"So, Evan, why were you sooo…..chipper?...this morning. I mean, the dig is cool and all, but I wouldn't say it is the most interesting thing in Pewter City," the question comes from under floating pink locks.
"Uh, actually," the blonde's face colors a little under multiple intrigued stares, "I made myself a promise. No matter what, if I find any fossils today, the first one is gonna be my starter Pokémon!" Evan stares pointedly at the ground, disguising his discomfort as a need to watch the steepened, rocky slope for tripping hazards.
"No way! Seriously?! I thought you had to surrender the fossil to the museum at the end of the day?" Cassie exclaims. The shock forces the girl's eyes up and she almost trips over a sneaky root.
"Well now, kids. That just shows how important it is to read your homework till the end!" Granite flashes them a grin as an arm steadies the ginger. "My physics teacher taught me that." He looks around, gauging whether any of the pupils even care. Skyler stares at him, waiting expectantly, so the man happily continues.
"A quiz asked us to figure out where a ball was going to land based on its trajectory and speed. We were supposed to use the equation for gravity. But it was a trick."
"At the very end of the several paragraphs worth of information was the phrase 'Now if you read this all the way through, write down the number five.' More than half the class got docked for that one." The professor laughs at the memory, wiping away an imaginary tear.
"Er-Professor? Was there a point to this story?" the resident troublemaker asks, unsure what gravity has to do with taking the fossils home or not. Having not read till the end of the pamphlet, Cole bunches bushy brows together, the information seeming irrelevant. A bead of sweat wells up on Granite's forehead, dubious at the kid's obliviousness.
"After you turned in your applications, you should have received a leaflet that had additional details about today's fossil recovery."
"Yeah, and?" Still not understanding the correlation, the kid's tone turns confrontational.
"The end explained how if we find a solid specimen or two, they can be brought to the lab on the morrow to be revived. Reading something fully makes sure you don't miss important details like that." Believing the kid not to be so dense as to misunderstand this new explanation, the professor switches from answering questions back to his favorite pastime, rambling.
"Of course, you will need your parents' permission to revive a Pokémon. Many prehistoric Pokémon can be quite the handful, and you will need their support to raise one safely!" The Pewterite grows animated at the topic, hand lifting to shake a finger at the children for emphasis. Competitive looks are shared between the excavators, the stakes surrounding the day's activities having risen.
Understanding for the wheat-haired lad's excitement sinks in.
"Wait, so, if ya find a fossil today—" Sam starts to direct the question toward Evan, but is cut off.
"When."
"What?"
"When I find a fossil today," the determined boy clarifies.
"When ya find a fossil today, it's gonna be ya first Pok'ahmon?" Sam finishes, seeing a resolute nod coupled with an indomitable gaze before he has even finished speaking.
Nearby, Starla drags leaden feet, barely keeping pace with the group. Pulling an empty gaze off the ground, the exhausted female notices a building emblazoned with an abstract candy-apple Pokéball. The tall refuge beckons the traveller from only a few dozen yards ahead.
The professer eyes Starla pityingly. "Why, I remember an old piece of amber this Trainer brought in. We couldn't really tell what was in it, but the DNA was quite preserved." The chatty-Kathy of the group launches into an anecdote, trying to distract his colleague with yet another story from the past.
"This was when we first started out and had little catalogued. We took a chance and did a revival at the Trainer's insistence. Half the lab was blown up as an Aerodactyl was set loose upon the city!"
The rockface backing the PokéCenter towers above the dig's participants as they draw in closer, still listening keenly to the tale. Starla stares down the structure, the alluring respite for aching muscles oh so close.
"No way! That didn't happen!" Amelia gasps skeptically.
"Oh, but it did! If you've been out by the Pebbleman house, you'll see the top half is a bit whiter than the bottom. Ol' Petey never could match the paint, and refused to redo the whole thing." The professor smirks devilishly, finding his friend's misfortune to have become quite funny with age.
"Luckily, we don't have problems like that anymore. With so much DNA on file, and advances in technology, we can even determine what nature a revival candidate will have. So, none of you will be getting a rampaging Rampardos. Ha!"
"Professor, Rampardos is from Sinnoh." Skyler tilts his slender face, appraising the man.
"So it is, Skyler! So it is." The professor blatantly dismisses the correction, stepping up to the hospital's front entrance.
Eager for air conditioning, the aquafire leader pushes past everyone as soon as the automatic doors open.
Chapter Notes:
-The quiz thing is actually something teachers like to do.
-There was an episode of the anime where an Aerodactyl revival blows up a lab and goes on a rampage. Putting the Air back in Aerodactyl.
-An Old Amber is what revives into an Aerodactyl.
-Pete Pebbleman is from Pewter City, and is introduced battling Ash in the Indigo Platue conference.
-Ramparados is a T-Rexish fossil Pokemon.
-This takes place on the climb up the mountain, just before the Pokemon Center. It just seemed excessive, so I moved it here to keep up flow.