PokeWild

David didn’t know what the Caterpie was planning on doing when it reached the treeline, but he’d rather not find out. Not after this kind of luck just fell into his lap.

“Pidgey! Cannon between the Caterpie and the trees! Stop it from getting away.”

Pidgey let out a delighted caw and leapt into the air. She swung her wings down - once to keep her aloft, then again to send lavender spirals twirling through the air. In her eagerness she failed to stabilise herself against the swings. Her caws turned to worried shrills as she tumbled backwards.

David flinched and followed the spiral’s path. Had Pidgey’s attack gone awry? If it hit the small, weak Bug type, the super effective energy could prove fatal. If her attack went wide and hit a tree, it could cut it down and provide a fast escape route for the Caterpie.

The glowing lines in the sky were hard to predict. The invisible pen stroke that drew them looped, floated and jerked without any sense of rhythm, following a path that no human eyes could see. Added to the difficulty was the number of lines that intersected, crossed over and ducked behind another. David's eyes widened as the spirals drew close to the desperate, squirming Caterpie.

The Caterpie warbled just as the lines were about to strike. It arched up, rising off the ground until only a thin slither of its tail was touching the ground. As the first lavender twist struck its carapace, the Caterpie fell forward, letting the momentum from the strike knock it off to the side and away from further swirls of energy.

David sighed in relief. He turned to Pidgey and couldn’t help but laugh. She was back on the ground and now upright, but he could tell by her askew feathers that her landing had been the opposite of graceful.

“Pidgey, get behind Caterpie and the trees.” As David spoke he started to slip his backpack in front of him.

Pidgey took to the air and David focused on the knot tying his backpack closed. He trusted her to complete the task by herself. Occasional over eager fumble aside, she was becoming incredibly capable. Something about battling always got her excited, reason falling aside and the normally aloof bird finally acted as young as she was.

“Hmm.” David blinked. Was it something to do with battling as a Pokemon rather than her personality? He already had evidence that the act itself created some change in Pokemon. The evidence was clear from the ease that they used Moves and controlled Type Energy. Could it be a biological overdrive like Adrenaline but-

Focus.

The knot came undone and David pushed a Potion aside to reveal the red and white metal ball. A pokeball to be precise.

He’d had a lot of time to think about the pokeball since seeing one for sale for the first time in the Celadon Pokemart over two weeks ago. He’d had more time to think about what to catch since arriving in this world. It wasn’t an easy choice. It wasn’t an obvious decision. There were many incredible Pokemon in his memories. There was so much he couldn’t recall. More so than anything, every Pokemon was a living breathing creature. They each had different needs - food, grooming and training. All of them had personalities.

They were more than a few lines of code, a series of statistics or a chess piece to slot into a strategy.

And yet, here he was trying to catch a Pokemon that would suit his needs. Caterpie, a Bug type, wasn't a terribly interesting Pokemon. It was weak, and.. and as a Caterpie trainer once said, difficult to battle with. That wasn’t to say that it was a useless Pokemon. David couldn’t say that after seeing Fuzzy face down an Ekans and come out the victor, but that battle had been telling about the species of Pokemon. A Caterpie’s strength was in its potential. It’s future growth. Caterpie was only a larva, waiting to grow into a Metapod and then a Butterfree. More so than any Pokemon he could remember, Caterpie was only a short step on the way to evolution. And once a Caterpie evolved into a Metapod there was only a short period of time before it would be ready to become a Butterfree. ‘Beleaf in them’ listed the Butterfree and Beedrill lines as the fastest evolving Pokemon in Kanto.

A Caterpie was weak, but David could do a lot with a Butterfree.

The Bug-Flying type was perfect for his situation. It had the powerful ability to poison or put other Pokemon to sleep - something he’d been on the wrong side of before. It was a quick growing Pokemon that would bring strength to the team quickly. More so than anything, it had the right type combination. Flying type to stick to the type he’d apparently slotted himself into by choosing Pidgey. Bug type for his inevitable confrontation with Psychics. He couldn’t run forever. They would catch up eventually and he was going to be ready.

Bug was super effective against Psychic. There weren't many other choices in Kanto. David had said it himself when he first arrived in Celadon. Joe, the farmer who’d shown him the way to the Pokecenter had found himself in the same situation as David was in now. To fight a Psychic type, your options were Ghost, Dark or Bug. And David knew only one Pokemon of those types that was also Flying.

His hand closed around the metal ball and he stood up, leaving the backpack behind. Caterpie may be a weak Pokemon, but in this world it was Pokemon that stood at the top of the food chain not humans. A Bug Bite would tear through skin far quicker than it would scales. He couldn’t be weighed down.

“Pi-idgey!”

Pidgey had succeeded in getting between the Caterpie and the woods. She hopped back and forth, facing down the Caterpie and letting out the occasional happy chirp.

The Caterpie was less excited. It wiggled in place, lifting its tail up and trying to lock onto Pidgey. Occasionally it would shift forward, trying to push Pidgey back. Lime would gather around its mouth as threatening vibrations filled the air.

“Prepare Pidgey. Get ready for a Tackle.”

Pidgey perked up at his voice.

The Caterpie stilled. It shifted to the side, turning slightly so it could keep track of both of them with its beady eyes. The Pokemon didn’t have to turn far to do so. Its eyes were on the sides of its head, reducing its forward vision but allowing a wider field of view. Its tail remained locked on Pidgey, but at the sight of David, the vibrations intensified.

