The sounds of the city were absolutely deafening to her ears. Being raised on an island, she was far more used to the calmer pace of small village life. Especially when there was only one city on MeleMele island, and it wasn't NEARLY as big as Mesagoza.
Kitty looked around, trying to figure out the way to Uva Acadamey. She had only been in Mesagoza ONCE and it was only for a week. It had been months since her last visit, and it looked like the city was getting ready for something big. There were decorations everywhere and it seemed that a lot of kids in uniforms were walking around the city.
Uva Acadamey students no doubt.
Kitty glanced towards the Sprigatito in her arms that looked spooked at all the city madness. After arriving in a town called Cortondo, Kitty had managed to get Sprigatito to a Pokemon center and got her healed up…
But when Kitty and her Pokemon left the Pokemon center…Sprigatito followed them as quietly as she could.
It didn't take long for Harpuia to notice the little kitten trailing them. Thankfully Harpuia was significantly more patient and forgiving than Freezer.
"Do you need to be back in your ball, Lilly?" Kitty asked the wide-eyed grass-cat. "It's really loud here isn't it?"
The grass type buried her face in Kitty's shirt in reply. Smiling, Kitty took out a green ball with droplet patterns on the top. "Don't worry honey. We're just here to ask for directions to Tagtree Forsest, then we'll be back on the quieter roads."
Returning the cat to her Pokeball, Kitty gently shrunk the ball and put it at a holder on her waist, before continuing deeper into the city. Behind her, Harpuia her Toxtricity faithfully followed her, glancing at all the familiar sights around him.
…Mesagoza…
Last time he was here, he had been a Toxel that had been hatched and left to fend for himself. He just didn't have that shiny color that his original owner wanted…
…but then came Atticus…who had felt Harpuia would be loved by Kitty.
Harpuia smiled very lightly at the memory of him first meeting Kitty…all he ever wanted was to be loved…and Atticus made sure he got that by giving him to Kitty. Now he wanted to find Atticus to properly thank the Palden student…
"OK I'm finally starting to recognize the area." Kitty stopped walking- making Harpuia SLAM into his trainer's back, causing both of them to topple to the ground. Kitty found herself laying on her stomach, while Harpuia was sprawled across her back, looking spooked.
"I guess that's what I get for making a sudden stop." Kitty muttered lowly.
The sound of feet slowly approaching the two could be heard.
"...are…you ok?" a soft spoken voice came from above.
Kitty looked upwards, seeing a young girl around her age looking down at her and Harpuia. She had short hair that was blue on one side and red on another. She wore a dark hoodie and an extremely fluffy Eevee backpack, while she adjusted a pair of glasses over her eyes.
"Oh- Yes- thank you." Kitty let Harpuia get up first, before allowing her Toxtricity to help her up. She turned to face the girl and rubbed her head slightly. "Harpuia and I are just looking for Uva Acadamy."
"Oh…are you a student at the academy?" The young girl asked quietly.
Kitty shook her head. "No…I'm from Alola…I'm just here to find an important person to me…" She paused and offered her hand to the girl. "My name is Katrina…but I prefer being called 'Kitty'"
The girl she was talking to paused at the name, as though she were trying to place it…but finally hesitantly took Kitty's hand. "...I'm Penny."
"Nice to meet you Penny." Kitty smiled and motioned towards her bag. "I love your Eevee bag. I'm a personal fan of Glaceon myself."
Penny made no reply, which puzzled Harpuia and Kitty. After a moment, Kitty cleared her throat and put her hands behind her back.
"Hey…by chance do you know the way to the Tagtree forest?"
"...Tagtree?" Penny seemed bewildered at Kitty's request. "...Why do you want to go there? It's filled with Poison type Pokemon. Most trainers don't really like going there."
Kitty paused for a moment. Poison types? That made PERFECT sense! Of course Atticus would want to be in an area surrounded by his dearest typing.
"Well…I was told a precious friend of mine enjoys spending his time there." Kitty replied, putting a hand to her chest. "...though…I have no idea if he actually LIVES there or not. I'm merely going off information that I was given more than a year ago…"
Penny looked stunned for a moment at this information that was coming from this girl, but kept quiet.
Did this girl…know Atticus?...and if she did…was she apart of Team Star? No…No that wasn't possible…she wasn't even wearing Team Star's colors or gear…
If she did know Atticus…did she know…about…
"HEY!"
Kitty and Penny flinched at the sudden greeting and turned upon seeing a tall, slender female with dark hair in a ponytail, who was pointing towards Kitty accusingly. "Aren't you Katrina, the Alolan Champion?!" The girl all but demanded.
Kitty made a stunned face and glanced towards Harpuia, who glanced back towards his trainer, before looking back towards this…EXTREMELY energetic girl.
"...um…y-yes?" Kitty slowly confirmed.
"I KNEW IT!" The girl quickly rushed over to Kitty and Penny, putting her hands together in a pleading fashion, grinning in excitement towards Kitty. "I'm Nemona! You HAVE to let me battle you!"
"Uh-" Kitty took a step back, now looking spooked. "But- But I'm not in my jurisdiction-"
"No no no, not for a title! Just for fun! Come on! It'll just be a couple of minutes! What do you say?" The excited girl folded her hands pleadingly.
