There was another voice (Thomas Benoit ), one Hideo didn’t recognize that addressed him by name. Sounded like he was one of Doug’s work buddies, and he made a request for Hideo to record everything here.

And...wow. Oh wow. Hideo hadn’t intended to come here to make money, but he could definitely use some; that Rotomdex was expensive. He didn’t even think to ask how much was being offered or to try negotiating the price. He also didn’t realize that recording himself playing hookie from his mentor wasn’t a good idea. The offer was enough to buy his help. “Oh, uh, sure! I can do that!”

He turned to his Rotomdex. “You can do that, right?”

“I guess, yeah.”

Whew, good. And now that he was (un)officially hired to do a job, he had the perfect counter for when John Sullivan tried to get him to leave. “Sorry Doug, but I’m here on League business!”

He couldn’t bask in the smugness of one-upping Doug for long, though; he was soon warned of a second Meltan approaching him from behind. But before it could get too close (not that it was going to - it was a slow one), Hideo heard someone approach and intercept it. His first assumption was that it was either Doug or the man that hired him, but the moment the guy spoke, he realized it was someone else entirely. He just assumed it was another person working with Doug.

So now that he was no longer flanked, Hideo had some room to do his job. His Rotomdex took some video footage of the Meltan Josh Dragomir intercepted. It was curious about this new arrival, looking at the new man, but it seemed more intent on getting to Hideo.

But once it saw Hideo put his phone and cane away in his pockets - mainly the latter - the little Meltan moaned in disappointment, slumping down. Meanwhile, the other Meltan was still observing his Aggron, poking at Aaron’s tough body with its small, gelatinous hand. Though it wouldn’t be very obvious, it was trying (and failing) to pry off the “metal”.

Before Hideo could investigate either further, there was another voice - and he was much more familiar with that one. “Eris?!” he asked, bewildered, “You’re here too? I didn’t know the League needed so much manpower for this!” He was still unaware of the people here who weren’t exactly working with the League - as far as he knew, everyone here other than him was under Doug’s leadership.

Maybe Eris Halla was getting mentored by Doug.

“So...what’re you guys here for anyways? You trying to find out what the Meltan are doing here?” It was the only thing he could think of, but that still wouldn’t explain why Doug brought so many people here.


Summary
- Hideo accepts Thomas Benoit 's offer
- The two Meltans are blocked off from approaching Hideo.  The one Josh Dragomir is blocking off is saddened when Hideo puts his cane away, while the other is trying (and failing) to pull off a piece of his Aggron's metallic body.
- Hideo tries to find out why so many people are here by asking Josh Dragomir and Eris Halla

Thomas Benoit Josh Dragomir glitch maverick John Sullivan Yuan Wright @hades Eris Halla

Calling him a child, the rocket scientist would eventually come to realize, had only made their jobs harder, the gym leaders expression flattening into a blank stare.

"My apologies." Cpt. Douglas suddenly said, nodding at @hades before turning his gaze back to Yuan Wright. "I did not intend any offense. The facts remain that the Cycling Road is beyond Infinity Industries' jurisdiction, however. Even if it weren't, we've no clue how dangerous Meltan might be, and the area itself is a hazard due to excessive metal wastes. Surely you can see that it's not safe for a child to be here? I implore you to postpone your field trip to a safer date."

What with the man seemingly being a teacher and what not, it seemed reasonable to expect him to prioritize Eris Halla' health over whatever she was intended to learn here.

It was Cpt. Douglas' first time seeing a single-student field trip, but he could question that later. Right now, getting everyone away from the little metallic blobs was more important. Specially Hideo Kino, since apparently he had chosen today to be the one time he was going to act his bloody age.

"Hideo." He said softly, trying to appeal to the boy's better judgement. "The help is appreciated, but you don't need to be in the danger zone for your Rotom to do the job, do you?"

He sent Josh Dragomir a thankful look as the man set down to look after the two kids, glad someone was being reasonable here. Much as he admired Thomas Benoit, he did not approve of recruiting Hideo to assist in this matter.

His gaze shifted away from the man and to glitch maverick next. His eyes popped wide open as the pink haired gym leader approached, Meltan in hand.

"Not... quite." He said after a moment, sighing slowly. "Please return the Meltan to where you found it. Carefully."

There were a few things he would be recommending commissioner dahlia goode make mandatory training, after this. Discipline was one of them.

When Josh Dragomir asked why he was here, Hideo was ready to give the obvious answer - that there were Pokemon here and he was a trainer - until Josh asked where his parents/guardian were. Hideo lightly clenched the side of his sweater; were it just this guy, Hideo could try to pass it off as him living nearby or him getting diverted off the cycling path, or he was just a trainer traveling the land...but John Sullivan knew where he lived. That wasn’t going to fly.

