Regeneration
It was around noon when Zoey saw Cinnabar Island in the distance. "There it is!" Charizard accelerated and landed on the shore of the island. She let Zoey climb off her back. "Thanks girl. You deserve a rest." She returned her into her Pokeball.
"Wow, I'm already at my seventh badge. I'm so excited!"
"Eevee!"
They walked into the island's city and decided to get something to eat. Zoey sat down on a table outside the small restaurant, Eevee sitting on the table. The two ate a meal happily.
"Hmm, let's see. Currently in my party, I have you, Charizard, Marowak, Elekid, Nidoqueen, and Vileplume. I wonder if I can catch anymore Pokemon here? I desperately need a Water type."
"Eevee? Eevee eve!"
"Yeah, even though Nidoqueen can learn Water moves, she'll still take damage from an actual Water Pokemon since she's part Ground. Hmm. Hey, do you want to go fishing Eevee to see what we catch? Hopefully I don't get another Gyarados!"
"Eevee?"
"Well you see, the first time I tried to fish, Charizard was still a Charmander and we were at Vermillion. So we did catch something, but it was a Gyarados which completely scared us. Luckily Joey was there to prevent it from attacking us. Anyway, now that my Pokemon are stronger, I don't have to worry anymore! So! Wanna go fishing with me?"
"Eevee!"
"Okay!"
After paying for the food, Zoey walked to the shore again and sat on a rock, Eevee next to her. She took out her fishing rod and put some bait on it, tossing it out into the sea. "This might take a while…hmm…"
Sure enough, it did. Zoey waited about half an hour before she caught anything. When she felt something tug at her line, she reeled it in, only to find a Magikarp. "Oh…no…this won't do…" She tossed it out again.
"I'm starting to wonder if I'm ever gonna catch something useful. There are a lot of Water Pokemon, but catching some of them is hard when you're out at sea since you mostly find Magikarp. Maybe if I'm lucky I'll get a Tentacool or something."
In an instant, something tugged at her line. "Woah! This feels heavy!" She tried to reel it in, but it was too strong. "Oh my. Eevee! Release Nidoqueen to help me!"
The little Pokemon did as she was told and looked for Nidoqueen's Pokeball. She released her and then Zoey said, "Nidoqueen! I need help with this please!" Her Pokemon grabbed the rod and using all of her strength, pulled it. The Pokemon at the end of the line finally gave up and let itself be reeled in.
"Yes! Huh?"
What came out first was a gray shell and then slowly the rest of the Pokemon emerged from the water. "Lapras?"
The Pokemon looked at her in surprise, and then smiled. "Ra!" She swam over to Zoey and nudged her affectionately.
"Hey!" Zoey giggled. "How are you doing? Sorry about catching your shell. Here, I'll take the line off." She climbed onto Lapras' back and removed the line from the shell. "Yeah, sorry again. I was just trying to catch a Water Pokemon since my friend told me I should have one. I don't want to risk Nidoqueen getting hurt by a Water attack."
Zoey paused for a moment, and then said, "Lapras…"
The large sea Pokemon looked at her and then smiled happily. "Ra!"
"Will you…be my first ever Water Pokemon?"
Lapras nodded happily. "Great! Oh but, I feel like I should battle you first. I mean, you're a really rare Pokemon, and I don't want to take you just like that. What do you say? Will you battle me?"
The Pokemon nodded and Zoey smiled, getting off her back. "Okay then!" She grabbed one of her Pokeballs and sent it flying. "Elekid, I choose you!"
The baby Pokemon came out. "Bi!" He saw Zoey and ran to her, hugging her leg affectionately.
"No, not now Elekid! We're going to battle!" She pointed to Lapras. Elekid looked at the large Pokemon and then returned to his place.
"Okay, Elekid, use Quick Attack!" The small Pokemon ran to Lapras and was about to slam into her, when she dodged it and used an Ice Beam.
"Elekid, dodge!"
The baby rolled out of the way. "Now use Thundershock!" Elekid twirled his arms and shot electricity from the horns on his head at Lapras. She got hit but because he was still young, it didn't do as much damage to her as it would have if he were evolved.
Lapras leaped out of the water and slammed onto the shore. She was going to prove that she's just as efficient on land as she is in the water. Lapras leaped up again and slammed on top of Elekid.
"BIIII!"
"Oh no! I think she used a Body Slam! E-Elekid! Use Thundershock again!"
The jolt was weak, but it was enough to get Lapras off. Elekid looked tired and Zoey decided to return him before he got injured further. "Return Elekid!" She grabbed another Pokeball. "Go Vileplume!"
"Vilepluuume!"
"Use Stun Spore!"
Yellow spores came out of Vileplume's head, but Lapras knew how to get around that. She shot a pulse of water from her mouth at the spores, dowsing them and rendering them useless.
"Dang. Vileplume, Bullet Seed!" Vileplume shot multiple bullets at Lapras, who got hit in the neck and face. Though she was being pelted with the seeds, she opened her mouth again and used Ice Beam, freezing the rapid fire of seeds and eventually reaching Vileplume.
"Vile!" The Pokemon shivered out of cold.
"Vileplume! Use Razor Leaf!"
The Pokemon shot leaves at Lapras who got cut with a few of them, but slid across the trail of wet sand that was made with the Water Pulse and used Body Slam again, knocking Vileplume unconscious.
"Are you serious? Oh, Vileplume, return!" Zoey put her Pokeball away. "Dang. Lapras is such a strong Water type!" She scowled, but then smiled determinedly. "All the more reason why I should catch her! Alright Nidoqueen, you're up!"
Nidoqueen walked in front of Zoey and roared. "Nido!"
Lapras used Ice Beam again, but Nidoqueen dodged it. "Use Sludge Bomb!"
Nidoqueen shot a big ball of sludge from her mouth at Lapras who got hit in the face with it. It stung her eyes and she couldn't see. Plus, it was poisoning her.
"Great! Now use Brick Break!"
