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Frontier Town Founder's Square

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Leaf took an instinctive step back when she realized he looked nervous. Damn it, they hadn't been trying to scare him, but... what was going on? (Did it matter? Was it relevant? He was unusual, but... where was this even going to go?)

"I'm sorry," she said again, taking another step back for good measure. She had to try to keep this simple. "It's just... things are strange. Like I said. And we want to help. So I thought, if we could help you, or if you knew anything we could help with... but if you don't, that's... that's okay. Really."

She just wanted him to feel safe; cornering him right this second wasn't worth it if it made her no better than everyone else who looked at him funny.
 
Ghaspius's eyes softened a bit upon seeing the Nidoran's fearful expression. He kept his distance and slowly opened his bag before offering a berry.

"I just wanted to say thanks for helpin' earlier," he said with as disarming of a smile as he could muster, "We'll get out of your hair if ya want us to. But we can also see that you're strugglin' a bit, aren't ya? Are you sure ya don't want any help? We were, er, called to this town do just that."
 
Nidoran was silent again, looking between them both, unsure. He looked like he wanted to trust them. But there was still that strange hesitance, that cautious stare. His paw slipped into his bag for some reason, but he didn't do anything yet...
 
Isidora felt rooted to her spot, unsure how to proceed from here. Dealing with cautious wilds isn't really my specialty... Her eyes were drawn to Nidoran reaching into his bag, and she felt the sharp pang of guilt. Did he feel like his hand was being forced somehow? M-Maybe we're being too forward.

She sighed, relaxed her stance, and tried to avoid eye contact. "I didn't mean to corner you. Sorry." She then moved to lean a shoulder against the wall of the alley, ignoring how hot it felt, and purposely left an opening for him to pass her by. "I get it if you don't trust us. I won't stop you."
 
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Ghaspius thought about a certain someone from back home. How he needed to let her be on her own to give her the freedom she needed to grow and do what she loved. Seeing Isidora's more passive reaction, the Misdreavus followed suit. He gently set down the berry, took a couple of paces back, and moved to the side to allow passage through the opposite side of the alley.

He gave a polite wave and said, "Y'all have a good day now. Maybe if you're in town again sometime soon, we could shop together again? If you'd like?"
 
"If you want to go, that's okay," Leaf said again. "You're strong and you can take care of yourself. But what I said back at the library's still true. If you do need help—or if you know someone else who does—you can come find me then." She backed up further, and nodded toward the street past Isidora, to say it's safe for you to go.
 
The silence continued from Nidoran, though this time there was a conflicted, considering expression in his little eyes. His paw remained in the bag, but it shifted as if to grab something else. He gave a little nod to the trio and pulled something out, setting it on the ground. It seemed to be shiny.

Then, he hopped past Isidora and went for another alleyway...
 
And Ghaspius let him go without resistance. Curious as he was, he did not want to be invasive. Instead, he leaned down to observe the shiny "something" on the ground to try to identify it.
 
"Be safe, okay?" She watched Nidoran go until he disappeared around the corner, and probably also just literally disappeared, given their luck. As long as he was all right, though...

Leaf frowned at the button(?) on the ground, and scooped it up with her telekinesis, holding it out so Ghaspius and Isidora could see or could take it if they wanted a closer look. "What kind of trouble?" she asked no one in particular. "What would happen if there was trouble?" How would it even work? Was it like one of those help-I've-fallen-and-I-can't-get-up buttons?
 
Isidora watched Nidoran go, keeping to her word. A part of her wanted to try and follow, but she managed to reign the impulse in and focused her curiosity on the thing he left behind.

She walked up to the object and read the text as Leaf held it up. "Was he about to press this?" But, it was just some kind of badge. What could pressing the button even do?

It probably doesn't do anything, but... Her claws itched. She cast sidelong glances at her companions. "...You think we should press it?"
 
