Dixie was distant the rest of the night, and when they left the inn the next morning he continued to be uncharacteristically quiet. Finally, Arden asked him, "Hey, are you alright? You don't seem like yourself."

"I'm fine," said Dixie. "I just have… a touch of a headache is all."

"So," Arden said as they paused on the street. Over the peaked roofs of the buildings surrounding them, a majestic pagoda-like construction was visible, stretching into the sky. "Do you want to go see the Tin Tower first, or the dance studio? The kimono girls do real neat dances…"

Dixie ran his tongue along the cut in his lower lip, looking away. "Actually," he said, after a moment. "I'd like to go see Mahogany Town, if that's alright with you."

"Mahogany?" asked Arden, stooping to pick up Prometheus, who had been tugging at his pant leg. "Why would you want to go there? It's so dull; nothing to see, except maybe the Lake of Rage, and even that isn't nearly as exciting as the name suggests."

"I remembered that I had a relative who lives there I'd like to visit," Dixie told him. "Can we go? It's not very far, is it?"

"No, it's the next town over—not very far at all," said Arden. "Still a pretty boring place, though, but I'll show you where it is." Prometheus nipped at one of his fingers. "Ow—hey! I pick you up and that's the thanks I get?!" He dropped the pokemon to the ground, causing him to tumble.

"Qui!" yelped Prometheus, scrambling back onto his feet.

"Poor thing," said Dixie. He knelt down next to the cyndaquil and reached out a hand to stroke his head, but the pokemon pulled away and hunched it's back.

"Quil!" barked the little pokemon, flames bursting out along his back.

Dixie blinked and withdrew his hand.

"Woah," said Arden. "He looks angry at you, doesn't he? Did you kick him or something while I was asleep?"

Dixie shook his head as he stood up. "Not that I know of," he said as the cyndaquil growled at him. "Maybe you've been successful in making him hate all people with your treatment of him."

"Hey," said Arden shrugging his shoulders. "I'm not the one he's upset with. Right, Theus?"

"Qui!" said Prometheus, pulling at Arden's pant leg again.

"Can we please get going to Mahogany?" asked Dixie.

"Yeah, right," said Arden. "You sure you don't want to see anything here, first?"

"How about later?"

"Okay," Arden said. "Later, then. Come on, the route to Mahogany's this way…"

They reached the route and walked along silently—Arden with Prometheus waddling briskly behind him, Dixie walking with his arms crossed over his thin chest. At length, they came to a small lake, which blocked their progress. "I forgot about this," said Arden, putting his hands on his hips and frowning. "I never did go to Mahogany without Mom or Gaius, 'cause of the water here. Can any of your pokemon surf?"

"No—what do you mean, yours can't either?"

Arden rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "I dunno," he said. "I—I don't have the hidden machine, so I never really tried to teach them…"

Dixie reached into his belt and produced a disk, which he held out to Arden. "Here—this is surf. I picked it up a while ago in my hometown," he said. "Your wartortle should be able to learn this."

Arden took the HM and nodded, grabbing up Gimpy's pokeball from his belt and holding it out in front of himself. With a flash, the lame pokemon appeared, yawning and stretching his stubby arms. "Tortle," said Gimpy, looking around. Prometheus yelped and scrambled away from him, behind Arden's leg, leaving the water pokemon to cock his head to one side. "Tort?"

"Hey," said Arden, holding the disk out to Gimpy. "Hey, learn this."

"Wartortle?" said Gimpy, looking up at the hidden machine. He took it hesitantly, unsure what to do with it. "…war?"

"Hold it up to your head," said Arden. "That's how Cruelty did it. No! Not like that—like this!" He slapped the disk against the pokemon's head.

"Toooort!" objected Gimpy, squeezing his eyes shut and gritting his teeth. He took a few deep breaths.

"Why isn't the disk breaking like it did before?" asked Arden. "Is he even learning it? Gimp—try harder!"

"HMs don't break," said Dixie. "I'm sure he's got it by now. Unless you also want him to have an imprint in his head, you can probably put it away now."

