The people approaching Hideo were definitely angry with him, trying to interrogate him about why he was here. He could only be honest, telling them it was an accident, but they didn't seem happy about that. Neither did his Lycanroc, who remained standing between them and Hideo

It became pretty obvious he was dealing with Rocket. Not great; they didn't seem to recognize him as a Minor League leader, but it could still get messy if he actually went along with them. But maybe they actually knew a way out of here?

He had a tough choice ahead of him here. One he didn't get to make when he heard a familiar voice booming through the area: Aaron Toral . And he seemed raring for a fight, what few negotiation options Hideo had scattering away.

And then he heard Eris Halla , convincing the Rockets to let her handle this - the dread clear on Hideo's face. Not because of battling Eris, mind you: more because he had no idea if the very anti-Rocket Aaron knew she was already Rocket or not.

Also, that she was still working with Rocket. He thought she'd have tried breaking away from them by now.

The aggressive look on his Lycanroc's face gradually disappeared, but it was still standing low, ready for a battle. Hideo took a moment to shake off his anxiety, kneeling low. "Rocky, we gotta cut those Rocket off from her," he said, his Lycanroc growling lowly as an agreement.

He stood back up. "We…we won't let you make us leave!" he "declared", "We won't let Rocket do what they want with us!" His stellar acting earned an eye roll from the Lycanroc, who was looking for an opportunity to sneak around, standing near Hideo until he got one.

Eris Halla Aaron Toral

Hideo waited for an opportunity, but it seemed like nobody was any more eager to fight than he was. It sounded like Eris Halla let a Pokemon out, one that didn't land on the ground, though that didn't narrow the options down enough for him to guess what it was. He couldn't see just how frayed Aaron Toral was, and could only base off what the other boy was saying - he seemed to be in on the act, at least.

He could feel something touching his ankles - light scratches making him pull away slightly. It was now or never. "Well, you asked for it," he said, pointing forward. "Rocky! Get in there nice and quick!"

The Lycanroc glowed dull white, charging ahead with an Accelerock. He charged towards Eris's Togekiss, aiming to ram straight into it…

Until he crossed the distance halfway. At that point, Rocky pivoted, charging around the Togekiss and Eris. He went right to a wall, his Tough Claws digging in as several chunks of rock were torn out, a Rock Tomb flying over to try and block off the Rocket member supervising Eris.

Eris Halla Aaron Toral

Hideo could hear the rocks get thrown by the Rock Tomb, but it took them far longer than he'd expected to hit the ground. And it didn't sound like they landed where they were supposed to - some of them sounded like they were going towards Rocky, even some aimed near him. "How did she…" he muttered - it didn't sound like her Pokemon did anything, so how was that deflected?

Melmetal

The words popped up in his head - and in Aaron Toral 's as well. Hideo recognized the source quickly, though he wasn't aware Uxie was floating right behind him, out of sight of the Rocket grunt overseeing Eris Halla , but easy to spot for Aaron. "She's really going all out," Hideo mused quietly, "Is she really being serious about this?"

Play Along

This time, the message would reach Eris as well. There was a bit of relief with that answer, but just how far would they have to go? Unsteadily, he took a Z-ring out of his pocket, donning it on his arm. His voice rose to match, so everyone could hear him: "Well, if that's how you're gonna play it…Rocky, time to go all out!"

The Z-ring glowed, as did his Lycanroc. A large stone grew out of the cave around them - the Continental Crush growing fast. He could only hope Eris was ready for it, for the attack was aiming squarely for her Togekiss - through the wire barrier she'd had set up.

A small Future Vision from Uxie went to Eris, to help her make sure she was ready for it - if she needed any more preparation.

Eris Halla Aaron Toral

There was little shock that Eris managed to take down his Lycanroc's Z-Move; he hadn't wanted it to truly harm her or her Pokemon, and he knew just how tough a Melmetal was with his own. Whatever it took to prove Eris's strength - to convince the Rocket watching her she could "handle" him and Aaron.

He could only hope they didn't have to escalate the battle further. Uxie informed him Mesprit was right by Eris now.

And that her Melmetal just tossed several chunks of rock at him and Aaron. While Hideo's Lycanroc was on the other side of the cave and Aaron just had his Scizor out.

Not good.

But a quick Future Vision from Uxie would inform the boys of where the chunks were going to fly - and where they wouldn't. Hideo caught on quickly, moving to one of the safe spots, Uxie still using him to keep itself concealed from Eris's supervisor. His Lycanroc was quick to rush back to his side, to make sure he'd be safe from any more "playful" attacks.

Yet Hideo could hear an annoyed grunt from Uxie - a noise he'd never heard from it before, a frown on its face; unbeknownst to him, Uxie was well aware that Mesprit thought this was a good time to play. By getting the Melmetal to toss a rock at Uxie.

Well, if that's how it wanted to play…

A small application of Mystical Power, and the rock chunk was sent flying back, right towards Mesprit.

Hideo could only wonder what Uxie was doing, completely unaware of what was tossed.

Eris Halla Aaron Toral