Chapter 56, everybody! Boy I haven't updated this since last year! *bricked*
Moving on—let's talk fossils and Creationism and why the fossil record supports it. Also why using explosives to dig up fossils is an inherently flawed approach be nice to fossils they're old. Also minor reference to The Lone Ranger that was a good movie that didn't deserve the flak it got. And a quote from Balto that's another good movie that got a lot of flak what gives? And a reference to Jurassic Park and Homeward Bound we're quoting all the movies that get flak.
In other news: pretty sure Steve sounds like Bill Cipher.
And now for something completely different in the review responses: SPYRO 101, davidtheumbreon (it was, kind of), thor94 (I know, right?), magical fan18, Dragonkeeper10, Urdeadnotbigsurprise, Guest(s?), Black Knight Lucario (I can't, unfortunately!), The LavenderHour (glad it gets the horse-rider stamp of approval!), Musical Dragon Rider, SeaweedBrainIsBlue, dragun95 (I'll consider it!), and obanaanthony7, thanks for the reviews! You guys are awesome! :D
Pokémon © Game Freak; Nintendo
And now, for something completely different:
G'day, mate! I'm Steve Irwin—Poké-hunter extraordinaire, and you're watching Pokémon Hunter: Poké Files! Today, we're in the Desert Resort on Route Four in Unova, and boy, are there some right beauties lurking about here! So far we've seen some Darumaka and Darumanitan—such a cute Shelia taking care of her babies—but we have yet to see that elusive and dangerous sand croc, the Krookodile! Now, Krookodile are a combination Dark and Ground type—hey look over there! See the way that sand is moving! I betcha that's what we're looking for! See, in the Desert Resort, there are only a handful of Pokémon that prefer burrowing as a mode of transportation—wait! It is! Look! See the eyes just barely poking out? That's a member of the Sandile line making us and deciding whether or not we'd be good prey. That size, eh, might go after a smaller Pokémon like Sandshrew or a baby Darumaka, although a Sandile that bitty won't be left unattended for long by—WOAH! Crickey! A Krookodile just came out of that sand dune over there! Crickey! Look at the size of those teeth! Fortunately, Teri and I never go anywhere without our trusted team of Pokémon, and we don't recommend that you do either! Go, Graham!
They reached the canyon entrance the next morning, following the markers and the crowd to the dig site within.
"So this is Grandpa Canyon!" Ash exclaimed, looking the reddish-orange cliffs over. "I wonder how much digging we'll have to do."
"Let's start with finding the campsite," Brock suggested.
That didn't take very long, as they simply followed the chatter and the tire tracks into something approaching a valley in the canyon, filled with people and tents everywhere.
"Wow," Ash noised. "That's a lot of people for so early in the morning."
"Most of them have probably been here for a while," Brock observed. "They didn't open the place up to the public until recently—there must have been an impressive fossil, and they wanted to get it out of the way before looking for more."
"But doesn't that mean we missed it?"
"Not necessarily—most fossil finds have had lots of different skeletons all jumbled together. That caused a bit of a mess at first—someone pasted it all together and said it was a Missing-No fossil—"
"I saw that picture!"
"But for the most part, fossils are found arranged like they've been all washed together—like from the Great Flood."
"I always heard that fossils were made from bones that got buried in sediment next to rivers and such," Misty said, glancing around.
"Consider our ecosystem—most Pokémon scavengers take parts away to eat elsewhere, or break the bones open for the marrow, or use them like the Cubone line does. And when that's all said and done, the bones deteriorate due to sun exposure or other elements. A slow fossilization process like that doesn't make sense when you take all that into effect."
"True," Misty said, turning in a complete circle. "So do we check in somewhere, or do we just start digging wherever?"
"Ash!"
Ash glanced at the new voice to see Professor Oak making his way over.
"Wow," Ash noised, when the Professor was close enough to talk to without yelling. "You just pop up everywhere, don't you?"
"The advantages of having an Alakazam that knows Teleport—I highly recommend training one," Professor Oak said, looking pleased. "But I could say the same about you, turning up wherever—I take it you're here for the fossil hunt?"
"Yeah," Ash said, pointing at Brock. "Brock was explaining it."
"I'm just saying that the Great Flood makes more sense than the slow approach," Brock said, hands up.
"No need to get defensive," Professor Oak said. "Everyone's entitled to their own views. And evidently that's a common one, seeing as how everyone's out searching."
"What did they find here, Professor?" Misty asked.
