Wranglers
Kat glared at the group, the humans in particular, because it didn't seem the pokemorphs were a part of the team, though they were helping. "Who the hell are you and what do you want." She demanded, coughing out the smoke here and there, from where it was irritating her throat. She thought it was best to put on a tough face, even though she was shaking on the inside, because she had a pretty good idea of who these people were and if they were who she thought they were... She glanced to Mike, before stepping forward. She was not going to let them hurt him.
"Heh, a new arrival?" The girl laughed, tossing her hair. "These pokemorphs call us the Wranglers, of course," She said, smiling evilly still.
"Heh, I don't like this girl's tone..." The first male, one with a black barrette, said, before pulling out a mechanical device from his belt. It was like a top, or something, with a launcher attached.
"Your first, then, challenger," The Koffing girl said, bending onto her haunches as she coughed, then sent a sludge ball at Kat.
The sludge was quickly intercepted, as Kairi jumped in front. The sludge hit, but it simply rolled off her skin, her body able to deal with the toxins. That's why she wasn't affected by the gases, as she got into a fighting stance. "Bastards," She spat, then the humans chuckled and sent out one of their top-like devices, which began to draw circles around the pokemorphs in their group of three all at once, by the human's command. Before it could make one full revolution, Mike had knocked it away with his horn, growling.
Kat gave a small smile as Kairi jumped into the battle and was unharmed by the sludge. "Thanks." She said as her expression turned serious again, trying to think of a strategy and noticed the top had been going around all three of them at once. "Guys, spread out." She said floating away from them, not wanting to know what would happen if it managed to circle all three of them. Plus they would be harder to keep track of if they were all over the place rather than grouped together. Now to move in for the actual attack. She focused an illusion, a copy of herself into being. They were mirror copies, and the two of them grinned, seeing that they had been successful, before both disappeared. Then suddenly Kat reappeared in front of the Koffing girl and aimed a shadow ball at her.
The Koffing ducked under the shadowball skillfully, as if she had been a gymnast before her transformation. As the shadowball passed over her head, the mouths on her shoulders opened widely and green smoke seeped out, spreading over the ground. As it passed, it began to inflict paralysis. Mike jumped around the side of the battle, to where the humans were watching. He got onto all fours, in a warning stance as his horn glowed slightly, getting harder and ready for battle. Kairi, meanwhile, had jumped at the Golem morph, maneuvering swiftly around the larger, more sturdy pokemorph. Two of the humans, the girl and the man without the hat, had jumped off, allowing the one in the barrette to face Mike.
"Ngh..." Kat clenched her teeth as the one in front of the girl disappeared, revealing that it had been nothing more then an illusion while the real Kat had been planning to attack her from behind, but the smoke had caused her to stumble back and fall, limbs locked and unable to move from the combination of the smoke before and this smoke. Though just because she was paralyzed, didn't mean she was down and out. She focused on her abilities and several blue flames materialized around her, before shooting out at the Koffing. Will-o-wisp. She can only hope that will distract the girl long enough so that she can get back on her feet.
As the will-o-wisps began to appear, the Koffing girl eyes them all, before they burst at her. The flares caught on the smoke she was secreting and ignited, sending a burst of flames into her. She gave a loud growl as she was forced back, shaking it off and aimed another sludge bomb at the paralyzed Kat.
Meanwhile, the male wrangler and mike were in a battle of wills, their hands clenched against each other as mike tried to get closer, to bite the human, and the human pushing him back as he got closer.
Kairi was jumping around the golem morph as it smashed down at her, sending a round of water balls at the rocky pokemon, which made the heavy-hitting rock type reel backwards, the water seeping into the cracks in his body.
Kat's eyes widened at the sludge bomb, and she finally managed to get her legs to move, diving to the side, barely getting out of the way in time. Any of that stuff got on her, she wouldn't be able to get away with being invisible. Speaking of which, she focused until she was cloaked by her illusion again, quietly floating around the Koffing until she was facing the back. Then she tried to deliver a punch to the back of the girl's head, but with her arm starting to freeze up, it might not be as effective as she would have hoped.
The Koffing girl stopped as her target disappeared, and then was struck in the back of her head by the invisible punch. She jumped forward, doing a cartwheel before skidding to a halt, her three mouths leaking purple smoke still. "You know, you can't stay invisible forever," she said. Her voice was smooth as silk, it seemed, despite the poison that dripped, literally, from her lips.
The girl had a point, Kat wasn't quite perfect with holding her illusions for an extended period of time, and the prank from before already drained a lot of energy from her. Still, better a headache then whatever these people had in store for them if they got their hands on them. She reappeared on the side with a shadow ball. "Why are you helping these people?" She growled, wondering why the hell someone would help people like these humans.
She spat a big of sludge from her main mouth, and gave a small growl. "None of us wanted to leave humanity behind... and humans are the only ones who can reverse this! and if i have to fight for them to get them to cure me, so be it!" she said, balls of sludge forming in both of her hands, and she tossed them at Kat. They fell in an arch, but instead of going at her, they would splatter in front, and up on her.
Kat arched an eyebrow in curiosity as it seemed the girl's aim was off, but by the time she realized what was being done, the sludge balls had exploded at her feet, covering her lower half and splattering her torso with the sick smelling sludge. She winced, the powerful toxins in the sludge felt like they were burning her skin. "Idiot, we're working to find a cure and we can't do that if these bastards stop us." She retaliated and moved to attack the girl again, but her legs refused to move. She gritted her teeth and conjured up the blue flames again, sending them flying to the Koffing.
