Hideo knew he'd have to have a private meeting with Freya after the Gym Leader meeting. Though he would've expected it to be at her office, rather than in the RKS simulation.

The simulation they started with was a familiar one - he could recognize the messy workshop from Uxie's description, and knew exactly what that Pokegear she had would do once fixed.

He nodded along with her description, and braces himself for the incoming scoldings.

He was not excited for this talk.

But it was time to face the music. He knew this might happen when he resolved himself to opening up.

"About Uxie, right?" He asked - said subject floated by his side, undisguised. No need for one with present company, the pixie whimsically floating around in the open.

"And just letting you know, I've done this scenario before. If we fix that Pokegear, a DRK Triad member'll speak through it."

freya morningstar

"Dunno. Only did this one once before, and we fixed it."

Rather, Eris Halla fixed it, with a little help from Uxie. Hideo had just sat around chatting with her as she worked. He didn't know nearly enough about technology to fix that kind of stuff.

And maybe destroying the device would have a much different outcome.

Though no outcome would get him out of the questioning he faced now.

"I…the League didn't fail me. I just, I didn't know what would happen if word got out that I had Uxie…if it got leaked to some group like Rocket."

Which wasn't a lie; that was the implication he got from John Sullivan 's warning. And Alexei Ivanov already brought up one traitor during the reveal. Heck, it didn't even take a traitor to say the wrong thing to the wrong person.

"I wasn't in a great spot if word reached the wrong people. I was traveling the region on my own for a while, when Uxie first joined me."

"And I didn't know if the League itself would've forced me to join up with AQUA if they knew I had Uxie sooner, or if I did it before I was a Gym Leader."

freya morningstar

Hideo had his emotional armor up, ready for the same scoldings paxton concordas gave him. He was expecting a similar degree to what Alexei Ivanov got during the Gym Leader meeting, and he was ready to say the same words that'd gotten Paxton off his case - that he'd be more open, that he'd trust the League more.

But that armor didn't prepare him for empathy, her words catching him off guard and leaving him speechless for a moment.

The unused armor now just felt like a pointless weight.

"Oh." It'd take another moment before he said anything else. "Uh, thank you. For understanding."

He could hear her throw glass around, the starting of a blaze clear to hear. He could also hear Uxie joining in, several other beakers tossed around as a grin sat on the pixie's face - though it also gently guided Hideo away from the ensuing destruction.

"If…if I did get involved with AQUA, even just as a free agent, what would I be doing? I already help the region as a Gym Leader, so…"

He'd already had this kind of discussion with Melody Miro , with the prospect of using Uxie's memory manipulation on the table. One he wasn't too sure if he was comfortable with.

Then again, he didn't entirely know what AQUA did, other than fight big threats. Which he technically already helped do.

Destroy it and the workshop. +50 points

freya morningstar

Hideo could feel the heat, though it was far more bearable than a real fire. He didn't want to test if he could actually burn alive in this simulation, and Uxie did well enough to keep him safe.

Yet he still had to be careful - lest he let the trust he was given be burnt along with it. He already knew there were people in the League that weren't keen on his involvement in any way. "Thanks, then," he answered.

The roaring applause filled his ears, the boy covering it in an attempt to avoid getting deafened. Freya's efforts are joined by Uxie, who'd been more interested in testing if it even could break the glass, rather than out of any effort to retaliate against their audience.

Hideo could still hear Freya, at least.

"I know there's plenty of people that wouldn't want me involved in a war," Hideo said. John Sullivan , an AQUA member, would no doubt be furious. "And to be honest…can't say I'm all that excited to be involved in one either. But if that's what it takes to protect Hoenn…"

He'd fight, if that's what it took to protect his home.

He wouldn't let the flames take that from him.

"...but what would you have me do, if I did get involved with AQUA?"

Break the glass and retaliate

freya morningstar

Uxie didn't continue past the broken glass; it had only sought to test the limits of the glass cage around them. It bore no grudge against the audience, merely watching as Freya went to work.

Hideo kept his ears covered, trying to muffle the noise. He couldn't see the simulation shift, but he realized it'd happened when the silence finally came, uncovering his ears.

A momentary silence, though. He could recognize that voice: the one that sent him back in time. The one that had him meet himself, and did nothing but stop him from interfering with his own life.

Hideo bore no grudge towards the man; the consequences that followed were his own fault.

He didn't immediately answer Father Winter, instead focusing on Freya's words. He needed a moment to process them, to truly think over the fact that plans were already being made around his theoretical avatarship. When he didn't even have a single plan for if Uxie blessed him.

"...guess a support unit's the best for me. Guess you got plans for everyone else too."

"Can't say I really thought about getting involved in a war when I became a Gym Leader. Or, heck, when I first started doing the Gym Circuit. But I guess there's no choice if I wanna keep Hoenn safe from Rocket. Or anything that threatens it."

freya morningstar