Kurt runs, as fast as he can without tripping. He can't trip, not now, he can't let her be hurt more than she already is. He knows he's going in the right direction, but it's still so far… A soft mewl makes him halt to a stop and he looks down.
"Shush, sweetie. I know it hurts. Just rest, okay?"
As his little Vulpix sighs and closes her eyes, Kurt starts moving again. He keeps his arms around her carefully, trying to make sure he doesn't touch her where she's hurt the most; her left front paw. As he turns a corner on the path, he notices a sign. He speeds up and makes a short sprint towards it, but looking at it, he's disappointed again. The nearest Pokémon Center is still miles away. Never before he hated that he can only carry six Pokémon so bad; with his latest switch he left Luxray behind. He could have taken them to the Pokémon Center in no time at all. He loves his other Pokémon, but right now he's wondering what he was thinking. Houndour and Glaceon are too small to carry them, Quagsire would have been useful in a river or something, but there isn't any water here, and even without looking at their size, Budew and Gastly aren't made for carrying anything at all.
Kurt soon as he catches his breath, he starts running again. It's his only option.
About half a mile further, Kurt hears a sound behind him. At first he just keeps running, not bothering to look around, but the sound keeps coming closer. He stops and turns around to see an Arcanine running towards him, a guy on his back. As they get close enough, they stop as well, next to Kurt. The guy smirks down at him.
"Where are you off to in such a hurry, doll face?" the guy asks. On any other day, Kurt would make Glaceon Ice Beam that guy until he was an ice cube, but today he won't.
"To the Pokémon Center," Kurt says, showing the guy the little Vulpix in his arms. "She's hurt."
The smirk falls off the guy's face, concern taking over. "Damn, she doesn't look good." He exchanges a look with his Arcanine. "You up for it?" he asks and Arcanine nods and growls in affirmative. The guy slides back and pats the back of his Arcanine in front of him. "You heard the guy, hop on. We'll get you to the Pokémon Center in no time."
Kurt hesitates. He knows he has to get to the Pokémon Center fast, but this guy was just hitting on him. Will he really take him there? The guy seems to sense his dilemma.
"Don't worry," he says. "I promise I won't do anything." He blinks, then adds; "Well, not until your Vulpix is getting the help she needs. Then all bets are off. You are very hot, after all."
Kurt sighs. He knows his options are limited, and if he keeps running himself, it will take ages before he get there. He can't let his little Vulpix suffer like that if there is another option.
"Alright," Kurt says.
"Come on," the guy says, extending his hand. "You'll sit in front of me and keep holding on to Vulpix, I will make sure we don't fall off, okay?"
"Sounds good," Kurt says, grabbing the hand and letting the guy help him climb up onto Arcanine. "And thank you."
"Don't worry your pretty little head about it," the guy says, wrapping an arm around Kurt. "Let's go, Arcanine." Arcanine starts running and within a few seconds Kurt is glad that he's being held. Otherwise he would have fallen of already, with him not being able to grab onto Arcanine while holding Vulpix.
"I'm Sebastian, by the way," the guy says suddenly. Kurt startles a bit from the breath on his ear and he has to shake his head a tiny bit before he manages a reply.
"I'm Kurt," he tells him, relaxing just a tiny bit as they speed off. It's still quite the distance, but now he will get there soon. "Not much longer now," he whispers to Vulpix. "We'll be there before you know it."
"What happened?" Sebastian asks.
"Team Rocket," Kurt says. He doesn't need to elaborate, just mentioning them is explanation enough, but he decides to explain. "We just started training. I'm a Coordinator and I almost always carry some young Pokémon with me to practice with them. Vulpix is the youngest on my current team. I was a little doubtful, but she wanted to start practicing herself. So when I found a quiet, open place in forest, I decided that it would be ideal. You know, no pressure from others looking at her. We started basic, just running around for a while. Then it became clear that it wasn't such a safe spot." He sighs, softly stroking Vulpix's head.
"Team Rocket was there?" Sebastian asks, worry in his voice.
"Yes," Kurt answers. "I don't know exactly what happened, but suddenly they were there. Four of them. Without any hesitation, one made his Hitmonlee kick Vulpix. And with the team I currently have with me, I couldn't take them on. Two of them, yes. But not all of them. So I picked Vulpix up and made a run for it. They came after us, but I was faster. As soon as I was back on the road I started heading for the closest town. And, well, here we are."
Sebastian is silent for a moment. Kurt looks over his shoulder, looking into Sebastian's eyes, which are a lovely shade of green. They're drawn together in frown though. "Everything alright?" Kurt asks.
"Yeah," Sebastian says, giving a nod. "Just…" he starts to say, but he clearly changes his mind. "You should talk to Officer Jenny. There have been more incidents in the area and she wants to know about all of them, trying to find where they originate from."
"Oh, I will go and talk to her, then," Kurt says. "How do you know, though? You from around here?"
Sebastian smiles. "Yes, I grew up in the area. I'm on my way to visit my parents."
"Lucky for me, you decided to go there today," Kurt says and he smiles a bit, before looking forward again.
He thinks he isn't supposed to catch it, but he does hear it as Sebastian mutters under his breath. "Lucky for me, too."
It's in no time at all that Arcanine runs into town. It's around dinner time, so the streets are pretty empty and Sebastian lets Arcanine run all the way to the Pokémon Center in the middle of the town.
"Thanks, Arcanine," Kurt says as he slides of his back. Before he can also thank Sebastian, the guy slides to the ground as well and returns Arcanine to his Poké Ball. For a moment they just look at each other. Then Sebastian lays his hand on Kurt's back and leads him into the Pokémon Center. "Let's get that little one to Nurse Joy."
Though it feels much longer, it's not even two hours later when Nurse Joy comes to tell him that Vulpix is going to be just fine and just needs to rest now. Kurt sighs with relief, finally able to relax. In the last hours he's talked to Officer Jenny, after Sebastian went to get her so Kurt could stay in the Pokémon Center. He's told her all about what happened that day and Officer Jenny has promised him that she will get Team Rocket.
Kurt smiles as he walks into the room that Nurse Joy shows him to and gets greeted by a happy sounding Vulpix.
"I'm glad to see you're okay, sweetie," he says as he takes her in his arms and gives her a hug. He turns around and smiles at Sebastian, who followed him into the room. "I can't thank you enough for helping me today," he says, heartfelt.
"I told you, don't worry about it. I'm glad I could help and that Vulpix is fine," Sebastian says, looking a bit awkward at being thanked like that.
"I just wish I could do something to thank you," Kurt says with a small shrug.
The smirk that Sebastian had when they met returns to his face. "Well, you could always let me take you out," he says. "On a date, if that wasn't clear."
"Oh," Kurt says, surprised. "Well, I…" As he searches for words, Vulpix puts a paw on his face and makes an encouraging sound, which makes Kurt chuckle. "All right, I'll go out with you."
Sebastian's smirk slides into a more honest smile. "Great. I'll call you tomorrow, okay? Right now I have to go to the parents and let them fuss over me."
Kurt laughs. "Have fun with that. Or good luck?"
"The luck, for sure," Sebastian says with a laugh of his own. "Good night, Kurt."
"You too, Sebastian," Kurt says with a wave as Sebastian leaves the room. As soon as the footsteps fade away, Kurt makes a happy twirl. "I don't like you getting hurt," he tells Vulpix. "But today didn't turn out too bad, huh?" He sits down and Vulpix cuddles into his chest. "I'm actually looking forward to that call," he says softly, watching as Vulpix yawns and falls asleep in his arms.