Chapter 17

Don't Own Pokemon or anything else, Only The Oc

'thought'

"Speech"

System Text

"Tvs, Radios, and Text via book or newspaper... when those are around..."

"And that, would be imply some sort of deeper connection to Unova." I continue as I scan another evolution stone. "Could Zorua originate from Hoenn or Sinnoh? Clearly it has been a while since one went to the other. It is my belief that over time, Regional Variants evolve from standard pokemon to better survive their new habitats."

"Regional Variants are just the first step to being new pokemon from what I can tell." I continue. "The thing is, this takes time, so we can reasonably deduce that it had been quite some time since either the Zora went to ancient Sinnoh, or the Zora from Ancient Sinnoh went to Ancient Unova as these changes don't just happen overnight. It's... sort of like selectively breeding pokemon. The female Zora seemed to like one trait, thus it got passed onto their children, or one could have been born with an abnormal trait which increased its ability to survive. It passed on that trait to its children, then the children have both that one trait and the nature to be attracted to that trait and so on and so forth."

"I see." The woman mutters. "That... makes a lot of sense. There are quite a few pokemon that share similarities."

"Ryhdon and the Nido-line are probably a result of this... progressive evolution." I begin quietly. "You could probably toss Aggron into that group as well... possibly Kangaskhan as well.

"Most pokemon of the same general type probably share ancestors. Dog Pokemon, Fox Pokemon, Cat Pokemon." I continue as I mark down a final little number on my piece of paper.

Wow.

What's his face kept the good shit in his home apparently.

There's not a stone in this box that was under fifty percent purity... and they're all fairly large.

Loki's going to have a little more versatility soon enough. Then, after that, I can start trying to figure out how to get him to evolve into the other pokemon types.

"I- hold on..." I pause a sudden flash of inspiration striking me like a bolt of lightning.

I quickly begin scribbling on the paper.

Cypriniformes? Cyphrinikarp? No...

Otophysakarp?

No. Not that one either.

What I am doing now is going back through the Phylogenetic tree of traditional real world carps.

I should have fucking done this from the start.

'Ostariophysi? Ostarikarp?'

'Ostariokarp?'

'That one's actually pretty good.' I circle it and continue on.

Otocephala. Otoceph- yeah, that one's no good.

Clupeocephala? Where the fuck would I even put 'Karp' on that?

Teleostei? Teleosteikarp?

Egh.

That's about as far back as I feel like going.

Anything more might be a bit too much.

Hell, Ostariophysi is probably already pushing it.

"Hm." I hum.

"What is it?" Cynthia questions.

"Oh, I just had quite a good idea for the name of the new magikarp species." I admit.

"Oh? What is it?"

"Ostariokarp." I smile. "That sounds a lot better than 'Medikarp' or like... 'Superkarp'.

"Maybe Basikarp could work as well?" I mutter, tilting my head. "But it's better than a normal Magikarp, so calling it 'Base-Magikarp' is a bit insulting."

"Ostariokarp..." The blonde seems to slowly speak, trying the name out. "It... it sound quite nice, actually!"

"Now I just need to think of a Gyarados equivalent name." I groan, clutching the sides of my head dramatically.

"..." I blink at the very obvious solution.

"Ostariodos. Done." I hum. "Huh. That was easy."

Alright.

Let's take stock.

Tiamat is added to my team after Cynthia 'Discovered' Ostariokarp.

Got a lot of money, from my pirate treasure discovery, enough to roll the DNA gacha five times if I really wanted it.

Magic has been progressing fine. It has snowballed to a point where I can draw lines in the air between my hands.

I haven't exactly tried using a sling ring yet, or summoning some sort of shield, but it's a work in progress.

Next, my newest creation should be hatching sometime soon.

I took a crack at the 'white tyrant' genes.

I have my suspicions about what it is, but I'm not one hundred percent sure.

I did make sure to try and feed it as many 'chill the fuck out' genes as possible in an attempt to change its temperament.

The last thing I need is a superpowered genetic abomination that enjoys killing for sport.

Regardless, I've come to two possible conclusions.

The first?

A pokemon-ified White-Spike. Which is like... a semi-xenomorph.

