Chapter 4: And So the Journey Begins

They started on this journey a day ago, deciding to follow the Koopa's tracks. They began on the left side of the castle (you could practically see a window was broken from the Koopa jumping out of it) where the Koopa's tracks started and followed them. They followed them and followed them until they stopped where the tracks stopped: in Toad Town.

"Wow. There are actually more of these Toads?" Anita asked, amazed.

"Yes," answered Mario. "This is the capital of the Mushroom Kingdom, Toad Town. As you can see, not only are there Toads living here, but Goombas, Koopas, and Shy Guys also call this place home."

"Yep, this place is living history," said Luigi. "Me and Mario actually went here before and it was great."

"Did anyone notice that the Koopa's tracks just stop right here?" asked Yoshi.

They could see that the Koopa's tracks did stop right there. Beyond that, there were no other prints. All they could see ahead were pavement, houses, and a lot of people. So they went around, asking if anyone saw a Koopa Troopa running off with a woman with freaky teeth. When they got nowhere with this, they decided to take a break and come up with something else when they bumped into a girl wearing rich girl clothes and a red oversized newsboy cap.

"Oof!" sounded the girl they bumped into.

"Young lady, where the crap are your manners?" Taco Llama asked, sounding pissed.

The girl ignored him and kept walking. Taco Llama, who was getting even more pissed, ran to catch up with the girl.

"Go away." said the girl.

"I demand an apology," Taco Llama said again.

Gardevoir teleported in front of the girl and stopped her dead in her tracks.

"My girl, why won't you look at him when he's trying to talk to you?" Gardevoir demanded. Then she noticed that the girl's eyes looked cloudy, which meant only one thing.

"I'm sorry," Gardevoir apologized. "I didn't realize you were…."

"Beautiful? Stylish? Young?" the girl asked.

"No. Blind." Gardevoir finished. Then she turned to face her master. "Taco Llama, look at this girl's eyes. You can clearly notice something about her. She's blind."

"Oh my God," Taco Llama said. "She's blind? So that's why she's not looking at me. She can't see."

"That's right. I'm visually-impaired. I am Bennita Germanotta. An orphan, I am. I don't know what happened to my real parents, but I'm convinced they're dead. So I live here with my foster parents, Mr. Kieran Toadsley and his wife, Leona." the girl introduced herself. Then she took two Pokéballs out of a pocket from her jeans and released two Pokémon, a Pachirisu and a Kirlia.

"Wow. What are their names?" Luigi asked Bennita.

"Garu's the Pachirisu I use for reaching things that are out of my reach and Aye's my seeing-eye Kirlia. Aye is kinda tomboyish if you ask me, but how should I know? I can't see!" Bennita answered.

"Aww! Garu's cute!" Princess Peach chimed.

"Again, how would I know? I'm blind," said Bennita. "But I agree he is cute."

"How did you find them?" Mario asked Bennita.

"I didn't find them." said Bennita. "They found me, one at a time anyway. I met Aye first, and then she informed me about Garu. That's how I knew Garu was a Pachirisu. By the way, you can call me Benny. Come on, Aye will take you to the Toadsleys' house."

"Right this way, guys." Aye announced. She walked on a straight path, leading the way to Bennita's foster parents' house. The others, including Bennita, followed Aye, hoping that the foster parents Bennita mentioned would want to see her new friends.