Outsiders (ZnT/Pokémon Reverse Summon)
Season 1, Episode 9, Chapter 1

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For the second night in a row, Louise and Saito had managed to sleep on an actual bed rather than a padded sleeping bag. It was nights like these that the noble to come to cherish. It seemed so long ago that sleeping on an actual mattress with feather pillows and silk sheets were a constant in her life, but now even a cheap box spring was a luxury she cherished at every opportunity.

A quick look at the clock told her that it was eight in the morning. She stretched and yawned as she rose out of bed, snapping her lips and noting the dryness of her mouth. Another yawn escaped her, and she was tempted to simply fall back to her bed and sleep some more, only for a faint smell of breakfast to waft towards her. At this, her stomach faintly growled, a sensation that only grew when she finally entered their room's kitchen.

"Morning, Louise," Saito greeted her as he cooked a few strips of bacon on a greased pan, a plate of pancakes next to him. "Don't wait on my account. Dig in."

"Thank you," she replied as she grabbed a few and placed them on her plate before pouring herself a glass of milk. As he began to eat, Saito finished cooking the bacon and set them off to the side and then joined her at the table.

"You know, we're lucky that the Hotel Ambrette's rooms have a kitchen," he noted as he, too, dug into his food.

"Yes, quite," Louise agreed. The sat in relative silence, simply thankful to have a moment of reprieve. Finally, after a few moments, Saito cleared his throat, causing Louise to look back up at him.

"So," he began, "what do you want to do today?"

Louise finished swallowing, using a napkin to brush away the crumbs along her mouth before finally speaking. "Well, we have a lot of options, especially since Grant graciously offered to take us with him to Cyllage tomorrow after his Old Amber gets revived."

"Yeah, that was nice of him," Saito nodded as he quickly took another bite, "Still, that leaves the question of today. Honestly, I'd be down with us just having a chill day where we do nothing."

"Tempting," Louise conceded, her thoughts drifting back to that exact option, "However, I'd rather not waste a day. I'd like to get some training done. The 'Rock Polish' was not something I anticipated, so I have to rewrite my training a bit."

"Same here. Fast Onixes. Not a pretty picture." Saito shuddered, and Louise couldn't help but agree. The night before, the thought of how in the world she was going to be able to defeat such a large and fast creature kept her past well past midnight. It was probably why Saito managed to wake up before her. To his credit, he didn't seem to be in the mood of holding it over her, to which she was thankful.

"Moving on, I don't think that we should only do training today," Saito pointed out. "There's a lot to offer here in Ambrette. Stunning beaches, great food, the Ambrette Fossil Lab and the Ambrette Aquarium. I've heard great things about both of those."

"Me, too," Louise stated as she finished her meal. She patiently waited for Saito to finish his meal, and once he did, she and him walked over to the sink and cleaned them. "I say we train for a few hours then, once reach a stopping point, head on over and take a look at the Fossil Museum. How does that sound do you?'

Saito's response was a smile and a thumbs up, telling her all she needed to know.


Being a bustling port city along a major League path, Ambrette Town was no stranger to Pokémon trainers. Hundreds came through every day, and to accommodate them required plenty of Pokémon Centers, PokéMarts, not to mention battlefields for training and battling. As such, it wasn't hard for Saito and Louise to find a collection of battlefields near their hotel. Many trainers had already taken up several of the lots, but the two of them were able to claim a lot for themselves. With Derflinger once again looking over the egg, the two trainers immediately began their training.

"Okay, Espirit. Steady…steady…" Louise calmly stated to Espirit, the Kirlia struggling to lift a heavy boulder into the air. A nearby trainer had been kind enough to generate a few for her and Saito to practice, and she intended to use whatever time she had to finding ways to beat Grant.

Overconfidence beat her last time. She could not afford to let that happen again.

Finally, with beads of sweat dripping down her forehead, Espirit relaxed and gave a pained smile to Louise. The looked at her in concern, worried that the strain would be too much for the Kirlia, but Espirit shook her head and steeled her resolve.

