In the Pokemon world, there's a small town with a small museum near a popular fossil-hunting destination.
The fossil-rich area often has partial fossils, but every now and then a whole or nearly-whole one is discovered. Some people are content with their prizes as they are, a piece of the past found caked with the dirt of the present.
Others prefer to take their complete fossils to the museum and have them restored into living, breathing Pokemon.
Most museums use technology to do so, complicated machines that work their science to bring the ancient into modern day.
However, at this particular museum, things work a little differently.
The proud Trainer, covered in dirt and mud, with rock fragments still stuck in the folds of their clothes brings their round fossil into the museum, nearly running past the exhibits as they make their way to the desk in the back.
They grin and plunk down their fossil, sweating from their efforts, but not seeming to notice one bit.
The desk attendant smiles back, "Hey! Looks like you've got a good one, want us to restore it for you?" They carefully pick it up and inspect it, "You've got a nice specimen here, it's a Dome Fossil, which'll turn into a Kabuto."
The Trainer's eyes widen and then nod eagerly, "Yeah! Kabutops always looked so cool, now I can have one of my very own!"
The attendant smiles, "I'm sure it'll be glad to meet you. Let me take it into the restoration room and I'll be right back with your brand new Kabuto."
The Trainer nods, "Sure! I can't wait!"
The attendant returns their nod and heads into the room behind them.
The first room is a standard museum back room, full of tables and counters with fossils covering every surface. This isn't the attendant's destination, however, they keep on towards the door in the very back.
The room behind the door is very different from the cold room you have to pass through to get to, instead, it's a natural Pokemon habitat, there's grass and trees, bushes and flowers, and even a small lake. There's a few Pokemon that rest here, some having been restored from fossils, others were local Pokemon that had won the hearts of the museum workers.
As the attendant enters the habitat, they call out, "Hello! I've got a new fossil here that their finder wants woken up."
A musical giggle fills the air and a Celebi flies over and cheerfully greets the attendant, "Hello! Hello!" Then, they place their hands on the fossil, "Friend! Please wake up!" Celebi's hands and the fossil glows as they send it back through time, before it became fossilized.
The process takes a few short moments, layers of rock give way to the organic life hidden beneath. When it's finished, there's a healthy looking Kabuto resting in the attendant's arms.
Celebi beams and pets the Kabuto's shell, "Welcome, friend!"
The attendant smiles and gives Celebi a pet of their own, "Good job!" After that, they pull out one of Celebi's favorite PokePuffs from their pocket and hand it to them.
Celebi gives the attendant a happy noise, then settles down to eat their treat.
The attendant waves goodbye and takes the Kabuto back out to their finder, "Here you go, one Kabuto!"
The Trainer eagerly takes the Kabuto and hugs it tight, "Thank you! I'll take good care of it, I promise!"
The attendant smiles, "I know you will. We can't register Pokemon names here, you'll have to go to an official naming service for that. You're done here and you're always welcome to bring by any fossils you find."
The Trainer smiles, "Thanks, I will!" They give the attendant a wave as they leave the museum with their new friend in hand.
The attendant was Celebi's closest human friend, but they had warmed up to the rest of the museum staff very quickly.
Their first meeting had been in a nearby forest, Celebi had been lost and hurt and the attendant had rushed them to a Pokemon Center. After that, they had been nearly inseparable.
Celebi had followed them to their job at the museum, it was easy for Celebi to stay out of the way and hide if someone got close to spotting them.
The attendant couldn't always keep a close eye on Celebi and the curious Pokemon had caused a little bit of trouble when it had discovered that it could bring Pokemon fossils back to life.
It had taken a lot of explaining to the museum's curator as to why their extensive and prized fossil collection was currently running around the museum.
Fortunately, it didn't take long to calm down the confused ancient Pokemon and they were quickly put into Pokeballs until they arrived at another solution.
After that, two new areas of the museum had been built, one open to the public, the other not. A large room was added on, simulating what the past would have looked like. With Celebi's help, authentic ancient plants were brought forward into the present. A new, interactive exhibit was born, a safe place where the previously fossilized Pokemon could live and where humans could interact with them under the watchful eyes of museum guards.
The second room was Celebi's, they worked with them to make it how they liked it and brought in Pokemon that needed homes, but didn't really fit with the museum's themes. Sometimes some of the fossil Pokemon stayed in there if they were having a stressful day, it was a nice place for them to relax.
The new exhibit was a hit and the ability to restore Pokemon from fossils helped boost the popularity even further. The town had been known for the fossil excavation site nearby, but now the museum was known for awakening those fossils and bringing the past to life.