Training of Tooth and Claw

"Yes," Amber replied with a smile, "my Pack and I came to see you, I've heard so much about you." She reached down and pet the little dog's head, feeling the warmth that radiated off the fire type's body. It reminded her of Azure, who stood nearby with his tongue lolling from his mouth and a happy grin pulled up at the corners of his lips. Nothing about the little canine deterred her, in fact, it had the opposite effect. The struggle the poor pup must have gone through must have been horrid, and she could still see the innocent and playful puppy that lay beneath the damaged exterior. He was just as happy as any of his kind, and just as good as them as well. She ran her hand along the ridge of his back, petting him a bit absentmindedly.

The growlithe gave Amber a small grin. He seemed to enjoy the petting he got, him bouncing around a few times. He ran around her and her pack a few times quickly before he stopped and sat in front of her. "You aren't like others... You don't give me strange looks," he barked to her.

"That's because the others don't see you the way you should be seen," Amber said, patting the little pup's head. "They can't see past all the rough exterior to see what truly matters, and what truly matters is you, metal leg and everything. You wouldn't be you without any of that, even if other's don't see it that way." A small yawn escaped her unintentionally, because of what had transpired, she still hadn't gotten a good night's sleep, and it was finally catching up, as much as an inconvenience as the wave of exhaustion was.

Ash, Lavender, Azure, and Amethyst all seemed exhausted as well, and Amethyst began dozing from her shelter behind Amber. Ash was slowly nodding off before quickly catching himself and snapping awake. Even Lavender's usual keen gaze grew heavy and she blinked occasionally, but remained the most awake.

The growlithe looked at Amber. "If mama had thought the same," he whined, sitting down. The leg was heavy for the growlithe, him pointing that out to Amber. "I don't like this leg... I don't like the eye they stuck in place of the one I grew with... It itches, and they put this patch on my eye to keep me from scratching..." He had just spoken of another incident where the facility seemed to be caring for the pup. He wagged his tail some. "They said i could stay here though; I guess I will. No one really wants to adopt me anyway..." For his age he seemed to know a lot about where he was, and he seemed to understand it and cared what happened. "If they don't want me I don't want them."

Amber could sense the sad undertone to the Growlithe's words, and her thought suddenly turned to her lost friend Crimson, given away to some other trainer because of someone else's own selfishness. Things seemed similar in this case, but it was the opposite: human selfishness keeping the Pokemon from a trainer and not trainer to a Pokemon. The world was funny like that sometimes. With these thoughts running through Amber's mind, she had an idea. "Everyone has someone they're meant to be with," Amber told the little pup with a pat on his head, "even you. If you'd like, you could join my pack. A special Growlithe like you would fit perfectly with my merry group of misfits. We sure have grown in the last few days..." The last statement was more to herself than the Growlithe, but the offer was truly on the table. Deep in her heart she knew that she would try and forge a connection with the little puppy, but only now did she realize that it would mean more than one visit. He could join her pack, if he so chose.

The growlithe looked at Amber. "But mama would tear my throat open if I joined a trainer," the pokemon barked to the trainer. "She said she wanted me to be in nature, and not interact with humans... She attacked me for saying one word..."

"Well, I won't let that happen," Amber said with a small, slightly sad smile at the thought, "my Pack and I will do everything to keep you safe from people and Pokemon. "Besides," she said as the thought came to mind, "she had no trouble interacting with me, and even she has a trainer she seems to care for. Why would she not want the same for you? That's slightly hypocritical."

The growlithe didn't seem to want to respond to Amber's response. He just turned around and hung his head a bit. "I need time to think," he whined to Amber before he crawled into the bed that was provided for him. As if knowing what to do, the two that were previously playing with the pokemon stood. One turned the light off, and the other waved for Amber to leave the room.

Amber obeyed, leaving the room upset that she had struck a nerve with the small puppy. Why do I always make everything worse when I try to help. She sighed and put a cold hand on her forehead. Leaning against a nearby wall, she took a moment to regain her wits before looking to her Pack. They all met her gaze with sympathy, and Azure wagged his tail before butting his head gently into Amber's gut, his way of trying to cheer her up. Smiling, the trainer reached down and pet the grown puppy under his neck, the lava-like substance only slightly hot against her hand, he had enough control over it not to burn her. His tail wagged more rapidly, and Amber stood back fully up.

