Arden turned over Gentry's pokeball in his hands, looking at the large sticker on top of it. "How girly," he mumbled as he made his way through the cave, only half-paying attention to where he was going. "Even if I can get this thing to listen to me, I bet he'll be so emasculated he's a useless fighter."

With a sigh, he attached it to his belt, and glanced around at his dim surroundings. The zubat were mostly calm, above his head—except for one or two readjusting themselves occasionally, they seemed to have no problem with him passing through their territory. The grey stone walls were monotonous and uninteresting to Arden. Of course, all caves were uninteresting to the boy;—when they weren't downright frightening to him, of course. As he walked on, observing the dank walls and black tunnels, his foot hit a patch of empty air and he tumbled forward, smacking his head hard on the ground before falling through a hole. He hit the ground hard, and lay on his back, stunned, staring up at the circular hole above him, with the neat little ladder leaned against its side.

"Nng… My head… Ahh—why didn't I see that?" he moaned, rubbing a swelling bump on the back of his head as he sat up. "Aaaahh."

"Hey kid," said a figure in the darkness. "What do you think you're doing down here?"

Arden rubbed his back slowly. "Feeling more pain that I've ever felt in my entire life. Who's there?"

"No one. No one at all. Not if you know what's good for you," said the figure, which Arden could now identify a man in a black uniform of some sort, a large 'R' emblazoned on his chest.

Arden stood up, swaying. "Wha—is that a threat? I mean, I feel a little woozy here, so I might be misinterpreting you, or not hearing right…"

"Oh," said the man. "…well, yes, it was a threat."

Arden blinked. "Oh, I've got it!" he said after a moment. "You're from Team Rocket, aren't you?"

"Yeah—I mean, no. Or maybe. I mean, who's asking, huh?" said the man, reaching toward his belt.

"You're not getting a gun, are you?" asked Arden stepping back and holding up his arms as if to shield himself.

"What? A gun?" asked the Rocket. "Why would I carry a gun?"

"Well, you're a-a bad guy, aren't you?" Arden asked.

The Rocket shrugged. "That's all very subjective, isn't it?" he asked. "Besides, do you have to be a bad guy to carry a gun in the first place? And does it follow that carrying a gun makes you bad?"

"I… Wha…? I mean, I wasn't—I just thought…" Arden sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "Look, nevermind, nevermind…"

A silence settled over the pair as they watched one another.

After some time, Arden asked, "What were you reaching for?"

"Huh?"

"You moved your hand toward your belt—"

"Pokeball," said the Rocket grunt. "I thought we were going to battle."

"Oh," said Arden. "…can we not? My pokemon aren't very good."

The Rocket shrugged on shoulder. "Well, I mean, I guess I don't have to battle if you don't try to stop us. You're just a kid, after all," he said.

"Stop you? Well, what are you doing?"

"I dunno. Looking for fossils or something like that… I wasn't really paying attention."

Arden raised an eyebrow. "You're looking for fossils? What are you guys, evil archaeologists?"

"What? No! We're pokemon thieves!"

"…so you're stealing fossils, then?"

"Yeah. Yeah, that sounds… right…"

"Fossils that are just laying around in this mountain?"

"…yeah."

"Fossils of dead pokemon?"

The Rocket grunt was silent. "Maybe—maybe I'm remembering our mission wrong," he said. "Uh, but, we're, um, pokemon thieves. No doubt about that."

"Are you going to try to steal my pokemon?" asked Arden.

"Well… Yours? I don't know… You did just tell me they weren't very good, after all," he said. "And I kind of like you. You remind me of a young me."

"Okay, I can't be more than six, maybe seven years younger than you."

"Fine, a younger me."

"Are you calling me a criminal?"

The Rocket shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe someday," he said. "If you work hard and assert yourself, that is."

"…uh, thanks…?"

"No problem," he said, smiling in a way that Arden found genuinely charming.

They settled into a silence again, staring at one another. "Can… I go?" asked Arden after a moment.

"Oh, certainly," said the Rocket, stepping out of the way of the narrow pass. Arden squeezed past him. "Be seein' you around…"

"You, too," Arden returned without stopping. He continued down the dim tunnel, until the grunt disappeared into the shadows completely. He rubbed his arm as he walked, feeling a lump that had resulted from his fall. He turned a corner, into a smaller cavern with an exit at one end, through which light was streaming.

With a light-hearted laugh, Arden ran toward the shimmering light, even though his whole body ached. As he was nearing the light, a fist thrown from the shadows struck him in the face, knocking him hard to the side. Arden fell to the ground with a yelp, confused and rather stunned. He saw a boy, a few years older than him, in glasses and a fancy button up shirt, standing over him with an expression of great anger. He hit hard for a nerd, in Arden's opinion.

"Wha—" began Arden, holding his battered cheek bone gingerly.

"These fossils are mine!" shouted the nerd. "I found them! You can't have them! You'll have to get them over my dead body!"

"I don't… I don't even want any fossils," mumbled Arden. "…you punched me in the face, man…"

"Alright, fine! We'll battle! If I win, I'll share my fossils!"

"Keep them," said Arden. "I don't even want one."

"Go Koffing!"

"Oh. So we're going to fight anyway, huh?" asked Arden with a sigh. "Why do none of you people listen to me? …alright. Go, Fang!

They tossed out their pokeballs, Arden sending out the zubat he'd caught. It screeched and wheeled around the enemy koffing.

"You named your zubat Fang?" asked the nerd.

"Yeah, why not?" asked Arden. "Is there something wrong with that?"

"No, no…" said the nerd, pushing up his glassed."Just seems a bit cliché, don't you think?"

Arden gritted his teeth. "No, I don't think."

"Obviously," said the nerd. "Koffing! Use smog!"

"Koff!" shouted the repugnant pokemon. Thick yellow clouds issued forth from the enormous pores covering its body. A jet of smog struck Fang, and he screeched and wheeled around, pained.

"Fang, use bite!"

The zubat screeched, shaking off the pain from the koffing's attack before diving at it. Fang bit the enemy koffing, causing it to cry out in pain and recoil.

"Good!" shouted Arden, raising a fist. "Now use astonish!"

The zubat attacked, leaving the koffing momentarily stunned. "Leech life!" Arden told Fang. The pokemon screeched in compliance before swooping again at the koffing and biting it before turning and flying up out of reach.

"Koooff," mumbled the gaseous pokemon, its eyes rolling back in its head.

"Koffing, return!" shouted the nerd, concern showing in his voice as he held up his pokemon's ball. "Fine, I'll let you have one of my fossils. But only one! No being greedy!"

"I never wanted any of your fossils to begin with," Arden said, holding up his own pokemon's ball.

The nerd held up two rocks to him. "We each get one," he said.

Arden sighed. "Fine then. That one," he said, randomly pointing to one of the artefacts.

"Oh, I wanted that one," muttered the nerd. All the same, he handed it to Arden, who took it without any sort of glee and slipped it into his pack. "Wait—you're putting a priceless ancient fossil into your bag?"

"I put everything into my bag. Makes it easier to carry," said Arden. The nerd stared at him in disbelief. Arden turned toward the mouth of the cave. "I have a date with some good old fashioned sunlight and fresh air. See you later, cave dweller."

"I can't believe I lost to you," mumbled the nerd, shaking his head and turning away.

Arden shrugged. "Yeah, me neither."