"Some footprints, which have been roped off, and an Aerodactyl skeleton—they've already started the plaster wrap so they can load it up and take it to the Pewter City Museum."
"All right," Brock said, making a fist. "I'm going to have to call my siblings tonight and let them know."
"Marvelous. Anyway, if you want to help dig, I recommend going over to that tent and getting some supplies," Professor Oak said, pointing. "Gary's already—"
"Gary's here?" Ash asked, appalled.
"Yes—been searching like a madman. Found some fossilized Pokémon manure, but he's searching for something a little bigger."
Ash took some cheer at that before focusing. "All right—thanks Professor!" he called, already running for the tent. "I've got to get started right away!"
"I swear that boy doesn't have an off switch," he heard Professor Oak sigh.
"If he does, we haven't found it yet," Misty said.
Ash wound his way up the side of the digging site, figuring that if any fossils were to be found, they'd be up here where people weren't.
"I'm still not sold on this digging around for bones business," Darkrai said, looming up in his shadow once they were far enough away. "You're not a Cubone or a Mandibuzz, you don't need them."
"It's a thing," Ash said. "Plus if I find something cool then I can one-up Gary."
"Ah, there's the rub."
"Pika," Pikachu agreed—
Stopped, sniffed at a line on the ground, followed it.
"Hey wait, Pikachu," Ash noised, following. "What is it? Did you find something?"
"Oi, off the line!"
"Oh," Ash said blankly. "You found Team Rocket. Wait, why are you guys here?"
Jessie and James immediately jumped up. "Prepare for trouble an eon in the making!" Jessie declared.
"And make it double for all the fossils we're taking!" James rejoined.
"Oi," Darkrai said, peeling himself out of a shadow. "We asked for an explanation, not the motto."
"Da motto's important," Meowth insisted.
"Does the motto explain what you're doing?" Ash asked.
"It's very simple," Jessie said, still posing with James. "Using copious amounts of dynamite, we blow this canyon sky-high!"
"We'll blast the fossils right out and then scoop them right up!" James declared.
"I think you're confusing paleontology with train-track-building," Ash said. "That honestly doesn't sound like such a hot idea."
"There's going to be a big explosion," James pointed out.
"So when do we start?" Ash asked, sitting down.
"And he used his brain for all of three seconds," Darkrai sighed, drifting off.
"Dat describes most humans, don't it?" Meowth asked.
"Pika pi," Pikachu said.
"I feel like I should be insulted," Ash said.
"Go with that feeling," Darkrai counseled.
"Anywho—hard hat," James said, plonking one on Ash's head.
"Now I have more questions," Ash decided.
"Ask dem later," Meowth said, lifting the plunger. "But for now…bombs away!"
They waited several long moments, fingers plugging their ears….
Looked blankly at the plunger.
"Does it run on batteries?" Ash asked.
"Didn't tink so," Meowth said, trying again.
"Maybe you need to turn it," James suggested—
A sizeable explosion rocked them all off their feet.
"Or you needed to wait another minute," Darkrai muttered, peeling himself off the ground. "By the way, OW."
"Seconded," Ash moaned.
"Tird-ed-ed," Meowth groaned, rubbing his head as he sat up. "Shoulda invested in earplugs."
"Pikaaaa…pi?" Pikachu noised, ears pricking.
"So where's our rain of fossils?" Jessie asked.
"Thus far I am deeply disappointed in the weather forecast," James announced.
"Pika pika!" Pikachu exclaimed.
"So apparently the rat hears rumbling," Darkrai volunteered.
"I tink you mean ringing," Meowth said, rubbing his ears. "Oh wait—I hear it too—"
They were distracted by a fissure snaking between them, hitting the rock face behind them—
And then the ground started crumbling.
"Oh no," James muttered—
Right before they were swallowed in darkness.
It took Ash a minute to put everything together, to realize that yes, his eyes were open, he was just looking at a lot of darkness. Oh yeah, and everything hurt.
"Oh, I hit my head on something," he heard James moan.
"Yeah," Jessie groused. "My head."
Ash couldn't help the pained noises when he pushed himself upright. "Where are we?"
"Looks like a cave," Meowth said.
"Oi! You dead yet?"
They looked up. "Darkrai!" Ash called. "Wait, why are you still up there?"
"For starters, gravity is more of a suggestion for me," Darkrai said, swooping down. "Secondly, I float, thirdly I wasn't wasting my time coming down here if you were dead."
"Dese are good points," Meowth conceded. "Now how da we get out of here?"
