Outsiders (ZnT/Pokémon Reverse Summon)
Season 1, Episode 9, Chapter 3

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"Thanks again for giving us a ride back, Calem," Saito said as he and Louise followed their new friend. Calem smiled without turning around and waved.

"Don't mention it. I have more than enough Pokémon for all of us," he replied as they started on the rocky path down. Pausing, Calem pulled out two Pokéballs from his belt and threw them, where they coalesced into two separate Pokémon, neither of which Saito or Louise had seen thus far. The first appeared to be a goat with green leaves growing around its body, while the other was a large brown and orange equine with black, braided hair handing off of its mane. The two trainers immediately paused to grab their Pokédexes and scanned the two Pokémon.

"Gogoat, the Mount Pokémon and the evolved form of Skiddo. Hailing from the mountains of Kalos, Gogoats have long been used to traverse Kalos' rough terrains. They are noted to be highly empathic creatures, and if anything grabs their horns, the Gogoat can sense their feelings. This made the relationship between rider and Gogoat unsurpassed throughout the Pokémon world. It is also noted that, until the arrival of Ponytas and Rapidashes from the Kanto region, Gogoats were the primary mounts of Kalos for both commercial and military purposes," Louise's Pokédex declared. She briefly thought about Gogoat-mounted cavalry, and the image made her chuckle.

"Mudsdale, the Draft Horse Pokémon and the evolved form of Mudbray. Hailing from the Alolan Archipelago, Mudsdales are among the largest equine Pokémon. More suited for heavy lifting than speed, unlike their cousins, the Ponyta and Blitzle lines, Mudsdales can carry objects weighing ten tons for three days straight without rest nor complaint. They are very tranquil Pokémon, and as such are popular in family ranches," Saito's Pokédex sounded off at the same time. Humming to himself, Saito pocketed his Pokédex and eyed the Pokémon inquisitively, taking into account what he had just learned.

"Hmm, I can see why you'd have a Gogoat and Mudsdale to go up mountains. What exactly do you do, again?"

"I'm a courier. My job is to deliver packages and letters to areas of the region the normal postal system can't easily get to. Like Glittering Cave, for example," Calem answered as he mounted his Gogoat, directing Saito and Louise to climb on top of Mudsdale. The equine patiently kneeled down to allow the two easier access, but even then it was hard for Saito to climb up. Louise, having prior experience, had no issue, and quickly pulled him up.

"Thanks," Saito stated as he settled in, then turned his attention back towards Calem. "So, back to what you were saying, you were here to deliver a package? What kind of package?"

"Just a few care packages and research notes, nothing major. To be honest, I was just about to leave when I heard about the fossil find in the cave. Then I stuck around to see what all the commotion was about. Nice find, by the way."

"Thank you."

With a gentle push, Calem then began to direct his Gogoat down the mountain, his Mudsdale following after him. As they traversed the rough terrain, Louise couldn't help but note how different the experience was compared to riding the Rhyhorn. It was much more comfortable, for starters, and smooth as well. Louise and Saito hardly bounced on each of the equine's heavy footsteps, although the sound they made as they broke apart rocks was grating to her ears. True to the Pokédex's word, their mount was clearly not built for speed. The Rhyhorn was slightly faster, although the fact that they were going down the mountain did negate that slowdown tremendously.

Calem's Gogoat, on the other hand, was a much different story. One that Louise was relieved not to be experiencing, seeing how the goat was bouncing nimbly from rock to rock. It never missed a step and was clearly the faster of the two, yet it also carefully maintained a close proximity to them. Saito personally found the sight of a bounding Gogoat on the mountainside to be fun.

"So, Calem," Louise called out, "You said you were a trainer before?"

"Yeah, back when I was ten," Calem responded with a smile. "Stayed one for a few years and participated in the Kalos and Unova circuits. Even took a vacation in Alola, which is where I got Mudsdale from, back when he was still a Mudbray."

Mudsdale grunted in response to being acknowledged, and Louise couldn't help but smile and scratch behind his ears. Mudsdale then leaned his head towards her fingers, and she chuckled while continuing to scratch.

"Wow, that's pretty cool," Saito admitted. "I had a late start, as you can probably tell. This is my first year on the circuit."

"No kidding? Let me guess, family obligations?"

"Yep. Parents kept having to move with their job. I had just started my journey in Unova when we moved to Kalos, but the League here allowed me to continue where I left off."

Calem nodded, knowing the likely reason as to why the Kalos League allowed it to begin with. They were desperate to get participants this year. He then turned his attention towards Louise, noticing that she appeared to be slightly younger then Saito himself. By about a year, if he had to guess.

