The Meditite beelining towards his Pokeball hadn't surprised him in the least. He'd prepared for at least him doing something like that - what had, shocked him, however, was the Farfetch'd suddenly stepping in to come down on the other Pokemon's wrist.

'You're just afraid that's all. And you have to conquer that fear one day!'

As those words left the flying type, he felt a sudden and incredibly uncomfortable sense of deja-vu. Why did that sound so familiar...?

'What're you so afraid of? You could make way more money if you traveled. You're gonna lose your chance if you keep sticking around.'

...Ah. Right.

The other two starters persisted upon the Meditite as he forced the memory aside - well-intentioned, probably correct in their assertions, but... wrong. This was wrong. Kaleo opened his mouth to reply, but was overshadowed by the Meditite yelling at the Totodile to be quiet. He was tempted to try and cut in, a bit more loudly this time... but some sort of odd inner sense of clarity in that moment told him it was probably better to see how this panned out. Uncomfortable familiarity aside, this... ultimately wasn't his fight. Not his circus, not his Mankeys.

'It's only fair that he knows Meditite! You're not doing anyone any favors you know!'

'If you want to stop the rumors, you should just tell everyone why already. You're just making things harder for her.'

...But it didn't stop that old indignation from clawing at the back of his throat while he listened. Still, he would be an adult about this; as much as he wanted to say something, he let them have it out, which cumulated in the Meditite spilling his guts about why he was still in the lab. When the young Pokemon finished explaining why he had been returned twice, however, he was met with not pity, nor apologies or questions or... much of anything on Kaleo's part. At least not initially. Instead, after a brief moment of silence, he was met with a deep nod of the rapper's head.

"...Alright. Okay. Thanks for tellin' me all that. Mad props for ya bravery."

And then he turned his attention to the Farfetch'd and the the Totodile.

"And thank you two for tryin' to help. Appreciate it n' all, but, like... don't do anyone like that ever again."

The shift in his manner over the duration of the fight was so gradual that Kaleo himself hadn't noticed it - rather than the peppy, upbeat manner he'd been conducting himself with the rest of the time, his disposition had settled into an almost uncharacteristically mature sort of calm as he faced down his three choices. His tone sounded mildly annoyed in spite of his efforts to deny feeling such, but any displeasure he may have had over the situation was reined in by a composed yet firm confidence. It seemed, within that brief moment, that Avarice Black was gone - replaced instead by a disappointed parent who had caught his children in the midst of a fistfight over who got the last piece of chocolate cake.

"It's not cool to pressure others into discussin' shit they ain't 100 percent ready to talk about freely. Dude didn't ask to be released from the ball f'me specifically, or to be pushed into telling a stranger what he's gone through. You're doin' it outta love, I know, but that was some unbelievable disrespect you were showin' your friend right there."

He tsk'd a bit, turning first to the Farfetch'd then;

"If I ain't his digs, or he ain't ready, that's the end of it. Don't hit,"

and then, the Totodile,

"or speak for him t'try and force him t'change his mind. Fear or no, actin' gotta be on his terms and his terms only."

There was a brief pause after he'd finished, during which he let out a long, heavy exhale through his nose. Fini's seashell tits, he hated getting actually irritated (why WAS he salty about this, anyway?). It didn't suit him at all, and if this was on camera... eeugh, he didn't want to think about this. For now, he'd scooped up the Pokeball Farfetch'd had denied the fighting type initially, holding it within grabbing distance for the Meditite. In that moment, something (someone?) he liked to bury under his sense of duty had made a choice, unexpectedly finding an odd sort of kinship in being the one always left behind. Misery loved company, common sense be damned. But... feeding that sort of selfish, embarrassing rationale was unfair of him, all things considered, but... but...

...but really, there was no point if that decision wasn't an option for him. Might as well rip the band-aid off.

"...Sorry, bro. Here." He attempted to look at the smaller Pokemon in earnest, doing his best to banish whatever was left of that little surge of emotion from his brow. If the Farfetch'd came for his wrist like he had Meditite's... well, hopefully that leek couldn't break bones. That'd get ugly. "If you don't wanna be here, s'not anyone else's place to keep you."

Was he talking about staying in the lab, or in his presence? At this point, it probably could have gone either way.

884 Words ● 🌺 inari 🌺 ● thanks for being vague asshole kal