James pointed at Darkrai. "He floats."
"I suddenly feel the need to get a rope instead," Darkrai said, glaring.
"I think I'd rather wait for the rope," Jessie said.
"Seconded," Meowth said.
"Y'ever, I don't know, think about being nicer to people?" Ash asked.
"Briefly," Darkrai responded. "And then I remember that these people were the ones who thought operating high explosives was a good idea."
"Now how were we supposed to know there was a big huge cave down here?" James demanded.
"I don't know, but I feel like you deserve it."
Ash waited a beat. "Are you done now? Are you going to help out now?"
"No and…no. I'll get Brock and Misty, make you their problem."
"Fair enough," Ash said, watching as he zoomed away. Looked when Jessie started walking away a few minutes later. "Where are you going?"
"Do you really think he's coming back?" she asked.
"Um…."
"Jessie, no," James said, running after her. "I don't think wandering around here in the dark is a good idea."
"I'm stayin' right here where people can see me and rocks can't potentially fall on my head," Meowth announced. Looked when Ash followed Jessie and James. "Oi! Stupid humans…."
"Pika," Pikachu sighed, sounding like he was agreeing.
It wasn't like they were going very far, considering Jessie had stopped at the edge of the rim of light.
"I'm not going in there," James was telling her. "It's dark—we're likely to be eaten by a grue."
"Which Pokémon is that again?" Ash asked.
"You're such a baby," Jessie scolded, fishing in her pockets—pulled out a flashlight, grimaced when it fell apart. "Okay we need a plan B."
"We could wait until Darkrai comes back," Ash suggested.
"We need a plan C."
"Don't Pikachu learn Flash?" Meowth asked Pikachu. "I mean youse got enough badges ta do it."
"Pika pi ka?" Pikachu asked.
"Now how would I know?"
"Maybe Fire type would work better," Ash said, automatically reaching for—
Recalled his current situation when his fingers went through the empty space where Charmeleon's ball used to be. "Ah, right, I sent him to Professor Oak's."
James, fortunately, had already pulled out an alternative. "Go, Growlie! Use Ember and give us some light!"
The Growlithe barked, shot out a brief torrent of flame—
That reflected off a bunch of eyes before fading away.
Dead silence as they all processed this.
"See?" James asked finally. "Grue. I vote we stand in the middle of the light and avoid whatever that is."
"Ah-ha," Meowth noised—looked at Pikachu. "Maybe try like Thunder Wave all over?"
Pikachu nodded, lit up with electricity—
Which showed the eyes much closer—
Which was enough to send everyone scurrying back to the center of the lit portion of the cave and letting several Pokémon out.
"I've decided I officially hate spelunking," Jessie announced.
"Same," Ash agreed.
"Why did ya have ta let da bug out?" Meowth muttered, edging away from Frenzy.
"Because Frenzy is good protection?"
Growlie snorted, shot another torrent of flame, illuminating irregular shapes belonging to the glowing eyes—
And then the first of them stepped into the sun.
Whatever it was, it was tall, big enough that it was taller than Jessie and James, with long curving scythes for arms and a broad blunt head, all spiky and coated in armor and squinting in the sun. and there was more than just one, with small round shapes scurrying along beneath them as they fanned out—curved helixes with blue tentacles waving about—
And then one small helix with blue tentacles parked itself in front of them, posing and squeaking and glaring at them. Ash exchanged glances with Jessie and James—
All of them looked at Meowth.
"Huh boy," Meowth groaned—cleared his throat and started. "It says 'praise da helix!'"
"Didn't we run into those guys coming in?" James asked Jessie.
"No wait—that means this is an Omanyte!" Ash exclaimed—pulled his Pokédex out. "And the rest of them—Omastar, Kabuto, and Kabutops—are all…extinct fossil 'mons."
"They don't look extinct," Jessie muttered.
"Maybe it's like with that one fish in Hoenn," James mused. "What was it, Relicanth?"
The lead Omanyte squeaked indignantly.
"'Excuse me, I'm not done talking,'" Meowth translated. "'Now who dares to enter our domain?'"
"You're not going to do the motto, are you?" Ash asked them.
"The motto buys us time, is quality entertainment, and is a staple we cannot ignore," Jessie said.
Ash sighed. "Proceed."
Several Kabutops clicked their scythes together in applause when Jessie, James and Meowth finished their routine.
"And Ash and Pikachu and Frenzy," Ash said. "We don't have a motto yet."
"Bu ka buto," a Kabutops said.
