This is the journey of a man named Chris, who had dreams shared by many, yet lived experiences known by so few... There are many people in the world of Pokemon, who come in just as many varieties as these strange creatures. And you are about to discover, perhaps, one you may just consider the rarest of all...
Chapter 15 - Unfortunate Thief...
Chris walked further and further through the mountain borders... Pacing himself when going upwards, strolling when heading down. The path took him through many twists and turns along the border, all the while Kirlia slept, sang while patting his head, and slept some more. "Well... Glad one of us... Is able to take it easy..." he told her with a worn out laugh, wiping the sweat off his face with a sigh. The more they traveled, the more Chris seemed to forget what had happened back at the spring, getting himself lost along the ever winding road ahead. "Maybe we should have got a bike back in town... Then again it would've been too hard for me to pedal all over this path the way it tends to be so steep... Traveling really puts it in your face how unfit you are, doesn't it?" he laughed, making Kirlia tilt her head confused. "Uhh... Fit... You know... Exercise! Muscles! Yearrrgh! Fitness!" he told her as he lifted his arms to flex, showing a drop of sweat and laughing nervously when his arms only showed slight muscle in them.
"...Never mind." he said with a slump, embarrassing himself. She tilted her head again and suddenly tried to copy the same movements she felt him make, lifting her arms and shouting loudly as if to say "yearrrgh!" as well with a serious look. Chris couldn't help but puff out his cheeks as he snickered, trying to cover his mouth yet laughing loudly anyways. "You're such a cutie. No matter what you always make me feel better Kirlia." he said, reaching up and rubbing her on the head. She flushed and made sounds of nervous laughter, poking her fingers shyly as always. Kirlia suddenly grabbed his head, giving him a hug while making happy sounds, suddenly feeling how sweaty he had gotten along the way. Pulling back, he laughed nervously and told her he was sorry, handing up a tissue from his pocket to wipe herself off with. However, she also used it to wipe off his face for him, clumsily poking him in the yes repeatedly since she couldn't see where she was wiping. "Ow... Ow... Thanks... Ow..." he said silently in his mind, repeatedly having to squint either one eye or the other. After a moment he thanked her nervously and said that was enough, rubbing his eyes, surprised they hadn't bruised any. She nodded with a smile and handed it back, with Chris putting it back in his pocket. "Best not to litter!" he chuckled.
Over time, he finally made his way to the other side of the border, now able to look at the seemingly endless horizon before him. "Man... Within the circle, what you can see is huge already... But outside... You really realize just how big the world is after being tucked away for so long... Nice view, huh Kirl..." he suddenly paused, his eyes drifting towards the ground sadly. She tilted her head and made a noise, as if asking what he was going to say, but he suddenly shook his head and laughed nervously, telling her it was nothing as he held her up so she could sit on his head and feel the heat from the sun now in front of them. She let out a sigh as she closed her glazed eyes. "Man... Talk about insensitive... I really have to be more careful..." he mumbled to himself, his eyes looking back towards the ground again. Kirlia was starting to pick up on his sudden... Change of mood... And she started to feel his head, rubbing it and making sounds as if to ask him what was wrong. Jolting, he remembered she was able to read him like a book since she was so close to his mind, and he quickly lifted her off his head and sat her on a rock, laughing nervously claiming everything was fine. "I'm just a little tired is all. Making it through the border was a long trip! Talk about a climb and a half! I just need a drink and we'll be good to go!" he laughed, setting down his things and rummaging to distract Kirlia from reading him as he sweat a bit.
Problem was... While he WAS thirsty... He suddenly discovered there were no more bottles of water to drink, turning himself slightly pale and wide eyed. "I... Forgot... Supplies... Son of... A..." he said, slapping himself on the forehead with a groan, slumping to the ground with a sigh. Kirlia started flailing her arms and making worried noises, hearing him hit himself, so he told her he was alright. "I just feel a little dumb is all right now... Kinda forgot to get some stuff for us to use on our trip to the next town, and this is the long route so... Ha ha... I definitely don't plan on going all the way back so... Maybe we can find some fresh water nearby...? I have an empty bottle or two in here I kept just in case... We've got food but we could use something to eat on the side... Maybe there are berries around here?" he said, standing and looking around. Kirlia remembered the water she drank this morning, and finding out it was the last of what he had made her feel both, happy and bad all at once... Turning her face in different directions, she closed her eyes and listened. Carefully... Carefully... She hopped on the ground and tapped the soil with her feet, listening to the breeze as well. Around here...? From over there...? From... Behind...? and after a moment she opened her eyes and pointed into the woods, making sounds towards Chris as she pointed. "Uhh... Whats up...? Gotta go to the bathroom...?" he asked, suddenly causing her to flush red and rapidly shake her head, screaming at him in response due to humiliation. Stomping her foot, she pointed towards the woods again with loud noises, firmly pointing towards him and back to the woods for extra emphasis. "O... Okay okay! I didn't... Know what you were... I mean... Agh... I'm sorry..." he told her with a slump, bowing his head slightly as he walked up to her. Crossing her arms, she patted her foot waiting to be picked up while facing him. Nodding, he sat her on his shoulder as he walked into the woods, confused yet following where Kirlia pointed nonetheless.
