Pink Fur
Reiko Dorakai sighed, staring out the window of her two-story bedroom. The sun was beginning to rise, and the rays of dawn light spread across the townscape. The short buildings of Littleroot looked like pink candy houses, and the famous Birch Laboratory looked like the painters used golden paint.
It was a beautiful sight.
And Reiko hated it.
It wasn't as if the girl was one of those Goth types, no no no, she looked perfectly normal. Just then she wore a pink spaghetti strap shirt and purple flannel pants, and that paired with her dishwater-blonde hair and brown eyes made her just...look like any sixteen-year-old.
But, like most people, it was mind over matter. But, like most people, Reiko was still normal. Normal, but not. A normal problem that made her not normal.
She had teenage depression.
Yes, a fairly common "disease." With all those raging hormones, anything could easily tick-off a teenager, and anything could easily make them a little bent out of shape. However, there's always a few of those who don't really come out of that...which gets you teenage depression.
Her schoolmates worried about her. Her best friend, Amber, even went so far as to talk to the school guidance counselor about her friend, and the counselor, worried for the girl, called Reiko in one day. In the middle of class. In front of Drahs, the boy Reiko just-so-happened to have a crush on.
He laughed.
That day, the counseling session only made things worse. Reiko refused to talk to Amber, the counselor, her parents...anybody. Only her mind continued to talk, but her mind could only talk to her.
And her mind was sad. Which made Reiko sad. Everything was her fault, if she had been happier, Amber wouldn't have gotten worried, and would still have been her friend. If she had been nicer, funnier, cuter, or just more of something, Drahs would have asked her out, not laughed at her. If she had been more normal, more like everyone else, the counselor would have just chuckled and let her out, happy to have somebody come in because of a misunderstanding, not because they had any sort of problem, not tried to analyze her and get her to come back.
Reiko, as the year went on, became so depressed to the point that she decided not to go to school. She was above inflicting pain or trying to relieve the pain with an artificial substance, but if she stayed away from the people who caused it...well, she'd still be alive, not hurt physically, and in less pain.
Her mother, Maggie, knocked on her door. "Rei, honey, are you up yet?"
"Go away!"
Maggie sighed, brushing a strand of brown hair out of her eyes. "Rei, you have school today-"
"I'm not going!"
"Why don't you open up the door so-"
"No! Leave me alone!"
Her mother sighed, and trudged downstairs where her husband and Reiko's father, Nick, stood. "She's not coming out," Maggie stated in a monotone. "Nick, I'm really worried! What happened to our sweet little girl?"
Nick shook his head, his grey eyes looking steely. "I knew we should have made her leave when she was ten! I blame myself! If I had made her get a starter at the base age, she would be gone, and have been normal."
"You don't know that," Maggie muttered, looking outside. Their kitchen window had a clear shot of one of the Birch gardens, where some of the plant-like Pokemon often wandered. A Treecko looked up, and stared into her brown eyes. "But I wish she would just take our offer and try..." The Treecko, though far away, waved a small green hand. "That Treecko looks sweet, I bet she'd love it!"
"Did you forget, hon?" Nick groaned. "Reiko hates all three of them. Torchic, too cute and overused. Mudkip, too cute and annoying, Treecko, too cute and weak. But she used to love them...don't you remember her ninth birthday party? When we got her the Treecko plushie?"
His wife looked down. "She said, 'Mommy! Can I get another one next year? But a real one!' But it never happened..."
"And now, even though it would mean going away from the school, she won't leave. It's like, she doesn't want to be healed. What's wrong with-" Nick paused as he saw Professor Birch coming out of his office, and towards there home. "Huh?"
Maggie noticed this too, and walked over to the wooden front door. Opening it, she stuck her head out. "Professor? Why are you here?"
The professor grinned, and scratched his brown-haired head. "Well, I thought you should know, Devion is visiting today."
"Devion? Devion Suro?" Maggie inquired, looking a little confused. "Nick, didn't he move away when he was seven with his parents? They were transferred to Rustboro, to Devon Corporation, right?"
Nick nodded, and Birch continued. "Yes, well, he came to get a starter from me at ten, but never came back. He didn't need to, though he has called often. The boy finished the Hoenn league, then went to Johto. Apparently, he's done pretty well, won the Storm Badge a week ago."
Nick brushed a hand through his yellow-blonde hair, and smoothed out his red shirt. "Yes, a normal kid. Why couldn't Reiko have done that?"