Arden glanced back at the Rocket grunt before pulling the HM away. "Okay, Gimp," he said, grabbing the wartortle by the shoulders. Gimpy stared at him apprehensively. "Okay, get in that water and surf! And Dixie and Theus and I are gonna get on your back, 'kay?"

Gimpy's eyes widened. "Tortle tort!" he said, shaking his head. "Wartortle!"

"Oh, don't be such a baby!" said Arden, picking up Gimpy roughly and carrying him to the water's edge. "We need to get across!"

"Tort! Tort! Tort!" shouted Gimpy, struggling in Arden's arms.

"Hey! Stop that!" said Arden. He threw the wartortle into the water. "Now hold still so we can get on!"

Gimpy thrashed about in the water. "Tortle war tort tortle!"

"That's not holding still!" Arden exclaimed.

"Baby brother!" came Gaius' booming voice from behind them. "Hey! Wondered where you went!"

Arden froze, his expression dampening. Slowly he turned around. "Ah—hey, Gaius," he said. Dixie could see that it hurt him to have to face his brother so soon. For Gaius' part, however, he seemed completely unaware of his little brother's embarrassment as he sat mounted on Quenelle's back, grinning down at the boy.

"Whatcha up to, baby brother?" he asked, leaning forward.

"I'm taking Dixie to Mahogany so he can visit someone," Arden answered. He shot a glare sideways at Gimpy. "Except my stupid wartortle won't let us on his back."

"Well, he's kinda small for that, don't you think?" asked Gaius. Arden shrugged. "Here, why don't you two come on up here on Quen with me, and I'll take you across. I was headed that way, anyhow—headed to the Dragon's Den to do some training."

"Yeah, alright," said Arden, holding up Gimpy's pokeball. He disappeared into it, still splashing about in the water. He nodded for Dixie to go ahead of him and, unsure of how to mount, the Rocket grunt slowly approached the tauros. Quenelle snorted and tossed his head.

"Aur-aur-auros!" he said as Dixie hesitated beside him.

"Come on—he doesn't bite," said Gaius, reaching down and grabbing Dixie's arm firmly. He put his other hand on the young man's waist and, with relative ease, hauled him up onto the tauros' back. As Dixie got situated on the sloping back of the pokemon, Arden scrambled up behind him, carrying Prometheus under one arm. Gaius glanced sideways at the little pokemon. "Hey, is that Felicia's cyndaquil?"

"We traded."

"Ah," said Gaius, digging his heels into Quenelle's sides. The pokemon lurched forward, causing Dixie to sway dangerously, and he grabbed Gaius around the middle tightly. Gaius looked back at him, raising one eyebrow. "You can't keep your balance? We're barely moving at all."

"I… I never rode a pokemon," said Dixie, not loosening his grip any.

"Really? It's the best way to get around," Gaius said as Quenelle trotted across the water as though it were grass. "Faster than walking or riding a bike, and not nearly as tiresome. It's the best."

Dixie just clung tighter, afraid of falling off.

"Is Prometheus really hatched from one of Daryle's eggs?" asked Arden as they crossed the water.

"Yup, sure is," Gaius said. "I know why you ask; he's kinda a shy little fella, isn't he? Well, you know, personalities aren't genetic and all that…"

"What a rip off," said Arden, pouting. "I traded Blaze to her and she gave me a useless pokemon that won't fight." He glared down at the cyndaquil, which was clinging tightly to him as he watched the water below, whimpering miserably. "I always get the short end of the stick on things like this…"

"Hey," Gaius said after a moment. "Do you mind letting go a bit? That's, uh… that's kinda starting to smart."

"Sorry," said Dixie, grabbing hold of Gaius' clothing, instead and holding it tight. He was silent for a moment. "…Your abs are very nice."

"Thank you," Gaius said brightly. "I like to keep in shape. Me and my pokemon train our bodies together."

Arden leaned forward and whispered into Dixie's ear, "He's actually really crazy about that—he used to make me train with him. He'd make me run laps and lift weights and do crunches all day with him and his pokemon."

Dixie frowned. "That sounds so cool," he said. "I wish I had a brother growing up…"

Arden looked at him like he was insane, and neither one could understand the other's difference in opinion over having an older brother to make you run and do crunches with his pokemon.