The two Pokemon took a look at the spinning cup, spotting the pair and their disguised partners quickly. The Ambipom cheered them on, encouraging them to go even faster, even if the only two who could understand her were the ones struggling to not fly off. The Beheeyem was tempted to lend a hand and help keep the pixies down, but saw they were handling it just fine on their own.

Instead, he answered Reiner's question: the Ambipom won them from a ring-throwing game, where she had to toss a ring onto a Dugtrio. Twice. She'd only gotten a chance because a Pokemon was manning the booth - and they were booted from it the moment the human carnie came back to man it, with two prizes in tow.

He wished she could've won more.

The ride soon came to a stop, the two children exiting the teacups - clumsily. Hideo was even more disoriented, stumbling around. The Ambipom handed her plushie to the Beheeyem, rushing over to help him before he stumbled into someone.

"Pom?" he asked as he was led off the ride, clinging closely to a disoriented-looking "Ralts". "I didn't know you were here too." A small Telepathic *ping* notified him Elga was here too. "You too, huh. Well, you guys can join us!"

There were no objections out of them.

Hideo excitedly nodded as Eris wanted more. "Yeah, 'nother ride!" Uxie did not look happy at that prospect, looking over towards the Beheeyem. A brief moment of mental begging, and the Beheeyem prompted Hideo towards a different, less intense ride.

"Ooh! Elga says there's one of those up-and-down rides! Think he means those Drop Towers! Wanna try it?"

Involve or reference a Dugtrio-Ring-Toss Game

Eris Halla

Balance does take time to regain, and Hideo doesn't have all of it back yet - but his Ambipom knows how to keep him guided, so he isn't twisting and falling over his own feet.

Uxie didn't have as much luck; the moment it let go, it spun around, trying to find balance with feet it barely used. It found the ground instead, face-first. It didn't even have the focus to properly argue with Mesprit, lazily waving an arm it Mesprit's general direction.

Luckily, Hideo was there to pick it up, holding it in his arms. "I'll give you a chance to rest," he said, "Elga can guide me around." Another arm raised by the disguised pixie - with a more approving connotation behind it.

"Now let's get on that Drop Tower ride!" He was once more led over by Eris, offering no resistance. His Ambipom held on to the doll he'd won, the Beheeyem following closely behind. And they'd quickly find the tall tower ride waiting for them.

But they'd find a complication once they got in line: there was a height minimum for humans and Pokemon. Hideo and Eris would be fine to ride - even a nonhumanoid like Reiner would be able to ride. The "Ralts" and "Mimikyu", however, would be too short to ride.

Not that Uxie was planning to - it hadn't wanted to go on the ride. Not because it was being a weenie (which is made sure Mesprit was certain of), but because its Illusion wouldn't be compatible with a harness. Mesprit's disguise might be awkward too.

"Hm…maybe they could play something else while we're on this?" Hideo asked aloud. "They could do something quick, like a fishing game?" He was sure one of his Pokemon could supervise them while they did that.

Involve or reference a Magikarp Fishing Game

Eris Halla

In the wake of Mesprit's tantrum, came a deep sigh from Uxie. It muttered about how embarrassing the whole situation was, telling its sibling there was nothing they could do without blowing their cover.

Hideo was forced to follow (more out of social obligation), trying to think of some way to calm Mesprit down. He had a feeling he couldn't just rely on Elga to resolve it like with most tantruming Pokemon at his Gym, so he'd have to make a solution himself, to keep things from spiraling out of control.

Uxie pointed his attention towards a food stand. An ice cream stand. "Good catch," Hideo muttered, catching up closer to Eris and her group.

"You guys wanna get some Ice Cream? I just heard there's a pretty good one nearby." He had no idea what they actually had there or if it was actually good, but he was just aiming for de-escalation.

Help a carny with a troublesome customer or other issue

Eris Halla

Hideo had gotten a lot of practice helping calm children down at his Gym, and the same tactics applied to a lot of less mature Pokemon as well: distract them with something else they liked. And Hideo knew Mesprit (and Eris) like Ice Cream.

