Chapter 20: Bike Ride
Instead of challenging the gym right away, I decide to bring the fossil Tia gave me back to Nacrene City and have Lenora look at it. I leave Tia in Nimbasa City, and ride my bike down the road to Route 4. I keep my girls in their Pokéballs, but Pardin and Dissa insist on holding on to me. Pardin rides in my hood and Dissa holds on to my backpack. We have a pleasant ride, the wind flowing past us and a clear sky showing no promise of a change in weather. I walk my bike through the construction camp, then ride to Castelia City.
We stop and eat by the fountain before continuing to bike through the city. Pardin points out landmarks to Dissa, and I smile as Dissa exclaims in awe at the huge buildings and the sights. We bike across Skyarrow Bridge, and down the road through Pinwheel Forest. Upon arriving in Nacrene City, I decide to take a detour. I steer away from the museum and bike towards my house, hoping to surprise my mom. I try to be as quiet as I can, and fold up my bike, fastening it to my backpack. I walk to the front door, and open it, wincing as the door squeals as it opens.
I don't hear anything from inside, and I close the door as quietly as I can. I tiptoe through my house, searching for my mom. I find her in her bedroom, laying on the bed and reading a book. I grin, and send Pardin through the ajar door. She pads across the room and jumps onto the bed, startling my mom. She gasps in surprise, and drops her book. I then burst through the door, throwing all my Pokéballs, and my mom is surrounded by my girls.
"Jesus Christ, Travis, are you trying to give me a heart attack?" my mom exclaims, and I laugh.
"You're not that old," I say, chuckling. My mom looks around at my Pokémon, shaking her head.
"You've gotten yourself quite a team here," she says. She pets Zora's head and studies Dissa.
"Not to mention a very interesting bunch," she continues. "But anyway. What brings you here?"
"I have something I'd like dad and Lenora to look at," I reply.
"Well your father is at work of course," my mom says, glancing at Venom's immobile shape.
"Is that one okay? It's not moving…" she says, pointing to Venom.
"She's fine, she's just asleep. She sleeps all the time because she's storing energy for when she evolves. She only moves when she needs to," I answer.
"Well if you want to talk to your father, I'd suggest you hop to it," my mom says, sitting up on the edge of the bed with Zora in her lap. "I wouldn't want to keep you from your adventures." I hug her, return Venom, and my girls take their places on and around me. We walk out of my house and towards the museum. I walk in the door, and greet the secretaries.
"I'd like to see my dad, and Lenora if possible," I say.
"You're Travis, right? Your father talks about you a lot," the secretary answers, smiling. She reaches for a phone, and dials a few numbers.
"Hello, this is the front desk, there is a boy named Travis here to see his father. He also said he's like to see Lenora, too, if she's available." She listens for a few seconds, and puts the phone back in its cradle.
"Your father will be right up to see you, and Lenora will be here shortly," she informs me. I thank her and sit on a bench. I don't have to wait long before a door opens, and my dad bursts through. His eyes find me, and I stand up. He hugs me tightly, his lab coat almost covering me.
"What are you doing back in town?" he asks me after letting go.
"I have something I'd like you and Lenora to look at," I say. He strokes his chin, and gestures for me to follow him. I follow him through the door he came out of, and down a flight of stairs. He leads me through a hallway with many doors, and opens one, ushering me in. Inside is like a laboratory mixed with a museum. There are many fossils and bones displayed on shelves with labels, but a large table in the middle, along with counters crowded with equipment reveals the room's true purpose. My girls spread out, exploring the room's contents.
"Now, what is it you want to show me?" my dad asks, clearing some space on the center table. I take off my backpack, and pull out the fossil, which I wrapped in my clothes to protect it. I set it on the table and unwrap it. My dad's eyes widen, and he stares at it.
"Hot damn, Travis," he says in awe. "Where did you find this?"
"An acquaintance of mine found it in the Relic Castle," I reply. My dad washes his hands, puts on a pair of gloves, puts on a pair of medical lenses, the scopes obscuring his eyes from view. He takes a brush to the fossil, brushing away any excess dirt and rock, studying the fossil. He does this for several minutes, then takes off the lenses.
"This is possibly the most intact Tirtouga fossil I've ever seen," he says, taking off the gloves.