"You think just a pokemorph can find a cure?" The Koffing shouted back as she jumped away from the flames this time, jumping backwards and skidding to a halt. "Humanity won't accept people like us, Shuppet girl! And who's to say they want us back?" she shouted. "Only the humans can allow us to return, we can't just fix this and come back like nothing happened!"
Kat narrowed her eyes at the girl who was really starting to get under her skin. "Maybe not, but the least we can do is try. And you know what? I'd much rather look for a cure and take that risk then hope that these people will keep their word." She retorted. With their red and black uniforms, these people looked far too much like Rocket and Magma for her liking, and even excluding that stereotype, anyone who treated pokemorphs like a whole different species to be caught, couldn't be good news. Speaking of whom, she slightly turned her attention to one of the girls who were standing by and watching the battles. "Why do you want to catch us anyways?" She questioned, keeping an eye on the Koffing while she rested slightly, having burned a lot of energy to keep moving.
"Humph." The girl looked away, crossing her arms. "Why do we capture pokemon and use them to battle? Pokemorphs are simply a new strain of pokemon, is all," she said, as he machine top spun around one of the morphs on the ground, who was coughing and gasping from the smog. "Use pokemon like tools, use pokemorphs like tools," she said as the pokemorph disappeared in a bubble, apparently whisked off somewhere.
Kat glanced over to the Koffing girl. "And you're working for these people. Oh well, your loss." She shrugged. If the Koffing would not see reasoning, then she would just have to be beaten. Kat had no intention of being used as a tool, or of finding out where the heck the bubble led. Definitely no intention of that one. She quickly fired a shadow ball to the Koffing, determined to win.
The Koffing intercepted with a sludge ball, jumping forward with two more in her hands, at the ready. The pokemorph that was taken in the bubble reappeared behind the girl wrangler, but now was looking fully restored, yet... different, somehow. The Koffing girl threw the two sludge bombs, making them collide in the air and explode out at her.
Kat raised her arm at least to shield her eyes and face as the sludge covered her once again. She winced from the same burning sensation from before, but then glared at the Koffing girl. She concentrated once more and a black aura seemed to surround her, before several tentacle-like whips lashed out at the Koffing as Kat used Nightshade.
The Koffing was taken by surprised, getting knocked back by the night shade as she didn't expect such an attack. She wriggled back, trying to get away from the tentacles as they whipped at her.
The Nightshade withdrew, only to be followed by a Shadowball Kat had launched. Now that she had a slight advantage, she was going to take every opportunity to beat this girl.
She was almost hit by the shadowball, but it stopped suddenly, halfway to its target. "That's enough," something said, but no one was around to speak. The Koffing girl scrambled up, but didn't make a move to attack this time.
"Apologies, sir..." she bowed, but the figure didn't seem to respond. Instead, Kat felt a hand on her face, and something turned her as if looking her over. "She's a strong one, I'd give her that...." the voice whispered, "but we have no more room for other pokemorphs," it said.
Sir? What the heck had she meant by sir? She jumped as something touched her and quickly backed away, eyes narrowed in suspicion as she tried to find where it was the voice was coming from and what had just touched her face. "Are you the leader of these Wranglers?" She asked it, still in a fighting position, unwilling to let her guard down.
"Not the leader... just well respected," Two yellow eyes appeared in front of her, and one of them winked slightly, then they faded out again as the hand holding her let go of her face, and the person who was holding her moved away. "Clear out the area!" One of the humans called. The Koffing girl gave a growl at Kairi as all of the pokemorphs that were captured and the humans retreated to the middle of the clearing, in an attempt to escape.
The golem, severely weakened by his fight with Kairi, jumped forward and let out a bright blast that shook the area.
Kat shut her eyes as they left, blinking as the blast faded and they were gone, along with any pokemorphs they had managed to snag. She sighed and cursed under her breath. She had wanted to save them, but what could she do? She was still covered in the burning muck, and the paralysis had just started to wear off. She glanced over at the spot where they had been, remembering the yellow eyes and shivering slightly, before turning to face Kairi and Mike. "You guys okay?" She asked them.
Mike nodded, getting up and growling a little. "Those bastards..." He sighed. Kairi was bruised, her blue skin turning black in areas. "I'm fine, did more damage to him than me..." she sighed.
"Are you alright?" she asked as she walked over, spraying water on the sludge that held her down to wash it away. Kat nodded. "I'm fine." She said as the sludge slid off, leaving a few burns here and there where the toxins had started to burn her skin, but nothing too serious. "I can't believe they caught so many, and those eyes..." She muttered and shivered. That guy had been creepy for sure. "Where do ya think they all went?" She asked, her head starting to hurt without the adrenaline to dull the headache.
Mike walked over and saw the burns, hugging her a little and licking her gently.
"We'll get you healed up and ready to go. It's not safe here anymore..." Kairi sighed, looking deeply saddened. "Normally we could hold them off, but..." She sighed a name. "May..." she whispered, shaking her head and looking away.
