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Chapter 9
Wildfire
"Yes yes YES!!" Ambipom says as we present the stone. "This is the Striped Sun! Oh my, it's just as beautiful as I'd heard!" Ambipom spends about a minute admiring it and mumbling to themself about how perfect it is. Eventually, they clear their throat and turn to us. "Thank you, young explorers. As promised, here is your reward."
Ambipom hands us a moderately large bag, and I can hear the coins clinking inside it. Snivy and I look inside and see it filled with gold coins!
"Wow," Snivy says, "I don't think I've ever seen this much money in one place before!"
"Whoa, is 300 coins really that much?" I ask.
"Nah, not really. I mean, it is a lot, it's just that I grew up in a pretty small village, so it's weird seeing a big bag full of money like this."
"Well," Ambipom says, "you could make much more money than this as an explorer. Some explorers make enough money to fill a swimming pool full of coins!"
"Yeah, I guess so, but I don't see how that would help me," Snivy says.
"Oh, of course not. A pool of coins would be quite uncomfortable."
"No, I mean the money. I mean, having money for an inn and food is nice, but beyond that, I don't really see what even more money can do for me. I just wanna explore."
"Ah, I see. It's good to see you have your priorities in order! Well, it's been a pleasure doing business with you two. Good day!"
"Wait! What do you know about the wish-granting dungeon?"
"Oh, right! I'd forgotten about that. Well, I've heard a story about a dungeon that grants wishes. You've probably already heard this part, but the legend says that if you go to the deepest part of the dungeon and speak a wish, it will be granted. Now here's the useful part; the dungeon is called 'Volomans'."
"'Volomans'? That's great! Someone might have heard about Volomans even if they haven't heard about it granting wishes. Do you have any other info?"
"Sorry to say, but I don't. But I assume knowing the name of what you're looking for is helpful?"
"Yeah, very helpful! Thanks!"
"Alright then, goodbye, explorers!" With that, Ambipom walks away down the road.
"Lets go, Amari Village should be this way," Snivy says, walking down the road in the opposite direction. I follow.
A few minutes into walking, I'm lost in thought, and not paying attention to my surroundings. It takes me a while to hear the faint footsteps behind me, and just as I notice them, I'm suddenly struck from behind and sent tumbling forwards! This seems to happen to me a lot in this world.
"Huh?!" I hear Snivy say, followed by an impact and a cry of pain before I hear them fall to the ground. I get up and turn around to see a Krokorok standing before me, looking between me and Snivy with a glare.
"Hand over your money, and no one gets hurt!" they shout. Uh oh. I look to Snivy, possibly expecting to see them angry and ready to fight, or at least hoping to get some idea of what they think we should do. Instead, they look back to me, just as panicked and confused as I am.
"Hey! I said hand it over, quick!" The Krokorok steps towards Snivy, still on the ground and surrounded by the bags they were carrying.
I realize Krokorok is a ground type, so we should be able to beat them. I open my mouth and blast them with a water gun! They're caught off guard and staggered. Snivy takes advantage of the distraction to get up and lash at Krokorok with a vine whip, but Krokorok reacts quickly and dodges back. They dash forwards towards Snivy and try to land a bite, but Snivy dodges to the side, but just as Snivy is about to counter, they're struck by Krokorok's tail and knocked back!
I run over and fire another water gun, but they jump over it and towards me. They try to punch me as they land, but I dodge backward. The moment I do, however, Krokorok lunges forward and catches me in a bite, digging into me with their teeth before throwing me to the ground.
They turn their attention to Snivy just in time to avoid another vine whip. They each throw out a few attacks, but neither of them can land a hit until Snivy catches Krokorok's leg with a vine, pulling it out from under them and making them fall to the ground! Snivy jumps into the air and spins to prepare a leaf tornado, but Krokorok opens their mouth...
And a stream of glowing red fire hits Snivy dead-on.
Snivy falls to the ground, groaning in pain. Krokorok gets up and turns their attention to me, and I quickly get up and fire another water gun. Krokorok dodges easily, and runs toward me. They wind up for a punch, and I decide I have to try something unexpected. Just as they approach, I jump forward and land a tackle right into Krokorok's stomach!
