Cops and Robbers
-.-.-.-.-.
Krookodile was a Pokemon that hated stereotypes.
When he'd just been a wee Sandile growing up in that dingy little armpit of a village, his mother told him what kind of life he'd been born into. His father, a Krookodile who was sadly no longer around, had been a cold-hearted criminal. His grandfather, too, had been a no-good crook. And his great-grandfather. And his great-great-grandfather. And his great-great-great-grandfather. Across the ages, there was scarcely a single treasure out there that his ancestors hadn't raided, a town they hadn't burned and pillaged, or a Pokemon species they hadn't mugged.
Basically, what she was trying to say was that their family was bad news, and he was destined to carry on the tradition.
Krookodile (although, again, he was only a Sandile at the time) thought that was pretty dull and uncreative. He just couldn't wrap his head around the idea that none of his family had ever given serious consideration to all the other job possibilities out there. It never bothered any of the Krookodile that came before him that all their species contributed to the universe was pain and theft?
His mother explained that each Pokemon had their place in the world. Conkeldurr and Machamp did construction work. Garbodor and Muk cleaned up the garbage. Mr. Mime and Ludicolo were performers. Lopunny and Jynx… well, you get the idea. Just like all those other species, their kind had their own special niche in modern society – and that niche happened to be burglary. And arson. And murder. And so on.
Always the obedient son, Krookodile decided that was Tauros crap and, as soon as he had fully evolved, went ahead and became a cop.
Well, it wasn't exactly as easy as that. No matter which town or city he traveled to, not many Pokemon were willing to trust a Ground-and-Dark-type with eyes that looked like shady sunglasses and a jaw full of glinting fangs. He went to great lengths to appear as benign and appealing as possible, even purchasing a nice business-like suit to wear to interviews – but it just wasn't enough. One resident chief of police, a Lucario, had straight-up laughed in his face, and another, Golisopod, just thought his first impression wasn't up to snuff.
Even though he'd always known about the stigma against Dark-types that the rest of the world had, it was only just now that Krookodile was really experiencing it, and it made him pretty frustrated. As mentioned, Krookodile really hated stereotypes.
Fortunately, perseverance was a virtue, and his efforts were soon to be rewarded.
He managed to acquire permission to be trained as a police officer in Arthropod City. Krookodile met with Vespiquen, the local sheriff, and presented several good arguments about why she should train him. First of all – as much as he hated to admit it – most criminals were Dark-types, and being one himself, he generally knew how they operated. Second of all, his type combination would make him a great asset to the police force in Arthropod City, since he could cover for many of his teammates' weaknesses. And thirdly, Vespiquen's officers were all Beedrill, which… well, kind of limited what the force at large was able to successfully do.
(She was skeptical of this last bit until Krookodile pointed out that the "Wanted" posters on the bulletin board in the lobby of Headquarters mostly portrayed Flying-, Psychic-, and Ghost-type wrongdoers. She admitted that he had a point and took him in.)
To make a long story short, Krookodile managed to pass his training and was granted a proper position among the Beedrill officers, complete with a uniform and badge to call his own. It was hard and occasionally boring work – involving just as much paperwork as there was chasing after baddies – but Krookodile did his job with pride, knowing that he was going against his species' nature and actually doing good for Pokemon society.
About a year later, the Intimidator Pokemon was on a mission with his partner, a Beedrill whose comrades had jokingly nicknamed Needles (because he was convinced he could learn Needle Arm due to his arms literally being giant needles, although Pokemon geneticists had given plenty of evidence toward the contrary).
It was just past nightfall, and they were in a shadier part of the city – not as many street lamps or other city lights to illuminate the streets. Only the lights of their police cruiser were there to provide them with light as they stepped out of the vehicle and cast wary eyes around at the old buildings. Luckily, Krookodile's night vision was fantastic and Needles could see in infrared, perfect for catching the sort of Pokemon that preferred to skulk about after dark.
They'd gotten the memo that a convict had been sighted multiple times in this general area for the past few nights. Neither of them knew much about what he was doing, but they did know from a couple of eyewitness accounts that it was Parasect, a criminal that had been at large for the last month. If this particular block of the city was where he'd been seen most often, then Krookodile was willing to bet that his hideout was around here somewhere.
