Memory erasure, Hideo knew Uxie could still do. It'd done so with Melody Miro , though that was more of precise removal, similar to what his Beheeyem could do.

The only question is if it could do a full memory blank, like the legends.

He wasn't sure he wanted to find out. "Seems all the little guys can ruin someone's life if they wanted. Good to know they just wanna eat all our food. Though at least I know I can't get affected by Uxie's."

He pointed at his own eyes, to make it clear that was a joke.

And as for the steps…

Hideo wanted to know.

Uxie wanted to know.

Their combined desire needed and answer, even if it was just secondhand.

"Depends: what do you think it is?"

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Roll totals: 950

Eris Halla

"Good thing Uxie can see with closed eyes, then…you can see with your eyes, right Uxie?"

There was a small grunt of affirmation from the disguised Pixie on his shoulder. "Right. Doubt either of them would want to do that kind of stuff to us anyways. They wouldn't be hanging around us if they just wanted to make us lose our memories. Or drain away our emotions."

A lot of power in these little pixies.

"Yeah, I remember that. Think the one I faced was the cat with the huge fangs. Rocket was doing their damndest to help it fight that shield dog that was protecting the tomb." Whether by attacking the dog or supporting the leopard "I remember feeling a lot of hate for a bit…though that might've been because of what Rocket was doing. Really got a habit of taking the most destructive option."

Hideo got what Eris was leading towards, but he didn't interrupt her.

"Been noticing that too. I can feel that sudden fear sometimes outta nowhere. Got some reports about it from my Gym Trainers too. If it is that Pokemon causing all this fear…gotta wonder what it's doing down here."

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Roll totals: 1046

Eris Halla

"Wonder what it'd want with Regirock," Hideo wondered aloud. "Probably nothing good. Maybe it'd be better if we found it first…though I dunno what to do if we do find Regirock."

He did hear some reports of the Rock Giant being spotted in the area. Those that could even catch up to it, were unable to catch or even stop it.

Maybe he'd have better luck?

The sudden shaking brought Hideo to a stop, the vibrations hard to mistake for another quake. He could feel Uxie move on his shoulder, as if trying to adjust itself for a better view. They joined Eris and her team in their silence as the source soon showed itself in front of them.



It stopped for a moment, looking at the two kids and their team. Hideo quietly procured a Pokeball, gradually readying himself to order Uxie to attack - only for the Pixie to push his hand down with its tails as it placed a hand over his mouth.

Not that Hideo couldn't resist, but he got the message loud and clear.

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Roll totals: 1177

Eris Halla

Hideo quietly listened to Eris's lesson. "Well, it's got a lot of area to cover down here. Place is like a maze, and it feels as big as one of the Wilds." Who knew how large this actually was.

Hideo certainly wasn't the one to gauge size.

Their standoff with the Regirock continued, Hideo leaning in as Eris spoke to him.

"I hope that's what it's doing. It and that cat did a lot of damage." Rocket's interference didn't help much, but those things wreaked havoc on the environment near that tomb. "If it's going to fight another legendary…well, not really much collateral damage down here, other than what we're building right now."

It was better than, say, within one of the towns.

After what felt like an eternity, the Regirock face away from the children, making its way further through the cave - away from the kids.

"...yeesh," Hideo sighed, releasing the tension from his body.

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Roll totals: 1329

Eris Halla

It was only when he tried to relax that Hideo realized his heart was beating fast. He was ready to fight Regirock, even if everyone around him urged him not to. Even if this was one of the worst places to fight Regirock, he had to be ready if it attacked them first.

Uxie patting him on the head to help settle down that adrenaline that had run through his body.

"...I thought those people saying the world was hollow were nutjobs," Hideo joked. "Didn't know caves could get that big…let alone Hoenn having one that big."

Though his own travels down here did make it clear this cave system was massive. And he'd encountered far crazier in the past couple years.

"Did you really?" If Megalopolans made the caves, it'd make more sense - those guys had really strange tech. "Like, I don't think you're lying to me about that. But you mean there could be Megalopolans down here?"

The look on his face was annoyance - he wasn't happy to hear there were still more of them lurking about.

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Roll totals: 1402

Eris Halla

Huh. "So just something they were staying in after the invasion…guess the Paradox Pokemon must've started popping up after they showed up. Think they would've gotten swarmed by the Paradoxes otherwise."

Not a comforting thought - whether or not the Megalopolans got swarmed, there were still threats under Hoenn. And on it. And above it.

"Glad to know they didn't get to eat you. But we already got our hands full keeping an eye out for any undercover Rockets. Don't wanna have to be sus of imposter Megalopolans too."

He'd managed to do well with Littleroot so far, but Rocket could be anywhere. And now so could Megalopolans. At least he could be certain those two factions weren't allies…right?

"We'll just have to deal with them like we've managed with everything else. We've gotten through worse, so let's get back to exploring these caves, alright?"

And to that, he took a step forward - and felt a liquid under his boot.

He recognized that smell.

His Iron Valiant left that stuff around his camp sometime, 'til he taught it to use the bathroom.

Hideo held a blank expression on his face, just trying to walk past stepping in Paradox Piss™.

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Roll totals: 1472

Eris Halla

Hideo paused for a moment, taking in Eris's reveal.

And he let out a sigh. "Of course Rocket is doing that," he groaned. He should've realized it when Megalopolans were involved in the Littleroot attack. "Well, I got no issue helping the ones that wanna go home, get home. Just hope it isn't that one Wilds that they're trying to get back to."

Lesser Megalopolis wasn't in the best shape.

Though Hideo didn't catch Reiner's bombastic side eye, Uxie did - and it shared the glance.

"Arceus, I hope not. Much as I want to come down here whenever I want, I don't want anything down here coming up whenever they feel like it."

He already had to keep an eye out for Rockets coming by land or by air. Coming from underground would be a lot harder to manage.

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Roll totals: 1663

Eris Halla