It looked like the pretty busy place; the entire main street was lined with shops and sale booths, and people had all sorts of different things on display for Trainers to buy. I was tempted to buy some of the sweet-smelling incense that was being sold by the entrance, or grab the TM for the ominous, but also strong-sounding move Shadow Claw to see what it could do to opponents, but I resisted the urge; I came hear to buy a fossil, and I was going to stick to it, so I kept scanning along the shops to see if any in particular stuck out as a place that sold fossils. Besides, 10,000₱ for just a TM was a little ridiculous, wasn't it...?

{You have any idea which place might carry them, Rotom?}

"Dunno. For some reason, it'zzz not on my map...Let's ask one of the localzzz and see if they know anything!"

I scanned around, and found myself looking at someone standing beside the Pokémon Center, a sack over his back that was labeled "herbs," likely for sale, like almost everyone else along the sides of the street. I confronted the human with a bark, hoping he might have a clue as to where fossils might be sold at.

"Huh? Oh, hey! You're that one Trainer everyone's talkin' about, huh? What brings ya to town? Well, besides the Island Challenge, that is...Need to restock medicine for your Pokémon, maybe? I'm self taught, but if you want, I've got good-quality herbs for sale!"

{Thanks for the offer,} I gurgled. {But that's not why I'm here. Do you happen to know where in town I might find Pokémon fossils for sale?}

"Oh, ho, HO. You bet I do. Olivia's Jewelry Shop has 'em being sold at the front desk? Only one of each kind per customer, though. That's where I first met my partner-to-be, Armaldo. And boy, does he do me good on the battlefield! And he also helps me harvest herbs."

{Really?}

"Huh...I didn't expect a place like that to sell fossillzzz," Rotom remarked. "But I guess that's a pleazzzant surprise! Thanks for that!"

"Good luck on your Island Challenge!"

The store in question was right across from the Pokémon Center, so I dashed inside and scanned around. The first thing to catch my attention was...

A very peculiar Pokémon standing in front of the stairs.

It was large and heavy-looking, without any limbs, and really looking more like a metal or rock-carved sculpture of some sort. And it was very strangely shaped like...a human's nose? It did have eyes and a body, but it was really mostly nose. It even had three smaller nose-shaped protrusions on its sides and back.

"Nopass!" it snorted.

I noticed the piece of paper stuck in its...mustache, I guessed it was. I caught the sight of my name written on the top of it.

{...Is this for me?}

The creature nodded, so I grabbed the note and read it.

"To Echo:

Olivia, here. This is Probopass. She watches the
shop whenever I'm away. For whenever you're
ready for the Grand Trial, come meet me at the
Ruins of Life past Memorial Hill. I'll be waiting."

{Huh...Well, I guess we won't be needing to come back here.}

"Guess not! Let's grab the Fossil, hit the Restoration Center and head on back down to Memorial Hill! We don't wanna keep Charizzzard waiting too long!"

"Fossil, you say?" one of the humans at the front desk overheard. "I've got 'em right here! But just one per customer and that's set in stone!"

{Excellent,} I chittered, approaching the part of the counter she was at. {What kinds do you have?}

"Well, we've got the daytime selection out now. If you want the nighttime selection, you'll have to wait until the sun goes down. But for now, we've got the Helix, Claw, Skull, Cover and Jaw Fossils up for 7,000₱ a piece.

{Do you know what kinds of Pokémon they can be restored into?}

"Honestly? I've never seen any living specimens myself, since they're so hard to come by. That is, all except for the Jaw Fossil Pokémon. I think I saw it in a museum once..."

{What's it look like?}

"Well..."

She scanned up and down me for a moment, a curious glint in her eye.

"...Really, I think it looks like a sorta smaller, stockier version of...you."

{Me...?}

"Yep. Now you can pick what you want, but I might just recommend the Jaw Fossil. You might come to like whatever it ends up becoming."

{Well, now I'm curious. I think I'll take that one.}

"Sure about that?"

I nodded and emitted a low growl of conformation.

"Well, okay then. Here ya-"

As soon as she placed the fossilized jaw bone on he counter, I eagerly picked it up in my mouth, paid the 7,000₱, turned and dashed out of the shop.

"-Go...Boy, is she quick," I heard her say as I left.

I turned back onto the road, called out Dartrix to handle the Diglett in the tunnel and followed the path I came through in the cavern. My eyes turned out to be more well-adjusted to the dark than I'd expected, as I could actually see just fine as Rotom was zipping close behind, too far back to light up the path ahead of me. With how fast we were going, only a couple Diglett jumped us, and Dartrix took them down with a few easy Razor Leaf attacks. Finally, we skidded back out the other side, the Jaw Fossil still held firmly between my own jaws. It was only then that I realized I still had it in my mouth, of all places.