"Well," she said, "there's nothing much else to do here. I've already broken enough things, it's probably best just to get out of here tomorrow. We'll leave Castelia after we get some sleep as well, I don't want to ruin anything else," she decided, turning and making her way back toward the elevator. Her Pack followed, though Lavender gave a short look back toward the room with the Growlithe before catching back up to the group. If the Growlithe did make up his mind, he'd have a night's sleep to decide or Amber and her Pack would be gone from the city.

There wasn't really anything stopping Amber from leaving the building. However, when she went to leave with the card in her hand, the person at the front called her aloud. "You can't leave with the card madame," she spoke, holding her hand out to have it handed back.

"Okay," Amber mumbled, walking back toward the desk and handing the desk lady the card before turning and heading toward the door. Once outside, she was met by the bright lights on the buildings illuminated even more by the darkness that blotted out the usually busy city. It was awfully quiet and empty now, and most likely very early now, probably around 2 am. Groggy and tired, the Pack and their trainer barely made it back into their glass filled room before greatfully passing out into the, luckily, clean bed. She'd have to explain away the damage to the window, but that could wait until morning. Everything could wait while she was so tired... her mind quickly drifted off, finally enveloped in much needed sleep.

Surely Amber wouldn't like being woken up early in the morning like most trainers would. However, it didn't really make a different; someone was up, as early as possible, and knocking at the door. "Excuse me," she called, knowing that more than likely someone was occupying the room. If it wasn't for the fact that the Pokemon Center was typically full most nights, it was the fact there was a small light that illuminated red; a sign that someone was there and probably didn't want to be barged in upon. When not getting a response the first few minutes, the woman that was outside the room knocked on the door again. "Excuse me, is anyone in there," she called.

As the knocks slowly brought Amber back into her conscious mind, she groaned and rubbed her tired eyes. "I just can't catch a break," she murmured before dragging herself out of bed. "I'm coming!" she said louder, so the woman behind the door could hear, she cautiously picked spots away from the still present and irksome glass, and reached the door. She slid the lock back and opened the door. "Can I help you?" she asked the woman shortly, not enthused of her early awakening.

The woman saw the shattered glass on teh floor, and she immediately seemed displeased. "Why's there glass on the ground," she demanded.

"It's what happens when tired trainers are woken up so early," Amber muttered sarcastically, but once she rolled her eyes and crossed her arms in irritation, she has a short fuse when she's tired, she gave a better answer. "It's a long story, and not really my fault. I'll pay for the damages and clean it up before I go, I just haven't had the time," her last word broke into an exhausted yawn. "What is it you wanted?"

"Typically trainers leave by now," the woman told Amber. She pushed a small cart into her side. "But since you said you'd clean up the mess, feel free to clean the rest of your room..." The woman was obviously not as respectful as others.

"Whatever you say," Amber said with irritation at the fringe of her voice. She hated rude people, and she went with her usual response toward them: being rude right back. Turning, she set her foot against the open door and used it to push it shut, regardless of if it was in front of the lady's face or not. Now back into her own privacy, she found a trash can and knelt down toward where the scattered glass began. She didn't have a sweeper or dustbin, so turned the trash on its side and wrapped her sweatshirt around her hand, using it as protection so the glass remnants wouldn't cut her hand as she swept it from the floor into the trash. After laboring over it for a few minutes, she stood, content that she had gotten all of it, and she turned the trash upright again and set it back to where it belonged.

It was at this time her Pack slowly awoke, peering at their trainer curiously, wondering why she was up so early. Amber shooed them off of the bed in order to make it, and once all the sheets were pulled up and pristine, she picked up her meager belongings from the room, packed them into her bag, and left the room, making her way to the main area of the Center, glancing around to see if there was someone she should give some cash to to reimburse the broken window and check out from her room.

Amber wouldn't find anyone... Except the arcanine. The pokemon was rampaging, searching for Amber having known that she would be at the pokemon center. "You actually believed them, you rat," she screamed at Amber in her mind, the pokemon prepared to fight Amber and her team.