It's a quadrupedal alien that can take bullets like they're bean bags and can shoot spike projectiles from two tendrils on its back. The basic plot of the movie was that people in the future need to call people from the past to help fight in their war against them? Or something? I never watched it; I just have heard of the creature.

Now.

If it is a white spike... and it does have a shitty personality... I may be forced to put it down, because those bastards apparently repopulate like crazy.

Now.

The other- and more likely- option.

Indominus Rex.

I mean, the shoe fits.

Genetically altered already, Ancient and Primal, mean streak a mile long.

Regardless.

This will merely be a first attempt. A baseline for the species so I know what my changes do.

I've already procured some Kecleon DNA to toss in the mix if it doesn't already naturally have Color Change and Protean.

Anyways, as I was waiting for that egg to gestate I've been messing around with the 'Black Dragon' Dna.

Drampa's out, as is Axew- thought it was noticeably closer than Drampa.

Cyclizar is out- though I should write down somewhere that I need to get myself- or Zinnia- a Koraidon.

After that, I tried Noivern, it was somewhat closer than Axew, the previous closest match even surpassing Cyclizar.

Then... Flygon.

By far the closest match.

But not exact... nor enough to really even try splicing them together even after making sure the produced trapinch would be Melanistic, which is sort of annoying.

Regardless, that got me thinking.

What If I'm looking for the body type.

Flygon was my latest attempt but it has lit a fire under me.

Drampa was the worst. No arms. No legs. Sort of just a weird slug body and feathered wings.

It was by far the worst match.

Then Cyclizar, then Axew.

Both have arms and legs, but Haxorus is bulkier and more well-armored.

Noivern. Legs. Wings. wings can reasonably be kind of used as arms.

Then Flygon. Arms, Legs, Wings.

To test my theory, I just need more data.

Goomy should be a total mis-match, or at the very least a slightly inaccurate one due to its gel body, and Druddigon should be about as close as Flygon if not closer.

It's more well-armored as a species, arms, legs, wings.

If I'm right, the group of pokemon I need to look over drastically decreases.

Though, I am a little concerned.

What if by 'Dragon' it means the dragon egg group?

Ah well, whatever. That'll only add Charizard if I'm right about the body-type thing.

I mean... Considering Mega-X Charizard, he should really be on the list anyways.

Speaking of Megas...

I've begun to take a look at the mega stones.

Mainly seeing if the DNA I have in surplus reacts at all to the stones in any way.

I was unsure it would work at first, buuuut, one of the stones I got from the desert ruin appears to be a Flygonite.

Makes sense, I suppose, considering how prevalent Trapinch are in the Unovan desert.

If I had to make a wild guess, I would also say that I have a Volcarona-ite. Volcaron-ite? Volca-ite?

The colors match, at least.

I'll see if the newest one matches Ninetails soon enough. The colors are similar, but that doesn't necessarily mean much.

But, if it is the case, I may just give Courtney it, as she has a Vulpix.

Speaking of Courtney... I should probably get to school.

It's fall break, and that means it's time for a school trip yet again.

The egg shouldn't hatch for at the very least two weeks, so It'll be fine.

I stretch my arms above my head, letting out a quiet yawn.

Anyways. Of the 'good shit' stones I collected, Mr Loki now has a form for every occasion. I haven't got around to truly studying him though, so no 'new' forms. Just Vaporeon, Flareon, Glaceon, and Leafeon.

No friendship evolutions yet, sadly.

But I suppose he needs to be pushed for that to happen and most of our fights are relatively easy.

Not enough to push him to his breaking point.

Even more so now that Merlin is participating.

The final project, which I have labeled 'extremis' is...

Well, it's a work in progress.

It doesn't make my tissue cells a massive tumor anymore, but it's still unstable.

I think I may just be forced to begin human trials...

So, I need to find a genuine asshole that I won't really feel bad about.

I'm not a fucking monster. I wouldn't just snag a kid off the street to be a test subject.

"Well. I'm off, Rotom." I call out into my home as I stretch my arms above my head.

"Do you have everything, sir?" Jarvis questions from the wall behind me.

"Yep. Tent. Food. Drink. Personal phone. Poketech pocket charger." I list off as I pat my hip, three spheres resting there. "Loki, Merlin, Tiamat."

"I should be good to go." I nod slowly.