"Don't slam the door like that, Needles!" he lightly scolded his partner as they got out of their vehicle. "You want everyone on the street to know we're here?"
"Hey, it's not my fault I don't have hands," the Beedrill protested, lifting up both of his stingers in self-defense.
(It was a very good point – one that had, more than once, made Krookodile wonder just how Vespiquen's force were expected to drive these cruisers.)
"Whatever," Krookodile replied disinterestedly. "More importantly, how are we going to find this 'mon? If he tends to lurk around here, then surely he has a hideout…"
There was a short silence before Needles spoke up in reply. "Or maybe we just have to wait for the next time he strikes."
Krookodile turned around, ready to ask his insect partner what exactly he meant by that, but he saw that Needles wasn't even looking at him. Rather, he was gazing at something else entirely, with one stinger helpfully pointing up at whatever it was that had caught his attention. When Krookodile followed his gaze, he found himself squinting at a faded sign mounted above one of the decrepit buildings. The sign still had a few peeling scraps of blue paint left on it, and the worn letters faintly spelled out RIBOMBEE'S. Upon closer inspection, the windows at the front of the shop revealed glass cases filled with jewelry.
"Must be a lower-end place," Krookodile mused, "nothing like the finer shops in the more upscale parts of the city. But if our convict's still here, then he'll probably come here sooner or later."
"Parasect's crimes do involve theft from a number of places in this part of the city," affirmed Needles, recalling the criminal's file. "Will we stake this place out for the night, then?"
"We might not get anywhere," Krookodile warned him. "But then again, it's better than searching this entire block for a lair that might not even be here."
With that, the Ground-and-Dark-type motioned for his Beedrill partner to follow him across the street. There was an alleyway directly across from the jewelry store, located right behind a sputtering streetlamp and thus steeped in darkness. Needles was instructed to stay there while Krookodile briefly left with the police cruiser to park it elsewhere. Even if their target happened to wander down this street on one of his nighttime heists, the presence of the car would be a dead giveaway.
After an hour of waiting, Krookodile's exceptionally good eyes widened when he spotted a squat, mushroom-shaped figure scuttling down the sidewalk on the other side of the street. The Pokemon made an effort to avoid the light of the streetlamps, but occasionally Krookodile would catch a flash of red and yellow as it made its way along. There was no doubt about it, it was Parasect.
"Is your ability Super Luck or something?" whispered Needles, sounding flabbergasted. "That shouldn't have been that easy!"
A claw was placed over his mouth to quiet him. "Shush, you," Krookodile said. "If he hears us, he'll book it."
As they lay in wait, Parasect paused in front of the jewelry shop, seemingly considering something. When he next moved, it was to crawl up to the door and pick the lock with his pincer before slipping inside.
"You're right, this is going to be too easy," Krookodile grunted. "As soon as he comes out, we neutralize him and head back to headquarters. I'll knock him off balance with a good old Mud-Slap, then you nail him with an Electroweb. Just like we practiced back in training, yeah?"
Needles nodded enthusiastically, so excited that his wings made a soft humming sound.
The two of them crouched near the alleyway's entrance, still concealed, and got ready to pounce as soon as the criminal came back through the door with his stolen loot. He did so remarkably quickly – there came the sounds of him shuffling around inside, and then the door creaked open again to reveal the Bug-and-Grass-type clutching a bulging sack in one of his pincers.
"Alright, like we planned," whispered Krookodile, every muscle in his body tensing as he readied himself for the ambush.
Parasect finished locking the door behind him and turned around, exposing his milky white eyes. Now was the chance to get him, and Krookodile took it. The crocodilian Pokemon jumped out of the alley and into the open, slamming his tail down on the concrete. This inexplicably created a wave of mud to splash up and hit Parasect directly in the face, eliciting a startled cry from the crustacean, who backed off and desperately tried to cleanse the mud from his eyes.
A harsh buzz split the air as Needles moved in, the stinger on the end of his abdomen sparking with electricity as he prepared to launch a net that would completely immobilize Parasect. He took aim, and –
Another sound abruptly made itself known, a harsh whistling noise like a sudden, violent gust of wind. A blade-shaped projectile sliced through the air and collided with Needles' back, throwing the Beedrill to the ground with a sharp cry of pain. Then a second Air Cutter shot down to knock Parasect away, sending the lawbreaking Mushroom Pokemon straight into a lamppost and knocking him out.
