"No!!! Sceptile! Get up! Don't lose to this pay-to-win cheater!"
A young man named Arthur leaped from his sofa, pacing back and forth in a frantic state of agitation.
On the television, Pokémon: Diamond and Pearl was reaching its climax. Ash's Sceptile had just managed the impossible by taking down Darkrai, only to be instantly one-shotted by a newly summoned Latios.
Tobias, the "Action Replay" Legend-Spammer, had only revealed two Pokémon, while Ash had already lost four.
"Alright, send in Swellow! Come on, take out that blue plane, pull out that AG-era 'Bug' water type... WHAT THE—!!!"
Before Arthur could finish his sentence, Ash's Swellow was wiped off the field in the blink of an eye.
Arthur felt his blood pressure skyrocket. His vision swam, his head throbbed with a sudden, searing heat, and he stumbled back. Everything went black as he collapsed onto the sofa.
When Arthur opened his eyes again, the world seemed to have expanded exponentially.
"Buzz? (Wait, did I get smaller?)"
Arthur tried to speak, but no human voice emerged. To his own ears, however, his thoughts translated perfectly into the language he knew.
Looking around, he found himself in the heart of a dense forest. Nearby, the rhythmic gurgle of flowing water echoed through the trees. He tried to walk toward the sound, but no matter how hard he strained, he remained rooted to the spot. His body felt... alien. Wrong.
Panic rising, Arthur finally looked down. Instead of hands and feet, he saw a blade of grass pressing directly against his face.
"What have I become...?"
He spent several frantic minutes experimenting with his limbs. Finally, he discovered his new mode of transportation: undulating. He had to wriggle forward, segment by segment, like a common grub.
Arthur crawled through a patch of undergrowth and poked his head out cautiously. Seeing no predators, his eyes widened at the sight of a massive body of water just ahead. He scurried toward the edge, leaned over the glassy surface of the pond, and stared at his reflection.
"A Weedle?!"
Arthur was stunned. He couldn't believe it. He had been reincarnated as a Pokémon—and not just any Pokémon, but a Weedle, the literal bottom of the food chain.
A Weedle is a Bug/Poison-type larva common in forests and grasslands. It has a segmented, reddish-brown body, seven pairs of pink prolegs, and a large, pink, nose-like snout. A sharp, two-inch stinger sat atop its head, matched by another on its tail. Its black eyes were tiny and bead-like.
According to the Pokédex, a standard Weedle stands about one foot tall and weighs seven pounds. However, Arthur noticed he was barely half that size—shrunken, as if he had only just hatched from an egg.
If a normal Weedle was weak, he was a tragedy. Just about anything in this forest could flatten him.
"Poo-poo!"
A cry echoed from above. Arthur craned his neck to see a Pidgey gliding through the canopy. He didn't hesitate; he dived back into the bushes. Fortunately, the bird didn't spot him.
"This is bad. I need to evolve—fast. Only as a Beedrill will I have a fighting chance."
Huddled in the safety of the brush, he watched the shadows. As a newborn Weedle, he couldn't even take on a Caterpie, let alone defend himself against a predator.
"I wonder what my Ability is," Arthur thought, feeling a wave of exhaustion. "If only I had a status screen or something."
Just as the thought crossed his mind, a translucent blue panel flickered into existence before his eyes.
[Weedle]
Potential: White
Level: 1
Type: Bug / Poison
Ability: Run Away
Height: 0.15m
Weight: 1.6kg
Moves: Poison Sting, String Shot
"A status screen! Thank god, at least I'm not flying blind."
He scanned the stats. It was as pathetic as he expected, but there was one silver lining: Run Away. This Ability significantly increased his chances of escaping from any encounter, no matter how overmatched he was.
"I remember... Weedles eat leaves. They have to eat their own body weight every day."
Arthur sniffed the foliage around him. It didn't smell bad, and a primal hunger began to gnaw at his gut.
"Down the hatch!"
Arthur began to gorge himself, stripping his hiding spot bare before wiggling over to the next bush. He ate until he was so bloated he could barely move. He needed to grow. He needed to evolve.
With that single-minded focus, his eyes grew heavy. Within minutes, he drifted into a deep sleep.
Rustle. Rustle.
The sound of shifting leaves jolted Arthur awake. He peered through the gloom and saw a Caterpie munching on a leaf a few feet away. The creature was enormous—at least twice the size of the ones he remembered from the games.
Arthur stayed deathly still. He watched as the Caterpie finished its meal and skillfully climbed up a nearby tree trunk.
"I see..."
As a former human, he was clueless about the nuances of wild Pokémon life. Watching the Caterpie taught him two vital lessons:
Moving at night was much safer.
Sleep in the trees to avoid ground-based predators.
Arthur looked at the bush next to him.
"Time for round two!"
After a few more cycles of eating and sleeping, the sun rose on what felt like Arthur's third day. He woke up parched and wiggled his way to the riverbank for a drink.
As he lapped up the water, he didn't notice the Poliwag standing right next to him. The Poliwag, clearly a newborn itself, watched the exhausted-looking Weedle with wide, curious eyes. It plucked up its courage and hopped closer.
"Poli? (Hello?)"
Arthur jumped, nearly face-planting into the mud.
"Whose kid is this? Shoo! Go away!" Arthur grumbled, turning to shoo the intruder.
He realized he could instinctively tell the age of other Pokémon now. This Poliwag was a "toddler" like him, whereas the Caterpie from the other night was more like a "teenager."
"Poli..."
The Poliwag looked dejected and waddled away, likely heading home to find its mother. Arthur took another long drink and retreated into the safety of the bushes.
In the wild, Bug-types grow much faster than Dragon-types. After about five or six "eat-sleep" cycles, Arthur felt a surge of strength. His status screen confirmed his progress.
[Weedle]
Potential: Green
Level: 5
Type: Bug / Poison
Ability: Run Away
Height: 0.3m
Weight: 3.2kg
Moves: Poison Sting, String Shot
On paper, he was now a standard wild Weedle. In reality, he realized he was still a shrimp. Every other Pokémon in this forest was "built different"—sturdier, larger, and meaner. He had no idea what kind of "Monster Forest" he had been born into.
"Three days and not a single human," Arthur sighed from his bush.
Ordinary leaves weren't cutting it anymore. He needed real nutrition if he wanted to close the gap. While wild Pokémon were content with just being full, Arthur had the human drive to optimize.
"I have to get up that tree."
He looked up at the towering branches above him. Hanging from the boughs were large, plump red fruits: Oran Berries. They were packed with nutrients and, more importantly, they weren't dry, bitter leaves.
Arthur crawled to the base of the tree and hooked his fourteen tiny pink feet into the bark. To his surprise, climbing was easy. His anatomy was designed for this.
"Once I'm a Beedrill, I won't have to crawl like a peasant. I'll just fly up there," he muttered.
Halfway up, he began to pant. He looked up; the berries were still a long way off.
"Maybe I should have stayed on the ground a few more days..."
His strength began to fail. His tiny legs shook, and his grip on the bark slipped.
Slip.
Arthur tumbled backward. He wasn't too worried—at this height, the fall wouldn't be fatal, just painful.
Squish.
"Huh?"
Arthur braced for the impact of hard dirt, but instead, he landed on something cool, smooth, and very squishy.
"Poli?"
He opened his eyes to see the Poliwag's big, innocent eyes staring back at him.
"You again, kid? Well, you actually saved my hide this time. Thanks, pal."
Arthur rolled off the Poliwag and sighed. It was time to try again.