“Woah there,” David said slowly. He wasn’t quite sure how to do this, but it couldn’t hurt to try a diplomatic approach. “I just want a friendly battle and to talk.” He held the pokeball up before him. “Have you seen one of these before? It’s a pokeball. We-Humans use them to carry Pokemon around. We train them, make them stronger - like Pidgey- I mean Cloudburst over-”

David indicated to Pidgey. Both Pokemon acted.

Beige shimmers appeared around Pidgey.

Caterpie decided who the larger danger was. Its tail slammed down, flinging its body up in the air as it orientated at Pidgey. It spat strands of white cords at her, aiming to buy time for its escape.

Pidgey flapped her wings and took chase. Her tackle popped as the first strands struck her, blocking some of the debilitating silk but not all.

In the air, the Caterpie was nothing but a target. Even slowed, Pidgey had no trouble adjusting her course with precise movements until she was right next to the other Pokemon. She tipped her head back and jerked it forward, slamming her beak into the Caterpie with a crack.

Caterpie fell to the ground, thick green lines snaking across its cracked carapace.

David stepped back. “Okay, battle first. Sure. That’s how it works. We’ll show you how far you could go.”

This was going to feel like picking on the smallest kid in the playground, but maybe it was for some kind of animal pecking order. The games hadn’t been wrong about everything. A battle could be the first step in some kind of ritual.

The Caterpie wiggled, righting itself. Its eyes tracked Pidgey as she glided down to the ground before it..

“Peck again,” David ordered. One more should do it.

Buzzing filled the air as the Caterpie’s mouth glowed lime.

Pidgey dived forward.

Lime met feather and stiffened. Feathers fell to the floor.

Beak came down on cracked carapace. Carapace shattered.

The Caterpie warbled in pain as Pidgey struck its unprotected body. Once more it fell to the ground.

Pidgey began to hop around the other Pokemon as it fought to push itself upright.

“Alright, that’s enough.” David stepped forward. “What do you think Caterp-”

Pidgey struck, diving forward once again. Caterpie couldn’t move in time. Beak met unprotected flesh and pulled. She tilted her head back and swallowed.

“Piiiiiidgey!”

“Pidgey!” David shouted, eyes wide. “What the hell!”

Pidgey looked towards him and blinked. She ducked down again, ignoring the weak warbling and stabbed forward. With a twist she tossed her head at David.

A green chunk fell at David’s feet. It rolled to a stop, pale cream shell still visible. A small, label-like fin twitched at the end of the.. the tail.

“Oh fuck.”

Pidgey chirped again.

David held his stomach and turned. He walked back to his backpack and sat down. Numbly he placed the pokeball back inside. Pidgey made happy chirps behind him.

That had not gone as expected.

Once the tent was made, David picked Pidgey up and sat her down in front of him.

Pidgey blinked at him and let out a low squawk.

“We need to talk about this,” David said and placed the empty pokeball between them.

Pidgey leaned forward, staring at the polished metal. After a few seconds, she leant further dipping down to.. She lightly headbutted the pokeball.

The metal ball rolled to the side.

Pidgey straightened and resettled her wings. She looked at David again, dismissing the pokeball.

David sighed. He picked the pokeball up again and placed it down between them again. “No, we need to talk about Caterpie.”

Pidgey perked up a little, twisting to stare at the trees above.

David reached forward and gently pushed Pidgey’s head back to him. He placed another pokeball down beside the new one. It was funny to see the contrast between them. Pidgey’s wasn’t in bad condition, but next to the new one it looked worn. The metal wasn’t as polished, there was the occasional fleck of dirt. Straight line had been cut into the paint from the cage Team Rocket had put around it.

Pidgey stared at the two pokeballs again, eyes lingering on her own. Once again, she stretched forward and batted the new Pokeball again. Once again she straightened up after and looked at David quizzically.

David frowned at her. He placed a hand on her pokeball.

“Cloudburst. Pidgey.”

Pidgey chirped.

David moved his hand to the new pokeball.

“Caterpie.”

He moved his hand back.

“Cloudburst, Pidgey.”

And back again.

“Caterpie.”

This time something seemed to click. Pidgey let out a caw and hopped up. She shuffled up to David and bumped into him.

“Pidgey..”

Before he could say anything more. Pidgey hopped away.

“Pidgey! I wasn’t-”

She hopped back, pulled his backpack slowly towards him with her beak. It was quite comical to watch the small Pokemon pull something three times her size.

Hop by hop she got closer until she gave up. She dug her head into the bag and pulled a sachet out.

David groaned. “Not yet Pidgey. I’ll make it soon.”

“Gey!” Pidgey called. She ducked down and poked at the sachet. Her head popped up and she stared at David to make sure he was watching. Once again she poked at the sachet.

“Cloudburst, what does this have to do with Caterpie?”

Pidgey hopped back over to him. She settled down where he had placed her and nudged the pokeball. She pushed it out of the way again and stood up. A few more hops put her in front of his backpack. She pulled at the fabric then moved down to the sachet.

“Pidgey!” With that she jumped up and glided away to the tent.

David rubbed his face in his hands. He wasn’t entirely sure if he got that. She could be hungry, or she was trying to say he should use his backpack not the pokeball.

Or both. Maybe his Pokemon had understood and was trying to tell him he should carry Caterpie in his backpack with the rest of the food.

David groaned and dipped forward until his head was against the ground. He had expected there to be some issues with catching a Pokemon, but nothing like this.