Arden hobbled into Fuchsia city and was vaguely disappointed. After seeing Celadon, Fuchsia was an immense let-down—just a sleepy little town by a gentle ocean. The air smelt of saltwater and, yet, it had none of the charm of the port city Vermillion. Frowning, Arden walked along through the city, holding Gentry while Blazer followed at his heels. His eyes brightened as he spotted a building proudly displaying a sign which read 'Safari Zone'.

The young trainer made his way to the building and entered it to find a long hall with two men sitting at desks on opposing walls. "Is this the Safari Zone?" asked Arden.

"Yup," said one of the men, smiling. "Would you like to play the safari game? You get thirty special balls to use in the allotted time, and any pokemon you catch are yours to keep. Only five hundred to play."

"Ah, yeah—that sounds good," said Arden, digging into his pocket for his wallet. He handed the man the money.

"You'll have to leave your pokemon here, though, while you play," the man told him. "Safari Zone rules."

Arden frowned. "This is a place filled with strong pokemon, right?"

"Certainly," the man said.

"But I can't take my pokemon in with me, right?"

"Those are the rules."

"So," said Arden. "What do I do if I'm attacked by one of these strong pokemon?"

The two men looked at each other. "Uh… Throw—throw a rock at it?" suggested one.

The other nodded emphatically. "Yes, throw a rock at it. Exactly!"

Arden groaned. "You have to be kidding me," he said. "Wouldn't throwing a rock just make it angry?"

"Uh…," said the men, as they looked at each other again. "…no….?"

With a sigh, Arden returned his pokemon to their balls and set the pokeballs on the counter. "You're just lucky my curiosity outweighs my fear in this case."

"Have a good time," said the man, taking his pokeballs, and handing him a bag filled with camouflage colored ones. "We'll call you when your time is up."

With another sigh, Arden headed into the Safari Zone proper. The area was a sort of savanna, nestled inside a forest and separated from it with a long fence. Tall, dry grass covered the ground, and ponds and rises and small trees with wide-spread branches dotted the landscape. Arden made his way across the grounds, keeping a sharp eye out for any pokemon. A chansey came into view and he hurled a ball at it, only to have it escape and flee into the tall grass. Gritting his teeth, Arden chased after it, but it was no use—the chansey was gone. Arden kicked a clump of grass angrily.

"Stupid chansey," he mumbled, leaning against a ledge. He glanced sideways as a faint movement at the edge of his vision caught his eye. As he watched, three long, thin, whip-like tails flicked through the air at the corner of the ledge. Tauros, Arden thought, nodding to himself. Readying a pokeball, he edged along toward it as quietly as he could. For a moment, he waited at the corner, taking a deep breath. After all, if he missed and the tauros got angry, he could very well be a gonner.

Gathering up his courage, Arden lunged out behind the tauros and threw the safari ball. "Go, pokeball!" he shouted.

The tauros cracked its tails, knocking the ball out of the air, and smashing it in twain. Arden gulped as the tauros snorted and turned around, its head lowered and ready to charge. It dug on hoof in the ground, "Tauros!"

"Damn," said Arden, tensing.

But the tauros didn't charge. Instead it titled its head to one side and straightened up. "Taur?" said the pokemon. After a moment, it pounded its hooves on the ground happily. "Taur-aur-aur-auros!"

"Qu—Quenelle?" asked Arden, hopefully.

The tauros tossed his head. "Taur-aur-auros!" Happily, he pranced up to Arden and licked his face sloppily.

"H-hey, Quen," said Arden, rubbing the tauros' neck. "Where's Gaius?"

"Here!" said the boisterous voice of his older brother. Arden glanced around and saw a raised hand behind a large rock.

"What're you doing back there?" asked Arden. "Can't even come say 'hello' to your own brother?"

"I'm taking a piss," Gaius answered, lowering his hand. "I mean, I'll come out if you want, but I didn't think that we were ever that close."

"Eurgh. Nevermind, just—ehk—just stay there until you're done," said Arden turning away.