Kat gave a small sigh as Mike's tongue lightly ran over her skin and nuzzled against his neck slightly as they hugged. "Thanks." She whispered to him in gratitude as her skin probably didn't taste very good at the moment, but a few burns that his tongue had rolled over felt better now. She then turned her focus to Kairi as she sighed. "Who's May?" She questioned in curiosity.
She held up four fingers and sighed again. "Four days ago, when the village was just starting off, there was a girl in the village, named May. She was exceptionally against the humans who were trying to capture us, and fought off a bunch of them before she disappeared..." She explained. "She was... a Koffing morph..." she whispered.
Putting two and two together, mike gave a small gasp. Kat seemed shocked at that news.
"Wow..." Kat breathed. How did someone go from completely resisting the humans, to completely supporting them? The Koffing girl, May, had been set on her faith in the humans, even when they had said she was nothing more than a tool. How did something like that happen? "What happened to her?" She asked in a small voice. She thought it might have something to do with those tops that the wranglers had used to capture the morphs.
"Those devices... the human's called them Stylers, from the Fiore region." She sighed. "When they wrap around a pokemorph, it transfers the human emotions into the pokemorph, and their mind starts to think like them. It's like a form of brainwashing, really..." she sighed again, turning around.
Kat again was shocked. "That's... That's terrible." She said in complete awe that someone would do something like that. Then again, it wasn't too hard to imagine people who saw them as nothing more then a tool using that Styler. She looked down at her feet for a few minutes in thought, and then looked back up. "Is there a way to snap them out of it once they become like that?" She asked her.
"To break the Styler, would be the only way to free a pokemorph captured by it... I assume, anyway." She shrugged. "The Stylers used on pokemon in Fiore freed the pokemon when broken, so it seems that's the only way. But I'm no expert," She shrugged. Kat nodded in understanding. Those little top thingies were pretty much their pokeball for the pokemorphs. Well then, she would have to just keep a very close eye out for those wranglers while they searched for the cure and the source of the virus. And if they met again, now she knew exactly what to focus her attacks on. Chances were they were going to meet while searching for a cure, as a cure might cause major problem for those people.
Kairi turned back to them and crossed her arms. "Well, it seems the party was ruined even without our help. We should go to the village and get the damage report, before they count us as the morphs taken." she said, putting her hands out. Mike took one, and they both looked to Kat to make sure she was ready. Another monkey wrench had just been thrown into the mix... She gave another nod before taking Kairi's other hand. At least that was something they could look a little forward to, seeing everyone's reaction to Mike and Kairi's prank.
Kat smiled a little. "So what sort of evil things did you do to the village while the party was going on?" She asked, looking to the both of them.
"Well... it might not be very appreciated after all that." Kairi sighed. "We Teepeed the huts, strung around lines of clothes and stuff... we made a big muddy hole in the center of town, and dug trap holes around the area..." she explained as they walked back in the direction of town. Kat shrugged.
"Well, perhaps it won't be appreciated, but still, they would have funny looks on their faces, had this not happened." She said, still trying to cheer Kairi up a little bit, since she seemed down, though whether it was because of those wranglers or May, she couldn't quite tell the reason.
Kairi gave a small smile. "Yeah..." She nodded, but her eyes seemed distant, as if she was thinking about something intently. She led them to the center of the village, where the other morphs were assessing the damages to the village and the population.
Kat was glad she floated so she didn't have to worry about where the two had dug the traps, but she couldn't help a small smile at the mud pit in the center of the village. "You guys did a lot of work, didn't ya?" She asked quietly, as to not attract attention to the fact that they had done the damage to the village. She couldn't help but wonder though, what was Kairi thinking about?
Kairi nodded and smirked, looking around. "Yeah, we did," she smirked.
Mike just walked next to them, looking around. "We'll have to continue on, though... this place isn't safe now... and the sooner we get the cure, the sooner the humans won't be able to target the village." He said grimly, crossing his arms. Kairi sighed.
"Tomorrow morning, then?" Kairi asked.
"Tomorrow morning we'll say our good-byes." Kat confirmed with a small sigh. She really didn't want to leave the village and Kairi behind, but they had to, both to find the cure and try and beat the Wranglers, though the last one was a mission for herself, one that Mike had no obligation to, so she would wait until they had found a cure before she actively looked for them. Still, they would come back to the village in any case, they had to. At least, Kat hoped they would.
She looked down sadly and sighed, then nodded. "It's... for the best, then. You need to get to the legendary meeting, before it passes, too." She sighed, crossing her arms. "You'll be able to get there alright without me, right?" she said, looking to Mike sadly. He looked back, and then sighed. "If you can't come... we can't force you."
Kat shook her head. "No. I wish you could come, but I know why you want to stay." She sighed and pulled Kairi into a small hug. She pulled back before smiling a little. "Just promise me that if those guys come back, you'll kick their asses, alright?" She joked a little. How she hated sad goodbyes, and the worst part was, they weren't even saying good bye just yet. God, she was going to need some tissues tomorrow morning...
She smiled, hugging Kat with her arms wide. "I promise." she whispered into her ear, and then pulled away again. "I'm... I'm going to go back to my hut and get cleaned up, then head to bed. I need some time alone," she said with a sigh. "You guys understand, right?" she said, her eyes still sad.
Mike nodded. "We'll come find you before we leave..." he said quietly.
"Of course, can't leave without saying good-bye." She nodded sadly.