"Speaking of Reiko, Devion wants to come by and say hello. Weren't they good friends before he moved?"
Both parents sighed. "I'm sorry, but I don't think Rei wants to. Devion would probably just annoy her."
Professor Birch nodded. Most of the town knew that Reiko had fallen into a kind of depression, and the man knew he shouldn't bring it up. "Well, that's fine. I'll tell him that." He straightened his bag, fixing the yellow-orange strap across his white shirt and tan shorts, and left.
"Man," Devion sighed. "She's depressed? Really?"
Amber nodded, brushing a strand of orange hair out of her eyes. "Poor Rei, I think she's really hurt. She won't talk to me anymore!" The girl stood a little short, and she was a little stocky. However, Amber could beat people up with the power of a Blaziken. She even looked like one too. Long, fiery red hair that parted itself to resemble the feathers of a Blaziken fell from her head, making it look like a mix of Combusken and its evolved stage. She often wore long pants that made her legs look like those of a Blaziken, and her shirt looked like the torso of one as well. This also meant that the second finals were over one month later, when her parents would let her start her journey, she'd be choosing a Torchic as her starter.
Devion nodded. "That's strange. If I recall correctly...you used to hit me when you thought I was splitting you two up. You were almost like sisters. Of course, you always hit that other boy harder...what was his name?"
Amber blushed. "Um...that would be Drahs...of course, I can't even think about talking to him now, since Rei had a crush on him. He laughed when the guidance counselor came in for her, but he didn't seem like the kind to do that...so now..."
The boy opposite her looked at the opposite side of the schoolyard, where the teenager he remembered as a seven-year-old obsessed with Ice-types and Fighting-types stood. Drahs almost looked depressed himself, and met Devion's blue eyes with his own dark brown ones with a sad look.
"So, Amber," Devion said as he attempted conversation. "I hear you're going to start your journey when finals are over, huh?"
This cheered the girl up. "Yep. My years of using loaner Pokemon are over! I've already reserved this Torchic baby, who'll be ready in a month. She's so cute! She almost reminds me of me."
"Really?"
"Yeah, I dunno. But I'm super excited! And you know what? I think Drahs is leaving too! But I'm not sure what he'll choose, since he doesn't like Torchic, and plans on catching a Machop sometime. Probably Mudkip," Amber looked at the boy with a split sense of rivalry and...something else. "I hope he does leave. I think he feels really bad for Rei, like it's all his fault."
"Yeah, that, and you like him," Devion stated with an evil grin.
The girl blushed, and looked at the trainer like he grew another ear. "W-what? DEVION! Do you want me to hit you again?" She raised a fist.
"Nope!" Devion laughed. "Anyways, I have to go. Oh, and about the league...you're going to go for badges, right?"
"Yeah, why wouldn't I?"
"Then make sure you don't go all suddenly-violent in front of Roxanne, or she might not let you challenge her-" Amber swung her fist, though her target ducked. "Bye!"
"DEVION!"
Maggie looked up. Nick had left for work, but she didn't feel like going to her own job. Just in case Reiko wanted to talk...although that didn't seem like a good possibility. But somebody knocked on the door...
Walking up, she smoothed her blue skirt, and opened the door. "Oh? You're Devion, right?"
"Yup! Nice to see you again, Miss Dorakai!" Devion exclaimed, leaning on the doorway.
"Nice to see you too, I guess." She looked up at her daughter's room, whose window peered out at where they were standing. "If you wanted to see Reiko...well, I don't think she's coming out. She's...well..."
Devion shook his hands. "No, no, that's fine. Actually, I wanted to see you. See, there's something I wanted to talk with you about."
Reiko looked up. Something had made a very strange sound, like metal against glass. But when she looked at the only place where that sound could have come from, the window, nothing remained. Except for the fact that the window had somehow opened itself.
"I thought I left it closed." The teenager stood up, and walked over. Her stride felt slow and sluggish, but then again, what did she have to walk for? Her hand reached up, shut the window, and then dropped back to her side. The sun shone brightly outside, laughing at her sense of worthlessness. She almost felt like saying "shut up," just to see if a cloud would drift in front of the shining ball of celestial fire.
However, no word escaped her mouth, so no cloud decided to drift up. Not like one would, anyway.
