[attr="class","emapokemonteam"][attr="class","emapokemonteam"][attr="class","emapokemonteam"][attr="class","emapokemonteam"][attr="class","emapokemonteam"][attr="class","emapokemonteam"][newclass=".emapokemonteam"]height:40px;width:40px;background:#2b2b2b;border-radius:100%;margin:0 5px;[/newclass]

Days were spent in recovery which were idle and a welcome break from the pyhsical labour of one or even several? weeks. Cass is excused from school for the moment, but frankly ... as soon as she's been able to process some, she's tried hitting the books again, with little success. There's been little desire to leave her room, where the past events seem almost like the worst dream she could ever had ... ... with some thoughts and events that do not leave her mind so easily.

And it's then that Uxie's message finds their phone, which. Huh. Is this Hideo texting-? Though she didn't think he'd text like this, frankly. And what's this about pizza- but she's already out of the door, claiming to go on a walk for a change of pace.

It takes a bit until she arrives at the gym, and then some until she actually gets to Hideo, Eris and the Lake Trio. Honestly, she still isn't sure what to feel about it all, but she really wants to see for herself that Azelf's still here, breathing and alive and ...

... poked in the face by pizza that Uxie tries to feed him. "... I assume that Uxie sent me the message then?" she asks, holding her phone up with the message displayed on the screen. She feels part of her tension fall off as she chuckles at the scene in front of her, but her wave directed at Azelf is still a little bit awkward.

Hideo Kino Eris Halla

Actually, three pixies were in the room.

Uxie stared (through closed eyes) at Mesprit, an incredulous look upon its face. It was quick to launch into a rant, yelling at Mesprit for daring to steal away the precious nutrition their sibling needed to recover after it's temporary death. All the while, Azelf, just stared at the pixie of knowledge, shaking its head as it shot a frustrated glance towards its more emotional sibling.

Hideo was able to understand what happened, even without Uxie telling him anything. Only one Pokemon was bold enough to steal pizza right out of Uxie's hands.

"...I got no idea what Uxie sent you," Hideo said - Uxie was the only Pokemon in the room that could read something to Hideo, and it was busy fighting about pizza. "But it's good it was able to find you!...I wouldn't have known the first place to look."

They hadn't exactly shared phone numbers while they were on the ship.

Weakly, Azelf waved back to Cass, glad to see her face here.

The sound of a door closing marked the entrance of their third member. "Already gonna have that covered," Hideo said. "Elga should be standing guard outside now that we're all here. I made sure to shut off anything that could record stuff in this room."

Hideo took a sip of his boba tea, as Uxie set its (closed) sight on the new pizza box. The edible thought experiment was presented before it - there was either pizza in that box, or disappointment. Uxie could get what it wanted back from Mesprit, or be robbed of its cheesy delight yet again. Hope could give way to despair, but fear would not cloud Uxie's choice.

Because it really wanted more pizza.

So it would open the box.

"I'm gonna have to tell the League that we got Azelf sooner rather than later…last thing I want is them getting mad that I kept it a secret. I already got in enough trouble for hiding Uxie."

Eris Halla Cassandra Kubrick

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Cass blinks at the happenings. She ... has not been aware that anyone could do that, let alone a pixie that's like, not even a meter tall, all things considered. She nods in agreement with Eris' words, quickly putting down Jon (as ever) in her arms to offer Eris to take off some of her load. She's been here for all but ten seconds and already can tell that maybe, the sprite's main source of nutrition comes from pizza. (It's oddly comforting how teen that feels, even if she never ever experienced that herself.)

"Uxie said, and I quote, 'tell az they need to eat pizza to get better'," Cass replies to Hideo with an amused smile, and sees how Azelf frowns slightly at the message. Her amusement is mixed with a slightly bewildered look - he'd have to adapt to these mythical beings also effectively being a trio of ordinary siblings - which, again, is a more comforting thought than she'd thought initially. "Yeah, sorry for not stopping by earlier - kinda got into hermit mode for a second there," she smiles faintly, feeling bad now that she sees how weak Azelf still is. It's good, probably, to see Uxie now busy with Mesprit, however, letting Azelf have some time to recover (mentally).

She picks up both Jon and a cup of Boba with thankful nod, listening to the younger kids set up their whole secret meeting. She, again, feels relieved to hear that this meeting would truly be private - something they didn't have during the jailbreak proper. It's also surprising for Cass to hear that Eris seems to be so cautious - thinking that friends of a gym leader would also need to be pro-league all the way. ... but frankly, it doesn't even seem like Hideo's all that in, either, with how he kept Uxie hidden. (Y'know, actually, yeah. She didn't have the bandwidth to be surprised back then, but, huh. This is all more wild than she thought.)

