His consciousness gradually cleared.
Sunny felt as though he had just woken from a dream—a dream so terrifying that merely recalling it sent chills down his spine.
In that hazy dream, he had seen himself turn into a Weedle. To survive, he had no choice but to gnaw on leaves like a common insect. To escape predators, he even had to bury himself deep within thick foliage.
What would happen to a Weedle separated from its colony?
It would spend its life hiding, living in constant fear.
Autumn passed into winter, and finally—when the first snowflake fell—he successfully evolved into Beedrill.
However, because the evolution had been rushed, he was far weaker than a normal Pokémon, and his lifespan became extremely short. In the end, he couldn't survive that harsh winter.
His body lay buried beneath the snow. Perhaps one winter morning, some creature searching for food would find him and turn his frozen body into a meal.
Even though he knew it was only a dream, it felt terrifyingly real—so real that it felt like he had actually lived through it.
Sunny slowly opened his eyes.
But all he saw was darkness.
"What time is it?"
Out of habit, he reached toward where his bedside lamp should have been.
But there was no lamp—only a smooth surface.
A faint sense of unease crept into Sunny's heart. His hand began feeling around his surroundings, and after a moment, he confirmed something unsettling:
He was inside something shaped like an ellipse.
Panic surged through him.
The anxiety was so overwhelming that he temporarily ignored the strange changes in his body.
Everything around him was silent. So silent that he could only feel his own existence.
Where was this?
Was he still dreaming?
He quickly forced himself to calm down and began recalling what had happened before everything went dark.
At the time, he had been sitting in front of his computer, working on a small game.
Then, for some unknown reason, the computer suddenly began smoking—followed by a large fire...
Sunny suddenly realized something.
He should have died then.
So where was he now?
Heaven? He didn't believe in that.
The underworld?
Just as his thoughts wandered, an unusual sensation from his body interrupted him.
"This is…"
He tried to move.
His entire body wriggled.
Sunny's unease deepened.
If he wasn't mistaken… he now had fourteen legs.
"That's impossible!"
He struggled violently.
Something sharp suddenly pierced upward from the top of his head.
Crack.
A beam of sunlight poured in instantly.
The darkness around him shattered, and the suffocating feeling of confinement vanished, replaced by the sensation of freedom.
After being in darkness for so long, he instinctively shut his eyes.
After a while, he slowly opened them again.
But what he saw left him confused all over again.
His vision had completely changed.
Everything appeared to be composed of hexagonal, pixel-like dots that filled his field of view. Tree shadows layered over one another, and every leaf looked as though it had been stitched together.
The sunlight was still dazzling.
But he himself… was completely different.
Several minutes passed.
Sunny finally accepted the reality of this dream that had somehow become real.
Just like in that dream—he had become a Weedle, a weak Bug-type Pokémon that had just hatched from an egg.
Having watched the anime before, Sunny naturally knew that Weedle, one of the most common Pokémon, was practically synonymous with weakness.
And now he had become one.
Still, no matter what, he was alive.
Even if he had turned into a bug, being alive was already a stroke of incredible luck—though it also came with a great deal of helplessness and frustration.
If only I had been reborn as a Larvesta…
Sunny couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
But he knew that was just wishful thinking. If he had actually become a Larvesta, he'd probably be facing an even bigger problem.
There was a very real chance his lifespan would end before he ever managed to evolve.
Being reborn as a Weedle was actually not bad.
At least he wasn't a Caterpie or Cutiefly.
Not the best—but definitely not the worst.
It took him a while to get used to his strange vision, which felt like looking through a cracked phone screen.
His Compound Eyes allowed him to perceive things around him quite clearly—but only at close range. Anything farther away appeared extremely blurry.
The scent of leaves drifted from nearby, causing his large red nose to twitch involuntarily.
He could immediately tell it was a type of leaf he would probably love. Having just been born and not eaten anything yet, he naturally couldn't resist.
Perhaps because of his experience gnawing on leaves in the dream, he discovered that the leaves in front of him—looking no different from apple tree leaves—tasted incredibly sweet.
As he chewed on the leaves, Sunny carefully observed his surroundings.
Being an insect gave him absolutely no sense of security—especially since he had just been born.
The rustling of leaves constantly echoed around him.
But hidden within those sounds… was danger.
Something was approaching.
The sound of flapping wings drew closer.
A chill ran down his spine.
Sunny immediately stopped chewing and cautiously hid behind a leaf. His seven pairs of legs gripped the leaf tightly to keep himself from falling, while his eyes remained locked on the movement in the distance.
The creature hadn't appeared yet, but the pressure it gave off was immense.
It felt like encountering a natural predator.
Yet despite all this…
His chewing didn't stop.
No matter what happened next, being full meant he would at least have the strength to think—and act.
What puzzled Sunny the most was this:
Why was he alone?
Weedle were supposed to live in groups.
Yet he hadn't seen a single other Weedle nearby.
If there were Beedrill around, he wouldn't be worried about this at all.
After all, Beedrill were known as the bandits of the forest—and that reputation wasn't undeserved.
Finally, the shadowy figure revealed itself.
"Poo~ ~ ~"
Sunny's heart clenched.
It was a Pidgey.
It resembled a sparrow, but it was far larger. Compared to Sunny—who had just hatched from an egg—it was gigantic.
The feathers on its belly and wingtips were cream-colored, while the rest of its body was brown.
Its beak and claws were purple, looking incredibly sharp.
Sunny had no doubt that it could easily tear his body in half—or punch a hole straight through his defenseless form.
After all, bird Pokémon are natural predators of Bug-types.
This was bad.
Very bad.
The Pidgey stopped flapping its wings and landed on a branch, tilting its head curiously.
It seemed to remember seeing a small bug here just a moment ago.
Where did it go?
"Poo~?"
Step by step, it walked along the branch, slowly approaching Sunny's hiding place.
Sunny's mind raced.
What should I do…?
What should I do?!