Nidoqueen charged at Lapras and slammed her fist onto her opponent's back, causing Lapras to cry out in pain. "Good job! Now let's finish Lapras with a Dig attack!"
Nidoqueen burrowed into the ground and then shot up directly underneath Lapras, sending her flying a few feet above the air. Zoey took this chance to catch her. "I bought this at Fuchsia and it's supposed to help catch Water Pokemon." She tossed a Net Ball at Lapras. The ball bounced off of Lapras and opened, a stream of red energy capturing her inside.
The ball wobbled on the sand for a few moments, and Zoey hoped with all of her might that Lapras would stay inside. Finally, the ball stopped wobbling and stood still.
"Yes! I caught Lapras!" Zoey jumped for joy and ran to the Net Ball, picking it up and holding it triumphantly. "Wow, my first Water Pokemon. And it's a rare one at that too!" She looked at Nidoqueen. "Thank you so much Nidoqueen! You were great!"
"Nidoqueen!" Zoey ran up to her Pokemon and hugged her, Nidoqueen very happy. Eevee smiled.
"Good job girl." She returned her to her Pokeball. "Okay, guess we're gonna have to go to the Pokemon Center again Eevee."
"Vee!"
Zoey walked to the Pokemon Center and asked Nurse Joy to heal her Pokemon.
"Oh of course!"
"Oh, wait, except this one." She took Nidoqueen's Pokeball and replaced it with Lapras'.
"Caught a new Pokemon?"
"Yup!"
"Okay then, I'll heal this one too!"
Nurse Joy took the tray of Pokeballs to the machine to heal them, while Zoey walked to the phones and sat down. She dialed the Pallet Pokemon Lab and Prof. Gary answered.
"Zoey!"
"Hello professor!"
"I heard what happened to you back at Saffron. Are you okay?"
"Oh yeah, I'm fine. Don't worry about it."
"Well I'm glad. That notorious Team Rocket keeps slipping away from the Officers. They were supposed to have disbanded sometime ago but I guess they've been revived…"
"I hope they don't appear anywhere anytime soon."
"I hope the same thing. Anyway, what can I do for you?"
"Oh! I want to give you my Nidoqueen to hold since I caught another Pokemon!"
"Really? Which one?"
"Well I haven't had a Water Pokemon before, and I had been using Nidoqueen as a substitute but…well, I decided it was time I get one. And so, I went fishing today."
"Where are you exactly?"
"At Cinnabar Island. That's where I caught my new Pokemon. At first I was only catching Magikarp which…will take forever to train and they're not very good at anything but just being there…but luckily I caught something greater!"
"Oh?"
"Yes! I caught a Lapras!"
"Wow! That's great! Lapras are really strong Pokemon so make sure to take care of it!"
"I will. I had actually met this Lapras back at Vermillion."
"Really?" Zoey proceeded to tell him the story about Marina and the first time she met Lapras.
"Oh, well that's nice. Looks like that Lapras liked you before you even caught her!"
"Yup! So, would you mind taking care of Nidoqueen for me please?"
"Sure thing!"
Zoey walked over to the transport machine near the phones and the Pokeball was sent to Prof. Gary, who then released Nidoqueen. "Hello Nidoqueen. So glad you could be here!"
Nidoqueen nodded and looked at the screen, waving at Zoey. The Trainer waved back. "Don't worry Nidoqueen, we'll still train some more, but right now I need to train Lapras! Okay?"
Nidoqueen nodded and began to walk around the lab, looking at various things. "Well, your Nidoqueen seems to be very understanding."
"She is. I'm so glad I caught a Pokemon like her."
"Anyway Zoey, it's a good thing you caught a Water type."
"Oh really? Why is that?"
"This is the city with the next Gym in it, and the Leader uses Fire types."
"Wow! How lucky am I?"
Prof. Gary laughed. "Very. Just make sure to train your Lapras enough for the Gym. She's also part Ice and Fire attacks work extremely well against them. Though Lapras is a Water Pokemon, she can still take considerable damage with strong Fire attacks like Flamethrower or Fireblast. The weaker ones will do less damage, like Ember or Fire Spin. Plus, Lapras have great endurance, so she should fare well in your next Gym battle."
"I'm sure she will, because I needed to use Elekid, Vileplume, and Nidoqueen to catch her!"
"You see? Then it's a good thing you did!"
"Yup!"
"Well anyway Zoey, I'm glad you're alright. And hey, why don't you stop by the lab on Cinnabar?"
"Hmm? Oh my goodness! I almost forgot!"
"Forgot what?"
"I have some fossils that I found back at Mt. Moon and Officer Jenny told me I could come here to revive them."
"Well she was right. This is the only place in Kanto where you can revive fossilized Pokemon, though I think the Pewter City Museum is working on gaining this kind of technology as well."
"Oh, okay. I think I'll go do that first then!"
"Alright. Oh, I see Nurse Joy is done with your Pokemon. Well anyway, it was nice talking to you again Zoey and I'm so glad you're alright!"
"Thanks Professor."
"Good luck with your battle, and do inform me of what Pokemon were revived from your fossils okay?"
"Okay, thanks!"
The screen turned off and Zoey walked over to the counter. Nurse Joy handed her the Pokemon back. "Here you go!"
"Thanks!" She put them all back inside her bag, looking at Lapras' happily before putting it in last.
"Well Eevee, wanna head over to the lab?"
"Eevee!"
Zoey had to ask a few people where the lab was and they were generous enough to give her specific directions. When she found it, she gazed up at it. "Wow, impressive!"
"Eevee!" The two walked into the lab and up to the receptionist.
"Oh, welcome to the Cinnabar Island Research Lab! How may I help you?"
"I have some fossils I found and I would like to see if it's possible to revive them."
"Oh of course it's possible!" said a voice. Zoey turned around to her right and the receptionist smiled.
"Good afternoon Professor Edward."
"Good afternoon to you too! So!" he began as he turned to Zoey. "You want to revive some fossils huh?"
