Author : mew_trainer_rose

New Friends, Old Memories 

The girl walked down the street, coming home from her trip to the pokémon cemetery. Her name was Maria, and she had just visited the grave of her late pet Growlithe, who had died a few months earlier. He had been a good, loyal pet, and she missed him terribly. Maria turned off the street and walked to the foot of a large tree about 20 feet away from the road. She turned and, facing the street, sat down, leaning her back against the rough bark of the tree. She was facing the very place her Growlithe died. If only that playful, red-furred puppy hadn't chased that Sentret across the road; he might not have been hit by that truck. She couldn't get over how sudden it was. One moment he was running by her side, alive and active; the next moment he was lying in the road, silent and still. Her eyes filled with tears as she gazed at the road. She could almost see him running down it with her... Wait a minute, she thought, Growlithe wasn't that dark. She wiped away the moisture that clouded her vision and looked again. Now that she could see the two figures better, it was clearly not her and her Growlithe. Instead, it was a larger, black dog with a red muzzle and belly, gray rings right above it's paws, gray bands on it's back, and gray fur on it's forehead. A Houndour, she remembered, as she got a better look at the person following it. The man was wearing a dark blue uniform, and was holding a gun of some sort in one hand. He once stopped, held the gun up, aimed it at the Houndour, and shoot a red-feathered dart at the Houndour. The Houndour, though, was clever. It took advantage of every bush and hollow in the ground, and moving in an unpredictable path, dodging and weaving back and forth to make it harder to target. When the man's dark missed, he growled out a curse, brushed his dark hair out of his eyes, and continued chasing the dog pokemon. Something about that Houndour reminded Maria of her former pet. Maybe it was the way it ran with its head lowered, like Growlithe had sometimes if they were racing. Or maybe it was that she wanted to give the Houndour the chance to get out of his predicament that Growlithe never had. Whatever it was, she took pity on it, and stood up quickly, searching for a way to help it. The Houndour suddenly turned her way and dashed past her to her right, between her tree and a large boulder that was beside it, into the forest beyond. Seizing her chance, Maria stood in the two or three foot gap before the man could get there, and, as he approached, tried to buy time for the Houndour to escape but asking. "What's going on?" The man stopped in front of her, rested a hand on the rock and replied, between heavy breaths, "I don't have time for this, kid, move out of the way!" To which Maria replied, "But why are you chasing that Houndour?" He answered, "That pokemon has been stealing, disrupting the public, and has wounded several trainers. It's my duty, as a member of the Department for the Control of Dangerous Pokémon to capture it so it can be relocated before it does any more damage, or so it, if need be, can be put down if it continues to exhibit excessive hostility." Maria thought she could see a dark shadow off to her left, a few trees over, slinking slowly towards them. "So why's your gun have darts in it?" she said, hoping to keep him from noticing. "Let me past, kid, I need to get that pokemon, fast!" But she refused to let him past. "It's a tranquilizer gun," he explained angrily. "The darts contain a sedative, which'll put the Houndour to sleep so it can be more easily captured." Suddenly the Houndour leaped from the shadows, swiftly used Crunch on the barrel of the gun (which the man had been holding by his side) and darted beyond the boulder and back into the woods. The man cursed again as he surveyed the Houndour's destruction. "I'll never be able to get this fixed. You!" He yelled turning to Maria, "You held me up when I was trying to get that troublesome pokemon. You'll be hearing from the Department for bothering an officer on duty!" With that he turned on his heel and stomped back down the street the way he had come. Maria watched him go, then turned to find the Houndour had silently crept up behind her. It bowed it head to her as in thanks. "You're welcome," she said sincerely. "You reminded me of a pet I used to have..." she sighed sadly. The Houndour looked concerned, and licked her hand comfortingly. "Thanks," said Maria. "Hey, why don't you come to my house. You can hide out there for the night, if you'd like." The Houndour nodded, and they set off for Maria's house. Later that evening, in the mountains not far from the town.... Dusk had just fallen. A pack of Houndour lounged around their den, a small cave that was little more than a deep cavity under a rock ledge. Some of the adults napped, while pups wrestled under the watchful eye of a pair of other adults. A few juveniles held a training session by Embering rocks and Biting branches. Suddenly a Houndour who was standing guard on a tall column of rock let out a loud howl, which rose and fell like a siren. All activity ceased for a moment as the Houndour heard the warning, then the pups were quickly shepherded into the cave, and most of the rest of the pack stood in a semicircle at the entrance, facing outward. The few not at the entrance leaped up onto the ledge above the den to battle those attacking from the rear. Having lost the element of surprise, a large group of Mankeys, Primeapes, Machops and Machamps popped up around the camp. Before