Collab Entry #3: The Resurrection Project

[Galleon]

The Resurrection Project

Clink. Clink. Clink . Grey iron pickaxes struck away at rock, sending sonic waves of metal colliding with stone bouncing around the cavern walls of the Sinnoh underground, every echo eventually meeting Daniel’s ears. Brown rubble was littered all around the floor of the cave, making it impossible to walk around without getting a bit of dirt in your shoes. Excited gold diggers shouted bloody murder every time they found anything valuable or unusual. One person unearthed a diamond as big as his hand. He quit then and there, and ran off to sell it off, leaving his yellow hard hat with an electric light attached to the top. “A good gold digger…” sighed Daniel.

Between those discomforts and the dim lighting, the cavern illuminated only by occasional torches, most of which were running low (these were set there by the team which had planned the expedition); one would think it to be an impossible place to be. But this was not true; Daniel had been there, and in numerous other caverns and chasms, for so long that he barely even noticed anymore. His pale skin, so used to the cool air of a cave, would sweat at room temperature. The pupils of his eyes, once small and beady behind his brown horn-rimmed glasses, had grown within forest green irises, well adjusted to the darkness. He very clearly needed a shower, as his lanky body was coated with a healthy layer of dust, and his short, well kept chocolate brown hair was currently speckled a much lighter shade of brown from that same dust. He kept at a brisk pace, allowing his white (well, not so white anymore) lab coat to billow out slightly behind him, revealing the navy slacks, white button shirt, and red and yellow striped tie beneath. He smiled as he looked at the men slaving on cold tools of expedition, uncovering things long passed. His white teeth seemingly illuminated the dark cavern, reeking of mint toothpaste.

This was his last expedition, his last hunt in the pursuit of science. He had grinned many a time at the thought since undertaking this brilliant plan of Arnie’s. The money and grants would keep his facility running until long after his funeral, and people would start respecting him as a member of the scientific community. He would prove his theories this time; banishing the years of ridicule and Hell he had to put up with from the entire scientific community.

“Daniel, I think we’ve found something you should take a look at.” A nasally voice shouted out over a sudden blare of light static and heavy machinery from Danny’s pocket. He jumped slightly, and then reached into the pocket, fumbling around with the black plastic walkie-talkie before withdrawing it and bringing it up to his face. An antennae stuck out of the

“Hey Arnie, it’s Dan. I’m under Snowpoint City, where are you?” He asked in his deep but soft voice.

“I’m around the Battle Zone, I think its Route 228,” Arnie replied. The machinery was slowing down; indicating something major was going on.

“Not too far from me. I’ll be right there Arn, just give me about five minutes.” He paused for a moment. “And could you get over yourself for once, this was your idea you know.” And with that he hastily flicked the ridged power button on the walkie to the off position and shoved it in his pocket. He stood for a minute, waiting, until invariably the soft hum of an engine and bright yellow metal of a forklift came rolling by, just finished emptying a couple hundred pounds worth of rock into a ditch somewhere. It parked beside Danny, letting him look at it for a second or two. It had four black rubber wheels, a step for getting into it, a leather seat shadowed by a black metal arc. A pillar of the same black metal rose above the arc, and two large Ls sat on the ground, plastered to the pillar.
Danny hopped into the passenger seat as it passed and turned to face the driver. “Get to Route 228 with haste, there’s something going on over there,” commanded Daniel. The worker nodded his head and slammed his foot on the gas pedal, speeding up the vehicle considerably (although being just a forklift, it wasn’t by much).
Here is what I got. I'll send you only the part we haven't done so far, and then you put it all together. I need to get back to my computer at home ^^; So, here we go.
Arnie paced slightly, impatiently muttering under his breath about Daniel and his random walks. His faded jeans were speckled with dark brown dirt, and his lab coat had gone form a snow white to nearly bright brown, bits of white popping out here and there. A brown tee shirt popped out behind the lab coat, and stopped around his neck, which, unlike his hands, was a pale white, a sign that he spent way too much time on the computer. His nose was dirtied and hooked, and his black hair was greasy and stretched down to the bridge of his nose. The only figure of him that looked happy were his eyes; bright, blue, and cheery. They seemed out of place in the dank world that was the Underground, and even more out of place on this man, but they seemingly brightened up the room whenever he entered it.

