Training of Tooth and Claw

"Wow, that was easy," Amber mumbled to herself before gazing back toward the undercover man. "And it is worth the journey. Honestly, I'm not too fond of Unova or these busy cities, a change of scenery would be wonderful. I've never seen Kanto before, but I've heard its beautiful." She smiled at the thought, "so, uh, when do I leave?"

"I pre-arranged it," the stranger told Amber. He had a feeling she would've accepted, and he handed her a boat ticket. "You can take the boat next up with me, or you can take it tomorrow... Whichever you choose."

"Well, I have a situation to clear up here," she motioned toward the still unconscious Arcanine, "and one of my Packmates is still gone to try and solve that. Though I'd like to leave as soon as possible, I don't want to just leave her like this. She isn't fond of me right now, but I'd never just leave her on her own this vulnerable. Once it's all sorted out I'll go. If it means missing today's ship, then I'll go tomorrow," she replied. "Now about that badge..."

"You'll have to get it when you get to Kanto," the stranger told Amber. "I don't have an extra; I just have that ticket and what I have on me right now." He scratched his head a bit. "The next ship shouldn't arrive and leave for a few hours. That enough time to get things settled?" Another stranger walked in, her returning with Amber's pokemon. "The pokemon wouldn't stop scratching the door," she sighed. "Led me right here."

"Hopefully," Amber replied with a small smile. Azure barked happily and bounded back toward his packmates wagging his tail rapidly as he did so. Turning toward the woman, Amber took a deep breath before launching into an explanation. "I'm looking for this Arcanine's trainer, he came under your care yesterday after getting injured in the line of duty. She needs him right now, and I want to be sure she sees him. She has no one else right now, and she can't just be left here on her own. So, please, can we take her to her trainer?"

"Oh, you mean him," the woman asked Amber. "He passed away earlier."

"What?!" Amber exclaimed, kneeling down toward Acranine and running a hand down her soft hide. "Then what will happen to her?" she asked out loud, knowing that none in the room could probably offer a true answer. "She's already filled with so much emotion, grief on top of that could crush her," a small bit of moisture formed in the trainer's eyes, and Amethyst nudged her leg reassuringly. "I'm not about to just abandon her. She has no one now, I-I can't just sit idly by and have her wake up to nothing..."

"It's simple; she'll be put up for adoption," the woman told Amber. "And sad to say, you won't be able to adopt her... It's in the rules."

Amber narrowed her eyes, "If you think I was implying that, I had no such intentions. She'd be distressed to be in my care at this point, especially after losing someone so precious. But she doesn't trust that place and I won't allow her to be brought there considering both sides seem to want nothing to do with the other. Why don't we let her wake up and make her own decision as to what to do, she's a Pokemon intelligent and capable enough to do that, all Pokemon are."

The woman shook her head. "I can't allow it," she told Amber, withdrawing the arcanine into her pokeball.

Amber shot a concerned gaze toward the police man, but doubted that he would intervene. "I can't stop you," she sighed, "but if I get any inkling of harm that comes to that Arcanine, you're going to have to hear from me and my Pack and it isn't going to be pretty. I'm going to make sure nothing happens to her, and even though I won't be here, don't think I won't be paying attention or keeping up with what's going on here. Arceus knows what will happen if she gets hurt." Ash growled slightly under his throat, as if to amplify the threat.

Turning, Amber glanced toward the door. "I don't think I have any more business in Castelia," she said, "I can leave whenever you're ready, I have all of my stuff with me and the Pack's all here."

"That's fine. If you want to leave we can," the policeman told Amber. He stepped towards the door to take the lead, and as he passed the woman, he snagged the pokeball. "I do believe I'll just adopt her myself. Feel free to fill out the paperwork yourself; I know you don't need my name." The woman tried to protest, but he was sadly correct. There weren't exactly 100% strict rules and regulations about adopting a pokemon, and she sighed looking to Amber. "Are you coming," the policeman asked, stopping at the door to look back at Amber.

"Yeah," Amber replied, glancing down to make sure all of her Pack was present. They were, and four pairs of expectant eyes peered back at her with excitement. Ash moved to his ever-present place at her left side while Amethyst jumped into her arms. Lavender quickly followed the small Tenebris while Azure giddily bound to take a place at Amber's right. "Let's go." She moved to follow the policeman, glad to finally be getting out of the chaos Castelia had brought her. Who knew what would await them in Kanto, but what will come will come, she couldn't stop that. No, she could just accept fate and do the right thing. Nothing could stop her so long as she had her Pack on her side!

The policeman led Amber towards a dock, stopping at the edge seeing there wasn't really a boat there yet. "I don't think the boat has come and gone yet," he told Amber. "Which is sort of a disappointment. What're we supposed to do until it comes?"