leaping down to join in the defense, the sentry Houndour gave one last, long howl, which echoed across the mountains. Back in Maria's room, the lone Houndour came alert with a start. Houndour had been lying on the floor of Maria's room, next to her bed, which Maria was sitting on and reading a book. Maria's parents had just gone to bed, and Maria was just reading a little before she got ready for bed herself. Houndour jumped up, bounded over to the open window, and placed its paws on the windowsill, straining its ears. Maria, sensing that something important was going on, kept silent, but sat watching the Houndour. In a moment, Houndour released a couple sharp barks and a deep howl. Then it dashed over to Maria's bedroom door and, almost frantically, tried to turn the doorknob with its paw. "What's going on, Houndour?" Maria asked. "What happened?" Houndour stopped attempting to open the door and stood, looking at Maria. It seemed to be considering something. In a moment, it appeared to have come to a decision, and sat. It then raised it's muzzle and began to make an low sound, somewhere between a growl and a howl. At the same time, it was illuminated by a dark glow that only Maria could see. The sound rose and fell for a bit, like the introduction to a song. Then, abruptly, Maria could make out words spoken to the tune, words spoken in a man's voice. She was told of Houndour living in the mountains, and how an ancient feud was between them and the Fighting-type pokemon of the mountain. The feud that had gone on for so long that no one knew the cause any longer, yet still the two sides fought. The Houndour continued on, telling her of how he had been separated from his pack and wounded in a terrible battle. He had emerged victorious, but in no condition to search for his pack. Instead, he made his way painfully to a nearby town, and lived there by occasionally managing to catch a Pidgey or Rattata to eat, but mostly stealing food or eating out of garbage cans. As soon as he had been in any condition to travel, he had set out, only to be shortly discovered by local pokemon trainers, who promptly began trying to catch him. Naturally, he evaded capture, having to resort once or twice to knocking over a trainer to get by and escape. But he had never seriously injured anyone, he emphasized, only avoided being captured. After each battle, he had been forced to run and hide before trying to rejoin his pack once more. The last time he had tried to leave the town, he was set after by not a trainer, but by a man in a blue suit that shot at him. But he was a good fighter, and knew many evasive tactics. Still, he could barely keep ahead of his foe. He was beginning to tire from his long run and slow down, when Maria had unexpectedly helped him out. He expressed his gratitude at his timely rescue, then informed Maria that he had heard the summons to battle from his pack. Every time the pack was attacked, he told her, a call went out in case any of the pack were out hunting, telling them to come and defend the pack. He had heard the call, and was bound as a member of his pack to respond by traveling with all possible speed to the call's origin. He let out one last note, and lowered his muzzle to gaze at Maria. She stared at him for a moment, surprised. Then the urgency of the situation dawned on her. "So you have to leave right away, then?" Houndour nodded. "Let me come with you. No, really," she said seeing his look, "I know how I can help. Here, I've got a bag of potions and stuff," she said as she ran to her closet and got out the sack. It was a bag she had gotten from her brother, a pokemon trainer. It had a variety of Potions, mostly Super Potions, with some regular Potions and a few Hyper Potions. There was also an assortment of Antidotes, Paralyze Heals, etc. A small container was at the bottom, containing various Berries. If only I had had this with me when Growlithe got hit by the truck, she thought... She refused to get lost in memory; she had a friend that needed help now. She pulled her schoolbooks out of her backpack and tossed the Potions bag inside it instead. She then opened the door for Houndour, and followed him downstairs and outside, stopping only to grab her coat, and a bottle of water. Her mother had told her to never go on a long hike without water, just in case. And who knew how long this hike would be? The man was still looking for Houndour, patrolling the streets in his car. His name was Mike. Mike carefully searched both sides of the streets as he patrolled. I'll be rewarded If I'm the one to bring in the Houndour, he thought to himself. Suddenly Mike spotted two forms hurrying of into the forest; one running upright on two legs, one running lower to the ground on four paws. Mike smiled at the sight, but the smile was without mirth. It was cold and heartless, speaking of ill intentions to the two who were now in the forest. Mike parked the car, slipped quietly out, and followed the two who were unaware they had been seen. Maria and Houndour were traveling through the forest at a steady jog. They had been traveling for a few minutes, and while the pace was not particularly hard for Houndour, it was beginning to tell on Maria, who tried not to show how tired she was getting to be. When Houndour paused briefly to stop and check their direction by sniffing the forest floor, Maria leaned heavily against and tree and tried to catch her breath. Houndour, despite all she had done to hide it, had noticed her growing exhaustion, so he now sat down and waited for her to stop