Yui's Journey – The Tokko Adventures
Chapter 11 – Of Love and Waterslides…
"I don't even know where we're going right now!" Yui exclaimed, looking around among the huge buildings that towered above her. "This city is huge…"
"Hard to believe that this place doesn't even have a gym, isn't it?" Morty added.
The group of four – Yui, Morty, Falkner and Teal – were in the middle of Aurora City, a huge tourist's landmark right in the middle of Tokko. They had only been in the city for about three hours, and they had already gotten themselves completely lost about four times. Now, they were standing in front of a flower shop that Yui had insisted that they check out, and as soon as they had walked out they had forgotten where they were, and which direction they had come from.
"Falkner, you've been here before, right?" asked Teal. "You must have spent a lot of time here when you visited Tori."
"Uh…. Not really," he replied. "We spent most of our time up in Sky Town. We hardly ever came down here."
"Just great," Teal said. "How are we supposed to find our way around the city?"
"Well… We know where the flower shop is!" Yui said, smiling stupidly and pointing behind her. Teal and Falkner sweat-dropped, but Morty just looked down at Yui with a big smile.
"You're cute even when you're lost," he said. Yui returned his smile, and hugged him around the shoulders.
"I'm cute all the time, Morty!" she laughed.
"Yes… yes, I suppose you are," he said.
"Aww," Falkner said in a mockingly-cute voice. "Okay, I hate to break you two up so soon, but shouldn't we be trying to find out where we are?"
"Yeah," Yui sighed, letting go of Morty's shoulders. "I want to go to that water park!"
"Me too!" Teal said. "I think I saw it… But we went by it too quickly. I don't remember where it was."
Yui perked up. "Let's backtrack!" she said. "We have to get there!!"
"YES!" Teal cried. The two girls looked around… and their shoulders drooped as they both let out a sigh of disappointment at the exact same moment.
"Now what?" Morty questioned.
"We have no idea which direction we came from," Teal sighed, sitting herself on the sidewalk.
"Oh yeah," Falkner said, slumping down beside her. "This city is hopeless…"
"We should just keep walking," Morty said. "That's the only way we could hope to find something."
Yui nodded, looking around a bit more. "Yeah, get up, you guys!" she said. "I think I know where to go!"
Falkner stood, offering Teal a hand and helping up to her feet. "How would you know?" he asked. "You're just as lost as us… if not more."
The red-haired trainer frowned in response to his comment. "I just… know," she said. "Let's go!"
"Should we go?" Teal asked, watching as her friend took off down the sidewalk.
"Well, we're not getting anywhere just sitting around," Morty commented, following after Yui.
Falkner's eyes went wide. "Let's not get separated," he said, motioning for Teal to follow him as he darted after the others.
"See? I told you I knew what I was doing." Yui smirked as she looked up at the neon sign hanging from the tall building; "Aurora Water Park."
"I never would have believed it," Teal said. "This had to have been a lucky fluke…"
"More than likely," Falkner said, "but at least we're here."
The group stepped inside the building; the scent of chlorine caught their attention as they walked up to the cashier. Each paid their way in, and they all retreated to their respective changing rooms.
In the girls' room, Teal and Yui rented out a locker and got out their bathing suits, heading for a couple of cubicles near the doors to the pool area. Teal changed quickly into her aqua-blue bathing suit; it was quite a fancy one. It was covered with glitter, and the middle was cut out in the shape of an oval around her belly button. She tied her hair back into her usual ponytail, and walked out of the cubicle to meet up with Yui.
"So, how do I look?" Yui asked, seeing the awed expression that crossed her friend's face. "Do you think Morty will like it?"
"I don't have a doubt in my mind," Teal said, smirking. Yui was wearing a black bikini top with a picture of an Umbreon imprinted on the left side. A couple of golden diamonds were stuck down around it; they looked like stars surrounding the image of the nocturnal Pokemon. The bottom part of the bikini was the same black shade, but it had no Pokemon picture, just more of the gold gems.
"Great!" Yui laughed. "Let's get out there and show him!"
"Hey, wait," Teal said, glaring mischievously at her friend. "Why would you care what Morty thought of it?"
Yui blushed, turning her head away. "No reason," she replied quickly. "I bet Falkner will like yours…"
"Hey! What does that have to do with anything?" Teal shot back, chasing Yui as she ran through the doors into the pool room.
"So you admit that it's true," Yui joked, smiling. Teal balled her fists and blushed, trying to erase the thought from her head.
