I feel that I should put in here that the picture for this story is not mine. I found it on the internet. All rights go to that person.

Also, I do not own Pokemon. Not even one, to my disappointment. I can only hope that one day in the future genetic engineering will get good enough for me to buy one.

Chapter 1: Growlithe

People call my pokemon "eccentric" which is just the nice way of saying my pokemon are crazy. But I can't argue with them, because it's the truth.

Unlike most trainers, I didn't receive my first pokemon at the age of ten. My parents had this idea in their head that I shouldn't have to worry about money, or traveling by myself, or food, or training, or where I would sleep at night, or anything else while still a "child".

It was stupid.

But thus, as every one of my friends turned ten and started their journey, I was left behind. There were a few of my classmates who started their journeys between the ages of eleven and twelve, which was considered late. But no matter how much I begged, my parents refused to let me start my life. And by the age of thirteen there were only two people left in my class: me and Gwen.

Gwen's parents are probably the best breeders in Johto, and often worked closely with my parents. When we were three years old, our parents decided to let us meet. We instantly became best friends, and still are to this day. Gwen had decided a few years after we met that she would like to become a breeder, just like her parents. That was why she stayed in town after she received her first pokemon (at the appropriate age, I pointed out to my parents, who just ignored me), Ditto. Every day she worked on her parents land taking care of the pokemon, communicating with customers, and trying to stop me from messing too many things up. Its a tough job. Luckily, she only had to deal with me in the afternoon, once I finish with my tutors, so it made life a little easier.

The school in our town didn't offer classes to anyone above the age of fourteen. But my parents had the silly idea that I needed to learn more, even though I had graduated at the top of my class (what did it matter if my class only consisted of Gwen and myself?). Therefore, I had tutors. That is beside the point though.

Things changed, however, on my sixteenth birthday.

I woke up and decided that I should really get more sleep. But before I could fall back asleep, the doorbell rang. I ignored it, thinking one of my parents would answer it. I was proven wrong though when it rang again, and again. Opening one eye just enough to make out the time, I realized that my parents were already at work. Maybe if I ignore it, it will go away, I thought. But it seemed that even though it was my birthday and I wanted nothing more then sleep, the universe was out to get me.

I refused to open my eyes as I stumbled out of my room and almost fell down the stairs. I decided at that moment that I would one day perfect sleep walking without tripping. It just wouldn't be that day. When I finally made it to the door, it had been rung another four times. Pausing, I took a deep breath, mentally preparing myself for the horror I was about to unleash in my house, and pushed the door open.

Standing on my porch was Gwen, in all her morning glory. Her strawberry blond hair fell in ringlets down to the middle of her back, while the ribbon she had tied on the side almost blinded me from the sparkles reflecting the sun's light. Her skirt and flip flops were blue, which matched the white and blue tank top she wore. Ditto sat happily in her arms while she smiled and sang, "Happy Birthday, Tori!"

Something close to a growl escaped my lips. Gwen just laughed and walked into the house, somehow getting past the barrier I had constructed with my body. I sighed, knowing I had lost the battle, and closed to door.

Gwen was still smiling at me, until she saw what I was wearing. They had been my dad's old clothes, but he refused to wear them because they were so tattered. I had run out of pajamas one day, and grabbed them for something to wear. They had now become standard issue for me. Gwen started to open her mouth to say something about the ripped up shirt and pants I was wearing, but I held up my hand to stop her.

"It's my birthday. No commenting on what I choose to wear for it," I said. Gwen frowned slightly, while Ditto slumped more into a puddle, before the megawatt smile came back. I instantly became weary.

"Take a shower and get dressed. We have things to do, and people to see!" she said while pushing me back towards my room.

I grumbled something about lack of sleep and needing new friends who aren't morning people, which just caused Gwen to laugh again.

One hour later, we left the house. It would have been less, but Gwen refused to let me leave before I tried on every outfit I owned and then redoing my make up. I didn't argue, knowing that it would have just made the process longer. Once Gwen made up her mind, only her Ditto and a legendary pokemon could distract her long enough so that you could escape.

Since it was my birthday, I didn't have to see my tutors and Gwen had asked for the day off. We spent it running around town window shopping and trying things on just for the fun of it. Although, Gwen did end up buying a new hat that she couldn't live without. By the afternoon, I admitted to myself that I was glad Gwen had woken me up and forced me to go out. She didn't need me to say it out loud to know.

"I should head back, my parents want to take me out to some fancy dinner tonight before they give me my present," I said to Gwen, "Who knows, maybe this year it'll be a pokemon." I laughed while Gwen smiled at me. It had become a running joke over the years on how I didn't have a pokemon. "I'll see you tomorrow!" I said as I started to walk away.

