Hideo perked up at the familiar voice, facing towards the source. “Oh, hey Eris!” He waved towards her with his marked arm, not even thinking that he’d be showing the marking to her.

Though he wasn’t trying to hide it from her. It even took him a moment to realize she must have paused after seeing it. Not much of a shock there: even he was shocked when he found out he had a tattoo now.

He half-expected her to get mad at him for it, until she drew him into a hug, telling him he wasn’t the only one with a marking like that.

Hideo’s stress-addled brain took a minute to remember Eris had been there too - when that massive monster had appeared. They’d only been close together for a moment at the start, before they were separated and left to their own devices. What she’d been up to, he didn’t know, but she was also connected with gathering the Lake Trio.

“I think…it was Uxie that gave it to me. It just wrapped its tail around my wrist while we were fighting off that huge monster, and there it was.” At least he assumed that was the case. "I didn't even know it was there 'til Elga told me about it."

“And you got one too? Uxie was with me, so which one gave you yours?”

Either had to be Azelf or Mesprit. But which?

Eris Halla

There’s a bit of comfort, knowing he’s not the only person that had been marked, knowing he wasn’t the only person in the world who was dealing with this mystery.

Yet another mystery.

“It’s done…nothing. It doesn’t feel like anything either.” It would have gone completely unnoticed unless his Beheeyem had seen it - or someone else on the odd day he didn’t wear his sweater. “I don’t even know what it looks like. Elga isn’t the best at describing pictures.”

He tapped his mark again, just to make sure it really didn’t do anything. No sudden pain, no sudden feeling, no sudden burst of power.

“Feels like every time we find something out with the Lake Trio, we just get more questions.” What were these marks for? What were they supposed to do? Why were they marked in the first place? “I don’t even know where to look with this one. You’re the first person I’ve even talked to ‘bout it.”

Eris Halla

“Just like Uxie, huh.” It did make sense, and Hideo could visualize it from what Eris described. “Though with closed eyes and a round face, that could just be me~” He poked his cheeks, grinning at his own joke.

But the levity didn’t last long. Not when Eris recommended caution. Hideo raised an eyebrow, a little confused. “Well, if you say so.” Not that he intended to show it off to any person he came across on the street, but Eris made it sound like this had to be a close-held secret.

Though if they had to be picky about who they chose, Hideo could come up with a name very quickly. “We should probably tell Martín del Mar about it. He might have an idea what to do, or at least know who else to talk to.” It had been Martin that had gathered everyone in the first place, for the Lake Trio’s initial summoning. It made sense to show it to him.

“And yeah, we can trust Doug too. Though we probably got a lot to explain to him.” He hadn’t actually talked to many people about this stuff, now that he thought about it. Not at length, anyways.

Eris Halla

Rocket. Right. “With all the stuff we’ve been dealing with, I’d almost forgot Rocket was back up and active again.” He hadn’t had any conflict with Rocket personally, but he could understand Eris’s caution; she was from Kanto. She must’ve seen the worst of them - and more.

But her refusal to tell Martín del Mar of all people took him aback a moment. “But…why not?” Not that he didn’t trust Eris, but Martin was part of the group that found the Lake Trio in the first place. “He’s just as much a part of this as we are.” He didn’t know if Martin had been there when they got their marks, but it didn’t make sense to leave him out.

“Or…is there a reason you don’t trust him?”

Eris had to at least have some reason for her choice.

Hideo raised his sleeve over his mark. He was sure that would be enough to hide it - he always wore this sweater in any weather, so not like it would look out of place to cover it.

Eris Halla

“Yeah, that’s not surprising. Pokemon don’t really care if you’re a Ranger or a Rocket or just going around doing whatever. I doubt Legendaries are any different.” His own Legendaries were aloof enough that sometimes he doubted if he could even keep them under control.

The absence of reason isn’t lost on Hideo, and the idea of leaving Martin out of this feels wrong to him. The man who made it possible for them to even summon the Lake Trio in the first place.

But he trusts Eris. If she would insist on leaving Martin out of this, he would follow along. “Alright,” he said with a sigh, “We’ll cross Mars off the list for now.” Though he did want to know why Eris distrusted him of all people, that was a question for another day.

The more prudent question was who they could still talk to about this. He’d feel better if they could think up more people to trust.

“Melody Miro ’s also someone I think we can talk to about this. I can even have a pretty easy time getting in touch with her!” He did have her phone number, and he had been to her house before.

So did Eris, if he recalled, but Melody was still someone worth discussing this with.

Eris Halla

Locke Jamison , he knew decently well - the two had met when they were still trying to get a handle on the amulets, and even had the same kind Hideo did. They even did some work together catching some wily present-nabbing Pokemon. “Yeah, they’re someone we could talk to. They helped summoned the Lake Trio, so they at least get that right.”

Razz Kingsman less so; Hideo felt like he might’ve battled someone with that name during the Hoenn Star Tournament, but he couldn’t recall anything beyond that. He nodded at her suggestion, trusting that Eris had more to go off of than he did.

Now for his turn.

“I think we could also talk to MATIAS SILPH about it. I got to talk to him before-” a little while after he’d lost his Ariados, “-and I feel like we can trust him. Plus, he’s Elite Four, kinda like Melody Miro .” Their talk had been pretty rough at first, but by the end, Hideo did feel better. Plus Matias even seemed excited to face off against him one day - in an official challenge of course.

"But I won't tell them about you. Not unless you want me to." Not that he planned to in the first place.

Eris Halla