Arnie had no sense of timing, or hurry, or any sense at all for that matter. Luckily for him their tunneling expedition had increased the size of these tunnels dramatically. While most of the Underground was essentially a winding series of holes, most likely dug over the years by various large Ground Pokemon, this one had been picked and drilled and dug away at extensively over the past month or so, as had a few others that were nothing but dead ends. As it was now, the five foot wide tunnel had become a fifteen foot wide, twenty foot tall dome, with several large pockets of dark brown earth dug out of the side where the team had expanded farther, in search of their ultimate prize. Thus far all that had been found were precious gems, valuable minerals, and evolutionary stones, which, while helpful in paying for the under funded expedition, were still worthless to the scientists on Danny’s team. Now, however…

“Arnie!” The man’s head twisted to catch his fellow scientist, his greasy black hair whipping after it, long enough that it brushed along his pale hooked nose, tickling it and giving him the unpleasant feeling of needing to sneeze but being unable to. Danny was coming in from the entrance on the opposite side of the dome… or rather; his ride was, as he was currently standing with his left foot on the step on the passenger’s side of a bright yellow forklift, hanging dangerously by one hand wrapped around the canary frame of the chassis, his free hand waving. The construction vehicle whirred forward towards Arnie, slowing down on approach, and Danny hopped off when it passed by. He waved and shouted a cheerful “Thank you,” but even from behind Arnie could see the relieved look on the miner’s face. Danny then turned to face his partner and grinned. “Okay, even you have to admit that looked like fun,” he said, a bead of sweat dripping down his borderline albino face.

“No.” Arnie said shortly, his voice taking on its almost ever-present snootiness. “I don’t particularly find dangerous stunts like that very ‘fun’ Daniel. I don’t know how any idiot could find getting on a forklift, riding on it, and risking life and limb to be fun. I call it idiotic, only an ignoramus would be foolish enough to even try that foolish exploit of yours,” Danny’s grin faltered, but never faded.

“You don’t have to be such a spoil sport, Arn. So, what is it you wanted to show me?” Now it was Arnie’s turn to grin. He extended his mahogany sleeved arm, open hand, and quickly pulled in and withdrew his fingers twice, the universal sign for “follow me”. He turned and walked over to the center of the “room”, where a cherry-picker sat for the inspectors to be able to ride to the top of the dome and observe things, and boarded it.
The cherry picker was a large pick up truck, painted a glossy baby blue, nearly too bright for the eyes in the dully lit cavern. A small compartment in which a man in a yellow jumpsuit worked the controls. White double doors sheltered the small alcove, which had cold metal=2 0handles, bitter cold in the twenty above freezing temperatures. Black tires sank into the russet dirt, leaving lattice pattern markings in the soil. On top of the truck was a large, orphan blue caged platform, which electronically maneuvered up and down, a carriage with a matching shade of blue used to hold people in it. In addition to all of this, there was a small platform jutting out of the underside of the truck.

Arnie sniffed, the air reeking of gasoline from the newly gassed cherry picker. “We were drilling another pocket, doing another run.” He paused for a moment when they were both in to close the iron gate of the small cerulean platform, and begin operating the controls. There was a slight hum, like an engine, and the platform began to rise, up and slightly to the left. “I honestly didn’t expect to find anything today, since we haven’t had any luck here yet…” The carriage stopped, and then moved straight forward. “And then the drill hit something. We figured it was another small Sphere or a Stone or something, and I went up to retrieve it, but when I got here...” Arnie let go of the controls and flicked the “Lock” switch, halting the platform completely. The engine died down. “I saw this.” He pointed up at a shallow pocket, and Danny glanced into it. There was indeed a large, harder than normal rock right there. It was yellow-brown, and had many different sides and markings on it.

