Pokémon: Wings of Beginnings
Side Story 2: The Natural Selection
The strong lives, the weak dies. The strong will be remembered, the weak are forgotten. The Natural Selection, the laws of the world revolved around that. A harsh truth we should ever embrace. That's what I was taught when I was a kid. As we reached the age of 12, we would be pitted amongst each other. Simple, the winner lives, the loser dies. For being a weakling. I lived...Because I was strong. Was it really because I was strong or dumb luck?
These thoughts ran on his mind on a young bear as he held a mace while facing amongst two Behemoth before him. He panted and looked, there several Pokémon beside him, all of them dead. He didn't know why, why they died. His mind went blank upon sensing their lives disappear. What is this? Why did this happen? Was he to die here? After all these years of training...He would die here?
His heart beats rapidly... He was... he was..
"Yo!"
"Huh!?" The bear exclaimed and looked to see a Pancham go in. The Pancham dashes and he swings the staff he held with both hands, lifting the head of one Behemoth and its' body too. He lands and spins his staff again, striking the other Behemoth and stumbled for a bit.
"Yo, ya okay!?" He shouts over to the bear cub. The one he wore...He wasn't wearing the same attire as the rest of his tribe. No, he instead wore a black uniform, by the looks of it, designed for combat.
This wasn't what he was trained to do...He looked at the Behemoths around them. "Ain't lookin' so great, ya'ow..." He mumbles. He turned back to the bear cub. "C'mon, we gotta scoot, ah!"
He didn't respond, he wanted to continue fighting. He was not a coward, don't run away from danger. That was the rule. However, the Pancham took his arm and pulled him away from the two Behemoths while winds came.
"Grandpa! Grandpa Bird!"
A large shadow shot over, moving in a speeding blur of black.
"Ah!" The bear cub exclaimed and watched as those two powerful Dulled were destroyed in several strikes. His eyes wavered, this power... The figure, finally slowing down, was revealed to be an adult Corviknight, the coat dancing with the winds.
He stepped back from fear. That power, only the strong can live. Could he defeat this Corviknight? He wanted to live... The Corviknight looked over and approached the bear cub, his looming figure shadowing him...
"...Are you alright?"
What? Why was he so...nice? The weak dies, the strong lives...
"...I'm sorry I wasn't here on time..." The Corviknight gazed over at the mess of corpses. He didn't know them. He forgot them once they died. After they were forced from birth with...with those stones and...Wait, he felt them...They had the same energy.
"Grandpa Bird!" The Pancham shouts.
"I know, we have to bring survivors to a safe place... for those like us..."
"What are you?" The bear cub was still on guard.
The Corviknight looked over at the bear cub. "...The same as Pokémon like you." Same... "...I...I have to fight." He prepared a stance. "I must survive...Defeat these two...Then survive."
The Corviknight looked at the bear cub silently. He heard about this tribe who practiced using Dynacrystals as a sign of their birth. Children born to be fused by these Dynacrystals and only those who survived can stay and be part of this tribe for their settlement was small.
He breathed. "Do you want to live?"
A nod with fierce determination.
"You don't have to fight us. Follow us."
Follow? Wait, what? They won't fight to the death? He looked at these two powerful individuals. The Corviknight sighed. "You'd know how it'd end if I had accepted the challenge and held back even all of it." The bear cub looked. He couldn't win this battle. Just the display alone made it easy for him to know that made him dismiss his mace and looked at him.
"Wise choice. It'll be safe from where we will return to." The Corviknight nods.
"Wh-Where?"
"A huge building, ya'ow!" The Pancham answers.
Huge?
He looked at a building before him. "This is where you'll be raised until you become older." The Corviknight tells him.
"Raised..." He muttered before looking up while seeing a polar bear cub swinging on a grappling hook while a tadpole hopped to chase him.
"Guy!" The tadpole shouts. "Don't play like that!"
"Ahahaha~" The polar bear laughed. "This is fun, Swamp-amp!"