"He says you need one," Meowth translated. "Dis is sound advice." Look at the Omanyte ranting and raving. "And dis one says dat 'we have trespassed into their domain, now we must face their wrath.'"
"Is that necessary?" Ash asked the Omanyte. "I mean it was kind of an accident."
"He says yes," Meowth said.
"Bu ka to," one Kabutops muttered—they looked at Meowth to see him smirking.
"'Shut up, Steve,'" Meowth translated.
"Their leader is named 'Steve'?" Jessie asked.
"'Shut up, Jessie.'"
"You shut up."
"Hey, I'm just translating." Watch as the Omanyte got into a heated argument with a Kabutops and several Kabuto, an Omastar trying to get them to stop. "Okay, now most of dat I don't feel comfortable translating with minors present."
"That bad," Ash said.
"Pretty much, yeah."
"Well at least they're arguing and not eating us," James offered.
"Dat's actually part of what da argument's about."
"Om a STAR!" the Omastar stormed finally.
"And what was that one?" Jessie asked.
"Something about not wanting ta wake her up," Meowth said, confused—
Everyone started and squashed closer at a roar echoing through the chamber.
"Bu ta," a Kabutops noised, cowering.
"'Now you've done it, Steve,'" Meowth translated.
"Wait—where are you all going?" Ash asked, looking around at all the fossil Pokémon scurrying away.
"I don't know, but maybe we should be doing it too," James said, already pushing Jessie towards a rocky crag—
And then something swooped over, blotting out the sun to land on a rocky outcropping over them.
Ash stared, pretty sure he knew this one from the Pewter Museum and definitely not wanting to risk pulling his Pokédex out for—Aerodactyl. Big, figured to be a Flying type thanks to the wings, jaws built for biting and crushing their thought-to-be-preferred prey of Omanyte.
It'd probably work well on people too, unfortunately.
"Maybe we don't move," James hissed. "It's vision's based on movement, right?"
"That's Tyrantrum," Ash hissed back.
"Maybe we get out of here before we're dinner," Jessie insisted, shuffling sideways, one eye on the Aerodactyl, busy staring at the opening in the cave ceiling as though trying to fathom it. The rest of them were quick to shuffle after Jessie, no sudden movements—
"Oh crud—Frenzy!" Ash hissed. "Frenzy, over here!"
Frenzy scuttled after Ash, making Growlie whine and shy away—
Which made the Aerodactyl look down.
Everyone froze. "Okay quick, backup plan," Jessie ordered.
"Maybe tell it we taste awful?" James suggested.
"We taste awful!" Meowth squawked, trembling.
The Aerodactyl snarled, lips curling up to reveal sharp teeth.
"Um, Meowth," Jessie said. "What was that one?"
Meowth gulped. "'Fresh meat.'"
The Aerodactyl roared and launched itself at them, divebombing them and causing them to scatter, diving for cover—
"Ghh—Pikachu! Thunder Shock!" Ash yelled.
Pikachu pivoted, launched a bolt of lightning at the Aerodactyl—
Which dodged but fortunately missed its swoop.
"Okay that might work—Growlie, Flamethrower!" James ordered. The Growlithe barked, shot a steady torrent of flame that it kept aimed for the Aerodactyl, moving whenever it dodged—
Yelped in alarm when it was blown away by a buffet from the Aerodactyl's wings.
"Pikachu, now! While it's distracted!" Ash barked—
Suddenly had bigger problems.
"What do you mean Ash was near the explosion and Team Rocket was involved didn't you do anything to stop it?"
"At the time I thought it was amusing," Darkrai countered stiffly.
"And then!" Misty continued, gesturing wildly as they followed. "And then he's in a cave with Team Rocket and you leave him there?"
"Keep talking and I'll leave you in there with them too."
"Guys, please focus," Brock said. "We need to get Ash out at least—and before the cops come investigating another 'potential terrorist threat from helix cultists.'"
"I thought it was the dome guys who were doing the terroristic threatening," Misty said.
"Does it really make a difference?"
"I guess not."
"Good," Darkrai said. "Because we should be right up—"
They all flinched back at something big and purple shooting out of the hole in the ground, screeching in triumph as something screamed like a stuck Grumpig—oh please don't tell him.
"Please don't tell me that whatever that is has Ash," Misty said.
"I think I'm going to have to," Brock started—
Was all he got out before Darkrai launched into the air after the purple thing. Oi why was it always him.
