Training of Tooth and Claw

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

The arcanine growled. She jumped aside when her opponent lunged at her. She then jumped back with her mouth wide open, prepared to bite and show her 'friend' that you don't jump and not attempt to attack.

Lavender braced herself after landing lightly on her feet, and as Arcanine lunged, she launched another torrent of starry energy, a Swift, straight into the great dog's path. If she continued her lunge, the two would collide, all Lavender hoped was to slow the incoming attack or force the canine to dodge and alter her course. If the great dog continued through the damage, Lavender wouldn't be able to dodge the attack.

Arcanine - Female - Lvl 17 | 3 / 5 Hits Remaining | Live [No Status]
Moves: Thunder Fang, Bite, Fire Fang, TM35 Flamethrower | Roar, Odor Sleuth

Try as she might, Lavender couldn't stop the rather large dog hurtling towards her. The great canine took the attack [1 hit], though it didn't seem to impact the speed of Arcanine's own. Her head twitched a bit from the collar again, altering her head ever so slightly just a moment before it snapped back with rage in her eyes.

Though delayed, the Arcanine's aim was true, and the devastating grip of her jaws pierced Lavender, and she cried out as it took a massive tole. Wriggling away from the vicious canine, the Espeon didn't aim to take the collar away again, it could wait until the enraged dog was subdued. Shaking her fatigue from her mind, she lowered into a fighting stance, and narrowed her eyes, taking things much more seriously. The gem atop her head glowed once more, and another barrage of starry energy hurtled at the Arcanine, now more focused and precise as her previous attacks had been.

Arcanine - Female - Lvl 17 | 2 / 5 Hits Remaining | Live [No Status]
Moves: Thunder Fang, Bite, Fire Fang, TM35 Flamethrower | Roar, Odor Sleuth

The mighty canine seemed to be at the height of her anger when she took the swift attack again [1 hit], it causing her to begin blitzing with roars and barks. In fact, instead of attacking the opposer with an attack, she aimed to the roof and lit it ablaze. It wasn't necessarily a smart or good thing to do.

Leaping into action, it wasn't Lavender who attempted to put out the flame, but the part fire type Azure. Though Lavender made a move to put it out, he stepped up and nodded toward Arcanine, a silent statement of I'll handle this, you take care of her. Lavender quickly nodded, reared her head back, and with a determined cry, launched another Swift attack toward the maddened Arcanine.

Azure, meanwhile, closed his eyes in concentration, and the molten material covering his underside and tail dimmed into an ashy grey color as moisture began forming in the air. He was filling the room in moisture by using the move Mist, in an attempt to quell the flames before they grew too large. Eyeing everyone cautiously, even if the flame wasn't put out, the gathered moisture would at least make everything and everyone less flammable.

Arcanine - Female - Lvl 17 | 2 / 5 Hits Remaining | Live [No Status]
Moves: Thunder Fang, Bite, Fire Fang, TM35 Flamethrower | Roar, Odor Sleuth

The arcanine looked at Azure putting the flames out; obviously, it didn't make her happy. She leaped towards the other pokemon, effectively dodging the incoming attack while she prepared to bite Azure and make him quit with his mist, which was working in its effect to douse the flame.

Lavender narrowed her eyes, but she was too far to protect Azure from the incoming attack, and he was too occupied with focusing his Mist to dodge. Luckily, it was timid little Amethyst that heard Amber's cries to stop the enraged Arcanine and leaped into action. She jumped up in order to block Arcanine's path and lashed out with her teeth in a Bite attack in order to defend Azure.

Lavender, meanwhile, took the distraction as an opportunity. The Arcanine's back was now turned and her focus was elsewhere, it was a perfect opportunity to seize. The gem atop her head glowed with its strange power and another jet of starry energy launched toward the fire dog. She would maintain her distant attacks, finding them the most effective.

Arcanine - Female - Lvl 17
Moves: Thunder Fang, Bite, Fire Fang, TM35 Flamethrower | Roar, Odor Sleuth

As if the single attack hadn't been enough to harm the arcanine, the incoming swift also took its toll. The pokemon had been pushed aside a bit, her attack ultimately missing over the fact she was pushed and bitten. When the swift hit, the pokemon collapsed without energy, her head still twitching a bit.

"You did great guys," Amber said to her Pack, though her voice was more filled with concern than praise, "I just wished she would have listened first. Maybe she could have filled in some gaps..." trailing off, the trainer launched into examination mode, kneeling down next to the passed out Arcanine. Lavender, too, approached the dog's body, and gently nudged her trainer's hand out of the way before sniffing out the clasp of the great canine's collar. Grabbing it with her teeth, she put pressure on it in an attempt to unclasp it, knowing that it may still be causing the Pokemon strife, even in her fainted state. Even if she attacked everyone in a fit of rage, it was no reason to cause unjust suffering.

Amethyst obtains 8 experience.
Lavender obtains 9 experience.

The collar's clasp wouldn't budge. It was sealed together, as if by some sort of un-breakable bondage. Whether it was intended or not they'd never know, but the collar set off, and with it, the arcanine's head began twitching even faster.

