In this chapter, Zenitsu will fight the swamp demon!
He's totally a goner!
Or is he?
Feel free to listen to Bogmire Battle during the fight.
Chapter 4: Drain the Swamp
At the entrance of the coal mine, there was a Zubat sleeping.
He was not a shadow Pokemon.
Nezuko stepped on a twig outside and woke him up.
"Zubat!" exclaimed Zubat.
"Sorry!" apologized Nezuko. She of all people didn't want to disturb someone else's rest.
Zubat chose to forgive them. He was a nice Pokemon…unlike the Shadow Pokemon who lurked deeper in the mine.
To be honest, he wondered why humans had come to the place. It had been abandoned for a reason.
"Do you know anything about the Shadow Pokemon?" asked Tanjiro. The more information they had about them, the better.
Zubat had information they could use.
The coal mine had indeed been taken over by Shadow Pokemon.
But there was something he knew that they didn't.
They were being led by a Shadow Torkoal.
She was the strongest among them.
"We should focus our efforts on her." nodded Tanjiro.
If they purified her, the others would likely be much easier to deal with.
"Can you help us find the Shadow Pokemon? We're trying to protect the innocent here." asked Nezuko.
Zubat nodded. He was considering leaving the cave to find somewhere where he would be safe. But maybe he wouldn't have to.
He just hoped that they had the strength to take Torkoal down. Her fire breath was something to be afraid of.
Togepi was currently hiding in the box Nezuko liked to rest in.
Shadow Pokemon were scary.
And she certainly didn't want to become one again.
Meanwhile, Zenitsu arrived at his destination.
"Time for my first mission…which is most likely going to be my last!" exclaimed the blonde in fear.
Reluctantly, he began to search around for signs of the demon.
He decided to ask around…and flirt with some women.
"I'm more than a pretty face, you know." pointed out one of the women.
However, he did not find anything suspicious.
"Where could that demon be? I want to get this over with!" exclaimed Zenitsu.
The sun was going down.
Suddenly, he heard a squeak.
Zenitsu gasped.
Sweating profusely, he looked around.
However, it was only a Pichu. Not an evil monster.
"Whew!" exclaimed Zenitsu.
Pichu gasped and hid behind a crate.
As he did so, he released a jolt of electricity.
"Pichu, the Tiny Mouse Pokemon. It is not yet skilled at storing electricity. It may let out a jolt if amused or startled." read the Pokedex.
"Well, this is ironic! The mouse Pokemon is afraid of me!" exclaimed Zenitsu.
He decided that he would try to calm him down.
"It's alright, I'm not planning to hurt you!" shouted the demon slayer.
Pichu sighed in relief.
"Do you know anything about the disappearances?" asked Zenitsu.
Pichu nodded.
He had seen a scary demon. One that regularly snarled his teeth.
He had seen him go to a nearby cave.
"I guess that's where he calls home." noted Zenitsu.
It looks like that was where he was going.
However, he found that the swamp demon was not there.
It seemed that he was out hunting for the night.
However, he found signs of his presence.
There were bones inside the cavern.
"Aah!" exclaimed Zenitsu. This demon had been feasting, alright. And he did not have the decency to clean up after himself, either.
He began to whimper.
Still, he did have a mission to attend to. If he allowed the swamp demon to eat more women, then the demon would only grow stronger. That was what his master had told him about demons. If action wasn't taken, they would keep on getting more and more powerful.
So he waited for the demon to come back.
The swamp demon was currently humming the Jaws theme song as he hunted women.
He was using a blood demon art for stealth purposes. Though to his knowledge, no demon slayer had arrived on the scene yet.
He succeeded in finding one, and grabbed her.
Her name was Tokie.
"You're coming with me, baby!" exclaimed the watery demon.
The woman screamed. To think she had decided to stay indoors during the night too. If only she had some wisteria. But as it was, the public was not generally aware of demons. The demon slayers might want to consider warning them about these monsters.
He grabbed her and dragged her underwater.
He then took her to his lair.
However, he found that he had an unexpected guest.
"What are you doing in my swamp cave?!" bellowed the swamp demon.
Zenitsu's eyes widened.
He was face to face with the demon terrorizing the town.
"L-let her go!" demanded Zenitsu.
"Never! I'm going to kill her and then sleep with her body!" shouted the swamp demon.
"I spend my time flirting with women and even I find that disturbing." noted the blonde. He had to draw the line somewhere.