"No worries, they won't hear from me ..." she promises sincerely, with only a little bit of her disdain for the League slipping out. "And uh, ... can you ... maybe not mention me anywhere for now?" Her hands cradling the cup of boba are stained purple, scarring that unfortunately could make a description of her be more specific than "purple haired girl". "If that's possible - I'm not sure how persistent they are to figure out a possible third ..." She glances over at Azelf, too, smiling as she sees them smile, relaxing a bit. It's ... a relief, somehow. "I mean- what even happened, generally speaking? With the Lake Trio, you guys ..."

All in the while, Jon and Martin (who's concealing Jon's garbage scent) couldn't help but focus on the competition between Uxie and Mesprit, seemingly quite intrigued by whatever is going on over there. Azelf themself seems to glance over, before closing their eyes for a moment now that Uxie's stopped trying to feed them pizza.

Hideo Kino Eris Halla

Hideo let out a sigh. "Yeah, sounds like something Uxie would say. Heck, Uxie even wanted Azelf swaddled in my Zarude's vines to heal up. Only reason that's not happening is 'cause my Zarude doesn't like being in cities."

Uxie stared at the uncovered treasure - another box. It stared at it for an entire ten seconds, its gaze unbreaking, until it finally decided to act once more.

It'd open that box.

And it'd be ready to open any further boxes that were stored within.

It was going to find whatever pizza was inside these, however many boxes it took.

"Don't worry about needing some time. We all needed some time after that." That ten-hour shower he wanted ended up being a one-hour bath, and ooh boy were his Pokemon making sure they had their eyes on him. There were even some watching from above, their adorable little eyes watching Uxie search for some cheesy goodness. "And don't worry; I wasn't planning to tell the League about you. Both of us kept our mouths shut about having them for a while!...'til we opened up about them. Only the top people in League and the other Gym Leaders know I got Uxie…and a few other people."

Hideo quietly let Eris explain most of the details, nodding along with her explanations.

"They actually first appeared to us when Necrozma was attacking the Tree of Life in Sootopolis. We helped summon the Lake Trio, and they were able to bind it with their Red Chain…'til another Necrozma showed up. The three of them got attacked by Shadow Pokemon…Uxie and Mesprit got hurt, but Azelf got it the worst."

The seriousness of his words were undercut off by a pizza box hitting the ground.

"Me and Eris got marked by Uxie and Mesprit. Didn't seem to do much 'til that meteor came down and Rocket tried attacking Littleroot. Dialga showed up, and then Uxie and Mesprit came out to protect us. That's how they joined up with us, and they've been with us since."

"I was trying to look for Azelf since then. Even fessed up to the League 'cause I wanted their help finding Azelf, but guess I just had to wait a year and a half. And, well, here we are now."

Sitting in a room, talking while the Lake Trio were playing with pizza boxes.

Eris Halla Cassandra Kubrick

[attr="class","emapokemonteam"][attr="class","emapokemonteam"][attr="class","emapokemonteam"][attr="class","emapokemonteam"][attr="class","emapokemonteam"][attr="class","emapokemonteam"][newclass=".emapokemonteam"]height:40px;width:40px;background:#2b2b2b;border-radius:100%;margin:0 5px;[/newclass]

Cass allows herself to ponder Azelf swaddled like a little baby for a moment, which promptly is met with Azelf opening its eyes all of a sudden and shaking its head weakly. "Guess we better not make it a retreat to the countryside, hm?" she offers as reconciliation after the traiterous thought, "I think here might probably be safer, either way ... or not. It's hard to tell." Frankly, she gave up on the concept of safety some time ago, or believes to have - it's complicated. She smiles faintly at Eris, one hand fidgeting with the odd consistency of Jon's arm. "Thanks. Hope you had the chance to recover from all that, too?"

Jon looks at the discarded pizza box, seemingly lost in thought, too. If they didn't want it ...

Cass belatedly notices that she's still standing awkwardly, and takes a chair close to the others and Azelf, which also coincidentally makes it close to a discarded pizza box. Absent-mindedly, she puts her boba tea on the table, and picks the carton up to hand it to Jon.

"Thank you two for keeping the ... open secret," she laughs quietly, "I'm hoping to use being ... just a person for a while, but we'll see how it'll play out in the end." She sighs, staring at her hands. She can only guess its residue from the poison that rushed through her veins alongside with this clarity that made her dizzy.

