Arden woke to find himself inside a pokemon center. Cursing silently to himself, he stood up and went to the counter. "Hey," he said to the nurse. "My pokemon—"
"Right here," she said with a smile. "Fighting fit!"
He took them. "I really hate that phrase," he grumbled, clipping them to his belt. He walked outside, sighing deeply, and paused on the street. Gazing in the direction of his home, he mumbled, "But I can't exactly go back after that, can I?"
"Oh, I think you can," said Dixie from a nearby alleyway.
"Gah!" Arden jumped and spun around. "Ah—Dixie! Dixie, don't… don't sneak up on me like that."
"Sorry. I've been leaning against this wall for about an hour, waiting for you to come out of there."
"Really? I was in there that long, huh?" said Arden. "Ah—anyway, what're you doing here? I'd have thought you'd have gone back to Kanto after my mom slammed that door in your face."
Dixie smiled sadly. "Yeah, you'd think so," he said. "But, if it had been the other way around, would you have left?"
"Probably," said Arden. "Though, I can't imagine why you're mom would be in Johto, slamming doors in my face."
The Rocket grunt sighed. "You… have trouble understanding a lot of things, don't you?"
"Not a lot," said Arden, shrugging.
"So, you're not going back there, huh?" asked Dixie. Arden shook his head.
"I can't," he said, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand. "I just… I can't. Felicia and I battle and… she stomped the ever-living shit out of me. I can't face Gaius and Mom after that."
Dixie nodded sympathetically. "I was watching," he said. "She did beat you pretty good. But… They're your family, Arden—will they really care about that?"
"I don't know. I mean, I'm sure they'll say they don't. That's what they always do," said Arden. "But I… I just can't face them like this. Mom and Gaius are the best trainers I ever knew—I can't go back to either one after they've seen what a failure I am at pokemon training."
"I don't think you're a failure," said Dixie, putting his hands on Arden's shoulders. Arden looked up at him.
"…you're going to kiss me again, aren't you?" he asked, frowning.
"Perhaps. But first, the rest of my heart-felt pep talk," said Dixie. Arden bit his lower lip and looked away. "I don't think you're a failure, Arden. I think you're just a young trainer, who's making some mistakes, and learning to get past them. No one starts out a good trainer."
"Felicia did."
"Well, if Felicia jumped of a bridge, would you?" said Dixie, rolling his eyes.
Arden shrugged. "Probably not," he said. "I'd probably be too busy celebrating."
"You shouldn't say things like that," Dixie told him. "Now if she falls off a bridge, you're going to feel horrible."
"That, or it'll all even out and I'll just feel neutral."
Dixie slapped him lightly on the cheek. "Hey, now," he said. "Your cousin's not a bad person, and you really shouldn't say things like that about her. At the very least, she's a human being, just like you, and that deserves respect."
Arden blinked. "I'm sorry—are you lecturing me about respecting people for being human beings? Aren't you part of a massive crime syndicate?" he asked.
"Yes I am," said Dixie. "And when a professional criminal needs to lecture you about being nice to people, that should be a sign to you that you've been a major ass."
Sighing, Arden said, "I guess you're right. You're a good guy, Dixie—how'd you even end up in Team Rocket?"
Dixie crossed his arms and leaned back, tilting his face up slightly. "Well," he said slowly. "I was… I was a new trainer, all alone and nowhere to go, and I wasn't too good at it. I didn't think I'd ever get better and I was feeling really isolated. So, I met a Rocket, and he convinced me that I should join the team—that it was like a second family."
"Is it?"
"Well… The Rocket that recruited me was nice," said Dixie. "Er, most of the time. Some times he'd get on a real aggressive streak and he'd chew me out over the smallest things… But mostly he was nice. He took me under his wing for a while, taught me how to train Bruno and Nathair better. We had some good times, he and I…" Dixie's eyes were getting slightly misty. "He got transferred to the Johto sector, actually. I should… I should go visit him, really. Except, I don't know where specifically he got sent to…"
"Sounds like he meant a lot to you," said Arden uncomfortably. "If, uh, if you're going to start crying do you think I could maybe just, uh, go? I'm sure you don't want me to see you break down or anything."
