Not the Sand Again
“Rough come on. You’re usually the good one.” Derek sighed as Rough growled. His trainer had dragged him back to the cursed beach again! While he didn't mind the water the sand here got stuck in his fur forever. Even with Flit’s help it took ages to get himself clean. He’d just accepted it before but he was finally putting his foot down. He would not be going onto that beach again. Why his trainer didn’t just take Oasis with him was beyond the poochyena. Oasis loved sand and loved the beach in general. It made so much more sense to use her and yet here they were.
Barking, Rough dug his heels in as Derek dragged him onto the sand. Rough growled lowly as soon as his paws met the sand. Great. Guess he’d be asking for Flit’s help again tonight. “It’s not that bad you big baby.” Derek said, rolling his eyes. “It’s just sand.”
“That’s the problem.” He grumbled. Which probably just sounded like whining to his trainer. Seeing a shot to maybe minimize the amount of sand that got into his fur he made a dash for the water. Sure the water would carry the sand but at least it also washed most of it away.
"Rough!" Derek yelled as he darted off. "Get back over here!" Rough glared at him from the water; he barked once and stood his ground. It was better there then on the sand and Derek would have to bodily lift him out if he wanted him to come. "You're being ridiculous." Derek tried, but Rough didn't budge. He could easily follow his trainer while staying in the water. There was no reason why he had to get sand all over himself to do so.
"Just suck it up Rough. I need your help.” Derek said gesturing for the poochyena to follow. Rough sighed but eventually gave in. There really was no point in acting like that. He just got riled up sometimes he supposed. Reluctantly he started to trail behind his trainer. Shaking himself off he bounded over to his trainer; there was no reason to try to be cautious now. It was already too late. “I know we’ve been coming here a lot but it’s mainly because you all need to be stronger before we head anywhere else. More team members will help, but it won’t be a quick fix. There are some explore zones that are pretty dangerous without strong pokemon.” Rough wolfed with indignation. He was plenty strong! “Yeah I know. Derek waved the annoyed poochyena off. “You just need to be stronger, along with the others. Walking around these safer areas allows you lot to get stronger, us to find useful items, or we could even find new pokemon. This beach is one of the best places we can go to at the moment safely.”
Derek stopped walking and Rough came to a stop behind him. “At the moment you listen to me the best out of everyone which is why I keep dragging you out here. I know you want to get stronger and I know I can get you there. Sometimes doing that means doing things you don’t like.”
Rough huffed, but nodded anyway. He knew his trainer wanted to help him get stronger which is why he followed him. Having come to investigate that honey was one of the best decisions of his life. It had been a pretty simple choice for his trainer to pick him over the meek bidoof that had also showed up. It probably helped that Rough had run it off but whatever. He would have been picked anyway. He’d known though that Derek was the trainer for him. A lot of different trainers had come through the park where he had lived, but he was drawn to none of them until Derek. That’s why he was happy to follow his trainer; despite what his teammates thought. They’d come around at some point he was sure.
“I’m glad we have an understanding.” Derek said starting to walk again. “It’ll all be worth it don’t you worry.” Rough really hoped so.