Author's Note: A sad one-shot. No ending author's note; I didn't think it needed one.

Warnings: Death. Slight shonen-ai if you really squint.

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Loyalty
A Wonnykins Production

They say our kind is most loyal. That the dog-types are always the ones who go above and beyond for trainers. I know it isn't just true of my kind, because I've seen others, like that one Pikachu, who are more powerful and loyal then I could ever hope to be.

But I know, even though I'm not as good as that Pokemon is, that I've been loyal to you.

We are flashy and strong: every trainer wants one of us from the time they set out. We are signs of courage and strength. Our fire powers rival that of dragons. You, too, wanted to catch one of us one day, when you were very small. You told me this by the fire one night, in the middle of winter; I was keeping you warm while you slept, that night, and you told me how grateful you were to have me.

I am more then a trophy to you. The Pikachu's trainer thinks that you only use me, that you aren't friends with me or your other Pokemon, like Umbreon or Blastoise, but we know just how much you care. You wouldn't be crying right now if you didn't love us.

Once, I was a Growlithe, a small pup with dreams like yours. I wanted to be big, and strong, and one day evolve into the beast I've become. I wanted to be the best of my kind and prove myself to everyone just how magnificent I could be. And through you, I accomplished that. People 'oh' and 'ah' when they see me, when you release me for battles or simply so that I can be with you, but I am more proud of my trainer then I am of myself. It is only with you that I've become what I am. You caught me as a rowdy Growlithe who was arrogant and a bit on the nasty side, and transformed me into something as close to a legend as you could.

Your rival, the Pikachu's trainer, used to say that you utilized us as chess pieces, but now he knows, too, just how much you care. How could he not know, now, as he sits beside you and tries to comfort you?

You grew up alone, you said. You lost your parents when you were very young. I didn't understand why that made you sad: it was common for our breed's eggs to be abandoned. I never needed parents. But you made me see what loosing something like that was. I will never feel the same, I thought, unless I loose any other member of our team, or you. Especially you. Through you, I came to understand what love was, and you, friend, are more then just my master. You are my pal, my brother, my father. You are everything I didn't have. And we, all of us, from Umbreon to Blastoise to Nidoking and Nidoqueen and all the others, as well as me, are all YOUR family. We love you, we would die for you. We would gladly allow the forces of Hell to torture us if only to spare you any pain. But I know that even if you knew we were dying for you, it would hurt. Just as it does, now.

You told me that you try to stay strong, once. Even through your recent string of defeats, you kept a straight face. But I never looked down on you for a loss. If anything, it was my fault for being part of why you lost, sometimes. None of us ever blamed you. We scorned the girls that left you once you were defeated publicly. We wanted to attack those that merely said your success was due to your grandfather. We knew better, because we know you. Everyone will loose. It was just not your time to win. But we stayed with you, even when you finally broke down and started to cry, there we all were. And our love for you was so great that we broke free from our poke-balls, if only to help you. We aren't like trophies, or cheerleaders, or fans. We will never leave you, no matter how horrible a trainer you may become, what path you take in life, what goals you choose to pursue. And isn't that the dearest, most caring form of loyalty, Master? Is that not the way people say a relationship between a Pokemon and its trainer should be? And you are crying, now, because you know I have been loyal, just as we all have, and that no one will be able to say otherwise.

I risked my life for you today. I didn't pull you from a burning building or block an attack from hitting you. I just went out onto that battle field and did as I always do: I fought for you. For your honor, for your dignity, for your fame and your name. But under it all, you and I know that I fought for you simply because I care about you. Just as Umbreon did after I went down, and just as Electrivire did before me. It is always a risk for a Pokemon to fight. Sometimes they win, sometimes they loose.

And sometimes, Master...sometimes they die. As I am doing, now. You've done nothing wrong, so I don't understand why you keep saying it's your fault I am slipping away. Your rival doesn't understand, either, and keeps telling you what I can't with words.

I have won for you in the past. I have fought for your honor and fame, but deep down I have fought because I love you, Master, and because you love me, too. It's okay to cry: I don't think any less of you. I never did. Neither does he: you treated him poorly a long time ago, even before you caught and raised me, you said, and you were sorry you did that. And even if people we angry at you for that, we, your team and I, and your old friend, beside you now, we never really thought any different. We've always cared. Loyalty is more then fighting, Master. It's about caring and loving and believing in what you're fighting for.

And even when the illegal-leveled Pokemon fought me today and delivered that blow, the blow that is eating away my last breath little by little, I have never believed in anything other then you. You are worth fighting for. You are worth fighting alongside of. The rest of us will not stop fighting after I leave the Earth, tonight, and join Arceus in the Heavenly Plains, because they know what I have died for.

My fur is soaked with your tears, and you ask me not to go. 'Please Arcanine', you ask, 'Please don't leave me...' But you know that I will never truly leave you, Master, just as I have never once deviated from your side. Even if my body begins to shut down, my eternal flame shines brightly, always, and when I run across the star-grass high above and chase comets across the night sky with those that have gone before me, I will think of you, and I will love you forever. Sometimes, I will even be beside you again, to guide you forward silently, as we have always done. I will miss the others, too. I will miss Umbreon, who acted like the mother you lost long ago, and Blastoise, who was your brother. I barely began to know Eletrivire, but I know he will take care of you as well, just as I have. Even without me, Master, you have all of them, who will stay with you after I die, tonight, who will refuse to go back into their poke-balls as long as your heart is as heavy as it is now. And I have a feeling your old friend will keep holding your hand like he's doing, now, until you start to sleep. Even losing me, you are gaining back an old friend.

They all said that we were just your pawns, once. Pokemon who felt nothing, were only there for show. But Master, even through the darkness that is overtaking my sight, all I see is you, and all I've done for you. I wish they could see your tears and feel your pain, so that they would know how wrong they were.

But now, Master...now I would just like you to keep holding my paw, which is huge and heavy in your small, human hands, and tell me that you love me and that it will all be okay...You know that I'm not going to make it, but you want me to go peacefully.

Shivers run through my body, and now my eyesight is reduced to small pinpricks. I feel, faintly, your warm weight as you lay over me, close to my head, and hear your voice as you tell me to let go. You don't want me to suffer anymore. But I would go through this pain a million times if it meant I could keep you safe and make you proud. I can't raise my head to lick your cheek like I used to, the way that made you laugh and joke about how gross 'dog slobber' was, but if I could, I would. The most I can do is place my paw as far over your body as it can go. I want you to know that I'm sorry for leaving, but that I care.

With all my heart, Master, I care.

Over the shoulder of your rival, in my dying sight, I see a man and a woman. As the rest of my vision begins to go, they come in focus as the rest fades out. The man says 'Thank you, Arcanine', and the woman smiles. I think she is your mother, and somehow I think that it's fitting they have come for me.

And then my lungs let out their last breath slowly, and I feel you shake: you know I am gone. I begin to slip into that deep sleep, and I know that your parents will be there when I am awake. Before I finally leave, I hear you say that you love me.

I came into this world as a small Growlithe. When I leave it now, you say I am a thing of beauty and power. An Arcanine. YOUR Arcanine, Master. Without you, I would die a Growlithe, even after evolving, for I'd still be that pup inside. You've taught me all I know.

They say Pokemon pledge loyalty to their trainers. Not all of us do, but I...Master...I pledged...long ago...

"I love you, Arcanine..."

"Good-bye, Gary..."

Fin