"Tell me if it gets too difficult. Okay, girl?" Louise asked, and Espirit nodded. The noble nodded back then looked at her team. They were all standing at attention, ready to start their training for the day. Their faces showed how determined they were to overcome the challenge ahead of them. Brennaraki stepped up first and braced herself, and Louise nodded.

"Go!" she ordered, and at once Espirit psychically hefted the boulder and began to move it at an increasingly fast pace. Rather than attempt to attack or block it, Brennaraki focused on simply dodging. Louise, knowing that a Fire-type like Brennaraki would already be at a massive disadvantage against a Rock-type gym leader, decided that the training today would be best spent by practicing how to dodge large and fast objects. Saito had agreed with her, and on the other side of their lot he was doing the exact same thing she was, only with Maindo doing the heavy lifting.

Brennaraki ducked, bobbed, weaved, and jumped over the rock each time it neared her. A few times it managed to graze her body, but she ignored those moments much as she possibly could. When the heavy impacts landed, the blows stung and often knocked her to the ground, but she forced herself to her feet and shrugged it off. She would not allow herself to be beaten in such a manner. Her pride wouldn't allow it.

"Alright, that enough. Brennaraki, take a break," Louise called out, Espirit immediately placing the boulder onto the ground with a loud thud. Brennaraki, too tired to continue, waddled out of the lot's boundary and sat down, breathing deeply. Hearing a flutter of wings, the Fennekin looked to see Aile looking down at her, an offertory Oran berry held out in the Fletchling's beak for her.

"Thanks," Brennaraki said to her teammate as she gently took the berry and began to eat it. Aile chirped happily and fluttered over to Espirit, offering her the same thing. When Espirit nodded that she was ready to continue, Louise nodded back and ordered Aile to the field.

"Alright, Aile. Let's get to work on that Steel Wing you just learned," she said, and Aile chirped enthusiastically. She had managed to finally crack it the night before, and she was eager to try it out. Rather than attempt to lift the large boulder, Espirit sat back and watched as the Fletchling took to the air and began circling around. Aile's eyes focused on the target below and quickly divebombed. As she did, her wings began to shine in a silvery glow that expanded from the centers to the tips of her wings until both were completely consumed. Had one not known any better, it would have been easy to think that both wings were now completely made of steel.

"Yes," Louise breathed as the tip of Aile's right wing contacted with the rock, driving a deep gouge into its surface. Aile gritted her beak at the jarring impact, her flight becoming wobbly for a brief moment before righting herself. "You good to keep going?"

Aile chirped in agreement as she banked around for another pass. Nodding at this response, Louise turned her head to Espirit and signaled to begin the next stage of the training. Espirit immediately got to her feet and began to lift the rock into the air, Aile hovering overhead and watching as the rock gained more and more speed. When Louise eventually gave the signal to proceed, Aile divebombed once again and used Steel Wing, intending to strike the rock as before.

Unfortunately for the Fletchling, she miscalculated on her approach and missed the rock by a hair, allowing it to slam into her side and knock her to the ground.

"Aile!" Louise called out as Espirit immediately dropped the rock and teleported over to her, administering a Heal Pulse to the downed Pokémon. A few moments later, the bird was back on her feet, a little wobblier than before but still standing. Louise signaled to change exercises, but Aile steadfastly refused. After a brief moment of shock, Louise smiled faintly.

"If that's what you want. Again!"


"Hey, Derf?" Tanuki asked as he took a break from his training, sitting on a bench alongside the ancient Honedge and watching as Maindo practiced teleporting and shooting Shadow Balls at the same time.

"Yeah, squirt?" Derflinger replied, his eye alternating between watching Louise and Saito's simultaneous training. He couldn't help but notice, after spending a few weeks with the two of them, that they both seemed to have a different focus on their teams. Saito's strategies revolved around getting up close and personal, with the occasional ranged attack thrown in for good measure. Louise, on the other hand, was the opposite, focusing on range over physical attacks.

He wasn't criticizing, just observing.

"Why aren't you training with us?" the Riolu finally asked, causing Derflinger to chuckle.