Kitty glanced towards Penny, but the girl was looking away, also looking extremely uncomfortable.
"I-...I mean…I suppose I have time for a One-on-One…" Kitty muttered, motioning towards Harpuia, who was looking at Nemona like she was a crazy woman.
"YES!" Nemona quickly rushed for the other side of the street, taking out a Pokeball and turning eagerly towards Kitty and Harpuia. "Let's go!"
Kitty sweatdropped and rubbed her head, slowly making her way to the other side of the street. "...uh…Harpuia? Are you sure You're ok with this? I could…you know…make Fefnir take this…you know how aggressive he is…"
The Toxtrixity waved her off, giving her a thumbs up to reassure her. He was certain he could handle a random trainer who was going to try and show off by challenging a Champion.
"Toxtrixity huh? I got JUST the mon!" Nemona threw out her Pokeball, letting out…a black Tauros?
"Wait what?" Kitty looked baffled. "Is that…a Tauros?!"
"You bet it is!" Nemona grinned. "It's a Palden Tauros! One of three types here!" The energetic trainer grinned and pointed towards the battlefield. "My boy is a fighting type! Tauros! Work Up!"
The dark haired bull let out a bellow and stomped his hooves against the ground, powering himself up. An orange flare burned around him, indicating that his stats were getting higher.
Kitty winced and frowned. Great. A move that increased MULTIPLE stats instead of just one. This was going to make things challenging.
"Harpuia!" Kitty pointed towards the Tauros. "Poison Jab!"
"Trix!" Harpuia narrowed his eyes and flexed his hands, secreting an amount of venom from his fingers and HURLING the shots towards the black bull in front of him. The purple stream hit the bull head-on…but it looked like it only did an average amount of damage and wasn't successful at poisoning the bull.
"Slag." Kitty gritted her teeth. That stats boost no doubt had helped the bull tank the shot. She was going to have to either take a second shot to try and poison the bull, or start raising Harpuia's stats…
"That was a decent try, but we're ready for your Toxtricity!" Nemona grinned, throwing out her hand. "Tauros! Use Earthquake!"
The bull reared up and SLAMMED his hooves into the ground, sending the ground shaking towards Harpuia.
Kitty gasped, her pupils shrinking. "Harpuia! Dodge it!"
The Toxtricity attempted to jump into the air, but the Earthquake attack SLAMMED into him at full force, causing the electric/poison type to launch backwards, slamming back into the ground, landing hard on his back.
Wincing sharply, Harpuia attempted to get himself up…but he stumbled. He barely had ANY energy left thanks to that blow.
Kitty looked horrified. This thing had hit Harpuia with a POWERED UP move that had Four
times the effectiveness on him…and he was holding on by a mere SLITHER of health! How the HECK was she supposed to keep battling with Harpuia barely able to stand?!
"...tch…" Kitty gritted her teeth…she wasn't sure what to do…if this wasn't a One-on-One battle, she would switch to Leviathan, considering this…THING was a fighting type apparently…If she wanted to ASSURE that she could poison the darn thing, she would have used Toxic Spikes…
…but she SHOULD have done that at the BEGINNING of the battle.
"Harpuia! Discharge!" Kitty took a step up, looking concerned.
The Toxtricity panted, but charged himself up and let out a wicked blast of electric energy that successfully slammed into the Tauros. The bull did stumble a little bit…but looked up, looking ready for more.
"Oooh you ALMOST paralyzed him!" Nemona grinned, pumping a fist in the air. "But we're ready for your attempts at status changes! Taurus! Zen Headbutt!"
"Wait- WHAT?!" Kitty suddenly reached out. "Harpuia!"
Her warning was late, the black bull charged up power in his horns and SLAMMED his head into Harpuia's body, causing the Toxtrixity to go FLYING out of the battle ground, and SMASHED into a nearby restaurant table.
Kitty turned and quickly ran for her passed out Pokemon, kneeling down and putting her hands on Harpuia, a spooked look on her face. "Oh gosh…Harpuia?"
The Toxtricity only groaned lowly, glancing up dizzy at his trainer in remorse.
"Take it easy. It's not your fault I didn't do any research…" Kitty put her hand against Harpuia's face to reassure him, before returning him to his Pokeball. She stood back up and glanced towards her challenger, looking bewildered.
"Hey, that was GREAT! You really put everything into your battle!" She quickly returned her Paldean Taruos to its ball and took out another ball. "Why don't we try another? I have a few more strategies I would LOVE to try out with you!"
Kitty looked flabbergasted and took a few steps back. "You're-...KIDDING…right?" She put a hand to herself. "I have to get Harpuia to the Pokemon center! You practically obliterated him!"
Nemona paused at the response and put a hand to her head. "Ah- yeah you have a point. I'm sorry, I just figured a champion level trainer would be able to handle anything thrown at her."
Kitty paused…and scowled, turning and walking away, heading for the nearest Pokemon center.
"Hey! Hey wait! Was it something I said?!" Nemona called out to the retreating girl.
As Kitty retreated and Nemona called out after her, Penny watched the interaction, specifically watching Kitty who was dead-set on getting to the nearest Pokemon center…
…Penny turned and walked in a different direction to avoid Nemona…and find Kitty.