Adamhuarts
Mew specialist
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Table of Contents
Prologue: The Fleeting Soul
Chapter 1: Marni
Chapter 1: Marni
Prologue: The Fleeting Soul
What did it mean to have a soul? Is it being alive? No, that couldn’t be it. Plants lived, but they clearly lacked souls. Was it then the ability to move? That couldn’t be it either. Many things moved, but among them were the inanimate. Was it then the ability to feel? Those questions swirled in the abyss of the creature’s consciousness, but the answers laid beyond its understanding.
The creature had begun as but a dark smoky clump. One could not hear any sounds from it, but its body wisped back and forth even in the absence of wind. However, its consciousness had manifested over time. It grew dark smoky tendrils, latching onto its environment in the comfort of a tree’s shadow.
Though the creature had acquired the ability to move, it still could not feel. Surely, one must feel to have a soul. Could one truly say it was alive? Something felt missing, but what?
Days went by since then, perhaps even decades. Unlike everything around the formless entity, time had no effect on it, and its vague curiosity never encouraged it out of the comfort of the tree’s shade it resided beneath. Things would’ve remained that way indefinitely, but then came a day when another creature paid it an unexpected visit.
Right at the edge of its abode was a young Rattata that came to forage for food, leaves crunching under its paws while it sniffed around the tree trunk for fallen seeds. The amorphous entity was quick to feel the alien presence, but it didn’t act immediately. It chose to remain still and listen.
A strange tune pulsed from the Rattata’s core. It lacked rhythm, almost like white noise that looped on end. What was the sound? Why was the Rattata making it? Though the rodent made a variety of other sounds like when it scurried around the dirt or when it squeaked, the core’s melody was distinct, if one could even describe its monotony as such.
The rodent frowned, rubbing dust and leaf bits off its whiskers. Its search for seeds had proven fruitless, so, it turned around to go search elsewhere. The entity sensed the Rattata leaving, and it trembled. It didn’t want that. It wanted to listen to its tune more. The rodent should not leave yet!
With a tendril, it reached for the Rattata. Alerted, the rodent squeaked. The frightened Rattata leapt and dashed away, but the entity managed to touch its shadow and was dragged along with it, much to both of their confusion.
The Rattata continued to shriek as it tried to shake off the unexplainable existence that was somehow following it wherever it went. It thrashed about, darting through narrow gaps, and even going through thick underbrushes, but it still couldn’t get it off its tail. It screeched between raspy breaths, unable to find a chance to stop to take a break, not with something that disturbing behind it!
Along the chase, the entity’s body sunk deeper into the rodent’s shadow until every last trace of it had gone below the surface. The Rattata hadn’t noticed at first, and relentlessly continued to zip across the forest floor. Soon it turned around. Its heart drummed in its chest as it looked back and forth, unable to find any traces of its pursuer. It heaved a relieved sigh that its life was no longer in danger. The sun was setting soon. The Rattata looked on ahead, and scurried off to find a place to rest for the night.
Time marched on while the entity lived undetected in the rodent’s shadow. Everything was like a murky swamp beneath the shadow’s surface, and from there it watched over the Rattata that had become its unwilling companion.
In the years it had remained hidden, it learned so many new things. The entity had learned that there could be multiple creatures of the same kind, as well as the fact that living beings needed energy to survive, acquiring their sustenance in various ways. It had also learned and witnessed how one life could lead to the creation of another. The only thing that had disappointed it was that all the creatures it had met so far had the same dull noise in their cores. They were empty, yet somehow full of life at the same time. That gave the entity enough satisfaction.
Time drifted by, and the once young Rattata came to evolve. As a Raticate, it led a group of Rattatas after overthrowing their previous leader in a bloody battle. Through their activities, the entity understood how the rodent species protected themselves against their predators. Indeed, there was strength in numbers.
More years passed still, and the tune in the Raticate’s core grew faint. It wasn’t the first time the entity had seen something like that happen. The melodies that came from other creatures always grew weaker over time, and eventually they all became silent. Still, the entity remained in its companion’s shadow. The time to leave had not yet come, and there was still more that could be learned.
However, the Raticate’s remaining time didn’t last for much longer. Just as it had in the past ousted another Raticate to gain control of the swarm, it too was eventually challenged by a younger and more vigorous Raticate. The entity listened in silence as always, while the younger Rattata formed a circle around the two duelists as their instincts instructed them.
