Chapter 199: Fragments of Memories
The psychic link remained fractured and unstable, yet Xiu projected calming reassurances through Abra, gradually coaxing the agitated Beedrill back from the brink of panic.
Its emotional state eventually settled, but the barrier remained. Direct communication isn't working. Xiu realized the limitations more clearly now. Beedrill, as a species, weren't known for complex abstract thought, and this one's advanced age further degraded its ability to process or convey nuanced information telepathically.
The channel was simply too narrow, too clouded by instinct and faded senses.
There's only one way to get clearer answers. He made the decision, severing the tentative telepathic link. Abra seemed to understand immediately, its psychic ability shifting in intensity.
A wave of focused power enveloped the Beedrill, gently but firmly. Then, Abra carefully extended a psychic probe, bypassing the Beedrill's conscious mind to access the deeper layers of memory. Based on past 'experiments,' Abra's getting disturbingly proficient at doing these kinds of stuff. The Beedrill floated passively, its clouded eyes vacant, showing no outward sign of struggle as Abra navigated the tangled pathways of its past.
Xiu closed his own eyes, allowing Abra to relay the sensory data directly. He stepped into the fragmented world of the Beedrill's memories…
…Warmth. The feel of rough bark. Dim green light filtering through leaves. The presence of others– siblings, in a shared hatching spot high in a massive tree… Then, a hand, startlingly large, gently detaching it from the branch. The face peering close seemed– young, bronze-skinned, with short dark hair, and focused eyes…
The image was surprisingly clear, the memory of its first trainer sharp despite the years.
…Training afterwards was a blur of sensation, instinctual reactions. The thrill of movement, the sting of impact, the satisfaction of striking true… Vague impressions of routines, exercises, and the feel of growing stronger… Beedrill's memory prioritized action and emotion over detail.
…Then, battles. Many battles. Arenas, wild encounters, the sharp tang of adrenaline, the clash of Pokémon. Victory. Defeat. The presence of the young man always there, guiding and pushing forward… This part of the memory resonated with excitement, remembering pride in its own power and its bond with its trainer.
The stream of memories was choppy and disjointed. Images repeated, timelines blurred, the sensory input slowly overloaded Xiu's human consciousness. It was like trying to assemble a coherent narrative from shattered pieces of a mirror, each reflecting a different angle, a different moment, intensely felt but poorly contextualized.
Pokémon minds… are fundamentally different from species to species and processing this surge of information is exhausting— akin to translating Egyptian Hieroglyphs without the Rosetta Stone.
Maintaining the connection required significant effort from both him and Abra, battling the inherent resistance and the alien structure of the Beedrill's consciousness.
"Huuuh…" Xiu finally pulled back, opening his eyes, exhaling sharply. The psychic feedback left a dull ache behind his temples. Even a relatively passive probe like this was taxing when dealing with a non-human mind, especially one resisting instinctively at deeper levels.
Still, despite the difficulty, he had gained crucial insights. He glanced at the Beedrill, floating quiescently under Abra's influence. He retrieved the unique Poké Ball and recalled the aged Pokémon. I need to let it rest...
After instructing Abra to erase any traces of their presence, Xiu slipped back out into the crisscrossing streets. The raid on the Gym had concluded hours ago, but the sky was only just beginning to pale in the east. Moonlight and the sparse glow of distant streetlights offered the only illumination.
He navigated the quiet streets back towards the Bug-Type Gym. Even from a distance, the coppery tang of blood hung heavy in the air, growing stronger as he approached. The silence felt unnatural and oppressive.
The cleanup crew was thorough, but the smell somehow lingers. The area immediately surrounding the Gym was residential but sparsely populated, mostly housing tied to the Gym itself. The earlier battle, violent as it was, hadn't seemed to draw much outside attention in this isolated pocket of the Old Town.
The aftermath was brutal. Xiu could still recall that the ground within the outer courtyard was littered with the grim evidence of the night's work – the still Pokémon, the darker shapes of human bodies, interspersed with blood and debris soaking into the earth.