Eventually, they reached a small stream of water flowing along some rocks into a large puddle of water, slowly streaming towards a nearby river. "Ooohhh... A spring...? You... Actually found this... From all the way..." he said, facing back towards where they came from in surprise. "Wow... You really are... Getting good... I'm... Actually shocked..." he told Kirlia, blinking at her in surprise as he took the lids off the bottles he brought. With a loud "hrmph!" like noise she crossed her arms and stuck her nose up proudly, smiling from ear to ear in a... "Naturally!" sort of response. He scowled and reminded her that cockiness wasn't a favorable trait to most, and she let out a growl while showing an angry and pouty expression. "Now now... I'm still really proud of you. Don't worry." he chuckled, rubbing her on the head. He slowly filled both bottles with the trickling water, tasting it himself to make sure it was alright before handing some to Kirlia. "Spring water really is something... It tastes even better than the bottled stuff... Then again, everything tastes better the closer it is to the source!" he laughed, capping his bottles and smiling happily. "This should get us the rest of the way... Thanks a lot!" he told her, suddenly shaking her small hand and slightly surprising her by the sudden contact. She faced her hand as she held it up, slightly blushing as she nodded and made a quiet "...welcome..." sound in response. Heading back towards where he left his belongings, he suddenly discovered his rucksack had started... Moving... On its own. Kirlia heard the strange rustling as well and tucked herself behind his head, poking her glazed eyes out curiously.
However... Chris thought it was the mischievous Pokemon trying to prank him with her abilities, and with a scowl, he told Kirlia messing with people like that just because she could wasn't nice. She suddenly puffed out her cheeks and slapped him on the side of the head in response, making a quiet yet firm noise as if to say "not me...!!!" while venting behind him, making irritated noises as she pulled at random hairs on his hair. "Ow ow ow...!!! Okay I get it...!! S... Sorry..." he responded, gently swatting her hands away. She let out another "hrmph!" like sound as he slowly climbed out of the bushes, trying to look over his rucksack to see what might be inside. Slowly... Slooowly... Ever so slowly he inched closer, tightly gripping both bottles should he need to throw them in defense. Kirlia whimpered behind him as she clutched his head, shivering nervously and causing Chris to grow more and more cautious as a result. "S... Stop shaking...!!! Its making my hair stand on end...!!!" he told her in a loud yet hushed tone, with Kirlia gulping and nodding in response. As he finally reached his rucksack, he took a deep breath and carefully... Carefully... Reached for it... And as he slowly flipped open the top with the end of a bottle...
"GEEEYYYAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!!!!!!" he screamed, seeing a pair of red eyes glowing brightly inside, dagger like pupils glaring up at him like a demon. He suddenly yanked his body backwards into the air, hurling his bottles into the sky as Kirlia flew off his shoulders as well, with her landing in a bush as he fell flat on the ground. "Wa wa wa wa... What is that THING??!!!" he shouted, scooting himself back as the rucksack rustled about wildly. Kirlia was freaking out, screaming and flailing inside the bush as Chris gasped for air, clutching his chest where his heart was racing within. He carefully reached for Kirlia, pulling her out of the bushes with trembling hands and trying to decide if he should put her in front of him for them to confront it together or hide her behind him to take care of it alone, with the both of them confused as to which was the better option... However, they finally nodded at each other as he placed her on his shoulder to stand, both of them with their fists up and putting on a brave face, even though they were both shaking enough to make the ground rumble... As he made his way back towards the rucksack and told Kirlia to have her psychic ready, it suddenly stopped moving, causing Chris to freeze and take a step back cautiously. "...O...Okay...It...its se... Settled d... Down...?" he gulped, with Kirlia clutching a wad of his hair in her grasp nervously. "Ow ow ow ow ow... K... Kirlia..." he groaned with a tear in his eye.
Suddenly... The pair of eyes poked out and back into the top of his rucksack rapidly, causing Chris to jolt every time they came out. "C... Come on... Th... This is ridiculous... J... Just get out of my st... Stuff..." he muttered, sweating as the darting eyes continued to freak him out. Finally, the creature inside his rucksack slowly raised up from the top, and as it cautiously revealed itself, Chris suddenly blinked and slumped, letting out a loud and relieved sigh while clutching his chest once again, his heart now seemingly skipping beats. "Oh m... Man... its just a Sn..." and suddenly the small Pokemon made a noise, startling Kirlia on his shoulder, and in response, making her unleash her psychic abilities in a moment of panic. She started flailing waves of energy all over the place, knocking down limbs and sending rocks tumbling as she screamed. "K k... Kirlia!!! C... Calm down!!! its ju j... Just a small Pokemon!!!" he shouted, suddenly grabbing her and telling her to relax repeatedly. She slowly stopped releasing her energy as it began lifting Chris off the ground, causing him to sigh as his feet touched the solid soil beneath him once again. Kirlia was sweating and gasping for air with spiraled eyes, having been freaked out more than she could handle in a single moment. "...Aannnd out again..." he said, laying her down on a patch of grass as he took another deep breath. Looking back towards his rucksack, he suddenly scowled and stood, crossing his arms. "You pretty much scared the past few meals out of us!! What's the deal going through random peoples belongings?! Don't you know someone could really hurt you for that?!" he scolded as his rucksack started shivering. "...Agh. Look we aren't going to hurt you... We were just startled in the moment... Come on out of there would ya? Its got some important cargo I don't want messed up..." he scowled while tapping his foot.
