Yui's Journey – The Tokko Adventures
Chapter 13 – Behold, the Power of Kittie!
Morty wasn't sure why both of the girls had suddenly run ahead on the path, squealing like rabid fan-girls or something along those lines. At least… he wasn't sure until he looked ahead on the path to see what they were screaming about. And as soon as he saw the little white fuzz-ball curled up in the middle of the walkway, he got a bad feeling in his chest.
"It's… So… KAWAII!" he heard the girls scream in unison. This just made him feel worse about going on ahead… Last time they'd found something "kawaii", he'd ended up fighting against a demonic little kitten with fire powers.
"Morty! Morty! Come see this!!" Yui squeaked. "It's too cute! Even you'll love it!!"
He sighed, allowing her to lead him forward. Teal was already kneeled down, petting the little white thing that was apparently sleeping. Getting a closer look, he saw that it was a tiny white kitten with a soft pink heart-shape on its forehead. His eyes widened, and he immediately stopped walking.
"Oh, no," he sighed, "I'm not getting any closer to that thing. That's a Kittie."
"Of course it's a kitty," Teal laughed.
"No… Its name is Kittie. Yui, look it up on your Dex."
Yui did as she was told, pulling her PokeDex out of her bag and pointing the identifier at the kitten. The 'ping' was heard, and the Dex began talking: "Kittie, the Friendship Pokemon. This very rare and very cute Pokemon is found in few areas. It will make instant friends with anyone who is lucky enough to get one."
"It sounds so sweet and cute!" Yui said. "I'm definitely capturing it!"
"Great," Morty said, his voice caked with sarcasm. "I'm so happy that we'll have one of those traveling with us."
"What's so wrong with it?" Teal asked. "It's adorable, and it sounds really nice!"
"It's a nice Pokemon," he said, "but if this one is anything like the last one that I saw, you might not think it's so nice. Kitties are incredibly clingy."
"But clingy is a good thing!" Yui giggled, grabbing his arm.
"Only if it's someone, or something, that doesn't annoy me," Morty retorted.
"Point taken," Yui laughed, un-attaching herself from his side. "But I'm still capturing the Kittie. I promise this one won't be as bad as that last one you ran into."
"If only she knew the story," Morty thought to himself, laughing silently. "But I don't think I'll bring that up… not quite yet."
"Hey, it's waking up!" Teal said. All three trainers watched intently as the kitten stirred and blinked awake, though Morty still kept his distance. The Kittie opened her crystalline blue eyes, and looked around at the strange new people.
She looked up at Teal first, then at Yui, paying hardly any attention to the two of them. Her eyes darted down the path, and she looked up at Morty, smiling curiously.
"Don't you start looking at me like that," Morty warned as Kittie stood up, beaming and walking toward him. She broke into a run, jumping up and clinging to the front of Morty's shirt with her claws. "OW!! Get off!"
"Kittie!" Yui exclaimed, pulling her off of Morty's chest. "No using the claws on Morty. Be a good little Kittie." She turned Kittie on her back and held her like a baby, looking into her blue eyes. "You remind me of the little kitty toy that Uncle Drake gave me when I was little," she cooed. "You even have the same color eyes!"
"Kii?" Kittie questioned, reciprocating Yui's intent gaze. Deciding that having a staring contest with this girl wasn't in her best interests, she wiggled out of Yui's motherly hold and jumped back to Morty, attempting to climb up his pant leg.
"Get… Off… My… Leg!!" Morty growled, trying lightly to shake her off. Kittie, hardly fazed, just climbed right up Morty's leg, back onto his shirt, and right up onto his shoulder. "Go away!" Morty whined, turning away from her while she tried to lick his cheek.
"Well, I think Kittie has chosen its owner," Teal laughed.
"Aww… I want it," Yui pouted.
"Well, I don't!" Morty said, picking up the Kittie and handing it to Yui. "You keep it."
