Chapter 7: Attack of the Prehistoric Pokémon

The living fossil Pokémon from the older anime were hiding underground, as were the Whispering Deaths in "Tunnel Vision," so I figured a plot that had some similarities and callbacks to the Indigo League episode would serve as a good substitute for the Defenders of Berk episode. Those who don't agree may stop reading the chapter at this point.


When disaster strikes, usually we have to ask ourselves if we're in the frying pan, or the fire. Unfortunately, we more often than not find ourselves in the frying pan.

Sometimes, the pan is so bad that we can't even imagine what the fire could be. Reality can give us a rude awakening.


There was something on the loose in the Ice Caves.

It was quite large, but surprisingly fast.

It was elusive, able to dive into a cave room before anyone could even question whether or not they had just seen it.

It was deadly, able to chomp off a Deadly Nadder's head with a single bite.

And most of all...

It was really only a baby.

The concerned cry of a particular Servine cut through the brisk morning air inside the caves. "Come on, guys, we gotta find him!" he bellowed, hot on the heels of his hard-to-catch target. "We're supposed to be training him!"

Dragons and Pokémon shot past Snivels, Toothless in the lead. The flying creatures split up in perfect sync, each heading toward a different part of the Ice Caves so as to cover more ground. It was absolutely vital that they didn't miss their target.

Stormfly's sharp nose picked up the scent of the dragonet as it moved quickly and stealthily down another tunnel. "I didn't think he could move that fast...!" Blaze's voice spoke up from surprisingly close by.

The Blaziken and Nadder quickly pulled ahead, gaining ground on their quarry. He must have seen or heard them coming, because he quickly abandoned his current path and made a sharp turn directly into the main cavern.

"Cut him off!" Snivels ordered desperately.

Dragons began to land in a circle around whom they had been chasing, blocking off every possible escape route. The trainers, however, were absent. It was still quite early in the morning, and, if the dragons and Pokémon were lucky, it would be a little while before they woke up.

Snivels came up from the path directly in front of the dragonet, with Toothless and Verne landing behind him to provide backup in case their new team member tried anything desperate.

Hiccup had kept the promise he made to Snivels that they would go back and find the Red Death dragonet they'd encountered on Dragon Island just a week ago. The team had taken him to the Ice Caves, since there weren't many other places he could be without being mauled by angry Vikings.

"You really need to stop running off," Snivels said gently. "Next time something startles you, come straight to me, okay?" Sure, the Servine had his fair share of negative encounters with the dragonet's mother, but he very much supported the idea of giving the little fellow a chance.

Crooning softly, the baby Red Death padded over to Snivels, his head held down low. Snivels gave him a comforting smile and patted his nose, to which the dragonet responded by nuzzling the Servine affectionately.

"That's a good boy," Snivels laughed.

"You're really sure he's a boy?" Adhesive asked, somewhat nervous.

Snivels looked at him. "How do you think the queen was able to lay all of those eggs?"

"Speaking of eggs," Blaze said, rolling a large object forward. "Take a crack at this, Snivs."

Indeed, the object was an egg, and at first glance it resembled that of a Whispering Death. But it was much larger, and it was colored white with red spots.

Adhesive remarked, "I remember, one of the scouts found it in an abandoned tunnel and brought it here for us to study. Whoever laid that was obviously big on digging underground."

Snivels patted the Red Death dragonet one last time before approaching the egg. He didn't recognize the scent of it, but he knew that it was a Whispering Death that laid it. "Interesting," he muttered to himself. "That's the second largest egg I've ever seen."

"Second largest?!" a stunned Palus asked.

Blaze nodded at the Marshtomp in confirmation. "Yep. There's the first." She pointed at the Red Death dragonet.

Snivels had seen with his own two eyes just how small Red Death eggs actually were, but he didn't really feel like correcting the Blaziken at the moment.

"We'll have to examine it later," Snivels said. "Right now, we need to clean up Mortem's mess before our trainers wake up."

Ninjark gave him a look of confusion. "Mortem?"

Snivels pointed to the Red Death dragonet. "Well, we need to call him something, don't we?"

Mortem crooned in approval at his new name.