"Save me, please!" exclaimed Tokie. She had just woken up.
Pichu came to the woman's defense.
He tackled the swamp demon and forced him to release the woman.
Tokie ran out of the cave. For a moment she thought she was going to meet her maker.
"Damn it! You'll pay for that, demon slayer!" exclaimed the swamp demon.
"Alright, I saved the woman. Now I should get out of here." noted Zenitsu. He felt like he had done enough.
However, he quickly found himself cornered by three demons, because the demon had the power to split himself.
Zenitsu screamed.
His master had warned him that there were demons that could use blood demon arts, both for offense and defense.
This demon was one of them.
"You've got nowhere to run now!" exclaimed the two-horned demon.
"Drop your sword and your death will be swift and painless." spoke the three-horned demon, who seemed to be the leader.
The one-horned demon growled.
He might not be a woman, but considering how fearful he was, he just might taste delicious.
"You can't do your work on me! I'm not a girl!" reminded Zenitsu.
"We're flexible." answered the three-horned demon.
Besides, Zenitsu screamed like one.
The one-horned clone lunged at the blonde.
He gasped.
Quickly, he attempted to dodge his claws.
It looked like he was about to become demon chow.
"Some demon slayer he is." remarked the two-horned demon.
Zenitsu panicked and slashed the one-horned demon with his blade.
Suddenly, the one-horned demon screamed. For a moment, his skeleton was visible.
Then he was reduced to ash.
The main demon and his remaining clone looked at Zenitsu with shock.
"This guy's a thunder breather?" questioned the main demon. If so, then they might actually be in trouble.
Thunder breathing was death to water demons. Once the ninchirin blade connected with the water demon, the water inside their bodies would conduct the electricity and the current would spread through them at a very rapid rate. Not even their regeneration could save them.
Heck, even a single scratch could cause electrocution.
"This guy is more dangerous than us than we thought!" exclaimed the two-horned demon.
It looked as if they were going to have to change their strategy.
"Wow! I killed one!" exclaimed Zenitsu.
It was a very pleasant surprise.
Suddenly, he found himself being dragged underwater.
"Aaahh! I don't want to sleep with the fishes!" exclaimed Zenitsu. Unless of course, those fishes happened to be mermaids.
"Save your breath, you'll need it." spoke the main demon.
Luckily, Pichu decided to come to Zenitsu's aid.
He grabbed his hand and began pulling him out.
With Pichu's help, Zenitsu escaped.
"Thanks, little buddy." spoke the boy. He would have been in Davy Jones' locker if it weren't for him.
Pichu jumped up and down happily.
Zenitsu then put his sword in the water.
"Not again!" exclaimed the main demon.
The main demon dove out of the water in time, but it was too late for his clone.
The two-horned clone was electrocuted, and he too turned to ash.
Pichu was happy.
Becoming desperate, the main demon suddenly grabbed the mouse Pokemon.
It seemed this was his only option left.
"Drop your sword or the Pichu gets it!" bellowed the three-horned demon.
Pichu was afraid. Was the swamp demon going to eat him?
Demons didn't usually target Pokemon (as they were much more well-defended than humans were), but it was still a thought that was haunting him.
"And people call me a coward." noted Zenitsu.
He could try to cut off the swamp demon's arm and release Pichu that way, but he wasn't sure if he was fast enough for that.
This was a dilemma indeed.
But as it turned out, luck was on Zenitsu's side…and Pichu's.
Suddenly, the main demon screeched as electricity flew through his veins.
He was forced to drop Pichu.
And to make matters worse, he suddenly found himself unable to move.
Pichu had paralyzed him!
"Pichu's ability is Static. Contact with this Pokemon may cause paralysis." read the Pokedex.
"Ugh. I forgot that Pichu can store electricity in its body." remarked the swamp demon. And he had paid the price for it.
Unfortunately for the swamp demon, he could not get up.
"Please don't slay me! I promise I'll never eat a woman again!" exclaimed the swamp demon.
"I managed to make the swamp demon afraid of me? This is very ironic." remarked Zenitsu, recalling how scared he was before.
Pichu didn't think the swamp demon could be trusted. And demons did need human flesh to survive.
"He's lying? Alright then." spoke Zenitsu.
He stabbed the swamp demon with his sword.
But instead of turning to ash, the swamp demon…turned back into a human.
"What happened? I was at the beach at night looking for chicks when that man came…" said the swamp former demon. He had beaten him up and had told him never to say his last name.