"Kittie kii!!" it shrieked, struggling against Yui's hold again. She stared down sadly at the Pokemon in her hands, and looked back up at Morty.
"Morty… She really likes you," she sighed, holding the Kittie close. "If you'd just give her a chance…"
"I'm not interested," Morty said, shutting his eyes and walking past Yui and Teal. Kittie and Yui took on a sad, disappointed look, and Teal rolled her eyes in disgust.
"I'm sorry, Kittie," Yui said, placing Kittie on the ground, "I guess you'll just have to… try again."
"Kittie… Kittie kii…" it said sadly, turning and wandering off into the forest with its head hung low. Yui sighed, and followed Teal, who had already started catching up to Morty.
"That was cold," Teal huffed, crossing her arms. "How could you be so self-centered, Morty?"
"I told you guys, I don't like Kitties," he reminded them. "I don't like any cats very much."
"Well, still, you could have been a lot nicer to it!" Teal continued. "Now it's sad, and it's all your fault!"
"It's not my fault! What did you expect me to do, keep it and let it torment me forever?"
"No, but you could have asked it politely to leave instead of brushing it off like that!"
"Like it would've listened!"
"How do you know it wouldn't?"
"GUYS!!" Yui jumped in between them, pushing them a few feet apart. "Stop arguing! It's going to do us no good, and it won't do any good for Kittie either! You" she turned to Morty, "were wrong to treat Kittie like that. And you" to Teal now, "should not be hassling Morty because of it. You should respect that he doesn't like that Pokemon. But you" and back to Morty again, "still should have at least been nicer. Problem solved; no more reasons to fight. Now, can we shut up and keep walking?"
Both trainers blinked, staring back at Yui with completely blank expressions. She stood between the two of them, hands placed on her hips, and she looked annoyed and angry. Neither of them had ever seen her react to something so hastily.
"Sure, we'll stop," Teal said, sighing. "Sorry, you guys."
"Yeah, me too," Morty agreed, shrugging his shoulders.
"Okay," Yui said, continuing her walk down the pathway. "Sorry I burst out like that… I just felt really sorry for that poor Kittie! I wish I could have kept it…"
"You really like cats, don't you?" asked Teal, walking beside Yui.
"I love them," she sighed. "I guess it's because of my second birthday… My Uncle Drake bought me a small white plush kitty, and I fell in love with it right away. I'd take it everywhere with me, even f I knew it'd get dirty… I even dressed it up sometimes! It was the best present I've ever received in my life."
"I remember you talking to that Kittie about some little kitty toy," Morty said. "Did they really look that alike?"
"Besides the fact that the Pokemon Kittie has a little heart on its forehead, they look exactly alike," she answered, looking back on the path behind her to see if the Pokemon had wandered out of hiding again. "I hope we can find another one…"
~*~*~
"Good night, guys!" Yui said, pulling the top half of her sleeping bag over her shoulders and lying on her back, watching the sky turn dark. Morty and Teal returned her call and curled up in their own sleeping bags, tired out from all the walking. They let themselves drift off, but Yui forced herself to keep her eyes open for a few more minutes. There was something important she needed to see.
Soon, the sky was completely dark; there were no stars, so only the light of the moon reflected down into the clearing where the group had stopped to rest. Yui rested her hands behind her back, holding herself up a bit so she could get a better look at the sky. After just a few minutes of waiting, a single star began to shine in the middle of the dark abyss; the first star of the night.
"Perfect," she said, sitting up and pulling her covers around her. She shut her eyes, still picturing the star in her mind. "I wish Kittie would come back," she whispered. "Please, Kittie… Even if I can't capture you, I at least want to see you again before I leave." With a sigh, Yui lay back down, turning over onto her side and shutting her eyes.
Not even two seconds later, the star twinkled brightly as thousands of other stars lit up around it. A bush rustled near Morty's left side and Kittie jumped out, shaking a couple of leaves off of her fur. The familiar scent of the people she'd seen earlier filled the air around her, making her glance around the clearing curiously.