"So, what about you, Louise?"

"Hmm?" she said before straightening herself. "Well, I had recently came into the region from my home country and into the care of Professor Sycamore. I then became his assistant and after a…mishap involving the transportation of a Beedrillite to Viola Pansy—"

"She means she tried to deliver the mega-stone to her in a Pokémon-filled forest when she could have just waited for her, which ended in the two of us having to outrun a Beedrill swarm," Saito clarified with a blank expression, causing Calem to stare in shock and Louise to blush heavily. Seeing how Saito began to chuckle, Calem's expression softened, and he chuckled with Louise cutely glared at her friend before clearing her throat.

"ANYWAY, there I met Saito and ultimately decided to take on the Pokémon League. I've been on the road ever since."

"That's neat," Calem said earnestly. "I myself managed to get to the top sixteen in my first year, and the top eight in my second."

"That's really impressive, actually. Most rookie trainers don't make it that far," Saito noted, and Calem nodded.

"Yep. I take it as a source of pride that the person who beat me ended up being Diantha."

"Wait, Diantha? As in the Kalos Champion, Diantha?"

"Yep. She kicked my ass, too. Even back then, she was a monster on the battlefield. Barely lasted ten minutes."

Saito winced at the timescale, then looked back at Calem. "So, why'd you decide to stop traveling and become a courier?"

"Family, really. Same as you. My dad was a courier, had to travel all across the region and would be gone for weeks or even months at a time. When my little sister Joceline was born, I decided to stay and help my mom raise her. After a while, when my dad decided to retire a few years later, I ended up taking his place. Been a courier ever since."

Louise could respect Calem's decision. Thoughts of Louise's family then drifted into the rosecrown's head, and she frowned.

'I wonder how they're doing?' she thought, wondering whether the Academy had let her family know what happened to her. It had been a little over two months since she arrived in Kalos, and she could only assume what had happened in Tristain during her absence. If she had to guess, the Academy likely would have gone into lockdown after she disappeared, preventing anyone from sending or receiving communications from the outside world in order to prevent the noble families from panicking. That would only keep her family out of the loop for a short time, but the question after that remained a mystery to her. A dark part of her mind even wondered if anyone would try to figure out what happened to her, but she quickly pushed that aside.

Right now, she had a much bigger thing to worry about: Saito's finding of the Jaw Fossil managed to put him ahead in their little contest, which meant she now had to buy both of them dinner. She was not looking forward to that, but her pride as a noble meant she had to honor their wager.

The trio continued to talk among themselves for the next two hours as they made their way down the mountain. The sun was beginning to set by the time they finally reached the city limits, and as they dismounted Calem returned both of his Pokémon.

"Well, it was nice meeting you two," he stated while shaking Saito's then Louise's hand. "I'm off to the Pokémon center. I imagine you guys are heading off to the museum?"

"We are. Gotta get this fossil revived," Saito answered with an excited look on his face, and Calem couldn't help but smile back.

"I'm sure that Tyrunt will be in good hands. I'll see you guys later!"

"Bye, Calem! Thanks once again for the ride," Louise declared as the courier began to walk off.

"Don't mention it!" he called back as he walked further and further down the street. Saito and Louise saw him off for a little while longer, then turned to walk in the opposite direction towards the Ambrette Fossil Museum. As they did, Saito couldn't help but glance at the container he held in his hands, and Louise smiled.

"So, what are you going to name it?" she asked, knocking Saito out of his stupor. He took a moment to collect his thoughts, then shrugged.

"Honestly, I don't know yet. Something regal, though. From what I learned in school, the Tyrunt line was considered to be the king of the ancient Pokémon world."

"That makes sense. I'm sure you'll come up with something."

Saito smiled at her answer, and Louise smiled back. Derflinger maintained his silence, content to simply watch the two teenagers enjoy their company. They soon came upon the entrance to the museum. It appeared to be much less populated than earlier in the day, something which Louise and Saito chalked up to being in the evening. Yet, as soon as they entered the building they were accosted by several scientists working in the museum, including Dr. Sattler.

"Do you have the fossil?" she asked excitedly, and Saito barely had time to indicate it was inside the container before it was carefully snatched out of his hands by the paleobotanist, who then handed it to another scientist. "Take this to the revival room right away."

"Yes, ma'am," he said before quickly shuffling off behind a room marked 'Employees Only.' As the door shut behind them, the two trainers turned back to Ellie Sattler, who looked positively giddy.

"Dr. Grant called ahead as you two were heading down. Saito, you made an incredible find, and not just your Tyrunt fossil. Mr. Hammond has already agreed to provide funding for future digs at the site!"

