The Cubone didn't know why he was in this strange building. He had been in so many strange places that they were beginning to blur together in his memory. The human, the nice one, had come here, saying something about 'old amber.' Now the nice human in red was looking through openings in the wall. The Cubone thought that he was looking for something, but he wasn't sure.
The building was filled with other humans, most of them wearing white. Many carried hard, shiny things that reminded him of his club. His mother's…
Red looked back to make sure that Cubone was still following him. He was, and he was glancing around in confusion. The lab probably is just another strange place to him, Red thought. I've tried everything for him…
As the nice human in red looked through another opening in the wall, the Cubone considered what he knew about humans and buildings. Maybe if he thought things through, he would understand why the nice human was here.
The humans in white reminded him of a purple place. There had been humans in white there, too. Some of them had been mean, though. The Cubone remembered that the nice human had helped him defeat the Pokemon with the mean humans, telling him things like 'Bonemerang!' It had been stimulating and invigorating, but the feeling only lasted for a little bit. It wasn't something he really wanted to do again, and the nice human had seemed to realize that. From then on, the Cubone had watched as the nice human used other Pokemon to battle the mean humans.
He shook his head slightly, trying to move his thoughts back to the original goal. At that purple place, the Cubone mused, the humans in white had carried hard, shiny things, just like these humans here. What had that other place been? The purple place had been… a place where humans tried to figure things out? That's what it was. The humans tried to figure things out with the help of other Pokemon. The nice human must have come to another one of those figuring places. Maybe there were more mean humans here, but they didn't have the same feeling as the mean humans had. These were probably nice humans, the Cubone decided. There had been nice humans in white at the purple place, like that human who had cared for his hurts. Why was the nice human here, then? Could it be like the place with walls that weren't there?
The Cubone didn't want to fight anymore. He hoped the nice human wouldn't ask him to…
Another doorway, another bust. Red leaned against the doorframe and sighed. He risked a glance at Cubone. He was looking less confused now, but still seemed to be thinking things through.
Red shook his head and started forward again. After a couple of battles at Silph, he had realized that his little friend didn't like battling, so he used Pikachu and Charizard instead. Yet… something told Red that the little fellow was important. Red had learned to listen to that feeling. It had been a hard lesson to learn, but he hadn't been let down by it.
At the next doorway, Red glanced in. "Is this the fossil lab?"
A tall man in a lab coat that was far too short looked up. "Aye, it is. Are you Red? I've been expecting you."
The nice human had entered one of the openings, so the Cubone entered after him. The place was different than the rest of the building. It felt warm, safe. It felt… like home.
A tall human in white was talking to the nice human. The Cubone only knew a few human words, so he didn't understand most of what the tall human said.
"This is the fossil research lab! We're able to take old bones and fossils and bring them back to life. Did you bring Oak's amber?"
Life? The Cubone knew that word. What did the human in white mean? The nice human gave the human in white something that was an orange color. The human in white nodded and walked away, into another opening in the back. A feeling pulled the Cubone forward, and he followed the human in white.
The place beyond the second opening was dark, but a light was coming from a large, noisy thing. The human in white was poking something in front of a box. The orange thing was sitting on the noisy thing, light surrounding it.
"Well, hello." The Cubone looked around and saw the human in white smiling at him. "Do you want to watch?"
Watch… The Cubone didn't understand any of the other words, except for 'hello.' But he understood 'watch.' He went over to the human in white and watched as the human poked the something again. The noisy thing began making even more noise, and the orange thing started moving slightly.
"I'm using cellular rearrangement to bring the fossil inside that amber back," the human in white said. The Cubone didn't know what he was talking about, but as he watched the orange thing, it disappeared in the noisy thing. A loud, angry noise came from the noisy thing, making the Cubone start.
"No worries," the human in white said, patting the Cubone on the head as he walked to the noisy thing. "It's just an Aerodactyl." The human in white pulled a piece of the noisy thing off and reached inside. He took a winged Pokemon out of the noisy thing. The winged Pokemon was making the angry noise. "He was in the amber."
Where was the orange thing? When the human in white didn't bring the orange thing out, the Cubone began to understand. This winged Pokemon had come from the 'amber.' The human in white had said 'inside.' Did that mean that this thing was inside the orange thing? Could it…
The Cubone followed the human in white out of the second opening, thinking hard. The human in white handed the winged Pokemon to the nice human. Could the human in white bring anything back? After all, that thing was inside the orange thing…
The Cubone reached up and tugged on the human in white's hand.
Red was getting a Poke Ball out for the Aerodactyl when Cubone began tugging on the scientist's hand. He had smiled as Cubone had followed the scientist into the lab room, wondering what was going on in the little Pokemon's head. Now he was trying to get the scientist's attention.
"What? Oh!" The scientist knelt down in front of Cubone. "What is it?"
Cubone pointed to his head.
"Your head?" the human in white asked. The Cubone tapped the skull over his head. Could he get the human in white to understand?
The nice human was looking at the Cubone. "He wants you to take his skull mask."
"Is that it? Do you want to give me your helmet?" The Cubone nodded and took off the skull. He was happy that the nice human had said whatever he had said to help the human in white understand. Handing the skull to the human in white, the Cubone started walking toward the second opening, back to where the noisy thing was.
"Oh…" The nice human covered his mouth with his hand as the human in white stood up. "He wants…"
"I think I know what he wants, Red," the human in white said. "I'll try. It's not a certain thing. You have to know that."
"I understand."
The human in white walked back to the second opening. "Stay here," the human in white told the Cubone. The Cubone was confused. He had been in there the last time. What was different?
The nice human sat down next to the Cubone as the second opening was shut. The nice human put an arm around the Cubone, who was struck with a sudden wave of anxiety. He pulled close to the nice human, who patted him on the back.
"Red?"
The Cubone looked up at where the second opening had been. It was there again, and the human in white was standing in the opening. The nice human stood.
"Well?"
There was a noise from the place beyond the second opening, and the Cubone hesitantly went to the second opening and looked in. He felt his eyes grow wet from something as he ran to his mother, who hugged him close to her.
Red smiled. "Thank you."