"Go down right now! You could fa-"
Guy pulled the rope and the hook released itself from where it was on and he fell down, landing on top the tadpole who was unlucky to be at the spot he landed. The Corviknight sighed loudly.
"Swamp-amp, are you okay~?" Guy asked. "Aren't you tad woozy off the pole~?"
The tadpole jolted at this and had Guy fall off his back. "I am not okay! You landed on me!" Swamp screamed.
"Who are you?" The bear cub asked as he analyzed these two newcomers.
"Huh?" The tadpole looked over. "New?"
"New~?" Guy looked and went to him. "Hello, I am Guy~"
"H-Huh?" The bear cub looked puzzled as to why this polar bear didn't challenge him. He was...this strength he held...
"I am... Swamp..." Swamp introduces.
"..." The bear cub remained silent at this Swamp fellow. He wasn't as strong as that Guy but... The Corviknight looked and studied the bear cub. "...They have said their names. What will you do next?"
"...I..." The bear cub remained silent before finally. "G-Garret...Blackforest."
"Blackforest~" Guy sang. "The cake, Garry?"
A blink came from Garret. "Garry?" He wondered, what was that name?
"Guy loves... to make nicknames for everyone..." Swamp speaks. "He even made one for Grandpa Bird..."
"Nice to meet you, Garry~" Guy greeted. Garret didn't know what to say. Just why were they letting weaklings among them? Wasn't it always the strong only lives? He didn't know why.
"Is something troubling you?" He hears the Corviknight suddenly ask.
"...Do you know the weak dies, but the-"
"The strong can live but if they have the strength, they should protect the weak." A voice came. "The weak can also protect the strong, the mind can do that. Remember that.
He looked at the side. A yellow-furred martial artist-like Pokémon came.
"Luso~" Guy greeted.
"Hello, Lusiane..." Swamps greets. That saying...Garret looked at Lusiane. She looker the same age as him yet, she sounded like... an adult. Like an air of maturity around her.
"I..." Garret muttered. "I...Strong...protect weak?"
A nod. "Seems that way." Lusiane answered. "We aren't always born strong. The reason for us to live even if we are weak is to become strong in turn, we protect the weak."
Garret stared. This all... felt so new to him... "Not...die..." Garret muttered.
"Yes. Protect the weak, they can be strong if they want to. We should always do this." Lusiane added. Garret looked quietly... protect the weak... so they will become strong...
"I never...thought of that..." Garret muttered. "Then...The food?"
"Are you hungry?" Swamp asks.
"Mmm..." Garret murmured while Gardious looked. Their culture of the strong lives...He looked over the files of how the children were treated there. He read how they were constantly cruelly trained, sent out to train at young ages... If they never returned, then they would be abandoned...
The natural order...This child was among them. He held the bear cub's head. "It's alright now... We will all take care of you... so that you'll become strong and protect the weak." He consoles.
Protect...He wonder if he could do that, not alone to protect himself.
"Ah!" Garret exclaimed as ran around to evade explosions of grenades around the area, jumped to the side to evade a shot from several meters away, and a slam of a hammer. A survival game. He looked at his wristband that stated his status. He could see the green text stating, "Alive" on it. Still not out of this game.
He looked around, seeing Gray preoccupied with that UFO. Their backs were turned.
"Come on, ah!" Gray yells at the UFO.
"I'm gonna get you!" The UFO shouts.
"Lost Void!"
Both were completely caught by surprise and turned, only to greet a ball of darkness that pulled them in before Garret went in and slammed them out, causing a large explosion while there were beeps as both Gray's and the UFO's suits turned red. Garret panted, the attack was still in a work-in-progress.
The two looked and groaned. "Two points for our team." Garret cheered while he evaded some shots in a rather clumsy manner. He looked to see a small chameleon aim, he couldn't evade it this time. Just as he fired, roots appeared and blocked it. The chameleon jumped to avoid a blast of frigid winds while a broadsword swiped it away. Garret looked at the small pinecone tree at a distance. "Thanks, Arubo!"
The small fauna nodded with a quiet mumble.
