Straight into the simulation, straight into a risky situation. Uxie (disguised as a Ralts on his shoulder) warned him they were outnumbered here; fighting was not going to be a smart option here.

The voice was familiar, and Uxie brought his mind over to the time he'd spent climbing that one tower, where they had to solve puzzles to progress - he'd encountered this woman before. But he still had no idea what she was talking about when she mentioned a "hexenzirkel".

"Think we should try and work with them," Hideo quietly said to Alexei Ivanov ; it'd be the easiest way to find their way around here. And if these "hexenzirkel" folks ended up being bad news, they could just bail…

Now that he thought on it, was there anywhere they could bail to in this thing?

Join the Hexenzirkel +50 points

Alexei Ivanov

Hideo's thoughts weren't far off from Alexei's; he was cautious about cooperating, but still ready to fight if needed. Uxie could fight well, even under an illusion, but even it was warning against an all-out battle against whatever this group was.

"Yeah, I remember her voice," Hideo noted. It was definitely the woman from the Tiered Tower, with that strange berry and the Unown. They had to be careful here - but they also needed to net her cooperation.

Fortunately for them, their previous performance did give a good first impression. All Hideo had to do was recount his (and his team's) efforts at climbing the tower to get the crowd's approval - and applause.

Yet before Hideo could embrace his new position in whatever this group was, Uxie warned him of the many eyes that were emerging from the darkness. And he couldn't miss that voice telling him he wasn't supposed to be here.

The moment those open arms approached, Hideo knew what to do.

"We gotta go," he shouted, immediately pulling a 180-degree turn and dashing out of there. He wasn't sure what direction he was going, but anywhere away from those hands was the right direction.

And he was sure Uxie would warn him if he was gonna run into something bad.

Fleeing

Alexei Ivanov

And run they did: run until the world around them began to change, until Hideo felt grass beneath his shoes, until the sound of water flowing around them was clear. "Least we're away from that weird group," Hideo said, trying to regain his bearings.

But he didn't have much time; the "Ralts" on his shoulder hopped off, gently pushing Hideo towards the lake. Hideo could only wonder what Uxie was planning to do here, until he recalled the name its trio bore: the Lake Trio.

"You want to show me something?" he asked his "Ralts", receiving a small mental confirmation. "Alright. Is it a special lake or something?"

He wanted to be more specific - but he still wasn't sure if Alexei could be trusted with knowing he had Uxie. He wanted that info to stay tight-lipped, lest it reach the wrong ears, ones that wanted to use Uxie for malicious purposes.

Even a good person like Alexei might let it slip to the wrong person.

Uxie stopped right in front of the lake - and gently pat Hideo's leg, a gentle way of saying "go in".

"...do we really gotta go in the water?" he asked, which only got Uxie to put some more effort in trying to push him towards the water. "...fuck me. Alexei, I'm going in. There better be something good down here…"

Hideo was not a good swimmer. He knew how to swim, but he had even more trouble knowing which way was "up" than most other people did. But if this is what Uxie wanted him to do…he'd trust that Uxie wouldn't let him drown.

Into the depths he went - completely ignorant of the Shadow Persian on the other side. His "Ralts" was soon to follow, guiding him from the front.

Dive Into the Lake +50 Points

Alexei Ivanov

No, he was nowhere-near dressed properly to go swimming in a lake. He was nowhere-near experienced enough with swimming to go to the bottom of a lake - and back up. He barely even knew which direction he was kicking towards, simply going forward while Uxie guided him through the water as he held his breath as tightly as he could.

The (disguised) pixie was clearly better at swimming than he was. He could just barely hear something trailing behind him - Alexei, maybe?

He couldn't tell. He couldn't focus on anything other than going forward and holding his breath, even as his lungs began to burn, even as the cold water seeped into every fiber of his clothes. It was just him, Uxie, and probably Alexei (and his Pokemon) trailing behind him.

Everything in Hideo's mind and body was telling him to go back - and yet, at the moment he wanted to let go and try to go back up, Uxie spoke to his mind. There was something in front of him, something Uxie urgently wanted to reach. Something he'd been looking for for so long.

AZELF

The words reached his mind, the emotions reached his heart - but the air escaped his lungs. Consciousness faded just as he processed it all.

Drown

Alexei Ivanov

Consciousness slowly faded back in - helped slightly by the light hand patting at his cheek. Hideo groggily turned, his back on wood. His mind was slower than his body, first noticing how soaked he was - right, he'd dove into a lake.

A lake with something at the bottom.

A Pokemon at the bottom.

The words Uxie spoke to him in his mind returned to the forefront of his thoughts: AZELF.

…

…

With a groan, Hideo sat up. Fortunately for him, the water that was in his lungs had long-since left, but that wasn't why he was feeling nauseous. That constant, erratic rocking couple with the sound of waves never sat well with him, and he could hazard a guess at where they were now.

"Fuck me," Hideo muttered, trying to stand up - a slumping on the side of the ship. He never was one to have sea legs - but seasickness, he'd always get plenty of.

"That was…that was Azelf down there…in that lake." Simulation or not, it was the first lead he'd gotten since Uxie joined him. And by Arceus, he was not gonna let that lead go.

But first, to get his new bearings. "Alexei? You there?"

Appease the Thunder God (in a later post) +100 points

Alexei Ivanov