"Now, now, girls, no fighting," Falkner laughed, walking out of the men's changing room. Teal blushed even harder; thinking about the possibility of Falkner having some kind of interest in her was one thing. But having him stand there in nothing but a pair of dark blue swimming trunks was a completely different story. She looked up and met his eyes; she thought she saw him smile for a split second, but he turned away quickly, looking out into the crowded water park. Teal couldn't see it from where she stood, but a light blush had crossed his cheeks…
Yui looked from side to side, shifting her pose anxiously. "Where's Morty?" she thought aloud. "I wanna go swim!"
"Right here," he said, walking out from the doorway where Falkner had come from. Like his fellow gym leader, he wore nothing but a pair of shorts, but his were identical in color to Yui's suit. For once, he wasn't wearing his trademark headband; his blonde hair fell loosely around his face. He laid eyes on her, blinking excitedly and blushing. "Where… did you get that thing?"
"What, this?" Yui questioned playfully, doing a little spin for him. "Actually, I got it from Karen. It didn't fit her anymore."
"You look… very pretty," he told her. "She looks incredibly beautiful," he thought, making sure to keep his thoughts to himself. He bit his lower lip and looked down, trying to get his cheeks to stop going redder and redder by the minute. It didn't help that Yui walked up to him at that moment, linking her arm to his.
"Stop daydreaming, silly," she said, dragging him toward the water. "Teal and Falkner already went in. You don't want to stand here all day, do you?"
"No, of course not," he said, smiling and following her. "Of course, I wouldn't mind, as long as I could stand here with you…" His thoughts trailed off as his foot touched warm water; Yui had taken him all the way to the main pool. The wave pool was on, and small waves splashed around his legs.
"Come on!" Yui said, kneeling down and pushing herself out into the water. Morty waded out after her a little, and dove right into the water when he reached a deep enough level. He chased after Yui, splashing her whenever she poked her head out from under the waves.
"Hey!" she said, blocking his splashes. "Cut it out, Morty!" She splashed him in return, swimming forward and pushing back on his chest, trying to drive him away from her. He smirked and pushed her by the shoulders, and soon the two were engaged in an all-out water war. Yui threw Morty off to the side and tried to swim away; he grabbed her by the feet and tickled her, causing her to burst out laughing and kick water in his face. He sputtered, but recovered from the attack quickly and ran after Yui, who was trying to take off into the shallow end so she could run away. He grabbed her around the waist and pulled her close to him, leaning his head on her shoulder from behind.
"And just where are you going?" he questioned, hugging her tightly. Yui laughed, struggling playfully against his embrace.
"Let go of me, Morty!" she said between giggles. He smiled, and leaned even closer to her than before.
"Whatever you say, Yui," he said, depositing a quick kiss on her cheek before releasing her. She blushed, and turned around to face him. Suddenly, she didn't feel much like running away.
From a small hot tub near the edge of the wave pool, Teal and Falkner sat in the relaxing warm water, watching their two friends play around in the water. Things were starting to get interesting now; Yui had her arms around Morty's shoulders, and her head rested next to his as she hugged him. Her cheeks were visibly red.
"Any second now," Teal cheered, her gaze plastered on her friends. Yui pulled away from the hug slightly, but her arms were still sitting on Morty's shoulders. His arms had somehow wrapped themselves around her waist, and the two of them kneeled on the shore on the pool, looking into each other's faces. Yui shut her eyes, moving her face slowly closer to Morty's…
"Watch out!" Falkner suddenly said. Teal jumped, and stared at Falkner strangely; then looked back at Yui and Morty just as a huge wave came out of nowhere, knocking both of them over.
"Oh… Well, that just screws everything up!" Teal pouted. Falkner looked over at her, raising one eyebrow.
"I thought you used to like Morty."
"Used to, Falkner," she said, crossing her arms. "I like somebody else now."
"Oh? Who would that be?" he asked, making her jump.
"…None of your business!" she said, turning to face away from him. He smirked, and went back to watching Morty and Yui.
As the waves washed over her body, Yui blinked slowly, looking at Morty. She had been so close to doing what she had wanted to do for the longest time… and it had just been messed up. She sighed, still blushing, and looked down at the ground. Small waves rippled around her, making her frown. She suddenly didn't like the wave pool very much…
Morty looked up at the ceiling, lost in thought. "She was going to kiss me," he privately said to himself. "She was really going to kiss me." He blushed profusely, looking over at Yui. She was standing up, smiling weakly at him.
"Want to… go down a waterslide or something?" she asked, brightening up a bit.
"Uh… Sure," he replied, following her out of the water. He decided to do exactly what she appeared to be doing; forget that the whole thing had happened.
