"Day Care"

The growlithe rolled over onto his back to expose his belly to the sun. His creamy white fur shone in stark contrast with the oranges and blacks of his sides. Beneath him the grass was warm after long hours in the sun and it tickled him slightly. Around him the leaves whispered softly in the summer breeze, and every so often the shadow of a puffy cloud would pass over him.

He had just reached his full growth. As a puppy he had always been big for his age, and during his "teenage" phase he had been awkward and clumsy - his legs had grown too long too quickly for him to easily gain control of them. Now, however he had filled out nicely - his chest was broad, his legs muscular and his fur was especially thick and healthy. He was very young, very happy and very proud of himself. Nothing in his habitat had been a serious threat to him for a long while now, and he thought nothing of letting his guard down and relaxing.

The electric attack took him completely by surprise, paralyzing him before the thought of retaliation could occur. Full of righteous indignation he struggled to regain the use of his limbs, but only succeeded in sending out a few impotent embers of flame before something rammed into his side with the force of a truck. Howling with the rage of a deposed king he tumbled end over end until he collided with one of the many trees in his forest territory. Just before he blacked out he made out the outlined figure of another four-legged pokemon standing over him, then there was a light tap as a small ball hit his head … and the world faded to black.

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He growled and his senses slowly returned to him. He seemed to be laying on the ground… correction: in the dirt. His side pulsed with pain every time that he breathed and something was clinging to his mouth and neck. He gradually opened his eyes and looked around blinking. The pressure on his mouth was a muzzle, and indignation welled up inside of him again. To add yet another insult there was a thick leather collar around his neck that attached to a 2 foot chain in the ground.

Snarling softly to himself he looked around again. He was in a kennel… it looked like. He was outside in the sun in one of many chain link cages lined up in rows. Almost all of them were full of pokemon. The larger ones had bigger kennels but most were the same size as his.

None of -them- were muzzled and chained, he observed angrily. Looking up, he saw with dismay that his kennel had another section of chain-link fence on top to act as a roof. The muzzle on his mouth prevented it from opening, so he couldn't use any of his fire attacks, and the chain defied all of his efforts to dislodge it.

Even though he knew that it was hopeless he kept lunging to the full length of his chain and pawing at the muzzle. It was a matter of pride just as much as it was a matter of freedom - added to which he was almost defenseless like this.

"Hey pal, settle down. You're gonna choke like that." A voice with a strong city accent came from the kennel on his right. Each cage had a house for shelter, and from the neighboring one a jolteon emerged, shaking out his spiky white mane and sending small sparks scattering around him.

The growlithe would have barked an answer back, but couldn't, so he settled for continuing to yank at the chain.

"Man, did I shock your brain too much? You better chill. You won' get anywhere like that." The jolteon sat down, scratched himself with his back leg and grinned. The growlithe was shocked into stopping, and stared at his companion. "What you starin' at? Oh, yeah. That was me, kid. The name's Max." He dropped his jaw and let his tongue hand out, laughing. "Sorry, but you just made it too easy. An' anyway: when the boss gives the order, you take it."

The growlithe grumbled loudly in his throat, glaring through the fence.

"Hey, kid, relax. You play your cards right an' you'll have it made here." Max flopped down onto his belly and yawned. At that moment the growlithe heard human footsteps coming down his row of cages. He perked up his ears and waited.

A human boy was coming towards him. He looked slightly older, maybe he was almost grown up? It was tough to tell with humans. The boy had messy light brown hair and dark brown eyes and wore a grey sleeveless shirt and shorts. Growlithe's immediate instinct was to be difficult, but before the boy had even entered his cage he could tell that this was a human who knew a thing or two about pokemon - something about the way he moved just screamed confidence and assurance.

Growlithe's fur bristled.