"Wait!" Gwen caught my sleeve before I had moved very far. She held out her other hand that had a small box wrapped in pink paper and a pink bow. "Happy Birthday," she said for the second time that day.

I crinkled my nose, "Pink?"

"I'm hoping one day you'll surprise me and actually act like a girl." I stuck my tongue out at her, but she ignored it. "Don't open it until after dinner, ok? See ya tomorrow!" Gwen yelled as she made her way down the street. I sighed and put the box away in my pocket.

Dinner was pleasant, considering my parents tried to stay away from the topic of work. It would never completely leave a conversation, but they were making an effort, and that was all I cared about.

All through dinner I didn't mention a present, figuring it would be after we ate that they gave it to me. When dessert came with no mention of a present, I started to get a little curious. But I kept my mouth closed. Once the bill was paid and we were walking home, I figured they had forgotten. Not once during dinner had either wished me a happy birthday. I kept dragging my feet and kicking rocks, but it had no effect. I even tried to add a dramatic sigh once or twice, still to no avail. Once we reached home I mumbled something about heading to my room for the night.

"Don't you want your present?" My mother asked. I could only stare at them with my mouth slightly open. She laughed and poked my dad in the side, who then reached into a pocket and held out a little red and white ball. My mouth fell even farther. Keeping my eyes on my parents to look for any sign of a joke I slowly reached my hand out for the pokeball. Once my finger touched it, I grabbed it as fast as I could and held it to me.

"Thank you so much! I love you both! My first pokemon!" I started to babble as I danced in a circle while clutching the pokeball. Suddenly, I stopped and glared at my parents, "There is a real pokemon inside this, right? This isn't like some new pokeball you want me to look at for work, right?"

This only caused more laughter from the two. "You'll have to open it to see," spoke my dad.

Cautiously, I enlarged the pokeball. Then threw it up calling, "Come out?"

Sitting in front of my was a pokemon that would be slightly smaller then my waste when I was standing up. It was orange with black stripes, and small tuffs of tan fur. Chocolate eyes stared directly into my green ones. Its head tipped to one side in a confused manner with a, "Growl?"

My only thought was, So cute! Later, I would learn to resent this cuteness.

That was the day I received my first pokemon, Growlithe. That was also the day my problems began.

I launched myself at the growlithe and hugged him (her? I wasn't about to look and see) while saying, "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I love you guys so much!-" I'm sad to say it kinda just turned to blubbering at that point.

Luckily, my mother decided to interrupt me, "I'm so glad you like him." So it was a him. "We had the Green's breed him special for you. Growlithe are already so protective of their trainers, so we knew we could trust one to keep you safe. Plus, you have always loved fire pokemon. We also looked at getting you a poynta, but you could seriously hurt yourself if you fell off." This was when I realized where I got my blubbering tendencies from.

Finally letting go of my growlithe, I hugged my parents. "Thank you!" I said for the hundredth time.

My parents smiled as I pulled back. Then my father turned to the growlithe, "You see this girl?" The growlithe looked at me then back to my father. "She is your trainer," he continued, "your job is to make sure nothing harms her. Can you do that?" Growlithe stood up and barked once, then padded over to sit in front of me. It seemed a little too enthusiastic to me, but I wouldn't argue.

However, only a part of my brain was focused on the exchange between my pokemon and my parents. The rest was trying to decide what town I should travel to first and what gym I should challenge first.

"This is so exciting!" I almost yelled in happiness. "I promise I'll write every week. Ok, maybe not every week, but I'll write a lot. Because sometimes traveling can be so unpredictable, and I just don't want you to worry if you don't hear from me for awhile." I would have kept going at this point, but my parents were giving me a weird look.

"What?" I asked, while the dread in my stomach continued to grow.

My father was the one to reply, "Just because we gave you a pokemon, doesn't mean you are allowed to travel yet."

My heart sank.

"He is so young. And so are you. It takes time for a pokemon and trainer to bond."

I felt like crying.

"Take some time here so that you two can train and become stronger."

Now I really felt the tears coming.

"Just give it a few more years-"

The rest of my father's sentence was cut off as I ran out of the room. I wouldn't let him see me cry. My mother had seen me cry plenty of times, but my father never had. I thought he would see me as stronger if he never saw me cry.

I got to my room and almost slammed the door shut when Growlithe popped in behind me. I decided that he could stay, and shut the door. Then I flung my arms around Growlithe and cried. My parents didn't come after me. I didn't expect them to, it would be too much trouble seeing as neither one of us would change our minds. It still hurt though.