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Ghaspius bit the bottom of his lip. "On one hand, I am pretty curious about the lil guy's caretakers, on the other hand..."

He rolled upside down as he continued. "Do we want those guys to get worried and worked up because we were mildly curious?" He clicked his tongue. "I dunno, though. I guess they would still see him go home and know he's safe. All they'd know is the button was pressed and someone had it, right...?"

He hummed. "Maybe there's someone who could appraise it first?" He looked to Isidora and Leaf. "But if y'all feel the urge to press it now, I won't stop ya."
 
Leaf did, in fact, very extremely definitely right now want to press the button. Anyone who encountered an object even remotely like this, one that asked seven million questions all of which could be answered by Pressing the Button, and said they did not want to Press the Button was a big fat liar. She gave it a long look as it hovered in the air between them.

...Ghaspius was right, though. If the button really was meant for "trouble", then whatever happened in response didn't seem too likely to be chill or fun, and as cool as it would be if it brought a bunch of strong pokémon swooping in to help with a fight, they probably didn't need to be heaping more stress on top of poor Nidoran like five seconds after they'd calmed him down.

"No, we should hold off, I guess," she said, not doing an especially good job keeping the disappointment out of her voice. "Someone somewhere should know what it does, right? Like, I think there's a tinker just outside of town, or, or maybe even Gare or somebody like that. Oh, Gare's an inventor Ghaspius and I met when we first landed here," she added for Isidora's benefit.
 
By this point, it seemed that Nidoran had left their notice. Around the corner... and gone, just like Leaf had witnessed before.

They were now alone with one another.
 
Isidora scratched the itch off her arm. She wanted to press the button so bad. "Yeah, good point." She wanted to add that she doubted it did anything worth taking it to a tinkerer for, but hesitated. For all she knew, it might activate some kind of weird magic like those orbs.

She crossed her arms. "I guess we could get someone to look at it. Where can we find this Gare?"
 
"He lives in a different town, Little Scriven," Leaf answered, frowning a little as she remembered the distance. "It's a day-ish from here if you're moving fast? I guess it might be easier to ask around locally first. I do wanna know how he's doing with that flying machine, though..."
 
Ghaspius hummed to himself as he righted back to a normal position. "Yeeeah, might not wanna count on that. Let's just see if we can take it to one the general store or maybe someone on our team that knows a bit 'bout groovy doohickeys." He chuckled. "Much I wanna see that guy's place myself now that we ain't a mess of it."

He adjusted his scarf and smiled. "Thanks for helpin' to help a lil' fella today, Isidora, Leaf." The Misdreavus gave a polite nod. "Decide between the two of ya who ought to hold onto that button, and careful not to sit on it on accident, yeah? I know folks with legs tend to have that problem," he snickered.
 
Isidora scratched her cheek and avoided the misdreavus' gaze. "I-I didn't do much, but you're welcome, I guess."

She stared at the button one last time. "I'd like to get it checked out now, but I guess there's nothin' for it. I was heading to get something to eat anyway." She looked at Leaf and shrugged. "You can hold onto it if you want, or I could, I don't care either way."

...But I do kinda want it. No, no, it was for the best if Leaf decided. She was starting to not trust herself.
 
"I guess I can hang onto it," Leaf said, gently tucking the badge away after one last look at her companions to make sure they weren't more interested in taking it themselves. Well, if they were okay with it, why not? "If you guys want to see it again, though, or come with if I find someone who can take a look at it, just let me know. And I'll tell you if I learn anything, too. About the button, or... y'know. Yeah." She glanced in the direction Nidoran had vanished down.

Leaf was confident that her hanging onto the button was an excellent idea. It'd just sit there in the bag until they could find someone to look at it, unbothered by irresistible temptation for at least the next thirty minutes, guaranteed. Maybe twenty minutes. Ten minutes, definitely, absolutely.

...maaaybe they'd luck out and the ponyta's own errands would push it out of her mind within the next sixty seconds.

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