[Silver]

It was entirely possible that Oko was getting in way over his head here. He didn't know anything about this guy, and he didn't know anything about the fog. Oh, and nobody knew where he was. His dad was probably back home freaking out, wondering where he had gone. He still felt bad about that, but not enough not to leave anyway.

"Sure do! My name's Oko, by the way." He considered holding out his hand to shake, but he wasn't sure how that would go down, so he kept it to himself. In his mind he had just recruited a super strong teammate, and he was feeling rather proud of that fact.

[crow]

Lupin nodded at Oko's introduction, recovering from his earlier unease. "Lupin, pleasure to make your acquaintance," he said, spitting into his paw before offering it out for a shake. That was the proper thieves' way to do it! ... Or cut open your paw so it was a blood pact, but Lupin didn't think that was necessary. This didn't require that level of commitment, surely.

"Say, where did you say you saw the fog? We should probably return to the scene of the cri--- er, of the discovery, right?"

[Silver]

While he didn't want to be the first one to offer, Oko happily accepted the paw shake. Though he forgot to spit on it first. What was with that? Thank goodness he wasn't squeamish.

Did this mean they were friends now? Oko wasn't really sure, but he was pretty giddy about the prospect. To think, a real friend, and not just someone from the guild who used to babysit him! If they lived through this, he would have to show him off to everyone.

"This way," he said, waving his arms vaguely down the path. That's what he saw from the rooftop, but it was also the direction most of the others were going in.

[crow]

Lupin was glad to see that the Froakie--- Oko, he reminded himself--- was willing to cooperate. He'd found someone to follow him on the first try! That was pretty good, by his reckoning. This Oko had a good eye, to see Lupin's boundless wealth of talents. A lot of bigger Pokemon didn't like to give him the same amount of credit. It just goes to show, smaller really was better.

... Never mind the fact that technically, it was Oko leading the way right now. That was just a minor detail. "So, when you said this fog 'nearly got' you..."

[Silver]

Oko hadn't actually considered the fact that he unintentionally made himself the leader of their little duo, but he was fine with it. After all, he was the one who knew what he was doing... right?

He was, however, definitely considering what he was going to say about the fog. He wasn't entirely honest so far, and the more he said, the further in he got. He really wanted this guy to like him, though, so he kept powering through.

"It's okay, I'm totally fine, see? Tough guys like us should have no problem." He nodded assuredly. "Though I didn't really get to see inside. I guess we'll find out what's in there when we get there..."

[crow]

Lupin had been hoping for a little more information on that, but on the other hand he couldn't exactly begrudge Oko for not sticking around to find out more about the fog if it had tried to go for him. Lupin had had plenty of experiences running away from danger too, and you didn't really have a lot of time to think about scoping out your enemy when they were on your tail.

One detail did stick out to him though. "What do you mean, 'inside'...? Did it look like there was stuff moving around in it?"

[Silver]

This was starting to get frustrating. Oko really wanted to talk about how cool he was, but he didn't want to add so many details that he caught himself up in a lie easily. How was he going to get out of this one? He couldn't just refuse to talk about it, that would be far too suspicious.

"I mean, you know, it's fog. It's all... foggy. Makes it hard to see and stuff. You'll see when we get there! You sure worry a lot!" The Froakie waved his hands dismissively, hoping that his new friend would drop the subject.

"So where are you from? I'm from this town just here where we met. I'm part of the adventuring guild there!" He sounded quite proud of that declaration.

[crow]

Lupin had to resist the urge to bristle indignantly at Oko's response. His first instinct was definitely to proclaim that he wasn't worried, but he calmed himself by reminding himself that a good leader stayed calm and didn't get worked up over little things like that. Making himself sleek, he said, "I was just wondering. Reconnaissance is an important part of a successful operation, you know." There, that way he could show off his broad knowledge and expertise too!

In answer to Oko's question, Lupin thought about how much he should reveal. "I'm... a lone operative! I used to work in a team, but I outgrew them," he said. "I'm from around town too, but my base is a secret."

[Silver]

A brilliant statement came to Oko's mind, and he felt clever for even thinking it. "I think this is one of those things you have to see to believe." There, that should shut down any more nosy questions about it.

"Wow," Oko said. He suppressed the end of the word, trying to hide his genuine surprise. A real lone operative. Nobody to come home to, no guild friends to go on adventures with. He was honestly impressed. Maybe this guy was actually super tough, and he was out of his league.

"I'm still working on my team," he said confidently. It was technically true, but not for the reasons he intended to imply.

[crow]

Lupin nodded. It wasn't like he knew whether Oko was telling the truth or not, and there were a lot of mysterious things in the world that no one understood. Why would all the explorers be so worked up about this if it was something mundane? What Oko said made sense, if you followed that logic.

He patted Oko on the shoulder. "It's okay, you'll get there," he said. Never mind that what he'd said was actually kind of a fib... Nico and Joli had made him a part of their team. But, he figured, since he had never agreed, it didn't really count. And he was renouncing them anyway, since they refused to take him with them.

[Silver]

Oko wasn't too sure whether or not Lupin was being patronizing, but he decided to let it go. The less they talked about stuff he was only sort-of being truthful about, the better. They should focus on the journey ahead of them.

It had been a little while since they had seen any of the other adventurers. As they got deeper into the wilderness, the other (bigger) Pokémon had long since passed them by. Yet a faint hiss could be heard nearby.

Oko paused and turned to Lupin. It did not appear to be coming from him. Unless he had an Ekans in his backpack, which he doubted. "Do you hear that?"

[crow]

Lupin had been a little distracted. He was thinking about how to reconcile all the kinks in the story he'd given Oko with the realities of his situation. It wasn't that he'd been lying, per-se, but he had to get his story straight... The best falsehoods were at least partially based in fact, but if you slipped up, the other party would get suspicious.

That was why he didn't notice the hiss until Oko pointed it out, despite his bigger ears. "Huh? Oh!" he said, coming back to himself at Oko's words. "Yeah, I hear that." Immediately, he crouched, flattering himself amongst the grass. Where was it coming from...?

[Silver]

Oko had a considerably different approach to danger than Lupin did. Instead of flattening himself down and trying to be sneaky, he stood as tall as he could and held his hands out in front of him as though they were some kind of weapon. He went over all of the techniques he knew in his head, just in case he would need to use them soon.

Whether it was a good thing or not, the hissing seemed to have stopped. Oko looked puzzled, but he didn't want to let his guard down. He glanced over at Lupin to see if he was doing anything worth watching.

[crow]

Lupin wanted to hiss at Oko to get down, but doing so might have drawn attention to them. If Oko hadn't been on his team, Lupin wouldn't have worried about it. If someone else wanted to stand out and become a lightning rod for attacks, then it worked out better for him. But Oko was on his team, and Oko didn't look all that sturdy either...

He had to hurry up and find the source of the problem. His ears swiveled back and forth. He managed to pinpoint the direction just before it stopped. Carefully, he crept forward, trying to keep his progress as quiet as he could...

[Silver]

Oko reconsidered whether or not his approach was the smarter one. This Lupin guy always seemed to know what he was doing. No wonder he could work without a team. Oko still had a lot to learn about this adventuring business.

He flopped to the ground and squished himself as flat as possible. That was, except for his eyes poking over the top of the grass. He looked over at Lupin and gave him an exaggerated smile and a thumbs up.

Once he was sufficiently disappeared, the hiss sound returned. A bladed tail could be seen over the tips of the grass. Oko watched to see if Lupin would attack, since he seemed to know what he was supposed to do about stuff like this.