Chapter 6

The next day Dark Growlithe went back to where he and Aquafang had talked to Vaporeon-sensei. Vaporeon-sensei was already there and so were a few of the early eevee.

“Good morning, Dark Growlithe,” greeted Vaporeon-sensei. “Did you sleep well?”

“Morning. Yes, thank you,” replied Dark Growlithe.

“I decided we could go out hunting today. It will be a good chance for you to show off your skills.”

“It won’t be easy to catch anything with a group this big,” observed Dark Growlithe, “Especially if they’re untrained.”

“I’m not untrained!” protested one eevee loudly; “I can do anything! I’m the best!”

Dark Growlithe looked at the eevee. He looked stronger than the others and also had small scars on his body. His eyes shone angrily at the unintended insult by Dark Growlithe.

“Ignore him,” suggested Vaporeon-sensei, “He’s got an attitude problem. There’s not a single day that passes in which he either gets in a fight with someone or does something stupid that gets him in trouble.”

The eevee glared at his teacher and then pretended to ignore them and not be interested.

“Most of the eevee ignore him and everyone calls him Bandit.”

“He’s got a special name?”

“Nickname. The eevees all call each other something, just a way to differentiate. When they get older then they drop their name and become a part of the pack.”

“Dark Growlithe’s a stupid name,” commented Bandit, “You think you’re special just because of your colouring. You’re only a year older than me but everyone thinks you’re special. I bet I could beat you in a fight. Just try me, come on!”

“Don’t tempt me,” muttered Dark Growlithe.

A second vaporeon now joined Vaporeon-sensei and Dark Growlithe.

“Hey,” he said, “I’ve come to help in the hunting lesson.”

“Wonderful!” exclaimed Vaporeon-sensei, “Now we only need to wait for the stragglers.”

“What’s taking them so long anyway?” wondered Dark Growlithe out loud.

“Probably slept late,” answered Vaporeon, “or maybe they just don’t want to come to school.”

After a few minutes more waiting Vaporeon-sensei decided it was time to get ready to leave.

“Okay class,” he declared, “today we’re going on a hunting lesson.”

All the eevees cheered happily at the news.

“This lesson is also to see if Dark Growlithe is a good teacher so those of you who are with him pay attention and you can tell me what you think at the end of the day. You will need to split up into three groups, five will go with me, five with Vaporeon and four of you will go with Dark Growlithe. Go to whoever you want to have your lesson with.”

All the cubs rushed to the two vaporeon and left Dark Growlithe alone, only Bandit went to Dark Growlithe and grinned at him evilly. Dark Growlithe gave sigh.

“Hey, Bramble, go to Dark Growlithe. I already have five of you,” instructed Vaporeon-sensei.

The male eevee named Bramble looked pleadingly at Vaporeon-sensei but his teacher just glared at him until he cautiously went over to Dark Growlithe, making sure Bandit was between him and the fire pokémon.

“There are the missing students,” said Vaporeon.

Dark Growlithe and Vaporeon-sensei both turned to see two female eevee chatting merrily as they walked to class.

“They’re both yours,” said Vaporeon-sensei, “The one on the left is Cream and the one on the right is Kitten. You’re late!”

The two eevee were broken out of their trances and noticed that everyone was waiting for them and quickly ran over.

“We’re going hunting,” explained Vaporeon-sensei to the two latecomers, “You’re both going with Dark Growlithe.”

Kitten immediately burst into a fit of giggles and couldn’t stand any more. Cream glared disapprovingly at her friend.

“We’ll meet here when the sun is at that point,” declared Vaporeon-sensei to Vaporeon and Dark Growlithe.

The two nodded and all three groups filed out of the vaporeon pack’s home through the gap in the mountains. Outside the hole was a narrow band of sand against the rocks and then almost immediately a forest. Each group went a different direction and soon Dark Growlithe and the four eevee were all alone.

Dark Growlithe surveyed his charges, Bandit was smirking at him, Bramble still tried to keep one of the other eevee between them, Cream was keeping close to him and glancing around nervously and Kitten was trying hard not to laugh at some private joke but still wound up snorting occasionally.

“Okay, you four,” snapped Dark Growlithe, trying to get their attention and make sure they listened, “Get in a line behind me and keep quiet. We need to find something to catch and we can’t find anything if you’re making a noise.”

He glared specifically at Kitten, who shut up but continued grinning. Cream stayed close to him, then Bandit, then Kitten and finally Bramble.

Dark Growlithe led them into the forest, listening intently for any sign of prey and sniffing the air. He knew there was a pidgey hiding in a bush slightly ahead of them but didn’t say anything.

“Anyone spotted anything?” he whispered to them as they past the bush.

“Maybe,” said Bandit offhandedly.

Everyone else shook his or her heads. If Bandit was telling the truth then he was certainly at a higher level than the others were, especially since Dark Growlithe was amazed none of the others had noticed the pidgey.

‘Aquafang was right about them not being trained for the land,’ thought Dark Growlithe.

“Okay, Bandit, then try catch whatever it is if you really have spotted something.”

Bandit scowled at Dark Growlithe before diving into the bush. In an explosion of feathers the pidgey burst out the top of the bush and flew into the sky. The three other eevee leapt up in fright, one let out a cry of surprise and they all hid behind Dark Growlithe. Bandit was stuck in amongst the branches and struggling to get free. Dark Growlithe took Bandit’s tail in his mouth and pulled him free. The young eevee glared at him intently.

“I didn’t ask for your help,” he declared, flicking his tail angrily.

“I know,” replied Dark Growlithe, “But I couldn’t hold up everyone’s training by waiting for you to free yourself.”

The other eevee came out from behind Dark Growlithe and looked at him for instructions.

“How did you try to find something?” Dark Growlithe asked Bramble.

“I was looking,” he answered quietly.

“Is that it?”

Bramble nodded, staring at Dark Growlithe with wide eyes.

“And you?” he asked Kitten.

“I was looking too,” answered Kitten, “But the bush was too thick.”

“Cream?”

“I looked.”

“Didn’t any of you try anything else?”

All except Bandit shook their heads. Bandit was facing away, ignoring Dark Growlithe purposefully.

“Bandit, how did you know the pidgey was there? Tell everyone what you did.”

Bandit looked a little shocked that Dark Growlithe was asking him to explain to the others and his gaze showed he didn’t trust Dark Growlithe at all.

“I looked around,” answered Bandit slowly, “but I also listened hard and smelt the air. I knew the pidgey was there because I heard the leaves rustle over there even though no wind was blowing. When I concentrated harder I smelt it as well.”

“That’s good,” praised Dark Growlithe, “Why didn’t you three use your other senses as well? A pokémon could have hidden behind a tree and you wouldn’t have known it was there.”

“We weren’t told to,” answered Kitten.

“Weren’t told?”

Cream shook her head, “There are too many sounds in the water and we weren’t taught to listen.”

“And you can’t smell in the water either,” added Bramble.

“Vaporeon-sensei did mention using all your senses on land,” continued Bandit, “But he never really explained. I taught myself.”

“That’s good,” commented Dark Growlithe, “but why didn’t you teach your friends as well?”

“They didn’t ask.”

“Oh well. You three, in future I want you to use all your senses as we hunt. If you can’t see anything maybe you can hear or smell it.”

The eevee nodded and they set off again. This time Bandit went last, looking questioningly at Dark Growlithe.