On the positive side, it took something a lot faster than whatever this was to out-speed a Darkrai, who was pulling up near a screaming and flailing Ash in short order.
"I'm curious," Darkrai asked him. "If you got it to drop you, what was the plan then?"
Ash stopped for a second. "I don't know, I just figured it was better than getting EATEN!"
The purple thing glanced back—
Dove away with a shriek. "MINE!"
"No, mine," Darkrai snarled, keeping pace. "Get your own village idiot." Had to dodge a whipping tail, stayed even—it was diving for the ground, would probably try for a feint—
It had to take a double take when he kept pace with it through the blistering maneuver.
"You're going to have to do better than that," he snarled—right before Sucker-Punching it in the throat. It wheezed, flailing backwards—
Another blow to the head knocked it out—fell with it, prying its claws open so he could grab Ash—
"Wait!" Ash yelped as he tugged him away. "What about Aerodactyl? It'll die from this height!"
"Not my problem," Darkrai groused, already slowing down—
Ash squirmed a little until he could get to an empty ball, threw it after the Aerodactyl—
Which vanished in a flash of light.
They searched the empty space for a flash of red and white, saw none.
"D'you think the Pokéball survived the fall?" Ash asked.
"Physics favors it more than the purple people-eater," Darkrai said. "Come on, let's get back to semi-solid ground."
Team Rocket excused themselves as soon as they were out of the cave, took off as soon as James put Frenzy down and declared he had come close enough to death for one day.
"You know that means you, right?" Misty asked the Paras. "You give people concerns."
Speaking of people who gave people concerns—
"ASH!" Pikachu exclaimed, tackling him as soon as Darkrai put him down. "You idiot stop getting nearly eaten or all the way eaten you have NO SELF-PRESERVATION WHATSOEVER!"
"I don't get a thank you?" Darkrai asked.
"No."
Misty and Brock were quick to haul Ash back upright, dusting him off and demanding to know if he was okay—Darkrai took off when the rest of the digging people arrived, several officers in tow.
The reason the officers looked so frazzled was because the diggers had seen the purple thing flying around, swore it was a rare thought-dead Pokémon and wanted to find it despite the officers saying the place was unstable—
Everyone having to flee further downhill when more of the ground started collapsing cemented this.
"Okay, that's it!" the lead officer yelled, her Arcanine giving everyone stern glares. "Everyone out of the canyon, it's not safe—"
"Look!" someone yelled.
Pikachu did so—
Groaned when he saw Steve the Omanyte come out of the rubble, his fossil entourage behind him.
"Greetings, loyal subjects!" he yelled, tentacles everywhere. "Bow before your new ruler: ME!"
"Shut up, Steve," one of the Kabutops muttered, walking by him.
"Yeah, I'm just coming out here because it beats being in that cave," a different one said.
"You guys suck," Steve muttered—
The fossil 'mons flinched back at the humans approaching with something resembling awe.
"That's a Kabuto," someone said, pointing.
"Kabutops!" a different one gasped. "This has been my favorite since I was a little kid look at it!"
"Ah, now THIS is more like it!" Steve declared, as several people gathered around him and crouched down to get better looks. "Bow before me, new loyal subjects!"
"And we lost Steve," an Omastar sighed.
"You promise?" a different Omastar asked.
Pikachu sighed—twitched his ears and looked up when Brock tapped the others on the arm.
"I say we get out of here while everyone's distracted," he said.
"I like this plan," Pikachu said, pointing.
Ash hesitated, hands flexing—
"Not yet," he said. "Look, when Darkrai knocked the Aerodactyl out I threw a Pokéball at it—I think I caught it too but I don't know where it landed. It would have made it, right?"
Brock considered. "Well, it would have a better chance than an Aerodactyl hitting the ground, so…maybe."
"Ash, that could have bounced anywhere," Misty pointed out.
"Yeah, but we have to at least try, right?" Ash insisted.
The older kids sighed at that. "We'll help you look."
Pikachu sighed again—twitched in surprise when a flash of light appeared next to him.
"Lewis, what are you doing?" Ash asked.
"I sensed a lot of happy out here!" Lewis said, flapping his arms as he looked around. "What's going on? Are we playing?"
"No—hey wait—didn't Darkrai say Riolu sense auras?"
"Might be worth a shot," Brock said.
"Great—come on, Lewis, can you find Aerodactyl? It'll uh…it'll feel big and purple!"
"I'm pretty sure that's not how it works," Misty said, amused.