He looked, he needed to secure that flag then their team would win. He advanced toward that direction while spotting some who would try to stop him. He let out a yelp, he used his mace like a vault and looked below as rocks sprout out. He flipped around to evade it, he saw a rhino biting onto a hammer and readied to throw it. However, he spotted a cat throw cards at the rhino.
"Holy-!"
"Splash Drop!"
A burst of water splashed the rhino away, causing him to be eliminated to the game with a beep and turned red. Garret rolled and went onward, no need to stop to say his thanks, he need to be quick. He neared the flag as a monkey appeared to stop him. He swung his mace and blocked the punch. He gritted his teeth.
"Iggy, why do you have to appear at the wrong time!?"
"Isn't that the point of this game?" The monkey named Iggy asks.
"Argh, forgetting honor." He smirked. "I can't stop you, but he can!"
He let himself fall and threw Iggy fall on top of him before he called out. "Now, Luigi!" Iggy felt someone used his back like a spring board.
"Ah-!"
A small land shark jumped and took the flag. Iggy stared in silence before a horn sounded. "Game set." A starfish beside Gardious announced. "Team Sand Dune wins!"
Garret cheered along with his team.
There came Arubo, the cat, the landshark, and a rabbit. They cheered with their victory while Iggy sat. Garret reached out a hand out to him.
"That was a great game." He told him. "Thanks for teaching me the ropes on how to fight."
Iggy smiled. "No problem. We have to work as a team." He reached out and held his hand. Once he helped him up, Garret looked at his friends. New found friends, no those to kill but to live with. He liked it a lot...much more than his lost past...
If only this would last forever...
He looked at the branch of WINGS he would be moved to. 'Magic'... Not on the same branch as the rest. He was assigned to a different branch. That meant new members he'd have to get familiar with, old ones who he will be apart from...
He sighed, he wanted to not forget them. Strong protects the weak, he was weak and they were strong. He wanted to learn more of the strong. He may be strong yet they were weak. A cycle for their friendship. Weak, strong...Those were only the selfish perceptions of people. They are both, help each other to become strong.
He sees the room and enters the place to get acquainted with the new ones here...
"I'm sorry." a voice spoke softly. Garret looked over.
"...Commander." he spoke. "Will I really leave them?"
The large raven turned to look at him. "At times, you'll be in joint missions with them, and you can spend your free time to meet up with them."
He looked at one of the members. "You can talk to Veildert for one."
"Fran's here?" Garret inquired. "But...everyone? Luigi, Iggy, Lenna, Guy...?"
"...Are on separate branches from here. Each perform well on their fields." Gardious pauses for a while. "Kinshot has been relocated to the Recon Branch. He also excels at missions requiring sniping from a distance."
"I see..." Garret nodded. "Maybe, we can be together again soon. But for now, I'll be in this branch. Also..." He looked at his tiny hands. "...I will be able to evolve soon to Ursaring."
"Yes." Gardious nods. "Keep on honing your skills and you'll become one."
"Then...I will be going now...Gr...Commander."
A nod came from the adult raven.
"It's been years." Garret muttered as he looked at the picture of him and his friend. His hand was now larger and muscular. It wasn't just his hand. His body has changed too, looking at himself at the mirror. Years... The change is huge, his appearance and build... going through the training provided...
He was no longer a child but a young adult.
"Forgot how much time had passed." Garret muttered. "I never knew I would go beyond the 12 year old age when we were sent out. I wonder how everyone went." Gardious, the Professor, Zakh, Safka, Iron, and that team...They went to that dungeon and never came out yet.
"What happened there?" He wondered. He looked at the time of departure and the current time. It had been hours since then... No reports from their return yet. The other communicators didn't receive any calls from them yet.
He still remembers them... He still remembered them.. That meant...they were alive. He needed to hope they were still there. He looked at himself again. Was he too weak to save them? He could wait any longer. He had to help them. He made his way out of his room and ran toward the aircraft hanger.
"Sensei!?" He exclaimed, seeing the aged Golisopod trying to open a panel.
