"Always, of course."

His mouth might've been writing checks he wasn't sure he could cash, but he wasn't going to abandon Eris. He already knew she was Rocket - and that revelation hadn't been enough to turn him away.

He didn't resist as she grabbed his hand; he gave her space so she didn't feel trapped, and he wouldn't refuse if she still wanted him close.

His other hand went over the back of her hands; he could feel her trembling, even the sweat beading on her hands, but he still holds, even as her grip tightens.

"I know it's scary, to leave a life you've lived for so long. It took a lot of effort for me to leave my home." A lot of planning helped, but it took him effort to make that climb out of his window, to finally go out and do the Gym Circuit. "Whatever you were, you don't have to keep being that. You can always change, and I'm here to help support you. Just like Doug."

He didn't stop her from letting go, granting her distance yet again.

"You don't gotta be sorry about being scared. You just gotta know we're here for you."

Eris Halla

   

The subtle features were indeed lost on Hideo; his Beheeyem was good at telling him many things, but explaining the nuanced emotions was beyond its expertise.

Hideo could only hope that she'd believe his words; he well and truly did want to help her stay out of Rocket.

But she did bring up a good point: he couldn't forget about the Pokemon risking themselves as him. And risking Eris's phones.

…why did she have two phones? Perhaps a question to ask another day.

"Right. Elga, mind telling them to come back? I think we gave Rocket enough chaos for now." A few blinking lights on his Beheeyem's hand would be the confirmation Eris could see - the mental one was clear to Hideo.

Though they wouldn't return all at once; the first was the one "Hideo" without a phone, landing on all fours, a wide grin on its face. It gave Hideo a pat on the head, another pair of Hideos emerging from different sides of the woods.

They too joined in on the patting, the two later arrivals going for the shoulders.

Hideo was stonefaced; he was more embarrassed about getting this kind of affection from his Pokemon in public - vaguely aware of the awkwardness of getting affectionate pats from himself.

"Guess the gang's all here."

Eris Halla

   

All four of Hideo's Pokemon turned towards Eris, raising a hand to their mouth - he wasn't supposed to know that.

But it was too late. "The what of me?" Hideo (the real one) turned towards Eris, looking towards her. "...were all those plushies…plushies of me?!"

He had a lot more than just one: his Pokemon collected a lot of them, some even able to sleep on a pile of them. Why hadn't any of his Pokemon told him those were him?! "Oh, this just feels weird. I didn't know they were selling me like that."

The mention of actually doing his job did distract him from the strange existential crisis he was beginning to have. "Oh, right. The other part of what we're here for. Guess I can go around and see what stragglers my guys've left."

His three Zoroarks finally release their Illusions, their true forms revealed. The two Zoroarks with phones went over to Eris, handing them back before returning to their trainer. "Did you, uh, want to help out with that part? I'd understand if you don't."

"If you wanna just do something else, I can say I got in a fight with some Rockets and you slipped away in the confusion."

Eris Halla

Hideo still didn't like hearing something synthesize his voice like that.

"Well I guess," Hideo groaned, "Just wished they'd asked me first." He would've wanted his plushie to have longer arms, at least, not those stubby little bits that were on them.

And maybe ask for some to be made of his Pokemon; he wouldn't mind a Beheeyem plushie.

That thought caught his Beheeyem's attention, the psychic-type blushing slightly.

Plushies aside, it was time to get back to business - and Hideo was caught off guard yet again, this time by Eris wanting to help him capture the Rockets. "Oh. Alright." With that hesitation she had before, he would've expected her to refuse out of discomfort.

Hopefully she wasn't pushing herself too hard here. "Just make sure to stay close, Eris. And lemme know if you wanna stop at some point." Last thing he wanted to do was be the one pushing her into something she didn't want.

Hideo recalled two of his Zoroarks, leaving the Pokerus-infected one out. In their place, Hideo let out another Pokemon - a small, shiny Joltik, who immediately latched on to the boy's wrist. "I'll lead the way," he said - though it'd be apparent quickly that he was following his Zoroark, his Beheeyem keeping an eye out to keep the boy from tripping over anything.