"Right," Ash muttered, pulling a Pokéball out. "It'll be in something like this—small, round, and red and white. Think you can help us?"
"We're playing?" Lewis asked, aura-sensors perked. "All right!"
"I'll go with him and make sure he doesn't hurt himself," Pikachu sighed, as the humans started fanning out and looking.
"Ah, for the record, I'm going to have to get a couple of Kabuto for my siblings," Brock said after a few minutes of hunting.
"Better go get some while there's still some to get then," Misty said, looking.
Ash nodded. "I'm definitely not leaving without that Aerodactyl."
"Ash, that thing tried to eat you. Do you know how painful that would have been? For the Pokémon?"
"Nice," Darkrai observed, poking out of a shadowy spot.
"I do try."
"I almost liked it better when you two didn't get along," Brock sighed.
"The world made more sense then," Ash agreed.
Pikachu nodded, keeping an eye on Lewis—
Started when Lewis ran back to the trainers.
"I found it I found it!" he cheered, holding his item up. "It's small and it's round and it's got red and white and it has something in it!"
"Uh, thanks," Ash said, taking it. "Lewis this…I think this is an egg."
"It's definitely an egg," Brock agreed. "Where did you find it?"
Lewis was happy to show them.
"This doesn't look like a nest," Brock observed. "I wonder what happened to the mother."
"Probably scared off by the blasting," Darkrai observed. "Is it still warm?"
"Not really," Ash reported.
"Then I'm going to say she's not coming back."
"Aw, poor thing," Misty noised. "Ash maybe you should take it—it's gotta be better than that Aerodactyl."
Ash looked at Lewis bounding around again. "Um…I think taking care of one baby 'mon is enough. You take it."
"I'm not sure if that's such a good idea."
"We'll debate on it later," Brock said, taking the egg and putting it in his backpack. "And I was looking forward to space in my backpack again."
"Sorry," Ash said—looked when Lewis came running back.
"I found another one!" Lewis reported. "It's small and round and red and white and it has something in it!"
This one actually was a Pokéball—Pikachu bounded over, interested as Ash peered through the top—
"You did it!" Ash exclaimed. "Wait—wait I did it too I caught an Aerodactyl—mmph!"
"Maybe you don't say that so loud while there's reporters that can hear you," Misty counselled.
"Phh—right," Ash agreed, glancing over.
"Well then," Brock said, clapping his hands. "If you'll excuse me, I need to catch some of my sibs their favorite fossils."
"I like this game!" Lewis declared happily.
"Yeah nice but the game is over now," Pikachu told him.
"But Brock's getting ready to play!"
Oi. "Then go over there and help him play fetch."
Lewis yipped happily, ran after him—oh wait maybe he shouldn't have done that—
Blinked at an Omastar standing nearby. "Uh, Ash—"
The two trainers cut off their mild bickering as they registered the fossil Pokémon standing in front of them.
"Are you lot leaving?" it asked. When Pikachu nodded: "Take me with you—I have a need to get as FAR away from Steve as possible."
Pikachu looked at the trainers blankly, then at Darkrai, gesturing slightly.
Darkrai sighed. "The living fossil wants to come with."
"Nice," Ash declared happily. "Are you sure?"
"Dead sure," the Omastar said, pointing Steve out. Everyone made an understanding noise at that.
"So who do you want to go with?"
"Me," Misty offered, crouching next to Omastar. "Besides, you and Brock got something out of the deal—and it looks like a Water type, so…."
Brock ran back up to them. "So that was easier than I thought," he reported as Lewis hopped into Ash's arms.
"I fetched ALL the round small red and white things," he declared happily.
"Uh…good job, Lewis," Ash said, fishing for his Pokéball. "Return."
Misty checked the surrounding area to see if anyone was watching, captured Omastar. "Okay let's go."
"Yeah," Brock agreed, herding them to the exit. "I mean, everyone's going to be busy with those 'mons, and there were enough that they might not notice some of them missing, but eventually it's going to occur to people to ask about the Aerodactyl."
"Speaking of which," Misty said, looking at Ash. "You can't be planning on training that thing it tried to eat you."
"I'm sure once we feed it it'll be fine," Ash said, looking at the Pokéball. "Besides, I've always wanted to train one!"
"This will end badly," Misty sighed.
Misty was right, and after nearly being reintroduced to Aerodactyl's digestive system Ash was forced to concede the point and send it to Professor Oak's at the next Pokémon Center.
The very frantic call Ash received a few days later when he called to check in made him think that he probably could have warned the professor beforehand.