Indeed, it was her. It was the same Eris Halla Josh saw in the mist. The mist that had nearly taken both their lives, saved by one another in the heat of the moment. Reiner looked defensive as always, as did the child. It was a fair reaction; while in their most vulnerable states, she was next to her attempted murderer. No matter how much Josh wanted to make amends to her, there was no rolling that back. She would likely be scarred for her life. Nothing might ever change that.

Josh chose the story-advancing option and watched the cutscene play out before waving toward Eris and calling out her name. "Glad to see you made it out of that mist alive," the Mauville Gym Leader greeted her, his chipper tone of voice robbed from him by pain. "Thanks again for saving me back there. Couldn't have done it without you." While it was far from monotone, he was not nearly as cheerful and expressive as he usually was.

Basil walked toward Reiner to greet the Luxray, but backed off upon seeing how protective the electric-type looked; instead, he played his GRASS WHISTLE quietly, attempting to induce relaxation in all parties present.

It was clear to Josh now that Eris didn't want to talk about the meeting, and it was clear to Basil that Reiner wanted nothing to do with his theatrics. Knowing when to back off, the Leafeon stopped where he was at and took a seat between the two beds, the green leaf on his head spreading a pleasant aroma.

Rather than press on about matters she didn't want to talk about, perhaps some small talk would be calming. He briefly turned his head back toward his game to read the next batch of text. Continuing his pursuit of Suicune in Rowan's and his own fantasy land, he tilted back toward Eris. "Once this battle is over, you got any special plans you're looking forward to? I've got to start making arrangements for a party. I turn 25 in December!" The default was the Checkered Flag for lunch with a meetup at Mauville Gym afterward, but he was open to other ideas, as well. Perhaps Mauville's Round One would be fun with all his gamer friends?

A slight smile appeared on Josh's face, the first time he had done so since he had been bedridden after the awful battle. Had he gotten through to her? Probably not yet. But it was a first step. He could tell she was still terrified of him, and understandably so! Less than a year ago, he had tried to take Eris' life over a misguided effort to learn of Raikou's whereabouts. It was the hardest lesson he ever learned, yet one that had more of a positive impact on him than anything else he had experienced in the last year and a half. As much as he wished the exchange had never happened, it had overall made Josh a better person.

"The 12th," he answered. "It's a Tuesday. I'm still unsure where I'm going to have it, even. Thinking some place Unovan." There was certainly no shortage of good Unovan restaurants, and many had competitive games there. Dartboards, video golf, and the like were popular at sports bars. It didn't even have to be in Mauville, necessarily. With his family moving to Hoenn in December, though, going off-region was unlikely.

The sound of a flatlining heart monitor broke the monotony for a bit, doctors and nurses rushing to the ensign being monitored. As much pain as he was in, the Gym Leader felt blessed he was in stable condition. He frowned as the medical staff slowly walked away, disconnecting the monitor after several minutes of failed attempts to get the brave fighter's heart restarted.

Another life cut short by the perpetual, needless war.

Josh tilted his head toward Eris and Reiner, Basil backing off and sitting down near the far corner of his trainer's bed. "It is. There's no shortage of Unovan cuisine in Mauville, or in Hoenn as a whole, even. What kind of restaurant are you looking forward to when you're out of here?"

The trainer across the hall wasn't the first to fall in battle this horrible day, and certainly wouldn't be the last. Whatever morgue was handling all these bodies was going to be swamped with work. Such was the nature of war. As grim as it was, there was also a lot of money to be made off death itself. Being in such a business was too miserable for Josh to think about. How tone deaf would one have to be to make a profit off such sadness? He hoped the fallen one's time in the Border would be short, and that they would be able to proceed to the afterlife without a hitch.

The tent now in relative silence, Josh advanced the prompt on his game, admiring the artist's rendition of Suicune before noticing the silence coming from Eris. "Were you able to hear me over those machines?" he asked. "I can repeat if you didn't hear me."

"Stop."

One word spoke more volumes than any other that could have been spoken in the moment. A brave soldier, one who did not deserve their fate, lost their life as a result of the unending war in which no side truly won. That soldier could have been Josh. Instead, the Mauville Gym Leader was left in pain, the sharp and hard Bullet Seeds cutting into his insides every time he shifted more than a few tenths of an inch.

And stop he would. Sighing, he picked up his phone and admired the artist's rendition of Suicune. The way its ribbony tails flapped in the breeze made the Beast look real. He took a screenshot of it before making his next decision advancing the game's plot.

Out of the corner of his eye, he witnessed another patient, this one stepping out of their bed, being escorted out of the tent. He wondered if the patient was returning to civilization or returning to battle. Even Basil backed off, turning around and slinking off to the opposite side of the Gym Leader's bed.