A/N: Happy Valentines day. Yep I held off posting this a few days just to use this as a valentine for my dear readers.
Disclaimer: I don't own pokemon.
Chapter 2 Clean my paws!
Houndoom was miserable. He slowly walked beside Arcanine as they searched for their friends on some route. "I hate my life."
Arcanine sighed and then turned back to face Houndoom. "What is your problem now?"
"Well…" Houndoom started his little speech. "First I was released by some trainer that got bored of me and-"
Arcanine had stopped listening at that point. Houndoom constantly complained about how humans treated him badly. I wish he'd hurry up and see that Brendan wouldn't do that to him. Houndoom needs to relax.
"-And then some random trainer out of nowhere just throws a pokeball and I was caught without a fight. How humiliating to endure that. I've never been so ashamed of myself. Of course after that I have to follow his orders and I just wait for the day he'll abandon me as well." Houndoom laughed for a moment before continuing. "That will be a glorious day! It could be now if you didn't force me to go looking for our trainers. All you have to do is let me go!"
"No! Because we need to find our friends."
"Friends? I'm assuming you are including your trainer. You are so reliant on her it's sickening." Houndoom said with annoyance.
Arcanine tried to not take too much offense in his response. "Hey, I'm not completely reliant on May. She's just my good friend. Just like you and the others."
"First of all, I'm not your friend. Second, I bet you don't even know how to survive in the wild. Domesticated pokemon are so pathetic. I feel sorry for them."
"Well now you are one of those 'domesticated' pokemon. How about we just make the best of things? We can work together to find food. I'm starting to get hungry." Arcanine hoped that maybe if they spent some time together, Houndoom would soften up a little. He wasn't happy about the constant personal attacks.
Houndoom sighed at Arcanine's loud declaration. He knew for a fact that they wouldn't run into any wild pokemon for hours now. "Shut up you idiot! You really are hopeless. Unlike you, I have plenty of experience at surviving in the wild. First rule of getting food is to not talk about how you are hungry. Wild dog pokemon eat smaller pokemon. I personally like to specifically target Cyndaquils."
Thinking of killing something made Arcanine feel sick. "I can't kill another pokemon in cold blood."
"I see you are still so dependant on your trainer. She's not here to give you food. What will you do?"
"Um…" There has to be a way… Arcanine noticed a berry tree to his left. Those would work! "We can eat those berries. I'm sure those can help us out long enough before we find everyone again." He felt pretty good about his discovery. There was no need to kill.
Houndoom shook his head. "It's sad how naïve you are. Berries are fine as an emergency, but only eating those would be a terrible crime."
"Okay I'm confused. Exactly how is eating berries worse than killing small defenseless pokemon?" Arcanine asked.
Houndoom jumped on top of a nearby rock. It was time for him to teach Arcanine a thing or two about the world. "Smaller pokemon eat those to survive. If everyone always ate berries then the berries would be gone. What happens when the small pokemon don't have any food?"
Arcanine hesitated for a moment before answering, "They die."
"Right, and then there aren't any berries or anything else for us to eat and we die as well. To you it seems cruel, but to everyone else it is a way to keep balance." Houndoom explained.
"There has to be more than random fruit to eat. Can't there be enough for everyone to just eat that?"
"Well then that would go into the overpopulation problem." Houndoom jumped down from the rock. "But I'm not even going to go into that."
Arcanine walked over to one of berry trees and started picking berries for himself. "I admit you helped teach me a few things. I enjoy meat as much as any other carnivore, but I refuse to kill for it."
Houndoom sighed. I try to help him out and he refuses. Fine! "Do whatever you want. As for me, I'm going to hunt Cyndaquils."
"Nope you aren't. I'm not letting you do anything like that under my watch." Arcanine said.
"Oh now you're forcing me to eat exactly how you want? I forgot how limiting it is to be kept hostage. And here you are calling yourself my friend. Do you see why I-"
"Hush for a moment." Arcanine interrupted.