In spite of the older Raticate’s greater survival experience, it stood no chance against the youthful Raticate. The battle ended in the blink of an eye. All the junior had to do was run up to its elder and bite down on its throat. The older Raticate flailed and scratched at the younger one, but it was futile. The entity listened as the old Raticate’s core played its final melody, and then silence.
In the joust’s aftermath, the swarm of Rattata left their former elder behind, following their new leader into the forest. The entity knew the cycle would one day begin anew. Survival of the fittest, that was how things were done in the wild. Still, the entity did not know what to think of the situation. Its companion had passed on and there wasn’t anything left to learn from them. The time had come for it to move on. For the first time in years, the entity decided to emerge from the Raticate’s shadow.
Just as time had changed the Raticate it accompanied, the entity too had undergone a transformation. It had come to resemble a dark gray blob with a short wispy horn on its head that swayed back and forth. The entity held up its new stubby arms, the sense of touch coursing through its skin for the first time. None of that quite surprised it as much as when it discovered it had manifested eyes as well.
The power to perceive its environment with more than just sound made it shudder, but it took only a bit of time for it to grow accustomed to it. It stood still for what felt like hours, its orange eyes glistening as it watched the sky. Soon sunset came and night loomed over it. Instinct drove the being to seek shelter.
Before it left, it glanced back at the Raticate’s carcass. The entity leaned towards it with lowered eyes, rubbing its hand over its rough, worn-down fur. The entity remained like that for a while, then reluctantly bid the Pokémon farewell. It got up and trotted deeper into the forest, wondering what awaited it there. There was still a lot out there it could learn in the world, and that alone motivated it.
***B***
Life went on for the entity, and its body continued to change over the years. No longer was it a stubby limbed blob; it had come to develop a bipedal figure with defined appendages. In addition to its previous wispy outgrowth, two more curled horns had emerged from its head, acting as ears to enhance its hearing. At first glance the entity looked like it donned a helmet, but its head had only come to look that way after it possessed the shadow of a Falinks some years ago.
In the present day, the entity was resting against the wall of its narrow cave, the whistling of wind being its only companion. A shaft of sunlight lit the cave entrance until it shone onto the entity’s face, spurring it awake. The entity covered its eyes and groaned. Having realized it was daybreak, it stood up to stretch and yawned.
At the entrance awaited the same scenery it saw every day. Mountain ranges stretched far and wide in the valleys, dyed in the lush green of vegetation. Those valleys acted as the entity’s cage, and never once did it think to leave it, or that anything awaited it beyond. Finding no reason to remain standing in place, it ran forward and leapt down, landing with a thud on the ground.
Its stomach growled, reminding the entity to seek nourishment. Of all the attributes it had manifested, hunger was its least favorite. It dashed off into the woods, weaving through the forest floor with ease as it’d mastered the terrain thoroughly. There were some plants that bore fruit not far away, but the entity knew it might have to compete with other creatures to get them. In any case, it would either get there first or have to eat the competition itself. That was usually how things went down.
After a while, the entity came across a river just below a waterfall. It could not see its reflection when it stood by the riverbank, and the water raged on and battered the rocks that dwelled within it. The entity decided to go downstream as there was a fallen tree that acted as a bridge to the other side there. Naturally, it had been the one who deliberately pummeled the tree until it fell there.
On the way, it felt someone’s presence. Its body came to a halt as it gazed at the creature. It was a purplish feline donning a crimson cloak, lying motionless on the ground. The entity raised its hand to its chin, wondering what had brought the Pokemon there, and whether it was still alive.
As it contemplated its course of action, its horns picked up the Pokemon’s melody. Upon hearing it, the entity froze and its eyes widened. In an instant, it rushed over to the unconscious feline. It could still hear the Pokemon’s faint heartbeats, confirming that it was still alive and breathing. There weren’t any serious injuries, but there were bruises all over its body as well as some swellings.
Up close, the entity could hear the song playing from the feline’s core. It was completely different from the melodies it had heard before. It lacked the monotony it had grown accustomed to hearing from the wild creatures. There was a somber yet uplifting rhythm to it. The entity felt a warmth building up in its chest. The song sounded strangely familiar. It could’ve stayed there just listening to the tune forever, but then it noticed that the melody was getting weaker.
Its eyes opened wide and it shook its head to regain its focus. Gently, the entity cradled the Pokemon into its arms. The nectar from some oran berries would likely suffice in healing the feline’s wounds. No one had instructed it, but it knew that the feline was a Pokemon it had to save.
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