Hideo smiled, tossing another stone at the water. *ploop* *ploop* *plnk*. 2 bounces again. "Yeah, I guess it doesn't need that much," he said, "Just got a place to cook, a log to sit on, and a tent to sleep in. And my Pokemon, of course."  Still, hearing she was the daughter of a legendary hunter just made him want to impress her more.

With Eris's encouragement, he tossed another rock. *ploop* *ploop* *ploop* *plnk*. 3 bounces. "I'm getting there faster than you'd think! You're gonna have some tough competition next time we do this!"

He was already picking out another rock that his Beheeyem brought when Eris asked about fireworks. "Well, I hear they're real pretty to look at, but yeah, I like listening to fireworks go off. They can be the really big ones that go off into the sky, or just small ones that you set off in the driveway."

Granted, his brother was more into fireworks than he was. But Hideo could find enjoyment in his own ways. What other option did he have?

Hideo blushed a little, hearing how much Eris appreciated him and the others. "I'm glad to hear it," he said, "And to be honest, I kinda feel the same way about you guys too."

"You guys are the only friends I've made outside of school. Everyone else, I've only really been able to talk to at school. Outside of that, I could only talk to my family or my Pokemon. Kinda hard to keep up with people when I can't really talk to them most of the time."

The few he could, he lost contact with after one of the many disasters that hit Hoenn. Or he just lost interest in talking to; nobody there could really match his passion. "I actually feel like I'm growing the more time I spend with you guys. If it were just up to my parents, they'd make me be a hermit and waste my life doing nothing."

A moment passed before Hideo realized his words were not well-picked. "Oh, uh, not to say you'd be wasting your life if you did that. Just, it's not the life for me. I always want to be doing something with people, with Pokemon. I spent so much time with my life standing still that I can't go back to that."

As for what he learned Eris could do...Hideo raised an eyebrow. "Your dad taught you how to make fireworks?! Dang, Eris, mine took forever just to teach me how to make curry!" He envied her in that regard: her parents at least let her learn a lot. "My birthday's October 18th. Getting pretty close now that I think of it." Time was really flying by now that he was doing what he wanted; days felt like they dragged on before. "It's gonna be the first time I've had a birthday away from home. I've been so busy that I haven't even planned anything for it yet."

"You've honestly already put more thought into my birthday than I have!" He already had the one thing he wanted most: his freedom.  And he didn't exactly want badges given to him as presents; he wanted to earn them.

Eris Halla

Hideo smiled, blushing slightly as he tossed another rock at the water - scoring another two-skipper. Eris didn't seem to take offense to his words, even sounding like she really wanted to do another group legendary-hunt again. "Well, you guys could see Groudon up close. But yeah, whenever you guys want to get together again to find a legendary Pokemon, just give me a call! I'm open pretty much anytime."

Just, hopefully it would go better than the last one. Yes they found a Type:Null, but they also found a lot of dead bodies and Andy Blackadder was still recovering from his injuries from that. Not to mention the people hurt in the rescue attempt.

But it did lead to Hideo making a lot of friends - even meeting Eris for the first time. So even in that disaster, there was good to be had.

He tossed another rock - right as Eris threw hers. He heard one unceremoniously hit the water, while the other managed to get a few skips. He immediately thought he just screwed up his throw, that she'd gotten those two skips. Not him.

He's too caught-up in Eris's birthday plans to think otherwise.

"That sounds great!" he exclaimed. "I never would've imagined getting fireworks for my birthday!" Let alone someone letting him light them. "Maybe we could even have a feast too! Andy's Ribombee butler could whip us up some nice stuff, or everyone could bring something!"

But as he began to think up other stuff he'd want, another thought crossed his mind. "So, uh, when's your birthday? I'd feel bad if you got me fireworks and everything and I couldn't do something for you too."

Eris Halla

Hideo’s mouth opened wide as he gasped - a put-upon reaction. That was when her birthday was? “The 14th?! That’s just four days before mine!” Guess that really did set him as the youngest member of the Follies - narrowly. “Man, having two birthdays so close means we’d have to plan a lot of stuff. And you gotta celebrate this one with everyone!”

The subtext of her not celebrating her birthday wasn’t completely lost on Hideo - but he was going to make her have a good birthday. You were supposed to enjoy your birthday, not just let it pass by!

After a moment of deliberation, Hideo hatched a plan. “Oh! We could celebrate our birthdays together! We can throw one big party instead of two smaller ones!” It was a simple idea, but one he was completely on-board with - and he had a feeling he wouldn’t have an issue getting the other kids to go along with it. “We’ll just have to get an extra-large cake for us to share! We just gotta decide what flavor we want!”

Though that meant he’d have to find something she’d enjoy. They couldn’t just skip rocks for her birthday now could they?

“You know, if you’re gonna do fireworks...I could do some singing for our party! It’s only fair if one birthday kid helps run stuff that the other one does too!”

Eris Halla

Hideo wasn’t sure why Eris was being resistant about her birthday; it was a time to celebrate! Especially with others! “Well, you can hang out with people at our birthday too!” He’s already set on the idea of making it a joint-birthday celebration. “I don’t mind sharing a birthday! I know some people who do it every year!” Mostly from school.

Though Eris inquiring if he minded singing gave him pause. “Uncomfy?” He didn’t know how Eris thought he didn’t like doing it, so he’d dispel that fear. “I love singing! I haven’t really done it publicly in a while, but you can ask Andy just how good I am at it!“ He’d just have to brush up on some songs that would fit for a birthday party; a lot of what he knew would be a bit out-of-place. Maybe he could learn something new…

Just something to plan, it seemed.

“Well, I’m sure we can set up something good. And we could always ask everyone else for help!” He was sure John Sullivan would throw together something big if he knew what they’d planned, and Andy Blackadder might help too. Not to mention the rest of the Follies.

That wide grin on his face won’t go away, even reddening his cheeks. All his thoughts about walking around town and trying to find the gym were gone now; now he was focused on birthday plans.

Though he isn’t too caught-up to miss Eris’s words. He looked over to her, his smile standing strong. “It’s no problem, Eris!” he exclaimed, raising a hand and lowering it onto her shoulder…

Well, that was the intent. He would’ve completely missed her if his Beheeyem didn’t Telepathically spot her for him, the boy quickly readjusting his aim so he would actually reach her shoulder.

Now play it off like it was completely intentional. “I mean we’re friends, right? We can help each other with this kind of stuff!”

Eris Halla

Flawless shoulder-pat.

Hideo’s mouth opened in shock too - she could play music too! She could certainly do a lot more than he could!

But just as he went to comment on it, a hair-ruffle interrupted him. But his comment was unnecessary; she seemed to come to the same conclusion as he would. “That’s even better!” he said once freed. “The two birthday kids collaborating on a song! Everyone’s gonna love it!”

The hype was enough for him to forget about his original goal for coming here - but Eris was able to bring him back to it. “Oh, right, the gym!” He carefully stood up, dusting off any sand that clung to him. “I gotta sign up for a gym challenge!” It’d be embarrassing if he completely forgot to do that.

But he wouldn’t forget Eris’s idea in the process.“Oh, and I could totally ask her for any good music I could sing to!”

Though before he could jet off, he remembered how he’d met Eris in the first place. “So, uh, you know the way to Melody’s gym, right? Can’t really sign up for the challenge or do it if I don’t know where her gym is.”

Eris Halla