Mahogany Town was so tiny that it could barely be called a town at all. If pressed for a way to call it, Dixie would have chosen 'village', but even that gave the little place too much credit. As they approached it, a pokemon center and a gym were immediately visible, but little else of interest was. A wide path split the tiny settlement in twain, and a smaller path led away from it, into the wilderness to the north. Quenelle stopped in the middle of the tiny town, and Arden dismounted before turning to help Dixie down. Prometheus clung to his trainer's shoulder, whimpering and tugging at his hair.

"Gah—Prometheus, knock that off," said Arden, swatting him in the nose.

"Aw, poor little guy," said Gaius, rubbing Prometheus' head with one enormous hand. "He looks anxious. Maybe you should put him back in his ball, eh?"

"Yeah," said Arden, holding up the pokeball. Squealing his objections, Prometheus disappeared with a flash.

"Take care," said Gaius, waving to the two boys as he urged Quenelle onwards. Unlike the gentle walking pace he had taken before, this time the tauros broke straight into a run. Arden and Dixie watched the pair thunder away, down the path, until they were gone from sight.

"So," Arden said, turning to the Rocket grunt. "Where does your friend live?"

"Uh," said Dixie, looking around. He saw a small house to one side of the path, with a stantler lurking beside it. The pokemon retreated slowly around the wall and out of sight. Dixie motion to the house. "I think that's the one."

Arden nodded and they started toward it. Dixie turned the knob on the door and found it unlocked. Opening the door, he saw the room inside was dark. Arden peered into the shadows. "Doesn't look like anyone's home," he said, frowning. "Weird to leave the door unlocked."

He took a step inside and Dixie followed him as, behind them, the stantler silently moved into the door way. The lights flickered on as Stanislaus appeared from a descending stairway in the floor ahead of them. He smiled, and suddenly Arden had the same inexplicable feeling that Prometheus had had—the feeling that something was terribly wrong. Dixie closed the door behind them as Adalhelm skulked into the room, head low, sharp eyes focused on Arden. Arden glanced around nervously and started toward the door, "I'll just, uh, wait outside—maybe get some training done…"

Dixie caught his shoulder and held it firmly. "I don't think that's a good idea," he said. Behind him, Adalhelm dug at the ground with one hoof.

Arden gulped hard; his throat was dry and all sorts of warning bells were going off inside his head. "Yeah, okay," he said quietly. "What… what is this?"

Dixie cleared his throat and glanced at Stanislaus. "I believe," he said to Arden. "That it would be in your best interest to join Team Rocket."

"I—I don't want to join Team Rocket, though," Arden said.

"We think you ought to reconsider that," said Stanislaus as Adalhelm lowered his head. Arden looked up at Dixie, terrified.

"Dixie," he said pleadingly. "This… I thought we—I thought we were… friends."

He turned his face away. "I'm sorry Arden, but this is how it's going to be," he said. "There's no two ways about this. You're joining Team Rocket…"

"But I don't want to be evil!" said Arden, pulling hard away from Dixie. He broke out of the older boy's grasp. "I don't want to!"

"Adalhelm!" barked Stanislaus, hunching his shoulders. The stantler sprung forward at Arden, like a hungry attack dog.

Arden pulled the whip from the back of his belt quickly, and cracked it in front of him, lashing the attacking pokemon across the face. Adalhelm growled and fell back for a moment and, in the small amount of time he gained, Arden threw out a pokeball. "Go, Cruelty!"

"Cha!" yelled the raichu, appearing before Adalhelm.

Arden cracked his whip. "Thunderbolt!"

"Raicha!" shouted Cruelty his cheeks buzzing with electricity. But Adalhelm was on him in a moment, knocking him back. Narrowing his eyes and gritting his teeth, Cruelty pulled back his arm and punched the stantler in the face, knocking the enemy pokemon off balance.

Stanislaus growled and rushed forward toward Arden. The younger boy spun around toward him, cracking his whip again. The lash struck his face, cutting him and, with a yell, he grabbed his face in his hands. "Stanislaus!" cried Dixie, concerned. Arden turned and ran toward the door, but Dixie threw out two pokeballs ahead of him. "Bruno! Nathair!"

The pokemon appeared before Arden, causing him to skid to such a violent stop that he lost his balance and fell down. "Arrrbok!" hissed Nathair, arching up over the boy.

Arden shook, wide eyed with terror and confusion. Behind him, the stantler and the raichu were locked in a violent tussle and Stanislaus was screaming and cursing about the deep cut on his pretty face. He couldn't think clearly—every thing was loud and confused. Pulling pokeballs from his belt, he threw them in all directions with abandon. "Save me!" he shouted to the pokemon. "Save me!"

Thief leapt immediately to the aid of Cruelty, who was on the ground having his face smashed beneath Adalhelm's hooves. Gentry launched immediately to the attack against Nathair, aided by Fang, as Prometheus scampered frantically to and fro, before leaping up on Arden and hiding his face in the trainer's jacket. Bruno made to swipe at Arden, but Gimpy caught him with a powerful waterpulse before he could touch the boy. Grabbing Prometheus up in his arms, Arden made another break for the door in the general chaos. Fang charged ahead of him, breaking the door down. As Arden hit the threshold, Dixie grabbed hold of his arm.

"Let go of me!" he yelled. "Gentry! Poison sting!"

"Niido!" shouted Gentry, hunching over and firing a series of sharp pins at the Rocket grunt. Dixie withdrew his hand quickly and shielded his face, allowing Arden to dash away, out into the open.

Recalling all of his pokemon except the crobat, Arden wrapped his arms around Fang. "Fly!" he told the pokemon, breathing hard. "I don't care where!"

"Croooobat!" said Fang, rising swiftly into the air.

On the ground, Dixie could only watch him go. He turned toward the building, where Stanislaus was cussing violently and smashing furniture in his anger, as Adalhelm acted similarly. "Damn it!" growled Stanislaus, kicking a table over. "Damn it! My face! That little bastard."

Dixie approached him with concern. "Stanislaus—your face," he said, putting his hand on the older man's shoulder gently. "Here, let me see."

Stanislaus backhanded him swiftly across the face. With a small yelp of pain, Dixie withdrew. "Get away from me," growled Stanislaus. Blood was running down his face and clotting in his hair; he'd been cut around one eye pretty badly. "Get out of here. Go back to your post in Kanto."

"Stanislaus…"

"I said go!" shouted Stanislaus, smacking Dixie's face again. He turned and started for the stairs. "Adalhelm!"

"Stantler!" barked Adalhelm, trotting along beside his trainer. They disappeared down below, and Dixie was left standing there with Nathair and Bruno, his cut lip bleeding anew. Behind him, his pokemon exchanged a knowing look.

Stiffly, Dixie turned towards them. "We should get back to Saffron," he said quietly. Nathair rubbed his snout against his trainer's hand. Dixie smiled and looked down at him. "No, no. It's all right. I'm past all that; it rolls off me like water off a psyduck's back."

Of course, that wasn't strictly true.