Disclaimer: I do not claim any of the Pokemon characters used in this chapter, because they are all property of Satoshi Tajiri and I haven't stolen the rights from him yet. I bet he has people try that all the time, actually; probably has to have bodyguards and stuff.
Trivia: It actually took me a while to figure out what appears in the square. I puzzled for nearly an hour before the obvious choice hit me like a brick.
After the rain had stopped, they finally found the mankey they were looking for (after beating up several imposters), and Kitty stepped forward to explain the situation to the fighting-types as her companion tossed them a bag of peeled chestnuts. Eager to be paid to work again, they were quick to agree to the job and directions to the base; the umbreon smiled at their excited shrieks before she grabbed her badge to teleport her and Gengar back to town. Before she used it, however, she got a sudden idea and told him to hang on for a moment, then ran over to the mankey and whispered quickly, "Hey, can you guys do me a favor?"
They listened intently once she showed them another handful of chestnuts, and after they accepted her job she ran back to a curious ghost. She didn't give him the time to ask about it before she activated her badge, and the teleportation was unsettling enough to cause him to momentarily forget his question. Motion sickness was the only downside of such a reliable escape route, and she thanked it silently before turning to tell him a short good-bye. Unfortunately, it seemed he recovered faster than she thought and interrupted her with an inquisitive, "What was that?"
She blinked slowly, trying to seem as innocent as she could as she stared him down. "What was what? I don't know what you're talking about."
He narrowed his eyes suspiciously, then raised an eyebrow as if something had just occurred to him. "Hm . . . right. Well, I need to make sure Medicham hasn't destroyed all of town while I was gone." The way he talked about her made the fighter sound like an irritable wife, and she couldn't stop herself from giggling at his sour expression even as she wondered why he gave up so quickly. Is she really that destructive when he's off by himself? She could only imagine how Gengar was driving Medicham crazy with his constant disappearances to pester Team Foxfire (and her in particular) and began to understand why she held such a grudge against her. It explained a lot, really. She waved her tail in farewell to the ghost and watched his spiky back for a while, mulling over several things before deciding to retire for the day after noticing how low the sun hung in the sky.
She had a rude awakening and a lot of explaining to do the next morning when Sakura burst through her door, but after she soothed the worried venusaur the next few days were rather quiet–and boring. The cloudy sky hovered over the town for several days without letting loose, making her reluctant to go out and simply took some time off, and when the rain finally came down it poured so hard she couldn't leave without getting soaked to the bone. She slept most of that day away and woke up to a world that was bright with sunlight reflecting off of the morning dew–which hurt her eyes. She retreated to a dark dungeon to avoid the harsh light with piles of missions, and she barely made it to town to return her things before the sun began to set, casting everything the color of orange. As she was walking home, however, a shout from the bridge behind her pulled her attention towards the ghost jogging in her direction, and she examined his wide eyes for a moment before realization caused her to smile proudly at her handiwork.
"You!" He panted when he finally caught up to her, and he took a moment to catch his breath as she giggled uncontrollably at his obvious fatigue. She didn't know ghost-types could sweat, but a faint sheen on his forehead revealed the trivial fact to be true as he attempted to wipe it dry with his equally sweaty arm. He finally continued accusingly, "You . . . told the mankey to . . ."
"To give the base your likeness?" She smiled when he nodded, and she answered him with a trace of amusement in her voice when he looked too winded to interrogate her further. "Well, it's your base. Maybe it can help remind Medicham who the boss is." Her words seemed to stun him into keeping silent, but the question was still in his eyes as he made faces trying to find a way to word it. She saved him the trouble, however, by quietly telling him, "You've changed a lot, Gengar, and . . . good deeds are never forgotten." She gave him a genuine smile, albeit a small one. "And you still owe me lots of tea, you know."
For a moment, his mouth just hung open in utter disbelief as he absorbed what she had told him, and then it snapped shut to become a very pleased smirk that strangely didn't bother her. "Kekeh, what a pleasant surprise," he mumbled, crossing his arms as he looked down at her. "That was awfully considerate of you. Does that mean . . . you've finally fallen for my irresistible charm?" She snorted and turned her back to him, flicking her tail in a dismissive manner even though she knew he'd follow her regardless as she started towards her own base. He quickly caught up to stroll beside her with his Cheshire-esque grin, poking her shoulder and snickering at the irritated grunt she gave in return. "Oh, you can admit it! I won't laugh, I promise." Winking conspiratorially, he whispered, "Kekeh, it was inevitable, after all."
