The Guard Growlithe

Soon, Entei brought Yan Yang and Hawlucha to Wang Yan's private residence.

After Wang Yan had helped Entei purchase a large pile of supplies, he also gave Entei his address, saying that if he ever needed help in the future, he could come here to find him. He even confidently mentioned that this address was his alone, with no one else living there.

Yan Yang looked around. Wang Yan's dwelling could be described as both luxurious and natural, situated on the edge of the city, not far from a lush, verdant forest.

They were currently in the backyard of the house, which was a vast garden filled with all sorts of exotic plants and Berries, along with a modest-sized pool. Without any fences or walls, it attracted many wild Pokémon to come and play.

There was also a small training ground here, clearly an ideal spot for the owner and his Pokémon to train and have fun together.

These Pokémon were having a great time. Even when they saw strangers arrive, they didn't run off, seemingly quite accustomed to unfamiliar Pokémon showing up here often.

Entei sensed that Wang Yan wasn't home at the moment, so he went to a corner and waited.

Yan Yang also set Hawlucha down and sat beside Entei. It was better not to cause trouble on someone else's turf—this wasn't like the forest at home where he could mess around as he pleased. Stepping on someone's flowers or plants wouldn't be good.

The other Pokémon saw that the three of them weren't joining in the fun but just sitting idly by, and they weren't happy about it. One by one, they came over to invite Yan Yang and the others to play.

Yan Yang smiled and declined, but he still asked Hawlucha for its opinion. Hawlucha said it was already a mature Pokémon and didn't need to play anymore.

However, its twitching body betrayed its true feelings; it was clearly just holding back.

Seeing that Yan Yang and the others had no intention of playing, the Pokémon gave up and went back to amusing themselves.

But one Squirtle seemed very interested in them. It jumped right onto Yan Yang, asking all sorts of questions—a total social butterfly among Pokémon, treating the three of them like old friends.

After barely managing to answer Squirtle's barrage of questions, Yan Yang wanted to learn about Wang Yan's situation, so he asked, "Do you know what kind of person the owner here is?"

Squirtle was still a bit dazed—this person had actually answered its questions, and it seemed like he could understand what it was saying.

But hearing Yan Yang's question, it shifted its attention and replied with some excitement: "Squirtle~ He's a really good person! He lets us come in here to play, gives us tasty food, and even treats injured Pokémon. It's awesome!"

A nearby Meowth with a bandaged leg nodded in agreement.

Yan Yang thought to himself: Hmm, he really does seem like a good person. No wonder he earned Ho-Oh's favor.

Seeing that Yan Yang looked interested, Squirtle continued, "Squirtle squirtle~ But he has rules too: no destroying the plants here, and no fighting. Otherwise, you get kicked out."

Once, a Scyther, relying on its strength, kept bullying the other Pokémon and tried to take over the place. When that human found out, he had his Charizard unleash a [Flamethrower] and drove the Scyther away. The Scyther's pathetic escape was hilarious—none of the Pokémon could forget how satisfying that was.

Yan Yang understood, but he wondered: with such a big backyard, wasn't there any Pokémon guarding it? Was he really that trusting?

Even if Pokémon were mostly innocent and wouldn't cause trouble, shouldn't he at least guard against human thieves? There weren't even any walls. Entei had brought him right in, so anyone else could do the same.

It was rare to see someone so carefree.

Perhaps sensing Yan Yang's confusion, Entei spoke up: "Actually, there is a Pokémon watching over the place. It's just hiding and observing us secretly."

Yan Yang: "?"

Well, well—so there's been someone watching us all along. Entei didn't react, so that Pokémon must mean us no harm. I'll have to find where it's hiding.

Yan Yang looked around and soon spotted an orange figure in a patch of grass.

As he got a little closer, he saw it was a Growlithe.

Realizing it had been spotted, the Growlithe came out on its own, walking out boldly as if it owned the place. Well, it did live here.

The Growlithe lay down on a rock not far away, still watching Yan Yang and the others with some wariness.

Its owner had said that if a large Pokémon resembling its evolved form showed up, it didn't need to do anything—just wait for him to return and not disturb them.

But Wang Yan had only been gone a short while, and here they were...

Despite its owner's orders, the Growlithe still wanted to secretly observe what kind of Pokémon its owner knew. What it found shocked it—this Pokémon was incredibly strong. Its aura was even more powerful than that of its father, who served as a police dog.

With strength like that, if it forced its way in, there was nothing the Growlithe could do.

And that kid—he was covered in that Pokémon's scent. Such a strong aura could only come from living with that Pokémon constantly. So what they said was true: this child really had been adopted by that Pokémon.

That hawk Pokémon, on the other hand, seemed fine—just a normal wild Pokémon.

Yan Yang looked at the Growlithe and silently took in its details:

"Growlithe (slightly wary) Gender: Male Type: Fire Level: 25 Ability: Intimidate (lowers opponent's Attack by one stage upon entering battle) Item: Charcoal (boosts Fire-type move power) Moves: Omitted Status: Healthy, curious. Evaluation: Fearlessly confronts opponents stronger and larger than itself. Brave in nature, extremely loyal, and will fight to the death for its owner. One of the most loyal and worthy Pokémon partners to humans."

Reading the evaluation, Yan Yang thought that Growlithe truly lived up to its reputation as a loyal Pokémon. But this time, the evaluation was surprisingly normal—that itself was unusual.

Yan Yang had always liked Growlithe. Its portrayal in the anime left no room for criticism, and James's Growlithe had left a deep impression.

Still, he preferred the coolness of Entei.

Who the hell said Entei is just a big Growlithe? (╬◣д◢)

After getting Entei's consent, Yan Yang quietly approached Growlithe. It didn't make any aggressive moves, so Yan Yang started petting it—petting a dog is always satisfying.

Growlithe was quite docile. After all, the other party was just a small child who hadn't grown up yet, so Growlithe didn't find his behavior rude.

And as a dog-type Pokémon naturally very close to humans, it was especially polite to children. Dogs all like kids, so Growlithe naturally had a good impression of Yan Yang.

"Hello, Growlithe. Nice to meet you."

"Woof~ Same here." Growlithe knew the other could understand what it said, so it was happy to chat with him.

"When will your trainer be back?"

"Woof woof~ He's busy with something right now, but he'll be back soon. If you want something to eat, I can get it for you."

"No thanks."

Yan Yang returned to Entei. Hawlucha had already run off to play with some other Pokémon, and it was clearly having a good time now.

After everything that had happened, Hawlucha must still have some shadows lingering, but now that it was playing, its mood must be much better. No need to worry about its psychological issues anymore.

No one knew how much time had passed when Growlithe suddenly got excited, wagging its tail nonstop. Entei also stood up, which told Yan Yang that the master of the house had returned.

Can't find the book by title? Try searching by author—maybe it just changed names!

In response to readers' requests, we now offer a VIP membership ad-free feature.

Click to view