"Tirtouga?" I ask.
"Yes, Tirtouga. It's an ancient turtle Pokémon, alive around one hundred million years ago. Your friend had a lucky find."
"So what can you do with it?" I ask. My dad turns to me, an excited look in his eyes.
"We can turn it back into a Pokémon!" he exclaims. We hear a crash, and I look up to see Pardin standing guiltily on a countertop over a shattered beaker on the floor.
"Pardin…" I say warningly. She slinks onto the floor and back into my hood.
"It's a good thing that was empty," my dad mutters. I return my girls into their Pokéballs so they don't make a mess.
"Now, follow me," my dad says. He practically runs from the room, and I scramble to pick up my backpack and the fossil and follow him. He leads me down another flight of stairs, and into an enormous room. There are enormous test tubes, all full of a strange blue liquid, and all but one have an "Out of Order" sign taped to them. My dad phones Lenora, telling her to come down to the "Restoration Room" immediately. She must have heard the excitement and urgency in his voice, because she comes down the stairs within a few minutes.
"What is it? What's so important?" she asks, hands on her hips. My dad gestures to the fossil in my arms, and Lenora gasps. She studies the fossil in my arms, reluctant to touch it, almost as if she did it would crumble on contact.
"I was hoping we could try and restore it," my dad says excitedly, and Lenora looks at him.
"We could very well do that," she says, taking the fossil off my hands, carrying it gently over to the machine without the "Out of Order" sign. She places the fossil on the platform next to the machine, and presses a few buttons on the monitor. The tube opens, and the fossil slides inside. The tube closes, and the blue liquid flows from the top, covering the fossil. The machine begins to hum, and the process begins.
"This will take a few hours, so I suggest you take a walk so your Pokémon can stretch their legs," Lenora informs me. I nod, and my dad guides me back upstairs. I let my girls out once we're outside, and I let them run around outside the museum. Zora and Pardin chase each other around while Leafa and Selva watch, laughing as the two dark types wrestle. Venom stays asleep, and I watch as she settles against the bench, the sunlight shining on her shell and the breeze blowing against her. Dissa floats beside me on the bench and we enjoy the afternoon. I eventually doze off.
"Hey, wake up!"
I open my eyes, groaning at the sudden awakening. My dad is staring down at me, a stupid grin on his face. My girls are all standing on the bench around me, looking to me in anticipation.
"It's time," my dad says. I stand up, return Venom, and Zora, Leafa, and Pardin climb into their places. I follow my dad into the museum, Selva and Dissa following me. We walk down the stairs, and a feeling of excitement washing over me. I can feel the buzz of excitement among my girls. Did the revival of my fossil actually work? My dad holds open the door of the restoration room, and we walk in. I gasp.
Inside the tube is a blue turtle-like Pokémon, long fins curled against its body, with grey bumps on its front fins and a gray band on its face. Under its closed eyes are light blue stripes, and its body in encased in a gray shell. Lenora is standing by the tube, hands on her hips, a look of immense pride and satisfaction on her face. She spreads her arms and embraces me.
"Thank you for allowing us to witness this incredible process. The machine works wonderfully, and we can now start work on finishing the rest of them. We'll have to start combing the Relic Castle just in case there are more fossils," she says. She lets me go, and pulls a Pokéball from her pocket. She fits the Pokéball into a half-spherical slot on the machine, and a greenish light appears inside the tube, lighting up the liquid, and capturing the Pokémon inside. Lenora takes the Pokéball and hands it to me.
"I believe this is yours," she says. "You might want to find some water to let it out into. There might be some shock to suddenly being alive again, and it might feel more comfortable and take it better if it's in its home element." I take the ball and look at it, awe surrounding the ancient Pokémon in my hands.
"If it helps, there are several large ponds in Pinwheel Forest," my dad offers. "They're a bit off-road, but you should be able to find one that suits your needs." I don't say anything, my girls and I still staring at the Pokéball in amazement.
"Well don't stand around gawking, boy, go see what this thing looks like when its awake!" Lenora barks, and I jump to attention.
"There is one thing I'd like you to do for me," my dad says, sounding reluctant. I turn to him.
"What is it?" I ask.
"I'd like for you to take my assistant with you so he can study the Tirtouga," he says, awkwardly cleaning his glasses on his lab coat. I groan. Not another person to interrupt my adventure.