Reiko sighed, and slumped back down on her bed. "Maybe I should just...I dunno. Go away. I don't think anybody would miss me, or anything." The teen groaned, and fell back on her bed. However, as she did, her perspective of the room changed, so she saw the floor near the window at a slightly different angle.
Which allowed her to see that something fell in through the open window. A Pokeball, in fact.
This intrigued her. How did a Pokeball fly up inside her room? Did somebody open the window and chuck it in, or something?
"Probably a bird, thought this was a different house, or something." Reiko walked over to it, yanked it off the ground, and roughly opened the window to throw it away. On the off chance something lived inside of it, she didn't want to have to talk to it. She didn't want to have to talk to anyone.
Besides, who would want to talk to her? Why could anybody have any interest in her? The people who did...they didn't mean it. Her parents didn't care about her, they just acted like it. Nobody liked her, everybody hated-
Reiko swore. During her little internal monologue, her thumb had pressed the release button holding the red half and the white half of the Pokeball together. Despite her string of curses, the halves split apart, and a white light escaped, settling itself on the floor.
"Ne!" It squealed, happy to be out.
Reiko just let her jaw hang open. "You have got to be kidding me...a pink...and fluffy..." She swore again.
"Ne...rrrrrr..." The Skitty purred as she rubbed Reiko's legs.
"Now let's just get this straight, mister-" Reiko's visitor hissed. "Okay, okay, fine, you're a girl!" More purring. "I want you out. I want you gone. Nobody wants to be with me! Everyone hates me! I hate it! Nothing is even worth going outside for! I'd...I should probably end my horrible life, but I'm too scared. See? I'm worthless! I'm...WILL YOU STOP PURRING?"
"Ene!" The pink ball of fluff rolled over on the hard wood floor, showing her creamy white tummy. Yes, tummy. Stomach wouldn't work, seeing as it couldn't measure up to the cuteness of "tummy."
"Stop it!"
The Skitty jumped up, noticing an eraser on the ground from when Reiko threw it at the wall two nights ago. She pounced on it, rolling around, and batted the eraser with her tiny paw. "Nene!"
"Stop being CUTE!"
The Pokemon hit the eraser again, only this time it rolled over to Reiko, and onto her foot. The Skitty, entranced in her game, lunged at Reiko's foot, but proceeded to only tangle herself in Reiko's legs. This caused the said girl to trip over the said Pokemon, although she caught herself on the bed, which lessened the pain of falling on a wood floor.
The Skitty looked up at Reiko, whose head finally could be reached by the Skitty's own head. "Nyaeeee!" She scrambled up Reiko's torso to lick the girl's cheek.
"EW! STOP IT!" Reiko grabbed the Skitty, yanking her away from her face. "Okay! I want you OUT!" The Skitty started to purr, and rubbed the human's fingers with her cheek. "Ugh! Just stop, already!"
The Skitty meowed again, wiggling around in Reiko's grasp. This caused Reiko to notice how, well, squishy the Pokemon felt. And squishy in a nice, furry way, not something gross like the feeling your hand gets when a Grimer leans on it.
The girl brought the Pokemon closer to her, and lifted one hand up. It brought itself down on top of the Skitty's head, and moved down to the tail. The motion happened again, and again, and again, almost by itself. Reiko couldn't focus on anything else, since the pink fur felt so soft and comforting as she petted it.
Reiko sighed, brushing her dishwater blonde hair out of her head, and slumping back against the bed, still petting the purring Skitty. The Pokemon settled down in her slightly v-shaped lap, leaning her head against the girl's stomach.
"What am I going to do, Skitty?"
"Neuuu..." Reiko looked down to see that the Skitty had a glazed look on her face, like she felt perfectly safe in Reiko's lap.
The girl's mouth twitched, and formed itself into a shape almost alien to it. A sort of flattened u-shape, one people say represents a certain emotion.
Yes, Reiko smiled. For the first time in a long time.
Then, her throat started to shake as a sound escaped from her voice box. Short bursts of sound, all at the same pitch, all pretty soft. A sort of chuckle.
The Skitty purred, rubbing Reiko's fingers.
"You're...cute. Cute and pink." The teenager grabbed the Skitty, lifting the (slightly miffed) Skitty into the air. "Thanks."
Then she held the Skitty close to her, wrapping her arms around the soft pink fur. The Skitty squirmed a little, not liking the fact that the hug kind of squeezed the air out of her lungs, but Reiko didn't let go.