Thankfully, there were no signs or even mention of Mortem's earlier episode when Hiccup and the other trainers came to the dining hall for breakfast. The one odd thing they found was Snivels sitting on top of the egg Blaze had shown him.

"I'm not even going to ask," Hiccup decided, reaching for a plate of toasted bread slices.

On the other side of the room, Fjord and Drageist were having a discussion.

"We don't know for sure if they're ready," said the Giratina. "Obera's been keeping an eye on them in the sanctuary dimension, but every creature responds differently to rehabilitation."

The Kyurem laid one of his ice-covered tendrils on his friend's shoulder. "I know we've been lucky with the hybrids created in Ultra Megalopolis, but Pokémon and dragons are both very intelligent creatures. I'm sure we can help them adjust to life here."

"They still have primal instincts," Drageist said, visibly worried. "Who knows what'll happen when the big guy gets hungry."

"Which is why we'll start small," said Fjord, "And then we'll work our way up until we get to Fossilwing."

"But he..." Drageist began, then stopped himself. "Alright, who should we start with?"

"Nautilus," Fjord answered, not missing a single beat. "Doesn't get much easier than an Omanyte." He quickly added as Drageist turned to walk away, "While you're at it, you may give them a tour of the sanctuary, if you wish."

Drageist chuckled. "Hope it goes better than the last time I showed them around another dimension."

"Hroar's long gone," Fjord reminded him. "At least, in the canon timeline. I've yet to find any trace of him in this world."

"He might not exist in this world," suggested Drageist. "If we're lucky enough, anyway."

Hiccup was unaware of the discussion, given that there were other matters he wanted to address that day, such as what they'd be doing with Mortem when they had to return to Berk next week. The poor little (or rather, big) dragonet would be killed the minute he set foot in the village, or on the island, for that matter.

We'll figure it out, Hiccup promised himself. Mortem deserves a second chance.

He very nearly froze when he realized that the shadow of a certain Giratina was bathing him in darkness. He turned to look up at Drageist, whose warm smile eliminated the ghostly theme of his species. "Fjord and I have a new assignment for you and your friends."

Hiccup wasn't given much time to answer before Drageist created a portal. "There are a few creatures we know that could use some rehabilitation. Seeing as how you Go-Getters seem to be quite good at that sort of thing, we were thinking you might be able to help."

Hiccup thought for a moment before he shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

"You might want to leave the dragons," Drageist said quickly. "The creatures in this world are less intelligent, and prone to attacking unfamiliar animals."

That was fine. A good deal of the dragons had barely reached adolescence, anyway.

"But you still need to tread with caution," Drageist added.

Snivels climbed down from the egg he'd been sitting on. "Astrid and her team can provide a strong defense if there are any problems. Especially if Hiccup is involved." That last part was accompanied by a smug grin.

"One cannot always rely on the same source to be the solution to every problem," Drageist said.

Hiccup opened his mouth to speak, but found Amber standing in front of him, her head held high. "I can protect Hiccup if I have to!"

Drageist shook his head. "I hate to break it to you, but all of the prehistoric Pokémon are part Rock-type."

As much as Amber didn't like Rock-type Pokémon, she wasn't about to back down. "Hiccup and Snivels took me in. I'd do anything to protect them."

The trainer and Servine were touched, to say the least, at the Charmeleon's words.

Not wanting to be kept waiting any longer, Adhesive flew through the portal, cell phone in hand. "Pictures last longer than memories!"

The only non-dragon team member that didn't end up traveling through was Buddy. He'd been about to enter when Snivels held up a hand to stop him. "Buddy, you stay here and keep an eye on the dragons for us, okay?" No sooner after the Type: Null had nodded, Snivels disappeared through the portal, which then vanished.

Instant awkward silence fell upon Buddy and the dragons. It was only broken by a growl from Buddy's empty stomach. He looked to the breakfast table and found a plate that had only a few bites of scrambled eggs left on it. The hungry Type: Null devoured them so fast, it was like they had magically disappeared. Still hungry, Buddy's eyes landed on the large egg Snivels had been sitting on earlier.