Amber held her hands out in a manner that tried to make herself seem less of a threat, and Ash lowered his head and growled softly, prepared to attack the rampaging Pokemon if she didn't calm down. "I don't believe them," the trainer reasoned, "I honestly don't know what to believe. I wanted to help your pup out of there, but he didn't seem to want it." Sighing, she continued, "I'd need both sides of the story to really make a decision, so if you calm down, might I asked why you attacked him?" She hoped that her words would calm the Pokemon, but she was braced for a fight in case they slid right off of her.

The arcanine snarled. "You honestly think I'd attack my pup," she roared in Amber's mind. She was clearly enraged by what the trainer was telling her. "I can't believe this! What makes you think it wasn't another arcanine that attacked my pup! Why do you and everyone else pin it on me!" She jumped in front of Amber, her stance showing she wasn't really prepared to listen to reason. "You sided with them! You'll pay for it!"

Arcanine - Female - Lvl 17 | 5 / 5 Hits Remaining | Live [No Status]

"I-I just told you I didn't think that for sure," Amber tried to reason, but it was too late. The wrathful Arcanine wasn't listening to reason, and she and her Pack had no other choice but to fight back. "Please, just listen," Amber said, no doubt-ably uselessly. Only battle would bring the canine to her senses.

Stepping lightly forward, it was Lavender that took a lithe battle stance in front of the angered dog Pokemon. Her face was composed and her always keen eyes gave no emotion away. The gem atop her head gleamed slightly as a silverish sheen overtook the Espeon's body, only for a brief second. She stood there, waiting, and had prepared a Mirror Coat after assuming the Arcanine would try a special and distanced attack. Just in case her assumption was false, the intelligent Pokemon crouched, bracing herself to dodge any incoming physical attacks.

[I gave arcanine a technical machine because it seemed as though there wasn't really a good move list otherwise for it leveling up. Plus, with hte history of the pokemon, it is possible a technical machine was taught at some point by the policeman o3o]

The arcanine stared at Amber trying to reason with her. As if not even considering what she was thinking and speaking, she roared at Amber. "I'll teach you a lesson just like I tried to teach my child," came from her snout loud and clear. The statement would back up what the owner of the corporation had told Amber and showed her as evidence. The pokemon dashed rapidly towards the opponent espeon, prepared to attack with fangs that were as sharp as knives. If it made a difference, there was a small beeping that was coming from somewhere, though the noise was clearly faint... Hadn't the arcanine been in the institution's building; how had she escaped?

Arcanine - Female - Lvl 17 | 5 / 5 Hits Remaining | Live [No Status]
Moves: Thunder Fang, Bite, Fire Fang, TM35 Flamethrower | Roar, Odor Sleuth

Lavender lightly danced to the side and out of the way of the Arcanine's ferocious attack. One disadvantage of rage was the lack of insight and judgement, so it was easy for the strategic Lavender to determine where the arcanine had planned to attack. The Espeon's gem gained a surreal glow once again, and her eyes turned a pure silver just as her body had when she had used Magic Coat. A otherworldly energy formed around her in the shape of many stars, and one by one they launched at the Arcanine, a Swift attack. Lavender watched intently, waiting to see what her next move would be.

The arcanine looked to Amber furiously after the pokemon had been hit by the attack and rolled backwards a few different times. She got back to her feet quickly, snarling angrily as a small zap came from a collar around her neck. Her head twitched before she let out a burst of flames, them launching towards the opponent in a flamethower fashion.

Arcanine - Female - Lvl 17 | 4 / 5 Hits Remaining | Live [No Status]
Moves: Thunder Fang, Bite, Fire Fang, TM35 Flamethrower | Roar, Odor Sleuth

Lavender's gaze was focused on the buzzing collar as the jet of flame suddenly veered her way. Too late to dodge, all she could do was brace herself as the fire overcame her, and shake off its singing aftermath. Crouching down, the lithe Pokemon suddenly got an idea. She jumped forward toward Arcanine and attempted to bite the clasp of the collar, after logically assuming it could be contributing to some of the great dog's angst.