They'd quickly find a Rocket, one who looked to be in a panic - and expressed such the moment they spotted Hideo. "Oh fuck, he's-"

Hideo pointed his arm straight at the Rocket, the Joltik on his wrist firing out a String Shot, immediately wrapping around the Rocket. An easy shot to make, with the target being so loud.

Though while the Rocket couldn't move their body, their mouth still moved. "How the fuck were you moving like that? They said you're blind or something."

Hideo just shrugged. "Maybe Rocket can't even catch a blind kid nowadays~"

Eris Halla

He could've gotten some royalties from his likeness, at least! And maybe gotten some more for his Pokemon; his Pokemon collected a good number of his plushies, but they still sometimes fought over them.

"I'll take your word for it." He had no way to know just how accurate they were, but his Pokemon loved them, so they were good enough.

A brief bit of levity before they got to business.

Hideo'd restrained the Rocket, but Eris beat him to the punch at the disarmament part. "I usually leave that to my Pokemon," Hideo said, letting Eris go to work. "They're always thorough at this kind of stuff."

The Rocket tried to agitate Eris, even tried to turn Hideo against her. But it went in through one of Hideo's ears and out the other; he didn't move when Eris slapped the Rocket, and only got closer after Reiner knocked them out.

Hideo was about to get his Beheeyem to do the same, but Eris beat him to that one as well.

He didn't need any of his Pokemon to tell him Eris wasn't taking it too well. "They'll say whatever they can to hurt us," Hideo said. "Don't listen to them. I still trust you."

Hideo took out another Pokeball, letting out his Banette. "Marion, take this Rocket we caught to the usual place." The Banette nodded, giving Hideo a quick pat on the head before grabbing the unconscious Rocket, descending into a Phantom Force. "He's taking them to a League camp for questioning, same as we do for all the Rockets we catch."

The shadow moved out through the forest - in a different direction than Hideo had been leading Eris. He'd been honest about not actually trying to detain her - if there was any doubt.

"Wanna take a minute? Or you ready to go find another?"

Eris Halla

There's a discomfort, hearing Eris actively encourage him to doubt her. It could only come from someone who didn't trust themself, even if he tried to tell her otherwise. But now wasn't the time to try and change her mind on that, not in the middle of a battlefield.

The best he could do was protest the last part. "Getting possessed or brainwashed is a whole other thing. If that happened, it wouldn't really be you, would it?" He'd just be talking to the brainwashing or whatever was possessing her; how could he blame her for anything if she wasn't even in control of herself?

Regardless, they continued on. Their next encounter wouldn't take much longer, the Rocket's panicked breaths being the first sign of their presence. Hideo already had his arm raised, the Joltik firing a String Shot the moment the Rocket came into view.

His Zoroark would be faster than Eris this time, moving to disarm the Rocket. Yet the Rocket's attention was solely on Hideo - and they seemed terrified of him.

"You…you weren't moving like a human," the Rocket said, trembling. "I-I heard what you did on the beach. You ki-"

To Hideo, it'd seem like the Rocket fainted - but it might be a bit more obvious to Eris that Hideo's Beheeyem had its hand pointed towards the Rocket, a quick Psychic knocking them out.

Hideo just looked towards the Rocket, his faced scrunched in confusion. "Weird," he muttered, waiting for his Banette to return to evacuate this one.

Eris Halla

Hideo raised an eyebrow at Eris's comment.

"Well, I don't want them thinking I'm just someone I can steamroll over," he said, his Banette popping back in to carry the grunt back to a League base. "And people already know I'm not actually some creep. I got a whole Gym to help prove that."

Ones that Rockets could visit, so long as they didn't cause trouble. There, they could see what he was like off the battlefield, when they weren't in a life-or-death situation.

"That, or they'll realize those were my Zoroarks running around. Not me."

The one Zoroark he had out snickered.

"If they're still falling for dumb rumors about me after all that, that's their own fault. Wouldn't want my Gym to end up like some other people's, getting attacked by Rocket over and over."

Those casualty reports he'd heard of at the Mauville Gym certainly got him concerned. He didn't want his Gym to be vulnerable like that.

It was part of why he let his Pokemon roam around it. Why he gave them permission to act first if they spotted any suspicious activity.

"Anyways, let's get moving. Pretty sure there's at least one other Rocket around here to find."

Eris Halla