"No, no—I'm fine," said Dixie. He wiped at his eyes with the back of one gloved hand. "Though, I suppose you should be getting back to your family. I'm sure your brother and your mother are worried."
"Oh no," Arden said. "I told you—after that beating, I'm not going back there. Gaius and Mom are so far above me… I just—I refuse to go back to them until I can stand at their level."
Dixie put his arms around Arden's neck and looked him in the eyes. "That's not an easy route," he said. "If they're so strong as you say, then to be like them will be a hard journey full of stumbles and short-comings and heartbreaks."
"I know," Arden said, unflinchingly. "I've been beneath them my whole life and I… I'm just sick of it."
"That's a very ambitious thing for you to decide," Dixie said, smiling. He rested his forehead against Arden's. "I like that. Ambition is very handsome on you."
Arden gulped. "You are very close."
"I can get closer," said Dixie softly. Arden felt his heart pounding against his chest as Dixie's lips moved closer to his.
"I'm not interrupting, am I?" asked Felicia, clearing her throat. Dixie jumped and Arden pushed him away quickly.
"How long have you been standing there? Why are you standing there?" said Arden quickly as Dixie leaned nonchalantly against the wall. "What did you hear? Or see? Or—hey! Get out of here! I don't want to listen to your gloating."
"Woah," said Felicia, holding up her hands. "Wind down. —Though, I have been standing here for a while and I did see you almost kiss him."
Arden blushed. "I did not."
"Well, that's what the word 'almost' means, there, genius," said Felicia, rolling her eyes. Arden blushed harder.
"Look, if you want to brag about our battle, just forget it. I'm not going to hear it."
"I'm not here to brag," Felicia said with a shrug. "I know you're just starting out as a trainer and you really didn't stand a chance to begin with; —what's the point of bragging? I mean, I only battled because you challenged me, and seemed so gung-ho about it."
"Oh, gee," said Arden dryly. "Well, I sure am glad you didn't come to boast."
"Well," said Felicia crossing her arms. "Facts aren't boasting, Arden. Sorry you don't understand that."
"What did you come here for?" asked Arden, glaring at her.
"I wanted to trade you," said Felicia, holding up a pokeball.
"Trade me? Trade me what? Why?"
"I want your ninetails," Felicia said, crossing her arms behind her back. "I like the color. It's all pretty and lavender. I love lavender, you know."
"You mean Blazer?" said Arden. "Why would I trade you Blaze?"
"Well, I know how much you like cyndaquil," Felicia said. "I'm willing to trade you Prometheus for Blazer—of course, you'll have to rename that ninetails, because Blazer's a stupid name. I mean, like a jacket? Seriously? No. Just no. He will be called Icarus instead."
"I don't know," said Arden slowly. "I mean, Prometheus was one of your pokemon that I managed to beat."
"True," said Felicia. "But his sire is none other than Gaius' Daryle. With such a strong father, how could Prometheus be anything less?"
Arden crossed his arms. "Well, I can't beat that logic," he announced at length. He reached to his belt and pulled a pokeball from it. "Here you are—Blazer."
"Ah—Icarus."
"Fine. Icarus."
Felicia squealed with delight and took it. "Here you go," she said, handing him Prometheus' pokeball. She started away giddily, waving to Arden. "Good luck on your training, cousin—you're certainly going to need to buckle down on that."
"I feel like she was up to something with that," Arden mumbled to Dixie, watching her go.
"I spent a lot of time with her coming here," Dixie said. "She was definitely up to something there."
Arden let out a deep sigh. "I just got screwed in that deal, didn't I?"
"Probably," said Dixie. He threw his arm over Arden's shoulders. "How 'bout we go back to Kanto, eh?"
Arden nodded and they started along the street in the opposite direction Felicia had gone. A shadow lurked in a dark alleyway, observing them as they went. Beside the spying figure, a stantler ground its hoof into the ground and tossed its head. "Easy, Adalhelm," said the figure, putting a white-gloved hand on the pokemon's head. He stroked its head, calming it a bit. "Easy…"
