Dragonair booped back and went back to bothering Ithica.

"Okay, enough," Ithica said, though she was grinnning a bit. "I swear you're just an overgrown Ekans that knows Dragon Rush."

Red snickered. "Pushy," he commented, watching Dragonair. "Not surprising."

"I might have spoiled her," Ithica admitted, grinning a bit as she brushed out her hair. "I can't help it, I spoil all of them."

Red nodded. "I know the feeling," he murmured. "And yet they're ferocious when battling."

"Well it's obvious you spoil yours," Ithica teased, putting her brush in her bag and going to get some coffee. "Any other trainer would have tracked down a thunder stone by now."

"I have five," Red said dryly. "Five different little shits sent them to me with various reasons attached." He rolled his eyes.

Ithica snickered.

"I'm not surprised," she said. "Though you didn't just dump them off on Surge? Or that Eevee breeder in Celadon?"

Red shrugged. "Haven't had time yet to go out that way," he said. "The Eevee breeder gets plenty from what I hear, as well. And you never know when one might come in handy."

Ithica raised an eyebrow.

"A thunder stone literally only evolves three species of pokemon," she pointed out. "Though I guess they can still be sold for a good price, right?"

"If I needed to, yes." Red shrugged. "I'll probably give them to someone else, once I find someone worthy."

"Interesting, okay," Ithica said. She shrugged a bit. "I need to find a shiny stone, at some point, as long as Togetic still wants to be a Togekiss eventually. I was lucky to find the dusk stone for Chandelure."

Red smirked faintly. "Keep on the way you are and if you mention you need one people will send you half a dozen," he told her, stretching briefly. "You're getting popular."

"Oh no don't tell me that," Ithica groaned, hanging her head a bit. "Not here too. Hoenn was bad enough. Was there something on TV about it?"

Red snickered. "Half the fights were recorded," he told her. "And on TV."

"Augh, no," Ithica said, making a face. "I am not here to become famous, I'm here to annihilate the League. And I really don't want Lance and Clair breathing down my neck because idiot kid trainers are off looking for Dratini..."

Red snorted. "Too late," he said with a shit-eating grin. "Although kids are always after Dratini, you'd be surprised how few of them think to ask for help."

"I just don't want the dragon masters on me for it," Ithica said. "I got lucky when I got this one, it's not like I went looking for a dragon type."

Red snickered at that. "Lucky," he agreed. "How did you get that one, then?" He nodded to Dragonair.

Ithica studied him for a moment, debating whether to tell him.

"Rockets," she said finally. "My friend and I somehow ended up in a Rocket base, where they had a bunch of rare Pokémon. We set them all free as a distraction to escape, and it refused to leave me afterwards. Mel ended up being claimed by a Larvesta."

Red scowled at that. "Rockets," he growled, "should be eliminated." Pikachu sat up and sparked a bit.

"Hey, easy with the sparks," Ithica said, leaning away from them a bit. "Seriously, take it up with Boss Rocket, someone's got to know how to contact him somehow, right?"

"Oh we know," Red said. "The situation is unfortunately not that easy." He shook his head, still looking Displeased.

"Well, regardless," Ithica said, still watching Red and Pikachu, "I got Dragonair as a Dratini because it refused to let me walk away pretty much at all. I think the only one of mine I actually caught on my own was Chandelure, and only because someone had released it as a Litwick in Lavender Town. Everyone else was either a rescue or a gift."

Red nodded. "Not bad," he agreed. "And you haven't been a trainer since you were a kid, either."

"Only about a year," Ithica admitted, glancing at him. "Like I said, I got my license late."