"How do you... why is this contraption..." he hears the Golisopod speak.
"Sensei!" He called out again. "Let me go to the mission in Nimbasa City in Unova."
The insectoid stops from his attempts and turns to meet Garret. "Hm? Are you certain?"
"I need to." He answered. "They're my friends."
The Sensei pondered for a while, studying him... then he nods. He pointed at one aircraft. One that was lit up for him to take. Garret looked back and nodded.
"Sensei...Thank you." He went in.
The Golisopod nods as he watches Garret operate the aircraft.
He rushed put into that building. The Battle Subway where they last went off to. He looked around to see some trainers around, the living legends of their tale. He looked at the entrance and called out.
"Iggy! Luigi! Fran! Lenna!"
...No response. He went deeper inside, ignored the other trainers around there, and the interior was the same as it should be... So far no damages... then... the subway lines?
He went down there, he was shocked about them not having any electrical currents around them. With this in mind, he went onward. He hoped they were alright. Come on, something, just to see their faces again.
The strong lives, the weak dies. The weak can be saved and become strong. There were no shortcuts. The price of power...
Garret's eyes widened when he saw Gardious and Pentaster unconscious and the group...
...meant sacrificing ourselves. The freedom we all had.
...all badly wounded, no worse for the wear... However, he looked at where their Dynacrystals were...
...H could see... marks... from where they were...
He reached for the comms. "We need the medical team, ASAP! I repeat, medical team!"
"Commander, what happened there!?" Garret screamed at Gardious, he choked while he spoke. "Why don't I feel their warmth!? They are no longer mortals. They're..."
"...We call them the term, I'Cie." Gardious speaks after a long silence.
"l'Cie!?" Garret exclaimed, that term...l'Cie...
"They have accepted the power to transcend mortal being. Granted strength beyond imagination alone..."
"But why do this!?" Garret urged with tears in his eyes. "This power...It made them lose their mortality and ascending stronger meant discarding their mortal life. They won't be able to feel joy, happiness, excitement, and things they loved! They won't be able to taste anything and feel accomplishments!"
"..." Gardious didn't say anything.
"And why...Why wasn't I strong enough to save them?" Garret fell to his knees. "...I want...I want the things to return to the way they were. Strong lives...Utter bullshit. Strong like throwing everything away. I...I won't let them forget what they loved!"
He rushed out of the office with tears falling down. Gardious just watched. He looked over something Garret dropped, a picture?
He walked over and picked it up.
They were...childhood pictures. The only thing the reminded him of them.
"...Blackforest." He looked back at the closed door.
"Come on, I made that hamburger for you." Garret exclaimed with some pride as Iggy stared at the burger he gave him. A freshly made one with enough nutrients and protein on them. Not a junk food it was mainly known but a more nutritious variant of this food. Balanced with much lettuce, tomato, onions, and cheese.
Iggy looked and he took a bite and chewed. "So...Do you like it? Always liking burgers and one good for training. It must ta-"
"It's tasteless..."
"...I...I see..." Garret sighed sadly. "...But it looks good...right?"
"It does." Iggy replied.
"Hey, where's the spunk you always had? Can't you be more hot-headed and cheerful like you always do?"
"What?"
"Um...Like doing things the Iggy way?"
"What do you mean? Haven't I been doing things well?"
"Nothing...I'll just head to where Scorch is." Garret stood up and left the table. His heart was breaking as he left the area.
"What do you mean you don't want to cook? You love to try even if they taste like sand!"
"Come on, pirates are cool!"
"Hey, fatso! ...Aren't you going to freeze me? I thought you hated that word!?"
"Seriously, no reaction of the grizzly airy pun?"
"Hey, shorty! ..."
"A nice bike, right? No time for that?"
"Aren't these ruins fun?"
A Dragonite looked at the world around him and at a watch that would tell him when this world would meet its end until another timeline was made. Just a few more days before the time of reckoning would come. He heard some loud crashes.
He turned to look at a Ursaring slamming his fists into a dummy. Well, what was left of it. Right now, he was punching the side of a mountain. He didn't care if his fists bleed, he wanted to vent them all out.