"You mean besides the fact that I'm looking after the egg?"

"Besides that," Tanuki replied with a roll of his eyes. "And don't say you can't fight. I saw you fight the other Honedge the Princess had."

"Hmm," Derflinger thought for a moment before raising his sword handle upward in a shrug. "You sure you really want to know? Answer might disappoint you."

"I can handle it," Tanuki answered.

Derflinger laughed quietly to himself before answering, "Simple, really: I just don't want to. Before you go and accuse me saying 'fighting is bad' and that 'training shouldn't happen at all'," Derflinger cut off the impulsive Riolu, whose face betrayed the very questions on Tanuki's lips, "I don't believe that at all. While there are definitely causes not worth fighting for under any circumstance, there are others that are the opposite.

"Look at Louise over there," Derflinger directed Tanuki's attention over to the rosecrown, who was directing Espirit to hurl the large rock around while also throwing smaller pebbles at the same time, "I haven't even spent much time with her, and already I know exactly why she is fighting for the League. Validation, self-worth, personal growth, and a good old helping of spite."

Tanuki let out a snort at this, remembering the times Louise had talked about Arceus and her encounter with him. It took a long time for him to believe her, as with the rest of his team outside of a stubborn Maindo, but the few times she did speak about the Alpha Pokémon were never pretty. He never imagined that someone could describe the Creator of All Things as a 'damned goat with a God complex', but here he was. In all honestly, it more entertaining than anything.

"Saito's the same way," Derflinger stated as their attention turned towards Saito, "He's doing this for the much the same reasons as Louise, just not as pronounced. To him, this journey represents a lost opportunity finally presenting itself, independence, and a chance for glory. Admirable goals in their own right, for both of them.

"Me? I'm pretty content where I am. I have no need for a shiny cup to prove my superiority, as that is readily apparent," Tanuki laughed at Derflinger's declaration, who took it in stride and continued on, "Beyond that, I'm old. This will be my sixth millennia on Earth, and during that time I've learned many things."

"Things that would make Saito and Louise training you be a waste of time," Tanuki finally realized the crux of Derflinger's decision, which the Honedge confirmed by nodding. "You'd rather teach them what you know rather then they train you."

Derflinger went silent for a moment, a faint breeze rustling by as he took a deep breath, then spoke, "I've met many people over the years, kid. Good people, bad people, people in between. I can say that, so far, Saito and Louise are among the good. But even the good people I knew made horrific mistakes and decisions, and I don't want that to happen to them."

At that, Derflinger and Tanuki's attention was drawn by Saito calling over Louise, asking her if she wanted to grab a bite to eat at a nearby restaurant called The Goldeen Grill. The girl answered yes enthusiastically and signaled the end of their training session as well as Tanuki's conversation with Derflinger.

Before the Riolu was finally returned to his comfortable Pokéball, he couldn't help but think back to what the Honedge was saying. He wondered exactly what mistakes Derflinger was referring to, and why he was worried Saito and Louise would make the same ones.


"So," Louise began as they stood in front of the Ambrette Fossil Museum, the gargantuan structure sprawling across nearly an entire city block, "this is the Fossil Museum?"

"Yep," Saito replied with a pop, then smiled playfully at her, "After you, madame."

"Oh, shut up." Louise playfully rolled her eyes and walked inside, Saito and Derflinger shortly behind. The receptionist greeted them as they entered, and after Saito paid their entry fee, they were allowed inside. Mounted fossils of long-extinct Pokémon, artist interpretations of ancient environments, and detailed timelines of Kalos' ancient history lined the first room they were in, and Louise couldn't help but marvel at it all.

"Wow…" Louise gasped as she gazed upon a skeleton of a large flying creature. She looked upon the plaque below it to see it read 'Aerodactyl'. Humming to herself, Louise pulled out her Pokédex and flipped through the various Pokémon inside before finally finding the creature in question.

She began to read silently, "Aerodactyl, the Fossil Pokémon. This Pokémon thrived millions of years ago in its home mountain ranges as an apex predator, its mastery of the skies unmatched before the K-T Impact caused its extinction. Despite its fangs and overall carnivorous appearance, Aerodactyls are actually omnivorous, as revived specimens have been observed eating berries and other plants.