Let it be known that, since Buddy was created by Arceus instead of hatched out of an egg, he'd only ever known eggs as a source of food. Momentarily forgetting about the dragons, Buddy trotted over to the egg, placed his front talons up on it, and rolled it away toward the kitchen caverns.

Oh, how he loved a good omelet.


The sky was a little overcast where Team Go-Getters had arrived. Every turn provided an entirely different environment, a dense forest on the left and a chilling snow-covered field on the right. Forwards, a beach accompanied by a vast ocean. Backwards, a field of tall grass that never seemed to end. Somewhere between all that was a bone-dry desert, a muddy swamp, and a mountain of rocks.

It was almost as weird as the Distortion World.

Key word: almost.

"This is what we call the sanctuary" Drageist spoke up, "While its exact location in the Multiverse is unknown by most, it provides a safe home for the creatures most timelines have forgotten."

Hiccup was too stunned to speak, so Astrid decided to herself. "What kinds of creatures, exactly?" Her tone carried suspicion and a bit of annoyance. She wasn't big on traveling between worlds, especially after what had happened the last time they'd done so.

As if on cue, a small, feathered reptile, about the height of a person's thighs, ran past them towards the desert area. "Dinosaurs," was Drageist's answer.

The next few sentences came from an excited Adhesive. "Yes! I can't tell you guys how long it's been since I last saw one in person! I mean, I had to take a course on prehistoric life at Ultra Megalopolis University, but they just used textbooks and holograms, we didn't actually interact with any live specimens." The Poipole continued running his mouth no matter whether they gave him attention or not. "Am I glad I brought my phone so I can take pictures," he said, gazing at his device like it was a precious diamond (which, to him, it was). "I've been dying to get good shots of my favorite dinosaurs to decorate my web page. It might help me get more views on my YouTube channel. T-rex, Velociraptor, Triceratops, Ankylosaurus, Brachiosaurus...hey, why do they call it that?"

His question made Drageist look at him in confusion. "What?"

"Deinonychus," he informed, now twirling his phone in his hand. "It's a member of the raptor family, right? Why do they call it that? If you're gonna name a dinosaur, then you've gotta give it a name that sounds awesome. Deinonychus doesn't sound awesome. It sounds like..." He paused, then spoke slowly, emphasizing each of the next four words. "Dine. On. A. Kiss." Ignoring the looks of confusion the four trainers were giving him, Adhesive concluded, "Dine on a kiss. Which does not sound awesome!"

Everyone turned to each other and raised their eyebrows, their faces the epitome of skepticism.

"That is the dumbest thing I have ever heard," Astrid finally said, deadpan.

Little did she know that Adhesive wasn't actually dumb, just ahead of their time.

Waaaaaaaaay ahead of their time.

"You do what you like, and I'll do what I like," he stated, secretly disappointed that they didn't understand what he'd been getting at.

Keeping himself aware of how many different environments they had to choose from, Brandyn brushed a few stray strands of hair out of his eyes and asked, "What sort of creatures are we going to be rehabilitating? If I'm not mistaken, every creature goes through the process differently."

"That's exactly what I told Fjord," Drageist replied. "Luckily, we're only dealing with prehistoric Pokémon today. They're rather primal, so I'd proceed with caution if I were you."

"Can't be any worse than Vikings," Snivels muttered, mostly to himself.

It was loud enough for Amber to hear. "They're the very definition of primeval."

Brandyn ignored the last two comments, his hand drifting into his pocket where the immobile Ra and Camazotz were resting. Despite their minuscule size, Cosmoem were, on record, the heaviest Pokémon in existence, tied with the Ultra Beast Celesteela. He was lucky they were able to levitate, or their combined weight would have pinned him to the floor, or even drag him through the ground all the way to the other side of the Earth.

"Where can we find them?" Heather asked. Then she quickly added, "The prehistoric Pokémon, I mean."

"They prefer different kinds of environments," Drageist explained, matter-of-factly. "Omanyte, Kabuto and Tirtouga like areas near water, like the beach. Lileep, despite being a Grass-type, lives on the ocean floor. Anorith also prefers water-based environments. Cranidos, Shieldon, Archen, and Tyrunt prefer dense forests and jungles. The last two live in the mountains, Amaura wherever there's snow, and Aerodactyl on steep cliffs near caves."

