...oooh, that's a good counter-play. Claude has to admire it, with the part of himself that isn't primarily concerned with the awkward position it puts him in.
He's got three options, as he sees it, and none of them are good. The first is to keep his cover and play along, and actually commit to the bit enough to go commit a crime. And on some small level, that's tempting, because he actually does want a Revive to heal Sturm up. Not needs it, necessarily, he could just go without and get to a Pokécenter, but anything that gets his buddy back on his feet faster feels at least a bit appealing. But he doesn't really want to participate in any robbery, or help the Rockets in any concrete way...not to mention that if this guy decides to keep an eye on him afterwards, he'll still be in a bad spot. He can't exactly be dragged back to the Rockets' base with them!
After all, as tempting as the possibility of finding out where Rocket HQ is...the odds are he wouldn't even make it near their base before being exposed. And even assuming he did manage to make it all the way to their headquarters, he'd definitely be caught there, and then good luck to him getting out again.
Second option: drop the ruse right here, accepting his bluff has been properly called, and fight. Claude doesn't like that, either. Entirely aside from the fact that he prefers to eliminate all other options before moving to any form of violence or combat...he's not sure of his chances against this guy, and he's a pokémon down already. And he doesn't want to see any of them get hurt further...not while he has a single other option on the table.
And he does still have one left: play along for now, and look for the first opportunity to cut and run he can find. In the chaos of the mall...he might be able to just slip away while they're moving through the crowds.
Worth a shot!
He rubs the back of his neck. "I'd appreciate that, sir...I'm pretty disoriented right now, though, what with running around looking for an open path to an exit. Which way is it from here to the nearest item shop?"
Melting away into the hubbub will be especially easy if he can get this guy to lead the way...
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He's got three options, as he sees it, and none of them are good. The first is to keep his cover and play along, and actually commit to the bit enough to go commit a crime. And on some small level, that's tempting, because he actually does want a Revive to heal Sturm up. Not needs it, necessarily, he could just go without and get to a Pokécenter, but anything that gets his buddy back on his feet faster feels at least a bit appealing. But he doesn't really want to participate in any robbery, or help the Rockets in any concrete way...not to mention that if this guy decides to keep an eye on him afterwards, he'll still be in a bad spot. He can't exactly be dragged back to the Rockets' base with them!
After all, as tempting as the possibility of finding out where Rocket HQ is...the odds are he wouldn't even make it near their base before being exposed. And even assuming he did manage to make it all the way to their headquarters, he'd definitely be caught there, and then good luck to him getting out again.
Second option: drop the ruse right here, accepting his bluff has been properly called, and fight. Claude doesn't like that, either. Entirely aside from the fact that he prefers to eliminate all other options before moving to any form of violence or combat...he's not sure of his chances against this guy, and he's a pokémon down already. And he doesn't want to see any of them get hurt further...not while he has a single other option on the table.
And he does still have one left: play along for now, and look for the first opportunity to cut and run he can find. In the chaos of the mall...he might be able to just slip away while they're moving through the crowds.
Worth a shot!
He rubs the back of his neck. "I'd appreciate that, sir...I'm pretty disoriented right now, though, what with running around looking for an open path to an exit. Which way is it from here to the nearest item shop?"
Melting away into the hubbub will be especially easy if he can get this guy to lead the way...