They go along with you... for now.

A tense silence follows your words for a few minutes, neither party looking away from the other. You can hear your heart beating, the situation clearly having a much larger effect on you than you would think it reasonably should. You hold your breath steady and focused, preparing yourself in case there is a need for **** compliance from the individual in front of you.

They stand unmoving as the moment drags on, time slowing as the tension continues to rise. Like a statue they just continue to stare at you, to the point where if you had not just been in conversation with them you may consider them to simply be a manikin wearing a full outfit. The only sounds around are the rustling of the leaves, the only movement being their clothes and the leaves both flowing in the wind.

You hear them take a deep breath and you grip your Pokéball tightly as you prepare for whatever may come. "Alright then, fine." You blink a few times in confusion, surprised by this response. They simply pat their pockets and let out a sigh. "I'm not in a great condition to try and fight my way out of this, and I don't have much reason to refuse. Wherever you are bringing me should be a safer place to recover than just a random spot in the woods." They looked away from you, their tone being that of begrudging acceptance.

On the ground, the yellow mouse gave a few happy cheers. "Pikachu! Pika-pika Pikachu!" It started running laps around their feet, repeating its happy chant while bounding between their legs. You aren't quite sure why the little rodent is happy about their friend being put into custody, but you have no reason to oppose the support.

Still stunned from their quick acceptance, it takes the individual speaking to snap you back to the moment entirely. "So, we heading to the gym then? Or is there somewhere else I am being taken?" Their neutral tone clashes with their glaring eyes, making you question which you should trust to tell their mood.

Shaking your head to refocus on the task at hand, you answer their question. "We'll head to my office over in the gym yeah, at least at first. I can figure out what I am supposed to do with you from there." You grimace slightly at your own words, but you can't think of a better way of saying it that isn't being dishonest. You needed to find out what should be done about this strange figure, and depending on what happens it may not end as you would like.

Thankfully they don't seem effected much at all by this answer, simply letting out a sigh and gesturing back towards the road. "So... do you want me to follow behind you or am I supposed to walk in front of you so you can watch me at all times?" There was a slight jab in their tone, and you were able to figure out this was a test of sorts. If you had them in front of you, it would be more secure, however they would have to walk past you to get there, giving them an opening. However, if they followed behind you it would give them opportunities to run away. The test was simple, if you had them in front you expected them to run and didn't fear a fight, but if you had them follow you were afraid of them enough to risk them getting away.

Taking a slow breath, you put a lot of thought into how you should respond. Something still tells you that whoever this person is, they are not a bad person, and that makes you want to show them they can trust you. A slight smirk shows on your face as you figure out your solution. "Neither, a side-by-side situation will suit it just fine." This seems like a good solution to you, as it fixes the problems with both. It shows you aren't afraid by not only having them approach you, but having them stay close, while also showing you were willing to trust them in the same act.

It takes a few moments for them to consider your response, seemingly going through the same social chess maneuvering in their head as you had. Letting out a sigh, they shrug before responding. "Fair enough, not that I have much care in how we go about this." They make a slow step forward, testing you and your reaction. When you make no large response, they finish their approach.

Now closer to the strange figure, you can make out a lot of finer details of their outfit. More precisely, how none of it is sized to the person underneath in the least. The pants and shirt are baggy, coated in stiches and straps to keep it in place where it needs to be. The hoodie over it hangs over their eyes, covering any part of their face that the shadows and bandana they are also wearing do not. You can also tell that despite them having two sets of sleeves that extend past their hands, they have a pair of thick working gloves on underneath, which you can see hints of tried blood on the knuckles of. Speaking of the blood, the only signs of injury on them themselves were cuts and slashes in the clothing, though it wasn't like you would see a blunt wound with all the layers on top. By the look of it, this person had brought their fists to a knife fight.

Keeping your eyes on them as they take position next to you, there is a tense moment as they stand nearby. After a few more seconds, they make a tired gesture for you to lead the way, and you decide to oblige. As the two of you begin walking back towards the main road, you get startled as the Pikachu you admittingly somewhat forgot about runs between your legs, bounding ahead before stopping and looking back.