After I had regained some composure, I released Growlithe. For a second I considered packing and leaving. Then dismissed that thought. My parents would have the police after me within half an hour.

Two years. In two years I would be eighteen and an adult. At that point, my parents couldn't keep me here any longer. So that gave me two years to find more pokemon (how? I wasn't sure yet) and train with them to become so strong I could defeat all eight gyms in a month.

With determination on my mind I looked at Growlithe and said, "Wanna train?" Growlithe jumped up with his tail wagging and barked. I was just about to open the door when I saw a little pink package sitting on my desk. Right, the present from Gwen.

I reached over and ripped of the wrapping paper. Then I opened the box. Inside was a piece of jewelry (Really,I shouldn't have expected anything less from Gwen). It was a bracelet made with a simple silver chain and six small points hanging from it. Each point had a small claw that would hook perfectly with a pokeball. Then it hit me, Gwen had known my parents were giving me a pokemon.

I don't know why I didn't realize it sooner, when my mother had told me the Greens' had bred Growlithe. Heck, Gwen was probably the one who picked out the parents. What the hell? Gwen had known that one of my life's dream was about to come true, and she didn't tell me? That was it. Anger had now replaced my determination.

"Change of plans, Growlithe. We're going to go pay a visit to Gwen's."

Getting out of the house was simple. I had yelled to my parents I was going to visit Gwen, and walked out the door. I guess they thought I needed to talk things through with a friend before trying to confront me. Smart move. Gwen always was able to talking me into doing things for my parents I normally wouldn't do. It was after I left the house and we reached the forest that things got tougher.

My house was in the outskirts of the town. Gwen's house was about a mile into the forest that surrounds the city. So roughly, it took me half an hour to walk to from my house to Gwen's (Don't laugh. I'm not one for walking fast.).

Because of the late hour, no one was out walking. Most were asleep, others didn't feel safe walking with pokemon so close to the town. Which was why Growlithe and I reached the forest fairly quickly.

I hadn't even taken two steps when suddenly the ground seemed to be a lot closer to my face. In the second it took me to contemplate as to why this was, my face came into contact with the ground. Unfortunately for me, my mouth had been slightly open and it filled with dirt. I also felt a very uncomfortable weight on top of me. Barking and growling seemed to be coming from it.

I froze. Crap! I hadn't been looking where I was walking and must have run into some bad pokemon. Growlithe had spotted it and must have jumped on me in order to protect me. As quietly as I could, I spit out as much dirt as I could. The growling above hadn't stopped yet. Fearing for the worst, I looked up slowly so as not to startle the pokemon.

Not a foot in front of me stood a quivering caterpie.

"Was that it?" I couldn't help but ask out loud. Growlithe just kept growling while the caterpie looked like it wanted to become invisible.

"Oh get off me! Would ya!" I yelled as I tried to escape from under my pokemon. Finally, I was able to knock him off of me.

I got up while dusting myself off. Then turned towards the two pokemon. Growlithe was still in an attacking position, while the caterpie was trying its best to slowly move towards a bush. But every time it moved an inch, Growlithe would bark.

"Knock it off!" I yelled. Growlithe looked at me with a confused look on his face. Asking what he had done wrong. I just ignored him and walked between the two pokemon. Then knelled down and smiled at the caterpie, "It's ok. He wont hurt you. Go ahead back to whatever you were doing." The caterpie just looked even more frightened, but slowly moved away. When it finally reached the bush, it disappeared.

I stood back up and faced Growlithe with a scowl on my face. He had the audacity to wag his tale in satisfaction. I was ready to kill the stupid thing. But then I realized that he was a puppy, and probably didn't know which pokemon were safe or not.

I took a deep breath trying to calm myself and then spoke, "That was a caterpie. It's a pretty safe pokemon. Doesn't typically attack unless it has to." Growlithe tilted his head to the side in confusion. I decided to simplify things. "Don't attack a caterpie in the wild unless I ask you to, ok? You don't have to protect me from one," I finished with a smile.

Growlithe just wagged his tail and barked.

Taking this as a sign he understood me, I started towards Gwen's house again. I stayed tense the first minute after we started to walk, waiting for Growlithe to tackle me to the ground again. Minute two, I started to relax a little. Minute three, I figured that he really had listened and understood what I had said. Minute four, my face was back in the dirt with Growlithe standing on my back.

Granted this time it wasn't a caterpie, it was a pidgey.