"That's amazing!" Saito exclaimed with stars in his eyes. Sattler nodded, then recomposed herself and directed the two teenagers to follow her. She led them to a nearby office, where she sat down on a leather chair and gestured for them to sit across from her.

"Now, luckily, we had managed to revive Grant's Aerodactyl before Alan called in your find, so we'll be able to direct our full attention to reviving your Tyrunt. However, the revival process still takes time."

"How long?" Louise asked, her question borne out of both curiosity and mild impatience.

"Not too long. Just a little over a day."

"A day? You're able to extract sixty-five million-year-old fossil DNA and successfully clone from that DNA in a little over a day?" Louise couldn't hide the surprise form her face, neither could Saito for that matter, and Ellie quickly began to speak.

"It did use to take longer, but we've managed to improve the process over the years. Had the DNA been in a more concentrated state, such as in amber, we'd be able to get it done in a few hours, but it takes longer for normal fossils."

"That…still doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but you know more than I do," Saito admitted.

"I'm glad you understand. I'll call you on your Pokédexes once the fossil is revived. Until then, may I suggest that you two take a look around Ambrette Town? We have a lot of interesting places for young teenagers like yourselves."

"We will. Thank you," Louise stated as she and Saito got out of their seats. They then shook the paleobotanist's hand then walked out of the museum. As they did, they then began walking towards their hotel, Saito walking with his hands behind his head. After a few moments of comfortable silence, Saito then smirked.

"Well, I for one know what we're doing first," he said with a victorious smile, and Louise groaned.

"… Where do you want to go?" she asked, anticipating having to go to some low-class diner.

"In all honesty, I haven't had seafood in a while. How about we go to that Red Crawdaunt over by the beach?"

Louise thought about it for a moment then nodded. "That sounds wonderful, actually."

The two continued walking along the streets of Ambrette Town, the twilight sun casting everything in an orange glow. Their hotel was close to the northern city limits within walking distance of the beach, which afforded them a spectacular view of the setting sun over the ocean. They paused for a moment to take it in, breathing in the salty air, when they noticed an Onix resting near the entrance to the Muraille Coast. Recognizing the Rock Snake Pokémon as Grant's, the two walked over and saw the Gym Leader checking his bags.

"Grant, you're leaving already?" Saito called out, drawing Grant's attention. Upon seeing the two trainers, he smiled then nodded.

"Yes, actually. I only came down here to get the amber inspected. Now that the Pokémon inside's been revived, I have to head to head back to Cyllage," he answered with an apologetic shrug. "Duty calls."

"I can understand that," Louise admitted. "We're actually staying another day."

"I heard about that. Something about you finding a Pokémon fossil, right, Saito?"

"Yeah, a Tyrunt jawbone, actually."

"No kidding? I have a Tyrunt myself. They're great Pokémon. I'm certain you and it will be great for each other."

"Thank you." Saito laughed. "Who knows? Maybe I face you with it."

Grant smiled. "Maybe. Well, whatever happens, I'm looking forward to facing both of you."

"Same here," Louise said with a confident smile. Grant smiled back, then shook both of the trainer's hands.

"Work hard, you two, and don't hold back. Because I certainly won't," Grant declared as he mounted his Onix. The Rock Snake bellowed deeply before shuffling off down the beach, careful not to disturb the pavement beneath him until he reached the soft sands, at which point he took off at his top speed. Saito and Louise waved him goodbye before turning around and making their way back towards their hotel, thoughts of potential strategies running through their heads. Although Louise knew she had improved, she was also not about to rest on her laurels and attempt to coast to victory.

She only hoped that her strategies would be enough.


When the two trainers finally reached their hotel room, they quickly released their Pokémon and went back outside towards the restaurant. When they arrived, they luckily hadn't had to wait long before a waitress took them to their booth. Taking their menus in hand, the two browsed while continuing to converse.

"Personally, I say we go to the beach. It's been years since I've been, and Ambrette's supposed to have some of the best in the region," Saito suggested as he eyed their selection.

"I read that, too," Louise replied as she looked over her menu, "I still would like to go to the aquarium, though."

"We can do both," he replied. "You know, while we're on the subject, what are the beaches and oceans of your home like?"

"Largely unexplored," Louise admitted, "mostly due to the giant sea monsters making most ocean travel difficult if not impossible. Which is why we have airships."

"Airships? Like, flying galleons and what-not? How does that work?" he quietly asked, not wanting others to eavesdrop on their conversation.

