Kitty first appears as a Caterpie in As Gastly as Before. He is first seen in a tree and is about to be attacked by a Fire Blast launched by Blaine's Growlithe, which was attacking Agatha's Gastly. Yellow immediately jumps into action and sent Pika to rescue him by means of her fishing rod. After this, Yellow leaves with Blue to go train, with Caterpie watching her go.
In Can't Catch Caterpie!, Caterpie is revealed to have followed Yellow all the way from Celadon City. Blue tells Yellow to capture him and train him to a higher level. Yellow then sends out Ratty to try to catch him. The two spent all day trying but could not find a way to do it without hurting him. Blue eventually steps in and helps the two capture Caterpie, which she nicknames Kitty.
In the next chapter, Yellow leaves Kitty with Pika as she goes off to run an errand. After Yellow races off Kitty spots a leaf floating past, and chases after it. The leaf floats over to the edge of the cliff, so Pika chases after Kitty to stop him from falling off the edge. Kitty then chases the leaf and almost runs into a cactus. Pika runs in front of Kitty and blows the leaf away, with then flies off in a gust of wind. Pika finds another leaf and gives it to Kitty when suddenly a herd of Pidgeotto fly past and pick Kitty up in the process. Pika climbs the cliff, and then jumps off and shocks the Pidgeotto. The Pidgeotto drops Kitty, and Pika catches him, with Kitty looking very distressed. They land next to a tree and some flowers, and Kitty eats all the flowers, recovering his health and cheerfulness. The two then promptly fall asleep.
In Ekans the Ecstasy, Kitty uses his String Shot to help save the passengers of the sinking S.S. Anne.
In Eradicate Raticate!, Kitty is sent out alongside his teammates to battle against Lance and his Dragonite. Kitty attacks with String Shot, but Dragonite simply shrugs it off and throws Kitty away. He is later used in a team attack to try and stop Lance from shooting bubbles. Yellow had Kitty cover the volcano crater in String Shot to form a net that is doused by her Omny's water, linked to Ratty's sensitive whiskers. Upon Lance triggering the net, Ratty signals to Pika to send electricity down the net, forcing Lance's bubble into view. Yellow then orders Dody to break the bubble with Drill Peck, but the attack proves too weak.
In the final battle against Lance in The Might of... Metapod?!, after Yellow had lost the Pokédex, Kitty evolves into a Metapod to shield Yellow from a Hyper Beam, then immediately into a Butterfree at the same time as all of Yellow's other Pokémon. As a Butterfree, he carried her aloft, allowing her to conduct an aerial battle during the final confrontation with Lance on and above the back of the Legendary Pokémon.
Kitty was first seen in Johto in Hello, Lickitung, rescuing Yellow from a group of Lickitung. He was later seen in The Last Battle VII, defending the Day Care Center with the rest of her Pokémon from the half-masked Team Rocket Grunts.
Kitty is seen briefly in Bested by Banette, helping Yellow catch up to Sird and Orm, who had captured Silver.