panting. Noticing this, Maria asked, "Are we stopping for a bit, then?" When Houndour nodded, she very sincerely said "Thank you," and flopped down on a convenient rock. After a moment, Maria dug through her backpack and pulled out her bottle of water, which she took a drink from. She then took stock of her supplies. Twelve Super Potions, 6 Potions, 3 Hyper Potions, 2 each of Antidotes, Paralyze Heals, Burn Heals, Ice Heals, Awakenings, Full Heals, and Revives. The small container of Berries held mostly normal Berries, With a few Psncureberries, Przcureberries, Mint Berries, Ice Berries, Burnt Berries, and Bitter Berries. When Maria reached in the bag to pull out the Berry container, her hand found two objects other than the potions; one the squared container she was looking for, the other round and smooth. She pulled out the latter and found herself looking at a pokeball. Growlithe's pokeball, she remembered. She had never used it, so she kept it in the bag. Not knowing what to do with it, she put the ball back in the bag. Maria looked up an was about to ask Houndour if he wanted a Berry, when she noticed a large bird asleep in a tree almost directly across from her. It had pale, cream-colored feathers, with light brown feathers on its back, head, and the tops of its wings. Its cheeks also had the cream-colored feathers, rimmed with black feathers. Long red feathers were on the top of its head, and feathers of that same red alternated with yellow feathers on its tail. As Maria looked at the Pidgeotto, and idea formed. Fighting-types were weak against Flying-types, so if she could use the empty pokeball to capture the Pidgeotto, she could have it fight the Fighting-types to help the Houndour. Before she could talk herself out of it, she grabbed the pokeball, stood up, and threw that pokeball at the Pidgeotto. Because it had been asleep, the ball rocked a few times, giving the impression that the pokemon was caught, before it popped back open. The Pidgeotto, obviously, was angry at being so rudely awakened, and dove straight at Maria. She tried to take a step backward, tripped on the rock she had been sitting on, and fell to the ground. Maria closed her eyes, then braced herself for the blow. But it never came. Instead, she felt a rush of heat and heard a loud squawking. She opened her eyes to view the bird pokemon flying out of Houndour's Ember. The Pidgeotto flew out of range of Houndour's flames, then turned around and began pumping out a Gust as fast and hard as possible. Houndour retaliated by running up to it and Biting it on the leg. Pidgeotto screeched, then tried to Whirlwind Houndour away. While trying to battle the winds, Houndour reared back his head and fired another large Ember at Pidgeotto's wing. The fire singed some of Pidgeotto's primary flight feathers, forcing it to make a rough landing on the ground. From there Pidgeotto dashed with lightning speed at Houndour in a Quick Attack. Houndour clamped his teeth back on Pidgeotto's hurt leg in one last Bite. Pidgeotto couldn't stand on it anymore and sank to the ground. Seeing her chance, Maria ran and grabbed the fallen pokeball, then pitched it back at Pidgeotto. This time, the ball barely wiggled before the light on the button when out. Maria just stared at it a moment, not quite believing it. Then she walked over to the pokeball and picked it up. She had actually captured a pokemon! And it was because of Houndour... Reminded of why she had caught Pidgeotto in the first place, Maria looked around to find the dog pokemon. He was not far away. He had found a Berry bush and was eating them to replenish his strength. Smiling, Maria walked over and picked a handful herself before letting Pidgeotto out. Noticing that its feathers were still burnt, she dug out an Ice Berry and fed it to the bird before feeding it the Berries she had just picked. As she fed it, Maria explained about the Houndours' need and asked for its help. Mike had been trailing them the entire time. He would stay out of sight as much as possible, stopping and resting if he got within sight of them, so while Maria had been tired, he was, if not completely rested, at least more so. It was a bit of a surprise when he heard a pokemon battle up ahead of him, and between a Houndour and a bird, too. He silently hurried to get closer for a good look. He arrived just as Maria threw the pokeball to capture it. Houndour was already in the bushes on the other end of the clearing, searching for Berries. He watched as Maria picked up the pokeball, picked some Berries, and let out the Pidgeotto. When she first let the bird out, it didn't look like much since it was scorched and wounded. But as Maria fed it Berries, it began to heal and stand up tall. Then Mike could get a good look at it. Although Pidgeotto are fairly common birds, this one looked fairly strong. If he brought this one in, it might do him credit... But wait, the girl was speaking. He listened cerfully as she told her new pokemon about the big battle that would be going on shortly. He grinned evily. Perfect, he would be able to snag some pokemon when they had worn themselves out battling. That would surely bring him merit. He prepared to follow them, keeping downwind so all those Houndour would not scent him. After Houndour and Pidgeotto both had eaten enough Berries so that their strength was restored, the three continued onward. They all made good time again, now that they had rested. Pidgeotto flew most of the time, but would sometines stop and perch on Maria's wrist, making Maria look somewhat like a falconer.