"Be careful, sir." The ghost type hums as the screen behind me darkens.

Merlin floats off a nearby cat tree- he just likes to sit atop them- and pauses next to me.

A vortex slowly appears in front of me one which I step through, Merlin right behind me.

"Let's go meet up with Courtney, then."

"Alright, class. If you are a first year, I expect you to remain close by in groups of at least three... preferably with an older student. Second years, please stay in at the very least pairs. Third years and up are more or less allowed to do their own thing, just be careful."

I look to the pink haired girl who is gazing out over the mountain a frown on her lips.

"What is it?"

"I'm... uneasy." She admits. "But... excited?"

"Hm?" I hum.

That's worrying.

Psychic girl is uneasy. That can't bode well.

Wasn't there a Regi-Gigas here in the games?

I was actually planning on seeking it out if I could.

We are currently at Twist Mountain.

There's no special 'dig site', our teacher basically just told us to go wild and dig.

"So... want to go as deep as we possibly can in the mountain and see what we can find?"

"We don't have to worry about getting lost because of your Lotad, correct?" The pink haired girl questions.

"That's right." I nod once.

"Alright." She replies as we both turn and begin walking deeper into twist mountain.

"Oi!"

"..."

I turn, blinking owlishly as I see a tan skinned girl stood atop a ledge above us, arms crossed, a tattered cloak blowing in the wind.

"Zinnia?"

Considering she hadn't called me once, I sort of assumed she died.

She slides down the rock wall, landing with a small crouch. She stands up slowly walking towards us with her arms folded behind her head, a small grin on her face. "Hey, how's it goin?"

"Pretty good." I admit.

"And your work?"

"Oh, it's coming along quite nice." I answer.

"Got anything I might be interested in?" She questions, grin growing.

"Some. Potentially." I answer. "There's one puzzle I'm trying to crack, though."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. I found something that is... incomplete... but I'm working on restoring it. The main issue is finding a suitable second half."

"Ah? Is it something that I might be interested in?"

"It is." I nod once causing a small grin to split her face.

"Badass."

"Uh... Xander?" Courtney begins. "Who... is this?"

"Ah. This is Zinnia Draconid, a girl from Hoenn."

"Ah... I see... how... did you meet?" She questions.

"She washed up on my island." I shrug. "Then I helped her get to Unova so she could start fleshing out her team."

"On that note, did you find anything good yet?"

"Eh, I got a Trapinch fairly early on." The girl shrugs. "It evolved into a Vibrava recently."

"Nice... once it evolves again, come see me. I think I might have a flygonite."

"A Flygonite?!" The girl hisses under her breath. "Heheheh ohohoh yeah."

"Flygon...ite?" Courtney questions.

"The stone pokemon need to hold to mega evolve." I explain blandly.

"Oh."

"I may have a Ninetails-ite as well if you want it, Courtney, but I'm not as sure about that as I am the Flygonite." I admit.

"Oh?" The girl smiles. "I see. I haven't evolved my Vulpix yet. It isn't time."

"So. What are you doing out here?" Zinnia questions.

"Digging." I shrug. "You?"

"Looking for an Axew." She admits. "I've heard there might be some out here, but I haven't seen one yet despite looking for three days."

"Well, Courtney and I are probably going to see just how deep we can go in Twist Mountain."

"Ah. People said that you shouldn't do that. It's maze-like in those tunnels... and people go missing all the time... but then again, I assume people don't have a pokemon capable of opening wormholes that can cross the entire region in an instant... you mind if I join? Maybe the pokemon I'm looking for are living deeper in the mountain."

"Sure." I shrug. "I don't really mind."

The path ahead of us are lit up by two glowing eyes as our school issued rotom phone float along beside us.

Mine is recording while Courtney's is illuminating the path before us.

"Man... there's not much down here." Zinnia frowns. "Just rock and more rock."

"Until we get deeper, most things have probably been picked clean." I admit.

"If we are lucky... we might be able to acquire a fossil or two... perhaps an evolution stone." Courtney observes. "Those can be sold for quite a high price. Useful for myself."

"Yeah. Everyone likes money." I agree. "Researching is pretty expensive as well."

"Sir... I've lost access to the Internet." My rotom informs.