Startled at the sudden intrusion, Krookodile glanced up at the night sky, his keen eyes searching for any sign of the perpetrator. He didn't have to wait very long – with both Needles and Parasect out of the way, another Bug-type came fluttering down toward the bag of loot that the latter had dropped on the sidewalk.
His eyes widened when he saw the newcomer use her stubby arms to claim it as her own. "What are – hey, you! That's evidence!"
She fluttered her wings again and had the gall to give him a cheeky wink in response. "Is it? Aww, so sorry, but whatever it is, it's mine now~," she giggled.
Needles got up with a groan, rubbing his head with one of his stingers, and regarded her quizzically with some degree of alarm. "Wha– what are you doing? Who are you?"
The Bug-and-Flying-type – at least, Krookodile guessed she was part Flying-type – giggled again at the Beedrill's concern. "I'm a thief, silly, so I'm stealing this from poor Parasect, and this jewelry shop by extension," she chirped happily. "As for who I am, I'm Beautifly – but you can call me 'Your Worst Nightmare' too~."
All Krookodile could do was blink at the self-proclaimed thief. He'd assumed that Beautifly were all inoffensive flower-lickers, but now, he reflected upon that thought with a pang of guilt – stereotypes, man, stereotypes.
Still, he couldn't say he'd seen this coming.
"Alright, Beautifly, put the evidence down and slowly back away," he warned. "I'm placing you under arrest, under the charges of attempted robbery and directly assaulting a police officer."
Beautifly made a big show of considering his words, then uncoiled her proboscis and made a rude, flatulent noise with it. "How about no~."
Without warning, she spun rapidly in a circle, firing off more Air Cutters from the edges of her wings. While Needles zipped away toward the nearest cover, Krookodile cringed back a step and shielded his face with an arm. But that gave Beautifly the chance to press her advantage, and before he could react, her proboscis glowed red and pierced his scales for a Giga Drain attack. Heavily weakened in only a few short seconds, Krookodile grunted as he collapsed to his knees and gritted his teeth in frustration.
"Sorry, boys, but I've gotta float like a Butterfree back home," the criminal laughed. "Consider this a parting gift from me to you!"
And with that, she doused both officers in a thick golden cloud of Stun Spore. Their muscles froze and they dropped painfully to the ground, unable to do anything except twitch incessantly as their immune systems kicked in to try and drive off the paralysis – that, and stew in their own anger.
I'm not letting her get away that easily, Krookodile promised, the bitter taste of defeat filling his mouth. Stealing right in front of us and then making a mockery of Needles and I… now that my pride as a cop is on the line, I'm going to do whatever it takes to put her behind bars, where she belongs!
-.-.-.-.-.
It wasn't just Krookodile's pride as a competent officer that motivated him to hunt down Arthropod City's newest felon. It was also that he didn't want to let Vespiquen and her Beedrill down. Despite him being a Dark-type with a suspicious background and questionable upbringing, they'd given him the benefit of the doubt and allowed him to join their ranks. He had their respect and their loyalty, and because of that, he wasn't going to let one measly crook slip past on his watch.
… Even if said crook wasn't the species he'd been expecting. Hey, as much as it pained him to admit it, it was true.
About a week after he and Needles had turned Parasect in and reported their encounter with Beautifly to their superiors, they had another run-in with her one early afternoon. The pair were just returning from the café where they'd been spending their lunch break, driving casually down one of the main roads in their police cruiser, when their radio suddenly crackled to life with an urgent message from one of the other Beedrill in the field. Apparently a thief had made off with the main attraction at a local auction, and they were heading Krookodile's way.
After affirming that they'd received the heads-up loud and clear, Krookodile and Needles sped up and turned right at the next intersection they came to, following the directions they'd been given. They hadn't been driving long, though, when another car blew straight by them fast enough to make Krookodile double-take. Judging by the vehicle's blatant disregard for the speed limit, and the police sirens that could faintly be heard wailing in the distance, this was the Pokemon they were after.
Krookodile executed the fastest three-point turn he'd ever done in his life – nearly hitting two other cars and making Needles fumble for a paper bag – and sped off after the fleeing criminal. Once they'd caught up, the offender realized they were being pursued and started driving more erratically, making turns at a moment's notice and coming within a hair's breadth of smashing into another driver multiple times. The chase finally ended when the criminal, seemingly out of desperation, screeched down a side street that turned out to be a dead-end back alley – as evidenced by how Krookodile and Needles heard an enormous crash and saw smoke billowing out only moments later.
