Chapter 13
Krokorok


Snivy and I stand frozen in the clearing, face to face with an angry Krokorok.

"So, you two want to get beaten up again, huh?" Krokorok says with a sinister smile.

Snivy steps forward. "Why are you stealing from the villagers?!"

"Why? Because I can, that's why! What, are you gonna stop me?" Krokorok asks, raising their fist as it ignites into flame. Apparently, they can do more than just breathe fire. Snivy tries to stand strong, but I can see them tremble slightly in fear at the fire.

I speak up. "Do you really think it's okay for you to steal from others, just because you have power?"

"Of course! That's exactly what this power is for; it lets me take whatever I want, from whoever I want!"

"Oh yeah?" Snivy says. "Well bad pokemon who hurt others get punished! And we're gonna make sure you get punished too!"

Immediately, Krokorok's confident smile is replaced with a look of intense anger. "Punished? PUNISHED?! I've spend my entire life getting punished!"

Snivy and I are shocked at Krokorok sudden change in mood. Krokorok continues. "Before I had this power, I was stuck in a desert, and every source of food and water had a price tag. If I wanted to eat or drink, I had two choices; buy it with money I didn't have, or steal the money I needed. I've been caught and punished more times than I could possibly count for just trying to survive!

"Then, one day, I was on the brink of starvation when a fresh target traveled into town, a Persian. They caught me trying to take their stuff, and when we fought, they hit me with this fire. Next thing I knew, I could use it too. With this power, I can take as much money as I wanted. This power is the only reason I'm still alive!

"Eventually, I left. I needed more money, and I'd robbed that desert town dry. This is my third town, and I'm almost ready to move on from here, too, so unless you two want another beating, you can just run away now."

"Wait a sec," Snivy says, "what do you mean you need more money?"

"I mean, I'm not gonna let you stop me!" Krokorok shouts, taking a step towards us. "Now either get out of my sight or you're gonna get burned again!"

"Snivy, use it now!" I say, and Snivy's already reaching into the bag.

"Use wha-" Krokorok stops as they see the petrify orb in Snivy's hands. "No!" They dash towards us, but Snivy activates the orb, and Krokorok instantly freezes in place.

"Awesome!" Snivy cheers. "Quick, help me with the rope and let's-"

Snivy is interrupted by a low growling from Krokorok. We turn to see fire igniting around Krokorok's paralyzed body. The fire swirls and grows until Krokorok erupts into a pillar of flame. Krokorok raises their head to the sky and lets out a furious roar!

They look back down to us, breathing heavily and smiling confidently. "You... stupid... brats... You're going to have to try a lot harder than that!" They jump towards us with their fist cloaked in fire, and we each dodge to the side. Just as Krokorok lands, they turn and knock me over with their tail, simultaneously blasting streams of fire at Snivy! Snivy jumps away and retreats out of Krokorok's range, so Krokorok turns to me as I stand up.

I shoot a water gun at Krokorok, but they dodge it and dash towards me, snapping at me with a bite! I jump to the side and try to counter with a tackle, but Krokorok is ready for it and hits me with the back of their fist, knocking me out of the air!

While Krokorok's back is turned, Snivy tries to approach from behind, but after I'm knocked away, Krokorok turns around and forces Snivy back with a wide sweep of fire breath! Snivy's in a tough situation; they can't attack from far away, and with Krokorok's fire threatening them, they can't get close.

Just as I get up, Krokorok is already coming after me again. They wind up their left arm for a punch, so I dodge to their right. Unfortunately, it was a feint, which I realize when I'm suddenly struck by a fire-powered punch from Krokorok's right arm! I'm sent tumbling away from the force of it, and Krokorok turns to deal with Snivy.

This is bad; Krokorok is way stronger than us, especially thanks to the Wildfire. They're way more skilled, too; they can predict our attacks and dodges perfectly, and they're pretty fast for their size. The only times we landed hits in our first fight was when we caught them by surprise... that's it!

I struggle to my feet just in time to see Snivy take a punch. Before Krokorok can follow up, I fire a water gun, but they turn around just in time to dodge it. They run at me, and I turn around and start running away. I run for a moment, then I stop and kick dirt right into Krokorok's face!

Krokorok's good at dodging, but they weren't ready for me to attack while facing away from them! They cry out and try to wipe the mud from their eyes. I call out to Snivy, who rushes forward to attack! Krokorok turns around and blindly shoots fire, which Snivy easily jumps over, slamming Krokorok's head with a leaf tornado! I follow up with a water gun, finally landing a direct hit, and Snivy jumps in for another attack.

Suddenly, Krokorok snaps at Snivy and catches them in a bite, their mouth burning with fire as red-hot fangs dig into Snivy! I shoot another water gun to try and interrupt them, but Krokorok dodges, tossing Snivy to the ground before running at me. I run away for a few steps before trying to land another mud-slap, but Krokorok is expecting it this time. They dodge it effortlessly and counter with a punch, knocking me away.

Shoot, looks like the same trick won't work twice. As I get up, I quickly rack my brain for a new idea, a new surprise to use. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I see a familiar sight, and I recall a memory that might just hold the trick I need.