As those two sought out a Balloon, Hideo went to the Ice Cream stand. The first order was for himself and Uxie, the two getting the chocolatiest chocolate that they had available. After that was for Elga and Pom, who both insisted on getting some ice cream themselves; the former got vanilla while the latter got mint chocolate chip.

As for Eris and Mesprit, Uxie thankfully filled him in on what flavor they'd prefer. He got a cone for each; hopefully it'd be enough to calm Mesprit down.

(Eris Halla can decide what flavors they are)

With his own team Ice Cream'd up, he brought over the cones to Eris and Mesprit - courtesy of his Beheeyem holding them in the air for him Psychically. "Hope this helps," he said, offering them their respective cones.

Offer a carnival treat to someone else

Eris Halla

Hideo shook his head. "You already got those cinnamon pretzels for us. My turn to treat you." He tried to resist Eris's payment, but alas, she pried his hand open and pretty much forced him to accept it. He pocketed the notes, enjoying the chocolate he'd gotten for himself.

As everyone and their mons enjoyed their treats, Eris pointed out another potential activity - a mirror maze. "I'm better at mazes than you'd think," Hideo bragged, "and a mirror maze's tricks wouldn't work on me!...though I do gotta wonder how well they'll do at one."

He knew Uxie was smart - but would that help in a maze? Uxie seemed willing to take a shot at one, gobbling down its ice cream as quickly as it could (without getting brain freeze), urging Hideo to take it to one of the mirror mazes. "It's a yes on this end!"

Uxie was ready to hop off Hideo and waddle its way into a maze - whether Mesprit wanted to join it or not. And maybe it threw in a small taunt of its own, asking if Mesprit thought it'd get lost forever in the maze and would be too scared to join in.

...

Though as Uxie would find out quickly, the house of mirrors was much tougher to navigate than they'd expected.

Get lost in the house of mirrors

Eris Halla

Uxie's illusion pouted, matching the expression hidden under the illusion. It had been confident that it could solve this maze without using its powers; seeing without sight couldn't be tricked by mirrors.

But it was still a maze, a fact it made sure to say to the taunting Mesprit.

------

"Sounds like they're having fun there," Hideo said, the raucous laughter and arguing easy to hear (even if he couldn't understand the actual arguing). "Glad it's gotten Mesprit to calm down, at least. I feel lucky that all I gotta deal with Uxie doing is eating all my snacks."

Though he couldn't see it, Uxie did start to utilize a trick to find a way through the maze: it placed its hand against one of the mirror walls, following along. It wasn't a very exciting technique, nor was it a fast one, but it was a reliable one to avoid getting lost in circles.

Or in whatever shape this maze was in. It also helped avoid running into a mirror on accident; Uxie didn't want to break its illusion.

In time, Uxie would find its way back to Hideo and Eris, though would it take a while. Was its slow and steady technique enough to get here before Mesprit?

Successfully find your way through the house of mirrors

Eris Halla

Uxie grumbled at Mesprit's taunts, taking a chance to shoot one back as Mesprit slapped open air. It didn't move any faster, even as Mesprit went off on its own, sticking to its own simple, slow method.

"Yeesh. Didn't know Mesprit does stuff to you. Uxie just pushes me to try out new stuff a lot, but they don't give me headaches over it." Though Uxie did go out and do stuff on its own sometimes, it still hadn't done anything to hurt him, intentionally or not

Not that he knew of.

The moment they emerged from the maze, Uxie clung to Hideo, the boy kneeling down to let the little pixie back onto his shoulders. "That's usually how I gotta solve mazes," Hideo said. "It's even harder for me to know if I'm stuck going in circles. Even outside of mazes."

He patted Uxie on the head, grinning, though Uxie still seemed unhappy with its performance. "Well, we could always try again another time so you can practice."

Though before Hideo could suggest another activity, he felt his phone ringing. "Dammit," Hideo muttered, bringing his phone up to his ear - the phone reading out the time.

"Think I gotta head back to my Gym now," Hideo said. "Gotta help set things up for when the festival comes by Littleroot. I had a lotta fun hanging out with you, Eris! Maybe we can hang out again when it's there!"

Eris Halla