"Oh, yeah I do!"
"Well then, follow me!"
Zoey followed the man with Eevee on her shoulder. "So, are you really a professor?"
"Well, I'm more of a scientist. I hope to someday be a great professor like Oak though!"
"Oh, I see." Professor Edward was tall with a bright smile. His black hair looked disheveled and wore glasses with huge lenses. He also looked pretty young to be a scientist.
"So, what is your name young lady?"
"Oh, my name is Zoey Ketchum and I'm on my Pokemon quest to become the Kanto League Champion!"
"Zoey Ketchum you say? Wow! So then you're the original Ketchum's kid I see! Hmm, surprised to see he has a daughter! I thought he would have a son, but this is great! So Zoey, where did you find your Eevee? They're rare Pokemon after all."
"Oh, Eevee? Well actually, I found her in a Team Rocket base, under Celadon's Game Corner. I rescued her from there, so now she's my Pokemon."
"Team Rocket huh? I hate those guys. They research on Pokemon for all the wrong reasons! Us scientists are supposed to do research to learn more about Pokemon and help them and live in peace among them. But it's the twisted scientists like the ones at Team Rocket's disposal that are the problem. If they didn't get their hands on those scientists, then Team Rocket would be a lot less threatening…"
"Really?"
"Of course! It's the scientists who have all the knowledge."
"Oh. Uhm, Professor?"
"Just call me Ed!"
"Okay…then Ed? May I ask you a question?"
"Sure!"
"Well…" Zoey told him about her encounters with Team Rocket back at the Silph Headquarters. "…and I was wondering…is it possible to make a pill that will increase all the stats of the Pokemon permanently?"
"I don't know to be honest with you. We've never tried it because we believe it's the Trainer's job to bring out the Pokemon's strength, not by some artificial method."
"That's a great answer."
"Why thank you! Anyway, I don't think those pills will work, or the other method you were talking about, the collar."
"Why not?"
"Because if what you said about both of those is true, they'll harm the Pokemon and cause their lifespan to shorten. Team Rocket thinks they'll strengthen the Pokemon, but it's like sugar: it'll only give you strength for a while, until it starts to drain your energy. Eventually the Pokemon are going to get tired instead of hyped when they take those pills, so instead of increasing their energy, it's actually going to deplete it."
"Wow, you know so much!"
"It's actually because the officers in Saffron were investigating the Silph building and found some papers there from the research that nefarious gang was using, so they sent them here to see if we can understand what they were trying to do. Now we're trying to figure out if there's a possible way to restore the Pokemon."
"Restore?"
"Officer Jenny of Saffron told me that there was about a dozen Pokemon that had enough energy left to be healed, but they're not in tip top shape to say the least. Here at our lab, we're trying to figure out if there's a way to reverse the effects of the pills so the Pokemon can get their strength back. That's how I know all of this, and I wanted to tell you so you don't think I was some kind of Rocket spy!"
"Oh, no, that's totally understandable!"
"Oh okay, because by my physical appearance, some people think I'm a 'mad' scientist when I'm really not! I just get so absorbed in my research and helping my fellow scientists that I forget to comb my hair sometimes!" He laughed.
Zoey chuckled. "I see."
"Ah, I should probably comb my hair now though…" He walked into his office and grabbed a comb from his drawer. Zoey looked around and saw that it was a very messy office and stacks of books and papers littered the floor.
"You have a lot of research material here Ed."
"Oh!" He laughed embarrassingly. "Y-Yeah…I tend to check out books from the library on this island and forget to return them, so I end up just paying for them and keeping them. That's how I waste my paycheck…not too bright…"
Zoey giggled. "I don't think it's a waste. You're helping the world with your research, Pokemon and humans alike!"
"Thank you Zoey. You don't know how happy that makes me feel! Now, I gotta run to the bathroom since there isn't a mirror in here and then I'll check if the machine to revive your fossils is not occupied. I'll be right back."
"Okay."
The scientist left and Zoey looked around his office. She saw a picture frame with a man in a lab coat who looked like him, except he looked a lot older. She guessed this was his father and the boy in his arms was Professor Edward, and the woman standing next to the man was probably his wife. There were other pictures around the room with the same man and little Edward. Most of them were of his father researching and Edward watching him intently and admiringly.
Zoey smiled. "Guess he wanted to follow in his father's footsteps, just like I did."
The young girl continued to look at the photos happily. A small lavender blob squeezed out of a crevice of file cabinets and slid over to Zoey. It attached to her leg and chills were sent down her spine.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Professor Edward came running into his office. "What happened?"
"OH MY GOD! WHAT IS THAT? GET IT OFF!"
Edward looked at the thing on Zoey's leg and it crawled up, attaching to her skirt and then crawling onto her arm. The professor laughed.
"WHAT IS SO FUNNY? THIS THING IS DISGUSTING! EEVEE! USE BITE!"
Eevee immediately bit the purple blob and it cried in pain, falling to the floor and dashing to a corner where it trembled in fear. Eevee chased after it and growled, her hair sticking up as the little blob continued to tremble.
"Oh, Zoey! Don't be mean!"
"It was attacking me!"
"No it wasn't! It was trying to be friendly and say hello!"
"That thing…it's not a Grimer is it? Oh god because if it is, I need to shower!"
"No no!" Professor Edward walked over to Eevee and picked her up, handing her to Zoey. Then he picked up the trembling blob. "It's okay. She was just scared is all…" He pet it comfortingly and it stopped trembling. Zoey finally saw its face which only consisted of two small eyes and a mouth.
"What is…"
"Zoey, I'd like you to meet Ditto."
"Ditto?"
She took out her Pokedex. "Ditto, the Transform Pokemon. It has the ability to reconstitute its entire cellular structure to transform into whatever it sees."
"So…that thing is a Pokemon?"
"Yep! Ditto are all over the lab, you just can't see them because they can transform into anything. I have a Ditto, except it has transformed into that book on my table because your screaming startled it."