They turned the cruiser into the alley and found themselves face-to-face with a car with a crumpled front end, smoke pouring in copious amounts out of the hood, and an irritated Beautifly fluttering around the wreck. A very large sack could be seen in the back seat, presumably containing what she'd stolen from the auction. The two officers got out of their own vehicle without rush, and the sound of the doors being closed prompted Beautifly to spin around and realize for the first time that they had her cornered.
"Fantastic," she deadpanned, more to herself than either of them. "And just when I thought I could afford going out in broad daylight for that once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."
Needles approached with his stingers at the ready, although the look on his face was nothing short of incredulous. "H-How in Arceus' name did you manage to drive with such tiny arms and legs?!"
Beautifly giggled, coming out of her bad mood and returning to the bubbly attitude she'd had when they'd first met her. "Not very well, obviously, or else I wouldn't be here talking to you two. Now, I don't suppose you boys could just make my job much easier and get out of my way, could you?"
Raising an eyebrow, Krookodile stepped forward to join his partner. "Oh sure, after being caught committing two robberies, breaking several speed limits, and attempting to use force on figures of authority, I'll go ahead and let you go free," he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "We're proud of the work we do on the force, helping keep Arthropod City a safe and orderly place. Needles and I have caught almost every criminal that's shown up in the city since we were partnered together, and we're not going to let another simple convict in a long line of many stop us."
Even to him, every "we" he used clearly sounded like a thinly-disguised "I", and it made him wince inwardly. His own pride of going against his species' criminally-inclined nature and serving the forces of good was showing through, and judging by Beautifly's reaction to his speech, he was painfully obvious about it. She emitted a renewed series of giggles, seemingly having forgotten all about her failure to get away with whatever valuable item she'd stolen.
"Aww, did I make it personal~?" the Bug-and-Flying-type teased, her tone so condescending that it made Krookodile grind his teeth in anger. "What're you doing with your life, anyway? Running around chasing anyone who so much as jaywalks within the city limits~? Sounds awfully boring. I thought Krookodile were all supposed to be burglars and arsonists, not stiff-necked officers in uniforms~."
Oh, this girl was asking for it. Krookodile felt the burning heat rising in him faster than it ever had before, and a growl subconsciously curled out from his throat.
Needles knew very well what his partner's reaction was going to be, so he tried to interject, "Uh, Krookodile, I think she's trying to bait –"
The Ground-and-Dark-type interrupted him by yelling in anger and lashing out with his tail, creating a wave of mud that Beautifly simply darted over with a flick of her wings. With another flick, she sailed past the top of the alleyway and disappeared over the building's roof. Her giggles faded into the distance.
Letting out a frustrated huff, Krookodile stood there for several seconds as he let his rage die down. Once he was calm, he sighed and patted the Beedrill on the back, a silent thank-you for trying to cool him down. He knew he shouldn't have fallen for the criminal's taunt, but he'd heard that quip more times than he cared to count in his attempts to fight the negative stereotypes associated with being partly Dark-type.
"We'll get her next time," he said dully. "Now come on, we should take whatever she stole back to headquarters as evidence – and probably get that car towed while we're at it."
-.-.-.-.-.
When Krookodile next saw Beautifly – attempting to make her escape from a bank whose alarm she accidentally tripped – she had left her deceptively silly demeanor behind. She regarded him and Needles blocking her exit with thoughtfulness instead of frustration or faked giddiness.
"Hey, can I ask you a personal question?" she… well, asked him.
"If it has anything to do with who you'd prefer as a roommate in the Arthropod City Jail, go right ahead," Krookodile snapped. He'd had enough of her games by now.
She ignored that and instead hit him with her question anyway. "Did you get a job as an officer in a deliberate attempt to break social norms and disassociate yourself from everything other 'mons said about you?"
Her inquiry pierced Krookodile's determined front. His eyes widened and his jaw slackened slightly as the accuracy of her assumption left him feeling more vulnerable than he could ever remember. Beside him, Needles averted his eyes and shifted uncomfortably, not liking how awkward the situation had suddenly become.