Which is why it took me an hour, and seventeen face-plants, to reach Gwen's house. Every single pokemon we had come across ended up the same way; my face in the dirt with Growlithe on my back.

Now that we were back on what was a paved road, Growlithe had relaxed a little. I still muttered curses under my breath. It was all Gwen's fault. Her letting my parents give me a psychotic pokemon. Her breeding said pokemon. Her living so far into the damn forest.

Yes, Gwen was going to die.

I rang the doorbell and waited, with arms crossed and foot tapping, for someone to answer the door. I saw someone peek through the side window and then heard the door unlatch. Just as the door swung open and I opened my mouth to yell at Gwen, I was pushed off the porch by none other then my barking growlithe.

"KNOCK IT OFF!" I screamed while trying to pull myself out of the bush I had landed in. The barking stopped, much to my relief.

I slowly climbed my way up the stairs while pulling a leaf out of my hair. Then I scowled down at Growlithe, who just sat there wagging his tail and some happy grin on his face. My scowl deepened.

I was brought out of it when I heard Gwen laughing (my pain always seemed to amuse her). I glanced up at her and saw Ditto standing (sitting? who could tell with a blob) behind one of her legs. It was then that my anger resurfaced.

"You!" I said while pointing an accusing finger at her. "You knew! You knew my parents had gotten me a pokemon! And you didn't tell me! Then to make matters worse, you bred a pokemon who's more overprotective then my mother is! How did you do that? I didn't think it was possible. Why did you do this to me? I thought we were friends. But alas, I was wrong-" my speech continued as Gwen dragged me into the house.

It took half an hour, hot chocolate, and some ice cream before I had finished complaining about my day after Gwen had left me at the mall. Gwen had shown great restraint, and only slightly laughed at me while I was telling my story.

"Your parents just want what's best for you." I scowled, but Gwen ignored me. "And Growlithe is just doing what he thinks he has to in order to protect you," she tried to console me as I ate the last bit of my ice cream. "He wasn't like that before we gave him to you. Sorry," she continued.

I sighed dramatically. I guess I was stuck with the overprotective pokemon, no way would my parents ever let me get rid of him once they learned of how seriously he took his job. Anyways, he did seem to be pretty strong. Maybe, with some training, I could teach him that not everything in life was out to get me.

Quietly, I set down my empty bowl. "Thanks for everything, Gwen," I attempted a weak smile.

"Want to spend the night? It is kinda late," Gwen offered. The offer was tempting. I didn't know if I could make it home if it was anything like the trip out here. Unwittingly, my eyes slid over to the sleeping Growlithe at my feet. But then I realized that life at the Greens' house started sometime before the sun rose. That made my decision easy.

"No thanks. I need the walk in order to burn off some of the sugar," I responded. Gwen just smiled. She knew the real reason I turned down the offer, but wouldn't say anything.

I walked towards the front door with Growlithe close beside me. I looked back at Gwen once I had the door open, "See you tomorrow. Hey, we should have a battle! Growlithe verses Ditto!" Ditto hid behind Gwen at that. I laughed.

"Bye, I'll let your parents know that your on your way home," Gwen said as myself and my pokemon made our way down the porch. I raised my hand, signaling I had heard her. Then I heard the door click shut.

As I left Gwen's house I prayed that the trip back wouldn't take me an hour. It was also a little colder then I thought it would be. I started to regret not accepting Gwen's offer to spend the night sleeping on her couch. I quickly glanced back at the house that was slowly becoming smaller. Again the idea of being woken up before the sun entered my mind, and I knew I had made the right choice.

I took another step and then found myself falling towards the ground...again. Why couldn't my parents get me a normal pokemon for my birthday? was all I was able to think before my face was smashed into the dirt.

In front of me, a caterpie was shaking in fear.

A/N:

I decided to write this story after I went camping with my new three month old puppy.

Now, let me explain why. My camp ground is within walking distance to an area a bear has been known to live. The only reason I can handle camping there is because there is also a cabin I can run inside screaming at any point should the bear decide to visit me.

That was why I kinda freaked out when my puppy started to bark that first night. I quickly grabbed my puppy and my older dog, and ran inside. Once inside, I found a flashlight and pointed it to where my puppy had been barking. Standing on the other side of the little creek...was a cow. At that moment, my puppy looked out the window, saw the cow, and started to bark again.

For three weeks, whenever my puppy saw a cow, he started to bark. No matter how much I told him it was ok. For some reason, he had decided that cows were evil, and he must protect me from them. My other, older dog would just look at me like, Why did you bring that brat here?

Honestly, I asked myself that same question.

Now that you know the story behind this all, please review. It would make my day.