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Chapter 9
Amari Village
It's the evening, and Snivy and I are walking down the road to Amari Village.
"So Mudkip," Snivy begins.
"No." I say before they can continue.
"Sheesh, you really need to let go of this whole name thing. You're not a human anymore, so just get over it!"
"I AM still a human! I'm just trapped in a pokemon body."
"Of course Mudkip."
"Jamie."
"Anyway, I was wondering, what do you think the 'Wildfire' that Mew mentioned is? I guess it's why that Krokorok was able to use fire, but what actually is it?"
"I don't know," I say. I'm still mad, but this is actually an interesting question. "Mew said Krokorok was 'infected' with the Wildfire, but also that it grants power? I can't tell if it's a disease or a blessing."
"Oh yeah. Mew also said something like 'it corrupts one's desires' or something. Maybe it's like a curse that turns you evil and gives you superpowers?"
"Krokorok did attack us, so that sounds right. The word 'infected' makes it sound like it can spread from person to person, like a virus. Do you think it might turn the whole world evil?"
"That must be why Mew wants to stop it! But why do they need you? Maybe humans are immune to it?"
"So you admit that I'm still a human?"
"Wait no! Uh, hey, who's that over there?" Snivy says, completely ruining my moment. Sure enough, there's a Machop running down the road towards us. They call out and wave to us with a smile on their face.
In a few seconds, the Machop reaches us. "Hi! Are you two heading to Amari Village?"
"Yeah!" Snivy says. "I'm Snivy, and this is-"
"Jamie," I interrupt.
"Jamie? But you're a Mudkip," says Machop.
"They want their name to be Jamie. Their real name is Mudkip," Snivy says, and I'm just about ready to explode.
"Oh, so you want to be called Jamie?" Machop asks me.
"Uh, yeah," I reply.
"Okay. I'm Machop. I'll take you to the village. Snivy, Jamie, follow me!" Machop says. I turn to see Snivy looking confused. They turn to face me, and I smile smugly at them. I don't think I've ever felt more satisfied than having Snivy insist that my name is Mudkip for two whole days, only to have some random pokemon call me by my real name five seconds after we've met with no argument.
We follow Machop down the road into a forest. Soon, we reach a small village. There are wooden buildings around which at first seem very big, but then I remember how much smaller I am as a Mudkip. Two buildings that are bigger than the others stick out. The first looks like an inn. Machop guides us to the second one, a large house that they say belongs to the village Elder.
The Elder's house doesn't look any more decorated than the other houses around the village, but it's much larger, with a door that towers over me and Snivy. It looks huge, even by human standards!
"This is Elder Torterra's house," Machop says. "Visitors are supposed to meet with Torterra to help them get settled in and stuff." Machop runs up to the door and gives it a few knocks. "Elder Torterra! I brought some visitors!" they yell.
"Ah, good," a voice calls back from beyond the door. "Please bring them in."
Machop pushes against the massive door, and with some effort, opens it. We walk inside and see the reason this house has to be so big; Elder Torterra is massive.
"Hello there," Torterra says as we enter, "please, take a seat." Torterra gestures to some cushions on the floor. Taking their offer, we sit down. "Welcome to Amari Village. I am Torterra."
"This is Mudkip, and I'm Snivy," Snivy says before I can interrupt.
"Actually, my name is Jamie."
"Jamie?" Torterra questions. "But you are a Mudkip, are you not?"
"I know, right?" Snivy says. "They always make such a big deal out of it."
"That's because my name isn't Mudkip! It's Jamie!"
"See? They're always like this," Snivy says with an exasperated expression.
"Well," says Torterra, "it seems like being called Mudkip makes them quite upset. If you care about how Jamie feels, you should respect their choice of name. Otherwise, you would be the one making a big deal out of it."
Snivy starts to protest, but can't seem to find anything to say, and end up just frowning at the floor.
"Um, sorry about that, Torterra. And thanks."
"Oh, it's alright. Moving on, what brings you here to Amari Village, Jamie?"
"Well, two things, kinda. We're searching for a mystery dungeon called 'Volomans' said to grant wishes. Have you hear of it?"
"Volomans... Sorry, I'm afraid not; I'm not too familiar with mystery dungeons. You can try asking the other villagers about it."
"I see. The other thing is, we're looking for a Krokorok. They robbed us on the way here, and could breath fire. Anything about that?"
