something else shifting through the grass, saying its name.

Gramps' head darted into the tall grass, right where he heard the sound. He grasped the first thing he felt with his mouth, pulling it out of the grass with haste. As he lifted it up, he found his quarry had been the Ekans, who he managed to grab by the neck. The small snake tried to struggle its way out, but the size difference was far too great.

It was fortunate, then, that Gramps could recognize this little Pokemon was just trying to survive, to get a meal of its own. So he'd be merciful, merely tossing it a couple dozen meters away.

With that out of the way, he'd investigate where he'd heard the Oddish.

Back at the more peaceful picnic, Hideo was finishing up his sandwich. "You've never seen one? My Beheeyem's almost a meter tall - but like half of that is his forehead - and he's kinda human-shaped. He's got hands, but he's got three little buttons on his palm instead of fingers, and people tell me they light up or blink when he's using his psychic powers." It was the best explanation he could give. Hopefully it'd be enough.

As for her next question...he was actually fairly used to people asking about his lack of sight. Especially kids closer to his age. So the first part of his answer was quick and simple, without much emotion or effort put into it: "Nope."

Now onto the details, and his tone was still fairly dull. "Been blind my whole life. It's 'cause of something called an 'optic nerve malformation'. Which means it's a problem with my brain, not my eyes. I can still move them and feel them, but they don't do much other than look pretty - or so I've heard." He couldn't resist smirking at his little joke there.

"Like, I don't even see stuff in my dreams. I hear people that didn't start blind can still see stuff in their dreams. The closest I can get to seeing is my Beheeyem telepathically telling me stuff, but that's more like me knowing where stuff is relative to me. Like I already touched them and know how big they are or what they're shaped like."

@zora

The giant noodle dragon had successfully saved the Oddish from the small noodle lizard. And frustrated as he was, Gramps felt a tinge of satisfaction as the Oddish finally returned to him, a smile finding its way on his face.

But it was time to get out of the tall grass and back to their trainers, before any other predators saw fit to make a meal out of them. He'd gently urge the Oddish forward by pointing to the others with his head: if that wasn't enough, he'd gently push the Oddish along instead.

Back at the picnic, Hideo was caught off guard by Zora's question, putting down the tart slice he was just about to take a bite out of. It took him a few seconds to process what she asked.

"Related to...what?" He was completely baffled at how she made that connection - unaware it was due to his own wording. "No, he's not related to me! I got him as a gift for eighth birthday! And he was just an Elgyem back then. There's no way I'm related to him!"

Not that it was unheard of for someone to be related to a Pokemon; Hideo knew Andy Blackadder was technically related to one, though that was more because Andy's uncle became a Yamask after what Hideo assumed was an untimely demise.

And becoming a ghost Pokemon was way more plausible than a psychic Pokemon like an Elgyem.

His Ariados started chittering - the closest she could get to giggling. Seeing him get defensive over something so silly gave her a good laugh.

Hideo knew he had to change the subject, before he blushed himself into further embarrassment. "So what about you? You get that Oddish as a gift, or are you related to him?"

@zora