While Jon's looking around with a questioning look, asking for confirmation that he could start nibble on the pizza box, Cass is listening to Eris' and Hideo's explanations of the events that have lead up to here. There's a quiet chuckle as Eris mentions pixie things, and Cass is directing her attention at the shenanigans of Uxie and Mesprit for a bit. She wonders how Mesprit even does that - did it bribe the pizzeria somehow, psychic powers? Then she looks at Azelf again, who's resting with closed eyes again. She really hopes it can be like that soon, too.

As Hideo recounts Necrozma, Littleroot, she looks horrified that these kids have been involved in these violent events - and still, she's also not surprised. She hates that. "Arceus..." she exhales under her breath. A year and a half, the Littleroot invasion and then the things with the Sootopolis Tree of Life before ... "Arceus darn it, how- you? How are you?" she couldn't help but ask, just thinking how old they might be now and how old they were back then. She takes a deep breath then, shaking her head. "Sorry, if that's- too much of a question."

Another breath, then she nods. "Yes. I saw their vision, too, with the tears ... before the prison break. I collected my tears in my mask, and I could see there ... and then the Toxic Chain kind of ... evolved, I suppose? I felt the companionship of my pokémon again, and also ... it draw me towards where Azelf, and my physical pokémon, were." (Going through the flesh tube was her idea, but hey, maybe they didn't see. They didn't need to know.) "And for the rest ... you were there, mostly."

She's quiet for a moment, grappling with the fact that Azelf has shown interest in her for a reason she can't fathom - flattering, scary. Confusing. "What do you guys plan to do now?" she then asks, deciding to figure out the why later and instead focus on the now. "How long do you think will it take for Azelf to recover-? Can we help, somehow?" She looks up at Martin who could supplement some healing flowers, but she's really not sure if it likes that idea better than being swaddled.

Hideo Kino Eris Halla

"Enough time to get back into the swing of things," Hideo said. "Can't say I ever wanna get locked in a jail cell again. Not that I wanted to in the first place."

"And don't worry; I had Uxie before I was with League, so I know what you'd keep or lose if the League knows Azelf chose you. I didn't tell them about Eris and Mesprit."

Not that he had the chance to; he revealed Uxie because Eris outed herself.

Uxie paused the moment it reached the next box - and saw that there was a number lock on it. There was no attempt to question who'd make a pizza box with a number lock. It could've easily looked in the future to try and find the correct code, it could've looked through its sibling's memories for it. Heck, it could've easily just opened the cardboard with a small application of force.

But this was a puzzle - one to be solved.

So it'd start with the most direct solution.

Uxie looked over to Mesprit, placing a hand on its sibling's shoulder as it asked a simple question: what was the code?

Hideo rested his head on his hand, propped up on his work desk. "Honestly? After enough of'em, I just started getting used to near-death experiences like that. And we got people and Pokemon that're helping support us, so that helps things settle."

Felt like every other month had some live-threatening disaster looming over Hoenn.

As for their plans?

"...to be honest, I was just trying to find Azelf. And now that we got'em…I guess we get Azelf healed up so it can be more active. Guess we also find a way to fix up their gems too? No idea how long that'll take, though."

Though it seemed Eris had an idea.

One that would take Hideo a few seconds to process, the hand he used to prop up his head dropping down.

"I…didn't know you had a brother. Or that he had Suicune. But that could help out a lot; the Lake Trio would probably take well to healing water. And I got plenty of safe spaces for Azelf to heal up around Littleroot…or wherever Uxie and Mesprit take them."

Eris Halla Cassandra Kubrick

[attr="class","emapokemonteam"][attr="class","emapokemonteam"][attr="class","emapokemonteam"][attr="class","emapokemonteam"][attr="class","emapokemonteam"][attr="class","emapokemonteam"][newclass=".emapokemonteam"]height:40px;width:40px;background:#2b2b2b;border-radius:100%;margin:0 5px;[/newclass]

It's a relief for Cass to see that Hideo and Eris could be trusted - something she's already seen during the brief, but intense moments at the jailbreak. And then, part of her is caught up in how unfair everything is. How things shouldn't be like this - but she has enough time to get caught up in her own head later, when there might be one thing less to do. If there ever is.

So she simply smiles at Hideo's reply, a faint, unconvincing one but sincere in a way, too. "That's ... good. Good you're not alone." She tightens her grip a bit on Jon who's started to bit by bit eat a discarded pizza carton. He puts his arm on hers, squeezing to tell her to loosen up. She exhales, knowing that he's still around. (As well as Martin. And everyone. She tries not to play favourites, but she's really bad at it.)

