Arden and Dixie traveled abreast of each other, along the path north of Goldenrod City. "So we can get back to New Bark town this way?" Dixie asked. Arden nodded. "And we don't have to go through the forest?"

"Nope," Arden said, carrying Prometheus in his arms. "It's pretty much a straight shot. We'll pass through Cherrygrove and Violet, and that's pretty much it."

Dixie blinked and turned to Zahur, who was trotting along at his heal. "Felicia lied to us!" he said to the chikorita. Arden raised one eyebrow. "She told us that the only way to get to Goldenrod was to go south, through Ilex forest."

"Oh," said Arden. "Well, she doesn't like coming this way, for whatever reason. I think it's too close to Olivine for her."

"Is it that close?"

"Eh, not really," said Arden with a shrug. "I mean, you have to go through Ecruteak, and then west through all this farmland to get to there… Do you want to go see it? I could show you the way. It's got a beach and a light house, but other than that it's a little boring." He paused. "Oh! But I could show you the towers of Ecruteak! Those are really awesome!"

"What's so awesome about them?" asked Dixie.

"They're really big, and really old," Arden told him. "Well, one of them's really big. The other one burned down a long time ago. There are all sorts of legends about Ecruteak—you have to see it!"

"You're very enthusiastic about this," noted Dixie. "Alright—alright, I think I'd like to have a look."

Arden smiled. Despite everything he had said, he didn't want to go back to Kanto. He hated Kanto. Kanto was a strange place filled with strange people and strange pokemon, and he hated it. He hated trying so hard, only to lose even harder. Anything that would delay his inevitable defeat by more gym leaders was a good plan to him.

As they reached the northernmost end of the root, dusk was full upon them. Dixie scowled. "It's getting dark again," he mumbled.

"Korita!" said Zahur, swishing the leaf atop his head from side to side.

"Yeah," said Arden. "It does that every day. It's called night time."

"How distasteful…"

"Don't worry about," said Arden as they ventured into a channel between two sturdy rows of trees, over grown with thick, green grass. "We're going to be in Ecruteak soon, so we should be alright when it gets real dark. We'll stay there for the night and continue to Olivine in the morning."

"And the towers?"

"Well, we can see those in the morning, too."

"Or, we can do it tonight," Dixie said.

"But you won't be able to see how impressive they are at night. Best to wait 'till morning."

Dixie frowned. "If you say so, I guess…"

The grass rustled ahead of them, and the two boys stopped. A female nidoran poked her head out of the grass. Dixie looked at Arden, "Do you want to take this one, or should I deal with it?"

"No, I've got it," said Arden. He held out Prometheus. "I've been dying to test this out, anyway! Okay, Prometheus—go get it! Tackle!"

He set the cyndaquil on the grass. Prometheus hunched his back and whimpered softly. Arden pushed the little pokemon forward. "Go on," he said. "Tackle, stupid."

"Quuuuil," whined the pokemon, lowering his head. The nidoran watched him curiously.

"Don't just stare," said Arden, kicking his cyndaquil. "Fight it!"

"Qui!" yelped Prometheus, scrambling away as Arden kicked him. He cowered beside the wild nidoran, who regarded him with open disgust.

"Ran," she said, shooting a few poisoned pins at him.

"Qui!" Prometheus yelped again, scrambling back to his trainer. He wrapped his arms around Arden's leg and huddled behind him, quaking.

"What the…?" said Arden, scowling. "What on earth is wrong with you?!"

"He a bit of a coward, isn't he?" said Dixie, smiling slightly.

"Understatement," said Arden, kicking Prometheus away from his leg. The pokemon shook and clung tighter. "Stop it! Get out there and battle, you useless little rodent!"

"Quil!" yelped the cyndaquil as Arden managed to knock him away. He tumbled across the ground, landing pathetically at the nidoran's feet and she swiped him across the face. He cried out and hid his head under his paws.

"Why doesn't he fight back?!" shouted Arden, grabbing fistfuls of his own hair. "Argh! This is ridiculous!"

Dixie's smile widened. "Well, I dare say that your pokemon's a pacifist," he said, laughing. "At the very least, he doesn't seem to like fighting."

"That's stupid!" said Arden, picking up Prometheus and shaking him. "All pokemon like fighting! Fighting is what they do!"

"Quuuuuilll!"

"Careful now—I think you're hurting him," said Dixie, grabbing Arden's arm gently.

"Ah—and what if I am? Who cares about a pokemon that won't battle?"

Dixie took Prometheus out of Arden's hands. "Come on now, that's not a very good thing to say, Arden," he told the younger boy. "Pokemon have thoughts and feelings, too. They need love, not wonton abuse."

"No, what they need is to battle," spat Arden, snatching back his cyndaquil. The pokemon whimpered. "And if they don't battle, what's the point?"

"The point is that they should be your friends…"

"Well, if you don't think battle is important," said Arden. "Trade me."

"What?"

"Trade me," said Arden. "Zahur for Prometheus."

"No way," said Dixie laughing. "I'm not going to give you Zahur."

"Yeah, because it's a bad trade and Prometheus won't fight."

"No," said Dixie, flicking Arden on the nose with two fingers. "I won't trade because Zahur is my friend, and I'm not going to trade away a friend. Especially since I've seen how you treat your pokemon."

Arden pouted and turned away. "Hey!" he shouted, eyes widening. "It got away! Ah, damn it!"

Dixie clapped him on the back. "I wouldn't worry about it," he said. "It's not like that was a battle you were going to win, anyway. There'll be others."

Arden gritted his teeth and kicked the base of a tree. "I guess," he mumbled, starting again through the grass. Dixie smiled and watched him go for a moment before starting to follow. He heard a faint rustle and snapped his head toward it just in time to catch a glimpse of antlers and a flash of black, disappearing into the red shadows of twilight. The Rocket Grunt paused, narrowing his eyes, staring into the shadows hanging thick all about them. "Dixie—hey, come on! I don't want to be too late getting to Ecruteak or we won't be able to find anywhere to stay!"

"Uh, right," said Dixie, slowly. He followed after the young trainer, his eyes still set on the same spot until they rounded and bend and it was no longer visible. As he walked, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was watching him, but every time he looked around he saw no one, nothing.

"Korita?" said Zahur, noting his trainer's anxiety.

A/N: Sorry this took so long! I just started classes at my new school, so updates are gonna be slower than my previous pace. I've only got one class on some days, though, so I'll try to get at least a chapter a week done. However, this is all subject to change with my workload.