A gentle breeze suddenly went through the area. It was just strong enough to sway some branches in the trees near them.
Houndoom took a quick sniff and sighed. "Oh no it's-"
"It's May's scent!" Arcanine quickly started smelling the ground in the area. I'm not getting the trail. She must not have come this way. I know I smell her though. Hmm… it also smells like she's really angry. He stopped and turned to Houndoom. "I guess the wind is carrying their scent. May and Brendan have to be close. Let's go in the direction the scent is coming from."
Houndoom reluctantly followed Arcanine. They quickly ran towards the source of the scent. It wouldn't be much longer until they found their trainers.
Arcanine leapt over rocks and darted around trees. He made sure to look back every few seconds to make sure Houndoom was still with him. If Houndoom decided to run off at a crucial time like this, then Arcanine would definitely knock him out and then drag him along. I'm so happy that we're about to find May. I hope the other pokemon made it back to her too. Arcanine's thoughts were interrupted as he noticed an obstacle suddenly walk in his way. "Whoa!" He skidded to a stop right in front of a purple pokemon.
Houndoom stopped next to Arcanine and got a good look at the pokemon. "It's a Granbull. I've seen a few of them back in my golden days."
Granbull wasn't aware that she was almost hit or that someone was talking about her. She was more focused on her current problem. "I'm so hungry. How long do I have to wait?" She looked to her side and saw Arcanine and Houndoom. "Oh you two are cute."
"Um…" Arcanine wasn't sure how to respond to her statement. "Sorry about almost hurting you. We'll just be on our way. We're in a rush."
I just thought of a wonderful plan. Granbull thought while showing off a wicked grin. "You two will do nicely."
Why do I get the feeling that something bad is about to happen? Houndoom thought.
Granbull twirled for a moment and put a paw to her mouth. She faced the two and blew a kiss to them. "Fall for me with Attract." A pink heart appeared and floated in front of Arcanine and Houndoom.
"Oh no…"
"What is-?"
The pink heart popped and stopped whatever they were about to say. Everything became hazy in Arcanine and Houndoom's minds.
Arcanine felt himself losing himself to Granbull's power. Everything was fading from his mind. The only thing he could focus on was Granbull. My heart is beating so fast. I feel so weird. I've never felt this way before. Wait… what was I doing before? I can't remember. Arcanine looked into Granbull's eyes and could feel his tail swish happily from side to side. It doesn't matter what I was doing before. All that matters is her!
"I love you!" Apparently Houndoom was having similar thoughts.
Arcanine started to growl at Houndoom. "Hey, I love her!" Argh he said it first!
Houndoom growled right back at him. "Well I love her more!"
The two of them were about to attack each other, but Granbull stopped them. "Boys!" They snapped to attention. "I'm flattered that you both love me so much, but nothing can be done if you beat each other up right now. Come with me."
Granbull started walking further into the wilderness. Arcanine and Houndoom followed her like the lovesick puppies they were. They walked for a few minutes before Granbull sat down at the base of a large tree. Her stomach suddenly growled.
"Oh are you hungry? I'll go get you something." Houndoom quickly said. Arcanine was a little annoyed that he beat him to saying something again.
"Yes, I want you both to find me food." Granbull said. "Don't go too far from me. Find me sweet fruit that would be almost as good as a cake."
"Yes ma'am!" Both Arcanine and Houndoom responded. The two of them ran off to find her the very best fruit they could. As instructed, they stayed close to Granbull as they gathered fruit from small trees and bushes. Within minutes they returned with a large pile.
Oh they did a good job. I think I'll get all I can. "Good work boys, but I can't eat this with my paws so dirty." Granbull said.
"What would you like us to do?" Arcanine asked.
"Clean my paws!" She demanded.
Arcanine and Houndoom immediately went to one of her paws and started to lick all of the dirt off.
She laughed manically at the two. Oh they are completely under my control. They'll do anything! She eventually stopped laughing. "Enough! Now I'll eat some of these fruit." She pulled her paws away and then started to eat. Arcanine and Houndoom just watched her in admiration.
