Ithica just rolled her eyes a bit and headed for the door. Time for the god forsaken hike down the mountain.

Red snickered at her expression and followed her out. No one would bother his place while he was gone. He did put up a sign near the end of the trail that said he was out and would be back in a few weeks.

Ithica waited while he put up the sign.

"Just think, you don't have to take challenges for a while," she said.

"For a while," Red agreed, motioning for her to continue. "Although I don't doubt we'll run into more idiocy down there too."

"I'll deal with it," Ithica said, grinning. "I'm not exactly a weak trainer, no matter what my One Loss says."

Red snorted. "One loss isn't bad," he said. "One loss at this stage is practically unheard of, actually."

"I started as a trainer late," Ithica admitted. "So my career is really short compared to most trainers my age."

"Even more reason why one loss is hardly anything to be ashamed of," Red told her, not even bothering to look at where he was going as he headed for Pokémon Cave.

"I don't like losing," Ithica grumped. "I like to think I have a pretty firm grasp on battle mechanics, and I know what to expect out of most gym leaders. I shouldn't lose." She sent him a bit of a look. "I knew what to expect challenging you, too, for the most part. It just... didn't quite work."

Red snickered, totally unrepentant. "Just means next time you'll have to level up a bit first."

"Hey, I beat Blue, that has to count for something," Ithica pointed out. "He's like, the next best thing."

Red snorted, because while that was true, Red was still clearly far superior. He gave her a bit of a look indicating that, even.

Ithica snickered.

"Hey, I'm not wrong," she pointed out. "Glare all you like, I am not wrong."

"He's still not as good as me." Red sniffed.

"Yes, well, I sort of doubt anyone could quite be that good," Ithica pointed out, grinning. "Though I'm going to try, mark my words."

"I look forward to it." Red smirked outright at that. Oh yes, this could be entertaining for a good while yet.

It was dark by the time they made it to Viridian.

"I don't know about you," Ithica said, "but I'm planning to beg a cot at the pokemon center. Coming with me?"

"Might as well," Red agreed. Not like he had anywhere else to stay, and he didn't fancy camping just yet.

"Really?" Ithica said. She hadn't actually expected him to agree. "I would have thought you'd go bother Blue."

"We don't get along well," Red told her dryly. "And he'll likely still be sore over being beaten."

"Aww, still rivals," Ithica cooed, grinning teasingly. "That's so sweet."

Red snorted. "He'd like to think we're rivals," he murmured. "I just beat him when he gets too uppity."

"That's adorable," Ithica said as she settled onto one of the pokemon center couches. Thankfully the center was pretty much empty, with the exception of one or two brand-new trainers, so she and Red were able to settle in quickly.

Red gave her a bit of a side-eye at that but he settled in as well, lounging on one of the couches.

Ithica stretched, and then started to let her team out of their pokeballs. She laughed a little when Togetic and Chandelure both tried to cuddle her at the same time.

"Hey, no, both of you stop it," she said, trying to push them off. Dragonair trilled at her and draped itself over her dramatically, and she yelped. Zoroark snickered at her.