"They're gone." He wept as he tried to make himself face reality. "They're aren't your friends anymore...Just...Just some puppets that discarded everything to protect a weakling like you."
"..." The Dragonite looked quietly.
Blaming himself of his pain. He stared at those bloody fists and some staining the snow and land before him. This form of pain... it was one not so easily resolved.
He lost all of his friends. The l'Cie...They were his former friends. Even when he learned how to live, some essence of the Natural Selection he was taught remained.
He punched again. Blood fell more as well as tears. Why... Why did all of these happen? Was it because he was weak? But...He wanted to be strong...Strong for them.
"To hell with strength!" Garret screamed out in frustration.
The Dragonite could do nothing but watch. He knew he shouldn't let anyone see him yet. Not now, just when the time of reckoning had come was the time he could. He quietly turns to leave.
"..." Garret turned to some children in the orphanage. The same orphanage he was raised in along with the rest of them. He looked around it, far from the HQ. Away from the puppets that were his friends, who discarded the things they loved to become puppets. He wanted to take those away, make them return to the way they were. However, he couldn't do it. He was just a mortal, not one who could match them. He sat by the gates, ready to face anything that would harm the children inside because...because...He looked over around the children play. The same game he and the others used to play as children.
That peaceful joy will be erased in an instant... and he will do all he can to preserve it for them...
He raised his mace and checked the bandages on his hands. The blood around them was dry. He wonder how long he was stationed here. Told by the Commander to remain here, to protect the future. Children...
Children were weak, no experience in combat. Clumsy in using weapons and very innocent. They would be useless in combat but...They should be protected. They were weak, he was strong. He needed to protect them, that was always what he was told to do. Protect the weak, they would be strong to survive in the future. He should make sure that was accomplished.
He armed his mace and waited for the reason of his mission from the day it would come. Two more days.
"..." He looked over a gift the children gave him.
...He'll protect them. The source of his joy, pride, and hope. The children...They should be protected...
...Why was he here? Wasn't he supposed to be with...Um...Who was it again?
"l'Cie Gray? What are you doing here?" Garret demanded. "Weren't you stationed to a city near here?"
It was dark and red, the sun was covered in the sky. All around was death and destruction. Several Dulled roamed around, yet he didn't relent from protecting them.
"Yo, the place got spread more, I've gotta get down here, ah!" Gray shouts. That familiar accent...those tics he usually say. They were still there. What had happen? He-
...
...Who was that again?
"..." Gray fell silent.
"You were supposed to be with...Someone with a spear."
"...I...I can't remember..."
Not again. Not again!
Garret roared in rage and slammed his mace toward two Behemoths. He released a large tornado with a thrust and sent those two flying. He looked as bullets were fired, the winds acted as barriers and deflected them away from him. He didn't know he sent them away and hit parts of the orphanage. He was just too angry to care while he swung and sent icicle spikes out and impaled Dulled. He waved and caused the bodies to explode into dark mist with pincushion icicles.
Gray looked at how much he fought. It was impressing but the way he fought while being mortal, he would wear himself faster. He didn't care at all while he bashed the Ahriman's eyeball with his mace. He threw the corpse away as it burst into mist and used the essence he stole from it to turn everything around him into stone. He swung and smashed those statue Dulled into pieces.
He headed over, he needed to help Garret, before he drove himself into exhaustion which would definitely put him in a fatal situation...
Garret continued to fight, not knowing why. He didn't know the children were killed while he wiped away several Dulled. A few had entered the orphanage and killed them all. Yet he continued, he was angry. He wanted all of this to disappear.
Somewhere else, Swamp sat beside a wall while blood trailed down on it to where his body was. He couldn't move, his spine snapped and he couldn't feel his legs any longer. He looked at the Dulled surrounding him. There was no way out of this, however...
He defiantly looked back at them and revealed unpinned grenades around him. He let out a defiant smirk.
"I'm not letting you all get around... and take more lives." He announced to them.