Zoey looked back at the table and noticed a book began to glow and when the light was gone, Ditto was sitting on the desk. "Ditto!"
"Oh, I see now."
The Ditto splat onto the floor and then walked over (at least Zoey considered it to be walking since it didn't have legs) to Professor Edward and then climbed up to his shoulder and smiled, waving at Zoey with whatever seemed to be its hand or arm. It was really just a blob so she didn't think it hand any limbs or something of the sort.
"Oh, h-hello Ditto," she said as she waved at it. "Sorry for startling you before."
Ditto just smiled.
"It forgives you."
"It?"
"Ditto are one of the few Pokemon that don't have genders, like Voltorb and Magnemite."
"Oh, I see."
"Anyway," he said looking down at the blob in his scooped hands. "This is a Ditto we found a while back outside our research lab. It's been hanging around ever since, though it gets scared easily despite it being friendly. I think you hurt its feelings because you told Eevee to attack it."
"W-Well I didn't know what it was!" She looked at Ditto and it seemed to be crying since little tears were falling from its eyes and its mouth kept quivering. "Oh I'm so sorry Ditto!"
Ditto covered its face with a hand and trembled again. "I think you should hold it Zoey so it knows you won't attack it again."
"D-Ditto!" it cried to Edward. It shook its head and hid its face against his shirt.
"It's okay Ditto. She won't harm you again." He stood in front of Zoey. "Here, I want you to hold it. Maybe it'll be comforted when you do."
"Oh, well, okay."
Zoey held out her hands and the professor put Ditto there, though he had to shake it off a bit since it wouldn't let go of his own hand. Once it was in Zoey's palms, she realized it wasn't slimy at all like Grimer, though it was squishy and a bit cold.
She held Ditto up to her face. "Hello Ditto."
The Pokemon continued to tremble and little sobs escaped from its mouth, making Zoey feel bad especially since to her they sounded very cute.
"Oh, I'm really sorry Ditto! Honest! You just surprised me that's all! And I have never seen a Ditto so…I didn't know what you were…" The Ditto peeked from its hand and looked at her. She held it close to her chest and put a hand on what she considered to be its head (really, it was hard to tell what any kind of body part was on this thing). The Ditto cringed a bit, but calmed down after she began to pet it.
"I'm sorry okay? And Eevee is too. Right girl?"
Eevee nodded from Zoey's shoulder. "Eevee eve…" she said to Ditto.
The blob looked at Zoey, and then at Eevee, who were now smiling at Ditto. Slowly, it began to smile and cuddled Zoey happily. "You know, Ditto is really cute now that I look at it."
Professor Edward laughed. "Yeah they are. There are so many here that every scientist in this lab has one or two."
"Don't they get confused as to which Ditto is theirs?"
"No, because they put little things on them, like bows or stars, or sometimes put little colorful rocks on them. Strangely they stick to the Pokemon so you can tell which Ditto belongs to which."
"How do you know that one is yours?"
"Oh, it has glasses like me!"
"Really?"
Ditto morphed some glasses onto its face and smiled. "Ditto!"
"Oh how cute!"
"Yeah, I nicknamed it Edward Jr. and it doesn't matter because Ditto can't be male or female."
"So, that Ditto has just as much of a chance as being male as it does female?"
"Well, I guess you can put it that way. Ditto are used for breeding Pokemon that can't be bred, like Nidoqueen and Nidoking. A lot of Breeders have Dittos so they can transform to be able to mate with these particular Pokemon."
"Wow, that's amazing!"
"Yup, and they can also breed with other non-gender Pokemon too."
"Woah. So…it's basically like…the Trainer or Breeder can choose the gender of it?"
"In certain circumstances, yes."
"Oh I see." She looked at the Ditto in her arms. "Well I don't care if this Pokemon were to be a male or female. It's cute and friendly either way! Hmm…" She took out something from her bag and put it on its belly. "There, I hereby dub you to be a male Ditto! That's a bowtie so you're able to be distinguished!"
"Ditto ditto!" it cried happily.
"Er…well actually Zoey, it doesn't quite work like that-" but he was ignored as she cuddled the Ditto as it giggled.
Professor Edward sighed and then chuckled. "Looks like you got really attached to that Ditto. Anyway, I checked with the other scientists and it looks like the machine is ready to revive your fossils!"
"Oh that's great!"
"Yep! Now just follow me and we'll have some new Pokemon for you in no time!"
Zoey followed Edward down the hall and into a large room with other scientists in it. Some of them had clipboards and others were at large computers. The stray Ditto was now sitting on Zoey's other shoulder, comfortable with the view.
"Well, here we are!"
"Wow, that's a big machine!"
"Yep, it is." The machine used for reviving fossilized Pokemon was a giant tube with a control board in front of it. There were thick heavy wires at the bottom that connected to various places in the room.
"So, let's see what kind of fossils you have!"
"Uhm, well I have two. I guess I should start with the one I found at Mt. Moon." Zoey took out the rock and handed it to Edward.
"Oh, I think I know what this might be! Let's see if our assumption is correct!" He pressed a button on the control pad and the tube opened. He placed the fossil in the center and then closed the tube. He went to the control pad and typed in a few things, finalizing it with pressing a red button.
"There. This kind of technology is fast, so it shouldn't take long, especially since it's a small fossil."
White beams of light came from on top on the inside of the tube at shot at the fossil. From below, white light was also present. Zoey and the two Pokemon on her shoulder watched intently as the fossil started to morph. After a few minutes, Edward stopped the machine and opened the tube.
"Well, I was right! There you go Zoey!"
She walked over to the tube. "Ed, it looks the same! It's just a shell without the rock and dirt!"
"Hold on. Wait a few seconds."
Zoey stared at it and so did Eevee and Ditto. Then she began to see something blue emerge from the shell. Little tentacles appeared and then two big eyes. It looked around the room and all the other scientists. It looked afraid and backed away a little, covering its eyes with two of its tentacles.
"Another shy Pokemon?"
