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The mansion was dilapidated. It had been for a while. Despite this, no one had fixed it up. Even with the amount of people who found their way inside. It was said the gym leader kept locking the place up, but people always found their way back in.
It was a dangerous building. Everyone knew at this point that it used to be some sort of laboratory. Even if no one talked about it. And if the building itself wasn’t dangerous, the pokémon who prowled its halls certainly were. None of them were known for being friendly. Some were even extremely rare.
This was why it was an extreme surprise for the trainer to trip over an arcanine.
They reached for their own pokéballs, but surprisingly the arcanine didn’t do anything more than stretch and yawn. The magnificent creature had to be someone’s, right? Wild arcanine were never seen. Sure, there were growlithes in this building, but…
The trainer got back to their feet. No one else was around. The arcanine flipped onto her back. The stomach exposed, ready for belly scratches. Like she was some sort of pet.
The trainer knew better, but they couldn’t deny being tempted. The arcanine looked extremely soft and fluffy. And couldn’t be wild. It didn’t make sense. Yet it could have been a criminal’s arcanine. For some reason, thieves could almost always be found in this mansion. Even though there was nothing left here to steal.
Surely.
They did not send out their water pokémon. There was no need to start a battle where there didn’t need to be. Especially as they didn’t know the situation. No one else was around. They didn’t even hear the nearby sounds of another pokémon.
Then they noticed the arcanine’s eyes were open. Just as slits. The arcanine blinked at them and then yawned once more and snorted.
The trainer checked their dex. Legendary. Regal. Majestic. Fast. Supposedly. All domestic arcanine were regal and majestic, sure. Perhaps legendary in the fact their evolution was triggered by fire stones, which didn’t used to be as commonly accessible.
Fast? The trainer wasn’t sure about that. Sure, extreme speed was a good move, but there were faster–
The arcanine was gone. The trainer took a step back, then felt the solid muscle behind them. They spun around to see the arcanine studying them.
Fast. Very fast. That didn’t make sense. Surely they should have noticed the arcanine getting off the floor, at the very least.
The arcanine howled. The sound did not induce fear. It was the sound of a being which was meant to be adored. Worshiped. It took all of their willpower not to drop to their knees. Then the arcanine was gone.
The trainer decided to give up on training for the gym leader here for the day and left. Fast? It didn’t make sense. Arcanines weren’t known to be this fast. At least, no trainer’s arcanine, which was the only kind there was in Kanto.
Perhaps it was the mansion. Perhaps it was this arcanine. Perhaps it was something else entirely. They did not know.
They wanted to find the arcanine again.