With an adorable little close-eyed grin it cheers you on, "Pikachu!" You find yourself smiling, relaxed from the great amount of stress this situation was putting on you, if only a little.

Giving a light-hearted chuckle, you find yourself trying to make small talk with the strange individual you are actively escorting back to your office. "Seems like you two know each other quite well, where did you catch him?"

The mood sours slightly as they tense up at your question. After a few awkward moments, they respond cautiously, in a manner that suggests they are avoiding giving away information. "He isn't mine. I don't catch Pokémon." You were a little confused at that, but before you could ask anything they seemingly anticipate your next questions. "He is a caught Pokémon, the partner of a..." There was a hesitation, "Close friend. And I don't catch Pokémon more out of lack of opportunity and lifestyle than moral problems."

Letting out a sigh, you can already tell the conversations to come won't be exceptionally pleasant. As you reach the actual route once more, you speak bluntly to your new acquaintance. "Listen, I'm gonna be honest here. I am going to have to ask you some questions about what you were doing out here, some things I overheard, and a little about yourself. Now, you can keep fighting against me and making it difficult, that's your right." You hold up your hand palm-up in a surrendering gesture. "However, you should also know, that's only going to make this longer and more problematic for the both of us, yeah?"

For a few moments you can feel them glaring at you in silence as you walk along the road back towards Pewter. Letting out a sigh, you figure that will be all you can get before you switch to a formal questioning. You are quickly proven wrong, however, as they speak in a much quieter voice. "What is it you want to know?" Surprised, you can't get a word in before they speak once more. "And before you ask too much, I am sorry to say there is a lot I simply cannot tell you."

Immediately suspicious, you decide to probe that a little to start. "Why would that be? Don't want to incriminate yourself?" You quickly realize this wasn't the best way of moving forward in questioning, as you chose the hard wall to go to first.

Seemingly thinking something similar, the strange figure let out a grunt. "I doubt you will believe me, but it's mostly for your benefit. Some of the things I know, I am not allowed to share by specification of those who told me. Others, I feel you would get into a lot of trouble for knowing. And lastly, the more you know about me, the more likely you are to be hurt because of me, and I don't want that on my conscience." They gesture at themselves with their thumb for emphasis on the last point.

Begrudgingly accepting that at the very least questioning this will get you nowhere, you shift to some lesser ice breakers. "Alright then... well, what's your name?" The hesitant silence you get in response is louder than any verbal response you could have gotten. You turn to them, tilting your head back so you can look down at them slightly in a more authoritative pose. "Come on, that isn't a tough question. If we are already having trouble, then we are gonna be here for a while."

There is a silence for a few moments before the figure looks around, as if to make sure no one was around. With a huff, they finally respond to your question. "My name... isn't my name anymore. It was given to someone else, someone... very different." Raising your eyebrow at that, you manage to get a bit more out of them. "I can't say more than that on the subject, and I would prefer to wait until we are actually in your office to answer more questions." They nodded forward to punctuate their statement.

Following their gesture with your eyes, you quickly see that you had stopped remarkably close to the edge of Pewter. Glancing again at the mysterious stranger beside you, you give a shrug. "Fine then, just means we will take a little longer."

With a chuckle you felt some hidden pain in, they respond. "Don't worry, I've already ruined all my nearby plans." Before you could begin to question that, they simply resumed walking forward, forcing you to ponder what exactly that meant as you rush to catch back up with them.

While slightly behind, you look down to see the Pikachu still bounding along happily beside you. Tired, you decide to try and entertain yourself a little. "Heh, your friend is quite the strange person, huh little guy?"

The little yellow rat pauses to look up at you for a moment, before nearly collapsing in a fit of giggles. They point at you before shouting out to the figure ahead, "Pika! P-pikachu!"

Confused beyond understanding in the least, you turn back to your escortee, though they answer any question you could have asked before you do. "He says you don't know the half of it." Their tone suggests they were annoyed by the comment, but they made no other statements to argue against it. Looking between the two of them, you can't help but question if you are about to get roped into something you really don't want to be a part of.