Disclaimer: Own I do not. Sue you cannot.
A/N: Heh, a merry Christmas to ya' Skitty!
The Ghost Skitty
The blaring truck was heading straight for her. Lindsey yelped as she jumped to the side, just inches from the rushing vehicle. Her heart pounded like a drum in her chest, watching as the tires of the truck flattened a soccer ball. Oh Kitty… The girl thought when the road was clear again, a lone tear trickling down her cheek.
She turned away from the road and headed back to the field, leaving the ball where it'd died. Died… that wasn't a nice way to think of it. "That ball just retired." Lindsey said darkly to one girl she passed. When she'd gotten far enough, she turned back and was far enough not to be able to discern the flattened ball from the road.
"We've got another one." Said the other girl, motioning to her Machop, who was spinning the replacement in his hands. That was all that Lindsey needed, she fell to the ground sobbing at the sight of the red sphere. Red was Kitty's favorite color…
She missed the Skitty; her cheerful mews, seeing her chase her tail around in circles, everything. Why, why did she have to go so soon?
For Lindsey's twelfth birthday, she'd been presented with a Pokeball. Never in her wildest dreams did she think she would be able to become a Pokemon trainer. Dreamed of it, but never thought anything of it but that. So she stared at the red-and-white orb for a while, wondering how to open it.
She had to recall the battles on television before she decided to flick it. Then, with a burst of white light, she got her first glimpse of Kitty. Just a glimpse, before the kitten noticed her Pokeball and began to bat and chase it around.
Lindsey didn't leave on a "journey" like most kids would, instead stayed around her hometown and stayed with her friends that had made similar decisions as her, or had no Pokemon at all. Kitty was her only Pokemon, and they became tight friends quickly because of that. Wherever Lindsey went, there was always her Skitty following, with her tail raised high.
They didn't battle too often, neither of them had the passionate battle spirit that professional trainers sported. Kitty preferred to chase around her Pokeball, a shiny bell, or any round thing she could find. (Grounded Seedot included.)
If it were this that caused it to happen, Lindsey would probably never know. One day, her Skitty had been chasing a bright red ball down the sidewalk, as happy as ever. The ball hit a bump and bounced up, where the kitten jumped to try to intercept it, but failed. The orb went sailing into the street, and Kitty pursued.
The kitten heard her trainer's call too late. She looked up at the car heading straight for her, and whimpered.
A life was ended that day. One life, smote like a candle in the wind.
The sun was low in the sky by the time Lindsey was done playing around with her friends. It'd been two weeks since she and Kitty parted ways, and her friends knew she was still suffering from it.
Lindsey had asked to keep the ball, and had been given it to keep without much of a struggle. She spun it on one finger, thinking about her Skitty and not paying attention to the sidewalk.
At the time, she was passing by a park, which had its trees growing wildly in all directions. The sidewalk was bulging at places from roots that had grown too much and made it under the pavement. Lindsey didn't even notice the bulges; she was too busy staring at the ball. It was this that caused her to stumble over one, and the ball was sent flying forward, where it hit awkwardly and spun off, right into the street.
When she regained her balance, Lindsey went after the ball, thinking that the clear street would stay clear until she got the ball. But a car appeared, and she didn't see it as she stooped to pick the ball up. And what she saw surprised her. A Skitty stood beside the ball, her eyes closed thoughtfully. She was translucent, and-and… looked just like Kitty. Kitty didn't say anything, just opened one eye and glanced at the ball, before her tail came around and hit the ball, knocking it off the road and back onto the sidewalk, where it rolled until coming to a stop beside a tree.
The Skitty winked and was gone. Lindsey went back to where her ball was, and just barely missed being hit by the car. The second time she nearly got run over in one day…
And then she realized what happened, and panicked. That had been Kitty, the Skitty that was gone! Picking up the ball, Lindsey ran and returned home.
Lindsey was afraid. She'd been afraid for the past week, where she'd locked herself in her room, and only came out for food and other minor things. Nobody knew about what was causing this, Lindsey failed to tell.
That was until one night, when her mom stopped the door from closing with her foot and entered into Lindsey's room. "Okay Lindsey, you're going to have to tell me what happened." She said, a serious tone creeping into her voice.
"Mom-" Lindsey whined, but knew it was no use. So she began to tell what had happened, from when the soccer ball was squashed, and finished with Kitty's appearance. "I'm scared…" She added on at the end.
"Lindsey…" Her mom sighed, "You're afraid of Kitty's ghost?" Lindsey nodded, "But why? Do you really think Kitty will ever hurt you?"
"Well, no…"
"There you go. You shouldn't fear something that means you no ill will. Especially Kitty. What do you think she'd say if she knew you were afraid of her?"
When Lindsey stuttered and finally closed her mouth with a shrug, her mom smiled. "There you go then. Come on, your chores are piling up."
"But Mom!" The girl complained at the thought of her chores, and how they must have accumulated into a mountain by now.
Lindsey kicked the red ball past one girl and weaved around her, kicking it again with force so that it flew past another person and was caught in the net behind her. "Goal!" She exclaimed, "First one of the game too, go me!"
"Yes Lindsey, go you." Her friend Amber laughed and nudged her on her way past. "Just keep it up this time."
"Oh don't worry, I will." Lindsey promised. And she did, returning to her old, goal-scoring self. Even though, out of the corner of her eye, she though she caught a glimpse of translucent pink, she wasn't afraid of the ghost Skitty anymore.
A month passed by with no change in pace, Lindsey returned to doing her chores and doing things by herself instead of together with Kitty. Every once and a while, she would catch sight of the kitten for a moment, watching her with the loneliest expression.
It was springtime, where flowers were opening their blossoms and tilting towards the sun. Lindsey's allergies attacked every once and a while from being out and about with the pollen for too long. In early May, she was sitting under a tree, playing with her red ball boredly.
Nothing was happening, and the time was dragging its heels. Lindsey almost wished she'd went on her own and started a Pokemon journey, almost. There had been no more signs of Kitty for a while, and yet the girl wasn't worried.
At the thought of Kitty, she hit the ball wrong and it bounced over the grass, onto the sidewalk where it hit wrong, and rolled into the street again. Lindsey got to her feet and actually waited to see if the road was okay, before she went into the road and stooped over the ball.
A racecar appeared out of seemingly nowhere, speeding towards the girl at an alarming speed. She yelped when something hit against her leg, waking her up to the car's approach, and she got out of the way in time. Lindsey held one hand on her heart, where it was beating like mad. The ball that she'd left behind was still there, it'd been untouched by the car's tires, it'd rolled to the side more.
"Lind-sey, you've got to be more care-ful…" A voice sang from beside her. The girl looked down, to where Kitty was standing, "Really Lindsey, I don't want you following after me into Eternity yet. At least, not like I did."
"All right Kitty." The girl smiled, "Thanks. Without you just now, I would have been to Eternity far too early."
The ghost Skitty bobbed her head in an agreeing nod, and said, "Right. Well, you'd better retrieve your ball…"
"Yeah… Kitty?" The Skitty's ears twitched to show she was still listening, "Will you still be here once I get my ball?"
"I will." She answered, "But not where you can see me. I'll always be with you Lindsey, waiting just around the corner of your eye." And with that, the ghost Skitty disappeared again. Lindsey smiled, feeling more comforted than ever, as she went back into the street and retrieved the ball. As she returned to her tree with the ball, she thought she saw the telltale pink in a glimpse beside her. Kitty.