"Aerodactyls are noted to be highly territorial and solitary creatures, both in their native habitats and newly revived, causing extreme belligerence in the worst of scenarios. As a result, only the most skilled trainers are capable of handling this Pokémon,"

'Hmm, interesting,' she mused to herself as she quickly looked towards Saito. Like herself, he was engrossed in studying the collection of fossils, recognizing mounted skeletons of Kabuto and Kabutops, Omanyte and Omastar, and many, many more. Derflinger was hovering right beside him, ignoring the occasional odd look their fellow museum-goers were giving the ancient Honedge.

Louise decided not to disturb them and continued onward, giving ample attention towards the wide array of specimens being displayed. The natural history of Kalos was given extreme amounts of detail, with artworks showing how scientists think the world looked at that point in time. In was honestly fascinating to Louise. Back in Tristain, the world was thought to be constant and unchanging. The mountain ranges in her home was always there, the ocean fishermen fished from was always there, the same species existed since the dawn of time, and even the countries that made up fabric of Halkegenian society stayed.

She now knew that was entirely wrong. Louise was finding that revelation was becoming less and less disconcerting as time went on, but regardless she now knew that the true history of the world was much more dynamic. Kalos in particular had a rich and vibrant history. At once point several million years ago, much of the northern portions of the region was an ocean, with dynamic mountain ranges sprouting along the southern border. The northern coastline was covered in artic boreal forests, where Amaura and Aurorus thrived, while the southern mountain range was kept warm from volcanic activity, allowing for Tyrunt and Tyrantrum to become the dominant predators of their time.

Extinction was an entirely new concept for her as well. To be fair, she was aware of how, sometimes, a species would just disappear and never return, but church dogma maintained that 'extinction' was impossible. Staring at the bones of long dead creatures showed that was not only categorically false, but potentially a dangerous delusion. As the plaques detailed, many of these ancient Pokémon died from loss of habitat or some other cataclysmic event, much like the K-T Impact. The idea of an asteroid bearing down on her was a terrifying thought, but she pushed it aside.

"Louise, Saito!" she heard a voice call out. Louise turned to see Grant waving at her and Saito. The two trainers waved back and made their way towards the Gym Leader, noticing a woman scientist wearing a lab coat next to him.

"Hello, Grant," Saito greeted, "So, who's this?"

"Allow me to introduce Doctor Ellie Sattler. She's the head researcher here, with a focus on paleobotany," Grant announced, and the blond scientist shook Saito and Louise's hand.

"Welcome to the fossil center," she said with a smile. "We're always happy to see new faces here."

"This place is great so far," Louise declared then briefly turned to look at all the fossils. She just now noticed how there were a variety of flattened rocks with plant-like imprints on them.

Sattler chuckled. "Yes, all of those are fossils. They don't get quite as much interest as the animals, but I find them to be just as, if not more interesting."

"You're a paleobotanist, so you're biased," Grant joked, while Sattler shook her head.

"Doctor Sattler, if you don't mind," Louise spoke, "I'm curious. How exactly are fossils made? I've read up a little bit on it, but I'd like your take."

"Certainly!" Sattler's eyes brightened as she led the group to a display of small fossils, a mixture of plants and animals. "Now, you have to understand that most things don't get fossilized. Organic matter doesn't last very long without preservation. As such, the first key step in the creation of any fossil is sheer luck."

"Luck?"

"Yes, luck. A creature or plant has to be lucky enough, for us, to have died and be rapidly buried in sediment." Seeing the confused look on Louise's face, Sattler nodded to herself in understand. "Dirt, sand, mud, and other soft materials that don't decompose."

"Ah, I see. And this preserves them?" Louise guessed, and Sattler nodded.

"Indeed. Now, the soft tissue like organs and skin don't usually get preserved. There have been very rare and priceless occasions where that was not the case, but for the most part those decompose and leave behind the hard tissues. Teeth, bones, shells, things like that. After millions of years and more and more sediment get deposited on top of the remains, the original organic matter is replaced with what is essentially an imprint of various minerals. Thus giving us a fossil."