"We mine windstones, rocks imbued with wind magic, to use as fuel to lift ships off the ground. Albion has some of the largest sources of them, which helps support their massive navy."

"Isn't that the flying island?"

"Yes. Been like that since Brimir's time, at the least."

"Hmm, that must be an amazing sight."

"It truly was…" Louise sighed. "It's embroiled in a civil war, now. Traitorous nobles and 'republicans' trying to usurp the crown, and what worries me is that they're winning. If they do, they might try to invade Tristain next."

"Ah, so they're those type of revolutionaries," Saito nodded, knowing that quite a few existed in Earth's history as well.

"Indeed." Louise went back to studying her menu then placed it down on the table, having selected her meal for the evening. Wanting to change the subject, she cleared her thought and waited for Saito to select what he would eat. When he finally placed his menu down, she smiled. "Thanks for choosing this place, by the way. It's nice."

"No problem." He then smirked confidently. "Thank you for paying for it."

"You're not going to let that one go, are you?"

"No. I think I'll have it commemorated and framed to put on my wall," Saito said while dramatically waving his outstretched arm. Louise glared at him for a moment then giggled, causing Saito to smile.

"You know, Saito? You aren't so bad," she jokingly admitted.

"You, too. I daresay you just might be tolerable," Saito replied, causing Louise to smile and shake her head.

When the waitress finally arrived to take their order, the two quickly relayed to her exactly what they wanted then went back to what they were doing before.


From the balcony of their hotel room, Derflinger watched as Saito and Louise had a good time together in the restaurant. He wouldn't pretend to know exactly what they were talking about, and he didn't particularly care about the specifics, but he could still see them laughing and talking. Nodding to himself with a knowing look in his eye, he turned around and floated back into the room where he saw Tanuki soothing the egg with his Aura-covered paws.

"How's it lookin'?" the Honedge asked the Riolu, and Tanuki looked towards him.

"Some progress, not much though. Not going to hatch for a while. Maybe a month at this rate," he revealed, and Espirit nodded to confirm his guess.

'But, the two of us did try to look into what's developing inside, and we think it's a girl.'

Tengu briefly looked up at the mention of another girl Pokémon joining their team before doing an approximation of a shrug and going back to drinking her dinner of mineral water. She closed her eyes and sighed contently, pointedly ignoring a fuming Maindo who had once again failed to get a rise out of her.

'Honestly, what does it take to get you to react,' he fumed while crossing his arms. From the corner of her eye, Tengu looked at him then shrugged, causing the Ralts to scowl and stomp away. The other Pokémon chuckled at this, causing him to frown further.

"Oh, lighten up, Maindo! Don't be such a sourpuss!" Aile chastised. Maindo stared at the Fletchling then at the book she was standing on. A moment later, the book was ripped out from under her legs, and Aile quickly fluttered onto the desk.

"Really?" she asked while Maindo snickered. Ronin watched as Maindo went to a far off corner and sighed, shaking his head in disappointment before turning back towards the city below, illuminated by fluorescent street lamps, neon signs, and the light of the full moon. He could see Louise and Saito continuing to eat, having a great time, while the lights were on in the museum. Ronin eyed the museum with curiosity, knowing that the scientists were hard at work inside to revive his next teammate. He couldn't lie and say he wasn't excited. That wasn't to say he didn't quite understand how they were able to do it, but he also couldn't understand how Louise was able to do her explosions or why Maindo was still acting like an ass.

He had learned to stop trying to get answers to those types of questions a while ago.

"Hey, Ronin, what are you doing over there? You're missing out on, what is this called again?" Derflinger asked.

"The Pyroar King," Espirit answered.

"Yeah, that."

Ronin moved to answer when he saw a dark, quadrupedal figure standing on a far-away building. He squinted his eyes and tried to focus, only for the figure to leap away before he could make it out.

"What was…" he wondered before the sounds of wild Bouffalant stampeding came from the tv. He turned back towards the city to try and spy the figure once more, and when he couldn't find it, he shrugged then walked back to the others. Sitting down on a bed, he let his mind relax and watched the animated movie continue, allowing thoughts of the mysterious figure to subside.


In an open-air Alolan restaurant on the beach, numerous diners enjoyed the food and drink under the moonlight. Some chatted with friend or family, others listened to music on their phones, while many others simply ignored everything outside of their personal space. An overweight man wearing an Alolan shirt greedily downed his fried seafood, a slice of pie lying in wait next to it, seemingly obvious to all.

Had anyone been paying attention, they would have seen that his attention was evenly divided among his food as well as the entrance to the restaurant. When two people walked in, a man and a woman wearing casual clothes, the overweight man perked up and waved him over.