The hardest of choices requires the strongest of wills... Xiu observed the previous carnage dispassionately, his focus slowly shifting to reality. His gaze swept past the gore aftermath evoked by PTSD, analyzing the layout, comparing it to the fragments gleaned from Beedrill's memory.
The Gym complex was old, sprawling, a mix of eras. The Outer Courtyard, where the fighting had occurred, consisted of newer structures – reinforced concrete buildings from the last few decades housing dormitories, training fields, and administrative offices. Modern, functional, and just recently stained with violence. This was the domain of apprentices, staff, the public face of the Gym.
But deeper within lay the Inner Courtyard. According to Beedrill's memories, this was the original heart of the dojo, accessible only to core members and the Gym Leader.
Xiu bypassed the main entrance to the newer buildings, slipping through the shadows, following a less-used path revealed in the Beedrill's memory. He moved with the confidence of familiarity, Abra floating silently beside him.
He soon arrived at a high wall enclosing a hidden courtyard, nestled incongruously amidst the modern structures. Peering over the wall, he saw an ancient building constructed from dark wood and stone, its architecture belonging to a much older era.
Above the heavy wooden gate hung a large, weathered plaque. Even coated in dust and grime, the deeply carved characters were legible in the dim light: [鋒芒]—Sharp Edge. Vanguard.
The courtyard within was dominated by an enormous, ancient tree. Its gnarled branches spread wide, casting deep shadows, its canopy vast enough to cover nearly the entire inner sanctum. Thick ropes hung from many of the limbs, frayed and broken from years of neglect.
This place felt forgotten, untouched by the modernization of the outer grounds, preserved like a time capsule. This is it. The Beedrill's birthplace.
Xiu easily scaled the low outer wall, landing silently within the courtyard. He approached the massive tree, craning his neck to look up into its dense foliage. He found a sturdy lower branch and pulled himself up, Abra doing the same with a subtle telekinetic lift. Moving carefully through the thick leaves, he reached a relatively clear spot near the trunk and released the Beedrill from its Poké Ball.
The aged Pokémon materialized, hovering uncertainly for a moment. Then, it seemed to feel the presence of the ancient tree. Its antennae twitched. It slowly turned its head, clouded eyes gazing towards the massive trunk.
It drifted closer as a low buzz emanated from its wings, gently touching the rough bark with its stingers. Then, with a surge of renewed purpose, it began to fly upwards, circling the trunk, ascending into the dense canopy.
"This is where it was born," Abra projected the thought, confirming Xiu's deduction.
"Let us follow," Xiu murmured, climbing higher himself whilst relying on Abra's power to navigate the complex web of branches.
The tree was immense, dozens of meters tall. The Beedrill flew steadily upwards, finally settling on a thick branch high in the canopy, near the very top. It simply landed, folding its wings, remaining still.
Xiu and Abra arrived moments later, perching on a nearby limb. Xiu looked around. The branches up here were thick as roadways, covered in moss and lichen. He could see faint traces – old nesting hollows, worn patches on the bark – signs that a whole colony of Beedrill, or perhaps other Pokémon, had once thrived here.
Why are they gone now? The view was commanding, offering a panoramic sweep of the entire Gym complex below and, beyond it, the sprawling, waking city of Viridian. If it weren't for this situation, the sight might have been impressive, but Xiu had no mind for scenery.
Suddenly, a faint sliver of light appeared on the eastern horizon, painting the underside of the clouds a pale rose. Dawn was breaking.
As the first rays of true sunlight pierced the gloom, the Beedrill stirred. It lifted its head, looking towards the light. After a long moment, it unfolded its wings and launched itself upwards again, heading for the absolute apex of the tree, disappearing amongst the highest leaves.
"It's moving towards something specific," Abra noted.
Xiu didn't hesitate. "Let's go."
The Beedrill, despite its age and poor sight, navigated the intricate upper branches with unerring familiarity, guided by instinct honed over a lifetime spent in this tree.
Xiu, hampered by his human limitations, now relied entirely on Abra's telekinesis just to keep pace, pulling him swiftly through the dense foliage in pursuit of the ancient guardian.