Chapter IV: Kiba Meets Riku
The bushes only rustled ever so slightly, alerting Takuma to the new pupil's presence. Nobu tensed noticeably and Takuma considered putting him in his Pokéball. From what he read, Kiba was supposed to specialize in training with dogs, especially one large dog named Akamaru. What uncreative bloke would name their dog Red, anyway?
"I've got you! Gatsuga!" Takuma once again found himself ducking to narrowly avoid an oncoming tornado of dog and human. Or dog transformed into human and human, that is.
"Really, must this be a battle?" Takuma muttered, though he already knew the answer. He grabbed the Pokéball he had ready at his belt as Nobu immediately attacked. As the pair of "humans" landed on the ground behind Takuma, Nobu made a dash to the one he was certain were a dog by scent. Upon clamping down on Akamaru's arm, he reappeared as a dog with a poof. Akamaru growled and tried to shake off the Furret, but he then found himself facing a very large, and very pissed off Charizard.
"Come on, I'm not here to fight you. I'm just here to give you a briefing, your Pokémon, and leave. I am confident Shou can do some serious damage to your dog…Akamaru was his name, right?" Takuma grinned, trying to earn brownie points with the clearly anxious ninja.
"Hey, how did you know Akamaru's name? And can you please call off your mutated ferret and your orange dragon?" After this comment, all attempts to be nice and calm had to be forced.
"Shou is a Charizard and Nobu is a Furret." Takuma muttered, returning Shou to his Pokéball and deciding Nobu would be better off in his Pokéball too. "And I've read your files and picked out the perfect Pokémon for you. Inuzuka Kiba, meat Riku."
Takuma took another Pokéball off his belt and threw it in the air. The red light that emerged from the Pokéball formed on the ground into a dog shape form.
"Houndour Hound," the Pokémon cried, slowly revealing its black fur with clumps of white fur making it look like bulky stripes. It also had one of those stripes on its head. Kiba caught the falling Pokéball and stared at his new partner.
"He's…wow…he's cute!" Recognizing him as just a puppy, Kiba picked him up and started to coddle him. He didn't have much time to get a good look, however, because Ruki spat fire in his face.
"You burned me you stupid dog! Aw…" Upset by Kiba's sudden outburst, the small Houndour started to cry.
"Let me explain," Takuma said, patting the puppy, "Houndour and their evolved form, Houndoom, have an ability called Flash Fire where Fire type attacks make them stronger. So, in other words, spewing fire on you was his sign of affection. Burning each other is a common thing for close knit families to do."
"So…he likes me?" Kiba stared at the puppy, and then held him close. "There, there, stop your crying. I didn't really mean that…"
Akamaru slowly approached the pair and licked the pup's head. "See? Akamaru likes you too! We'll do great together, won't we?" Kiba grinned at Takuma as he proceeded to explain all about Pokémon, but Kiba barely understood any of it.
Kiba prepared Akamaru's old bed that he used when he was a puppy himself. Now, as a huge dog, Akamaru slept on a larger bed. Kiba was noticing the young Houndour followed Akamaru everywhere. They even ate out of the same bowl! And boy, that pup could pack it away like nothing else! He almost ate twice as much as Akamaru!
Kiba wondered what Riku could do on the battle field, though he suspected that he would be as useful as Akamaru was as a pup. From what Takuma described, Ruki was a Fire type. Could he spit stronger flames than he did on his trainer?
"Here we go, I've got a nice warm bed all ready for you." Kiba beckoned the pup over, who he found staring at him from a distance. The pup immediately trotted towards Kiba, who picked him up despite the flames in his face once again. Not many people know, but when it comes to dogs, Kiba has such a soft side!
Kiba stroked the pup's fur lovingly and placed it in the bed. Akamaru trotted over and lied down in his bed which was right next to Riku's. He leaned over and started licking Riku's back as the pup relaxed. Kiba grinned as Riku sighed contently, looking forward to an exciting new life with a new member of the group.