"No, this one is probably just in shock from being revived. Don't worry though. It'll come around. Anyway, congratulations Zoey! You are now the proud owner of the prehistoric Omanyte!"
"Omanyte?" She took out her Pokedex again. "Omanyte, the Spiral Pokemon. A Pokemon that was resurrected from a fossil using modern science. It swam in ancient seas."
"Wow, my first fossilized Pokemon!"
Edward smiled as Zoey looked at the Pokemon happily. "Here Ed," said a fellow scientist. "It's Omanyte's statistics."
"Oh, thank you!" He looked at the paper and walked over to Zoey. "Well now Zoey. This particular Omanyte seems to be in good health. It has a Timid nature which means it's Speed increases the fastest. Its current attacks are Bite, Rollout, Water Pulse, and Leer. Hmm…it's also a male Omanyte."
"Wow! You learned all of that from just resurrecting it?"
"Yup! We have very advanced technology in this building!"
"I can see that! So, my Omanyte is a male huh?"
"Yup!"
Zoey reached out and grabbed the shell, in which Omanyte quickly retreated into it. She held his shell in her hands. "Wow, he's kinda heavy for being a small Pokemon."
"Omanyte are Water and Rock types."
"Really? What a coincidence! Man, at the time I desperately need Water Pokemon, I happen to find rare ones!" She looked at the shell. "Is he going to come out?"
"Mm, maybe. Since he has a Timid nature, it might take him some time to get used to you."
Omanyte slowly began to come out of his shell. His tentacles felt wet and slimy on Zoey's hands but she didn't care. He looked up at her and blinked.
"Hello Omanyte! My name is Zoey and I'm gonna be your new buddy! This is my girl Eevee, and this is my new friend Ditto!"
"Eevee!"
"Ditto!"
Omanyte slowly and shyly waved with one tentacle at Zoey and at the Pokemon. "He's so cute! Aww ~" She pet his shell and he recoiled a bit, but then calmed down. Once he figured out she was no threat to him, he smiled.
"Omanyte!"
Zoey grinned. "Well, guess I have to put him in a Pokeball. Let's see if I have some extras…oh I do!" She took one out. "Okay Omanyte, I'm just gonna put you in this-"
Omanyte immediately retreated inside his shell and trembled. "N-No! It's nothing bad! This is what I'm going to use to carry you around! Please don't be afraid! I won't hurt you!"
"Maybe you should catch him while he's like that so he doesn't have the chance to scurry away."
"You're right." Zoey tapped the Pokeball on Omanyte's shell and it opened, turning him into red energy and then closing. The ball wobbled a bit in her hands, but at last, it stopped moving.
"Yes! Another Water Pokemon! That makes two!"
"Eevee!"
"Ditto!"
She released Omanyte and said, "You see? That wasn't so bad." She grabbed him and put him on top of her hat. He came out of his shell once again and looked around. He became happy, the emotion clearly evident on his face. He seemed to like being so high up and looking around.
"I think he'll get used to you very quickly Zoey," Edward said. "Now, do you have any other fossils?"
"Oh, yeah, this Amber that Officer Jenny gave me because the Pewter Museum wanted her to take it here, but since she couldn't leave, she gave it to me to do the job."
"Ah okay! Oh wait, Amber you say?"
"Yes."
"Hmm. You might wanna step back for this one."
"Why?"
"You'll see."
Zoey gave him the Amber and he placed it in the center of the tube again. He closed it and this time pressed more buttons. Zoey noticed that a tubular wall of metal bars came out from on top of the tube and locked when it reached the bottom.
"Okay, just want you to know Zoey that there's a chance you might have to battle whatever comes out of this thing."
"R-Really?"
"Yup. We've revived Amber only one other time in this lab, and that was for Lance in the Elite Four. What came out of the Amber he brought us was a vicious Pokemon but he was able to tame it with ease and catch it with ease as well. I hope you'll have that kind of potential too."
Zoey gulped as Edward turned on the machine again. It took longer to revive this fossil but the girl waited patiently anyway. She figured it took about ten minutes until the process was almost complete. By this time, the entire tube was filled with light so she couldn't see what was inside.
"Okay, it's almost done." A few more seconds remained, and then Edward turned off the machine. When the light was gone, something gray was lying on the floor of the tube. Zoey couldn't tell what it was, but she guessed it was probably dangerous because a lot of the scientists had stepped back, including Edward. He pulled Zoey next to him for safety.
"What…is that professor?"
"It's a dangerous prehistoric Pokemon. I wouldn't recommend trying to be friendly with it right away like what you did with Omanyte. Let's see what happens when it wakes up."
Zoey noticed that wings had been covering most of its body and a long tail emerged from underneath it. The Pokemon opened its eyes and Zoey jumped a bit. Just by looking at its eyes alone seemed dangerous. She noticed it had a huge jaw that contained razor sharp teeth as it yawned. It stood up on two legs but there wasn't enough room to spread its wings fully.
"AERODACTUUUL!" it roared loudly.
"Just as I thought," Edward said. "It's an Aerodactyl."
"An…Aerodactyl?" She took out her Pokedex again. "Aerodactyl, the Fossil Pokemon. A Pokemon that roamed the skies in the dinosaur era. Its teeth are like saw blades."
"Oh my goodness…that does seem like a dangerous Pokemon…"
The Pokemon inside looked around and then spotted Zoey. She stared at it and all was quiet until it roared loudly again. "AERODACTUUUUL!"
The Pokemon were greatly startled. Omanyte shrieked and retreated inside his shell, Ditto crying and hiding in the back of Zoey's vest. Eevee trembled and buried her face into Zoey's neck.
Aerodactyl began to thrash around in the tube, unhappy that it wasn't allowed to fly or stretch. Its tail knocked some of the glass off but wasn't enough to smash the metal bars. It bit the bars with all of its might and using its heavy tail once again, destroyed the metal, causing a hole. It crashed through the remaining glass and onto the lab floor.