"Goodnight, we'll see you in the morning." Kat said, and kissed Kairi's cheek.
"Goodnight, Kairi," Mike said with a sigh, and for a moment they hugged. He hadn't the emotional attachment to the Vaporeon that Kat did, but she was a good friend, and even though they didn't have a moment of their own, he would miss her as well. Kat nodded as she backed away, looking down. "Goodnight," she whispered, and turned to go.
Kat watched Kairi leave before turning herself and heading off to Mike and her hut with him. She sighed. "Well... that was an interesting day..." She mumbled to herself, watching her feet as she floated beside him, glad that the paralysis from the smoke had worn off by now.
He nodded, sighing again lightly. "We better get to sleep..." he said, putting an arm around her lightly. He looked into her eyes, and then asked quietly, as they stood in front of her hut, "are you alright with leaving Kairi here?"
Kat sighed softly, but nodded. "She wants and needs to stay here, and it's not like we're saying good bye forever, right?" She said with a small smile. "I'm fine; just wish we didn't have to." She answered his question. She paused for a moment, looking down to her feet before looking back up to his eyes again. "Besides, you'll still be with me." She smiled a little and hugged him, burying her face in his chest fur. "And that's all that really matters." She mumbled, as she held him for a few moments like that before looking up to his face, arms still wrapped around him in a hug. "Crap, that was cheesy, wasn't it?" She said with a small grin.
He laughed lightly, putting a hand behind her head as they hugged warmly. "A little," he whispered, smiling slightly as he hugged her tighter. "I promise I'll stay with you, too..." he added, his face in her shoulder. She smiled warmly. That small promise meant a lot to her, whether he realized it or not.
"Thank you." She whispered softly, head still against his chest as she closed her eyes and listened to his heart beat for a few seconds while they were in each other's arms.
He held her close, listening to the faint sound of her breathing. She really did like Kairi... so he wanted to be as comforting as possible at the moment, and didn't want to rush her into any more sex for the day. Kat stood there for a few more moments before pulling away and smiling. "Well, shall we head off to our hut now?" She asked him with a small smile, feeling a lot better now then she had earlier, burns and all. Maybe she wouldn't need tissues for tomorrow...
"Alright then," He nodded, smiling a little. "We should get your wounds patched, too," he said as they moved over to their door, and he slowly opened it for her. "After you, Kat," he smiled to her. She smiled and walked inside, taking a seat on the bed and looking over her skin at the burns that marked it. "Eh... They'll heal." She dismissed it with a shrug, not really wanted to put bandages on. For whatever reason, she often disliked most medical supplies, though it was more dangerous if wounds were left open for infection.
"Luckily, though... We're pokemorphs," He said as he went over to his bag, tossing a red and orange bottle onto the bed next to her, which was labeled 'burn heal'. "This stuff normally doesn't do anything for humans..." he said as he sprayed it a little on her. She winced slightly as the liquid stung at first, but the stinging was replaced with a cooling sensation as her skin started to heal and already returned to normal in the places he had sprayed at the beginning. "Ah, that's actually pretty good." She sighed happily. "Thanks." She smiled to him as she flopped backwards, lying out on the bed while the rest of her skin healed.
He smiled and finished the bottle, taking a look at it and tossing it away. He sat down on the bed next to her, looking at her from over his shoulder, before flopping back down next to her as well. She glanced to him as he flopped down, and then rolled over so she was right next to him. She smiled and snuggled close to him, closing her eyes as her arm wrapped around his middle as she gently kissed him on the cheek.
He put his arms around her waist, smiling a little as he kissed her lightly. "Everything works out in the end, remember..." he whispered, kissing her again. She returned the kiss for a few moments, before breaking it. She studied his eyes for a moment. "Of course, we're the good guys; it always works out for the best." She grinned and kissed him again, arms pulling him a little closer to her.
He put his arms around her neck and rolled onto their side, still in the kiss. "All perspective, though," he said with a smile, breaking the kiss a moment. "You never know who're the real good guys."
She stuck out her tongue with a small, playful smirk. "Perspective, smerspective. No one who brainwashes others to be used as tools can be good. Therefore, by default, we get stuck with being the good guys." She reasoned with her own logic with a grin and then rolled them over so that she was on top of him. She won.
"Ah, but what about the other good guys like us?" He said with a smirk. "We can't be the only heroes out there, right? Who knows, some other good guys might be two steps ahead of us already," he said, rolling them over again, so he was on top.
She opened her mouth to reply to that, but then realized that there was none. She closed it and puzzled over the matter. "Damn it, give me a few seconds and I'll come up with a comeback for that." She said. And she had been winning too...
He laughed, nuzzling her neck lovingly. "I win," he whispered, giving a bemused smile down to her.
She smiled and shook her head. "Never," She whispered back in his ear jokingly with her small smirk and kissed him. She didn't see the harm in allow him to win this one time.
He chuckled, putting his arms around her and closing his eyes. "Hum. We'll see," he whispered, kissing her again. He was tired, suddenly, but didn't show it. She smiled and closed her eyes as well, silence drifting over the two like a soft blanket. She felt tired from the whole day, and she was happy just lying in his warm arms like this, though she wondered if he was also falling asleep. "Good night." She whispered to him with a kiss on the nose, just to make sure she didn't drift off without any warning.
he smiled, kissing her back on the nose as he fell slowly asleep as well, whispering "'night" up to her before he fell asleep on top of her, slowly drifting to a deep sleep, where he continued to play out the earlier scenes of the day. A lot had happened... and starting tomorrow, a lot more was going to happen, too.
