(( It's cool. I got a fever yesterday, strangely enough. ))

"Right, right. I'll keep that in mind." Mamoru said with a chuckle as the two walked inside. He was glad that she wasn't upset by him insisting that she get something to drink (for good reason, too; she gulped it down in no time at all), and once the two sat down, Hibiki spoke up by wondering what he'd been up to. He scratched his head and smiled sheepishly when she accused him of being vague, knowing that he was guilty as charged. He felt bad for not keeping her up to speed on his progress, but with how busy he'd been lately, it was hard to focus on much else than his training. "Yeah, yeah. Sorry about that. I've been battling like crazy to try and practice up for my next gym challenge." he said, pausing to pull out a small, rectangular case from his backpack's side pocket. He opened the thin, plastic box to reveal three badges that were lined along the top of it. The first was rugged and silver, and the second was shaped like a drop of water. There was an empty space where one should have been, followed by a rainbow-colored badge on the far right of the upper section of the case. "I nabbed the Rainbow badge a few weeks ago, but the Vermilion City gym is giving my Wartortle some major trouble." Mamoru said with a frown.

"I've been looking around for someplace to find electric Pokemon to practice against, but it doesn't seem like they're very common these days. I can SOMETIMES find a Magnemite or two around Rock Tunnel if I'm lucky, but I haven't been able to track down their breeding grounds." he said, about to put his case away if Hibiki was done examining his badges. "... You've been studying that map I sent you, right?" the boy said, having sent a map of the region to her with areas circled in marker that showed popular places to find wild Pokemon. Viridian Forest, Mt. Moon, Rock Tunnel, and a few other locations were jotted down between cities so that Hibiki would know just where to find a variety of Pokemon when she was ready to set out.