"Carnegie!" he shouted. The woman silently scoffed as she and Carnegie walked over and sat on chairs across from him.

"Nedry, I told you not to say my name in public," Carnegie told him, and Nedry rolled his eyes. He then looked around frantically while pointing at the man.

"Carnegie! We got Carnegie, here!" he announced, Carnegie staring at the man unamused. Seeing how none of the other patrons even lifted their heads, Nedry looked at Carnegie with a knowing look and scoffed.

"See, nobody cares," he smugly replied while taking off the man's hat. "Nice hat. You trying to look like an INTERPOL agent?"

Rather than dignify the man with a response, Carnegie leaned over and stared him in the eye. "Nedry, don't play games with me. Not now."

"No, I think you should stop playing games," Nedry shot back. "Your plan just got a lot more complicated, thanks to your friends over at the daycare. You blowing up half of the Muraille Mountains only made things worse."

"We weren't even connected to the daycare and-…," Carnegie groaned and rubbed his forehead. "What all has changed?"

"Grant, the Gym Leader of Cyllage City, apparently found an amber containing Aerodactyl DNA thanks to the cave-in and brought it down to be revived. While he was here, he told Sattler he was afraid the museum might be next, which she believed. So now they've up and beefed security."

"Arceus dammit," Carnegie cursed and clenched his fist, the woman pointedly staring at him. Carnegie looked back at the woman then back at Nedry. He knew what Nedry was silently telling him: the museum knew they were coming, and their window of opportunity had long since passed. Time to cut their losses and run. Part of Carnegie agreed with him. Their plan to steal fossils and equipment from the fossil museum was high-risk-high-reward from the beginning, and the actions of the Lumiose cell certainly put his cell in a bind. But at the same time, he couldn't just abandon the plan altogether. They had spent too much time and money into setting it up, much of it securing the cooperation of the fat slob in front of him.

Carnegie then sighed and made his decision. "We're going forward with the plan."

"Alright, but I want my payout doubled," Nedry immediately countered. The woman sharply turned her head to stare at him while Carnegie settled for merely glaring. Nonplussed, Nedry continued, "It's either that or I don't turn off the security systems, and you and I both know you aren't getting in there without me. So, take it or leave it."

Carnegie continued to glare at the fat man and growled, "Fine, we'll double your pay."

"Thank you." Nedry smiled before spreading some whipped cream on his slice of pie. "I'll take care of everything. Just get your men ready tomorrow night."

Carnegie and the woman stood up without a word and walked away, leaving Nedry behind. He and the woman continued to walk away before reaching a dark alley, which they then pulled into to avoid any unwanted attention.

"CZ, rally the men. We attack tomorrow night once Nedry gives the signal." CZ tiled her head at him, and Carnegie sighed. "No, I trust that fat man as much as I can throw him, but like it or not we need him to get in. If we try to kill him after we're done, no one will ever work with us again, so we have to put up with him. Now go."

CZ nodded at him then walked away, her heels clacking against the pavement as she disappeared into a cloud of steam. Carnegie watched then placed his hands into his coat pocket before walking away the opposite direction.

There was another reason why he chose to go forward with the plan. There were words being spoken behind his back among the Flare operatives he was in charge of, about how he was incompetent and not doing his job effectively. He was losing their respect, and a criminal leader can only rule based on fear or respect. He couldn't do fear, so if he lost their respect, he was done. Perhaps more than anything else, if he wanted to keep his position as the head of Team Flare's Ambrette Town cell, he needed to prove he had what it takes.

'This has to work,' he thought as he passed by a young man walking his rosecrown date home.

Unbeknownst to him, his every step was being watched by a lone quadruped, watching his every move from the very alley he had walked out of. A group of people walked past the alley, obscuring it completely from view, and when they passed, it was gone without a trace.

[~][~]

Hello, everyone! Here is the latest chapter of Outsiders! I hope you all enjoy it!

Q&A:

Boyzilla: I'm glad you found us! We're happy to have you, and I'm also happy that you're enjoying the story so much. Reverse Summons are also extremely enjoyable to me, offers more freedom to do whatever I wanted, and the development you see is a key part of that.

Engineer4Ever: Indeed, who wouldn't want a dino? Saito's decision is completely understandable in that instance.

MBenz4268: We thought about it, but we ultimately decided that a Fossil Pokemon would better serve Saito rather than Louise. Don't worry, though. She's not getting neglected.

fangs of death: Oh, he's getting it revived. What happens next, though, you'll have to wait and see.

That's all for this chapter. I hope you all enjoy! See you next time!