The scientists screamed and some ran away, while some tried to secure the room so it doesn't escape.
Zoey was afraid because it looked menacing, but if she was going to prove that she could be a Pokemon Champion, she'd have to tame a vicious creature like this. "Don't worry Edward. I'll take care of this."
"But Zoey!"
"Go Lapras!"
She tossed the ball and out came Lapras. When she saw the Aerodactyl, she looked a bit afraid, but then her expression became determined. "Roa!"
Zoey walked in front of Lapras, the Pokemon confused as to why she was doing this. She put Omanyte, Ditto, and Eevee on her shell. "I'm gonna try to calm it down."
"No Zoey! It might attack you a-and then it might rip you to shreds!"
"That's why Lapras is here. Since this looks like a flying type, she can use Ice Beam to defeat it."
The girl slowly approached Aerodactyl who looked at her cautiously and then roared again. Zoey cringed and wanted to cry because this indeed was a very scary Pokemon, but she always remembered what her grandmother had told her: "Sometimes, it's best to just defeat them with kindness."
Zoey approached the Aerodactyl who looked at her strangely as if to say, "Are you stupid or something? Coming up to me when you know I can kill you?"
The young Trainer slowly approached the Aerodactyl and reached out her hand. It roared again and because she was a lot closer now, it was louder and much more terrifying. Zoey trembled but didn't back away. Slowly she reached out a hand towards its snout.
Professor Edward was frantically worried about her and decided that if she were to be attacked and Lapras didn't act fast enough, he'd have to battle it with his Ditto.
Zoey slowly placed her hand over the snout and Aerodactyl backed away a bit, confused as to what she was doing. But Zoey didn't stop and approached the Pokemon still. She attempted once again and placed her hand carefully and gently on its snout. The hide felt hard, almost like a rock.
Aerodactyl looked at her but didn't move. Slowly, Zoey began to stroke her hand against the snout. The Pokemon looked at her, studying what she was doing.
"M…My name is Zoey. I…I won't attack you." She saw Aerodactyl's eyes wander over to where Lapras was at. "D-Don't worry. As long as…y-you don't attack me and stay calm, you'll be safe. Please, t-trust me Aerodactyl."
Aerodactyl looked at her again, trying to see if she was lying. It looked into Zoey's eyes and saw fear, but also saw determination and growing courage. Aerodactyl stood still as Zoey stroked its snout. Then slowly it sniffed her hand and the rest of her. Zoey closed her eyes and stood still, trusting that nothing bad was going to happen to her.
Then, Aerodactyl nudged Zoey with its snout, as if asking her to continue to pet it. Zoey did, still very gently and carefully. Then slowly, she hugged the snout and stroked the Pokemon's neck.
Zoey heard it making small noises which could be translated as some form of purring. She saw it close its eyes and smile, its tail swaying calmly. The Trainer smiled and continued to hug the snout.
"Hello Aerodactyl. Let's…start over. My name is Zoey and I was…told to resurrect you. I was hoping that, you'd be part of my Pokemon team for a while."
Aerodactyl looked at her and stood up more erect then proceeded to lick her face. Edward was really worried, afraid it was tasting her, but then he calmed down when it grabbed her into a hug with its wings.
"Aerooo…" it said.
Zoey hugged it back and giggled. That's a relief…
Lapras sighed, glad that Aerodactyl didn't harm her Trainer. Another scientist brought Edward the data on Aerodactyl.
"Uhm…Z-Zoey…?"
"Yes?"
He slowly approached her and the Aerodactyl, making sure to stay a few feet away from them. "We finally finished processing Aerodactyl's data."
"Oh really?"
"Y-Yes. What it seems like to me…is that this Aerodactyl was pretty strong. Its current moves are Rock Slide, Wing Attack, Roar, and Crunch." With a bit more confidence, he approached Zoey and the Aerodactyl, closer this time. "This is a Rock - Flying type and surprisingly, it has the Gentle nature, which is astounding since it seemed vicious."
"Well, if you think about it Edward, Aerodactyl was probably just shocked. Imagine dying and then being brought back to life in a strange place with things you have never seen before and have no knowledge of the time period. I can understand why it acted the way it did."
"You have a good point there. But this is even more astonishing."
"What is?"
"This particular Aerodactyl…is a female."
Zoey looked up at Aerodactyl and noticed that he was right. Like Charizard, the only way it was evident that this Pokemon was female was from its eyes, which she noticed had eyelashes on it. You had to really stare at them to notice, but they were still there.
"Oh, now I see it!"
Aerodactyl let go of Zoey and walked over to Edward, who was a bit afraid still. She sniffed him and then hugged him too smiling. He laughed nervously and patted her side gently. She let go of him and looked around, smelling the different things in the lab and the people and Pokemon inside.
"She's pretty curious huh?" asked Zoey.
"Looks like it."
Zoey walked over to Aerodactyl and said, "I'd like you to meet some friends of mine!" The Pokemon followed her to where Lapras was at.
"This is Lapras."
The Pokemon nodded and smiled. "Roa!"
"And this is Eevee, Ditto, and Omanyte."
Eevee gave a friendly cry and Ditto waved, but Omanyte was still hiding in his shell. "Oh, come on out Omanyte…"
"I think I know why he's hiding in there."
"Why?"
"Since they're both prehistoric Pokemon, Aerodactyl are carnivorous and could have possibly eaten Omanyte and other Pokemon of that era. Maybe that's why Omanyte is afraid and doesn't want to come out."
"Oh, but I don't think she'll eat him. Come on Omanyte…" She took him from Lapras' shell and held him in front of Aerodactyl.
She sniffed him and looked at him curiously. He still trembled and wouldn't emerge from his protective shell. "Omanyte, she isn't going to hurt you. Trust me."
The small Pokemon came out of his shell and looked at Aerodactyl who blinked. She sniffed him again and he covered his eyes with two tentacles. Aerodactyl sat down and grabbed him with her claws. He was afraid she was going to eat him, but instead she cuddled him against her cheek. "Aero ~"
"That's amazing," Edward said. "She didn't eat him."