The grenades set off, taking everything and himself with them.
"...!!!" Garret was paralyzed as he had forgotten someone else. His eyes quivered and he stood in silence. This was a fatal mistake.
"Garret!"
He looked back and...
Splat!
Garret's clothes were stained with red. He looked at Gray with utter silence. The red coming out of his body as he fell...
Garret rushed to him, not noticing that a Dragonite swoop down to finish off the rest of the Dulled.
"Agh... haah..." Gray groaned, the blood running out of him in accumulation. That wound was really bad... and... and...
...
...Was he... the only one left in his family?
"Gray, stay with me!" Garret begged.
Gray was breathing raggedly. He looked back at Garret. "...Come on... ya gotta... get to a safe place... I ain't... gonna be any good now..." It hurt to even make sentences.
"Not with you and..." He trailed off, he realized what he was supposed to do yet forgotten them because of despair. "Who were we protecting?"
"...I... dunno..."
"...Gray..." Garret muttered, the brave façade crumbled and reduced to a crying wreck. "You're my friend...I can't leave you...I hate it when everyone leaves me behind because of this damned curse! How can I be happy and move on if I keep forgetting those who passed? They're the reason I've changed and if I forget them, all I did to change would be all for nothing!"
"...Ya gotta, Garret... Ya hafta... live... We're... we need to save people like ya..." Gray wheezes.
"But...Am I not part of WINGS?" He muttered, hands shaking. "I used to be an enemy but...You all changed me."
"...Yah..." He coughed out weakly, the black beginning to be shut by white eyelids.
"Hey, don't sleep on me now! Don't you dare close those eyes!"
The eyelids dropped more and more... each breath becoming weaker... until no breath came.
"...G..." Garret muttered but stop. He froze in that position and tears began to fall on Gray's body. "I can't remember his name..." he wept on his chest. "I can't..."
He couldn't feel any warmth from it... Gone... more gone from his life... He remained in that position. Unable to do anything. Unable to remember many, many more...
"That building..." Who was that?
"..." Garret remained silent, his eyes dulled, and not showing any emotions with his face. He didn't know what to live for anymore. No memories to guide him.
He felt a pair of hands grab onto him, forcing him to be pulled away from Gray. It was that Dragonite.
"..." No response but Garret continued to murmur "All left." like a broken record. His body was then carried over to the orphanage... the roof destroyed... walls torn, but the building still stood...
Yet...He felt nothing.
He could see the interior, blood everywhere... the bodies of children lying around... He didn't know them. Why was he presented to this horror? He didn't know why. Yet, his heart ached too much.
Garret looked over some missions. He wondered what to take and if it was worth to making him stronger. He sighed a bit and walked a few meters then...
"Seriously Brandt, that's how you tried to confess to her?" A female voice exclaimed.
He looked to see Brandt, Pretzel, and Swamp in a group.
"W-what? I was-!" Brandt tried to defend himself.
Swamp crossed his arms and recollected what happened. While Pretzel took out something from her satchel. She presented a Mind Game plushie.
"You were all nervous and then you tried to pass a letter to her..." Swamp states.
"Maybe Mr. Aneurysm could help you next time." Pretzel inquired as she passed the plushie to Brandt.
"N-No!" The rhino shrieked.
"...But then..." Swamp looked over.
"..." Garret remained silent as he continued his way. Sent back at this time, why? Would there be any difference if he did? He looked over some files that Dragonite gave him and looked at the dates they joined.
They... Why did they feel different...?
...Something would be different this time but...Not now, that Dragonite told him not to act until he said so. For now, he should stay quiet. He looked at this body, the merging of this timeline's Garret and himself. The time in the orphanage...Some weren't there.
He had to be reminded... he forgot them before... He turned around, seeing a crowd of silhouettes. He reached out, wanting to return to them.
Garret's hand stops... They were gone.
"..." He remained silent and continued his path. There must be a change here so for now...He needed to try and fix this situation. For himself and...Those he held dear.
Side Story 2: The Natural Selection Concluded