With that, the Giratina aimed his head towards the sky and fired a light blue ball of energy into the air. The Aura Sphere soon exploded, releasing pulses of light that could be seen from everywhere.

Prehistoric Pokémon from all over the area caught sight of the light and began moving towards it. They knew it as a sign that Giratina was calling for them. Drageist picked out one of each species, among which was Nautilus, the Omanyte Fjord mentioned of earlier, and then sent the rest back to the areas where they resided.

Elsewhere, in the mountains, light from the Aura Sphere seeped in through the rocks that had been used to block the entrance to a cave. Inside, the large purple Pokémon noticed the light. Steeling himself, Fossilwing pushed against the rocks that blocked his only exit. He'd tried this many times before, but this time, for some unknown reason, a few good shoves did the trick. The rocks fell away, leaving the large Fossil Pokémon free to step out into the sunlight. Fossilwing licked his lips in anticipation.

It had been a while since he'd last had a fresh meal.


In the Resistance kitchens, Buddy had somehow managed to balance the large egg on his head. He was trying to push it into a large cooking pot that had been hung over a fire pit. It took him longer than he thought it would, since the egg was really heavy, and the lid of the pot was relatively high. But finally, on what seemed like the two millionth try, the egg tilted over the opening of the pot and fell right in with a loud *clang!*

After stopping to catch his breath, Buddy proceeded to light the firewood below the pot with fire from his Flame Charge. Seeing the fire lit, he went to the cabinets to gather condiments and utensils he'd need.

Ketchup? Maybe.

Relish? Nope.

Horseradish? Definitely not.

Napkin? For sure.

Salt and pepper? Yep.

As he gathered the items, the Type: Null failed to notice a cracking sound from within the pot that gradually got louder as the egg was incubated. He did notice, however, when a sudden explosion blew both the egg and the cooking pot to bits. Dropping all that he'd gathered, Buddy ran over and found a white serpentine dragonet with piercing red eyes and sharp spines covering its whole body climbing out of the wreckage.

The dragonet shrieked, and the frightened Buddy turned tail and ran out of the room, thinking to himself, What has happened to my precious omelet?

At that moment, the rest of Team Go-Getters was arriving from their visit in the sanctuary, along with the prehistoric Pokémon Drageist had gathered. No sooner after Hiccup stepped through the portal, Buddy came barreling into him, literally shaking with fear.

"Buddy!" Hiccup said as he strained to push the Type: Null off of himself. "What's gotten into you?"

The Type: Null stammered out something in his own language, which Snivels translated in the form of a disbelieving question. "A monster in the kitchen?"

Buddy nodded frantically. He then proceeded to act out everything that had happened to him while they were gone in a series of gestures and enactments that would later be known as pantomime.

"We should check it out," Hiccup decided. He, Snivels, Toothless and a still-frightened Buddy cautiously entered the kitchen caverns, their eyes scanning everywhere for signs of the "monster."

A clattering noise from inside the cabinets caught Toothless's attention, and he growled warningly. Buddy took it as a sign to duck behind the Night Fury.

Shaking slightly, Snivels approached the cabinets and, in one swift movement, opened the doors. He gasped loudly.

Assuming the worst, Hiccup grabbed his draconium shield and held it up, ready to use it when necessary.

He needn't worry however, as Snivels hadn't gasped out of fear. "What are you doing in there, little guy?" he asked in a tone of voice he used whenever he talked to dragonets. He reached into the cabinet and pulled out the serpentine dragonet, though with some difficulty since it was almost bigger than he was. "Did that Type: Null scare you? Don't worry, I think he was scared of you more. Let's get you something to eat. Is that what you want? Have you been looking for some nom-noms?"

His demeanor changed when the dragonet tried to bite his nose. "Hey! Don't do that!" He smacked the dragonet's nose a few times to make sure he got the message. "No biting! Not nice!"

It wasn't long after that when the other three trainers and their partners entered the room. Only to freeze when the noticed the rather scary-looking dragonet.

"Okay, stop," Blaze said to no one in particular. "What is that?"

