With how preoccupied Hideo had been exploring the Mechanical Kingdom (and prepping for said explorations) and his new Minor League Gym, he hadn't had much contact with most of his friends, Eris included. He usually only met with them on the odd days they went to the treehouse at the same time.

He hadn't realized that, even he received the text from Eris. He was quick to open it and listen to it, noting the language she was using: very casual, even noting her Pa was fine.

Chu-e Choi was doing fine. Seemed like things had gone well for him, especially if Eris was so freely sharing their address with him like this.

Well, who was he to refuse? He was quick to send her an answer.

Heck yeah I wanna come over! I can be there in thirty minutes!

Had he been there before, "thirty minutes" would have been "three seconds", but the closest he could get teleported to was the Pokemon Center he'd been to in Ever Grande. Thirty minutes would give him enough leeway to find his way over.

Eris would hear the doorbell ring twenty-eight minutes after she got the text, with an eager Hideo on the other side of that door - along with his Beheeyem by his side.

And a "Ralts" sitting on his shoulders.

Eris Halla

Hideo could hear Eris stomp down the stairs from outside, and there was a large smile on his face as she opened the door.

He didn't hesitate to follow her invitation, making his way into her house. He could hear a Pokemon descending from the stairs - four-legged from that walking pattern, so probably Reiner. "I'm glad to hear you and your Pa got a place to live in Ever Grande!" he said, "Nice and close to the Pokemon League."

Close to the League, away from Rocket.

A chirping noise caught his attention, a Pokemon seeming to float around his head - around his "Ralts". Hideo had no idea it was in a disguise, his "Ralts" spoiling the surprise for him early. "Living Room sounds good," Hideo said, his voice lowering, "And, uh, does your Pa already knows about you having Mesprit? Just so I know if it's alright for Uxie to drop the Ralts act."

The "Ralts" giggled at the "Mimikyu" circling around it, waving towards it. It would've joined in as well, had it not given up its ability to Levitate so it could maintain its Illusion.

Eris Halla

Hideo nodded along as Eris spoke. "Well, dunno how much of those there was in Sootopolis, but I'm sure you still got your garden you brought me to that one time." Even if she weren't there to maintain it, he could guess her Pokemon could - if he recalled, she had a Shaymin too, a perfect garden Pokemon.

The small silence, Hideo found a seat of his own, sitting down on a nearby couch. His Beheeyem laid down next to it, the "Ralts" still sitting on his shoulders.

"I've been tight-lipped about Uxie. Only person I've shown them to that you weren't there for was Melody Miro ." He'd already trusted Melody with knowing about his mark - even enough to live at her house, though that detail he'd leave out. "So I haven't had any problem hiding Uxie - as you can see."

As if on cue, Uxie let go of its Skill Swap, the Illusion around it dissipating as it once more began to Levitate, following along with the "Mimikyu". "Well, at least it waits until it's safe to start doing stuff."

"I have been thinking about talking to Eva Morales about it. She seems pretty trustworthy, and I've been doing stuff with her lately, so I can talk to her."

Eris Halla

Hideo snorted. "Well, it's more like Uxie knows when it's good to stay hidden. When it's just with me and my Pokemon, Uxie's a lot more…uh…" The gears in his head moved as he tried to think of the right word. A few blinks of his Beheeyem's hand gave him the answer. "Wild? Yeah, that works."

Uxie eagerly accepted the "Mimikyu's" bag of gummy worms, stuffing several into its mouth at once. A pair of gummy worms stuck out of its mouth like fangs, swaying from side to side as it chewed.

Admittedly, Hideo wasn't too shocked to hear Eris already showed Mesprit to Eva Morales . She always seemed to be ahead of him in that regard. What did get an eyebrow raise was the degree of trust Eris had in her.

At least it was definite proof Hideo could trust her with information about Uxie.