Yui and the others spent the entire day at the water park; literally. The park closed at 11 PM, and the four of them were still inside at 10:58, waiting to be asked to leave before they made any effort to depart.
"Hey, Yui, it's about time to go," Teal said, watching her friend splash down into a pool of deep water from an aqua-blue colored slide.
"Okay, sure," Yui said. "Just one more slide!"
"If you say so, but the park's closing," Teal told her. "I don't even think the lifeguards are up there monitoring the slides anymore."
"That's okay, it won't take me long," chirped Yui. "One more, and then I'll meet you in the changing room."
"All right then," Teal agreed, heading for the ladies' changing room. Morty and Falkner had left long before then; Yui was one of the last people left in the park. As everyone made their way toward the exits, Yui quietly started climbing the steps up to the slides. There was nobody else up there; no slide operators, no other guests. She was pretty much alone.
"Eep… This is kind of scary," she said to herself as she ascended the steps to the "Dragon Rage", the longest slide in the park. "But this place is so much fun! I have to come back here tomorrow too!"
She finally reached the top of the long staircase; her legs ached, and she could hardly step up to the slide. When she climbed up to the platform, she froze; the water had already been turned off. The slide was pretty much dry, as were Yui's skin and bikini.
"Oh, lovely," she said to herself, looking back at the stairs. "There is no way I can walk back down all those stairs… And it'll take forever to get down this slide!!" She groaned, looking to the ground far below. "What could possibly make things any worse?"
And of course, on cue, things got worse; the lights in the building went off. The park was officially closed for the day.
"Great," Yui groaned, sitting down on the top of the slide and trying to push herself down. "This is going to be so much fun."
"Where is she?" Teal asked worriedly, waiting by the doors to the ladies' changing room. "She said one more slide, and she'd come out! Did she change her mind or something?"
"She should be out by now," said Morty, looking out into the pool area. "All the lights are off."
"What if she's not out?" Falkner wondered. "What if she got stuck?"
"They wouldn't let someone get stuck like that!" Teal exclaimed. "…Would they?"
"Excuse me," said a guard, approaching the group, "the park is closed. I'll have to ask you to leave."
"But our friend is stuck in there!" Teal burst out. "They closed her in!"
"Miss, they do a check of the park every night before closing up," he informed her. "I can assure you that there's nobody left inside."
"But…" Teal stopped, realizing he was probably right. "Okay, you win. We'll go."
"Thanks for visiting the park," he said, shooting them a smile that looked clearly fake as they walked away. The three of them were the last ones out of the building aside from the staff, and the doors closed and locked themselves behind them.
"Do you guys really think she's still inside?" Falkner asked. "I mean, poor Yui. There's nowhere to sleep in there… and they probably won't find her until tomorrow morning… What if she is trapped in there? What if… she got hurt?"
"She said she was going on a slide," Teal said. "What if she tripped on the stairs? What if she…" Teal swallowed hard, looking down mournfully, "…fell off the edge?"
"Enough of these 'what ifs'," Morty said, handing Falkner his backpack. "Hold on to this. I'm going in there to find out the truth."
Teal and Falkner gave him a pair of strange glances. "How?" Falkner questioned.
"I think I have an idea," Morty said, removing a PokeBall from his belt. "Gengar, go!"
The Ghost-type Pokemon emerged from the ball, appearing in a flash of light in front of the group. "Gengar, I need you to teleport me inside the water park," Morty stated simply. Gengar looked taken aback, and almost nervous…
"Look, I know you don't know how to teleport very well," Morty said, "but please. I need you to do this. I'll try to direct you where you need to go."
"Gen. Gar!" it agreed, smiling nervously.
"What about us?" Falkner asked.
"Gengar won't be able to teleport all of us," Morty said. "You two go wait in the Pokemon Center. I can find Yui on my own."
"All right," Teal said, still feeling very worried. "I really hope she's not hurt."
"She'll be just fine," Falkner said, putting an arm around her back and leading her through the city. "Now come on. I saw the Pokemon Center on the way here, so I know where it is."
"At least we know where something is," Teal sighed, reluctantly walking with him.
Morty was alone then; he seemed to be the only person in the area. It was a creepy sort of feeling that would give anybody chills, but the trembling feeling in his spine wasn't from the loneliness, from the silence, of from the cold. It was worry… Worry for the one he loved. He could truthfully admit that now.
"Okay, Gengar," he said, closing his eyes and taking hold of the Pokemon's hand. "I'll try to visualize where I want to be, and you think with me and take me there. Okay?"