"I don't know," murmured Hiccup, setting his shield aside so he could comfortingly rub Toothless's muzzle. "But as long as Snivels can handle it..."

"He can," Drageist said from behind them, making everyone jump in surprise. He couldn't help overhearing. "Because I know what that is. Residents here at the Resistance have encountered a subspecies of the Whispering Death that's born once every century. The dragons hatch from larger-than-average eggs laid by a mother Whispering Death, who's the only dragon that holds authority over her mutant dragonet. The mutant dragon is known to command several of its less dangerous relatives, essentially becoming the bigwings, or leader, of the pack."

"Bigwings," Snivels mused. He looked at the dragonet he was holding. "What do you think of that name?"

The newly-christened Bigwings's answer was a shrill shriek that made every dragon within earshot roar painfully. The dragonet only stopped screaming when Brandyn offered him a cupcake-like pastry he had made himself. Without taking the time to see what it was, Bigwings took in the food in one bite.

While Brandyn checked to see that all his fingers were still intact, Snivels chuckled at the dragonet. "You really were hungry, weren't you?"

His answer came in the form of Bigwings spitting out the pastry in disgust.

Brandyn barely avoided the flying foodstuff that had previously been in the dragonet's mouth. "Must not be meant for dragons," he muttered to himself.

Snivels looked around at the fellow team members that had gathered. "Anyone got a fish, or something?"

Heather quickly handed over a mackerel she'd been saving for Windshear. Snivels showed it to Bigwings, who gulped it down, then purred with satisfaction.

The change in the dragonet's attitude made Buddy finally feel comfortable enough to creep out from his hiding place behind Toothless. Snivels smiled at his friend. "See, Buddy? He's not so bad. He was just a little freaked out, that's all."

Feeling calmer, Buddy crept forward to examine Bigwings.

Suddenly, the dragonet sneezed, and all of the spines covering his serpentine body stood up, making him resemble an overgrown pufferfish. The sudden action startled Buddy, who ran right back to where he'd been hiding mere moments before.

Amber suddenly ran in, panting a little as if she were trying to catch her breath. Hiccup guessed she had been running.

"You left the portal open," the Charmeleon said to Drageist. "The one that leads to the sanctuary."

The Giratina gasped in horror.


Sure enough, the swirling doorway to another dimension was still present when the group returned to the dining hall. Drageist quickly waved a wing, and the portal vanished. "Let's hope nothing came through while our backs were turned," he said, scanning the room. The only prehistoric creatures to be seen were the ones that he had handpicked to bring back with them.

"I don't see what the big deal is," said Ninjark. "We'd be able to handle whatever came through, right?"

Adhesive shuddered. "Two words: Jurassic Park."

"You probably shouldn't make too many references, cellphone kwami," Brandyn said, shaking his head.

The Poipole stiffened for a few brief seconds before giving his friend an annoyed glare. "Hey! I am NOT a kwami!"

Snivels looked over Adhesive carefully, comparing him to what he remembered Sass and Longg had looked like. He shrugged. "Well, you kinda look like one."

Adhesive wasn't going to argue with that, seeing as how the Servine was right.

Drageist quickly brought their attention back to their assigned task. "You kids start working on rehabilitating the prehistoric Pokémon," he said. "I'll have to keep an eye out, in case anything did come through while we weren't looking."


Unfortunately for Team Go-Getters, something did come in through the portal while Drageist was distracted.

But on the bright side, it wasn't a dinosaur.

Fossilwing flew down the winding tunnels of the Ice Caves, his sharp eyes taking in every detail. It was his first time since forever being in a world outside the sanctuary, so he was unfamiliar with the glittering beauty of the icicles and permafrost.

His inner confusion vanished at the sound of his grumbling stomach.

This Aerodactyl had one heck of an appetite.


I know for a fact that Deinonychus means "terrible claw," but I couldn't help but notice that little trick to what its name sounds like! Anyone else notice that, too? Even if you didn't, you gotta admit it's kinda funny.

In this universe, "bigwings" is the term for the leader of a pack of dragons. By that logic, you guys should be able to name Team Go-Getters' bigwings in a heartbeat.

Reviews are appreciated.