"Ah, yes, the Krokorok. They appeared recently and have been stealing money from the village. It's starting to affect trade with other villages, and has become quite a problem. Anyone who tried to stop them has ended up with burns. They've proved impossible to catch. Are you wanting to take your stolen money back?"
I tell Torterra what little we know about the Wildfire that's affecting Krokorok, and about Volomans' connection to it.
"Ah, I see. I've never heard of this 'Wildfire' you speak of. Where did you learn about it?"
"Um, that's... well, Mew told us," I say, not expecting Torterra to believe it.
"Mew? You mean the guardian Mew?"
"Yeah. They suddenly appeared in front of us and told us about the Wildfire, and asked for our help to stop it, but they didn't tell us much."
"Hmm... Well, that's certainly hard to believe. But I think that if you were lying, you would have come up with something more believable. In any case, I don't think there's much we can do about Krokorok."
"Wait, what?" Snivy says. "Why not?"
"I already told you; no one has been able to catch Krokorok, and as you told me, you two are no exception. We've already decided that our best option is to increase security in the village; posting guards, locking doors, that sort of thing. We've given up on capturing Krokorok."
"But..." Snivy begins, but they find nothing to say. I get it, though; Krokorok is our only lead on Volomons. We can't just give up, but Torterra is right; Krokorok is just too strong.
"I know the situation is far from ideal, but trying to capture Krokorok will only get you hurt. Anyways, it's getting late, and you two seem to have had a long day. You should rest at the inn."
"Um, we actually lost all our money, so we can't pay for the inn," I say.
"Oh, right, Krokorok robbed you. Well, there's no point in forcing you to sleep out in the cold." Torterra turns and walks over to a drawer, pulling a small bag out of it and carrying it over in their mouth. I see I'm not the only one affected by a lack of arms. "Here, this will pay for the inn."
"Oh! Thank you."
"No problem. Would you like Machop to guide you to the inn?"
"No, I think we saw it on the way here. Goodbye!"
"Goodbye and goodnight, Jamie and Snivy."
We leave Torterra's house, and Machop says goodbye and runs off. Now outside, I can see that Torterra was right about it being late; the sun is setting, and the sky is getting dark. As we walk to the inn, the villagers we pass give us a quick, friendly greeting.
Soon enough, we find the inn. Upon entering, we see an Audino sitting at the reception desk. "Hello!" the Audino greets us, "are you here to stay the night?"
"Yes," I reply. "How much is it?" Snivy opens the bag Torterra gave us and starts taking out money.
"10 coins for a room, and 10 more for food and service."
"We'll just take a room," Snivy says, handing over the money.
"Wonderful! Your room will be number 19, up the stairs and down the hall. Come back and ask if you need anything."
We head up and find our room. It's simple, and fairly small. We decide to have a meal, since we're both pretty hungry and we have a good supply of food. There's a little table with some seats, so we sit down and have some fruit. We eat awhile in silence, then Snivy speaks up.
"What do you think we should do now? About Krokorok, I mean. They're our only lead, so I want to chase after them, but they kicked our butts today. And they've got, uh, that fire..." Snivy seems scared; they got hit hard by Krokorok's flamethrower. As a grass type, that was probably a pretty rough experience.
"Yeah, Krokorok's really tough. But we only really need the information on Volomans, right? Maybe we can just talk to them, and skip the fighting."
"Well, maybe, but that Wildfire thing turned them evil, right? I don't think they'll be willing to talk it out, especially after we already fought. And there's still the problem of them stealing!"
"Maybe, but like I said, the important thing is the information on Volomans. We can at least try to get that. And we don't know exactly what the Wildfire does; Krokorok could still talk and think, so they aren't totally possessed, at least. We might be able to reason with them."
"But we'll have to find where they are first."
"Right."
We finish our meal and get ready to sleep. Fortunately, there are two beds. The pillow is soft, the blanket is warm, and I still have no idea what position I'm supposed to sleep in with this body. I decide to try laying on my side, and it's fairly comfortable. "Goodnight Snivy," I say.
"Goodnight Mudkip," Snivy replies, and although I can't see their face, I'm sure they're smiling.
I let out a sigh of frustration and drift to sleep, thinking about how we might deal with Krokorok tomorrow, one way or another.
Thanks for reading. Comments, questions, and criticisms are encouraged.
Category Story / Pokemon
Species Pokemon
Gender Non-Binary
Size 120 x 103px
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