Item: Shell Fossil
Effect: Using fossil revival technology, it can revive into Originzee.
When Auron Vale caught sight of the Shell Fossil, he couldn't help but feel a bit teary-eyed.
An entire morning — not a single fossil had been anything but ordinary, or one of those three Pokémon fossils. He'd grown so tired of looking at the same four types over and over.
Fortunately, hard work paid off. By afternoon, he'd finally spotted a fossil from a different species.
Auron Vale barely contained his excitement as he pulled the Shell Fossil out and handed it to a researcher standing beside him.
"This fossil feels off. Take a look — see if you can hatch it."
"Sure."
After the research institute agreed, they carried the Shell Fossil over to the Fossil Revival Machine.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing. There's a fossil that felt different from the others I've been looking at — different from the ones that can revive into Pokémon, but similar enough that I wanted to try."
"Oh."
Lu Xing Guo acknowledged with a nod, then turned back to his own fossil screening work.
At that point, Auron Vale found his interest renewed, so he dove back into the fossil examination work as well.
He was grateful the Shell Fossil had shown up — otherwise he might've quit on the spot. The work wasn't just tedious, it was boring. He'd thought today he'd be looking at fossil Pokémon. But when he got here, was he looking at fossil Pokémon?
No!
He was looking at fossils!
"Speaking of which, isn't Aerodactyl supposed to be in amber? Not a fossil shape?"
Auron Vale casually set an ordinary fossil aside, and a thought about Aerodactyl surfaced in his mind.
As the only fossil Pokémon in the family capable of Mega Evolution, Aerodactyl still had a certain prestige. Even though Aegislash had taken the top spot later on, Mega Aerodactyl could still fight.
Not just literally capable of fighting, either — in the fossil family, only Tyrunt could勉强 keep up with Aerodactyl in the looks department.
"So many fossils — shouldn't I tell Uncle Cyrus to source some amber?"
"New Pokémon!"
Just as Auron Vale was still thinking about Aerodactyl, the researcher over there let out a strange cry, then started gesturing excitedly at the sea turtle-shaped Pokémon inside the Fossil Revival Machine.
"New Pokémon?"
That shout drew everyone's attention to the sea turtle inside the Fossil Revival Machine.
"New Pokémon!"
Everyone immediately swarmed forward.
They had to get excited — right now there were only three known fossil Pokémon. A possible fourth would be a huge deal. (Though the American Empire had already released a fourth fossil Pokémon, they hadn't published it yet.)
Watching everyone rush over, Auron Vale挤了过去 as well.
Pokémon: Originzee
Gender: Male
Types: Water, Rock
Ability: Swift Swim (doubles speed in rain or heavy rain)
Quality: Blue
Base Skills: Water Gun, Withdraw
Egg Moves: Rollout, Stealth Rock, Slam
Looking at Originzee's terrified expression, Lu Xing Guo waved everyone back.
"Spread out. Ashen Vale, take someone and calm him down, then see if you can test his data."
"Sure."
After Dad agreed, he lifted Originzee out of the machine. Originzee squirmed in Dad's arms in fear, but was quickly won over by Moomoo Milk — and immediately started chugging from the bottle with a "glug glug glug~"
"Xiao Ze, is this the fossil you felt was strange just now?"
Auron Vale nodded. "Yeah. It felt different from the other fossils, but similar enough to the ones that can revive into Pokémon, so I gave it a try."
"Well done."
Lu Xing Guo gave Auron Vale's shoulder an approving pat.
Auron Vale was starting to show some of the temperament of a researcher now.
"Keep going. Try to get through all the fossils today."
Hearing Grandpa's words, Auron Vale's face fell.
"Sure…"
After agreeing, Auron Vale looked at the pile of fossils that had shrunk by more than half, gave himself a little pep talk, and threw himself back into the fossil identification work.
Truthfully, Auron Vale's team was fast. After all, when it came to identifying fossils, the American Empire didn't have Auron Vale's kind of special ability — they could only扔 one fossil at a time into the Fossil Revival Machine and see if a Pokémon would revive.
That method — they'd be lucky to identify in a whole day what Auron Vale's team could do in ten minutes.
After all, the fossil machine needed time to revive each fossil.
In comparison, the American side was like gacha — put any fossil in and you'd have no idea if a Pokémon would revive or not.
Auron Vale's side was like using an aimbot — putting only the fossils that could revive into Pokémon directly into the machine.
Even though both sides didn't know what Pokémon would actually come out, every single fossil Auron Vale put in would successfully revive into a Pokémon.
While Auron Vale was hard at work, Mom's store was also bustling. On the fighting arena, Snorlax traded punches with blow for blow against the opposing Pokémon.
Crobat was battling a flock of Spearow in the dense forest, dodging between branches and tree limbs in the gaps between attacks.
Probopass was enjoying the sunshine — if it weren't for Charizard and Incineroar's flames nearby, the temperature would've been just right. As it was, it was getting a bit warm.
Crobat and Sirfetch'd were sparring, while Farfetch'd was growing rapidly under Lucario's guidance.
Now only Uncle Cyrus was looking glum.
To fulfill Auron Vale's request for a battle with Rayquaza, he not only had to convince his superior — he also had to convince Rayquaza itself.
Rayquaza was easy, of course. For a battle maniac like it, just mention a fight and it would agree on the spot.
But the problem was convincing his superior.
A battle between Rayquaza and another Legendary? That was a perfect opportunity to observe both Legendaries' abilities. Of course they couldn't just let it slip by.
So he needed to apply for a space large enough and sturdy enough to accommodate both Pokémon and set up equipment for real-time observation of the battle.
This place not only had to be big, it had to be sturdy. And in all of Shangjing, only one place met these requirements.
The Bird's Nest!
The Bird's Nest had been built, after all, for battles between天王 and Master-rank Pokémon.
The previous Master's Tournament had been held in Shangjing, after all.
Because one of Dragon Kingdom's Masters had passed away peacefully, a new Master was needed to fill the spot.
If it weren't for the passing away, anyone wanting to sit in that Master's seat would basically have to defeat an existing Master to claim it.
"Gah… this is a headache."
Uncle Cyrus stood at his superior's office door and couldn't help but rake his fingers through his hair.
The Bird's Nest arena hadn't been activated in a very long time. He didn't know if his superior would even agree.
After all, he didn't know if the Bird's Nest could withstand a battle between Rayquaza and that mysterious Legendary.
But then again, the Bird's Nest had held up fine during the battles between Articuno and Registeel. It should be fine for Rayquaza versus the mysterious Legendary too, right? His superior should agree, right?
But even with these thoughts, Uncle Cyrus still had a bad feeling stirring in his gut.
*Knock knock knock…!*
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