"Heh, a new arrival?" The girl laughed, tossing her hair. "These pokemorphs call us the Wranglers, of course," She said, smiling evilly still.
"Heh, I don't like this girl's tone..." The first male, one with a black barrette, said, before pulling out a mechanical device from his belt. It was like a top, or something, with a launcher attached.
"Your first, then, challenger," The Koffing girl said, bending onto her haunches as she coughed, then sent a sludge ball at Kat.
The sludge was quickly intercepted, as Kairi jumped in front. The sludge hit, but it simply rolled off her skin, her body able to deal with the toxins. That's why she wasn't affected by the gases, as she got into a fighting stance. "Bastards," She spat, then the humans chuckled and sent out one of their top-like devices, which began to draw circles around the pokemorphs in their group of three all at once, by the human's command. Before it could make one full revolution, Mike had knocked it away with his horn, growling.
Kat gave a small smile as Kairi jumped into the battle and was unharmed by the sludge. "Thanks." She said as her expression turned serious again, trying to think of a strategy and noticed the top had been going around all three of them at once. "Guys, spread out." She said floating away from them, not wanting to know what would happen if it managed to circle all three of them. Plus they would be harder to keep track of if they were all over the place rather than grouped together. Now to move in for the actual attack. She focused an illusion, a copy of herself into being. They were mirror copies, and the two of them grinned, seeing that they had been successful, before both disappeared. Then suddenly Kat reappeared in front of the Koffing girl and aimed a shadow ball at her.
The Koffing ducked under the shadowball skillfully, as if she had been a gymnast before her transformation. As the shadowball passed over her head, the mouths on her shoulders opened widely and green smoke seeped out, spreading over the ground. As it passed, it began to inflict paralysis. Mike jumped around the side of the battle, to where the humans were watching. He got onto all fours, in a warning stance as his horn glowed slightly, getting harder and ready for battle. Kairi, meanwhile, had jumped at the Golem morph, maneuvering swiftly around the larger, more sturdy pokemorph. Two of the humans, the girl and the man without the hat, had jumped off, allowing the one in the barrette to face Mike.
"Ngh..." Kat clenched her teeth as the one in front of the girl disappeared, revealing that it had been nothing more then an illusion while the real Kat had been planning to attack her from behind, but the smoke had caused her to stumble back and fall, limbs locked and unable to move from the combination of the smoke before and this smoke. Though just because she was paralyzed, didn't mean she was down and out. She focused on her abilities and several blue flames materialized around her, before shooting out at the Koffing. Will-o-wisp. She can only hope that will distract the girl long enough so that she can get back on her feet.
As the will-o-wisps began to appear, the Koffing girl eyes them all, before they burst at her. The flares caught on the smoke she was secreting and ignited, sending a burst of flames into her. She gave a loud growl as she was forced back, shaking it off and aimed another sludge bomb at the paralyzed Kat.
Meanwhile, the male wrangler and mike were in a battle of wills, their hands clenched against each other as mike tried to get closer, to bite the human, and the human pushing him back as he got closer.
Kairi was jumping around the golem morph as it smashed down at her, sending a round of water balls at the rocky pokemon, which made the heavy-hitting rock type reel backwards, the water seeping into the cracks in his body.
Kat's eyes widened at the sludge bomb, and she finally managed to get her legs to move, diving to the side, barely getting out of the way in time. Any of that stuff got on her, she wouldn't be able to get away with being invisible. Speaking of which, she focused until she was cloaked by her illusion again, quietly floating around the Koffing until she was facing the back. Then she tried to deliver a punch to the back of the girl's head, but with her arm starting to freeze up, it might not be as effective as she would have hoped.
The Koffing girl stopped as her target disappeared, and then was struck in the back of her head by the invisible punch. She jumped forward, doing a cartwheel before skidding to a halt, her three mouths leaking purple smoke still. "You know, you can't stay invisible forever," she said. Her voice was smooth as silk, it seemed, despite the poison that dripped, literally, from her lips.
The girl had a point, Kat wasn't quite perfect with holding her illusions for an extended period of time, and the prank from before already drained a lot of energy from her. Still, better a headache then whatever these people had in store for them if they got their hands on them. She reappeared on the side with a shadow ball. "Why are you helping these people?" She growled, wondering why the hell someone would help people like these humans.
She spat a big of sludge from her main mouth, and gave a small growl. "None of us wanted to leave humanity behind... and humans are the only ones who can reverse this! and if i have to fight for them to get them to cure me, so be it!" she said, balls of sludge forming in both of her hands, and she tossed them at Kat. They fell in an arch, but instead of going at her, they would splatter in front, and up on her.
Kat arched an eyebrow in curiosity as it seemed the girl's aim was off, but by the time she realized what was being done, the sludge balls had exploded at her feet, covering her lower half and splattering her torso with the sick smelling sludge. She winced, the powerful toxins in the sludge felt like they were burning her skin. "Idiot, we're working to find a cure and we can't do that if these bastards stop us." She retaliated and moved to attack the girl again, but her legs refused to move. She gritted her teeth and conjured up the blue flames again, sending them flying to the Koffing.
