Chapter 2: Recruiting an Ally
"Poli~"
Hearing Will's words of thanks, the little Poliwag spun around happily on the spot. It then affectionately nudged up against the Weedle, rubbing against him gently.
"What are you doing all the way out here? Where are your parents? Be careful, or some other Pokémon will snatch you up and eat you!"
Will was a little worried, seeing such a tiny, young Pokémon wandering around alone in this massive forest. Of course, this concern was only because the Poliwag had just served as his personal cushion. Otherwise, he wouldn't have cared about its fate; he could barely ensure his own survival.
"Poliwag~"
The Poliwag explained its situation to Will.
"Oh, so your parents brought you out to find food. You're a lucky kid. You should get back to them. I'm going back into hiding. You should stop running around by yourself in the future."
Knowing Poliwag's parents were nearby, Will stopped worrying.
"Poliwag."
"No, I'm not going."
"Poli?"
"Don't ask why."
Will refused the Poliwag's invitation. How could a lone Weedle like him possibly hang out with a family of Poliwag?
Poliwag's parents were most likely Poliwhirl. The chances of them being a Politoed or a Poliwrath were slim. The former required a King's Rock and a trade to evolve, while the latter needed a Water Stone. Achieving those conditions in the wild was incredibly difficult.
But regardless of which they were, they were all frogs. And if you followed the natural food chain, frogs eat bugs. While Will had never seen a Pokémon eat another Pokémon in the anime, he had no idea what the reality was in this world.
"Poli."
The Poliwag nodded and hopped away.
A moment later, however, it returned, using its tail to carry a large pile of berries. It scurried over and placed them in front of the bush where Will was hiding.
"POLIWRATH!!!"
A powerful, booming call echoed from the distance.
The moment the Poliwag heard the sound, it quickly turned and rushed back. It seemed his parents were calling for him.
After the Poliwag was gone, Will poked his head out. He glanced in the direction the Poliwag had left, then looked down at the small mountain of berries in front of him. He felt a little touched.
That baby Poliwag was actually pretty kind.
Will crawled out of the bush and began to ravenously devour the various berries.
Sweet and sour ones.
Sweet and spicy ones.
Sour and bitter ones.
A mix of sour, sweet, bitter, spicy, and dry.
It didn't matter. He loved them all and ate everything he could, stuffing himself without hesitation.
Just as he was about to finish, another Weedle, covered in wounds, wriggled out from a nearby bush. It looked like it had been attacked by another Pokémon. This Weedle was quite large, at least one and a half times Will's size.
"Wee... (Help me...)"
The Weedle spotted Will, a glimmer of hope in its eyes as it let out a plea for help. It was already lying flat on the ground, too weak to move. If Will did nothing, this Weedle would die right here.
"..."
Will looked reluctantly at the remaining pile of berries, gritted his teeth, and carried a few over to the injured Weedle. He remembered that these specific berries helped restore stamina.
The injured Weedle gave Will a grateful look and weakly lifted its head to nibble on the fruit.
Worried that this stranger might recover and try to steal the rest of his food, Will quickly went back and finished the remaining berries until he was completely stuffed. He couldn't help it; he had to be cautious. After all, this Weedle was clearly stronger than him.
But Will had miscalculated one thing. Pokémon weren't as malicious as humans. Why would they ever turn on their own savior?
Will watched as the other Weedle, after finishing the berries, found a bush to curl up in and sleep. Reassured, Will found his own safe spot and dozed off.
When he woke up, his eyes shot open in shock. The Weedle he had saved was resting right beside him. The proximity gave Will a huge scare.
However, seeing that the other Weedle showed no hostility, he breathed a sigh of relief. After observing for a while, he realized it was probably protecting him while he slept.
I slept too soundly. I didn't even notice it get this close.
"What's your name?" Will asked the Weedle.
He figured wild Pokémon probably didn't have names, but he asked anyway. It was his first time being a Pokémon, so who knew if they had their own names or call signs?
"Wee~ (I don't have a name.)"
"Want to team up with me from now on?"
Will wasn't surprised by the answer and immediately extended an invitation.
"Wee~"
The Weedle nodded, a happy expression on its face, and leaned in, touching the horn on its head to Will's. It had always been alone and lonely, so it was happy to have found a companion.
"Alright, we'll need call signs then. You can call me Will. As for you... I'll call you Wally."
Looking at the Weedle before him, Will understood its gesture and touched his horn back. He noticed that this Weedle's body color was a bit paler than a typical Weedle's, which gave him the idea for the name. As for why they touched horns? It was a Weedle's way of showing friendship.
"Wee~ (Okay, Will.)"
"Can you climb trees?" Will asked. He figured a Weedle of Wally's size should be able to climb.
Sure enough, Wally nodded, then looked at Will with a puzzled expression. He remembered being able to climb trees since he was born. Could it be that Will couldn't?
"Come on. Let's finish those berries, then get up that tree. You can carry me; I don't have enough strength."
"Wee~ (Okay.)" Wally nodded.
Will then led Wally to finish off the rest of the berries the Poliwag had brought. Afterward, they once again challenged the Tangleberry tree.
This time, however, things were different. Will climbed in front, while Wally stayed right behind him, pushing on his rear end, which saved him a lot of effort.