"I think Aerodactyl might have been a mother back in the prehistoric era."
"Why do you say that?"
"Well, I've noticed on my journey, such as when I went to the Safari Zone, that mother Pokemon are a lot more gentle with other Pokemon that don't try to harm them or her offspring. Even ones that seem wild are actually calm when they gain your trust and therefore, don't hurt those around you unless they're hurting you. They're actually more affectionate."
"Really?"
"Well you see, I have a Rapidash and she's a mother, but didn't attack me because I wasn't trying to hurt her or her baby. I think most Pokemon know if you're a good person or a bad person just by your actions and they way you do certain things and the manner in which you speak to them, so even vicious Pokemon like Aerodactyl can be tamed with kindness instead of force. I think…that they really just need to trust you, and from there on, it's mostly smooth sailing."
"Wow, that's a good theory. You're pretty smart Zoey!"
She blushed. "Oh n-no! I was just making up my own theory from what I've seen!"
"But it's understandable! Are you sure you don't want to be a scientist instead of a Trainer?"
"I'm sure. I like being around Pokemon and traveling with them. I like going on adventures."
"Oh, I see. Well, that's understandable too." He looked at the Aerodactyl who now put Omanyte on top of her head and he smiled, his tentacles moving up and down happily. "Are you going to keep that Aerodactyl?"
"Uhm, well the Amber was originally the museum's but…I really like this Pokemon. Maybe…I could train her a bit…and then…"
"I think that's a good idea."
"Uhm, Aerodactyl?"
The Pokemon looked at her. "Would you…allow me to capture you please?"
She took Omanyte off her head and put him on Lapras instead and then looked at Zoey. She studied her again and looked directly into her eyes. She smiled and sniffed through her bag that was on the ground. She picked at a Pokeball, curious as to what it was.
"Uhm…you press that center button and it enlarges, then if you press it again, it opens and captures you…"
Aerodactyl liked that Zoey was being honest and told her what it did. Feeling like this was a trustworthy human, she pressed the button on the center and it enlarged. She sniffed it again and then pressed the button with her snout. The ball opened and captured her. It wobbled a bit on the ground and then stopped moving. Zoey walked up to the ball and picked it up. "I caught…Aerodactyl…"
"Oh thank goodness!" said Edward. "Now we can clean this place! Zoey, I think you should bond with Aerodactyl before you use her in battle. Why don't you take her out to the ocean so she can catch something to eat?"
"Well okay then. Thanks! But first, I need to give Prof. Gary one of my Pokemon…"
"Which one?"
"Well, currently I have Charizard, Eevee, Elekid, Vileplume, Marowak, and Lapras in my team, but since this Gym is the Fire type, I think I'll let him hold onto my Vileplume."
"That sounds like a good idea."
"Oh, but I want to take Omanyte with me too…"
"Your party is full already though."
"I know…"
"Well, I'm sure you'll have time to train him later. For now, just bond with Aerodactyl for a while."
"That sounds good."
Zoey returned her Pokemon minus Eevee, and then gave the stray Ditto to Edward.
"D…Ditto?" it said as it looked at Zoey sadly. Tears began to form in its eyes.
"Zoey."
"Yes?"
"I think this Ditto is going to miss you. I think it thought you were going to be its Trainer."
"Oh, I'm going to miss it too, and I wish I could be its Trainer, but I don't have any more room in my team to put it! I already have to give Vileplume and Omanyte to Prof. Gary. I don't want to have to give him Ditto as well…"
Ditto sniffed and covered its face with its hands. It got the bowtie and put it on Edward, then jumped off and scurried behind a file cabinet. Zoey felt really horrible that she couldn't take the Ditto with her.
"Oh, the poor little thing…"
"If I could professor, I'd take it with me. You know that…"
"I know."
"Why don't you get some of your scientists to take it?"
"Oh but Zoey, we really don't train Pokemon! We mostly have Ditto and other low level Pokemon. We use them for assistance and companionship. We rarely ever battle them. And the Ditto we have were around us for a long time. This one is a stray and not even our Ditto recognize it."
"I see…" She looked at the cabinet the Ditto was hiding behind and she could hear it sobbing. It was starting to make her want to cry.
"Keep the bowtie professor. I still want Ditto to have it."
"Well okay."
"Guess I should be on my way then."
"Yeah."
"I'm sorry about the mess Aerodactyl caused."
"Oh, no! It's alright! Really! When you're a scientist, you need to expect the unexpected. This was actually thrilling for me!"
"But I thought you've seen an Aerodactyl before?"
"Ah ha…well…my father was actually the one who helped resurrect Lance's Aerodactyl, not me. I was still a kid back then, probably around your age."
"Oh, I see."
"Anyway, I wish you good luck on your journey and do tell me what happens with that Aerodactyl of yours! Oh! Do you have a Fame Checker?"
"Yes, I do."
"Well, I'll give you my number so you can call me and tell me what happens!" Zoey gave him her Fame Checker and he input his number. "There, I put my number in here and if I don't answer, leave a message. Or if somebody else answers, just ask for me!"
"Okay! Thanks!"
"You're welcome. And again, I wish you good luck on your journey!"
Zoey walked out of the lab and said goodbye to the young scientist and then headed to the Pokemon Center once again. She went to the phone booth and called the Pokemon lab.
"Oh, Zoey!"
"Hello professor!"
"So, how did it go? Did you already win your badge?"
"Huh? Oh no, not yet. I went to the lab first to get my fossils revived!"
"That's great! Which Pokemon were in them?"
"Omanyte in the first one, and then Aerodactyl in the second one."
"Amazing! I remember the first time I saw an Aerodactyl. I was at an excavation site and anybody could dig there and look for fossils. The Pokemon was actually underground but then somehow flew out. Your father was there too and he got captured by it."
"Really?" she said with shock.
