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::How Arcanine (and Growlithe!) Got their Stripes:: A short PokeFable

Did you ever know that once, all Arcanine and Growlithe just had plain, ol' orange fur? Well, they did! Arcanine and Growlithe's fur were as orange as the sunset you'd see every day. They were completely NAKED of stripes. That wasn't the only thing, though.
Arcanine and Growlithe were skilled racers and always competed in races. And they were also skilled at bragging.

"I can't believe it! That's the fifty-second race I've won! I don't know about you guys, though, Rapidash, Luxray, and Lucario." Arcanine said for the ninth time. Rapidash, Luxray, and Lucario were Arcanine's best friends.
"We know, Arcanine. Can you quit your yapping?" A moody Lucario growled.
"Yeah, Lucario's right. We know that you won. But can you just keep it to yourself?" Rapidash said, the flames on her back enlarging.

"You are all just jealous, aren't ya'? Maybe you three should just quit racing; y'know, since I'll win everytime?" Arcanine suggested with a chuckle.
Luxray snarled and jumped on Arcanine, but it wasn't enough to throw him down. Arcanine easily shook him off.
"Shut your flame hole, Arcanine!" Luxray shouted, standing up. "We race to have fun. Whether we win or lose, we are always a good sport!"
Arcanine rolled his striking beautiful eyes.
"We are all just jealous, aren't we? Even if you do win, you'll never win he way I do." Arcanine said, bursting into a sea of laughter.

"Is that so?" A voice said. Out of the bushes came Blaziken. He was too a fast runner. He run just as much races as Arcanine. "I couldn't even beat you in race?" Luxray, Rapidash and Lucario gasped.
Arcanine's laughter came to a halt. "Of course I could beat you. I wouldn't beat you, I would school you!"
Blaziken grinned. "Is that so?"
"Yup. That's what I just said."
"Fine then, Arcanine, you're on! Tommorow at noon, we will race in Solrock Desert."
"Okay then! Prepare to get beat!"

Solrock Desert was no ordinary desert. Unlike most deserts, Solrock Desert had pleny of trees. But it was just as sultry and scorching there as any other desert.

Arcanine spent the rest of the day running and racing other Pokemon and preparing for the big race with Blaziken. And Luxray, Rapidash, and Lucario spread the word about the big race.

Then, the next day rolled around and noon finally came.
Everyone was at Solrock Desert, waiting for the two Pokemon to appear.
Blaziken appeared first, and Arcanine second.
Everyone cheered widly, while some others watched nervously, biting their claws.

"So, Blaziken, where will we be racing?" Arcanine asked.
"We will be racing to the dry creek. It's about half-a-mile away. You have to race there and back once." Blaziken answered.
"Fine then. May the best win." Arcanine grinned.
"Yeah, may the best win."

Everyone went silent as Blaziken and Arcanine got into their running stances.

"On your mark..." A Solrock said. "Get set...GO!"

Blaziken and Arcanine tore away. Everyone cheered again.
Everything was going great until "CRACK!"
Blaziken hit his powerful foot against a palm tree. The tree fell down against another tree and a tiny ember was born, and grew and grew until it engulfed both of the trees and slowly began spreading! Pokemon screamed and tore away, all except for a few brave ones, like Luxray, Rapidash and Lucario, who would watch no matter what.
The fire spread faster and faster each moment, but thus didn't stop Blaziken and Arcanine.

A few minutes of smoke and flames later, Blaziken and Arcanine were only seconds from the dried up creek.
"C'mon!" Luxray shouted. "C'mon, Blaziken!"
Arcanine managed to get slightly in front of Blaziken. And he was just about to make it to the dry creek when...

"Aaaaaaaereraagaghhhhhhhh!" A scream of pain emitted from Arcanine. A shower of hot twigs fell on his orange fur. He shook the steamy twigs off his fur. And Blaziken dashed in front of him, leaving him in the dust. Blaziken finally made it to the dry creek. And before Arcanine could, too! Blaziken had won!

Arcanine weakly stood up. "Ouch..." He limped to the creek, but realized he epically failed to win.
"I won, Arcanine. You lost."
Arcanine sighed and looked down. "I know...you beat me..."
Blaziken smiled with happiness. The fire eventually expired. The crowd of Pokemon returned and cheered on Blaziken.
Arcanine sighed and approached Luxray, Rapidash and Lucario. "I can't believe I lost!" He complained. "I thought I was the best, not him!"
"Well, looks like you've gotten a taste of our medicine. Don't worry, it'll be alright." Lucario said.
"Yeah, Arcanine, you were great." Rapidash added.
"Hey, Arcanine, take a load of your fur!" Luxray said suddenly.

Arcanine gazed at his fur. Black markings were all over it from the firey twigs!
Arcanine gasped. "No, my fur is ruined!" He said.
He collasped onto the ground, sobbing. His friends, including Blaziken began cheering him up.

And soon enough, the striped Arcanine found a mate and then, his children were stripey like him, just like today!

Now we know why Arcanine and Growlithe have stripes now. They were burns. Ones that never went away. Just because Arcanine was a Fire-type, didn't mean his fur couldn't get burned.
*********
Whew! There, hoped you liked it! Post/Comment below please!
 
You know, I love this kind of story. You adding a Pokemon twist made it even better~

Compared to some of your other writings, this one is by far the best. ^^ A few more details here and there might add some more to the story, though. One thing I don't get is how the burns were passed on to Arcanine's children, since they are not in his genes.

I also like some of the similes you threw in there. Like how you compared Arcanine and Growlithe's fur to the sunset.

You should try writing some of these for how other Pokemon got their own features, like Mudkip's fin or Phanpy's trunk or something like that.

Great job~!
 
One thing I don't get is how the burns were passed on to Arcanine's children, since they are not in his genes.

Huh? Sorry if it's confusing on that part. I just figured that it would become like a mystery of how the "stripes" Arcanine recieved and how they were passed on. I mean, you can't give everything an answer in a story, right?

But thanks for your good review! And yes, I should make more fables. In fact, I will ^^
 
Right, first thing I'll say is~

You totally took this off of How the Leopard Got His Spots, or whatever it was. (Tiger got his Stripes? I forget.)

That doesn't mean, however, the story was bad! I liked the adaptation of it, and your choice of Pokemon worked out fairly nicely, especially since Blaziken can get Speed Boost recently. However, I spotted some grammatical errors, and you could flesh out the people more, adding more description and whatnot. My other qualm happens to be: Why call it Solrock desert? You said unlike most, it has plenty of trees. That, er, doesn't really connect with Solrock at all, maybe more Torterra or Tropius.

Either way, it was fine, if not a little short. ♥
 
Oh I meant to say why it was called Solrock Desert but I was being called to do something and had to rush and stuff so yeah...

Thanks though!

(ps. and yes, it is based off of how the Tiger got his stripes)
 
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