Chapter 5: Evolution! And Evolution Again!
After Frost woke up, Will took him to a nearby tree where they found and persuaded another Weedle to join them as a partner.
The newcomer was named Rusty. The reason was that the yellow-brown parts of this Weedle's body were very dark, appearing almost deep brown. In terms of size, he was about 0.4m, a little taller than Frost.
Will was starting to figure things out. The bigger Weedle were generally higher level and already on the verge of evolution. If he evolved into a Kakuna, these larger Weedle would likely follow suit soon after. At that point, no one would be able to protect anyone else; they would just be a bigger, more conspicuous target for other Pokémon.
But since Frost and Rusty were both relatively small, they still had some time before they were ready to evolve into Kakuna. That was one thing he didn't have to worry about.
I can't hold it back anymore... I have to prepare to evolve.
Will led Frost and Rusty up another tree. The surging feeling inside him was becoming increasingly difficult to suppress. He didn't have time to find more followers to stand guard; he needed to quickly build a safe and hidden nest.
He had them gather a large number of leaves on the tree, piling them into a mound. Then, after stuffing himself with berries until he was full, he crawled into the leaf pile.
"Frost, Rusty, I'm about to evolve. For the next few days, stay on this tree. Remember, don't let any other Pokémon get close."
As soon as Will finished speaking, his body began to glow with a brilliant white light. Within the light, his form gradually began to change.
Finally, Will transformed from a yellow-brown caterpillar into a pale-yellow cocoon.
Thanks to the covering of leaves, his evolution didn't cause any major disturbances in the forest.
Although Frost and Rusty didn't understand what Will meant by "evolve," they had watched with their own eyes as he changed form. They knew that the large cocoon buried beneath the leaves was their boss.
Frost and Rusty looked at each other, ate some berries from the surrounding branches, and then curled up to sleep around the leaf pile.
Time seemed to slow down. The world suddenly became much quieter.
Beneath the leaves, Will couldn't see the outside world, which forced him to focus all his attention on his hearing.
He heard Frost and Rusty munching on berries.
He heard some kind of four-legged creature running past on the ground below.
He heard what sounded like a bird landing in the canopy above for a brief rest.
"Poli~"
A familiar sound echoed nearby.
Ah... he's here again. He just won't listen.
Unsure how much time had passed, Will's drowsy consciousness instinctively thought of the Poliwag. He knew the kid must have wandered off again and come here looking for him. Unfortunately, his body now felt hot and heavy, and he had no desire to move at all. He closed his eyes and sank back into a deep sleep.
Will completely lost his sense of time. At first, he could still open his status screen to take a look now and then.
[Kakuna]
Potential: Green
Level: 9
Type: Bug / Poison
Ability: Shed Skin
Height: 0.9m
Weight: 18kg
Moves: Harden
Evolution increases potential, and my height and weight are far above average. Excellent...
By analyzing and thinking about his status screen, he could barely maintain his sense of self. But as more and more time passed, being motionless in total darkness while his body grew progressively hotter, his consciousness began to blur.
Eventually, he even stopped thinking, simply waking up in a daze each day before falling asleep again.
It wasn't until the feeling of something about to erupt from within his body returned that his mind was jolted back to clarity.
Another flash of white light.
Will felt his body become incredibly light. He had limbs again, and he could even feel something on his back that he could control.
CRASH!
Will shot to his feet, forcefully throwing off the pile of leaves that had been pressing down on him.
Check status.
[Beedrill]
Potential: Blue
Level: 10
Type: Bug / Poison
Ability: Swarm
Height: 1.8m
Weight: 55kg
Moves: Fury Attack, Bug Bite, Poison Sting, String Shot, Harden
"My potential increased again, and these stats are just ridiculous."
Feeling this familiar perspective, Will couldn't help but smile. In his previous life as a human, he had been about 1.8 meters tall. It felt incredibly natural to return to this height.
In the Era of Leagues, the average height of a Beedrill was only 1 meter. He was nearly twice that! Out in the wild, this would make him an alpha-class Beedrill, but in this forest, it was probably just about average.
"Frost! Rusty!"
Will remembered his two followers and looked around for them. With a turn of his head, he immediately spotted two Kakuna staring silently at him from nearby. Although their forms had changed, Will recognized his two underlings at a glance.
Will moved closer to inspect them. He determined that the two of them must have just evolved into Kakuna not long ago. He had learned from his own experience how to tell how far a Kakuna was from evolving again: you just had to touch it and feel its temperature. As a Kakuna accumulated more and more energy, its body temperature would rise. When it reached a certain point, it meant evolution was imminent.
Frost and Rusty blinked their eyes. Their gazes were full of adoration; they thought Will looked incredibly cool. And while Beedrill's design might not be T0 or T1, it could definitely squeeze into the T2 tier of cool-looking Pokémon.
"You two just stay here and evolve at your own pace. I'm going to look for our other two companions."
Will gently touched Frost and Rusty with his hands, which had now become two thick, white stingers, and then ran to the edge of the branch. He could no longer climb down like he did as a Weedle.
There was only one option left for him.
To fly.
How do I fly...?
Will glanced back at the two pairs of wings on his back. He tried to control the muscles there, and the next moment, he was floating unsteadily in the air. It was a flight memory imprinted on his very being. However, his human memories were more numerous and profound, which had made the instinctual Beedrill memory of flight feel faint. Will could only slowly excavate this instinct.
After about five minutes, Will felt he had the hang of it. He controlled the slow, steady beat of his wings and flew down from the tree. His speed was probably slow, but he was very stable, unlike his initial wobbly attempts where he couldn't keep his balance. He was confident that with another hour or two of practice, he would be able to fly freely.
He first flew to the large tree where Wally had been, but he couldn't find any sign of him. This made him frown with a hint of anxiety, worried that Wally might have been eaten by some other Pokémon.
However, when he arrived at the tree where Milly had been, he was relieved. It turned out that after Wally had evolved into a Beedrill, he had flown off in search of Will. When he couldn't find him, he had decided to stand guard over their other companion, Milly.
And now, both Wally and Milly had become Beedrill.