#058 Growlithe

Growlithe, the puppy Pokémon. Growlithe is a friendly and loyal Pokémon that will fearlessly defend its trainer and territory from harm, even against larger, stronger enemies. It will fiercely bark at, bite, and chase away any perceived threat, including those who suddenly approach its trainer. Otherwise, this obedient Pokémon will wait motionlessly until given an order. Growlithe also has a powerful olfactory sense. If it detects an unknown smell in its territory, it roars to flush out the intruder. It is rumoured to be able to smell the emotions of others, and never forgets a scent. However, strong, unpleasant smells can disable its sense of smell for short periods. Growlithe, in the wild, can occasionally be found in grassy plains or urban areas – Nurse Evergreen.

Occasionally, Nurse Isabelle would rent a bike to get around easier. Walking around was fun and all, but if you just wished to get cheaply from point A to point B, the bike was the way to go. Autumn was ending and along with it, the pleasant weather. The air was crisp and very chilly against her face. Bundled up in a thick Venonat-coloured coat, she shivered even with her scarf and gloves.

A bit further up ahead, a cardboard box sat alongside the road. Ever curious, Izzy slowed her bike down to a halt to peer inside. The cardboard had gotten wet at some point and then frozen over, seemingly held up by misery alone. Inside, several puppies laid curled up against each other, deathly still.

Her breath came out in a painful gasp as her heart skipped a beat. Her own fingers were too numb to feel for a pulse, so Izzy immediately unwound her scarf and opened her coat. In the space on top of her chest, she tucked in the tiny puppies, no bigger than twice her hand. They felt like frozen icicles and still did not move, despite a stranger having touched them. Izzy feared the worst.

With the Growlithe puppies tucked closely against her body, Isabelle cycled as fast as she could to the nearest town. Her phone told her where the closest centre was, a neat little app that many trainers these days could not live without. The clinic was a rural one and there was no one in the small lobby when Isabelle ran in.

"Nurse! Emergency!" Her voice echoed through the centre. Regardless, Isabelle kept hope. This place was not abandoned according to policy. And sure enough, a Wigglytuff came bounding forth. Not quite the cavalry Izzy had been hoping for but help regardless.

Kneeling on the floor to get closer to the Pokémon, Izzy withdrew one of the puppies from her coat. Wigglytuff sniffed the Growlithe, shrieked unlike Izzy had ever heard before, and took off in a mad dash.

While Wigglytuff went to get the main nurse, Izzy assumed, she withdrew all the puppies and wrapped them in her scarf, rubbing them as much as she could to keep them warm. She could see how thin these puppies were from the definition of their bones through the thin fur. They should have been playful at this age, fluffy and chubby-bellied. Instead, they were still and did not move much.

From her backpack, she withdrew her stethoscope to listen for any heartbeat. They were too small and curled up to listen manually. Three out of four still had a faint heartbeat, but she couldn't discover anything with the tiniest, no matter how she sought.

From somewhere, a nurse came running. A lean man who didn't speak at all; simply got to work almost immediately. Reflecting back on it, Izzy admired his ability to stay calm and get to work. Meanwhile, Izzy's body was so tense with adrenaline, screaming at her to take a break. She had raced towards the centre after all. Silent tears ran over her chilled cheeks as the nurse bundled up the three surviving Growlithe in her pale pink scarf, now smeared with mud and possibly something else. Izzy tried to follow the nurse into the single treatment room of the centre, but with a single hand, he barred her entry. When she looked up at his face, noticing he wasn't taller than her, he shook his head, stepped back and closed the door on her.

Wigglytuff, quite possibly his, took her by the hand and led her to a couch in the tiny canteen. There, a pot of tea stood over a warming pad, one single cup knocked over when its owner hastily left. As Isabelle sat down, the Wigglytuff poured her a fresh cup of tea and then covered her legs with a blanket. Despite the caffeine in the tea, it did not take long for Izzy to fall asleep, her body forcing a nap on her due to emotional exhaustion.

When she woke up, she felt disoriented. The couch she was lying on was old and uncomfortable, somehow both incredibly hard yet very saggy. Across of her, the male nurse sat, feeding a Growlithe puppy with a syringe. Its little butt wagged in an attempt to wag the tail, if it hadn't been amputated.

"I had to. Frostbite had snuck in." He spoke quietly, as if not to startle the eagerly feeding puppy. Izzy hadn't realised she was staring. She sat up straighter, covering her legs with the blanket. "The others are fine, if you're wondering that. All thanks to you. If you hadn't found them, they would all have died, like that little one." Isabelle looked down sadly, touching a hole in the duvet.

"This isn't the first time you've seen this, is it?" She asked. When he shook his head, she sighed. "Why do people do this?"

"That's the question. Some people just don't want the responsibility, I guess. It costs money to put Pokémon up for adoption, so some just release them to the wild." He sighed, stood up, and put the sated Growlithe in a basket. "Don't worry. I'll take care of them and get them placed." Isabelle nodded, stood up, and grabbed her bag and coat.

"I'll be off then. Thank you for your work."

"Safe travels, colleague."