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Luke scowled at the comment regarding the degree of his attachment to the Flareon, but he didn't care to argue it. He knew that the thing was a useless eyesore, and he didn't care if no one believed him - nor did he entertain the notion that the fact he was so ready to cede might have been that Izaya's words carried a larger truth than he might have liked to admit.

"Yeah, I guess..." It was probably especially unwise to stay in the town that connected to his homeland through ships. "I don't really have anywhere particular in mind. Girl I met the other day invited me to go with her to M-- Ahh... M-something Town." Why did everything have names that were so hard to remember? "I'll probably do that and see where I go from there." And hopefully acquire a map somewhere en route. He had no idea where anything was.

It didn't take a seasoned analyst of human emotions to tell that Luke was at least slightly more than mildly miffed at the statement. "First of all, my name's not Lukey," he said with a frown. As suspected, he really disliked the feeling of someone trying to change his name, especially to something so ridiculous. "Second of all, she's not a girlfriend. She's hardly even a friend. I barely know the chick." He huffed, leaning back against the bench with his arms crossed and a scowl on his face, as he listened to the warning.

"Rosie mentioned that too," he said. It sort of made him angry to hear her accused like that, but it was a possibility that he couldn't discount after only a single afternoon in her company. "I can look out for myself, though. I'm not helpless." Perhaps a little under-equipped, having left his sword behind on leaving home, but not completely foreign to combat at the very least.

"Oh, yeah, Makko." That sounded familiar, anyway. "Nah, she said something about heading out next week, so I guess that's when I'm going. I'll hang around here until then."

"Doesn't seem like a good idea to go by myself, so I guess it's either go with her or go with some other random stranger, and she asked first." He shrugged away from the arm across his shoulders, uncomfortable with the proximity to the other man. Besides, touching the guy? With his nice white jacket? His space bubble was for more than just his physical well-being.

"Mieu doesn't battle," he said dismissively, looking to the Flareon that returned his gaze with questioning blue eyes. "I guess I can, if you really want to... I'm better with a sword than with hand-to-hand, though." He wasn't particularly thrilled about the idea of fighting, especially not without his favorite weapon, but the fact that the guy suggested a battle in two different forms seemed to imply that he really had his heart set on it.

Luke, having had zero encounters with the opposite sex save for waving off greetings in the halls, failed to pick up on the reference. "No, she said Monday morning," he corrected, raising a brow in confusion as he tried to connect Izaya's question to a cause for the curiosity. As he caught the mumbled words, though, his brow raised for a different reason, "What, you know her?"

"He can do stuff if I tell him to, but I don't do pokemon battles, so neither does he." He had battled against his friend from time to time, but the other man consistently triumphed. Deeming Mieu's shortcomings the cause, Luke had abandoned the practice of casual battles. As Izaya surveyed his person in futile search of the named weapon, he shook his head, "Left it at home. Doesn't seem like there'd really be much use for it here." And sure enough, he had yet to spy a single sheath on any passerby, and predictably so. Even at home, the sword had been a thing he practiced only as a means of passing the time, never as a manner of true self-defense.

The sudden reflection against the blade caught Mieu's attention, the Flareon drawing nearer to his master with a gaze that was more suspicious than curious. He was familiar with swords - they were dangerous, and his master had suffered injuries against them in the past. Luke wasn't as wary as his accompanying pokemon, but he recognized the threat potential in the small piece of metal and regarded it with a raised brow. "Trade secrets," he replied with a shrug. It was a shoddy cover-up for the fact that he had no real plan, but he remained confident in his abilities nonetheless.

The fact that Izaya posed no response to his question about Rosie inspired a small irritation. Here he was taking the time and courtesy to interact with this stranger, and he wouldn't even answer so simple a question? Luke folded his arms across his chest and chose to repeat himself, much as he disliked doing so, "Do you know Rosie?" It wasn't so much a matter of wanting to know the answer as it was annoyance that his question was ignored.

Mieu's glare relaxed at the blade's disappearance, though he remained poised in a way that suggested a readiness to act. Not being able to see the knife was almost as worrying as having it in plain view.

Though shorter than most other males his age, Luke was far from accustomed to being looked down on, and Izaya's gaze, read as condescending, brought a frown to Luke's own face. "I guess," he answered dismissively. He hadn't cared about the answer to begin with, and now that his words had been acknowledged he was prepared to let the matter drop.

"Maybe next time you'll get my name right," he reproached as he rose from the bench. "Later, I guess." Not as though he was looking forward to meeting the man again - or any stranger, really - but if the region was as small as Izaya was suggesting, then it was a distinct possibility. He folded his arms behind his head with a sign, sparing a few moments to watch the man as he departed before heading in the direction of the hotel.