Suddenly the Pokemon slowly raised up, its head hanging down as it shuddered. "Much better. If you had done that from the start instead of being all...!!!" he shouted with a sudden pause, taking another close look at the small Pokemon. It was indeed a Snivy, but it was extremely filthy and looked as if it hadn't had a proper meal in who knew how long, showing bad signs of malnourishment and neglect. "H... Hey now... Are you... Alright...?" he asked, his irritated and impatient expression and tone suddenly turning both, surprised and concerned. "Y... You don't look so good... Are you not from around... Here...?" he asked, slowly walking up to the frightened Snivy. Getting closer, he saw it had tears streaming from its eyes as it clutched something from his rucksack. "C... Come on now... I don't know what happened but you... Can't steal..." he told it, slowly trying to reach out and coax it into handing what it had over. Unfortunately, once he got too close it suddenly shouted and ran off in the opposite direction as quickly as it could, with Chris losing sight of it nearly the second it got past the brush. Still reaching out with sweat on his face, he finally let out a groan and sat down, frustrated as he pulled his rucksack close to see what had been tampered with.
"A bunch of stuff was nibbled on... But asides food everything seems here... Its just all messed up... So much for my syste... Wa... Wait a sec... Wait a sec... W... Wait a sec!!! Where is it?!!! WHERE IS IT?!!!" he shouted louder and louder, suddenly dumping all of his belongings all over the ground. The commotion caused Kirlia to snap out of her dazed state and quickly stand, shouting and reaching her arms out nervously. "Its gone!!! IT TOOK IT!!! ITS GONE!!!!" he shouted, throwing his belongings all over the place. This terrified Kirlia as she tried to get close to him, being hit with clothes and towels as she inched her way up to him. Even being battered with random clothes and such, she finally managed to grab onto his leg, pulling on it with scared shouts trying to find out what was wrong. She closed her eyes and suddenly made her horns glow brightly, surrounding Chris in a dim aura and in turn making his eyes shoot open wide, only to slowly grow dreary and dazed... "G... Gone... Its... Gone..." he said, calming down slowly as if suddenly given a tranquilizer. Sitting back, he groaned rubbing his head, looking back at Kirlia and telling her thanks. She pulled away with a relieved sigh, patting him on the leg. "That Snivy... It took my grandfathers Pokeball... If it manages to mess with it too much and get it open... His ashes are going to be thrown all over the mountainside..." he said with a depressed tone, hanging his head in shame. "I should have made sure to keep it with me at all times... I left my grandfathers ashes just... Sitting around..." he sulked, causing Kirlia to show a sad expression as she rubbed his leg.
Feeling how depressed he was, she faced towards where the Snivy ran off to and closed her eyes, patting him on the leg and putting her finger over her mouth as if to tell him "shush" quietly. Wiping a tear from the side of his eye, he asked her what she was trying to do now, and as she suddenly shushed him for real, he looked towards the bottles of water now laying on the ground nearby. "Ooohhh... I get it... But... Its traveling pretty fast... In who knows what directions... You sure you can...?" he asked, being cut off as she slapped his leg with another "shush" noise. Rubbing his leg with a grumble, he sat quietly in obedience with a scowl, until suddenly Kirlia opened her glazed eyes with a slight glow in them and pointed towards the brush rapidly, making loud noises. Blinking surprised yet again, Chris quickly picked her up and set off into the woods, hoping to find the small, and seemingly sickly... Pokeball thief.
"Don't you worry old man... I'll get those ashes back..." he grumbled with a scowl, rapidly making his way through the trees where Kirlia guided.
A young man named Chris, now 23, who discovered he carries a curse placed on him by a Ninetails his grandfather saved long ago by grabbing its tail as it fell from a cliff, is to forever put others first before doing what he wishes in life, and has now finally set off on his own Pokemon journey, a little later in life than most, after dedicating his youth to care for his grandfather and the other elders in his village, part of the fate the Ninetails told his grandfather would befall Chris after his birth when the curse was placed.
Now that his grandfather has passed away and the elders have sent him on his way to live life as he should, his curse now strings him along as he walks the path of a Pokemon trainer, doing what he always dreamed while also, unknowingly, conveniently fulfilling his part of the Ninetails curse...