Quick, change the subject. Fortunately, Josh provided one for him pretty quickly.

“Makes sense,” Hideo said, shrugging. The League people coming here just to observe was reasonable. That actually wasn’t much different than what Hideo was here for, even if he intended to take one home. Chances were they’d do the same - Meltan’s were rare, and no doubt they’d want one (or more) to observe more closely. Or just to keep. Even if they weren’t supposed to disrupt the Meltans, catching a few couldn’t cause much of an issue, right?

His Rotomdex chimed in too, to help draw attention away from Hideo for a moment.

“Ooh, this one wants a piece of your Aggron,” it said, floating in front of Hideo’s Aggron and getting full video of the Meltan still failing to pry off a piece, “Literally.  You think it’d think before trying to tear something off a Pokemon a over dozen times its size.”

Hideo sighed - more distracted by Doug trying to get him to leave again. Hideo didn’t even face Doug as he spoke. “Thanks for that, Nosey. And Doug: I’ll be fine. I’m sticking with my Aggron, and if they can’t even pull something off him, I don’t think any of them’ll get to me.” Appealing to his safety wasn’t going to get anywhere - not when he had one of his toughest Pokemon out and was surrounded by friendlies.

“Yeah, real talk, Hideo’d have a better chance of hurting Aaron than this gray jelloshot. Doubt they’d eat him either, unless his bones are made of metal or somethin-”

Nosey had looked up, taking notice of the small horde currently surrounding glitch maverick . “Oh wow that’s a lotta them. Might wanna turn your attention there, before your friend there gets crushed under all them, eh Dougy?” It waved one of its little hands, hoping Doug would get the hint.

“I’ll stay here if you really want, Doug,” Hideo added, “But I’m staying with my Rotomdex. Got it?” Slowly, he walked around his Aggron, closer to the Meltan - but his Aggron blocked him from getting too close. Carefully, he took out a Pokeball, trying to pinpoint exactly where the Meltan was.



Summary
- Hideo completely dodges Josh Dragomir 's question.
- Hideo blows off John Sullivan 's concern.  His Rotomdex notices the horde surrounding glitch maverick and tries to direct Doug towards them.  Said Rotomdex is currently filming Glitch.
- Hideo gets ready to try and catch the Meltan bugging his Aggron.

Thomas Benoit Josh Dragomir glitch maverick John Sullivan Yuan Wright @hades Eris Halla

It was hard to notice over all the commotion, but Hideo was able to pinpoint the Meltan muttering its name as it continued its fruitless attempts at prying off some food. “Weird place to go for a school project,” Hideo said, to what Eris Halla told him. This area was just a bike path and the dump below it. Must’ve been one of those more ambitious school projects. “But you are right about interesting stuff going on!”

He pulled his arm back, aiming his throw right for the little Meltan…

Only to be interrupted by someone shouting a good distance away. It took Hideo a moment to recognize the voice - the man that offered him payment to record everything - and to process what he said - a warning. “...they what?” Hideo asked, still poised to toss the ball at the Meltan.

Aaron, who’d been patient this whole time, looked back to see the Melmetal approaching them. While he’d been putting up with this little snotball fail to pull a piece off of him, he didn’t have the time for that anymore. He plucked the little Meltan off his foot and tossed it aside, the little Pokemon squealing through the air, but otherwise landing unharmed. Once it regained its footing(did it have feet?), it rushed to the Melmetal and fused with it.

No catch for Hideo.

Hideo grumbled, his rare catch lost. But before he could argue with his Aggron, Eris had grabbed his sleeve, gently leading him away. “Alright, alright,” he said, offering no resistance. He knew well enough to not approach a massive wild Pokemon, even with one of his own to keep him protected. “Nosey, I think they’ll want you to tape that.”

The Rotomdex hovered close to the group, following Hideo as he was pulled back. “Yeah. I, uh, I got a zoom-in for this, so I’ll stick with you guys.”

“Good.” He looked towards his Aggron. “Aaron, go help fight that big Melmetal. But be careful, alright?” He got an affirmative grunt from his Pokemon, who finally cracked a smile.

His Aggron turned to approach the Melmetal, his body hardening in anticipation...though he was going to take a moment to actually reach it. Tough as he may be, he was not the fastest Pokemon around.


Summary
- The Meltan with his Aggron is thrown away.  The Meltan goes to fuse into the Melmetal.
- Hideo is lead away by Eris Halla towards John Sullivan.  His Rotomdex follows (and is now taping the Melmetal).
- His Aggron toughens himself with Iron Defense as he starts to approach the Melmetal.

Thomas Benoit Josh Dragomir glitch maverick John Sullivan Yuan Wright @hades Eris Halla