Chapter 10: A Human Child?
For the next several days, Will frequently went out with Wally and Milly to battle. But unlike before, he now fought his battles solo while Wally and Milly stood guard nearby, preventing any situations where a predator might try to ambush the victor.
Although this method was more time-consuming, tiring, and dangerous, the results were extremely noticeable.
[Beedrill]
Potential: Blue
Level: 27
Type: Bug / Poison
Ability: Swarm
Height: 2m
Weight: 70kg
Moves: Fury Attack, Bug Bite, Poison Sting, String Shot, Harden, Fury Cutter, Focus Energy, Venoshock, Assurance
A week passed. Will had now pulled far ahead of the other Beedrill. While Wally and Milly were still only around level 22, he had already reached level 27 on his own. In the Arbok's current territory, this level of strength placed him at the very top of the food chain. The only ones who might be stronger were the two or three Pokémon at the very center of the territory, whose levels were all upwards of 30.
In addition, the size of their five-member squad had increased dramatically. It could now truly be called a small swarm. The number of Beedrill was still just the five of them. But they now had 6 Kakuna and 13 Weedle under their protection.
It wasn't that Will didn't want to recruit other Beedrill. It was that nearly every Beedrill they encountered already belonged to a swarm from deeper within the forest. After thinking about it, he figured out the reason.
Weedle were at the bottom of the food chain, perhaps only a tiny bit stronger than Caterpie. Kakuna had almost no ability to defend themselves, existing only to wait for evolution or be eaten. It was incredibly difficult for these two forms to grow up in this primal forest. Only the Weedle and Kakuna within a larger Beedrill swarm could grow up safely under the protection of their evolved kin. Some smaller Beedrill swarms would even consciously seek out lone Weedle and Kakuna to bring them into their fold, just like what Will's group was doing now.
When those Weedle and Kakuna evolved, they naturally became members of the swarm that had protected them. That was why Will had never found any unaffiliated Beedrill.
However, he did manage to gather some other useful information from these Beedrill who came from the deeper parts of the forest. For example, the area where Will currently resided was the outermost ring of the entire forest. All the major Beedrill swarms lived in the middle ring. But because lone Weedle and Kakuna had trouble surviving deeper in, often getting eaten before they could evolve, the smaller swarms from the middle ring had to come to the outer edge to recruit new members.
At present, Will's Beedrill swarm was the only one in the entire outer ring.
"Why wouldn't they stay in the outer ring? Why go deeper inside?" Will couldn't help but wonder. The deeper you went into the forest, the more dangerous it became. For a Beedrill swarm, developing in the outer ring should have been much easier.
It was a question to which Will had no answer for now. In any case, he had no intention of proactively leading his team deeper into the forest.
"Keep raising my level!" That was Will's only goal right now. He would continue to get stronger, defeat the Arbok, and turn this territory into the domain of their growing Beedrill swarm.
After a hearty meal at the nest, Will flew to the river to quench his thirst. As he lowered his head to drink, a floating figure on the water's surface caught his attention. He looked up.
"A human?!"
Will stared at the figure on the water, his mind reeling in shock. It was clearly a small human girl, though it was impossible to tell if she was alive or dead.
After a moment's hesitation, Will decided to go take a look. He flapped his wings and flew over quickly. Hooking his two large stingers under the cloth of her clothes, he easily lifted the small girl into the air. He then immediately flew back towards his territory with her in his arms. The lake wasn't particularly large, but there were definitely Pokémon living in it. It was likely the territory of some Water-type, and he didn't want to linger near it for too long.
Back in his territory, Wally, Milly, and the other Beedrill saw their boss return carrying a creature and flew over to see what was going on. Milly probably thought Will had brought her back some tasty prey.
"None of you are to harm her," Will commanded the surrounding Beedrill and the Weedle that were gradually gathering around.
Hearing his words, Milly and some of the Weedle left in disappointment. They had thought it was something good to eat. Frost and Rusty, however, looked on curiously at the new creature. They had never seen a Pokémon with such a strange form before.
She's still alive...
Will looked down at the girl's chest and, noticing its gentle rise and fall, nodded in confirmation. It had been almost a month since he was reborn as a Pokémon, and this was the first time he had seen a human.
Seeing a human in the Era of Primal Beasts was no easy feat. Human civilization during this time was broadly divided into two periods: tribes and kingdoms. In the earlier period, humans were still competing with the "primal beasts" for resources. But being fewer in number and physically weaker, humans were no match for Pokémon and could only survive by gathering in areas with fewer Pokémon, like plains and mountains. It was only later, when the human population grew and the concept of kingdoms emerged, that they learned to use the power of Pokémon to fight other Pokémon, turning the tide.
But regardless of the period, humans were terrified of Pokémon. No ordinary person would ever willingly venture into a place like a forest, where Pokémon thrived. That's what made seeing this girl so unusual. Will couldn't help but wonder why on earth she had come into this forest.
For the rest of the day, to prevent any accidents, Will stayed by the little girl's side. He sent Wally and the other three Beedrill out to go beat up other Pokémon and gain experience.
By now, the Pokémon living around Will's territory had either fled long ago or were clever enough to realize this group of Beedrill had no intention of eating them. So, these clever ones not only didn't run away, but they actually moved a little closer to Will's territory. They'd get beaten up, sure, but at least they wouldn't die. And if a real threat appeared, they could temporarily hide inside Will's domain, reducing their chances of being eaten by other, stronger Pokémon.
Time passed quickly. Will only remembered falling asleep twice before the little girl began to show signs of waking up.
Then, one night, the girl, who had been mumbling and muttering in her sleep, suddenly regained consciousness. But when she opened her eyes and saw the two-meter-tall Beedrill standing beside her, she immediately screamed, her eyes rolled back in her head, and she fainted again.
"..."
Will scratched his head, found two Oran Berries, and squeezed their juice into the little girl's mouth. Feeling the sweet, moisturizing liquid, the little girl's eyelids fluttered. It was obvious she was awake again but was now too afraid to open her eyes.