"In your dreams," was her reply, although it was distorted by bubbly laughter towards his predictably ridiculous behavior. He's so over the top, it's hilarious! Trying to hide her amusement and failing, she turned her face away to look at the darkening sky, hoping he didn't see through her façade and realize how much she enjoyed his company now. She had absolutely no clue that he was planning something of his own to surprise her with.
A few mornings later, after being swamped by missions that had waited just for dry weather to be sent to her mailbox, she sleepily dragged her feet down the dirt path and yawned widely in her supposed solitude. "Sucks being Platinum Rank," she mumbled to no one in particular, and she jumped with a squeak when she was unexpectedly answered by a presence she noticed only after he spoke up.
"That's what happens when you're super awesome!" Kitty whirled around to stare at Caterpie in surprise, wondering when the bug-type had gotten there before thanking him shyly for his compliment. He puffed out his chest, or the equivalent on his worm-like body, and stated boldly, "That's why, when I grow up, I wanna be just like you!"
"Err . . . right." She laughed lightly, telling him, "I'm sure you don't want to be taken from your world, changed into something else, lied to, temporarily an exile . . ."
He rolled his eyes and nudged her leg playfully. "No, silly! I meant leading a rescue team and saving the world!" He laughed with her, and then he suddenly sped up to crawl ahead of her towards town, calling back to her, "Come on, Kitty, I wanna show you something cool!"
Curious about what got him excited, she jogged after him across the bridge and entered the square to find a crowd of pokemon had already gathered there. Caterpie was nowhere to be seen. "Caterpie? Hey, where'd you go?" Her voice gained a few pokemon's attentions, and they ushered her towards the center of the group with whispered encouragement, patting her on the shoulder and lightly pushing her forward. "Uh, wait, what's going on–" Her soft gasp robbed her of any other protests she could have thought of at the moment, too shell-shocked to find words to describe her astonishment.
Standing in the center of the square was a new ornament to decorate the town: A stone statue of an eevee and a bulbasaur standing with determined expressions on their faces had been erected in honor of Kitty and Sakura's exploits, and she saw what looked to be clouds at their feet as a tribute to their venture to Sky Tower. She stood in awe of the monument, wondering who had made it and why, and then she caught sight of Team A.C.T. grouped behind the statue with satisfied looks on their faces. She ran over to them so fast she nearly tripped over her own paws, and she asked them, "D-did you guys do this?"
Tyranitar nodded with a cheerful grin, and the fire lizard beside him explained, "We both worked together to get the basic shape and Alakazam did the details. Do you know how hard it is to do fur?" He chuckled at her mock-scoff before he admitted he had had fun doing it. "It's the least we could do, since you two saved the world and all."
"W-wow . . . thank you. All of you!" Quickly blinking away happy tears, she cleared her throat to make sure her voice wouldn't crack before inquiring curiously, "What made you do this now, though? It seems so sudden."
"Actually . . ." She glanced at the psychic-type curiously, eyeing his amused expression with interest as a small grin appeared on his vulpine face. "This wasn't our idea."
She blinked. ". . . What?"
He chuckled and waved her curiosity aside, simply telling her it was an "old friend." "He's helped you before, you know. He'd be glad to do it again." She was confused by his statement but decided to take his word for it, knowing this wasn't the first time he had been vague in his explanations and turning to examine the statue closely. She had forgotten what she looked like before she evolved, even though it wasn't much longer than two months ago, and she wondered to herself if she was really that adorable as an eevee. I'm thinking they had a little artistic freedom with this. Sakura's cheery expression was spot on, however, and she examined it with a wistful smile before something caught her eye underneath the statues. Words were engraved on the pedestal the two figures stood on, and she tilted her head to the side curiously before walking around to examine it a better angle–finding the only clue she needed to figure out who had suggested this sculpture.
" "Good deeds are never forgotten," " she whispered to herself, and a smile, brighter than even the stone copy of her partner could attempt to make, found its way onto her face as she glanced around curiously for any sign of the ghost she needed to thank. She couldn't pick him out from the rest of the pokemon, however, and she settled on telling him the next time he sought her out to pester her as she quickly wiped away the happy tears that threatened to spill out of her eyes. God, I hope he isn't actually here and seeing me cry! Eager to wipe her face dry, she was startled by the bug she had completely forgotten about in all of the excitement as he sidled up to bounce energetically beside her.
"So! Did you like it? Was it cool? It's cool, isn't it?"
She smiled and licked the top of his head in what she supposed was a reassuring way. "Yeah," she murmured, dearly wishing she could say this to the ghost himself, "it's the best gift I've ever been given."
Theme: Forgotten
Lots of dragon-y love (and cookies!),
~DL ("Dragon Lover")