"I've actually been working with Ms.Eva lately. You remember that weird machine kingdom we found in Littleroot? We've been going through there lately, trying to find out what that place is. Been there a few times already, and it's a pretty strange place."

"And to be honest, I was hoping we could find out something about Azelf there, at least some kind of hint where it is. Uxie and Mesprit had to have popped up around there for a reason."

He shrugged. "No luck yet, though. Uxie just won't give me the answer, even though they keep pushing me to look further in there. Dunno if that push is even gonna tell me anything about where Azelf is, or Uxie just wants to explore."

Uxie was too preoccupied with the gummy worms to even acknowledge what he said.

Eris Halla

Hideo has been unaware of Uxie's gluttonous act until Eris mentioned it, but that simply earned a tired sigh from him. "Uxie, don't choke after we tried so hard to find you."

Uxie simply waved him off, enjoying its gummy treats at its own pace. Without choking.

"The Borders?" He raised an eyebrow, trying to remember what rumors he heard about there. "That's where dead things are, right? Well, good that Azelf isn't there. Or at least no sign of it there."

Which meant he probably didn't need to go there himself, letting internally breathe a sigh of relief.

"Well, the whole place is like a big clockwork machine, and all the Pokemon we've found there are made of metal. No people, though."

At least, no living people. Plenty of human bones, though. He didn't plan to bring those up - this was supposed to be a fun meetup.

"Everything there seems to run on music too. We even found a music box that seems to mess around with the pace of everything, even the metal Pokemon."

There was a brief pause as he tried to think of something else to impress her, his thumb and index finger on his chin. They shot up as he remembered.

"Oh! We also found Volcanion! Like, the real one, not one of the robots there! It said it's there to try and find Soul Hearts so it can bring a certain Magearna back to life or something."

Eris Halla

Hideo nodded along with Eris's brief overview of The Border. "Well, seals are supposed to keep spirits under control. Though I gotta wonder what they're sealing away in a place that's already for the dead."

But back to his own journey; "I heard some people have a bone to pick with Volcanion," he said, "And yeah, it was talking about Soul Hearts while it was there."

As for if he would help? A grin erupted onto his face. "Wellllllllll…" He paused for a few seconds to build up the tension, to get her interest even further. "Maaaaaybe I already did help Volcanion out a bit. I didn't help it find any Soul Hearts, 'cause it already had some." Also, because he had no idea what they looked like - and he wasn't the best at finding stuff.

He reached into his pocket, taking out a Pokeball. "But I did help it find some Magearna. I helped it put the Soul Heart in them, and it seemed to work. But Volcanion seemed kinda disappointed, soooooooooo-"

The ball opened up, letting out the Magearna inside, the curious metallic fairy looking around its new environment.

"-Volcanion told us to keep them, so now this Magearna's with me!...though I don't think this is the Magearna the Volcanion was looking for in your story." If the story was about them.

Eris Halla

Well, that certainly caught Hideo's interest. "Well dang, if even Yveltal wouldn't like it, there must be some real bad stuff in there." Which, admittedly, did catch his interest - maybe he would check it out once he was done with the Mechanical Kingdom. And found out where Azelf was.

Eris would find that the Magearna was just as curious about her, as she was for it, the metallic fairy looking her over. "I do hear Magearna are pretty," Hideo said, "though I'm not really one to judge on that front. I do know it's a pretty curious Pokemon, almost like it hatched right out of an egg."

Whether or not Eris let it, the Magearna reached over towards the girl, poking her cheeks gently. Mesprit's curiosity was answered with a faint blush on the Magearna's cheeks, the Pokemon floating away slightly - though still looking over Eris.

"Volcanion actually didn't attack us. It did seem pretty unhappy to see humans, but when it saw I had Magearna with me, it had me help out with putting in the Soul Heart. Though it did make me leave when it wasn't happy with the result." It did sound similar to the Volcanion Melody Miro told him about - and it definitely got an appropriate reaction from her.

Eris Halla