Chapter 5

With a ferociousness unmatched, the Rattata pounced, widening its large teeth.

Ready to crush.

All Will could do was fall back in complete and utter shock.

The normal type narrowly missed a fatal blow and fell with him.

Even though both plummeted through the air, one landed on the forest green.

Will, on the other hand, witnessed the Rattata spiralling onto the floor from an upside-down position.

He wasted no time.

Just as it stopped rolling and scrambled onto its feet, a sharp pinch of pain halted its movements.

The Rattata saw a feather puncture its shoulder.

It saw another one too late.

As the second blade dug into the normal type's right eye, Will had his mind elsewhere.

'I almost died,' He thought, watching the Rattata go limp a few seconds later, 'but, two down,'

He flapped himself upright and brainstormed.

'They must still be in that bush,' Will glanced at the available escape routes for the pokémon, 'wait,'

He wondered if when he saw the Rattata running out of the bush, could the one that ambushed him have done that at the same time? If that's the case, Will never saw that one.

A sharp chill pricked his tense spine.

The tree was not safe.

In a motion of haste, Will jumped from the branch, spreading his wings. The scarred tree was his best bet. He could regroup.

As he thundered through the stillness of the air, Will's wings grew heavy.

Way too cumbersome.

As if he had a thorough workout, Will felt the soreness of a lifetime in not only every limb of his body but majorly in his wings.

With that, he stared in complete terror as he descended to the forest floor, reaching the roots of the tree.

His back against the chipped wood, Will readied himself.

Before him withheld the opportunity of attack.

Will looked up.

No way could he fly with these sore wings, which reminded Will with a resounding ache.

'Okay,' He needed to calm down, 'okay,'

As he placed his wings into positions where he could throw a feather, Will looked around once more. He leaned around the tree and eyed the bushes behind.

Distance.

Now, standing on weak talons, the only advantage Will had was his ranged feathers.

'Come on,' He breathed, waiting patiently, 'desperation leads to mistakes,'

Will heard a rustle of a bush and cocked his head at the noise.

Out of it, walked a Raticate.

His arms behind his back, the normal type made his way slowly out of the bush, the sheath on his side rattling. The necklace moved slightly, matching the Raticate's calm steps.

Another thing caught Will's attention.

Opposite the sheath, was a pouch. Its small, round body slapped against his side with each step.

Will watched silently as the Raticate lifted the sheathe off his body, clutching it in his grasp.

Will shook his head and finally acted.

His wing flushed through the air quickly, the surrounding grass shook as a feather flew.

Like a hunter waiting for the correct shot at prey, it was finally time for Will to end this. He needed to. There was no telling what this Raticate could do, but as he thought, the desperation must've forced the normal type out of his usual tactics.

In fact, he was a balloon waiting to pop.

Will watched as his feather reached its target.

He witnessed the Raticate deflecting it.

It must've been light work with how easily the normal type swatted it away, almost like a mosquito. No reaction. The Raticate only returned the gaze with equal fervour.

Another step.

Will's eyes widened, but he remained calm.

He did miss a few times before.

This was one of those times.

A feather pierced the air once more.

Raticate swung the sheath like a baseball bat, deflecting the second feather.

By now, panic slowly began to brew at the back of Will's head.

He threw another one.

Deflection.

This time, the Raticate only set the sheath down in line with the feather. It changed trajectory like how a tank shell ricochets off heavy armour.

For a moment, Will was stunned.

He blinked and only continued.

Raticate noticed his gaze lowered for a second, but he didn't pay mind to that.

There were only deflections to be made.

Will never let up, throwing projectile after projectile. The Raticate calmly shifted the sheath to the feathers, each one thumping away harmlessly.

Finally, with a big sigh, Will stopped.

Whatever this Raticate was doing with the sheath, he prevented any feather from slipping in and finishing him off.

As he shared his gaze, the Raticate glared at Will, towering over him.

Yet, the normal type didn't move.

Will, however, was not focused on that.

A single glance at the floor.

There was a long line of shadow.

His eyes brightened.

In a moment of pure instance, Will was gone. His surroundings moved in meshed waves. Unrecognisable.

Yet, as everything came back to normal, he quickly turned.

Will tumbled as he came face to face with the back of the large Raticate.

Another feather flew.

Will listened as it shanked into the back of the normal type's head.

Like the many feathers that have floated down from their respective trees, the Raticate fell with them, landing on his stomach with a thud.

Will held his breath as he saw the last Rattata.

The normal type was in the spot Will had dashed away from as if it jumped there.

Whatever the case, the Rattata ground its back against the hard wood as his gaze met with Will's, fear spawning in his eyes.

It stayed whimpering in place as he moved around the Raticate. Will needed a clean shot.

"N-NO!"

He heard the normal type as he screamed for his life, lowering himself onto the ground. The Rattata's eyes watered, tears dampening the area below.

"I have-"

A feather blade interrupted his wordy speech.

Fired into his neck, the Rattata clutched the wound, stumbling a small distance from the tree. He fell on his back, not moving again.

Will sighed.

A massive amount of relief washed over him as he looked around.

The forest was quiet.

Not even a speck of rustling in the trees. No blustery wind nudged Will's sore body. If Will focused hard enough, he was sure he could hear the slow stream of the river he had washed himself in.

He eyed the bodies.

Much like the forest at that very moment, they were still. Heck, could Will even believe these very pokémon were teeming with life? Now, they were only corpses. Shells of what once were.

Speaking of, Will was reminded of something.

If a tree were to fall when nobody was around, would that tree make noise?

This was the same.

If nobody else came across this scene, would they even know of what transpired here?

Will rolled his left shoulder.

He knew.

At that point in time, Will was the only one who knew of this battle. He knew the emotions, the high stakes, and the price of one slip-up.

Similarly, he saw the end of a battle.

It was like standing in a cemetery.

Sure, there were only bodies, but each body had their own speech, their own start and end. They had their own lives. All there was left was the eerie silence for those who may have heard about their lives, but will never know about how they lived.

In that waking moment, trapped in a bubble of silence and dread, Will saw a text.

From the system.

[Evolution available]

Still in a dazed state, Will opened the system.

[Stats:

Name: N/A

Gender: Male

Species: Rowlet

Moves: Astonish; Growl; Gust; Leafage; Peck: Razor Leaf; Shadow Sneak; Tackle

Abilities: Overgrowth (Unlocked)

Long Reach (Locked)

Scrappy (Locked)

Next Evolution: Dartrix (Available)

Would you like to evolve?

Y/N]

Still in awe of the carnage around him, Will took a moment within the silence.

'Kill. Or be killed.'

He turned to the text.

'Yes.'

[Evolution in progress]

'I...did this,'

As his body began to glow brightly, every single emotion, packed with hints of shock, realization and disgust, barreled into Will's psyche.

Of course, this is what he had to do.

However, one cannot take much if they're not used to it.

Eyes wide, Will looked at the ground, his sore wings across his face. The pure white of the evolution squinted his eyes, but Will kept his beak shut.

He watched as his vision ascended a bit. Seemed to be around double his previous height, maybe more.

As the brightness cracked away like a shattered mirror, Will felt different.

Apart from his height and the weird sensation that he felt with his eyes, as if he had them closed, but could still see fine, Will gained this sudden urge to fiddle with his wings.

Yet, nothing could stop the oncoming avalanche sweeping Will's mind.

In response, he leaned forward, trying to process it all. There was no more action to avoid such turmoil and panic.

'Urgh...'

Even with the newfound energy gained from the evolution, Will had no way to stop the third round.