If I was an actual rat, I might find that offensive. [ He matches her look with one of his own, but yoinks the piece back with an overly dramatic huff. ] Might as well give me back the whole thing while we're at it, if you're that worried.

[ His smirk returns, unserious, but between finishing his seed and the investigation talk, he waits before actually trying it. He'll take her word for it for now. ]

Look, it beats having to sniff all around the forest, too. I'll take what I can get. [ Hearing Shoka's description gets a snicker out of him, bad as it when they're currently missing, but the thought is just too ridiculous for him not to. ] Great. A suspect and victim all in one. Could be why they've just been going in circles around the Bay, if they're in the middle of another fight.

... But a Dragon-type, though, huh? [ He scratches his cheek in thought, trying to filter for that scent in his memory. Truth be told, he hasn't met many others beside one Dragonite in particular, but: ] I can work with that. Thought we were dealing with a Dark-type or something, to be honest. I got the two mops of black fur down, but no one bothered mentioning scales. [ His fault, really, for not thinking to clarify types of all things. He'll get there. ]

We can check around some of the spots I know of first, but—go ahead. It still could mean something, eventually.