(*Remember when we dubbed over the Pokemon speech in Chapter 2? Well, here we go again ^_^)
"Heehee… I smell him! The boy who was mean to me!" An evil grin crossed the Pokemon's otherwise-cute face, and she skipped over to the nearest sleeping bag, jumping up onto Morty's chest lightly enough for him not to feel it. She sniffed him, batting lightly at his face to make sure he was asleep.
"Sound asleep, just like a little baby," Kittie said to herself, hopping over to his pillow. His hair fell loosely around his headband, covering his eyes slightly. "Hmm… This thing here seems pretty important… looks warm and cuddly, too!"
Using her paws, but not releasing her claws, she pulled the headband over his hair and right off his forehead. She used her nose to flick it up in the air; then she jumped up and caught it around her neck. "It's so warm," she mused, poking at his forehead while being careful of the cut near the bridge of his nose. "Wonder if he's sick or something… Hey, what's this?"
Kittie curiously pulled back a few strands of Morty's hair, revealing a red spot in the center of his forehead. It was exactly parallel to his nose, and it was about the size of a dime. It wasn't circular, but an irregular oval shape, and a small closed slit cut horizontally through the center of it. "Looks like a healing wound," she pondered. "Or maybe a closed eye…" She blinked twice, and backed up a few steps. "That's… kind of scary…" Without another thought, Kittie turned and ran back into the forest, taking Morty's headband with her and leaving the spot on his forehead completely exposed.
~*~*~
When Morty woke up that morning, something didn't feel right. He could tell from the brightness of the sun and the dryness of the air that it was an exceptionally warm day… But he felt unusually cold. Shivering, he sat up, brushing his bangs out of the way of his face.
…And noticing that his headband was missing at that very second.
"Oh, no," he said, covering his forehead with his hand and looking around his sleeping bag. "Where is it? It couldn't have fallen off…"
"Are you okay?" Yui asked, sitting up in her own sleeping bag and shaking the covers off as she crawled across the ground to him. "What are you looking for?"
"Nothing!" Morty said quickly, pulling his bangs back over his forehead. "I just… lost my headband somehow, that's all."
Yui gave a confused look. "How? It's too tight to have fallen off." She sat next to him on his sleeping bag, peeking under the folds of the material. "It doesn't seem to be here at all. Are you sure you didn't take it off?"
"I never take my headband off," he retorted.
"You guys are too loud," Teal groaned, staring at them from under her blankets. "How's anyone supposed to get any sleep?"
"Sorry," Morty sighed. "I just can't find my headband…"
"No problem. We'll get you a new one in Kitty City," the blue-haired girl offered, rolling over onto her back. "If it means getting some extra sleep before we go, I'll even pay for it myself."
"I suppose that works," he said. "But that still leaves me to wonder where the old one went."
As the two of them conversed, Yui looked around the forest, seeing if maybe his headband had decided to get up and walk away somewhere. The first thing that caught her eye wasn't what she was looking for… But it was definitely something she wanted to see. She all of a sudden jumped up, and ran over to the bush, staring at a fuzzy white tail peeking out from among the leaves.
"Guys… Look! I think it's Kittie!" she said happily, trying not to make too much sound in case it was sleeping.
"Really?" Teal stood, walking over to Yui and inspecting the tail. "It looks like it…"
Morty forged a smile, and stayed right where he was. He wasn't going to object to Yui capturing the Kittie if she wanted to… But he wanted to spend as little time around it as possible. He planned to sit right in that spot the whole time, and wait for the annoyingly cute little thing to be hidden away in a Pokeball.
…Until Yui picked it up out of the bush. And he saw what was around its neck.
"Hey!" Yui exclaimed, causing the Kittie to stir slightly. "Look, Morty, I found your headband!"
"I see that," he said dryly. "And you'd better take my headband away from that… THING, before I have to do it myself."
