Hands reached for them, the laughter of a child following it as they hissed, fur puffing up and small paws skittering back carefully. "Don't touch me" They growled softly, their tone less threatening then a careful warning, unease rippling through their lean form. Oblivious, small chubby hands reached for their soft silken tawny coat again, and flattening large ears, they danced even further back, fluffy tail brushing against the wall as they snapped their head around to glance behind them. Scarlet eyes skittered around the room, and a sharp barking whine drew attention to them as they tilted their head up and to the side, glaring at the child with upraised nose, the hint of teeth showing on their white muzzle. They wouldn't strike if they didn't have to, but this cub wasn't listening, and they felt their pelt prickling dangerously as fingers loomed closer, oily pads reaching for their flanks again.

Hands grasped them, and they growled in startlement as they were lifted from the ground, legs dangling helplessly beneath them as they scrabbled against nothing. In a moment their footing, their strength, their solid ground with which they held, gone, as they were left hanging in midair, large ears flat against their skull as their bushy pale tail lashed, a whine sounding through their muzzle unhappily. < No! > They yowled soft in their throat, anger and fear giving strength to what otherwise might have been a mere brush of a whisper, a whimper in their throat. "Shhh, it's just me" a male voice murmured, hands steady, firm but not tight, the smell of cigarette smoke harsh in their nostrils yet comforting in its familiarity even as they wrinkled their nostrils against the offensive smell. He was lucky the pokemon didn't often try to tell on him... but then again they didn't want him to leave, and many of the others didn't either. He was very direct and blunt at times, but he watched after them.

The fox's feet found the top of the desk a few minutes later, safe out of the reach of the very young trainer to be. A frown was on the man's face as he casually flicked a pen in a gloved hand, quiet words exchanged with the aspiring trainer. Unpleasant words perhaps, in the fox's opinion the child was hardly fit to be a trainer at all, and certainly not theirs. Not the way they had grabbed at them, touching their fur without permission, trying to hold them and.... and pick them up. Shaking out their fur with a sharp watchful look at the child, they began to groom themselves, wary. A pleading glance was shot them, and turning their nose up, they ignored the child's attempts at looking pathetic, turning their back on the cub as it began to cry.

Perhaps they did feel bad about making it cry, but they were not willing to give in no matter what. The child was escorted sternly from the building with promises of being given another chance perhaps in a year or two when they had time to think it over more, then the door was closed and the monster gone. They weren't trying to be cruel to it, but if it couldn't respect them it didn't deserve them. Certainly not some child, though they probably wouldn't have gone with the trainer even if it wasn't a child. They hadn't gone with any trainer yet... well, one or two, but never for long. They couldn't stand being treated like... like an animal. Or being given expectations on how to act and how to be. They weren't a battler, they weren't a show pokemon, and they weren't a breeding object. They were... themselves.

Was it really that hard to understand? Flicking their tail in agitation, they tugged at a tuft of fur, a glance slightly sullen towards the man until he reached for the brush drawer, sharp silent gaze noting their most recent activity. Perking up, they stopped their grooming, waiting patiently for gentle hands to begin brushing their fur, relaxing as it worked through their knots, firm but not beyond what they had long established as their comfort zone. They loved their independence, but it wasn't like they disliked people or refused to work with them. They just wanted... to be respected and understood and not pushed into things.

They just had to wait for a trainer who understood them and would let them take things their way without being stupid or trying to put expectations of something else upon them. It would happen... one day.