"You think just a pokemorph can find a cure?" The Koffing shouted back as she jumped away from the flames this time, jumping backwards and skidding to a halt. "Humanity won't accept people like us, Shuppet girl! And who's to say they want us back?" she shouted. "Only the humans can allow us to return, we can't just fix this and come back like nothing happened!"
Kat narrowed her eyes at the girl who was really starting to get under her skin. "Maybe not, but the least we can do is try. And you know what? I'd much rather look for a cure and take that risk then hope that these people will keep their word." She retorted. With their red and black uniforms, these people looked far too much like Rocket and Magma for her liking, and even excluding that stereotype, anyone who treated pokemorphs like a whole different species to be caught, couldn't be good news. Speaking of whom, she slightly turned her attention to one of the girls who were standing by and watching the battles. "Why do you want to catch us anyways?" She questioned, keeping an eye on the Koffing while she rested slightly, having burned a lot of energy to keep moving.
"Humph." The girl looked away, crossing her arms. "Why do we capture pokemon and use them to battle? Pokemorphs are simply a new strain of pokemon, is all," she said, as he machine top spun around one of the morphs on the ground, who was coughing and gasping from the smog. "Use pokemon like tools, use pokemorphs like tools," she said as the pokemorph disappeared in a bubble, apparently whisked off somewhere.
Kat glanced over to the Koffing girl. "And you're working for these people. Oh well, your loss." She shrugged. If the Koffing would not see reasoning, then she would just have to be beaten. Kat had no intention of being used as a tool, or of finding out where the heck the bubble led. Definitely no intention of that one. She quickly fired a shadow ball to the Koffing, determined to win.
The Koffing intercepted with a sludge ball, jumping forward with two more in her hands, at the ready. The pokemorph that was taken in the bubble reappeared behind the girl wrangler, but now was looking fully restored, yet... different, somehow. The Koffing girl threw the two sludge bombs, making them collide in the air and explode out at her.
Kat raised her arm at least to shield her eyes and face as the sludge covered her once again. She winced from the same burning sensation from before, but then glared at the Koffing girl. She concentrated once more and a black aura seemed to surround her, before several tentacle-like whips lashed out at the Koffing as Kat used Nightshade.
The Koffing was taken by surprised, getting knocked back by the night shade as she didn't expect such an attack. She wriggled back, trying to get away from the tentacles as they whipped at her.
The Nightshade withdrew, only to be followed by a Shadowball Kat had launched. Now that she had a slight advantage, she was going to take every opportunity to beat this girl.
She was almost hit by the shadowball, but it stopped suddenly, halfway to its target. "That's enough," something said, but no one was around to speak. The Koffing girl scrambled up, but didn't make a move to attack this time.
"Apologies, sir..." she bowed, but the figure didn't seem to respond. Instead, Kat felt a hand on her face, and something turned her as if looking her over. "She's a strong one, I'd give her that...." the voice whispered, "but we have no more room for other pokemorphs," it said.
Sir? What the heck had she meant by sir? She jumped as something touched her and quickly backed away, eyes narrowed in suspicion as she tried to find where it was the voice was coming from and what had just touched her face. "Are you the leader of these Wranglers?" She asked it, still in a fighting position, unwilling to let her guard down.
"Not the leader... just well respected," Two yellow eyes appeared in front of her, and one of them winked slightly, then they faded out again as the hand holding her let go of her face, and the person who was holding her moved away. "Clear out the area!" One of the humans called. The Koffing girl gave a growl at Kairi as all of the pokemorphs that were captured and the humans retreated to the middle of the clearing, in an attempt to escape.
The golem, severely weakened by his fight with Kairi, jumped forward and let out a bright blast that shook the area.
Kat shut her eyes as they left, blinking as the blast faded and they were gone, along with any pokemorphs they had managed to snag. She sighed and cursed under her breath. She had wanted to save them, but what could she do? She was still covered in the burning muck, and the paralysis had just started to wear off. She glanced over at the spot where they had been, remembering the yellow eyes and shivering slightly, before turning to face Kairi and Mike. "You guys okay?" She asked them.
Mike nodded, getting up and growling a little. "Those bastards..." He sighed. Kairi was bruised, her blue skin turning black in areas. "I'm fine, did more damage to him than me..." she sighed.
"Are you alright?" she asked as she walked over, spraying water on the sludge that held her down to wash it away. Kat nodded. "I'm fine." She said as the sludge slid off, leaving a few burns here and there where the toxins had started to burn her skin, but nothing too serious. "I can't believe they caught so many, and those eyes..." She muttered and shivered. That guy had been creepy for sure. "Where do ya think they all went?" She asked, her head starting to hurt without the adrenaline to dull the headache.
Mike walked over and saw the burns, hugging her a little and licking her gently.
"We'll get you healed up and ready to go. It's not safe here anymore..." Kairi sighed, looking deeply saddened. "Normally we could hold them off, but..." She sighed a name. "May..." she whispered, shaking her head and looking away.
Kat gave a small sigh as Mike's tongue lightly ran over her skin and nuzzled against his neck slightly as they hugged. "Thanks." She whispered to him in gratitude as her skin probably didn't taste very good at the moment, but a few burns that his tongue had rolled over felt better now. She then turned her focus to Kairi as she sighed. "Who's May?" She questioned in curiosity.