"Gengar," it said, shutting its own eyes. Morty created a mental image of the inside of the water park, and Gengar copied the picture in its own mind. Soon, the two of them were fading from the sidewalk, and in no time they disappeared completely…
Yui finally reached the bottom of the slide; she swam across the small splashdown pool, and made her way immediately for the changing rooms. There was a dim light shining through the transparent roof of the building, so she could relatively see where she was going. When she reached her destination, she stopped cold once again; a gate made of metal bars had been drawn across the exits; there was no way out. Yui sighed heavily, turning away from the gate.
"It just gets better and better," she aid aloud to herself. "I guess I'll go find a beach chair to sleep on…"
She was about to start walking when she saw a strange form start to materialize in front of her. It was dark, like a shadow; many sharp spikes emerged from its body, and she thought she could see a pair of red eyes staring her down. She screamed, and took off running toward the pool.
"Yui!" Morty called, but he said her name at the same time that she'd screamed; her shriek had drowned him out, and she hadn't heard him. He ran after her, recalling Gengar into its PokeBall. "Yui, wait!"
"Leave me alone!" Yui cried, barely recognizing his voice. She was too scared to realize what was going on, or who it was chasing her… she just wanted to get away from the eyes. She ran right into the shallow end of the pool… and slipped on the still water, crashing down onto the floor. Morty heard a sickening smack as her head bounced off the cement.
"Yui!!" he cried again, rushing to her side, but being careful not to fall himself. He gently picked her up and carried her to one of the cushioned lounge chairs, resting her softly on the pillow-like surface. Then, lifting her head slightly, he did a quick check for injuries; there was no blood, but a good-sized bump had already formed on the back of her head. As he laid her back down, he noticed something else a good deal more critical than the bump; she wasn't breathing.
"Oh no," he said, feeling for a pulse on her neck. He found one… a faint one, but a pulse nonetheless. "That fall must have knocked the wind right out of her…"
Morty sat there for a little while, checking her pulse continually, but she wouldn't wake up. It seemed like her breathing was getting worse by the minute, and she showed no sign of moving any time soon. He swallowed hard, moving closer to her face.
"Good thing I'm trained in first aid," he thought aloud, pulling Yui's head up in the proper position for him to do CPR. He plugged her nose with one hand, and held her chin up to open her airway with the other. He leaned down toward her mouth, his cheeks turning red-hot instantly. "Okay, this is rescue breathing, not a make-out session," he reminded himself as he lowered his mouth onto hers to give her a breath. He gave her another, and lowered her head slowly, placing his hands on her chest to try to get her heart going.
"Come on, Yui," he said. "Please wake up… Please…" He resumed the breathing position, inhaling deeply and covering her open mouth with his own once again. One breath went in… and with the second, Yui coughed and shot open her eyes, staring at him.
"…Morty?" she groaned, sitting up a little as he pulled his face away from hers. "What happened? My head is pounding…"
"You fell down," he replied, looking down at the ground away from her. "You lost your breath, and I was… just helping you out, that's all."
"Oh…" Yui sighed, blushing. "Well… Thank you…"
"You're welcome," he said, looking up at her. She was smiling, despite the obvious pain in her back and head, and her cheeks seemed darker than the rest of her face.
"You should rest," Morty said, gently pushing Yui back down onto the lounge chair by her shoulders. Before she could respond, he sat up on the edge of the chair, and continued to hold her shoulders. "You know… What I said earlier… About you looking really pretty? It was true," he continued.
"…Really?" Yui said softly, blushing harder. "Do you really like it?"
"It's not the suit that I like," he said. "It's you that I like."
Morty waited a minute to see her shocked expression before leaning down to kiss her. He didn't worry about taking a breath this time; he pressed his lips firmly to hers, lifting her closer to him by her shoulders. At first she didn't respond, which worried him… but soon he felt her arms slink around his back, and she held him tightly, returning the kiss. The two pulled back for a breath at almost the exact same time, and his eyes met hers.
"Morty?"
"Yes?" he replied, taking a few deep breaths. Just that one kiss had managed to leave him breathless…
"I like you too," Yui said, locking him in another firm kiss seconds after. That kiss slowly turned into another… and another. He lay down beside her on the narrow lounge chair and moved his mouth along with hers, copying her eager motions.
"Where the hell did she learn to kiss like this?" Morty thought to himself, finally releasing her to catch his breath. He looked down at Yui; she was also breathing quickly and heavily. She finally caught her breath, and looked up at him, a huge contented smile crossing her face.
"Scratch what I said before," he said, brushing a hand through her damp red hair. "It's you that I love."
