Hideo was starting to get a feel for what it was like to actually be part of a war - and he didn't like it. Constant battling, little rest, always needing to be on the lookout for any incoming threats. And worst of all, getting stuck with a lot of boring jobs like guard duty or escorts in safe areas; he wanted to do stuff like exploring the island, searching for clues, finding out what was up with this place.

Apart from feeling a bit tired, Hideo'd managed to get through things without injury beyond a few scrapes and bruises; his sygna suit was doing wonders on that front, and all those safety preparations he'd been utilizing since he'd left home were working wonders. Not every battle went well - he'd long since known he wasn't good at battling in the sky - but the worst he had were some knocked out Pokemon.

Because of that, he was already deployed again, this time on patrol. An Elgyem sat on the boy's shoulder, serving as his eyes through its Telepathy. As usual, he was on the lookout for anyone that wasn't League that was around here, and to escort them out. That didn't necessarily mean he would be dealing with Rockets; civilians could be here as well, checking out the island that'd popped up overnight.

He knew he would've, if he weren't a Gym Leader. Heck, even as a Gym Leader, he would've come here even if he weren't deployed.

But he had to escort them regardless.

And his Elgyem just brought his attention to one, a woman who was on a rock. Hideo slowly approached.

"Excuse me, Miss," he said, "There's active battling between League and Rocket going on here. You can't be here. I'm gonna have to escort you to where League can help you safely get off the island."

Still felt awkward to say all that, when he'd been so used to being on the other end of things.

Aurelie Lefevre

Hideo had long since gotten used to being treated with little-to-no respect by other people, whether because of his age, disability, or lack of accomplishment. He couldn't do much about the first two, but he would've thought being a Gym Leader would at least get more people to listen to him.

Not always, as he'd learned many times already, and his time on the island only served as a frequent reminder of such, whether by Rockets who thought him a pushover or civilians that just didn't want to listen to a kid.

The frown on Hideo's face would be the first sign of his displeasure. Words soon followed.

"Miss," he said, taking a step forward - and not accepting her hand, "I'm with the League. I'm here to help keep people safe, so they don't get caught up in the fighting between League and Rocket. I'm Gym Leader over in Littleroot, and the League has me here to help keep civilians from getting hurt in the fighting."

He wished they let him do more than just that, but the front lines were kept out of his grasp (save for the one accidental mission he'd been given alongside Josh Devlin ). For now; maybe his performance would get him more respect from the League.

"There's a safe place where the League can help you get off the island. We can go there together if you want, but I insist we go there." He held his hand out, but didn't grab hers; he was offering it to her, so that he could lead her out of here; his Elgyem knew the way back.

Aurelie Lefevre

Hideo let out a small sigh. At least it was just because she didn't know, rather than her trying to belittle him. "That's alright," Hideo said, "It can be a lot to remember sometimes. Heck, some Gyms cycled through Gym Leaders pretty quickly."

A lot of Gyms had different Gym Leaders when he'd first started the Gym Circuit.

Hideo was left oblivious to the lady sizing him up; his Elgyem was still learning what it should or shouldn't tell through Telepathy, and the best it could tell him was she was looking at him, which was nothing out of the ordinary.

Relief went through the boy as the woman took his hand. "Thank you for cooperating, Miss," he said, lighting wrapping his hand around hers. "It's a bit of a walk, but it's a safe place." Civilians that cooperated were few and far between, and she took a lot less effort to convince than some others.

There was no dastardly plan in the boy's mind; he truly did just want to get her out of harm's way. His attention was more towards his surroundings, to look out for anyone else that might be lost in the forest - or was laying in wait to ambush him and the woman he was escorting. His Elgyem did most of the watching; Hideo was focused on listening.

The woman's question did get his attention.

"Yeah, there should be someone that could heal your Pokemon. There's a good amount of first aid stuff there, for people and Pokemon that need some medical care. Not really sure if I could call it an outpost though; I'm not too familiar with all the size classifications and whatnot. But it is something the League's got set up. Might need to get back on the mainland if the injury's really bad though."

There was also the chance her Pokemon could be sent over to the main medical area the League had set up - but he wouldn't make any promises there.

"So who was it that attacked you? Think they might still be after you?"

Aurelie Lefevre

The description didn't fit anyone the boy was aware of in particular; deep voice, black mask, and black tactical gear could apply to a lot of Rockets, and a Gyarados wasn't a rare Pokemon to point at anyone in particular. Also didn't help that Hideo wasn't exactly the best at identifying people by how they looked.

"Good to hear you were able to get away from him," Hideo said. "Rocket's really attacking anyone that they see these days. They'd even attack me before I was a Gym Leader, just 'cause they saw a target."

As for his own encounters here? "There've been some, yeah. I've had to protect some injured people that got attacked by Rockets, and I've fought the odd Rocket that just attacked me the moment they spotted me - kinda like what it sounds like you dealt with. I dunno what they're here for, but they never waste a chance to hurt as many people as they can."

That really had been what he'd gotten from his encounters; Rocket might pretend to have some higher goal, but they just used whatever excuse they could to hurt people and his region, his home.

"Anyways, I think it's about…five minutes? Ten minutes from here?" There'd be a few blinks of lights on his Elgyem's hand - one of the few signs it was communicating with Hideo. "Ten minutes, right. Kinda hard to keep track like that when I'm not patrolling in a straight line."

Sharing that much didn't seem suspicious to Hideo. Though a question did pop up in his mind - this wouldn't be a one-sided conversation.

"So what'd you come to the island for in the first place?"

Aurelie Lefevre

That day at Littleroot really had soured Hideo's perspective on Rocket. Their attempts to sabotage the League's efforts to stop the meteor from destroying the region were unforgivable; their success would've gotten a lot of people and pokemon killed, including many of their own number.

Hearing the reports of how many Pokemon they killed during the battle at the Ultra Sea didn't help matters either.

"Seems like it's all they do these days," Hideo said, the disgust clear in his voice. "That and cheat and steal whatever they can. I still don't know why the people in Sootopolis trust them at all at this point. Doesn't sound like they do anything good."

Just thinking about it was souring his mood. Better to focus on the now, to try and not get lost in his thoughts as they found their way to the camp.

The woman's story came across as odd to the boy; wouldn't the League have tried to direct that vessel out of the area? Or Rocket would've tried to capture it and use them as hostages? Then again, both sides did rush over here; it was entirely possible they did miss that vessel in the chaos.

"Sounds like there's other people lost here then," Hideo noted. "I'll try and get a team together to look for them. Or at least let them know that your ship got stuck here." If it were true, that was a lot more civilians here that probably wanted nothing more than to get off the island asap.

Hideo wouldn't spend much time lingering after escorting the woman over to the camp; just enough to explain the situation and try to go looking for anyone else that might be lost on the island. He wouldn't be around to keep watch of the woman, so he wouldn't be able to interfere if she really did attempt to escape.

Aurelie Lefevre