"Sure!" she said, reaching out to remove the blue band. But just as she was about to pull it off, Kittie bit into the fabric with her front teeth and jumped away from Yui, smiling as she readjusted it around her neck. "Hey! My friend wants his headband back now, okay?"
Kittie smiled half-evilly, and shook her head. She meowed once, and took off past the group, running a full circle around Morty before finally disappearing into the trees.
"Get back here!" Morty shouted, scrambling up and chasing it. Teal and Yui followed him, and soon all three of them were darting in between trees, trying to catch up with the Kittie.
"Morty, we're going off course!" Yui called up ahead. "We're going in the opposite direction of Kitty City!"
"You can stay back here if you want," he said. "I'll make it back to you guys once I catch this cat."
"Are you crazy? There's no way we're leaving you alone in this forest," Teal responded.
"Besides, I still want the Kittie!" Yui kept running, trying to catch up to Morty.
The blonde boy smiled; Kittie had stopped in front of a tall bush, looking left and right as if trying to decide which direction to go. "I've got you now!" he cried triumphantly, leaping forward with his arms out and ready to grab Kittie. At the last moment, she darted to the side… And Morty went flying through the bush. All that the girls heard was a loud splash from the other side.
"Are you… okay?" Yui asked, peeking over the bush. Morty was sitting in a small river, crossing his arms in annoyance. He was completely soaked; his wet bangs hung down in front of his face, still covering his forehead.
"I'm fine," he said darkly, standing up and shaking himself off. For a split second, his hair flew to the side, revealing the spot on his forehead… But Yui and Teal didn't notice. Yui was busy picking up Kittie and scolding her… and Teal was just standing there laughing at him. "Teal… this is NOT funny…"
"That was very mean, Kittie," Yui said, removing the headband and flicking it at Morty. "You can't just go around stealing other people's things like that." Kittie smiled a little bit, but drooped when she saw Yui frowning at her. She gave a look that said 'I'm sorry', and offered a meow of apology.
"Aww… It's okay," she said. "I forgive you."
"Kii!!!" Kittie smiled widely, rubbing her head up against Yui's cheek. She laughed, hugging it even tighter than she had before.
"So Kittie… What do you say to joining us?" she asked. "You can bug Morty anytime you want…"
"Hey!" he puffed, patting his headband as if to make sure it was really back with him. "Do I get a say in that little deal?"
"Most likely not," Teal laughed, as Yui and Kittie gave Morty identical evil glares.
He let his head droop. "Great…" he was about to continue, but he was silenced when Yui lifted up his face and kissed his cheek.
"Don't sweat it. You know we both love you," she laughed, as Kittie climbed up onto her shoulder.
"You, I can understand… but THAT?"
"Morty… Be nice." she lightly smacked his shoulder, and turned back to Kittie. "Ready?"
"Kittie!!" it said, jumping down onto the ground. Yui brought out a PokeBall, and tossed it down with a flick of her wrist; it opened, and enclosed Kittie inside with a bright neon flash.
"Yay!" she picked up her PokeBall and started jumping around, "I got it! I got it! My Kittie!"
"Now we both have a cute kitty Pokemon," Teal said. "We need to find another different kind for Morty."
He puffed again, starting to walk back in the direction they'd come. "I have no interest in owning a 'cute kitty', thank you very much."
The girls laughed, walking alongside him. They kept saying things like "Oh come on, who doesn't want a cute kitty?" and "There's always Meowth, or Skitty!" He sighed, trying to ignore their comments… unfortunately, when you have a hyper fangirl on either side of you, both squealing about all these 'kawaii kittens', it's kind of hard to block them out.
This was going to be a long walk to Kitty City.
~To Be Continued…~
Oy vey… That chapter took me way too long @_@ Sorry about this, everyone… With schoolwork and few other things to work on, it's really hard to keep up with a chaptered fanfic… But don't worry, I'm not giving up! ^^ Chapters might not get done in short periods of time… but they will get done. And that's a promise I'm making to all you loving readers and fans! ^^ Thank you all for sticking with me, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as the rest!