"Will do," said Gaius. "I drank a lot of lemonade on my way here, you see. And riding pokemon-back, well… it just sort of knocks your bladder around, y'know?"

"No, I didn't know," said Arden. "I didn't need to know either."

"Baby brother, these are life lessons," Gaius said. "Someone needs to teach you these things. God knows you need some good life lessons. Else wise, I just don't think you'll make it…" He paused. "Hey, do you suppose it's dangerous for me to take a leak here? I mean, do you think a nidorino might pop up out of nowhere and bite it off? That would suck."

"Gross," said Arden wincing. "Don't say things like that."

"I'm just wondering if maybe I should've held it," he said. "Not that that wouldn't be a whole new set of predicaments. I hear if you hold it too long, you can rupture your pee-tubes."

"Ureters."

"Right, whatever," Gaius said. "Anyway, hold it to long and they come loose from your kidneys, and start flapping around inside you like fire hoses, spraying piss all over your intestines."

Arden made a gagging sound. "Jeez, Gaius—could you get any more disturbed?"

"I dunno—probably," Gaius said, coming out from behind the rock as he zipped up his fly. "Hey, baby brother! How's it hanging?"

"F-fine, just fine," said Arden, rubbing Quenelle's nose. "How'd you manage to get Quen in here? I thought they didn't allow pokemon to be brought in. …come to think of it, what are you doing here at all?"

"Well, they don't allow pokemon to be brought in, as a general rule, but, y'know, I could always persuade most people to loosen the rules a bit," Gaius said. He spread his arms. "Now, give your big brother a hug!"

"Eugh—don't touch me," said Arden, putting Quenelle between them. "I know exactly where those hands have been."

Gaius laughed, and hopped up onto his tauros. "So, you came to the safari zone, too, huh, baby brother?" he said, looking down at Arden. Arden hated having to talk to him while he was mounted on his pokemon; it made him feel small. "Whatcha looking for?"

"I don't know," Arden said, kicking a rock. "Anything, I guess."

"So, you still can't train your way out of a paper bag, huh?" asked Gaius. "I'm not surprised."

Arden scowled. "No, that's not what I meant!" he said. "I just… haven't been so lucky with the pokemon I've caught. It's—it's beyond my control."

Gaius laughed and shook his head. "Nonsense!" he said. "A good trainer can train any pokemon! Why—now, you remember Daryle, right?"

"Yeah, of course I do."

"Well, I trained him up right good," Gaius said shifting his body so he was sitting side-saddle on the tauros. "Now he's a powerhouse, and he's obedient, and he's intensely loyal."

Arden sighed. "It's not like I never admitted you were a better trainer than me. I've said that a thousand times."

"I like to hear it," said Gaius, grinning broadly. "Say it again, baby brother. Say it again."

Rolling his eyes, Arden said flatly, "You're a better trainer than me, Gaius."

"Yes I am," Gaius said. "Yes I am."

"And since you're so much better than I am," said Arden. "I was wondering if you'd be willing to help me with a problem pokemon."

"Anything for baby brother," said Gaius, leaning down and tussling Arden's hair with one massive hand. "Just show me the pokemon, and I'll whip it into shape."

"Ah! Disgusting!" said Arden, smacking his hand away. "Your hand! The hand you peed with! Ah, gross!"

Gaius laughed, and Quenelle began to trot toward the gate of the safari zone. "Relax," he said. "We'll got to the ocean and you just swim it off, okay?"

"Gross, gross, gross," Arden repeated over and over as he followed, twitching and flailing his arms. Gaius laughed again.

A/N: Oh, Gaius--seriously, now, if you had a big brother, wasn't he like this at least -some- of the time?

Anyway, the picture of Dixie and Arden is now linked on my profile, as is Arden and the cleffairy. So my request queue is wiiiide open. I'd love to have more requests--gives me something to do when I'm worn out on writing, y'know. Anyway, thank you all kindly for reading. Next chapter should be up soon.