"I'm not about to let this happen again," Amber muttered, catching onto what Lavender had realized. Desperate, she came up with a last-ditch plan. Grabbing a Pokeball from her bag, she tossed it toward the unconscious Pokemon. At best, she hoped that the moment of dematerialization that occurs when a Pokemon is put into a ball, no matter if they're already owned, captured, or not captured, would allow the collar to be left behind, and the great dog could be let out from there. Still, just in case, she nodded toward Ash, who could use his jaw's massive strength to break whatever mechanic was making the collar work if the Pokeball plan didn't work.

Amber's theoretical, yet reasonable, plan was about to unfold in front of her. As the arcanine disappeared, it almost seemed as though it would fail; however, ultimately the collar was left behind, unable to dematerialize with the great pokemon that it was stuck to. After a few moments, the arcanine was released, her already having been captured by the policeman that Amber had met just a little while ago.

"Thank Arceus," Amber breathed, kneeling down and petting the Arcanine's soft flank. Then, her gaze shifted toward the collar and she gingerly grasped it and held it up to closer examine it. "Who in the world keeps making these?" she asked out loud, they seemed to be the root of many of her troubles. Without answers for now, she stuck it in her bag to save. It may be of some sort of use later on when she could look into it later. Arcanine was her bigger concern.

"Azure," she said, noticing that her Buzoke had made a quick job of the fire, although now her clothes were moist with the mist that still lingered within the room, "I want you to find out if Arcanine's owner is out of the hospital or at least able to talk, I'd like to see what happened, since both she and Houndoom had the accursed collars on. Maybe he could fill things in, or at least offer Arcanine some comfort when she wakes up. She doesn't trust me anymore..."

Nodding, Azure's tongue lolled out as he dashed out of the Pokemon Center and into the streets outside, making his way back toward the hospital building they had visited the day before, searching for the Arcanine's owner.

"Finding it strange, aren't we," someone asked Amber. He came from where he was hiding, having seen her battling the pokemon beforehand. "I see you found another of those collars..."

Amber turned toward the unfamiliar voice and narrowed her eyes, biting her lip slightly in the corner. "And what do you know about them?" she asked flatly, "do you have any hand in their sudden popularity around here?" She didn't want to fully accuse the man, but from his tone, she made that assumption. She glanced toward her pack for a moment, with Lavender injured from her battle and Azure gone, it would be up to Amethyst and Ash if things came to a fight. "You wouldn't have said anything if you didn't want to talk, so talk."

"Perhaps I am responsible... Perhaps I'm not," the stranger told Amber. He seemed to be hiding something under a long coat to his knees. "Could I trust you if I told you the answer?"

"I'm more keen to know if I can trust you," Amber replied with a roll of her eyes, she often reverted toward this type of behavior when she was nervous, and this man made her just that. She noticed his coat, but didn't seem to catch the indication that there could be something underneath, oblivious to it for now. "For what it's worth, you can trust me if I can trust you. An eye for an eye, y'know."

"You have a point there," the stranger told Artemis. "But I'm not really sure if you'll listen... You see, I've been watching you the past day or two, after that encounter you had with that thief... Not physically, but by a camera... Makes no sense, does it?" He pulled a badge out from inside his coat and showed it to her. He obviously was undercover.

Amber examined the badge with intrigue. Her and the law weren't necessarily on... perfect terms with one another, especially after her "robbery" stunt with a former employer. "Is there any reason for you to have been watching me?" she asked curiously, "I mean, I find myself interesting, but I don't get why I've gotten so much attention from others lately. What are you here for anyway?" Her voice was soft, though he would be able to hear her. She just wanted to make sure no curious ears would eavesdrop.

"What else than to investigate the collars," the stranger asked Amber. "I hear you like canines; I have a team full of them myself..."

"Well, it's good to know that someone's investigating them," Amber replied, finally relaxing. She still distrusted the man and had no plans to change this, but she felt well enough to relax. Her hand found its way to Ash's coarse fur and she stroked his head gently. "I'm surprised I've found so many canine enthusiasts here," she said, "it wasn't so popular back when I was in Castelia last. I guess people have finally wised up and found what was so great about them." She smiled down at the remainder of her Pack. "Was there something you wanted from me? I was planning on leaving soon, but I guess that plan is delayed until I get this Arcanine some help."

"I actually do," the stranger told Amber. "I'm from the Kanto region... I hear that's where the collars are coming from... If you could, would you travel back there with me to find the source of these collars?"

Amber blinked in surprise before raising an eyebrow. The request had caught her completely off guard. "Th-That's a hefty request," she said, "but I can't say no. If there's something that is hurting these canines like those collars, I can't sit idly by and let it happen." She smiled down toward Ash and Amethyst, "no Pokemon deserves something like that." She would go to Kanto if it meant stopping the use of the collars. Suddenly, a thought went across her mind, "do I get a badge or anything?" she asked hopefully. She was doing the work, she mine as well get something cool from it. Besides, a fancy police badge could get her discounts at stores or other places once everything was said and done...

"I don't see why you wouldn't," the stranger chuckled to Amber. "Perhaps you might even find more canine friends along your way. Isn't that also worth the journey?"