The great waterfall that poured down from Glaseado Mountain carved out a winding river channel along one side of the Socarrat Trail. The rain that had lasted for an entire day had only just stopped not long ago, and the sitrus berry trees had been battered until their branches bent crookedly. Only a few scattered berries still clung stubbornly to the tips of the branches.
Three Toedscool came running over, and the one in the lead first looked around carefully. After confirming that the Charcadet who usually guarded the tree were nowhere to be seen, it stretched out its tentacle with precision, grabbed a sitrus berry, and gave it a strong tug to pull it down.
Under normal circumstances, the two troublesome Charcadet would already have appeared by now. One would hide up in the tree and secretly throw fireballs, while the other would rush forward angrily to stop them.
But now, neither of them was here.
The Toedscool gobbled down the sitrus berries in big bites, clearly pleased with themselves. Food stolen like this always tasted better. Their movements carried an undisguised sense of smugness. Today, they would not be chased around and beaten by the Charcadet, so they could eat to their fill without worry and then lie down in the spot where the Charcadet usually slept for a nice rest.
They were extremely satisfied with themselves, silently praising their own cleverness. Normally, they could not beat the Charcadet and had to accept it, but on a rainy day, three against one made things easy. They had effortlessly suppressed the Charcadet.
After eating their fill, the Toedscool happily reminisced about their glorious moment.
At that moment, a furious roar suddenly shattered the calm. The sound was so loud that it shook the leaves on the fruit tree, making them rustle and fall.
"Charcaa!!"
That voice carried sky-high anger. The Toedscool turned their heads and saw a blazing fireball in the distance rushing toward them at top speed.
Its entire body was engulfed in flames, and the Charcadet glared at the Toedscool with burning fury.
The frustration of being ambushed yesterday, the anxiety of not being able to find its companion, and the anger over its berry tree being occupied all surged together at once, completely transforming into raging flames of fury.
With its eyes red, the Charcadet only wanted to teach the Toedscool a harsh lesson and vent all of its anger.
A one against three battle instantly broke out. Fueled by its blazing rage, the Charcadet maintained its Flame Charge state throughout the entire fight.
After a brief exchange, the Toedscool realized they were no match and began circling around the sitrus tree to evade.
The high temperature drove away the dampness, and even the air seemed to grow faintly scorching.
None of the four Pokémon present noticed that small sparks were scattering around the base of the berry tree.
In just a moment, those tiny flames suddenly flared up, spreading rapidly and igniting the entire tree at a speed visible to the naked eye.
"Char… ca…"
The Charcadet froze in place, its mind going blank, not knowing what to do.
The Toedscool exchanged glances and quickly used their tentacles to perform Mud Shot in an attempt to extinguish the fire.
Not far away, Paldean Wooper, Greedent, and Oinkologne noticed the flames and rushed over, each using their own methods to try to put out the fire.
Meanwhile, up on a higher slope, Silas and Cyclizar, who had been observing from above, also noticed the situation below.
"Cyc!" (I see it. Something looks like it's burning.)
Silas narrowed his eyes, recognizing the location as somewhere near where they had passed earlier.
"Charca! Charca!"
The shiny Charcadet glanced over and pointed, indicating that it could put out the fire.
As long as it approached flames, the fire would be unconsciously drawn into its body.
"Flash Fire ability, huh? No wonder your body feels so warm."
Silas placed a hand on the shiny Charcadet, feeling the gentle warmth from its small body.
A Charcadet like this was basically a portable heater. With it around in winter, there would be no more worries about freezing hands while fishing. Truly reliable.
He directed Cyclizar toward the flames. Coincidentally, they had not searched that area yet.
They crossed the small wooden bridge, and as soon as they looked up, they saw a tree engulfed in flames. The charred branches still emitted thin wisps of smoke.
What really caught Silas's attention, however, was the group of Pokémon gathered beneath the tree. They had all been drawn here.
The Pokémon were doing their best to put out the fire, but given their typing, none of them even knew Water Gun. Extinguishing the flames was extremely difficult.
The only thing they could do was slow the spread of the fire.
"Make way, make way, the fire chief is here."
The Pokémon quickly moved aside, making space for Cyclizar as it rushed up to the burning tree.
The shiny Charcadet jumped down, and immediately, the flames seemed to be drawn toward it, flowing into its small body and being completely absorbed by its Flash Fire ability.
"Charca…"
The shiny Charcadet squinted comfortably, but when it realized that everyone was staring at it, it immediately hid behind Silas.
Silas gave it a reassuring look before raising his head again.
The burned tree turned out to be a sitrus berry tree. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the normal Charcadet sitting gloomily at the base of the trunk.
"Well, that saved us the trouble. Your companion is here too."
Silas pointed it out to the shiny Charcadet.
Following his finger, the shiny Charcadet looked over, its blue eyes lighting up with immense joy as it eagerly called out, "Charca!"
Hearing that familiar voice, the normal Charcadet suddenly turned around.
When it saw the shiny Charcadet, its eyes reddened. This usually brave Charcadet finally broke down and cried out of guilt.
In chasing the Toedscool, it had accidentally set fire to the very place that stored their food for the winter. Now, all of their reserves were gone.
This winter, they would likely go hungry.
The shiny Charcadet gently patted its companion's back, comforting it and telling it that everything would be alright.
At worst, they could travel farther to find food. Being able to find each other again was already the most important thing.
After quite some time, the Charcadet gradually calmed down and leaned against the shiny one, falling asleep from exhaustion. The little guy had not slept for an entire day.
On the other side, after learning the full story from the Paldean Wooper and the others, Silas's gaze immediately locked onto the three Toedscool who were trying to sneak away quietly.
"Cyc!"
Cyclizar understood his intent and released a burst of pressure to intimidate them.
The huge gap in strength made the Toedscool stiffen completely. They did not even dare to move and could only slowly turn around, forcing out awkward, flattering smiles.
"You caused trouble and still want to run?" Silas said with a hint of amusement.
Cyclizar circled behind them, its tail lightly coiling around the three little troublemakers and dragging them in front of Silas.
Silas extended a finger and tapped their heads.
"If you don't compensate for the damage, none of you are leaving."
"Scool… Scool…"
The Toedscool weakly waved their tentacles in protest, insisting that they had not set the tree on fire. It was the Charcadet that had ignited it.
And they had even helped put out the fire afterward.
"That may be true, but if you had not provoked them in the first place, would the Charcadet have chased you so recklessly?" Silas replied calmly.
No matter how one looked at it, the Toedscool bore at least half the responsibility. Paying for half the loss was only fair.
"Scool…"
The three Toedscool drooped their heads, clearly admitting defeat.
But soon after, they all flopped onto the ground, spreading out their six tentacles in surrender.
With how they were now, reduced to fighting over sitrus berries with Charcadet, did they look like they had any ability to compensate?
Unable to escape and unable to pay, the Toedscool simply lay there and gave up entirely.
"Cyc?"
Cyclizar tried to scare them with a roar, but it had no effect at all.
After observing them for a moment, Silas suddenly suggested,
"How about you pay with yourselves instead?"
(End of Chapter)