"I purified him!" exclaimed Zenitsu.
Perhaps it had to do with the water Squirtle gave him.
"Oh god, I've been killing women, haven't I? I must find forgiveness! I'm becoming a lifeguard!" shouted the former demon.
"I've done a good deed…by the way, I think it was that man's fault." spoke Zenitsu. He heard that demons used to be humans until they were transformed. It was what his master told him.
"Well, I'm still becoming a lifeguard!" shouted the man.
He left the scene.
The mayor of the town loved what Zenitsu had done for the town.
"Way to go, demon slayer! Now the women of our town can rest easy at night!" shouted the mayor.
The citizens of the town clapped and cheered.
"Thanks for saving me!" shouted Tokie.
She gave Zenitsu a kiss on the cheek.
"Maybe I'll like being a demon slayer." noted the blonde.
Up until now, a woman had never kissed him. Maybe he had been trying too hard?
As a reward for assisting Zenitsu, Pichu got some cheese to eat.
He felt like he was in heaven.
The swamp ex-demon gave him a pat on the back for saving him from monsterhood.
It looked like he would be keeping his promise after all.
"Thanks, I don't know what I would do if my fiancee got killed." spoke Kazumi. She meant the world to him.
"Yeah. I'm glad to be alive!" exclaimed Satoko. Especially since she hadn't survived in another reality.
"I'm very sorry I tried to eat you." spoke the swamp man. Becoming a demon caused you to do things you deeply regretted once you became human again…or should we say if?
"You aren't a monster anymore, right? Apology accepted!" exclaimed Tokie. She just hoped that he didn't transform again.
The swamp man sighed in relief.
Zenitsu's Pidgey let him know how impressed he was that he had survived. His name was Chuntaro.
"Well, I had help." spoke Zenitsu.
Pichu waved hello.
Chuntaro chirped.
His next mission was to fight water shadow Pokemon…which he should have an advantage against.
He was feeling more confident, so he accepted.
Chuntaro wondered how Zenitsu had managed to survive the final selection…even if he did slay that demon.
"Oh man! I'm going to die!" exclaimed the demon slayer. He was going to join all the demon slayers that perished in the final selection exam, he thought.
He could hear the demons on the hunt.
In fact, one was approaching him.
"I love eating demon slayers that are full of fear…" spoke the demon. It was akin to salting the meat.
Suddenly, Zenitsu picked up a flower.
"Hey! A flower! Maybe if I survive, I can give it to a girl I like!" suggested Zenitsu to himself.
Then again, there were a lot of girls he liked.
The flower was a wisteria flower.
The demon groaned.
Meanwhile…
Tanjiro and Nezuko ventured through the mine, fighting their way through it.
Sure enough, a Shadow Geodude attacked.
He too wondered why somebody would venture into the mine after what had happened there.
Luckily, his water breathing technique worked wonders against him.
"Geodude!" exclaimed the rock Pokemon. Why did it have to be a water breather?
Of course, it didn't help that he wasn't exactly the fastest Pokemon around. It really let his opponents get the jump on him.
In a few moments, the Pokemon was purified.
After the door to his heart was opened, the Shadow Geodude gave him the thumbs up.
He then left the mine.
Nezuko noticed that Zubat seemed well-aware of his surroundings despite not having eyes.
"You sure seem to know your way around this place." noted the demon girl.
Zubat explained he had echolocation.
"Zubat, the Bat Pokemon. While flying, it constantly emits ultrasonic waves from its mouth to check its surroundings." read the Pokedex.
"Oh yeah." answered Nezuko. Zubats weren't as blind as they looked.
Suddenly, she had an idea.
"If you have echolocation, maybe you could find the Shadow Pokemon before they find us." noted the brunette.
Zubat thought that was a good idea.
"Zubat!" exclaimed the bat Pokemon.
He used his echolocation and discovered three Roggenrola.
One of them threw a rock at Tanjiro.
"Ow!" exclaimed the boy.
That rock hit him on the head.
Thank goodness for how hard his head was.
Suddenly, they noticed smoke.
It looked like this was the Torkoal they had been told about.
She was currently investigating the presence of Demon Slayers in the mine.
She had lost contact with multiple Shadow Pokemon.
Well, now was the time to fight her.
Hooray! Zenitsu survived! I guess luck was on his side!
Of course, you're probably expecting Tanjiro to survive.
And yes, I figured it would be fun to make a Shrek reference.