Without saying a word the boy entered his kennel and walked toward him. Growlithe backed off as far as the chain would allow, then crouched and waited, growling low in his throat. Still without speaking the boy knelt next to him, which alleviated some of growlithe's fears - it wasn't a threatening position, and started to run his hands over growlithe's body. It was neither pleasant nor distasteful - the boy ran his hands through growlithe's fur, checked the muscles in each of his four legs, looked into each of his eyes, pulled back his lips slightly to get a look at his clenched teeth, felt each of his paws then produced a tape measure and measure his height, body length and chest width.

Whatever it had all been about, the boy finally looked directly into growlithe's eyes and sat down seemingly lost in thought. Then he spoke.

"I can take off the muzzle and you will behave, or you can go into your pokeball. Sit quietly if you'll behave." His voice confirmed that he was older - it wasn't very deep but it was lower than any child's would have been. After weighing his choices growlithe decided that behaving for the moment would be more pleasant and sat down. The boy immediately reached behind growlithe's head and undid the muzzle clasp. It fell off instantly and growlithe shook his head rapidly. The boy stood, took a short leash from his pocket and clipped it to the leather collar, unhooking the chain in the process. "Tug and I'll fit you for a choke chain." The boy warned, but his voice didn't sound too menacing in spite of the threat. "Come."

Growlithe followed the boy easily enough. They walked through the aisles, growlithe's curiosity pushing him to look around at the other pokemon. There were so many, though, that he quickly lost track of them. At last they came to a low white building. As they walked inside a breeze picked up and blew the most wonderful scent into growlithe's face. He staggered, feeling slightly dizzy, and pulled slightly to try and look around the side of the building to see what the smell was. The boy tugged on the leash, though, and he followed him inside.

The room had a clinical, sterile smell and look. Medical supplies and several computers were arranged around healing equipment and several refrigerators. The trainer took him over to a metal platform and said, "Up, please." Growlithe obliged and sat down. The boy took several photos of him, the powered up a computer and typed for several minutes before speaking into a microphone, "Species: Growlithe. Gender: Male, adult. Assigned Number: 0251. Assigned Name: None. Status to be determined."

As he finished speaking the door opened again and a girl, slightly younger than the boy, walked in. Her hair was a lighter shade than the boys, closer to blonde, and fell down to her shoulders. Her eyes were blue, but she wore the same outfit.

"Girls are fed." She said simply before meandering over to them. The boy grunted under his breath and continued typing. The girl scratched briefly behind growlithe's ears before leaning on the counter. He endured the caress and listened. "Where's this guy going, is he a fighter or a breeder?"

"Maybe both," The boy said. "I know it's rare for first gens, but he was a good find."

"No kidding," she shot growlithe an admiring look. "You want the list of girls in heat?"

"Yes, canines. We haven't had any of them in a while."

"The girl crossed the room to a file cabinet and ruffled through it, pulling out a chart and looking at it closely. The boy got up and went to a small fridge, opening it and taking out two small glass bottles. He opened a drawer and took out two needles as well, filled them up carefully from the bottles, then walked back over to growlithe. In a deadpan tone the boy warned him that it would sting, and then administered the shots.

"He's been vaccinated. I'm taking him around to wait. Bring an eevee if one's available."

"And if not?"

"Use your best judgment."

The boy gave the leash a gentle tug. Growlithe obligingly jumped down and followed him across the room and out the door. Once again they were walking through the aisles of cages, but not too far this time. They simply followed the building as it wrapped around until they came to another door, then they went inside. The room was dark and the walls were lined with shelves high enough up that his view of them was obscured. There were several wooden contraptions in one corner and one wall had a variety of leashes and ropes. The boy leaned against one wall and waited. Growlithe followed suit.

"We'll get you a name when we can." The boy said absent mindedly. "We never rush into that. When you show us your personality we'll decide." The boy flashed him a companionable grin. "So don't get upset if we say 'Hey, you!' for a while." Growlithe rolled his eyes, somewhat nervous. He had vague suspicions about what was going on, but he wasn't sure of them at all.

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Things heat up in the next chapter.