{...Guess I was so excited, I didn't bother putting it away,} I figured, averting my gaze a bit as I properly put it away.

"Rauurrgh."

{Oh. Charizard. We're ready to go. Take us to the Fossil Restoration Center, please?}

He nodded and let me board on again. Before we took off, I tried to return Dartrix to his Poké Ball, but he seemed reluctant to go in.

{Something wrong?}

"Rrrrrroo!"

He pointed up to the sky with one of his feathers, and then spread out his large wings.

{What's he saying, Rotom?}

"Ooh, that soundzzz neat! He wants to know if he can fly alongside Charizard as we go!"

{Oh. Really? Well...I don't see why not.}

He smirked in satisfaction, then positioned himself beside the Flame Pokémon and readied for takeoff.

{Alright, Charizard...} I ordered, readying to leave the ground again, my heart beating just a tad bit faster with uncertainty. {...Let's go.}

A flap of wings later, we were airborne, and we rose into the sky fairly quickly, much to my nervous surprise. I knew Charizard wanted to get us there quickly, but even still, I was a bit skeptical about the whole flying ordeal. Yes, I'd gotten used to it to an extent since my last two flights, but I really preferred staying on the ground. And the idea of traveling through water wasn't much better; something told me I wasn't the best swimmer, and I listened to it.

At least I knew the Charizard I was riding was well-trained; despite the unnerving height, he flew smoothly, so he had to know what he was doing. And the view wasn't half bad to enjoy, and it did get us from place-to-place a good amount faster than running, as well as being less tiresome.

I saw Dartrix soarind along side us, his broad wings catching the air and letting it carry him along effortlessly. He only had to beat his wings every so often to keep himself at the same height we were, and the refreshing breeze blew across his facial disc. He seemed to be enjoying himself quite a bit. Just the sight of him so content made me smile myself. Yeah...Maybe if I looked at the positives, that'd get me more used to flying.

Route 8 was directly ahead and below, and the Flame Pokémon began the descent, stooping a wing down and taking us right beside the Pokémon Center, and his immense blue wings flapped a bit more to ease the landing as he planted his feet on the ground. The entryway to the Fossil Restoration Center was in my sights, and I planted my clawed feet on firm ground once again.

{Thank you, Charizard,} I gurgled. {You really do your job well.}

It chuffed and nodded as I returned it to the Ride Pager. Dartrix turned to me, tilting his head a bit and smiling.

{You enjoyed that, did you?} I asked him, earning me a hasty nod of conformation.

"Krrooo!"

"Heh heh..." I chortled. {...You know something, Dartrix. All of my other Pokémon have nicknames. Red, Grace, Sassafras...But then there's you. You were my first Pokémon, Dartrix, and you've done me the best on the battlefield many a time. I think the only reason I didn't give you a nickname was because...well...It sounds kind of silly now, but I didn't know that was a thing you could do.}

He nodded in understanding.

{I want to change that,} I continued. {...Although I'm not sure what would suit you the best. Red got his nickname from his red feathers, Grace because she was so elegant even right after she hatched, and Sassafras because of the demeanor I thought she had...Now her nickname pertains more to the actual flower, though, I think. You...Would you prefer something like...Green?}

He grimaced, and stuck his pointed tongue out of his beak.

{No, you're right. Too stale...What about Fern?}

He thought about that one for a moment, but ultimately shook no. We began to head north towards the Fossil Restoration Center as we spoke.

{Needle? As in pine needle?}

"Koo, kroo roo..." he disagreed.

"He sayzzz that he prefers deciduous trees."

{Oh...Leaf?}

He cringed.

"No offense, but do you just name your Pokémon the first thing that popzzz into your head?"

{Hey, you've gotta give me credit for Sassafras. You know that name is cool, don't deny it. Especially since it has a double-meaning.}

"Admittedly so! Bzzt!"

{...You are right, though. That is what I did with the other three...Maybe since I didn't name him right off the bat, that's what's making this difficult.}

Dartrix nodded and hooted in agreement, then pointed out that we'd reached our destination with an outstretched feather.

I let out an excited gasp. I was so anxious to get my hands on that Fossil Pokémon that I reached back and scrambled to get the Jaw Fossil from out of there and ended up tangled in everything else in the bag. The human manning the lab trailer must have seen me struggling, because no sooner than the moment I finally, frustratingly pulled it out of the pack in my jaws did I notice him standing there before me.

"Got it out of there okay?" he asked.

I was about to answer yes, but his eyes widened in panic at the sight of the fossil in my jaws.

