Night was full upon them as Dixie and Felicia walked through the winding maze of trees that was Ilex Forest. The Rocket grunt glanced around nervously. "I don't like this," he said. "Why's it so dark?"

"It's night time," said Felicia.

"We don't have night time in Kanto."

"That's ridiculous," said the girl, glancing back at him. "You have to have night time."

"Nope."

Felicia frowned. "You're such a liar," she said.

Dixie sighed and looked around. "I can hardly see a thing here," he said. "Do you think maybe we should go back out and wait 'till day to pass through?"

"That's stupid," she said. She pulled a pokeball from her belt. "I've got a better idea that doesn't involve waiting. Andromeda, go!"

With a flash, an ampharos appeared from the pokeball. "Ampha," she said, looking to her trainer.

"We need light, Andromeda," said Felicia. "Hop to it!"

"Amph," said the pokemon. Her tail lit up with a slight buzzing sound. "Ampharos."

A steady light filled the forest path. Dixie looked around. "Electric lighting," he said. "Very nice."

"Well, come on," said Felicia, walking away with Andromeda at her side. "Are you going to just stand around all day, admiring the scenery?"

Dixie raised an eyebrow and followed her. "You really should be nicer to me," he said. "I'm a dangerous criminal, you know."

"No you're not," said Felicia, rolling her eyes. "You're a kid in a costume. And kind of a liar."

"I'm not a kid. You're a kid."

Felicia glanced back at him, exasperated. "Yeah, because that's really the sort of defense an adult would use," she mumbled.

Dixie pressed one hand against his forehead. "How does Arden put up with someone like you?" he asked, half-smiling.

"We don't talk much, actually," she said. "We're cousins, after all, not siblings. He lives in Goldenrod, I live in Olivine—every now and then we'd end up having to go to the same family functions. We don't get along too well, though."

"I wonder why," said Dixie dryly.

She turned around to look at him, scowling. "I don't like that," she said.

"What?"

"Those snide comments of yours. I don't like them. Are you trying to be funny with those? It's not working."

Dixie shrugged and bit his lip. She turned back around and he kept behind her. "You've got quite a temper for a girl your age," he muttered.

"I get told that," she said. "Honestly, though, it's a bunch of bunk. 'For a girl my age'—what does that even mean? A whole lot of nothing."

Dixie smiled pulled a back of cigarettes out of his belt. He brought one to his lips and lit it with a little silver lighter before putting the pack and lighter away. Felicia scrunched up her nose at the smell of the smoke and glanced back at him again. "Gross," she said. "You smoke? That's disgusting. Your teeth're going to get all yellow and your skin's going to shrivel up like a prune by the time you're twenty."

"I'll take my chances with that," Dixie replied.

"No one likes a smoker," Felicia said. "Especially one that's twenty years old and looks like a shriveled old prune. And every one knows that if you smoke, you're forever cursed to be unlucky in love."

"That a fact?" asked Dixie, taking a drag on his cigarette. "And just where did you learn that?"

"Oh, every one knows it," she answered. "I mean, have you ever seen a man who was happy with his love life smoke?"

Dixie frowned. "Well, in movies…"

"Movies don't count," said Felicia.

The Rocket grunt rubbed his chin. "Well, a couple buddies of mine smoke," he said. "But I don't know much about their love lives, so I really can't say… One of them has a girlfriend."

"Bet she makes him miserable."

"I thought that's what girlfriends do, isn't it?"

Beyond the trees, a small shrine came into view.

"What's that?" Dixie asked the girl.

"It's a shrine to the guardian of this forest," Felicia told him. "We should probably stop and pay our respects to it." Andromeda nodded with a soft murmur of agreement.

"Why?" asked Dixie as they neared the shrine. "Is it a wrathful guardian? Will it get angry if we don't?"

"No—not that I know of," she answered with a shrug. "It just seems like the right sort of thing to do. For safe passage through the forest, you should thank the forest's guardian."

Dixie frowned. "Well, alright, I guess," he said. They knelt before the modest shrine. "So, what exactly is the forest's guardian?"

"It's a pokemon," Felicia responded. "At least that's what they say."

The Rocket grunt cocked one eyebrow. "What sort of pokemon?"

"No one knows," she said. "They call it Celebi. No one's ever seen it, really. It might not exist at all. Except in stories, y'know, and myths and the like."