"I know it's a lot to ask, but we should have someone in the field to watch the fossil Pokémon develop, see what it does as it grows, how it reacts to the modern world, et cetera," Lenora says.
"I know you tend to be a loner, but humans are social creatures, and you need some other people around you more than you think," my dad says. "He'll be ready soon. I'll let him introduce himself."
I leave them to clean up the restoration room as I walk up the stairs and outside to wait for my dad's assistant. I didn't even know he had an assistant. I guess he would need some help in cleaning up his workspace and helping him research and experiment. There is only so much a man can do on his own. And yet, despite that, I insist on going it alone. Heh.
"Sorry for keeping you waiting!" My girls and I turn to see a lanky redhead with cargo shorts, many-pocketed tan jacket, long white socks, thick boots, and a backpack run out of the museum waving a tablet of some kind. He almost trips, narrowly avoiding which would have been a hilarious faceplant, as he runs up to me, breathing heavily.
"Now, let's get to it," he says enthusiastically, still breathing hard. I shrug and start walking towards Pinwheel Forest. He follows me, furiously tapping on the screen of his tablet, probably taking notes on me and my girls.
"My name is Darren, by the way," he says, sounding friendly enough.
"Travis," I reply.
"I know who you are. The whole museum staff knows about you. You helped return Lenora's precious dragon skull after Team Plasma stole it! And not to mention the son of Lenora's right-hand man!" I don't reply, and he gets the hint to shut up. After a while, I find a hill in Pinwheel Forest leading down to a large pond. We walk cautiously down the hill, but Darren manages to trip on his own feet and he goes tumbling down. I chuckle to myself at his clumsiness, and hope he didn't hurt himself too badly. Hauling an injured assistant back to my dad would not be pleasant. I join him at the bottom of the hill, and walk past his mangled body to the water.
"Wait! Don't let it out before I'm ready!" Darren exclaims, jumping to his feet and brushing himself off, brass stains littering his light-colored clothes. He holds up his tablet, almost like he's taking a picture.
"Okay, go."
I sigh, and toss Tirtouga's Pokéball. It spins twice before opening and releasing the prehistoric Pokémon into the pond. The light fades, revealing the turtle floating serenely on the water's surface, eyes closed like they were in the tube. Suddenly, its eyes open, and it looks around, almost seeming calm and uncaring about its surroundings. It yawns, then its eyes snap open all the way.
"What?" it screeches in a throaty, almost rocky voice.
"Incredible!" Darren gasps.
"Where am I? What are you?" Tirtouga screams at us. I kneel by the water's edge, and Darren shifts his position to get a better angle.
"Don't move!" Tirtouga yells, five glowing rocks suddenly appearing, floating around it. The rocks throw themselves at Darren one by one, and he yelps, evading each one, managing to catch the entire ordeal on his tablet, which I assume is recording video.
"Calm down," I command gently, and Tirtouga's attention is drawn to me.
"Where am I? What are you?" it asks again.
"You're in the Pinwheel Forest of the Unova Region. My name is Travis. I'm a human," I answer.
"What's a 'Unova Region'? What's a 'Pinwheel'?" Tirtouga asks.
"The Unova Region is one among many regions in this where Pokémon such as yourself can be found," I reply. "And the Pinwheel Forest is just the name of this place."
"What happened? Where's the ocean? What happened while I was asleep?" the confused and possible panicking Pokémon asks.
"The ocean is just that way," I point towards Skyarrow Bridge. "As for what happened, well you probably won't believe me."
"Tell me," Tirtouga insists. I sigh.
"Well… you died," I say bluntly. Tirtouga stares at me.
"You're lying," he accuses.
"I told you," I sigh again.
"How long have I been asleep?" Tirtouga asks.
"Well, if I had to give an accurate estimate, I'd say… about one hundred million years, give or take" I answer. Tirtouga stares at me, eyes starting to water.
"Where… what… how…" the tears start to overflow, and he starts bawling. I pull him to me by his fin, and wrap my arms around his shell. He buries his head into my shirt, continuing to cry and soaking my shirt with tears and pond water. After he calms down, I let him go, and he looks at me.
"So what happens now?" he asks.
