Once upon a time, there lived a brave and loyal growlithe. With his glossy red fur, strong spirit and well-honed skills, he was admired by many. Even among the ranks of the tribe, he had been well-respected and many young cubs sought to be like him.
However, on one sudden day, this brave growlithe went out hunting alone and never returned back to his tribe. Of course, the tribe was worried, not only because that he was part of them but also that he was their sole source for survival during the winter. None could rival this growlithe in the arts of tracking and hunting and without him, the future looked bleak for the tribe. Thus, the leaders sent out many other growlithes to search for him but to no avail.
The old mother of this growlithe could do nothing except weep and moan for the loss of her poor son, "Oh… my sweet child, where have you gone? Why did you abandon your old mother…"
It was never known until much later that this growlithe had actually fallen into the hands of a human. This growlithe, while out hunting, had carelessly twisted his ankle and it was at this moment when the human arrived. With a jubilant shout of excitement, the human threw out a pokemon foreign to the growlithe, soon, with the loss of mobility from one of its legs, the growlithe loss the battle.
The growlithe resented this human initially. But with time, he came to respect this human and if one were to go one step further, it could even be said that he like this human. The growlithe did not let it show though, he continued on as normal for he had no idea how to express this new change of emotion. Thus, he ate when he was told. Train when he was told. Move when he was told. Just like always.
The human was upset by the seemingly unchanging heart of the growlithe but did not protest against it. Therefore, this continued on for many months… that is until the time when the fated event occur and caused the growlithes to be famed for their loyalty and bravery.
The human was an archaeologist. So it was to be granted that, naturally, the human would explore old ruins and desolate castles and just as granted, the human would definitely take his pokemon with him.
This archaeologist had went to that specified ruins before, thus, he did not do much for precautions and went there without informing anyone. However, unexpectedly, there was a trap there that the archaeologist never noticed before. He fell into the trap and with that, came the immobility of one of his legs and the concussion. The growlithe could only stare in shock when all this happened in a split second.
It was just like the same day when the human captured me. I fell, he fell. I injured myself, he injured himself. My freedom was cruelly taken away, his… The growlithe hesitated, but not for long. Afterall, this was the brave and loyal growlithe that we are talking about, thus, this growlithe pulled out the heavy human all on his own. A remarkable feat for somebody half the size.
The growlithe tried heaving the human onto his back so that he could bring them to safety but that was truly impossible. He was too small and the human was too big. He was too slow and the human was unable to help him. It was at this moment when the growlithe wished with all his heart that he could be bigger and stronger, so that he could deliver his human to safety! The gods heard his sincere wish and were touched by his loyalty and magnanimity, thus, they granted his wish…
The growlithe felt a sudden change coming over his body and saw a white light enveloping him. He was frightened for the first few seconds but after a while, an indescribable feeling of warmness and joy came over him. It was a glorious feeling!
When the light finally receded, the growlithe saw that his fur had become glossier than ever. That the innate fire of his had burnt even stronger. And most importantly of all, he found that he had such great speed and that his size had grown so that he could accommodate a human on his back. This species was later named Arcanine.
This newly evolved Arcanine wasted no time in heaving the human onto his back and hurriedly sped back to civilization, to help. Many huge mountains and fiery volcanoes stood in his path but he remained undaunted for only one thought was foremost in his mind and that was to deliver this human that he had came to like to safety.
After days and perhaps weeks, the Arcanine finally succeeded in his mission and the human healed from his wounds. The human soon came to realize that the arcanine was not as unfeeling as he thought and slowly, they built up a strong and unbreakable friendship between them. And they lived happily ever after.