"Yes. His Charmeleon was trying to stand up to it, but Aerodactyl kept taunting him and eventually, Charmeleon got mad. But then he began to evolve, and that was the day your father got Charizard."
"That's so awesome."
"So in a way, you're following in your father's footsteps more than you know since now you have a Charizard too, except she actually listens to you!" He laughed.
"You mean dad's Charizard didn't?"
"No, at first Charizard didn't listen to him, so it took your father a while to tame him and prove he was worthy to be his Trainer. Eventually he succeeded, and from then on, Charizard became one of his strongest Pokemon."
"Wow. But what happened to the Aerodactyl?"
"There was this Jigglypuff who used Sing and then it put Aerodactyl to sleep, causing it to fall back underground. Of course, it put the rest of us to sleep too and then the next thing I knew, I had doodles all over my face! With marker!"
Zoey laughed. "Did you get anything professor?"
"No, I just found…er…" He looked to the side a bit embarrassingly. "Well, I thought I had found one, but then when I asked an archeologist, he told me I had indeed found a fossil, but it was fossilized Pokemon manure…"
Zoey laughed. "Are you serious? Wow professor."
"That was one of the most embarrassing moments of my life let me tell ya…"
"Aww, it's okay professor."
"Anyway, I had also found another Aerodactyl when I began to become a Pokemon professor like my grandfather. I was still young then, but I'm pretty sure my experience with the Aerodactyl wasn't too far off from yours."
"Yeah, Aerodactyl was a bit vicious in the beginning, but then she gained the trust of the scientists and myself."
"Oh, I see. Wait, your Aerodactyl is a female?"
"Yes!"
"That is very rare! Most Aerodactyl that are resurrected are males. I would love to study her Zoey."
"Uhm, well actually, I wanted to train her a bit. That's why I called you, because I need to give you my Vileplume since she won't do well at this Gym."
"Oh…okay…" He sounded a bit disappointed. "Well, just send her over. What about Omanyte?"
"I want to train him, but at the moment, I have no room for him. Marowak will do well against this Gym since he's a Rock type, and Lapras will do well too. Once I train Aerodactyl some more, she'll be ready to face the Gym too!"
"Oh, well alright. Then I guess you can send both of those Pokemon over to me!"
Zoey walked over to the machine and placed the two Pokeballs in it. She pressed the button and they appeared on Prof. Gary's side of the screen. She walked back to her seat and watched him take out the Pokeballs from the machine and he opened them up.
"Vile?"
"Hello Vileplume. Zoey is going to leave you a bit with me."
She looked a little sad, but then nodded. Prof. Gary looked at Omanyte who seemed a bit afraid. He recoiled in his shell a bit.
"Oh yeah, professor?"
"What's up?"
"Omanyte is very timid, so he gets scared easily."
"Oh, alright then. I'll make sure not to startle him with anything."
Omanyte heard his Trainer's voice from the screen and scurried over to it. He looked at her and began to cry.
"No Omanyte! I promise I'll train you later! Okay? Please don't cry!"
He wiped his eyes with a tentacle and nodded, tears still visible in the corner of his eyes. Prof. Gary picked him up, and put him on his shoulder. Omanyte looked at him as he smiled back, and then the Pokemon calmed down.
"Don't worry Zoey. He'll be safe here and I'm sure he'll be more comfortable. I bet he's hungry anyway. I should probably feed him."
"Okay."
"Well, good luck with your Gym battle and do tell me afterward sometime how it went!"
"Sure thing! Bye professor!"
"Bye Zoey!"
The screen turned off and the young Trainer walked out of the Pokemon Center.
When she reached the shore, she released all of her Pokemon except Aerodactyl. "Okay guys, there's somebody I want you to meet. She's a new addition to our team for a little while. Come on out Aerodactyl!"
She tossed the Pokeball and out came Aerodactyl. "Aerodactuuul!"
The prehistoric Pokemon sniffed the air and looked out towards the sea. "I bet you're hungry Aerodactyl, so I brought you here in case you wanted to catch something in the ocean."
Aerodactyl smiled at her and spread her wings wide, finally being able to stretch. She flew up in the air and for a while just soared, getting used to being airborne again. Then she focused her attention on the water and looked for something to catch.
"Well, guess I'll leave her to do her thing. I don't wanna watch her eat another Pokemon…" She looked towards her current team. "Okay guys, the next Gym is Fire type, so I wanna train some of you for it. Marowak and Lapras, you're going to be key players. Charizard, since you're a Fire type, I want you to train with them. Is that okay?"
Charizard nodded.
"Okay, good. Now, let's start!"
Zoey trained with Charizard, Marowak and Lapras. She new Charizard might get injured and so would the two other Pokemon, but they were aware of this and didn't mind.
Eevee stood on the sand playing with the baby Elekid. She helped him build a sand castle and a fortress. They also looked for shells, Elekid scaring away the Krabby that happened to startle Eevee when they came out from the sand, and the occasional Shellder on the rocks.
Aerodactyl was on a rock and was eating her catch, making sure to give her back to her new Trainer and teammates. She was hungry and she was also glad Zoey allowed her to eat her natural diet, though she knew that when there wasn't any hunting ground or when they were in an urban place, whatever food Zoey gave her would have to suffice.
Either way, she thought it felt good to be alive again.
A/N: So how y'all doing? Sorry it's been a while. Er...like six months or so since my last update. Just...I've been stressed and tired...very much so, but I managed to get this chapter up so the story is not dead! Uhm, well I really have nothing else to say. Sorry for the wait, so I hope this long chapter made up for it. ;w; Until next time!
Oh yeah, and I just recently obtained a female Aerodactyl in Soul Silver. Yup. Pretty awesooome ~
Ah, as for Lapras' cry, it has like this cute high-pitched sound, so yeah...I tried to spell it out as best as I could.
I also...started writing another fanfiction so...that's kinda why updates are slow. -cough- It's called Time of Your Life so if you're interested, you're more than welcome to read it if you know the series. ^^