"Me Too." Courtney's echoes after a moment.

"Ah. Makes sense that you'd lose contact the deeper we go." I frown.

"Deep?" Zinnia frowns. "Isn't there light up ahead?"

"..."

We slowly approach the light, eventually stepping outside.

The sky is orange. Large clouds sit overhead, my mouth flattening into a line.

There are distant rumbles of thunder, in the far distance I can see flying pokemon.

The plant life immediately draws my attention. Some short and stubby with scale-like bark, the grass is patchy and above all else, there's nobody out here.

Courtney and Zinnia stand next to me, blinking slowly at the world outside.

"Oh?" I hum, a smirk slowly working its way onto my face. "This is unusual-"

I pause as I look back.

The cave we just exited the mountain from... is gone...

"FUCK!" I curse loudly.

"Huh!? What? What is- FUCK!" Zinnia shouts as she turns around, gazing at the mountain face.

Courtney's mouth opens to ask what is wrong but she pauses, hand coming to her head as she falls to her knees, letting out a weak cry.

"Courtney?!" I gasp, crouching beside her. "What is it?!"

"Nh- Ngh-" she groans, a finger slowly pointing towards a mountain.

The mountain explodes abruptly, the top blown off, molten magma rushes down its sides.

Then...

The entire side of the mountain collapses, a genuinely titanic figure crashing through it, waves of lava as tall as it is rushing forwards past it. A wall of molten rock slowly splashing outwards like a popped water balloon.

G-Groudon.

But...

It looks... strange.

The arms are smaller, the legs less stubby and more muscled.

Glowing orange lines crisscross the beast's body as smoke billows upwards.

I can see pokemon scattering and fleeing from the giant figure.

Its head snaps down abruptly as it continues to wade through the lava which had more or less been stopped by powerful blasts of ice.

a long-necked... dinosaur... is picked up in its maw.

A sauropod is barely a snack for it... from head to tail it's about as long as the creature's upper torso... it's like a cat to a human. it's fucking massive.

Even at this distance, the temperature crawls upwards.

"X-Xander?" Zinnia whispers.

"Yeah?" I ask, dread quickly pooling deep in my stomach.

"What the fuck is going on?!" She hisses quietly.

"We... ah... just got sent back millions upon millions of years to the past with no way of getting back."

"..."

"On the upside... there's no Grand Meteor Delta to worry about." I frown, fists slowly clenching.

"Xander's Log. Day One."

"It has been about... four hours since Courtney, Zinnia and I left Twist Mountain. I... honestly still haven't come to terms with this. I mean, really? Being sent to the past?! Why?! How?! What the fuck?! Are we going to die?! What's going to happen to us?! Are we just missing?! Is this why people go missing all the time in Twist Mountain?!"

A long breath leaves my lips as I rub my eyes.

"Putting my panicked thoughts aside for the moment... we have taken stock. We have enough clean food and water to last us about a week. Beyond that? Well... It's not looking good. At least the giant lava dragon legendary thing went back to bed after eating its fill of what looks to be Aurorus."

I rub my temples. "The ones back home are honestly tiny and pathetic to the ones we saw out there... maybe the fossil revival process isn't as accurate as most people think."

"Regardless." I shake my head. "We have set up camp in a nearby cliff wall, facing the mountain we arrived through. It is my hope... that one of these days, when I wake up and look outside, I will see a little tunnel leading deeper into the mountain."

"If not..." My hands come to my face. "Well, then I guess recording this is sort of fucking pointless, no?"

I sit in a cave, arms crossed as I look between a black haired girl and a pink haired one.

"So. What do we do?"

"What can we do?" Courtney sighs, slightly deflating.

We are cast in darkness. The only light being the dim light of my rotom phone who is recording us.

This little cave in the mountain was helpfully carved by Merlin. The entrance should be small enough to keep out any big flying Pokémon like Aerodactyl, but smaller ones could probably enter quite easily, thus, Loki's on guard.

God forbid anything poke its head in here.

"We need three core things." Zinna decides.

"Shelter." She gestures around. "Which is taken care of."

"Water. Which we have outside, but it'll likely need to be purified somewhat."

"I have a vaporeon."

"Oh. Even better." The girl nods slowly.

"Then the third and final thing we need is food... food is our largest issue."

