Evian firmly clasped the hand offered to him. "Sure, we're going to be the [i]best[/i] of friends, Io." He had a wicked smile on his face. Io seemed to be... somewhat standoffish. Maybe people were intimidated by his height, or maybe they were intimidated by the serious expression he bore. It had caught Evian off guard too. Still, messing around with people was what he did. Riling them up with inflammatory comments, seeing what made them tick, getting under their skin... He enjoyed it. "If you [i]insist[/i], I guess we can head over to Kukui." Even though Evian wasn't particularly crazy about the idea, he'd go along with it. Maybe he could snag some more items out of it, get a free potion or something. Maybe get to know Io some more, so he could drive him crazy. And then happily head out solo on his own.

As they headed out to Ten Carat Hill, Evian decided to probe more. Why not? He could make this more exciting for the both of them. "So, Io, right? You grow up around here? Why'd you decide to become a trainer?"