Chapter Three: Seedling

It was a strange feeling to find one's horns missing, and that made me panic for just a few moments—but I then realised that I had my newfound wings in place of these horns.

That made me feel as rejuvenated as a Butterfree emerging from the dormant, cocoon-like stage of a Metapod, and I remembered with a relieved smile that I had evolved just a day before.

It had taken all of three years for me to reach such a level of power—and even though my glow still paled in comparison to my partner's fiery passion, I knew that he would be more than willing to let me leech of his fortitude akin to that of commensalism.

Putting these thoughts aside, I made my way out of the barracks, feeling more than a little proud as I felt my newfound appendages support me as I moved around. These wings were hard-earned, and they were a symbol of my resolve for a better future—I was determined to keep them as pristine as they were now.

I spotted my friend at a table, his orange hair standing out against the sea of white uniforms like a sore thumb as he shovelled down a meal, vigour and energy clear amongst his older allies.

"Volcarona!" Though it had only been a day since the fateful event had happened, the name rolled off Alder's tongue as if he had long been accustomed to saying the word. "I'm so glad you're here. Father says we're getting our first mission today."

Not being able to convey my excitement in words—not excitement at the prospect on going on such a precarious assignment, but rather at being able to help the world for once—I simply nodded, knowing that such a tiny action was unable to compensate for my feelings.

He wolfed down the rest of his breakfast at an incredible speed and stood up to join me, the smile on his face wide and almost knitting his eyebrows together. He was now shorter than me, his fifteen-year-old frame just slightly smaller than mine, but he had always been the leader out of the two of us.

"Are you ready to go?" he asked, and all I could do was nod once again.

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One thing that I noticed straight away was how familiar the area we were in seemed to be. The scent in the air was heavy and thick with the scent of Rawst Berries; and as I brushed against the leaves of a tree, I felt as if I had come across these textures sometime before.

I didn't know what to expect from my first mission, but the air between me and my fellow Pokemon was tense, none of them willing to make conversation as we carried forward.

The use of mounts was out of the question. Not only were our native Zebstrika dangerous to ride, we were living in times were the sun was gone; where the rain and lightning prevailed—a stroke of bad luck could lead to unnecessary deaths for the most silly of reasons.

I tried making conversation with the Volcarona next to me, asking about just why none of us had volunteered to step forward to be the next sun—but the creature was anxious and irritable from years of harsh conditions and fights, and his response was terse.

"Don't you see?" he snapped. "Sacrificing yourself for such a reason is akin to writing your suicide note. Though we may work with them, none of us would do that for the sake of humanity. Besides, it's not as simple as you think. One needs to be radiant enough to replace the sun wholly, and that's a feat no one bothers to achieve anyway."

Sensing the mood, I fell silent afterwards—I understood. We were born into a time where everyone was desperate for survival; into a time of conflict and selfishness. Even those who were kind weren't good enough to step forward.

Instead, I settled for listening to Alder's whispered rambles, his words mindless and cross as he muttered unhappy rants to me.

"I don't believe that this has to do with any of these cults," he hissed, face scrunched up into a grim expression. "I mean, no one should be powerful enough to destroy the sun. That's impossible—I think this is all because of how slow science is developing. There has to be a more logical way."

Whatever reason that was behind the mysterious disappearance of our sun and the thick grey haze that shrouded our world, I knew that this was an age where myths and rumours often ruled. It wasn't often that science was able to decide a problem.

I was met with a sudden silence—and wondering what had caused him to stop speaking, I turned up to my master, watching as his mouth shut as his leader spoke.

"The cult is coming," the taller man called from his position at the front of the pack. "Don't try to kill them—we need to bring them back for questioning, so just subdue and capture them."

Nodding in unison, the soldiers shuffled into position as the sound of footsteps countered our near-silent movements. We didn't bother with ambushes; there were insufficient places to hide, after all, and I muttered a silent prayer to Arceus to aid us.

I could understand why our opponents were thought of as suspicious. With their strange, twisted sayings, clothing far unsuited to our times and army of equally deranged Pokemon, our government had all right to think of them as evil.

The battle passed by in a blur. I didn't recall every little detail of it, but there was a mess of moves and frequent clashes of our orange-stained wings against their Dark-types' blacks. Crimson shades had wound its way into the fight in a matter of seconds, making me sick to the throat—however, I had to keep going.

Focus on the battle, I whispered to myself, and tried to follow every command that Alder issued. I was loyal to my trainer, of course, and I tried to be faithful to his every word, but his orders would get drowned out every so often, and I would have no choice but to apologise.

Of course, I wold offer a mental apology in return every time, but the battle swiftly turned in our favour as our repeated Flamethrowers and Bug Buzzes knocked out several of our enemies. I winced every time I got struck by a stray attack, but it was not the time to be weak—I had worked so hard to change, and now was the time that it was paying off.

I could see part of our group breaking off to lead the defeated foes away, binding their wrists together with coarse rope and giving us signals that we were in the lead.

It was the most confident I felt in my life, the most free and light my body had ever felt—and I fired successive moves with few breaks, watching as creature after creature tried to fight back and fell. We were almost done—we'd gotten past most of their defences when—

—An accidental tilt of my head made me spot a figure several feet off from where I was, one that I had been too caught up to see earlier.

It was a Volcarona, but something didn't feel right. Was it one of ours? No, that couldn't be true; none of our soldiers had fell. Then—

A sick gurgle rose in my stomach as I realised that I'd gone full circle. I wasn't just nauseous from the bloodied sight of the creature's corpse; its cold, lifeless eyes and its torn wings—I knew where I was now. What had three years done to me?

Of course. I was back home. I was back home, and the hollow cyan that bore into my soul belonged to my mother.

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i regret nothing

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