Chapter 17: Epilogue to the First Life
Will was completely unaware of what happened afterward.
Just as Liz believed she too was about to die, she discovered that the first to arrive were not the enemy Silph tribesmen, but members of her own Dragonite Tribe.
"Princess! Get away from that primal beast!"
"Please, step back!"
"These damned people, setting fire to the forest! How despicable and shameless!"
"Get them!"
The warriors of the Dragonite Tribe gave chase to the Silph tribesmen without a second thought. Liz merely glanced up once before her gaze returned to the lifeless body of the Beedrill.
Later, the members of the Silph Tribe fled in disarray, and the flames in the forest were extinguished by the Pokémon. Liz had the Beedrill's body brought back to the tribe and given a proper burial.
A week later, Liz left the Dragonite Tribe once again. This time, about thirty people followed her. Their objective was clear: to venture into Mt. Silver and find the Beedrill swarm that Will had built.
It had taken Liz a full week to persuade her father to trust her, to trust "Goldie." No matter what, she could not fail on this mission. She would bring the power of the Beedrill back to the Dragonite Tribe. And then... she would unify the entire region.
In the forest.
"Princess, please be careful. There are many primal beasts around here."
"It's fine. I've seen most of these beasts before. They shouldn't dare to touch me."
Liz was quite confident about this. "Goldie" had been famous in this area; many Pokémon would hide the moment they saw him. Although she had only spent a short time with the Beedrill swarm, many of the local Pokémon already knew about the strange new member in their ranks.
Liz led her clansmen all the way to the grove of trees where she had first lived with the swarm. However, she saw no sign of any Beedrill or Weedle. She even climbed a tree and scanned the surroundings, but still saw nothing.
"They..."
Just as Liz was feeling lost, her gaze flashed towards the deeper part of the forest. She remembered that on the day "Goldie" had carried her away, the other Beedrill had flown deeper into the woods.
"We need to go deeper into the forest."
"We can't, Princess! We were already incredibly lucky to have made it this far unscathed. If we go deeper into the forest, we'll have no chance of coming out alive!" one of the guards quickly stepped forward to stop her.
The deeper parts of the forest had always been a forbidden zone for humans. Only the strongest warriors, those with special powers, were qualified to explore there. With only thirty of them, they would likely be annihilated before they even found the beasts they were looking for. It was no different from seeking death.
"True, with so many people, we're too big a target. In that case, you all head back first. I'll go by myself."
"..." x30
The members of the Dragonite Tribe fell silent. The laws of survival and the social structure of this era were harsh and unforgiving. If they, the guards, abandoned their princess and returned to the tribe alone, it would be a death sentence.
They had no choice. Since going back was also death, they could only risk their lives to accompany their lord. If... if Liz truly did manage to ally with some primal beasts to fight for the Dragonite Tribe, then the other princes and princesses would no longer have any hope of claiming the chieftain's seat. At that time, they who had accompanied Liz into the forest would be hailed as founding heroes, the elder statesmen of a new court.
With this mindset, the group pressed on into the deeper regions of Mt. Silver.
A month passed in the blink of an eye.
Five or six humans, looking as disheveled as primitive cavemen, emerged from the forest. At their head was a small, pale-faced girl. Behind her, in addition to the five other humans, was a swarm of primal beasts: 15 Beedrill and 34 Weedle. Leading them was a new Alpha Beedrill, about 3.5 meters tall with exceptionally brilliant coloring. It was the new leader of the Beedrill swarm, Wally.
Besides these Pokémon, more than twenty Kakuna remained in the forest, not yet brought out. They would organize another expedition later to transport them.
When Liz returned to the Dragonite Tribe with so many primal beasts, everyone was electrified. They gradually came to accept Liz's claim: Primal beasts can be commanded. They can become our powerful fighting force!
Time flowed like water.
Ten years passed since Liz returned to the Dragonite Tribe with the Beedrill. In those ten years, with the power of the Beedrill clan, the Dragonite Tribe grew stronger and stronger. One by one, the small surrounding tribes were devoured and merged. The Dragonite Tribe became the largest in the entire Johto region, with a population of over fifty thousand.
In the year Liz turned eighteen, she rightfully became the new chieftain of the Dragonite Tribe. By this time, there were already over five hundred "Beast-Callers" in the tribe—people who could command the primal beasts. They followed the methods Liz taught them: befriending weak beasts with food, then bringing them back to the tribe to be raised and strengthened. Alternatively, they would steal the eggs of primal beasts, bring them back to hatch, and cultivate a bond from the very beginning.
This method became more and more refined. In the future, Beast-Callers would inevitably appear on a massive scale. It might even be possible for everyone to become one.
After becoming the new chieftain, Liz further began to utilize the various powers of the primal beasts. These were all lessons she had learned from "Goldie." For example, using flying beasts to transport goods, or having some beasts assist in farming and mining... but of course, the main use was to commit the power of the beasts to warfare.
Another ten years passed.
The old Dragonite Tribe was gone. Individual tribes had almost completely disappeared from the Johto region. There was now only one newly established nation, which called itself the Dragonite Kingdom. The ruler of this nation was the twenty-eight-year-old Queen Liz.
At this point, the first half of the Era of Primal Beasts, the "Tribal Period," came to a close, and the second half, the "Kingdom Period," began. The struggle for resources between humans and beasts was no longer the main conflict. Ordinary primal beasts could no longer threaten the powerful Dragonite Kingdom. The main conflict now was the struggle for resources and the conquest of land between humans.
In the region on the other side of Mt. Silver, a nation called the Kingdom of the Land had risen to power, mimicking the Dragonite Kingdom's methods of harnessing the power of beasts. Because the massive Mt. Silver stood between them, the Dragonite Kingdom had always known very little about the happenings in the other region, and they were unwilling to risk crossing the dangerous mountain.
But now, things were different. In a mountain range adjacent to Mt. Silver, a great road had appeared, connecting the Kanto and Johto regions. The road looked as if it had been plowed out by some colossal beast. But the details didn't matter. What mattered was that from the moment this road appeared, the Dragonite Kingdom and the Kingdom of the Land, who had never interfered with each other, could no longer remain at peace.
Facing the impending war between the two nations, Liz, her heart heavy with worry, decided to visit Mt. Silver with Wally and Milly. She wanted to see the place where "Goldie" was born.