Thief prowled through the tall grass of Route 11, keeping close to the ground. He couldn't shake the feeling that he was being followed by someone, but he wasn't about to let that spoil his plans. He crept through the grass until he was close to a young boy who was training a rattata in the grass. Neither trainer nor pokemon noticed him as he crouched behind a rock. He waited for the perfect opportunity to make his move.

Finally, the boy knelt down to pet his rattata. Thief crawled closer still to the boy, his feet making no sound on the dewy earth. The young trainer was distracted and he was within reach. Thief was close behind him—so close that if the boy moved back even slightly, they'd touch. And there, just within reach, were the boy's pokeballs, resting against the small of his back.

Eyes glinting mischievously, Thief took one of the pokeballs in his jaws slowly. Cautiously, he pulled on it and—with the slightest resistance—it came free from the belt. Thief backed away slowly, clutching the pokeball in his mouth. His foot hit an unexpected stone, however, unbalancing him for a moment.

The pokeball popped out his mouth and rolled along the ground.

"What was that?" asked the boy turning around.

"Rattata!" shouted the boy's pokemon, knowing a theft when she saw one.

Thief flattened his ears and leapt forward trying to recover the pokeball he'd dropped. The rattata rushed forward to meet him, knocking him back. Claws extended, he took a swipe at her, but she dodged swiftly. He was knocked back as she tackled him and dug her teeth into his arm. Biting back the pain, Thief attacked her with his pay day attack, but she didn't seem at all to be fazed by it. The rattata smacked him in the face with her tail. He managed to push her off, and scrambled again for the ball.

He took hold of the pokeball in his mouth again, but before he could manage to run away, the rattata tackled him. She pinned him down, and readied to finish him with a hyper fang attack. Just before her teeth made contact, a yellow pokemon sprang out of the grass. It bowled her over, freeing Thief. Without waiting around to see who had saved him, he sprang up and ran into the grass. Behind him he could hear the boy shouting and the rattata shouting, and a third voice telling him to keep running.

After a moment, Thief became aware of someone pursuing him. Still running as fast as he could, he chanced a look back and saw a sandshrew running after him. Beyond them, the boy was giving chase, screaming about his stolen pokemon.

"I know a place we can hide," said the sandshrew in the language of pokemon. "Follow me!"

"Following you means slowing down!" said Thief, around the pokeball in his mouth. "Run faster!"

With visible exertion, the sandshrew sped up a bit, until he was neck and neck with Thief. He led him through the tall grass into a cave. When the pair entered, the sandshrew pulled Thief into a dark corner of the cavern, and motioned for him to be silent. After a moment, the boy came running in. He looked around but his eyes were weak, as human eyes tend to be, and he could not see in the darkness. Reluctantly, the boy left.

Thief sighed with relief, and set the pokeball on the stone floor. "Thank you," he said to the sandshrew.

"Don't mention it," the sandshrew answered. "It was stupid of you though—taking such a risk to steal another pokemon's ball."

"I collect pokeballs," said Thief, shrugging. "I have a huge stash of them just south of Cerulean city. My name's Thief, by the way."

"I'm Bruno," said the other pokemon, standing up on his hind legs.

"Well, Bruno," said Thief. "I guess it was lucky for me that you happened to be around."

Bruno shook his head. "It wasn't luck. My trainer sent me out to keep an eye on your trainer while he's busy on a job in Lavender town. But, after you ran off, your trainer got on the SS Anne and… well, I couldn't follow. Water, you see, I, uh—I have anxieties. So I decided I'd find you."

"Keep an eye on my trainer?" asked Thief, tilting his head. "Why would he want you to do something like that?"

"My trainer likes Arden," said Bruno. "So he wants to see him succeed. …he's just not sure that Arden can do that on his own. To be honest—and I don't mean to offend—I'm not sure he can either. I mean, my trainer gave him the technical machine for a move that would easily beat Lt. Surge, and he didn't use it. Not to offend."

"No, no. I know that he's… not very good to say the least," said Thief. "What technical machine did your trainer give him?"

"Dig."

"Dig?" asked Thief, eyes widening. "He had dig in his bag and he still let all of us get KO'd by that gym leader?"

Bruno nodded. "I didn't blame you for running away."

"I wasn't running away," responded the meowth quickly. "I just thought that maybe Arden wouldn't be such a miserable trainer if he had more pokemon. Stronger ones that weren't trained by him."

"So that's why you took that pokeball, huh?" Bruno asked him.

Thief nodded. "Well, that and I like to steal things. It's a thrill."

Bruno chuckled. "It's a shame that you're not a Team Rocket pokemon," he said. "I think you'd like it. We steal all sorts of things."

"You're a Rocket?"

"That's right."

"That's so cool," said Thief, in open adoration. "What do you do?"

"Well, we battle those that get in our way, and break into places and take things," Bruno told him. "Right now, my trainer's off in Lavender town with my pal Nathair the ekans. They're doing something in the Pokemon Tower there, but I'm not quite sure what. But he promised he'd bring me back a ground-type friend if I did a good job watching out for your trainer. It was nice of him to promise that, but I would've done it anyway."

"He sounds like a nice guy," said Thief.

Bruno shrugged. "Well, I like him just fine. Of course, I wouldn't know how it is else wise—he hatched me from an egg, so he's always been my trainer. …is it a lot of fun to be a wild pokemon?"

Thief shrugged. "It's alright, I guess," he answered. "Of course, it gets hard scrounging up food. If you're not quick enough to catch something, and then strong enough to kill it, you have to hope that you're at least quick enough to filch something from a human, and strong enough to beat their pokemon if they catch you."

"That sounds tough," said Bruno.

"Well, it has its rewards," said the meowth. "But, then again, so does having a trainer, I guess." He rubbed the back of his head with one paw.

"Speaking of trainers, we should get you back to yours," said Bruno. "That ship should be coming back soon, I'm sure. I bet Arden would be happy to see you come back."

"Yeah, I guess," said Thief, picking up the pokeball in his paws. "Will… Will I see you again?"

"Don't worry," said Bruno. "I'll be around. Come on, let's get down to the docks."

They walked to the shore together, and spent some time together there, waiting for the SS Anne to come in. When it came into view, Bruno said his goodbyes and headed off to hide. The ship docked and Arden disembarked with a crowd of tourists. He was visibly surprised to see the meowth waiting for him, pokeball in its meowth.

"Th-thief?" he asked, approaching him. He picked up the pokemon.

"Meow," said Thief, his voice muffled by the pokeball.

Arden took it from him. "What is this? Have you been stealing from people again?"

"Meow."

"Oh, whatever," said Arden, hooking it to his belt. "I guess I'm not going to be able to find the owner, anyway. Might as well keep it."