"Hmm," Louise hummed to herself as she leaned forward to inspect a small Dome fossil. According to the plaque, the fossil was that of a Kabuto. "That makes sense, but something does confuse me still. You said that the organic material is completely gone, destroyed during the fossilization process."

"Yes, that is correct."

"Then how do you manage to get enough DNA to revive a Pokémon?" she asked. Sycamore had described to her early on in her stay with him exactly what DNA was. It was, admittedly, hard of a concept to fully wrap her head around, but it wasn't so complex that she didn't understand the basics.

Saito chimed in, "Yeah, I've been wondering that, too. How do you get enough DNA from the fossils? I thought it'd be long gone by now."

"Ah, for the longest time we thought so, too!" Sattler clarified. "Afterall, DNA only has a half-life of five-hundred and twenty-one years, so it should have been impossible. But, around twenty years ago, scientists in Kanto discovered trace amounts of DNA in a fossilized Omanyte's helix shell. Scientists in Sinnoh later collaborated those findings with their own study. We're still trying to figure out why that is, but for whatever reason, DNA lasts tens of thousands of times longer in Pokémon than in other creatures, at least. Once that was discovered, and the technology perfected, we were able to start bringing these extinct creatures back to life."

"Huh…" Saito said softly, turning his attention back towards the fossils. He was slightly disappointed that his question wasn't really answered, but the fact that the scientists themselves don't really know made him feel better about it. He turned back to thank the doctor who suddenly looked up with a jolt and turned back towards Grant.

"Oh, I almost forgot!" she announced, "Grant, we got the readings back on your amber. There's DNA of an Aerodactyl in it! Enough to be revived!"

"Really? That's amazing!" Grant smiled. "When will it be ready?"

"Just a few short hours. Doctor Wu's working on it now."

"Do you mind if I watch? I've always been interested in the process," Grant asked, only for Sattler to shake her head.

"Sorry, authorized personnel only. You have to understand?" She appeared apologetic, but Grant raised his hands and shook his head.

"No, it's fine. I understand." He turned back to look at Saito and Louise, tapping his chin before turning back towards the paleobotanist. "Say, where's Dr. Grant?"

"Currently up in Glittering Cave. That recent cave in happened to unearth some high-quality fossils, so he's leading a team up there."

Grant chuckled to himself, "Always a digger, isn't he?

"Glittering Cave? Louise and I were actually thinking about going up there. Is it closed to the public or…?" Saito asked, the end of his question hanging.

Sattler shook her head. "Only the section Grant is at, actually. The rest of the cave is open to visitors. If you'd like, you can take a Rhyhorn up there. There's a lot of interesting Pokémon there. Who knows? You may even find a fossil of your own."

"That sounds grand," Louise stated with a smile, Saito nodding along with her. "Where might we find one?"

"There's a Riding station just outside the city limits, along Spikes Passage. You can't miss it, and they hold services all day and night."

Louise and Saito smiled at her then bid farewell, returning back to visit the rest of the museum. They wanted to go and visit Glittering Cave, but they to make sure they got their money's worth at the Fossil Museum first. There was entire section on undersea life that they had missed, not to mention the section on the Kalosian Ice Age. Grant watch them with a smile on his face, then became serious and turned back to face the scientist.

"Ellie, can I speak to you in private?" he asked, and the doctor nodded. She led him to her office, shutting the door behind her and locking the door. Once she sat down behind her desk, Grant his throat and began to speak.

"Has there been any suspicious activity recently?" he asked, and the doctor seemed confused.

"Um… no, not really. Why?"

"You remember the break in at the Daycare last week?"

"Team Flare? How could I not, it was all over the news," she declared, only for her eyes to widen. "You don't think…?"

"Unfortunately, yes. I've surveyed each and every single blast site of that cave in, and it was definitely deliberate. They purposefully targeted fossil-rich areas, and the perpetrators undoubtedly made off with at least a few. How many or of what quality, I do not know, but they were after fossils. And when it happens right when the remnants of Team Flare attack the largest daycare in the region, that gets suspicious."