She listens to Eris' and Hideo's words about plans, and their non-existence, really, which does make her smile a bit somehow. The lack of a grand next thing to do seems oddly soothing when exams are looming over her head despite everything. ... but huh. It seemed like that info also just got dropped on Hideo, at least, so Cass can take a moment to huh it out in her head. "Yeah, I think that could be really helpful - I think Azelf doesn't want to stick around recovering for so long again ... but now we're here, too, so that's good," she guesses and nods, before chuckling quietly. "You just gotta be careful that Uxie and Mesprit don't take it to a pizzeria ..."

Glancing back to the pizza box situation, it seems like there's no pizza to be discovered yet.

"If it's no trouble, I think around the Littleroot Gym would be a good place to recover ... any chance we can give them a lake, or something?" she wonders.

Hideo Kino Eris Halla

Two minutes of interrogation, and Uxie realized Mesprit wasn't going to tell it anything. And with no apparent hints, Uxie would have to do the next-best thing.

It was going to try every number it could for the lock. One at a time, using its psychic powers to change the code as it kept tapping away with its hand, waiting for that *click* that told it it got the right answer.

"Uxie knows well enough to not show up in public," Hideo said, "at least not without some kind of illusion covering up what it looks like." Mesprit, he was less confident about, but Eris didn't tell him about any problems there.

Yet. "Uxie just orders delivery anyway."

He had to regularly check that Uxie wasn't running his card over balance.

Hideo nodded along as Eris corrected him. "Adopted brother. And yeah, didn't expect League to make you live by yourself." Fortunately, not an issue for himself, since he technically was living with Melody Miro , but he was also under a lot less scrutiny.

"A Lake could work pretty well! Pretty sure we could dig up somewhere, or make a Hidden Power area in secret. Can't be too public, 'cause we don't want people just stumbling on it. And a lake popping out of nowhere's gonna attract some attention." Last thing they needed was Rocket bumbling in and trying to take the Lake Trio away.

"And anyone that tries to sneak into their hidden place…well, I got eyes in a lotta places in Littleroot." Ever since that assassination attempt on him, his Pokemon were a lot more attentive. "If Uxie and Mesprit don't just chain-em up first."

Hideo paused for a moment, his mind wandering back to that moment with the Pecharunt.

"...you guys feel any different since that whole chain thing? Like, uh, any weird powers or stuff? 'Cause I haven't really felt anything after they let us shoot chains out that one time."

Not that he knew what being an Avatar was supposed to feel like, but he didn't feel any different than he did prior to getting put on that weird ship.

Eris Halla Cassandra Kubrick

[attr="class","emapokemonteam"][attr="class","emapokemonteam"][attr="class","emapokemonteam"][attr="class","emapokemonteam"][attr="class","emapokemonteam"][attr="class","emapokemonteam"][newclass=".emapokemonteam"]height:40px;width:40px;background:#2b2b2b;border-radius:100%;margin:0 5px;[/newclass]

Cass smiles faintly at Eris' reassurance - an odd dissonance within herself that she tries to ignore. The world in which she lives is idealistic - sheltered. The world outside ... is anything but. However, there's an actual chuckle as Eris talks about how she doesn't know why Mesprit refuses to leave her. "Maybe they really just want to be your friend." Reminds her of how she's insisted that her Toedscruel Umlaut join her for sure - and well, now. A feeling of mutual exasperation that is connecting the two of them, truly, where the question why actually is both asked and answered at the same time.

She nods at Hideo's remark about Uxie being able to disguise themself with an illusion - honestly, she should be less surprised about that fact than she is. "Oh, true- and yeah, I get that. Delivery's gotten really convenient," she muses, thinking back on the past days where she'd also order whatever her mother would allow, stocking up on fatty food until she remembered how very endangered by acne she still is.

Cass ponders the brief interaction between Hideo and Eris for a moment, wondering just what has happened, but she doesn't feel like this is her place to ask right now. "I like Lake Littleroot," Cass smiles, relaxing a bit now that her mind's got something to ponder that she could actually influence.

"Mh-hm," she nods in agreement, leaning back slightly as she looks at the ceiling and thus at the bugs on it. "Do you maybe have a small room or something around your gym? Just have something small to start with where Azelf can recover properly ..." She tilts her head to look at the blue pixie, trying her best not to be distracted by the ongoing pizza mystery between Mesprit and Uxie. Azelf's sleeping now, which is a relief. She likes to think it feels safe here - and it would be.

However, Hideo's words about feeling any different makes her frown, and she straightens her posture again. "No, don't think so. Hard to say what normal is, but I don't ... feel anything like that before," Cass replies thoughtfully. (Admittedly, she might have been a bit too mad to focus much on other feelings.) She flexes her hands, opening and closing them without looking at them - the purple stains are still upsetting. "... we're not actually like, avatars, right?" She's heard of that, and - what.

Hideo Kino Eris Halla