Hideo had been finishing up his preparations to leave; he had a bank account his parents didn't know about, a nice spot on route 116 for him to settle in, and even a new phone. He was almost set to leave home, but he still had to put up a facade of normalcy, so his parents wouldn't catch on. Part of which involved visiting Andy for his weekly lessons.

He didn't come here expecting to dance, though. Unless Andy's Gengar had some moves it was ready to show. It was hard to miss the extent of Andy's injuries when he'd visited Andy in the hospital.

Hideo made his presence known with the usual knock knock knock, waiting for the Ribombee butler to welcome them in. He knew to wave back as he heard it welcome him, aware it likely was already doing the same, and he knew not to shout to announce his presence.

Obviously, Hideo couldn't understand the Ribombee's speech - but his Beheeyem, who was accompanying him, could. And Elga was just as aware that Hideo was aware of Andy's condition, so no explanation was necessary.

There was something for the Ribombee to take, though; a tin-wrapped chocolate tart he'd prepared beforehand. Not the most original gift, but Andy wouldn't have to share it with anyone other than Hideo.

He'd let the Ribombee lead him inside, and wait for Andy to arrive - though he had to wonder if Andy was going to be carried in or if he had some fancy wheelchair.

Andy Blackadder

Chocolate tart successfully delivered, it was time to actually meet with Andy.

But first, a surprise gift: Hideo felt something placed in his hand, his Beheeyem telling him it was from a ghost Pokemon. Huh. Must've been one of Andy's. The boy shrugged it off, pocketing the gift as he was lead further inside.

While Hideo didn't quite get what the Ribombee was telling him, his Beheeyem was able to give a decent enough translation: they had to go up. "...oh." Hideo muttered. He could feel the dread seep in as he realized what that entailed. He still didn't know how many steps this staircase had.

Well, only one way to do this. "Help me out with this, Elga."

The Beheeyem guided Hideo to the side of the stairs, the boy finding the railing and grabbing it with both hands - the first step of his ascension.  Next was to actually take go up a step, leading with one foot that was followed by the other meeting it on the same level, Hideo doing his best to keep his balance. He'd do the same with the next step. And the next. And the next.

He had to imagine how much it sucked for a casted-up Andy to climb this. Could he even walk yet?

His Beheeyem didn't go through the same struggle, simply floating up the staircase as he watched over his trainer, Telepathically giving him a general idea of how close he was to the top.

It was going to take him a couple minutes at this pace.

But slow and steady worked, Hideo breathing a sigh of relief once he reached the top. "Alright, time for Andy's room," he said, his Beheeyem landing beside him. "...just gotta find which room is his room."

Andy Blackadder

Fortunately, they wouldn't have to play a guessing game; Hideo noticed the buzzing of a Ribombee's wings right after he spoke. Save him the risk of accidentally walking in the wrong room and making things awkward. "Alright, Reginald," Hideo said, "Lead the way."

Hideo and his Beheeyem followed along, the latter taking note of the paintings adorning the walls - and their familiarity. "They all of Andy?" Hideo asked, receiving a denial an answer - but still a sense of familiarity. "His relatives then?" Confirmation. "Makes sense. Every mansion has to have a line of family portraits~"

Or so he was told. Maybe they'd find Andy's along the line, though it wasn't like it'd matter much to Hideo.

Once he heard a door open, Hideo entered. He couldn't fully appreciate how Andy's room completely dwarfed his both on size and style, but his Beheeyem was able to convey that Andy's room was, indeed, large. And that Andy was currently occupying it.

Though the whirring of the electric wheelchair was enough for Hideo to realize that on his own.

"It's alright," Hideo said, "I gotta be able to climb a staircase no matter how big." He wasn't too shocked that such a big place had such a big staircase. "And I imagine it's easier for me to climb than for you right now. Unless you got Reginald carrying you around."

He'd be impressed if the Ribombee was that strong. He'd already been surprised enough times by Reginald's abilities that it wasn't outside the realm of possibilities.

