Funny, how the one day when you need to have all five of your Pokémon out, you don't. In fact, Blair had all five walking with her since as far as she could remember, or at least since she's had them all together. But today it just happens that she wanted to spend some quality time with her Arcanine, and look where it got her.

In trouble, as always.

Her head was down as she walked, cappuccino-colored hair tumbling over her eyes. Among other things, she fleetingly thought that it was really time for a haircut. The hair in back was almost touching her neck, which she absolutely would not stand for in this Kanto summer heat. A puff of air from her lips ruffled the bangs, and a breeze blew them up further. She sighed, and raised her head.

Arcanine glanced at her, moving his large body over to bump playfully against hers. She smiled a small smile, despite the gesture.

"It's been weird lately, you know that, Arcanine?"

The dog Pokémon made a small, somber noise. The sound fell and was lost in the air.

"I miss travelling with them," she confessed. Arcanine glanced at her, a little worried. Sentiments like this weren't exactly normal coming from his trainer. The Pokémon looked to where five others were waiting.

Blair noticed him staring at her belt, and brought her hand to rest on the pokéballs there. "Alright, I'm sorry. In the end, I'm happy as long as I have you guys. But… well, I don't know if you ever get lonely."

Arcanine changed his gait a little, swaying slightly in the wind and thinking about that. Did he ever get lonely? He'd been with Blair such a long, long time…

"Didn't you take to any of their teams? I thought you had a little thing for his Frosslass."

Arcanine looked away, his face heating up a bit. Well, the ice- and ghost-type Pokémon was undeniably tough and admirable, and she was the most graceful thing he had ever laid eyes on... He shook his head a little wonderingly at these thoughts, but in the end he got tired of thinking and turned back without really coming to a conclusion.

Blair gave a lopsided grin when she saw his expression. "Well, however you feel about it, I miss them. And it sucks. Sinnoh and Hoenn! Well, half of Sinnoh, but that's still an entire region and a half. It was... nice, having my best friends in the region north of home..."

Arcanine just nodded, understanding most of what she was saying. She stopped talking after that, worried that the questions dominating her mind for the past two years would resurface yet again. It was only frustrating, she reminded herself, and it's not going to help anyone. There was the why questions that she couldn't answer, and then there were the what should I do? There wasn't anything she could do, or at least that's what she told herself.

There it was. That was the thing that gnawed at her gut in the night. More than why, more than how, the thing that haunted her most was the thought that, right then, she should be–

They were dangerously deep in thought, both of them. She knew it wasn't smart to get separated from her Pokémon, but she couldn't help it when her body froze up to concentrate on a single thought. And Arcanine knew it wasn't smart to get separated from his trainer, but he really couldn't help that she had made him question some things, and he didn't notice when she stopped walking and he kept on.

So when there was something that required their attention, both their guards were completely off. And Arcanine was several paces ahead of her.

A figure shot from the thick brush lining the path. Blair tensed as she felt a hard arm around her neck. Something cold was pressed to her throat, and it held the expectation of pain. She was stunned, taking up precious moments to even register what was happening. Danger! shouted her brain. She reached up to grab her attacker's arm, making sure he left breathing space. Then she began to take in the situation.

By then, the dog had started and turned around to see what was wrong. When he did just that, fire immediately erupted in Arcanine's eyes. His species was well known for being protective of its trainer, and he was enraged by this... scum that dared to threaten her. Hostile growls poured from Arcanine's throat. Behind her, Blair could feel her attacker trembling. The small pocket knife held to her throat was unnervingly shaky. She squirmed a bit to look at his face, which was right behind hers, being about the same height. He looked to be a few years younger.

His face seemed calm, but shaking knees gave away his fear.

"Do you want to get yourself killed?" Blair asked, whispering harshly. The blade vibrated with each word. "Arcanine will have you dead in a second. All it takes is a wrong move."

"That's what I'm counting on." Unlike his body, his voice did not crack, rather it was infused with something else. Resolve, maybe. His eyes looked straight ahead into Arcanine's.

Blair froze, then panicked. Suddenly a small danger as a boy with a pocket knife wasn't all there was to worry about. "Stop it! What are you doing?" She cried out, confused. He was trying to kill himself. No. That wasn't right at all. She yelled and bit at his wrist, but he only winced, as if he was used to pain there. She couldn't step away from him, though, or else... she didn't want to think about it.

"You hate me now, right, Arcanine? Come get me. Bite me." He wasn't joking, Blair realized, as the situation hit her. All of the insults in her head would've been hurled towards the boy if it weren't such a dire time right then. She wouldn't let her Pokémon become a murderer. And she wouldn't let this punk kid die in front of her!

"Arcanine, stop! Listen to me!" She put all she had into the command, but the Pokémon was beyond reason.

"Shut up," the boy hissed. "It's okay."

While Blair didn't care for the boy's death wish, Arcanine was more than willing to oblige. When the kid suddenly pushed Blair aside and left himself open for attack, Arcanine was crashing toward him in a heartbeat. The boy didn't have time for a last look at the world, he simply closed his eyes and hoped Arcanine were quick killers.

There was a scream and blood splattered onto his face.

It wasn't his blood.

"Aw, shit," a voice rasped, then coughed. Ow. Maybe jumping in front of an enraged Arcanine wasn't such a good idea. Oh well, too late now. She tried to move her head, and found she could if she went very slowly. Behind her, still standing still in shock, was the boy.

He trembled, harder than he had mere minutes ago and dropped the pocket knife he held. Before him, stained with her own blood, was a girl mauled by her own Arcanine. Because of him. He crumpled to his knees.

"Ar...canine," she rasped some more. Her voice was hampered by pain. "Help, please? Don't... kill him... or I'll be very angry." It took an eternity to get the words out.

The boy's heart beat faster. Hospital? That sounded right. The gears in his head cranked slowly to life. She was bleeding. Stop the bleeding. He stripped off his shirt, intending to try to stop the flow of blood, but Arcanine quickly intervened.

"Please, move aside. She needs help."

The Pokémon simply shot him a withering glare. But the glare turned to guilt when he faced his trainer, bloodied and weak. Her eyes were closed now, unconscious. He messed up. He didn't protect her. He shouldn't have even let the boy get to her in the first place – was he getting rusty in his prime? He was failure as an Arcanine. As a Pokémon.

The Arcanine shook his head. No time for self-pity now. He nosed his way to her belt, touching the button of a pokéball there. The fifth one.

The standard red light emerged, and a small brown sheep-like creature appeared. Its orange eyes turned fearful when it saw its trainer lying on the ground in such a condition. Arcanine barked and the Whimsicott rushed to oblige. Placing the soft mane of cotton that grew from its head onto its trainer's wound helped staunch the flow of blood. She still needed treatment, and quickly.

"I'll help put her on your back," the boy offered, but he was refused with a flamethrower to his feet. Arcanine opened two more pokéballs, revealing an Mawile and a Luxray, who assisted in transporting Blair from the ground to the large fire-type's back. They made to take off in the direction of the next town, but the boy's cries stopped them.

"Take me, too," he pleaded. He was on the verge of tears. "I owe your trainer."

Luxray stepped forward despite Arcanine's disapproving look, and crouched ever so slightly. The boy quickly wiped away his tears and climbed on. As they continued, Blair's murmur could not be heard over the wind, but she said a weak thanks nonetheless.