Yui's smile got bigger. "That's good," she said, brushing his lips with a quick peck, "because I love you too."
Morty started to say something, but Yui cut him off with another thought; "So, can we get out of here now?" she asked. "I don't know about you… but I'm freezing, and I'm in a lot of pain."
He froze. "Uh… I didn't even think of that," he said slowly. "I don't think we can get out yet."
"What?" Yui asked, her eyes widening. "Why not? How did you get in here in the first place?"
"I teleported using Gengar," he said, "but we can't do that on the way out. He's not experienced enough to teleport two people, and you probably wouldn't be able to direct him out on your own."
"So… We're stuck," Yui sighed. "Great. I'm stuck in here with only this tiny little bikini, and I'm freezing cold."
Morty smirked playfully. "I can change that," he said, sitting up a little bit. Before Yui could protest, he leaned down and kissed her above her belly button. His kisses trailed up her body, finally reaching her neck, then her earlobe, and finally her mouth. He smothered her with kisses as he rubbed her sides with his hands, and she shivered contently. "Warm yet?" he whispered in her ear.
"Almost," she whispered back, in the deepest voice he'd ever heard her use. He shivered too, and took her into a strong embrace, kissing her almost forcefully. He pulled away to get a glimpse of her expression… she was smirking playfully, yet she looked a little nervous.
"Something wrong?" he asked.
"I hope you're not going to 'change' the part about me wearing the bikini," she said.
Morty shook his head, smiling. "Not tonight," he replied, hugging her. "Definitely not tonight."
"Good," Yui said. "Because I think we should get some sleep. We want to get up and sneak out of here unnoticed tomorrow, right?"
"Right," Morty said, looking around cautiously. He picked a PokeBall off his belt, and sent Gengar out again. "Gengar, make sure Yui and I wake up tomorrow morning before the park opens."
The Pokemon nodded his head in agreement, and floated off to do whatever it is that Gengars do in the nighttime. Yui and Morty both smiled in unison, and cuddled up against each other, slowly drifting off into a rest full of beautiful dreams…
The next morning went by according to plan: Gengar woke Yui and Morty a few minutes before the park opened, and they had some time to hide before the gates were opened and everything was unlocked. They slowly crept through their respective changing rooms, and snuck by before the people who worked the cashiers got there. The doors, of course, opened from the inside, so they easily slipped out of the building and back to the Pokemon Center, completely unnoticed.
Teal and Falkner were already awake, and they were both sitting by the windows of the Pokemon Center, watching for their friends worriedly. As soon as they came within sight of the center, Teal dashed out and hugged the both of them.
"I was so scared!" she said, almost in tears. "I thought something happened to the two of you!"
"Oh, something happened all right," Falkner smirked. He looked down, pointing out to Teal that Yui and Morty were holding hands. Teal blinked, and looked up at them.
"I knew it!" she smiled, hugging both of them at once. "I saw it when you guys almost kissed the first time… I was so disappointed that it got ruined for you! But now it's okay, isn't it?"
"It sure is," Morty said, smiling over his shoulder at Yui. She smiled back, blinking rapidly and making him blush.
Falkner yawned, and stretched out his arms. "Well, what should we do now?" he asked, looking around the city yet again. "It's pretty early… What do you guys think about getting an early start on the trip to the next city?"
"Sounds good to me!" Yui chimed. "Have you guys got all your stuff?"
Teal responded by running into the Pokemon Center, and returning with hers, Morty's and Falkner's backpacks. "Now we do," she said, throwing her pack over her shoulder. "Now we can go wandering aimlessly through Aurora City again, trying to find the exit."
"Oh, joy," Morty sighed, gripping Yui's hand tighter as he took his stuff from Teal. "I guess that's why we need an early start."
"It sounds like fun!" Yui said, skipping while the rest of them walked.
"Glad you're the only one who thinks so," Falkner commented, keeping closer to Teal to avoid standing next to the overly-hyper Kinomoto girl. He didn't want to know what had happened last night… but it had to have been good, if it had left Yui in such a good mood…
~To Be Continued…~
A/N: Whee! It's finally finished! Hehe… This is one of the chapters I've been looking forward to writing ever since I started writing this fic. Well, I finally got me and Morty together… *falls over laughing* It's such a fun chapter!! Yes, I know, it was kind of… well, mushy… but mushy fluffy love is fun!!! ^^ Right? Hehe… Anyway, it's about time I got some sleep… So I shall see you later with Chapter 12, which involves another certain pairing that should be completely obvious by now… ^-^ Bai!!!