Amber shrugged, careful for the motion to not disturb the Espeon wrapped around her shoulders and napping slightly. "I'm not sure," she said, "wait, I guess, unless you know a better way of passing the time." She noticed an ornate and wooden bench nearby, and took a seat, Ash quickly followed and curled up at her feet while Azure somehow squeezed himself onto the other side of the bench and across his trainer's lap. "Do you have any ideas?"

"Not really," the policeman told Amber. He sighed and looked around, wondering if anything of interest was there. Other than the towering buildings that constructed Castelia, there wasn't really much around. Since the boat wasn't there, there wasn't that many people that were waiting or trying to board it. "I wish I could say otherwise though." He walked over towards Amber and stood beside the bench. "I suppose you could tell me why you're here, and all that's happened," he suggested.

"Well, I'm here because I was planning on getting out of Unova," Amber started, "I figured Castelia held the most potential, since it's Unova's biggest port. I was going to board a ship and just go, spontaneous adventure and all. Then everything went to crap when I ran into someone being beaten and mugged. I'm not surprise, it is Castelia after all, but I couldn't just let it happen. I chased the man off, but he managed to get away. After that, I met that Arcanine and was dragged into other stuff," she sighed, not wanting to go into any more detail, "after some other ordeal, I ran into you."

She ran a hand along Amethyst's soft fur and smiled. The little pup's warmth was comforting, and she couldn't help but keep petting the little canine. Dogs were like that, they make you want to just sit back and pet them all day. "What about you, what brought you into investigating the collars?"

"Well," the policeman told Amber. "It's a bit of a story..." He dug into his pocket a bit. "I had been set up to investigate the collars for a while now... They've apparently been appearing in quite a few places, actually." He gestured for Amber to remove the collar from where it was if she had it while he pulled out a picture. "Everything seemed well... I had a good home in Kanto, and a pretty friendly Ninetails... The pokemon was ecstatic to be around anyone she didn't know." He handed a picture of the shiny pokemon to Amber. "She was unlike the rest; she was the runt... Whoever made the collars got one on her, and I couldn't get it off..." He seemed to stop talking, leaned his head down a bit and turned it to the side a little.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Amber said, comforting the man, "she looks like she was a beautiful Pokemon..." the trainer handed the officer the picture back, and exhaled a long breath. "It's a wonder why there are so many bad people in the world. I guess all good things need bad to counter them, if only the bad didn't hurt innocent Pokemon. I'll do my best to put a stop to it, or at least help you to."

"I suppose it's going to take a bit of time to even do research," the officer told Amber after a few moments of his own silence. "We don't really have much information other than the origin being in Kanto."

"Ok," Amber said exhaling slowly. She could sense that this would probably be one ordeal after another. Still, she was saving lives. It would be worth it in the end. Another question crossed her mind, and she turned back toward the officer. "I was planning on challenging Gyms thought my journey. Will I still be able to do that while I do my research?"

"I don't see why you couldn't," the officer told Amber. "I mean, it's not like I'm asking you to serve us all the time; you're just helping us investigate and get to the bottom of whatever incident this is is... If that makes sense."

"It does," Amber replied with a lighthearted smile, "my Pack and I will do whatever it takes to help. I'm sure we'll get a lot stronger on the way too." Just that thought made her feel content, and she stared off into the lapping, crystalline waves. They actually were prettier than she thought they'd be. Castelia itself wasn't her kind of place, but this ocean seemed innocent of the seemingly sinful city. It seemed like a beckoning new beginning, eager to carry her off into an unfamiliar, exciting place. Well, she thought, nothing could be worse than such busy cities. I'm sure Kanto has them, but it can't be anywhere worse than Unova. It'll be nice to get a change of scenery, I did enjoy Sinnoh.

The policeman occupied himself until a rather loud horn was blown. He looked out and saw that the ship was beginning to arrive, him pointing to it. "There's our ticket out of here," he told her. "A ticket back home."

"And a ticket to a new land," Amber smiled, standing from the seaside bench and looking toward the arriving ship. The calm, lapping waves were now pushed every-which way from the mass of the boat, and they occasionally splashed up through the dock, making the bottom of Amber's shoes moist with salt water. The trainer was too excited to mind though, and only Ash seemed annoyed by them, whenever he was grazed, he'd snarl and snap at the wave, as if that would prevent them from splashing back up at him. On the other hand, Azure giddily yipped, crouching down and wagging his tail at the water, jumping up and pouncing on the splash as it retreated back down into the dock. He didn't seem to mind the water, even with it being one of his weaknesses. Amethyst and Lavender simply watched the two larger canines from the safety of Amber's shoulders and head. Both the trainer and her Pack seemed in high spirits as the boat that would alter their destinies forever arrived.

"Well," Amber said, "I guess it's off to Kanto."