She held up four fingers and sighed again. "Four days ago, when the village was just starting off, there was a girl in the village, named May. She was exceptionally against the humans who were trying to capture us, and fought off a bunch of them before she disappeared..." She explained. "She was... a Koffing morph..." she whispered.
Putting two and two together, mike gave a small gasp. Kat seemed shocked at that news.
"Wow..." Kat breathed. How did someone go from completely resisting the humans, to completely supporting them? The Koffing girl, May, had been set on her faith in the humans, even when they had said she was nothing more than a tool. How did something like that happen? "What happened to her?" She asked in a small voice. She thought it might have something to do with those tops that the wranglers had used to capture the morphs.
"Those devices... the human's called them Stylers, from the Fiore region." She sighed. "When they wrap around a pokemorph, it transfers the human emotions into the pokemorph, and their mind starts to think like them. It's like a form of brainwashing, really..." she sighed again, turning around.
Kat again was shocked. "That's... That's terrible." She said in complete awe that someone would do something like that. Then again, it wasn't too hard to imagine people who saw them as nothing more then a tool using that Styler. She looked down at her feet for a few minutes in thought, and then looked back up. "Is there a way to snap them out of it once they become like that?" She asked her.
"To break the Styler, would be the only way to free a pokemorph captured by it... I assume, anyway." She shrugged. "The Stylers used on pokemon in Fiore freed the pokemon when broken, so it seems that's the only way. But I'm no expert," She shrugged. Kat nodded in understanding. Those little top thingies were pretty much their pokeball for the pokemorphs. Well then, she would have to just keep a very close eye out for those wranglers while they searched for the cure and the source of the virus. And if they met again, now she knew exactly what to focus her attacks on. Chances were they were going to meet while searching for a cure, as a cure might cause major problem for those people.
Kairi turned back to them and crossed her arms. "Well, it seems the party was ruined even without our help. We should go to the village and get the damage report, before they count us as the morphs taken." she said, putting her hands out. Mike took one, and they both looked to Kat to make sure she was ready. Another monkey wrench had just been thrown into the mix... She gave another nod before taking Kairi's other hand. At least that was something they could look a little forward to, seeing everyone's reaction to Mike and Kairi's prank.
Kat smiled a little. "So what sort of evil things did you do to the village while the party was going on?" She asked, looking to the both of them.
"Well... it might not be very appreciated after all that." Kairi sighed. "We Teepeed the huts, strung around lines of clothes and stuff... we made a big muddy hole in the center of town, and dug trap holes around the area..." she explained as they walked back in the direction of town. Kat shrugged.
"Well, perhaps it won't be appreciated, but still, they would have funny looks on their faces, had this not happened." She said, still trying to cheer Kairi up a little bit, since she seemed down, though whether it was because of those wranglers or May, she couldn't quite tell the reason.
Kairi gave a small smile. "Yeah..." She nodded, but her eyes seemed distant, as if she was thinking about something intently. She led them to the center of the village, where the other morphs were assessing the damages to the village and the population.
Kat was glad she floated so she didn't have to worry about where the two had dug the traps, but she couldn't help a small smile at the mud pit in the center of the village. "You guys did a lot of work, didn't ya?" She asked quietly, as to not attract attention to the fact that they had done the damage to the village. She couldn't help but wonder though, what was Kairi thinking about?
Kairi nodded and smirked, looking around. "Yeah, we did," she smirked.
Mike just walked next to them, looking around. "We'll have to continue on, though... this place isn't safe now... and the sooner we get the cure, the sooner the humans won't be able to target the village." He said grimly, crossing his arms. Kairi sighed.
"Tomorrow morning, then?" Kairi asked.
"Tomorrow morning we'll say our good-byes." Kat confirmed with a small sigh. She really didn't want to leave the village and Kairi behind, but they had to, both to find the cure and try and beat the Wranglers, though the last one was a mission for herself, one that Mike had no obligation to, so she would wait until they had found a cure before she actively looked for them. Still, they would come back to the village in any case, they had to. At least, Kat hoped they would.
She looked down sadly and sighed, then nodded. "It's... for the best, then. You need to get to the legendary meeting, before it passes, too." She sighed, crossing her arms. "You'll be able to get there alright without me, right?" she said, looking to Mike sadly. He looked back, and then sighed. "If you can't come... we can't force you."
Kat shook her head. "No. I wish you could come, but I know why you want to stay." She sighed and pulled Kairi into a small hug. She pulled back before smiling a little. "Just promise me that if those guys come back, you'll kick their asses, alright?" She joked a little. How she hated sad goodbyes, and the worst part was, they weren't even saying good bye just yet. God, she was going to need some tissues tomorrow morning...
She smiled, hugging Kat with her arms wide. "I promise." she whispered into her ear, and then pulled away again. "I'm... I'm going to go back to my hut and get cleaned up, then head to bed. I need some time alone," she said with a sigh. "You guys understand, right?" she said, her eyes still sad.
Mike nodded. "We'll come find you before we leave..." he said quietly.
"Of course, can't leave without saying good-bye." She nodded sadly.
"Goodnight, we'll see you in the morning." Kat said, and kissed Kairi's cheek.
"Goodnight, Kairi," Mike said with a sigh, and for a moment they hugged. He hadn't the emotional attachment to the Vaporeon that Kat did, but she was a good friend, and even though they didn't have a moment of their own, he would miss her as well. Kat nodded as she backed away, looking down. "Goodnight," she whispered, and turned to go.