"Are- are we just planning on living here?!" Courtney questions.

"We will have to... for a time." Zinna frowns. "I am fated to destroy grand meteor Delta... and stop it from striking our planet... I will not die here. I will make my way back to the present... it is just a matter of when."

"How do we get back?" Courtney sighs.

"If I had to make a guess... I would say that the cave home will open either tomorrow at the same time or, if not then, a week... or a month... or a year."

"So... we could be stuck here for a year?!" The girl whispers.

"It could be decades." Zinnia admits. "But we have your rotom watching the spot the cave was. It'll tell us if it reappears."

"So what now?" Courtney questions.

"Well, if people go missing in twist mountain... is it likely that people have found themselves here... maybe... possibly... or twist mountain deposits them in another time period entirely. But... BUT. If people have been put here in the past... maybe there's like... a primitive town or village around here of pokemon trainers."

"Hm." Zinnia hums. "It might be possible."

"The main issue is that there's no laws out here." I admit. "They might just flat out kill us... or, well, kill me."

"Ah. Yeah. Laws." Zinnia sighs. "Let's not make contact. If they even exist at all, that is."

"What are some overarching goals we could be doing?" I ask suddenly. "Like, we're stuck here. For now. But that doesn't mean we should just sit on our hands for possibly months."

"Ohoho." Zinnia smirks. "I like where your head is at, Xander... you are suggesting that we flesh out our teams?"

"Even more than that... do you know how much these million year old pokemon would sell for?! More specifically ones that can breed?"

"We are at the forefront of a once in a lifetime event!" I grin. "We are now the people in the world who is by far the most knowledgeable about life a few-possibly hundred- million years ago!"

"Hell, I might as well be the Pokemon Professor for ancient pokemon!" I state.

"So... you're going to be researching ancient pokemon?" Zinnia hums.

I reach into my bag, silently using my shop to purchase fifty normal pokeballs.

Of course, the shop scalped me yet again, giving me pokeballs for five thousand per ball instead of merely two hundred.

But.

I'll make it back.

This is merely an investment.

"If you spot any dragon types, call it out. I want some more team members as well." Zinnia smirks. "Tomorrow, let's take a look around. Get the lay of the land. Then we can continue from there."

"Oh. And before I forget." I suddenly mutter. "Merlin, could it be possible for you to take us home?"

"..."

"Infinity Stone... Time..."

"Ah. Damn. You're not getting one of those." I sigh. "Where would we even find something like that?"

"Hm? Can your little dude here take us home?" Zinnia questions.

"Theoretically?" I mutter. "It'd just require what's basically a 'time' evolution stone.

"Time... Evolution stone?" Courtney echoes.

"Yeah, like a shard of crystalized time itself."

"Is that even possible?!" She asks.

"I don't know." I shrug. "Probably not."

"Xander's Log. Day Three."

"So. I was incorrect about my assumption of the cave re-opening every twenty-four hours. Oh well. That's fine, I guess. Zinnia, Courtney and I scouted around a bit. The place where that giant pokemon attacked is still scorching hot, there are Aerodactyl, Archen, Tyrantrum. Fuck. There's even a bunch we don't know about. Regardless, I'm happy I'm not here by myself."

"I'm going to attempt to catch as many pokemon as I can manage. Thankfully the pokeballs put the pokemon in a sort of stasis, so they'll be fine regardless of how long they're stored."

"I didn't make any new captures today as we didn't really have time for it. Taking stock of our surroundings and all, but I did see some interesting things in the distance... mainly pokemon that are confirmed to be extinct like Rampardos."

"Anyone who wants some sort of ancient beastie, hit me up. I promise to not charge that much... maybe..." I wink at the camera.

Another long breath leaves my lips. "I'm honestly a bit worried about that large pokemon waking up again... it shouldn't. Reptile pokemon normally rest for a while after a good meal. But still... if it had broken out in this direction instead of the side? The wave of lava would have easily covered the cave that leads back home."

"When did my life get so complicated?"

Well... trapped with two beautiful women... I hope either Courtney or Zinnia packed some birth control! (They didn't). Oh well, I guess it'll just fall to Xander to become the origin of the human species!

Also I have a patroon. You can find it at 'Flameclawsxx'