Mel snickered. "Yup," she agreed with zero sympathy. "This will be so entertaining."

"Yes it will," Steven agreed. He slowed down a little as they approached the door of her room. "Tomorrow, then?"

"Tomorrow," Mel agreed with a smile, looking at him.

"Then this is where we say good night," Steven said. He smiled at her and, before he could second guess himself, leaned in and gave her a small, chaste kiss.

Mel blushed but smiled, returning the kiss with a quick peck of her own. "I'll see you in the morning."

"See you then," Steven said with a smile. He waited until she had gone inside, and then went to find his own room to settle in.

The next morning Mel was up early and getting ready to go.

"Eevee--no, really, I need that back. Could you not?" Mel eyed the mischievous pokemon.

Eevee just chirped at her and danced out of reach, Mel's hairbrush still in its mouth.

In the next room, Ithica was cooing over the Togepi that had hatched in the middle of the night.

"Eevee~" Mel huffed at the little pokemon. "I kind of need that, you brat."

Togepi blinked up at her and chirped, waddling over to plop straight into her lap.

Eevee chirped again, seeming to laugh. It bounced into a playful stance, butt and fluffy tail wiggling.

Ithica put her arms around it to keep it from falling.

"Aww, aren't you adorable," she said to it. Dragonair peeked over her shoulder at the little baby Pokémon.

Mel huffed and made a grab at Eevee that she already knew would be unsuccessful. "How did I raise such a brat?" She grumbled to herself.

Togepi looked up at Dragonair with big eyes before it cheered again.

Eevee laughed again and scampered out of reach.

Dragonair trilled at Togepi and nuzzled it a bit. Yes this was a good addition to the group, Dragonair approved.

Mel huffed and gave up. "Fine, keep it," she grumbled. "Brat." But she was grinning when she tried to finger-comb her hair.

Togepi made a purry type noise and settled in there, happy. This seemed like a good person, it liked this person.

Eevee danced around and did eventually drop the brush.

Ithica smiled at Togepi and managed to finish gathering her things with one hand. Once she had her things packed, she recalled Dragonair and then headed out of her room, Togepi still in her arms. She wasn't going to put the little one into a pokeball unless she absolutely needed to, for the moment.

Mel huffed at the little pokemon and shook her head. Then she picked up an actual acceptable toy and wiggled it.

Togepi chirped happily at being carried, waving its little arms around. It was, however, careful not to actually wriggle around.

Eevee chirped and pounced on the toy, growling cutely at it and wrestling it to the floor.

"You're a cheerful little thing," Ithica commented to Togepi, smiling when the little thing made happy noises. She knocked on Mel's door.

Mel left Eevee to playing and went to open the door. "Ready to go?" she asked, stooping to pick up her brush. She eyed the new teeth marks on it ruefully.

"I'm ready," Ithica said. She snickered a little at the chewed brush. "Do you need a few more minutes?"

"Nope, this was the last thing." Mel threw it in her bag and scooped up Eevee under one arm. "Now I'm ready."

"Let's go find your boyfriend, then," Ithica said, adjusting Togepi in her arms a bit.

Mel sighed. "There's no point arguing with you, is there?" she asked, heading towards the docks.

"Nope," Ithica said brightly, grinning.

Steven was already there waiting for them. He had traveling pack over his shoulder, neatly packed and ready to go.

Mel snorted quietly and rolled her eyes at that. She did, however, grin when she saw Steven, and headed over to him.

"Morning."

"Morning," Steven said, smiling a bit. "Ready to go?"

"Yup." Mel hefted Eevee a little higher in her arms. "And hoping this one doesn't get into more trouble."