Kat watched Kairi leave before turning herself and heading off to Mike and her hut with him. She sighed. "Well... that was an interesting day..." She mumbled to herself, watching her feet as she floated beside him, glad that the paralysis from the smoke had worn off by now.
He nodded, sighing again lightly. "We better get to sleep..." he said, putting an arm around her lightly. He looked into her eyes, and then asked quietly, as they stood in front of her hut, "are you alright with leaving Kairi here?"
Kat sighed softly, but nodded. "She wants and needs to stay here, and it's not like we're saying good bye forever, right?" She said with a small smile. "I'm fine; just wish we didn't have to." She answered his question. She paused for a moment, looking down to her feet before looking back up to his eyes again. "Besides, you'll still be with me." She smiled a little and hugged him, burying her face in his chest fur. "And that's all that really matters." She mumbled, as she held him for a few moments like that before looking up to his face, arms still wrapped around him in a hug. "Crap, that was cheesy, wasn't it?" She said with a small grin.
He laughed lightly, putting a hand behind her head as they hugged warmly. "A little," he whispered, smiling slightly as he hugged her tighter. "I promise I'll stay with you, too..." he added, his face in her shoulder. She smiled warmly. That small promise meant a lot to her, whether he realized it or not.
"Thank you." She whispered softly, head still against his chest as she closed her eyes and listened to his heart beat for a few seconds while they were in each other's arms.
He held her close, listening to the faint sound of her breathing. She really did like Kairi... so he wanted to be as comforting as possible at the moment, and didn't want to rush her into any more sex for the day. Kat stood there for a few more moments before pulling away and smiling. "Well, shall we head off to our hut now?" She asked him with a small smile, feeling a lot better now then she had earlier, burns and all. Maybe she wouldn't need tissues for tomorrow...
"Alright then," He nodded, smiling a little. "We should get your wounds patched, too," he said as they moved over to their door, and he slowly opened it for her. "After you, Kat," he smiled to her. She smiled and walked inside, taking a seat on the bed and looking over her skin at the burns that marked it. "Eh... They'll heal." She dismissed it with a shrug, not really wanted to put bandages on. For whatever reason, she often disliked most medical supplies, though it was more dangerous if wounds were left open for infection.
"Luckily, though... We're pokemorphs," He said as he went over to his bag, tossing a red and orange bottle onto the bed next to her, which was labeled 'burn heal'. "This stuff normally doesn't do anything for humans..." he said as he sprayed it a little on her. She winced slightly as the liquid stung at first, but the stinging was replaced with a cooling sensation as her skin started to heal and already returned to normal in the places he had sprayed at the beginning. "Ah, that's actually pretty good." She sighed happily. "Thanks." She smiled to him as she flopped backwards, lying out on the bed while the rest of her skin healed.
He smiled and finished the bottle, taking a look at it and tossing it away. He sat down on the bed next to her, looking at her from over his shoulder, before flopping back down next to her as well. She glanced to him as he flopped down, and then rolled over so she was right next to him. She smiled and snuggled close to him, closing her eyes as her arm wrapped around his middle as she gently kissed him on the cheek.
He put his arms around her waist, smiling a little as he kissed her lightly. "Everything works out in the end, remember..." he whispered, kissing her again. She returned the kiss for a few moments, before breaking it. She studied his eyes for a moment. "Of course, we're the good guys; it always works out for the best." She grinned and kissed him again, arms pulling him a little closer to her.
He put his arms around her neck and rolled onto their side, still in the kiss. "All perspective, though," he said with a smile, breaking the kiss a moment. "You never know who're the real good guys."
She stuck out her tongue with a small, playful smirk. "Perspective, smerspective. No one who brainwashes others to be used as tools can be good. Therefore, by default, we get stuck with being the good guys." She reasoned with her own logic with a grin and then rolled them over so that she was on top of him. She won.
"Ah, but what about the other good guys like us?" He said with a smirk. "We can't be the only heroes out there, right? Who knows, some other good guys might be two steps ahead of us already," he said, rolling them over again, so he was on top.
She opened her mouth to reply to that, but then realized that there was none. She closed it and puzzled over the matter. "Damn it, give me a few seconds and I'll come up with a comeback for that." She said. And she had been winning too...
He laughed, nuzzling her neck lovingly. "I win," he whispered, giving a bemused smile down to her.
She smiled and shook her head. "Never," She whispered back in his ear jokingly with her small smirk and kissed him. She didn't see the harm in allow him to win this one time.
He chuckled, putting his arms around her and closing his eyes. "Hum. We'll see," he whispered, kissing her again. He was tired, suddenly, but didn't show it. She smiled and closed her eyes as well, silence drifting over the two like a soft blanket. She felt tired from the whole day, and she was happy just lying in his warm arms like this, though she wondered if he was also falling asleep. "Good night." She whispered to him with a kiss on the nose, just to make sure she didn't drift off without any warning.
he smiled, kissing her back on the nose as he fell slowly asleep as well, whispering "'night" up to her before he fell asleep on top of her, slowly drifting to a deep sleep, where he continued to play out the earlier scenes of the day. A lot had happened... and starting tomorrow, a lot more was going to happen, too.