Finally, Krookodile decided he may as well just answer. She'd been able to discern that bit of information from him – Arceus only knew how – so certainly she could already tell from his several seconds of slack-jawed silence that her assumption was correct.
"… Yes, that's exactly right," he confirmed, hesitantly.
"Me too!" Beautifly blurted out. She flitted from side to side excitedly, the bags of cash in her hands jingling with the movement. "I was totally surprised when I first met you – I mean, who would expect a Krookodile cop, you know? No offense or anything. But what you said to me in the alley that one time, about being proud of your work and all, it made me really stop and think about the reason why. So the best thing I came up with was that you were in the same boat as me."
Suspicious, yet intrigued, Krookodile narrowed his eyes slightly and replied, "Yeah, how's that?"
"Because that's why I decided to run away from home and ended up becoming a criminal!" the butterfly Pokemon said in an excited rush. "My family was all like, 'You should take over the flower shop because you're a Beautifly and that's what we're supposed to do!' But I thought that was dumb, like why should I have my life all laid out in front of me just because I'm this kind of Pokemon, right? So I ran away and tried to find a different job, but I didn't have any luck, so I needed a way to get money really easily, and… yeah, that's how I got here."
Krookodile blinked, amazed. Her story was basically the opposite of his in one way, and yet the exact same as his in another way. Both of them had been born into a stereotype that neither of them liked, and so decided to rebel against what was expected of them and follow their own path. Only difference was, Krookodile had been successful in following his calling, while Beautifly had failed and wound up on the opposite side of the law because of it.
He felt sympathetic toward her plight, he really did. But… he closed his eyes regretfully, knowing that a touching backstory didn't excuse her numerous illegal actions (or the serious dents she'd put in his dignity).
"Look," Krookodile started, gently. "Why don't you put the money down and come quietly, alright? If you go ahead and serve your time without any funny business, once you're released I can vouch for you next time you try for the job you want. That sound fair to you?"
Beautifly appeared to think about it. After a moment, she nodded sagely and agreed, "It does."
A huge wave of relief swept through Krookodile's body, and an invisible weight lifted itself from off his chest. "Good, I –"
"Buuuuuuuut I'm not gonna~!" Beautifly interrupted with a loud cackle. "This way is much more fun!"
She whipped her wings, mercilessly unleashing a storm of Air Cutter blades that forced Krookodile and Needles on the defensive, raising their arms to protect themselves. Needles, being especially vulnerable to the attack, found himself quickly overwhelmed and was forced into a collision with the door. Beautifly immediately took advantage of the escape route his absence provided and zipped past Krookodile with her stolen loot in tow, scattering Stun Spores as she passed.
The reptilian officer had no choice but to collapse onto his stomach, shaking as he futilely tried to fight off the paralysis. At first, he thought he was going to get mad again at how she'd played him, but then the moment passed and he found himself almost amused.
Not going to lie, Krookodile thought to himself with a hint of a smirk making its way onto his mostly paralyzed jaws. That wasn't bad… not bad at all for someone who was raised to sell flowers…
-.-.-.-.-.
"You're not getting away this time!" Krookodile took great satisfaction in saying once he'd cornered Beautifly in the art museum a few weeks later. "Go ahead, feel free to call your lawyer – I doubt even the best law office in Arthropod City could get you out of punishment, Beautifly."
The mischievous glint in her eye made it obvious that the law-breaking Bug-type wasn't taking him seriously. She fluttered tauntingly in front of the Mona Illumisa and giggled, "Hey, that reminds me. You hear the one about how lawyers and Zubat are different? Zubat can't carry briefcases. HA!"
Krookodile resisted the urge to laugh and stepped forward, raising his tail and swishing it back and forth as if he were brandishing a weapon. One good Mud-Slap and he could take care of her no problem.
Without warning, Beautifly darted away to make her escape, but Krookodile was just as quick on the draw as she was. He lashed his tail powerfully, spilling a wave of mud across the museum floor. The wave crested and fell towards Beautifly – who jinked to the side at the last minute, allowing the Mud-Slap to impact harmlessly against a statue with a pathetic-sounding *splat*.
Beautifly blew a loud, mocking Razz berry as she flew up a nearby staircase. "Shame on you, sullying Michael Armaldo's work like that!" she tutted, only to dissolve into a fresh round of giggles that slowly faded as she vanished up the stairs.