"Yeah, it's gotta be boring sitting around doing nothing." Hideo knew that life well enough. "I doubt we're gonna do much dancing today, but if nothing else, I can keep you company." Though the question now was what Andy would want to do - let alone what he could do. "You up for just talking, or is there something you got in mind for today?  I'm fine either way."

Andy Blackadder

"Yeah, being stuck in one place for too long sucks." A situation he knew all too well himself - and was set to change very soon. "Only so much you can do cooped up in your room, even if you got a lot." He didn't know what Andy had in here - he could assume at least a tv larger than anything Hideo had at his own house, but even that had to get boring after a while.

The Beheeyem looked back at the Gengar, his eyes unblinking behind that green visor. He stayed completely silent, simply raising a hand and rigidly moving it from side-to-side - his attempt at a wave.

Hideo raises an eyebrow, concerned by Andy's attitude about the Yamask. "Would Reginald really do that? Lock up your Yamask Uncle, I mean. Seems like a cruel thing to do." Leaving him behind would be one thing, but deliberately locking him up would be a whole other level of messed-up.

"Think we should try looking for him? He might just be somewhere in the house. Lost." Hideo didn't know the full layout of this house despite all the times he visited, and every time he had either Andy or Reginald guiding him around. Getting lost wasn't out of the realm of possibility.

Also, Hideo had to imagine looking around the house was better than just staying in this room all day.

Andy Blackadder

“Yeesh. And here I thought all ghost-types could just phase through walls and stuff. Well, mainly ghost-types.” He knew his Sensu Oricorio was completely corporeal, but his Dusknoir could move through walls with ease. He would’ve thought a Yamask could do it too - unless Andy’s uncle wasn’t skilled enough to do that yet or something. “Still, seems pretty mean to throw your uncle out like that, even if he is a Pokemon now.”

Not that Hideo expected saying that would change Andy’s attitude towards the man(pokemon).

But at least Andy seemed receptive to look for him. Or just move around - even if it would just be in a wheelchair. “Well, my Beheeyem can’t exactly make you walk, but he should be strong enough to lift a wheelchair with you in it. Isn’t that right, Elga?”

A brief set of flashes from one of the Beheeyem’s hand-lights, and Andy might feel something pushing different parts of his wheelchair, but only for a brief moment. The lights quickly stopped, and the Beheeyem nodded, sending Hideo the message. “Yeah, so he could get you upstairs and downstairs without needing to take you out, if you’re alright with that.”

Hideo couldn’t resist raising any eyebrow as Andy grilled his Gengar on the Yamask’s state. “A little hasty to say he killed him,” Hideo said, “We might as well go around and check first. It’s gotta be better than staying in here all day.”

Hideo knew he’d probably go nuts if he ever had to stay in a room for weeks on end.

Andy Blackadder

"Weird," Hideo commented. "Maybe there's some kind of thing set up here to stop ghosts from coming in and out. I think some religions have stuff for that." Whether or not they were effective, Hideo didn't know. And Andy (nor his mother) didn't seem like the religious type to him.

As for Andy's frustration with the Yamask, Hideo could only offer a shrug. He had to wonder what Andy's uncle was like in life to be so needy as a Pokemon. There had to be some reason.

Though thinking about that didn't stop Hideo from smirking at the Gengar's sloth.

Unfortunately, Hideo had no idea about the Gengar's motions. Unaware of the meanining behind them, the Beheeyem didn't inform Hideo about those moves, so all Hideo got were those noises. "Guess he didn't like being called lazy," Hideo suggested, shrugging.

"Well, I hope your uncle's doing fine." Didn't seem like Andy wanted to dwell on it any longer, so Hideo would change the subject. "So any idea how long until you can start walking again? I'd have brought some of my healing Pokemon to speed things up, but I was told I might mess with the healing process." Something about rods or whatever - the explanation didn't make much sense, but he didn't want to risk making Andy's injuries permanent.

"But maybe a walk around won't hurt?  Well, I mean we can go around your house.  You don't have to stay in this room all day."

Andy Blackadder