She just hugged the pink, furry Skitty.
And then something welled up inside of her. Something she thought she would never, ever, ever feel again. Ever.
Happiness.
An hour later, Devion and Maggie sat in the living room, both in soft brown cloth chairs.
"Do you think it worked? She stopped yelling awhile ago," wondered the mother, glancing up at the stairs.
Devion shrugged, stroking the metal feathers of his Skarmory. "I'm pretty impressed Scar here was able to open the window and throw the Skitty's Pokeball in without being seen."
Maggie looked at the metal bird with curiosity. "That Skarmory, Scar, didn't he participate in the Hoenn League tournament? I think I saw you two on TV."
"Yup. Beat a pretty tough Xatu and Breloom before needing to rest. Of course, the third Pokemon the guy was a highly trained Blaziken, so Scar didn't stand much of a chance. Then my Slowking took over." Devion grinned as he took out another Pokeball, and stared at it. "My parents got it for me the year I started as a birthday present. It was right before I challenged Flannery, so a Water-type really helped, since all I had to fight with was my Combusken and my Gloom."
"Your Gloom is a Bellossom, right?"
"Yup. The year after I got my Slowpoke, my parents gave me a Sun Stone to evolve her."
Creak. The two looked up to see Reiko...holding a Skitty. However, it appeared that Reiko changed her clothes, for her new attire consisted of a white three-quarter sleeved shirt, long jeans that had crumpled flares at the end, white socks, and a tan jacket had its arms tied around her waist. Her hair had been brushed as well, and shone a little in the light of the house. Her right hand carried the Pokeball, but comfortably, as if it had been made to fit in her hands.
Plus, her expression looked...hopeful. Like there could be something to look forward to for tomorrow. Maybe the Skitty had changed her for the better, like Devion suggested she might.
"Rei!" Maggie cried, running up to hug her daughter. However, she caught the Skitty in her hug, causing the kitten Pokemon to hiss. "Oh, sorry. Rei, do you like..."
"Yeah. She's cute." She peeked around her mother. "Thanks, Devion. Do you want her back?"
Devion shook his head, patting Scar's beak. "Nope. You can have her. I wanted to give her to you to make you feel better, because, really, who doesn't feel all happy-happy around a cute little fluffy kitty? By the way, her name is Pinkfur."
"Pinkfur?"
"Yup, Pinkfur."
"...You realize that's a really stupid name, right?"
Devion looked crestfallen, though the look seemed fake. "Aw, but I thought it was a good name..."
"Yeah, sure. So typical." Reiko sighed, looking at Pinkfur. "I'll call you Pink for short."
The teenage boy coughed. "You aren't allowed to change the nicknames of Pokemon, Reiko!"
Reiko laughed as she walked down the stairs, which caused her mother to smile. "Yeah? Well, it's a nickname of the nickname. Deal with it."
Pinkfur meowed, and jumped out of Reiko's hands to sniff her new surroundings.
Maggie joined her daughter and Devion on the first floor, and held her hand out for Reiko's Skitty to sniff. "Hello, Pinkfur." She straightened, and looked at Reiko. "Well? Do you want to go on your journey? After finals are over-"
"Do we have to wait?" Reiko whined. "I don't want to go back to school."
"Well, it would be a good idea to finish the semester, it's only a month," Maggie attempted to explain, waving her hands as if that would help.
"Please? I want to start now, plus, I don't really want to go back." She looked at Pinkfur, and grinned. "I want to start training now so I can whip Devion the next time we meet, as thanks for Pink."
"Hey!"
Maggie sighed, looking defeated. "I guess...you could probably start tomorrow, if we can arrange for your traveler's permit-"
Reiko lunged at her mother, hugging her tightly. "Thankyouthankyouthankyou!"
Devion just looked at Scar. "Wow. What a clichéd beginning. And such a turn-around from the whole depressed thing...are you sure you're not faking?"
"Skarr."
"Shut up, Devion."
"Neuu!"
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. Pokemon is owned by Satoshi Tajiri, Gamefreak, and any other respective and legal owners.
Most of the characters in this story were parallels of ReiShine characters, which is the intellectual property of Digital Skitty.
Author's Note: This is one of my four holiday present stories…and this one is for…Digital Skitty AKA Ghost Skitty AKA Eneko-chan! Yay, I hope you like it…