"Whoa, whoa, hey! You can't have that in your mouth!"

I wasn't sure why it was a problem, but I didn't hesitate to grab the fossil in my hands anyways. I did cock my head in confusion, however, and he was able to read it well enough.

"Agh...The DNA from your spit could mix in with the salvageable DNA of the fossil Pokémon and mess up the restoration process, that's why. It's always best to have as little physical contact with a fossil as you can if you wanna restore it properly...Sorry if I startled you, there, but I just wanna make sure everything goes okay, alright."

I nodded shamefully.

{...Sorry. I was just so excited to see what I might get, that I didn't think twice about...}

"N'aw, it's fine, really," he assured. "If there's anything there, I'll probably be able to take out most of the contaminating DNA from the mix."

He insinuated that I hand over the Jaw Fossil and looked over it.

"...Fine specimen you got here," he told me. "So, this is what you want me to turn back into a Pokémon, eh?"

I nodded.

"Welp, I'll get right to it, then. You just hand on out here, and when everything's said and done, you'll have a brand new team member!"

He turned and headed back into the trailer, and I could hear what sounded like machinery of some sort begin to boot up from outside.

{...Do you think I ruined the fossil, Rotom?}

"Um, well...I can't say for sure. I mean, like he said, he could probably just remove any of your DNA that he findzzz! If not, then, uh...I don't know what happens, then."

"Yep. Just as I suspected..." I heard the human say to himself. "Guess I'm gonna have to get that bit outta there."

{I won't be surprised if we find out here sooner or later,} I chittered anxiously. The thrill of actualy having a Fossil Pokémon on the team had long diminished, and was replaced by the fear of something going wrong and it being my fault.

"Aw, now what's it doin'...? What in the...Oh, no."

That didn't sound good."

"Come on, don't mix in there like that, no, no...N..."

He trailed off, and my heartrate only quickened from there until I heard him speak again.

"...Now wait a minute. Hold on just a second there."

He suddenly sounded much more hopeful. For what reason, though, I had no idea.

"...Holy moly, I don't believe it...It's compatible."

{Compatiable?} I repeated. {What does he mean by that?}

"Three toes, carnivorous therapod, reptilian origin with notable avian traits...It...It's a closer match. Closer to the original Pokémon than we ever thought possible...This is incredible. H-how...But she isn't even a Pokémon, so they say. So the Professor says. What is she? Where did she come from? No...WHEN did she come from...?"

I had no idea what was going on in there, but from the sound of his sudden shift in tone, I figured things were going...okay now? He seemed awfully curious about me and what I accidentally did to the restoration process, be it for better or worse...Better, hopefully. He seemed to be looking up.

"Well, wouldja look at that. Welcome back, lil' fella...Ah, I'm seein' a few differences from the ones filled in with Froakie and Tyranitar DNA. You're probably the closest match there is out there...Wait till she sees you."

The next thing I heard was what sounded like a Poké Ball returning a Pokémon, and then the human stepped out of the trailer and approached me again.

"...It's Echo, right?"

I nodded.

"...Mind if I explain a few crazy things?"

I gave him my full attention.

"I take that as a yes...Okay, so the bad news...well...it actually isn't bad once I explain everything, but your DNA contaminated that of the fossil and I was unable to remove it. But that brings me to the good news...No, not news...A discovery, I'd call it. You and the Pokémon from the fossil have a similar genetic makeup. So similar, that the original DNA sort of...absorbed yours right into it. The really strange part is that you're not even a Pokémon, and the original code still remaining...took over your strand and modified it to match the rest of it. It's still one-hundred percent a Pokémon. But the modified strand of DNA it got from you...sort of means it's also part whatever you are."

{Really?}

"And what's even more amazing? See, when we restore fossil Pokémon, what we get isn't exactly the same as the original that the fossil came from. The DNA is usually degraded to an extent after being exposed to the elements for eons and eons. So we use the DNA from extant Pokemon to fill in the gaps. In this one's case, the Pokémon we usually use are Froakie and Tyranitar...But you? You're closer to the original Pokémon than either of those, so you could say that the one I just restored is the closest we've ever gotten to the original creature."

"Wow...That'zzz incredible! Izzzn't that incredible, boss!?"

I was in awe. Who knew that a seemingly horrible mistake could turn into something so amazing?

"Now, how 'bout I show you what you've got for your team now?"

I nodded, eyes still wide, and he released the creature from the Poké Ball, letting it materialize on the ground before me from the glowing red mass.

