Loyalty: the story of Hound the Ice Houndour

Slowly, the sun set over the Whirlpool Islands, and the lonely pokémon lying 
on the beach. With his paw set gently on his ice colored paws, Hound watched 
as the sun set. For years now, he had loyally waited for his owner, the ice 
master Ariton, to come back. Lifting his head as the darkness swarmed over 
the islands, Hound let out a howl that echoed throughout the whirlpool caves. 
All of his feelings were inside, sadness and hope for Ariton to return soon.

Unknown to Hound, deep within the whirlpool caves lay Articuno. The ice bird 
of legend had been sleeping for many years, but awoke to the howl. Lifting 
his bright plumed head, Articuno listened. The howl was from a rare Ice 
Houndour! Stretching its wings, Articuno pushed off and began to fly, 
following the sound.

Dodging pokémon and rocks, Articuno flew low and fast. He had to reach the 
sound that was growing progressively weaker. Suddenly, he burst out of the 
cave, long tail glittering in the starlight. Gaining height, he looked around 
and saw the pokémon. It was on Whirl Island 4, the furthest out to sea. 

Descending slowly, Articuno focused and realized that the Ice houndour was 
weak and thin. His howl had mentioned something about Ariton. Poking the 
resting Houndour with his beak, Articuno asked about the Artion. For hours, 
Articuno and Hound spoke, trading stories of trying to be caught. But, soon 
the sun came up and Articuno led the lonely pokémon down towards the bottom 
of the Whirl Islands.
 
For 10 years, the two walked up every night to Whirl Island 4, looking for 
Ariton. Loyal to the end, Hound watched the sunset, waiting for the boat that 
would carry his friend back. But, after 20 years, there came a time when 
Hound couldn’t return to the beach. Even though Articuno couldn’t make him 
move, he could see his memories.

*Hatching from an egg, Hound first saw a young Arion, about 7. He was a 
simple pet for awhile, but when Arion gained his pokémon license, Hound was 
the first on his team. Given an ever stone to hold, Hound realized that Arion 
deemed him perfect the way he was. There were multiple times when Hound’s 
Sheer Cold attack saved the team from destruction, and together the two beat 
the elite 4 on their own. Combined with Fire Fang, Thunder Fang and Crunch, 
Sheer Cold made the perfect offense. Then, the day when Arion came and told 
him that it was time to go. Together, they had set out for Whirl Island 4, 
where Arion set sail and told Hound to wait for him. 

“I’ll be back boy! Don’t you leave because I will bring you home a friend!”

At sunset, Arion had set out for an undisclosed location on the original SS 
Anne. Then, he never came back.*

Pulling out of the memories, Articuno realized what his friend had gone 
through. No matter what, Hound had become truly loyal to a human. With all 
the power he could muster, Articuno used blizzard and paid tribute to his 
gone friend. Blocking off an entrance to a side cave, Articuno searched long 
and far and finally found Arion.

Placing the two side by side, Articuno blocked all entrances to the side cave 
and buried the two together, a rare ice stone between them. Walking outside, 
Articuno watched the sunset one last time. It was a beautiful and terribly 
sad Christmas for the legendary bird. In the end, Hound the Ice Houndour had 
finally gotten his wish. He had been buried with his long time friend and 
master, Arion. Raising his head, Articuno lifted his voice and began to sing. 
Even around the world, trainers and pokémon alike say that they can still 
here Articuno’s voice when the sun sets on Christmas.