Krokorok grunts in pain, but just as I land from my jump right next to Krokorok's legs, they land a kick, and I'm knocked away. Just as I get up, I'm blasted with a flamethrower attack. It doesn't hurt too much, but before I can recover, Krokorok runs over and lands a hard punch that sends me rolling across the ground. After all that, I just don't have the energy to get up again.
"Stupid idiots," Krokorok mutters to themself, walking over to our scattered bags. "All they had to do was just give me the- ah, finally. Ugh, what is this, 400 coins? No, not even. Dang it. I really need to..." Krokorok's voice fades as they walk away with our money. Strangely, they ignore our other bags that have our food and such.
"...hey Mudkip, are you okay?" Snivy asks.
"Maybe... I don't know. You?"
"Same..."
Eventually, I'm able to get up and grab a pair of oran berries. We have plenty thanks to the treasure chest we found.
"What the heck was that?!" Snivy says after we've recovered. "That pokemon didn't look like a fire type!"
"Yeah, that was a Krokorok. I was pretty sure they can't use fire type moves."
"Hmph, that's not fair. You know, for being so ignorant and inexperienced, you sure seem to know a lot about different kinds of pokemon."
I groan. "I've been in this world, and this body, for two days. Of course I'm inexperienced! And I know about pokemon because I learned about them in the human world!" I was really interested in pokemon back then. I wanted to do something with pokemon when I grew up. Of course, everyone says they want to be a trainer, but I was also thinking about being a professor, or a breeder, so I learned as much as I could about pokemon.
"Right," Snivy says, "because you think you're actually a human brought here by Mew to save the world." Snivy sighs. "You know Mudkip, we should probably get you to a doctor or a psychic or something to get that memory issue checked out."
Okay, that's enough. "I don't have any memory issues! I remember my life in the human world perfectly, my parents, my friends, my school, I remember everything! And for the last time, MY NAME IS-"
Suddenly, a bright light flashes right next to us, accompanied by a strange, mystical sound! We turn to face it, and see a glowing pink screen hovering in the air. On it, we see glowing red flames surrounding a small figure. The figure moves closer to the screen, and it looks like... Mew?!
"You are Jamie, right?" the figure asks, and when I hear their voice, I'm sure it's Mew.
I'm stunned for a second, shocked by Mew's sudden and strange entrance. After a moment, Mew's question registers. "Uh, yes! I'm Jamie!"
Mew speaks much faster than they did when I first heard them. "Jamie, the Krokorok you just fought was infected with a dangerous power called the Wildfire. It corrupts one's desires and grants them immense power. I need your help to stop it before it spreads throughout the world!"
"Wait a second, how can I get back to the human world?"
"I can only send you back once the Wildfire has been cured. You must go to Volomans, the source of the Wildfire, and stop it, then I can return you home." The fire around Mew grows more intense, and they flinch in pain. "I'm out of time. Please, help!"
Just as Mew finishes talking, the screen vanishes, leaving me and Snivy standing in silence.
We both wait awhile, processing what we just heard.
"So, um, I guess you really are a human," Snivy says sheepishly.
I turn towards Snivy, and I can't help but give a smug grin. "Yep. And why am I here in this world?"
Snivy sighs, defeated. "Because Mew brought you here to save the world. But, I guess we're still headed to Volomans, right?"
"Oh, right! Too bad Mew didn't tell us where it is."
"That's because you interrupted them, dummy."
"Oh. Right... Oops. But, uh, anyway, now you have to call me by my name!"
"Nope, you're still Mudkip."
"What?! Why?"
"Because you're a Mudkip, silly! I'm a Snivy, so my name is Snivy. That's how names work. You might have been a human before, but now you're a Mudkip, so your name is Mudkip!"
"Whatever... Oh! Mew said that Volomans is the source of the Wildfire, right? And they said that Krokorok has the Wildfire, so maybe they know something about Volomans!"
"Whoa, you're right! We have a major lead on the wish-dungeon now! Alright, let's head to Amari Village, then we can work on tracking down that Krokorok!"
We gather up our scattered bags and continue on towards the village.
Thanks for reading. Comments, questions, and criticisms are encouraged.
Category Story / Pokemon
Species Pokemon
Gender Non-Binary
Size 120 x 102px
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