A Note from the Author: Hello readers! Welcome to my version of the original trainer fic. I do hope you find this enjoyable, even though it occasionally deviates from the standard canon game version of trainer events. Feel free to comment or critique.

Pokemon is licensed to the Pokemon Corporation and to Nintendo Inc. I do not own pokemon.

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The letter arrived at a bad time. The assistant, a youth of about 11 years, opened it as was his normal routine, and read it. He grimaced at the end and carried it off down the hallway. He opened a door carefully, gingerly, as if fearful of waking some terrible beast or creature. The youth was fearful, but it wasn't of any pokemon held within the sterile, bright room. It was a fear of the woman who was in the room, working at something in the room's center. The youth approached slowly, and cleared his throat to announce his presence.

"Not now, Jake!" was the response.

"Key, it's from the League." Jake said nervously.

"Well unless the League sent someone to take care of what I'm working on now while I read it, then it'll have to wait." She called back.

Jake nodded, even though the woman wasn't watching him. She was engrossed with a large incubator. Inside were hundreds of egg shards and empty shells, and also about 15 tiny growlithe pups. They mewed and whined as they tried to walk and move. The woman was sorting them, with males on the left and females on the right. It was a tough job, as the bundles of fur were still very hot from their stay in the super heated incubator. Even a pair of industrial strength oven mitts could not fully shield the woman's hands, and she occasionally let out a yip and snatch her hand back. That and the growlithes' constant movement made the job frustrating.

An hour later and it was finished, and each newly hatched growlithe was sleeping contentedly in a small heated cage. Exhausted, the woman flopped into a large chair in a cluttered office. Jake once more approached, the letter in hand.

"Key, the letter." He reminded.

"Yes, yes, all right. Let me see it." She said, and took it.

'Dear breeder, the Pokemon League of Kanto wishes to inform you of a new policy that may pertain to you. Due to an increase in amateur breeding centers, the League will now be requiring all breeders to have obtained the eight Kanto badges to certify their ability as a trainer before we will accredit them as a League Breeder. Please contact us if you have any questions. This policy will go into effect immediantly.' The letter said.

Keena O'Connell, the 'breeder' being addressed in the letter frowned. Jake shrunk back; he had worked here long enough to anticipate the reaction that would come. Keena growled and bunched her fist around the letter.

"All eight badges?! Those ingrates! How dare they? I can't afford to leave here and go traipsing off on some badge seeking journey! This is exactly why I choose not to be a pokemon trainer."

Keena cursed, crumpling the letter and pitching it at the office door. She growled and moaned and shuffled papers in her anger and frustration. There were currently 15 growlithe pups that would need to be cared for and placed into pokeballs, and there were another 19 eggs that would hatch any day. There were also 8 older growlithe who were being raised until old enough to be adopted out, and there were 5 adult arcanine that needed care. Not to mention the paperwork that had to be done, the people who would arrive to adopt the older growlithe, the bills needing to be paid, and everything else associated with running a full time breeding facility.

Most people who became trainers did so at the age of 12 or 13. Keena, at 19, was young for a breeder, but old for a trainer. Keena had gone through school, gotten good grades, and had watched all of her friends leave to be trainers. Of course most now worked normal jobs and had families. Very few trainers remained trainers for long. The demands put on the body and mind were great, and to raise six pokemon or more all while hiking around the country wasn't exactly an easy way to make a living. Those who still trained after obtaining their badges were few and far between. And most didn't even get all of the badges.

Keena had seen no romance or necessity in romping around in the woods and wandering around trying to catch and raise pokemon. She loved growlithe and arcanine, and had no interest in any other species. That was why she'd become a breeder. And now it looked like she'd have to take the route of a trainer anyway. Keena finally sighed and stood up. She walked out of the office, instructing Jake to clean it up and attempt to organize.

Keena ran a hand through her long reddish/brown hair and sighed. She was of average height, and wore long canvas pants and a t-shirt. A headband tied back long bangs and she wore glasses that were scratched in places and dirty. She had a cheap watch on, and her fore arms were scarred with old and new burn marks from feisty pups. The rugged woman was built sturdily. She walked through the open warehouse that belonged to her facility, and she saw the older growlithe out amongst the volcanic rocks that had been built specifically for their species to play on. The indoor play area was good for training purposes as well.

She went past them and out through a heavy door. Outside was a small grassy field with tall wavy grasses and a small natural creek running through it. Since the arcanine were able to regulate their own temperature and had been carefully raised to the optimal strength and endurance levels, they were kept outside, were they could run and stretch. Keena could see two of them close by at the fence's edge. Their markings indicated that one was a male named Kava and the other a female named Vanua. Further on there was a smaller female drinking from the creek. A nick in her ear showed her to be a female named Tanna. A small male was seen further on, chewing on one of several large rawhide bones given to the arcanines. He was Bakar, a more aggressive pokemon than the others. Keena wasn't looking for any of them though, she was seeking the fifth arcanine, a large male whom she could see racing around the field. She stood at the fence and waited. He soon neared her and slowed, moving to stop in front of her, growling happily. This was Brush, Keena's first pokemon.

Given to her at the age of 10, he'd been a bundle of energy and had been fun to train during her long study sessions at school. When she'd turned 12, her one desire was to breed him and have lots of growlithe pups to play with. By the time she was 16, she was the sole owner and employee of The Outer Islands Growlithe Breeding Facility. At the age of 17 the Pokemon League had recognized her as a full time breeder and had accredited her, at least she'd thought they had.

Keena reached up and scratched the long orange muzzle of the happy arcanine. Brush smothered her in warm kisses, and Keena returned his affection with a strip of jerky from her pocket. She sighed, slowly resigning herself to the journey ahead. Finally she pulled a pokeball off of her belt and displayed it to the arcanine, who wagged his large tail excitedly and barked.

"Looks like we're going on a journey, Brush." She said, and recalled her arcanine.