"Granbull, you are so amazing and beautiful." Arcanine started to say. "I love you so much. You are all that matters to me." Granbull just nodded and kept eating.
Houndoom wouldn't be upstaged. "I love how you are so strong. You would never let anyone hurt you. I also love your large jaw. It shows that you have character."
Arcanine growled loudly at Houndoom. He felt like he was losing. "Granbull is mine! Only I can complement her!"
"Only in your dreams! She only loves me!" Houndoom shouted back.
Granbull stopped eating for a moment to speak. "You've both done well. Now fight to the death for my entertainment! Winner gets a kiss from me."
"Whatever you wish." Arcanine said and stared down Houndoom.
The thought of a kiss fueled Houndoom's spirit. "Yes, my dear Granbull."
The two of them lunged at each other. Fur was flying, and random flamethrowers were shot off.
Granbull watched them in mild amusement and continued eating. My trainer sure is taking her sweet time. This fruit is hardly a real meal. She sighed at that thought. Coming out here to look for food to tide me over worked out since I met these two, but I really miss my trainer. When is she going to call for me? This Arcanine and Houndoom can't keep me entertained forever.
Suddenly the faint sound of a whistle could be heard. The three of them heard it and the fighting stopped. Arcanine and Houndoom briefly wondered what that was before continuing their fight.
Granbull leapt up out of pure happiness. "It's her! Dinnertime! See you, boys!" She quickly ran off.
Houndoom stopped biting Arcanine's tail long enough to shout, "Wait! Where are you going?"
Arcanine kicked Houndoom away from him. He looked in the direction Granbull left. "My love left me…"
They were both depressed for a moment before their minds started to clear. The spell of Attract began to wear off as the distance between Granbull and them grew.
Arcanine had a feeling that he was forgetting something important. Suddenly all of his memories began flooding in his mind. The journey with May, his friends, becoming champion, and being separated. "Oh right! We were about to find May and Brendan!" Everything was clear to him again. He couldn't believe that he forgot everything important to him.
Houndoom remembered everything as well. "I hate my life. Everything was so much easier when I forgot my situation." He coughed for a second and tried to get the taste of dirt from his mouth.
Arcanine sniffed around the area quickly. He couldn't smell May anymore. "Houndoom, do you remember what direction we were going in?"
"Nope I don't. That stupid Granbull led us somewhere and I can barely remember anything. Unless you could how lovesick I was." Houndoom was starting to get angry. "She played with us and made us look like idiots! Let's follow her scent and give her a swift flamethrower to the rear!"
Arcanine shook his head. "We already wasted enough time. We'll leave her alone. Finding our friends is more important."
"You mean your friends." Houndoom mumbled.
The two of them went in the opposite direction of Granbull in hopes of catching May's scent again. They ran around until it got dark. There was no luck finding May or anyone else. It appeared that they didn't pick the right direction.
Houndoom yawned and laid down to rest. "I'm still held as your hostage, but at least I get another day away from those humans." He closed his eyes and added, "You better keep an eye on me. The minute you let your guard down, I'll escape."
Arcanine didn't bother responding to that. He had a good feeling that Houndoom was just trying to make him stay up all night. Houndoom did seem to like harassing him as much as possible. Though Arcanine couldn't blame him for that. He looked up at the moon and stars. The sky wasn't as clear as it was back in Hoenn. Just thinking about Hoenn was making him sad. I miss May and the others. I wonder what they are doing right now. Arcanine looked over to Houndoom. It looked like he was fast asleep. Maybe this is for the best. Houndoom still hates humans as much as possible. Hopefully he'll be able to loosen up and become friendly towards me. Maybe then he'll see through my eyes that people aren't all bad. Arcanine laid down and closed his eyes.
Houndoom moved for a second, and Arcanine opened one eye quickly to check on him. Houndoom snickered for a moment. As expected, Arcanine would be on edge about him running away.
Arcanine sighed. This is going to be a long night. His stomach growled. A really long night.