{Holy Miltank...}

He was right. I could tell right away that the Pokémon had bits of me in it. It had a similar build, a scaly hide a bit darker than my own and without any stripes, and even the two ridges above its eyes like I had, except they were notably orange, and pointed backwards a lot more than mine. Its arms and hands were a bit small, and only had two fingers each in comparison to my three, and its head was a little blockier than mine. And what was a bit more curious-looking was the short frill of white feathers around its neck; something foreign to any kin of mine I'd ever seen, and looking a bit out-of-place on a creature otherwise covered in scales.

But the real key giveaway were its eyes; bright yellow and with the slit pupil, just like mine were. And I swore that the Pokémon even SMELLED somewhat like me.

It looked up at me curiously. I tilted my head to the left-it did the same. To the right-it followed right along.

{What's its name?}

"That wound be a Tyrunt. And it looks like the little guy's taking a liking to you...He must be taking in your scent."

Tyrunt sniffed a bit, his yellow eyes looking very intelligent and analytic. Then, after several silent moments, he opened up his mouth to make a noise.

{...Alpha?}

I gasped, eyes widening bigger than ever before...Did I hear that right?

I chittered in amazement, and he looked up at me again, even more curious.

{Is something wrong?} he asked. {Is there something wrong with me?}

"Wowie! He soundzzz a lot like you, too, boss! Ain't that somethin'?"

{I can understand him, Rotom.}

"Wait...What'd you say?"

{Tyrunt...S-say something else.}

{Anything?} he gurgled.

{...This is amazing.}

I was talking-not just ordering and encouraging-I was having a FULL ON CONVERSATION WITH A POKEMON. Something I never thought possible except for Rotom. His dialect was extremely similar to mine, with the only differences being that it was notably lower and more growlish, and...perhaps a bit more complex than the original code that me and my sisters used to speak to each other. The only reason mine had advanced so much was that I was matching up certain noises with certain words depending on what they meant. But Tyrunt had just entered the world and was able to communicate in such a manner right away.

I was so astounded that it made my head swim. I was absolutely speechless...

I only spoke again when the Fossil Pokémon at my feet addressed me again.

{Are you okay, Alpha? You're not saying much.}

{Huh? Oh, it's just...I didn't expect to be able to understand you the way I can, is all. It came as quite a shock.}

"Are you two..." the human whispered, in awe at what he was seeing himself. "...Communicating?"

"Ah, that'd be the case, mister!" Rotom buzzed. "Lookzzz like they might really hit it off! Hey, if you want, I can tell you word-for-word what they're saying!"

"No, no, I'd rather not butt too much into their business."

{Are there others I should know about? } Tyrunt asked. {Other packmates?}

{Yes, there are. Four...no...Five others. See him floating up there? That's Rotom. He's the Alpha-Beta; assistant Alpha, so to speak. He's the only one of us that can speak for us to the humans...Without his help, I probably wouldn't have gotten this far.}

"Howdy there, new teammate!" he greeted, zipping down closer. "You're gonna have a blast goin' through he Island Challenge with us! Zzzt!"

{It sounds good,} he answered, a smile forming on his rugged jaw. {...Alpha. What's my rank?}

{Well, I suppose that for now, you'd be the Omega...But don't think of it as you being the lowest or weakest among us. Because from what I've seen with all of my other Pokémon, you hold just as much potential. So instead of calling you by rank, I'll give you a nickname.}

{A nickname?}

{Except for only one, all of my Pokémon have nicknames. I won't let you two down. I just need to think of them...}

{What do you think might suit me?} he asked, tilting his head.

{...I'm not sure. I'll probably see how you battle first. That might give me some ideas...Let's go do that now.}

{I won't let you down, either, Alpha,} Tyrunt growled, following up with a nod as I brought him into the Poké Ball the human gave me for him.

{Thank you, sir, for giving us Tyrunt. I can already tell he'll be an amazing part of the team.}

"That's great to know...You get out there and show 'em what you two are made of."

I nodded one more time, then turned and bolted out of the Fossil Restoration Center, Rotom in tow and Tyrunt's ball tucked away safely in my pack.

"So, tell me honestly, Echo. When that guy was explaining the whole DNA situation with our new pal to you, did you understand anything he said about genomes and stuff?"

{Honestly, I'm not sure. All I know is that Tyrunt and I are essentially related to one another...And that's all I really need to know. Let's get a move on, now, though. Olivia's waiting for us at Memorial Hill, remember? And I've gotta get just a bit more training squeezed in before then.}

"Let's be on our way, then! Say, you know, that'zzz a pretty neat idea he has to make a theme park out of Fossil Pokémon. That place would be packed full of attendeezzz right up from day one! Kzzt! Hope he gets it done and open here soon!"

{Same here. I mean...How could an idea like that possibly go wrong?}