Finally, Will reached the top of the main trunk and got his first look at life in the canopy.
You'd never know it from the ground, but it seemed like every single tree in this forest was home to some kind of Bug Pokémon. On a nearby tree, for instance, sat a fat Caterpie. And on their very own tree, there was another Weedle, about the same size as Wally.
"Wee~ (Will, should we fight it?)"
After reaching the top, Wally also saw the nearby Weedle, which was staring back at them warily.
Will thought for a moment, looking at Wally, then at the other Weedle. He then carefully observed the situation on the other large trees in the area. He began to understand what was going on.
Territorial instincts.
One bug Pokémon claimed a single tree, treating the tree and all the berries on it as its personal property. Wally's question was essentially asking Will if they should try to take over this one's territory.
"Not yet. Let's watch first," Will shook his head after some consideration.
Small Pokémon like Caterpie and Weedle didn't have very high intelligence. They lacked the concept of teamwork and only thought about hoarding resources for themselves. It wasn't until they evolved into Butterfree or Beedrill that they developed a sense of community.
But Will didn't have to wait until he was a Beedrill to build his own faction. He could start a small Weedle squad right now.
With that in mind, Will wriggled toward the unfamiliar Weedle.
"Hello."
"Wee~ (Go away!)"
Will was taken aback when he heard its voice. In his ears, it sounded distinctly female. This Weedle was a girl.
"We can work together. We can take over all the big trees in this area."
"Wee! (Go away!)"
"...Wally, attack her."
Will figured the other Weedle was too stressed to communicate properly. So, he decided that he and Wally would team up and teach her a lesson to help her calm down.
Ptooey!
Will tried to spit, but instead, a long, thin thread shot out and ensnared the other Weedle. She immediately retaliated, shooting a stream of silk back at Will, but he easily dodged it by backing up.
Meanwhile, Wally had already charged forward, sinking his jaws into the other Weedle's head.
Bug Bite. Wally's level must be pretty high. Why hasn't he evolved yet? Will thought with some surprise.
A Weedle could only learn three moves: the innate Poison Sting and String Shot, and the learned move Bug Bite, which was typically acquired around Level 9. Generally, a Weedle at that level was already in the range for evolution.
The opposing Weedle was clearly a lower level than Wally, and she was being double-teamed. She was quickly defeated. Finally, she lay on the branch in despair, quietly waiting for the two strangers to either kick her off the tree or eat her.
"Can you listen to me properly now?"
Will had no intention of eating her. He just moved closer to talk.
"Wee~ (What do you want to say?)"
"Join our team. From now on... you'll have lots and lots of berries! And you won't be bullied by others anymore!"
Will thought for a moment and decided to put it in simpler terms.
"Wee~ (Really?)"
The female Weedle's eyes lit up, and she looked like she was about to drool.
"Really," Will nodded.
With that, the Weedle immediately stopped resisting and nodded to show she was willing to join Will's little team.
"Alright, let's start over. I'm Will, this is Wally. You need a name too. Let me give you one."
"Wee~ (Okay!)"
"Your name will be... Milly."
Will stared at the female Weedle for a moment. He noticed that her small eyes and the horn on her head were rather delicate. While he wasn't exactly an expert on Weedle aesthetics, he felt that she was probably quite pretty among her kind, so he gave her the name 'Milly'.
"Wee~ (Okay~)"
Milly nodded, then moved closer and touched her horn to theirs. Will and Wally both lowered their heads to complete the gesture.
The three of them were now a small group, a team of companions.
"For the next few days, we're staying on this tree. Eat as much as you can! Eat all the berries on this tree! Don't waste your appetite on leaves, focus on the fruit! When we're done, we'll go take over another bug's territory."
"Okay!" they both chirped.
Under Will's leadership, the three bugs began to frantically munch on the Tangleberries. The tree was loaded with fruit, and it would take their three small bodies at least ten days to finish them all.
But an unexpected change happened much sooner.
That very night, Wally's body began to glow with a brilliant white light. Milly was startled and hid behind the much smaller Will. When the light faded, Wally had transformed into a cocoon.
A Kakuna.
Kakuna are yellowish, cocoon-like Pokémon with a domed head and black, triangular eyes. In the middle of its body are scythe-like arms.
Although Kakuna only has the defensive move 'Harden' in the games and seems to have no offensive capability, that wasn't the reality here. Despite being a cocoon, it could still move its body slightly. If an enemy approached, it would extend its stinger to attack.
"Wally?" Milly asked uncertainly, looking at the big, yellow object before them.
"Yeah, that's Wally," Will confirmed.
But compared to Milly's uncertainty, Will was feeling something much more profound: shock.
A normal Kakuna was only about 0.6 meters tall. Wally had already been 0.5 meters tall as a Weedle. After evolving, he was now a full meter tall!
This wasn't a Kakuna; this was a giant, sharpened cone!
Just what kind of forest is this?
Will looked out at the boundless forest in a daze. He was starting to realize that every single Pokémon in this place had a physique that completely defied everything he knew.
Author's Note:
To my dear readers, after you finish the chapter, please comment, review and vote to help with the story's engagement! Thank you so much!