I dash away towards the edge of the clearing, and I can hear Krokorok giving chase behind me. When I reach the edge, I turn around and fire one last water gun at Krokorok. They dodge to the side, and with that, everything is lined up perfectly. With my back against the wall, Krokorok has me cornered. They lunge forward with a bite, and I jump backwards...

Right into a glowing blue mushroom.

There's a brief second where I can see Krokorok's face. Their expression throughout the fight has been angry, but now it shifts to mild confusion, then a quick flash of realization, and the last thing I see is an instant of fearful regret.

The mushroom springs forward, and I rocket forward right into Krokorok's stomach! I'm not able to see it, but I hear Krokorok yelling, the sound traveling farther away before they finally hit the ground with a crash! I also hear something splash into water, likely something falling into the river.

I get up and rub my head; turns out becoming a human cannonball really hurts. Or, pokemon cannonball, I guess. I look up to see Krokorok laying on the ground in front of their pile of loot, with the river behind them. It looks like some of the bags are missing; they probably fell into the river. Suddenly, my legs give out from under me; I've taken a lot of hits already, and that was the last straw.

"Mudkip!" Snivy calls, and I seem them running to my side in surprisingly good condition. "Here, have an oran," they say, holding the berry to my mouth. I open, and Snivy pushes it in. A few seconds later, and I'm back on my feet, though not completely healed.

"Thanks," I say.

"Sheesh, how come you're always the one pulling off risky stunts in battles? I thought you wanted to be careful."

"Talk later, we're not done yet!" I say, turning back to Krokorok, who's gotten back up, but...

Krokorok is kneeling by the river, desperately trying to recover the coins that fell in. "No, no no no, no no no no no!!" The river is flowing pretty fast, and with Krokorok already exhausted from fighting, the vast majority of the coins flow down the river before Krokorok can recover them. Krokorok soon gives up and simply stares down at the river. Slowly, Krokorok turns to us, and Snivy and I prepare to resume fighting...

"P-please, I need money, right now!" Krokorok begs, their expression a mixture of desperation and terror.

"Wait, what?" Snivy asks, sounding just as confused as I am. "Why?"

"I don't have time to explain! I'm sorry for stealing from you, but-" Krokorok is interrupted when their arm suddenly bursts into flame! They flinch and cry out in pain, clutching their arm.

"Whoa, what's going on?!" I ask, confused, suspicious, and somewhat concerned. "Why is your fire hurting you? And why do you need money?"

"It's this stupid power," Krokorok says, their voice pained. "I need to keep getting more money, or else it starts burning me like this! Please, I need money, right now, or else it'll- AARGH!!" The fire suddenly intensifies, covering Krokorok's whole body now, and they drop to their knees. "P-PLEASE!!"

Snivy looks around in a panic, turning towards our bags for a moment, but we left the small amount of money Torterra gave us at the inn. "Uh, jump in the water!" Snivy says.

"You IDIOT! You think I haven't tired that before?! The only thing that stops this accursed fire is money. I need money! I NEED IT!!"

But we don't have any money, and from the looks of it, we don't have time to go back to the village. I can't help but think, though; why money? I desperately try to think about what might be causing the Wildfire to do this, and how money of all things could stop it, and I think about what Mew told us.

Dangerous power, corrupts desires, will spread through the world- Wait! Desires! That's it!

I run over to the edge of the clearing, to a fruit-bearing bush. I pluck off a fruit and toss it to Krokorok. "There! That's what you need, not money!"

Krokorok stares at me in disbelief. "Is this some sort of sick joke to you? I'm on fire! I don't need a philosophy lesson, I NEED MONEY!!"

"No, you don't! Your power is somehow linked to your desires! In the desert, you wanted, NEEDED money to survive. It's your greatest desire, so that must be why your power backfiring is linked to money. But you don't need money anymore! There's food and water everywhere, for free! You don't have to desire money anymore, and if that desire goes away, then your power won't make you need money anymore!"

"You idiot, do you really think that'll work?!"

"I don't know, but we don't have any money nearby! This is the only thing that might work. And do you really think some magical fire power actually cares about how much money you have? It's not about money, it's about your desires! You don't need money, and you haven't needed it for a long time!"

Krokorok pauses and thinks, looking down at the fruit I tossed them. "...Darn it, you're right; this is my only chance," they say, turning to face their remaining bags of money. "I haven't even spent a single stupid coin of all this in months. It's... It's worthless! I don't need it! I don't WANT it!!" they say to themself.

They slowly limp towards the bags, the red Wildfire still burning them. "I don't need it... I don't need it..." They place a foot on the bags. "I... don't... NEED IT!" With a thrust of their leg, Krokorok pushes the remaining bags into the river! The bags spill their contents into the water, and Krokorok watches as their hoard floats downstream. Part of me expects the Wildfire to intensify from Krokorok losing even more money. But it doesn't.

Snivy and I watch silently as Krokorok limps back over to the fruit on the ground, the fire around them gradually dying down. They pick up the fruit. "That dumb brat is right..." they say, taking a bite out of the fruit. "This... is all I... need... All I've... ever... needed..." Krokorok falls to their knees before collapsing to the ground. The Wildfire has complete died out.




Thanks for reading. This is an important chapter that has some big moments, so I would really appreciate feedback in the comments on how I did.