Dixie looked up at the humble monument to the legendary pokemon. "You'd think," he said at last. "If it were real, someone would have seen it. Why else would they build it a shrine?"

Felicia shrugged and stood up. "People do funny things like that, sometimes," she said. Andromeda nodded her head in agreement. "Let's keep on going. We're about halfway through the forest, now."

Dixie groaned and stood up. "I hate forests," he muttered.

"That's a stupid thing to say," said Felicia. "How can you hate forests? They're green and shady and natural."

"They're inconvenient," Dixie said.

Felicia frowned. "Lots of things are. It's still not a good reason to hate them," she said. They walked on, along the curving path. There were many points where the path split, but Felicia didn't hesitate at these places and, instead, continued confidently on with her ampharos at her side and Dixie behind her.

"You seem to know this forest well," said Dixie. "You pass through here a lot?"

"When I can," Felicia said. "It's a nice, calming place. I like to train here. Also, it's on the way to and from Azalea town—that little town we passed through? There's a man there who makes apricorns into special pokeballs. I like bringing apricorns to him so that I can have balls to catch specific sorts of pokemon, so I usually make it a point to come down here at least once a week."

"What are apricorns?"

She looked back at him, frowning. "You can't be serious, right?" she asked. "You don't know what apricorns are?"

Dixie lifted his hands and shrugged. "Never heard of them."

"How stupid," she said. "They grow all over. Here—"

She stopped and reached into her bag. For a moment, she rummaged around inside it, pushing TMs and pokeballs out of her way. At length, she held a sort of pink-colored fruit up and presented it to Dixie. He took it. "It's hard," he said, turning it over in his hands.

"Of course it is," said the girl, taking it back. "I just told you they make these into pokeballs. How could they do that if they were soft? Do you think a squishy pokeball would work very well?"

She turned and started walking. Dixie followed her, slumping his shoulders sheepishly. "They might," he muttered. "So, those are what pokeballs are made of, then?"

"Not all of them," said Felicia. "Not the ones you've got on your belt. Yours are the sort that are mass-produced real cheap. That's why it's so easy for pokemon to break out of them. They make them dozens at a time in big factories."

"Where?"

"I don't know," said Felicia, scowling. "What do I look like to you, your guide to the world of pokeballs? They probably make them further inland, or something. I don't know."

"You get easily flustered," said Dixie, smirking. "That's a charming—dare I say, adorable—trait of yours."

"I don't get easily flustered," Felicia said, blushing slightly. "You're just frustratingly stupid."

Dixie grinned broadly. "Oh, Ms. Blake, you do flatter me," he said. "But I'm afraid your sweet talk won't work on me."

Felicia put her hand on her ampharos' shoulder. "He's a mad man, Anne," she said. "And when he snaps and goes violent, I'll need you to protect me.

"Ampha," said Andromeda, nodding her head. "Pharos ampha."

Dixie chuckled. "It wouldn't do you any good," he said. "What sort of name is Andromeda, anyway? Or Ajax, for that matter? They're a little… grand, don't you think?"

"That's how I do things," said Felicia. "I'm the greatest, and so are my pokemon, and so are they're names. Because people will see those names or hear those names and they're gonna immediately know who they're dealing with."

"Ampha!" said Andromeda, swinging her tail.

"You've got a lot of spirit about that," noted Dixie.

"You know it!" shouted Felicia, pumping one fist into the air. "Hoo-rah!" Beside her, the ampharos mimicked the movement.

"Pha-ros!"

Dixie laughed, and threw his arm around Felicia's shoulders. "You know what, kid? I like you. I like that attitude of yours."

"Pha-ros!" shouted Andromeda, pumping out her fist and punching Dixie right in the side of the face. He fell to the ground, out cold.

"Hoo-rah!" said Felicia. "One-hit KO!"

"Pha-ros!"

A silence settled over them.

"Of course," said Felicia. " Now you have to carry him." Andromeda looked at her trainer, deflated. "Hey, I'm not the one who punched him in the face. That was all you."

A/N: Hey, all. Just wanted to tell you, there are a couple new pictures up. Also, I was wondering what everyone's favourite first and second generation pokemon are? I tend to fail at adding variety to teams, since I personally only use a few pokemon and don't think much about the others, so I was hoping y'all might inspire me to think outside my narrow little party-roster box.

Anyway, thanks, once again, for reading. Love, rainbows, and prancing ponies to all my readers. You guys are made of epic win.