Chapter 18: Second Life - Reborn as a Pseudo-Legendary
"Mew~ (Am I dead? And if so, how do I still have consciousness?)"
Will had no idea what his current situation was. One second, his body was in extreme, agonizing pain, and even breathing was a struggle. The next, he couldn't feel anything at all.
No, that's not right...
Will frowned, sensing that something was off. It wasn't that he couldn't feel anything. In fact, he could clearly feel a cool sensation all over his body, as if he were submerged in water.
He opened his eyes.
A dim space appeared before him. A few fish swam leisurely past his face. Some of the smaller ones even swam up to nuzzle against him. Beside him, he could see aquatic plants swaying gently in the water.
"...?"
Will blinked. He stared blankly as a massive, two-meter-long Magikarp swam past him.
Will: ...
"Mew? (Didn't I die?)"
Will distinctly remembered suffering fatal wounds. So why, when he opened his eyes, was he suddenly at the bottom of a lake or an ocean? And why did it feel like he could breathe underwater?
"That's right, the status screen!"
Will suddenly remembered his interface and quickly called it out.
[Dratini]
Potential: Blue
Level: 1
Type: Dragon
Ability: Shed Skin
Height: 1m
Weight: 1.5kg
Moves: Focus Energy (Inherited), Wrap, Leer
"...Dratini?! Me?! I'm a pseudo-legendary!"
Will's expression went from utter confusion to sheer brilliance, a wave of delight washing over his bewilderment. The final evolution of a Dratini was Dragonite, the pseudo-legendary Pokémon of the Kanto region. The Dragonite line was the very Pokémon that the Dragonite Tribe had revered for generations.
A Dratini looked like a blue serpent with a white pacifier in its mouth, though that wasn't a pacifier but its nose. Its large eyes and the two white fins on its head made it look incredibly cute.
But he quickly calmed down and realized the potential problems.
"Wait, does this mean I can reincarnate infinitely? It seems that way for now. But no matter what, this life is a golden start!"
Will now had a rough idea of what his special ability was. It was likely "Infinite Reincarnation." He used the word "likely" because he had only been reborn twice so far. He would need at least one more reincarnation to be certain of his ability. But regardless, starting this life as a pseudo-legendary was a fantastic turn of events. He still hadn't forgotten the despair he felt in his past life upon discovering he was a Weedle.
"No, no, that's not right. If I'm still in the Era of Primal Beasts, then this might be even worse than being a Weedle."
Suddenly, a thought struck him, and he latched onto the key issue. Pseudo-legendary Pokémon were all, without exception, "late bloomers." Even for the Dragonite line, you needed to reach the second stage, Dragonair, to have any real self-preservation ability, and that required evolving at around Lv. 30.
In his past life, his Beedrill had only reached Lv. 30 in its entire lifetime—though that lifetime had been less than two months long. A Weedle only needed to reach around Lv. 10 to evolve into a Beedrill. It could reach its final stage in just ten days, gaining the ability to fly and escape threats on the ground. A low level wasn't a major issue then.
But a Dratini was basically stuck in the water until it evolved into a Dragonair. While it could survive on land, its movement was extremely clumsy, not much better than a Weedle's. According to the Pokédex, a Dratini was so pathetic that it had to live hidden at the bottom of deep water, surviving on whatever sank down to it.
"By the way, who did I inherit Focus Energy from? Can the Dragonite line even learn this move?"
Will stared at the inherited move, lost in thought. He was sure that Dragonite couldn't learn Focus Energy, yet there it was in his skill list.
Could it be... inherited from my past life?!
Will was startled by his own idea. If that were true, it would mean that the more he reincarnated, the stronger he would become.
But even so, he had no desire to keep dying. The feeling of those arrows piercing him in his last life was excruciating. He hoped that this time, he could live a full life and die of old age. Or even better, not die at all. He had to play it safe.
Let's see...
Will carefully peeked out from the bottom of the water, looking up at the Pokémon swimming above. They were mostly Magikarp, with the occasional Goldeen passing by. After observing them, Will got a good sense of his situation.
There was good news, and there was bad news.
The bad news was that he was probably still in the Era of Primal Beasts, because every Pokémon he saw was far larger than the average recorded in the Pokédex.
The good news was that he was likely in a small lake. The variety of Water-type Pokémon was very monotonous, and they were all friendly species like Magikarp and Goldeen, who had weak territorial instincts and weren't aggressive. There was no shortage of food, either; the small lake was teeming with tiny fish, shrimp, and plankton. His current living situation was actually quite good.
"Thank goodness. It would be a huge problem if there were dangerous Pokémon here. There's nowhere to run in a place like this," Will sighed in relief.
He tried to move forward and found it surprisingly difficult. Although both were long-bodied creatures, a Dratini's method of movement was completely different from a Weedle's. On land, a Weedle moved by arching its back up and down. In the water, a Dratini moved by swaying its entire body from side to side. The movement felt awkward to Will, but that was a minor issue.
After about five minutes of strenuous swimming, he reached the edge of the lake. He swam up along the wall, quickly approaching the surface. He needed to see where this lake was located. If it was on a plain, it would be more dangerous, but if it was in a forest, it would be much safer.
Splash~
Will popped his head out of the water. The first thing that greeted him was a large, dopey-looking face.
In that instant, Will's breath caught in his throat. He immediately turned to dive back down, but he wasn't fast enough. A hand shot out and scooped him up.
Yes, a hand. What had caught him was a good-sized Poliwhirl.
"Poli~ (Hello~)"
Just as Will was bracing himself to be eaten in one bite, he froze. That voice... He looked at the Poliwhirl before him. He couldn't make out any distinguishing features; he was face-blind when it came to Pokémon. If Wally and Milly were in front of him at the same time, he could only tell them apart by their voices and sizes. Right now, Will recognized this Poliwhirl's voice as being strangely familiar.
That Poliwag?! He's already evolved into a Poliwhirl.
Will looked around but couldn't deduce anything else. Unfortunately, he couldn't use the Poliwhirl to judge how much time had passed since his death as a Beedrill. A Poliwhirl needed a King's Rock or a Water Stone to evolve. Those conditions were extremely harsh for a wild Pokémon, and they wouldn't even know they needed such items to begin with. This Poliwhirl could have evolved yesterday, or it could have been in this form for seventy or eighty years.
But no matter what, Will was sure of one thing: the time that had passed since his death was likely not too long. Probably not more than a hundred years. If it had been longer than that, he likely wouldn't be seeing this Poliwhirl at all.
A Pokémon's lifespan was related to its type, strength, and species. And based on this Poliwhirl's current state, it didn't look like it could live for a particularly long time.