"We are the largest reserve of fossils in the region," Sattler noted, "so we'd be a prime target."

"Exactly."

"What makes you think they'd attack now? Their Daycare forces were mostly repelled."

"Yes, but Flare is fractured right now. Isolated into independent cells. The ones that attacked the daycare were highly coordinated, well supplied, and competently led. There's no guarantee that is the case here. In fact, so far I'd say the opposite. The 'Ambrette Cell', judging by the fact that they clearly overestimated the number of explosives they needed, are not competently led, so I'd imagine that they'd be desperate."

"And desperate criminals make dangerous criminals," Sattler realized, and Grant nodded. She thought for a moment, then nodded back. "Alright, I'll have Owen and Muldoon beef up security. If they arrive, we'll be ready for them."

"Be discreet about it," Grant cautioned, "If they know that you suspect they're coming, they might call off the entire thing."

"Will you be staying?" she asked, but Grant shook his head.

"No, unfortunately. I have my responsibilities up in Cyllage. Besides, if they knew a Gym Leader was in town, there's no way they'd do anything."

"Isn't that a good thing?"

"Not according to this stubborn INTERPOL agent I met. Smith or something, I don't know," Grant shrugged and moved on, "In any case, once the Aerodactyl is revived I'm heading back up. If anything happens, please let me know and I'll drop everything."

"Don't worry," Sattler reassured the Gym Leader. "If this 'Ambrette Cell' attacks us, like you think, they won't know what they're dealing with."

Grant smiled. "That's what I like to hear."

The bus ride had been rather uneventful, much to Elizabeth's relief. After all, a life with excitement around every corner would quickly become as boring as one where everything went as planned. However, some excitement would have helped her take her mind off her actions yesterday.


It's been said that hindsight was twenty-twenty. Elizabeth could definitely attest to the validity of that proverb. She wasn't in the best frame of mind yesterday, but that didn't excuse what she had said. She hadn't meant to burn her bridges with her parents, but that's just what she ended up doing. It was just like her to take an already undesirable situation and somehow force it to its worst possible extreme. The verdette had burned one bridge after another in the past few months. If her current endeavor failed, she would have no one to fall back on.

Elizabeth shook her head. She could deal with her insecurities later. Right now, she just had to make it to her hotel and try and gain some fans in her showcase match. The verdette looked down and smiled. Zorua was asleep in her lap, getting some much-needed rest after her busy week. From what Pierre had told her, both Eevee and Zorua had trained almost non-stop during the week she spent in the hospital. Pierre hadn't tried to divine their motivation for doing so, but he posited that her fight with the Gallade may have been a significant factor. Regardless of their motivation, the fact that Zorua had grown more in a week away from her than she had in the month prior to the incident at the daycare spoke volumes about how poorly suited Elizabeth was to be a trainer. And that wasn't even considering Eevee's progress.

The bus stopped, the wheels screeching loudly and breaking Elizabeth out of her thoughts. She took a look a sign and saw it read 'Cyllage City Station'. It was finally her stop. The commotion woke Zorua up and the fox jumped off Elizabeth's lap. Zorua yawned and stretched out her legs before looking back up at Elizabeth, her black, fluffy tail wagging in excitement.

"Here goes nothing," the verdette said to herself as she stood up to grab her things. As she did, she reached down to her belt for a Pokéball, only for Zorua to yip faintly. Looking down on her face, Elizabeth could see that Zorua didn't want to go back into her Pokéball just yet, and so she obliged her. It wasn't that hard of a decision. Her team's antics gave her some measure of happiness, even if she didn't quite feel worthy of them.

Finally, she was off the bus. The verdette took her first steps into a new chapter in her life. Despite Zorua all but running circles around her in excitement, Elizabeth couldn't help but feel a sense of melancholy. Cracking a small, rueful smile, the verdette advanced toward her uncertain fate.

"Good luck, me. I'm certainly going to need it."

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