"I should explain the roles of human and Pokémon," I say, holding up Tirtouga's Pokéball. "This is a Pokéball. It's an ingenious device used for the capturing and storage of Pokémon of any size. Humans capture Pokémon, willingly or unwillingly in these and use them for a variety of purposes. Some Pokémon are pets and companions, some are work partners, and some are battle partners. You are the first Pokémon I've gotten that didn't have a choice in being captured. All these Pokémon," I gesture to my girls, "came with me of their own accord. I would like for you to have that choice as well. You'll be a member of my team, and we will explore the Unova Region together, battling and having fun along the way. What do you say?"
Tirtouga looks at me and his Pokéball, then to my girls. He sighs, lightly splashing the pond water.
"I suppose I don't have any other options," he says. "And you seem nice enough."
"You could choose to remain wild. If you want me to I'll release you and you could live your life with other wild Pokémon. Although, I will warn you, that since you're a rare Pokémon, there will be a considerable amount of people who will want to get their hands on you," I say. Tirtouga shakes his head.
"I'll remain with you. It would be difficult to get used to this new world on my own, and even if I did make new friends, I doubt they'd be able to show me more than the oceans." I nod, and hold out my hand.
"Welcome to the team," I say, and he puts his fin in my palm. "I'll name you Shello."
"Has a nice ring to it," he admits.
"That. Was. Incredible!" Darren exclaims. He runs around, taking pictures of me and Shello, grinning from ear to ear. "It's almost as if you two were communicating!" Shello looks at me, a confused look on his face.
"But we were communicating," he says. I smile.
"Nowadays, a human who can communicate with Pokémon is extremely rare," I explain. "And he doesn't know that I can do that." Shello grins.
"This is the best day of my life!" Darren declares, writing down notes on the tablet. "This is only my first entry of my journal for this journey but there's already so much content! My boss will be so proud!"
"Okay, Darren," I call, "I hope you're in for a run, because I'm going to ride my bike back to Nimbasa City, and I won't wait up."
"Oh, don't worry," Darren says, perking up. He pulls off his backpack and rummages through it, pulling out a folding bike similar to mine. "I have one too." Damn. For a second I thought I could leave this annoying boy behind. Suddenly I get a feeling similar to the one I had last time I was here. We're being watched. My girls and Shello feel it, too.
"Well, let's go," I say, unnerved. I hold out Shello's Pokéball. "You'll have to stay in here for the time being. There's no room for you to stay out while I'm riding my bike." Shello nods, and I return him, followed by Zora, Leafa and Selva. Darren leads the charge back up the hill to the road, and we unfold our bikes. We ride down the road to Skyarrow Bridge, Pardin, Dissa and I enjoying the breeze. We ride through Castelia City, and I stop by the trinket shop and buy a bracelet that goes around Shello's fin, and we manage to make it to the construction camp on Route 4 by sundown. We ride by streetlight up the road to Nimbasa City, and immediately head for the Pokémon center.
"You just caught me," Tia says, rising from a couch to greet us inside the lobby. "I was a few minutes away from giving up for the night and going to bed."
"Well I'm glad we could catch you," I say, almost sincerely. "This is Darren," I introduce him, holding out my arm towards him.
"I'm his father's assistant," Darren interrupts. "He's a brilliant paleontologist, and I'm currently travelling with Travis here in order to study the fossil Pokémon they recently revived at the museum." Tia's eyes widen.
"You actually revived that fossil I found?" she asks, astounded.
I toss Shello's Pokéball, and he appears in a flash of light. Tia kneels next to him, studying him.
"Incredible. Who knew there was technology that could turn a chunk of rock into a Pokémon!" I return Shello, and Tia looks up, disappointed.
"I think we should all get to bed," I say, and Darren and I get rooms. I close the door behind me, thankful I don't have to share a bedroom with him. I let my Pokémon out of their Pokéballs, and toss my jacket, pants, and backpack to the floor. My girls introduce themselves to Shello, and they seem to get along well. I myself am exhausted from a long day of riding my bike. My girls eventually stop conversing with Shello and come cuddle around me. Shello and Venom both sleep in their own corners, Shello on a pillow I tossed him. I smile; life just keeps getting better, and I get to enjoy the little things, like cuddling with the ones I love most.