He wasn't even mad at this point – the most he could manage was a weary sigh as he looked around at the mess he'd inadvertently made. He left the room, already thinking of how to word his apology to the museum's curator.
-.-.-.-.-.
"So, how's life going for you~?" Beautifly asked conversationally, ducking under one of the Electrowebs that were being fired at her. She wasn't being slowed down at all by the diamonds she'd snagged from another jeweler's.
"Aside from trying to catch you? Not bad, can't really complain," Krookodile shrugged. He launched a Stone Edge at the evasive insect, who dodged, naturally. "Oh, would you just sit still and get this over with?!"
"What, and deprive you of weeks or even months of more fun?" she laughed merrily. "Because admit it, this is the most fun you've had chasing a criminal in years!"
Her eyes suddenly widened, and she narrowly twisted out of the way of another Electroweb with an uttered "Whoopsie~!" The projectile opened up like a net and wrapped itself around one of the Beedrill officers instead, who screamed out loud before dropping to the ground in a tangle of electrified silk. Elsewhere, Needles could be heard yelling an apology.
Krookodile rolled his eyes and fought to keep the grin off of his snout, but the corners of his mouth nevertheless twitched upwards. It was weird, but he couldn't help but admit that she was right. Even though his meetings with Beautifly always ended up with him getting laughed at and failing to catch the felon in some embarrassing way, there was some small part of him that looked forward to it. He always got a thrill when he saw the distinctive pattern of those wings and heard her signature little giggle, because that meant he had yet another shot at her, and this time he would surely be the victor. Even though that had never actually ended up happening yet, he knew that he'd catch her eventually, and every humiliation he endured up until then would only make the sight of seeing her behind bars that much sweeter.
He hadn't come head-to-head with a convict like this since… well, ever. It was exciting. It gave him something to look forward to. It was… fun.
Inevitably, Beautifly ended up escaping – not that Krookodile didn't try his best to make sure it didn't happen again. But that didn't change the fact that the entire Beedrill squad, him included, was now lying on the ground with a light dusting of Stun Spore. Far from discouraged, though, Krookodile finally allowed a whole grin to manifest on his face.
He was going to catch that butterfly if it was the last thing he did, but wow, would he be disappointed when it finally ended.
-.-.-.-.-.
Krookodile was heading home for the night, just popping into the supermarket to grab some eggs, when he ran into Beautifly again. He turned his head to see what the selection was like farther down the aisle, and there she was – wearing a wide-rimmed lavender hat with a flower on it to hide her face, only she wasn't bothering to hide it because she'd noticed him too. Her wide-eyed, fearful expression said it all. She'd only come prepared to spend her (likely stolen) savings on groceries, and running into the only officer that was guaranteed to recognize her hadn't been on her agenda. She was fully expecting to get arrested.
In his head, Krookodile made his decision.
He swiveled his snout back to the eggs, muttering from the side of his jaw, "I'm off duty, just another 'mon in the supermarket. I'm going to double-check the price on these eggs… ooh, not too expensive. As long as no-one's planning on stealing them –"
Beautifly rushed toward him, pecked him on the cheek with her proboscis, and murmured a sincere thank-you before tearing down the aisle and vanishing.
… What?
Krookodile spent a few seconds blinking, his mind at a blank, before shaking his head.
It wasn't as if she'd been doing anything wrong at the moment. Part of him felt guilty for letting a known criminal just wander free, but the other part felt at ease. He'd done the right thing… he hoped. Starting a scene in the middle of a crowded grocery store would probably end up doing more harm than good.
Still, a tiny voice whispered in the back of his head. That doesn't change the fact that you could've got her, and chose not to…
He told it to shut up and go away. If he was going to capture her, it wasn't going to be on an ordinary day at the supermarket. He wanted to be on duty and in full uniform. This wasn't the time, nor the place.
… And it definitely had nothing to do with the fact he'd be disappointed when he no longer got to see her.
Nothing at all.
-.-.-.-.-.
"Aha!" Krookodile shouted with triumph.
Beautifly glanced around apprehensively, looking for an escape route but finding none. She'd attempted to escape Krookodile and Needles, who'd been chasing her since she left the jewelry shop she'd robbed (again), by fleeing into the hockey arena she'd ended up passing. But that was a mistake, as instead of losing the cops, she'd blundered right into a trap that had been set for her. Now she was surrounded by Grass-types that the police force had probably hired for this exact reason.
