((Me))

Sgt. Ash Chewston had explored a few of the empty offices on this floor, but not a single one of them seemed to have any important information hidden away in the desk drawers. One more, thought Ash, and that's it. If I don't find anything, I'm going to the next floor.

The hallway was, at is was before, deserted. Considering the security, sleuthing into one more office could be pushing Ash's luck; any second now, a guard patrol could come around the corner and spoil an end to his uneventful night. Quickly and as silently as possible, he picked the lock on the next office and slid into the darkened room, sliding the door shut behind him.

The room was a duplicate of the others before it; desk, filing cabinet, window, and plant. The filing cabinets, metallic behemoths dominating the north wall, were useless, but the wooden desks had more promising documents. Flicking on his tiny thieves flashlight, he crept up to the desk and started rifling through drawers.

Personal notes... day planner... c'mon!

Heavy footfalls from down the hall suddenly heralded the approach of unwanted visitors. Swearing softly to himself, Ash closed the open drawers and sped to the window. To his dismay, the window seemed to be jammed, and breaking it would spell disaster for him. What he needed was a hiding spot...

-----

Joseph Green, the guard on duty, thought he heard something from one of the offices. To affirm his suspicions, his Growlithe had caught an unfamiliar scent. "Is it an intruder?" he quietly asked. Growlithe growled in response, and inched forward down the hall. Joseph popped the radio out of his belt, reporting his observations and requesting backup. His Growlithe inched down the hallway, stopping for a sniff at three office doors before stopping in front of one.

Joe glanced at the lock and frowned; it was unlocked. Usually, it meant that someone had just dropped by to pick up something, but then Growlithe wouldn't be acting up. Taking a deep breath, he quickly shoved open the door, allowing both himself and his Growlithe to jump in. "Security!" he yelled, putting a hand on one of his other Pokeballs, just in case.

Everything seemed to be in its place except, of course, the roof's ventilation grate and the dusty footprint on the wall.

-----

"Security!" echoed the guard's voice down the cramped ventilation shaft. Ash shuffled as quickly as the space would allow, sweat tricking down his face. Crap, crap, crap, he thought to himself, listening intently for any sounds of pursuit. He glanced back just in time to catch the harmless smoke bomb go off, sending the guard into a coughing fit and causing the dog bark fiercely. With any luck, that would throw them off the scent.

Turning back smugly, Ash continued shuffling down the ventilation shaft as it creaked and groaned under his weight. He continued for half an hour, quickly getting lost in the labyrinth of industrial aluminum. Even the compass direction he was heading became muddled in his head. Stopping at yet another intersection, he paused to catch his breath and try to think his way in the right direction.

Ok. I've mostly been heading northeast... or was it west? Ash tried to clear his head with a quick shake. Assuming I've been heading in a more eastwardly direction, the I really should hang a left here...

And, adding to Ash's collective bad luck, the ventilation shaft chose this moment to decide it couldn't support Ash's weight. With a tearing screech of metal, the shaft unceremoniously deposited it's occupant into a large, gladiator styled room. Ash landed with a heavy thud, instinctively rolling to lessen the impact, and was rained down upon by random debris and dust after coming to a rest.

Ash coughed a lungful of dust out of his system and blinked, taking in the enormous room. He took a second to recover, giving his eyes a chance to adjust to the darkness. Unfortunately, he spotted his flashlight smashed to bits a little bit off.

Before he could react further, the stadium lighting popped on, blinding Ash for a few moments. Squinting through the white light, Ash's heart jumped up into his throat as he realized where he had fallen: right, smack-dab, into the middle of a Pokemon battle arena.

-----

The guard on surveillance duty talked dutifully into his hand radio. "Suspect located and contained in Arena 3."