"There won't be any Stun Spores for you this time!" bragged Krookodile. "And you won't be able to get us all with Air Cutter or Giga Drain, or… hang on. I don't think I've seen you use a fourth move."
Now it was Beautifly's turn to look triumphant, and she folded her wings over her body – only to snap them open again for an explosive attack. The Bug Buzz took the form of distorted red waves that swept through the arena with an unbearable screech, flooring all of the Grass-types. Krookodile, too, was brought to his knees from the agonizing white noise – and when it finally stopped, all he was able to do was stand up before Beautifly swooped forward and gave him the usual dose of Stun Spore.
He collapsed again, wanting to both grumble in frustration and laugh out loud. His moment of victory had been turned into failure so quickly that it would be almost funny if it weren't so embarrassing.
Giggling, Beautifly gently lighted down on top of the paralyzed Ground-and-Dark-type's head. She then bent down so that her head was hovering over his and she was peering into his eyes upside-down.
"You knew about that trap all along, didn't you," Krookodile muttered through his paralysis.
"Actually, no," she replied earnestly. "It was just a coincidence that I had a move that could get me out of it. Good try, though~!"
She leaned further down and gave him a sweet little peck on the forehead with the tip of her proboscis. Krookodile was slightly ashamed to admit that he blushed at the intimacy of the gesture.
"Why have you been doing that lately?" he asked gruffly.
She giggled for longer than usual at his question, as if his ignorance greatly amused her. When she was done, she answered, "'Cause I like you, duh. At first you just interested me, on the night we met, and then you just kept on showing up. You make my heists a lot more fun, knowing that there's someone who's absolutely gonna try and stop me, and it got to the point where I started looking forward to seeing what you'd do next. Oh, and then there was the bit about you trying to rebel against the stereotype of your species that you were born into – I guess that helped."
Her eyes then glittered with mischief, and she added coyly, "And since our run-in at the market, now I know that you like me back~."
"Do not," Krookodile instantly countered.
"Lies~," she replied happily. "I'm just as interesting to you, aren't I? I make your job more fun, you always want to see what I'm gonna do to escape from you, and you feel a connection with me for the same reasons I do for you. Go ahead~. Deny it~."
The combination of paralysis and his own growing frustration made it too difficult to speak, so he settled for lowering his eyes and grumbling obscenities under his breath.
Beautifly just cooed, "Aww, don't worry~. I like you too, sweetums~."
Somehow, her tone seemed to come across as both condescending and genuinely affectionate. Giving him one last kiss, she fluttered off whilst merrily humming a tune to herself, taking her stolen goods with her.
Krookodile was, of course, left behind, and he couldn't help but smile faintly to himself. Despite his pride, he knew he probably wouldn't like Beautifly any other way. She was… different. Which was fine with him. He was different, too.
Maybe he didn't really want to catch Beautifly anymore. Maybe he wanted to keep chasing her around the city forever. Maybe for more than one reason.
He knew that couldn't happen, and eventually their little game would come to an end. She'd be jailed, serve her time, and be released, perhaps never to be seen again. But in the meantime, he could afford to look forward to the next time they met. Even if they were on opposite sides of the law – certainly not the sides most Pokemon would expect – they were undoubtedly friends, and possibly more at this point. And to Krookodile, that meant something.
He'd said it a million times before – he hated stereotypes. Because of them, he'd spent most of his life distrusted by others. But Beautifly was like him, and freely admitted an attraction to him because of it. She wasn't only different… but special.
Krookodile sighed and started to get back up. He still had a job to do, one that he would enjoy fulfilling despite the inevitable goodbye he'd have to make to the thief who had stolen his heart as well.
-.-.-.-.-.
You know, I'm pretty proud of some of the jokes I've made throughout this story. Actually, that's a lie – I'm proud of ALL of them.
Anyway, this pairing definitely gives every law of biology a giant middle finger, but I still had fun with it. I tried to go for something unique, and I think I delivered well enough if you ask me. Thanks for the request!
Speaking of requests, I'm always looking for new ideas for this series, so if there's a pair of Pokemon you'd like me to write about, then feel free to let me know!