”Here, use this and take a look at the markings.” Arnie pulled a small bronze-colored device out of his pocket that resembled a plumbing pipe with a jeweler’s monocle at the end (the device used by jewelers and jewel appraisers to inspect gems for authenticity and imperfections) and passed it to Danny. This was essentially that, a jeweler’s monocle, simply extended. The pipe contained lenses of glass which acted like a telescope, but of a size and position that kept the scope of vision perfectly the same until it reached the end. One of Danny’s own inventions, in fact. The biologist positioned the small end over the stone and peered into it, giving himself a good close up look at it. He immediately smiled as he recognized what he was looking at.

“Un-natural indentations, taking a smooth and distinct shape. Very shallow, but still well defined. Shape is that of a biped with lizard qualities, and at the top a distinctly defined imprint like that of a hard shell covering the head, with a deeper one like a horn.” He put down the monocle and grinned at Arnie. “Either this is a very upsetting coincidence or we’ve uncovered a Cranidos fossil, and I don’t believe in coincidences.” Arnie grinned back.

“So what are we waiting for? Let’s get digging!” was the only reply from Danny.

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Machines whirred and whirred, grey metal drills boring deep into the rocks of the Underground. Machines of unfathomable shapes and sizes hummed and grunted, like a giant, multi headed behemoth, searching for a meal of valuable fossils. After about a half an hour of this, a cascade of dully colored fossils poured from the ceiling which was being drilled into. And then came the roar…

A hellish roar, something that was not of this earth; it came from one of the holes and the sound waves rebounded in the dark cave, bouncing from wall to wall, echoing in the ears of everybody in that cavern. Dust then fell from the ceiling and fell into the mouths of many a man, tasting bland and grainy; like a rice pudding, but drained of flavor and hardened immensely.

After this otherworldly screech had left the ears of the men and women occupying the cave, another sound reached their ears: a whooooosh sound, like a blade slicing through the air, held by the hand of an expert swordsman. A few seconds after this had started, a giant crash sounded, more than one person being hit by stray rocks, sent in all direction by the impact of a something.

A minute of silence, a silence that was louder than anything any of them had ever heard before, until, finally, another sound came. It was the sound of a man yelling, “Regirock!”, and then the panic that ensued.

People ran everywhere, abandoning the machinery, and simply focusing on getting the hell away from the monster of a Pokemon. Arnie lowered the carriage on the cherry picker and got out, along with Danny. “Daniel, we’re going to have to take care of this,” muttered Arnie, wiping a bit of hair out of his eyes,” The Regirock is enraged, and unless we…subdue it for a bit we’re going to have a wreck of a project. Plus, there’s an assload of fossils we can’t afford to lose,”

“Agreed,” replied Daniel, sweat dripping from his pale brow,” We can’t afford to lose these fossils.” At this he pulled a Pokeball from his pocket, a red and white orb which held a monster called a Pokemon, and threw it high into the air. Mid-flight it opened and a red mist released from it, and out of the mist came a Charizard.

The Charizard beat its crimson edged, navy wings, a glare in its red eyes, and flew down to the level that Regirock was on. It sank its orange clawed feet into the dirt, ebony talons ripping up rock. A white underside differentiated from the rest of the body, running from its stomach to the end of its tail, at the end of which stood a blazing fire, jumping with colors of purple, white, and blue. This Charizard was so pumped for battle the fire in its body had increased drastically.

And that head, it was the head of a demon. A mixture between a dragon and a wolf, a bright orange snout, two short cartilage horns, flared nostrils, and bright ref eyes.

It stared at the Regirock. The orange and grey, multi sided rocks shuffled about, the head making a full clockwise rotation, the orange, pointed shoulders doing the opposite; making counter clockwise rotations. It seemed as if the Regirock were killing two birds with one stone: limbering up from its long sleep deep in the rocks of the Underground and getting ready for the battle.

Arnie wouldn’t let the fun and credit all go to Danny, so he copied him, pulled a red and white orb from his pocket, threw it into the air, and released a Golem. The Golem fell to the ground with a thud, sending rocks everywhere.

It strutted over to Charizard and gave a resounding gragh. It echoed through the silent cavern and pounded on the eardrums of the few organisms that inhabited it. Golem was a large boulder, cracks running through it so deeply that it seemed as if there were many, but not one large, boulders fit together to make its body. Two tan arms and two tan legs popped out of the boulder, each ending in white claws. A head also emerged from the boulder, a small, slender, snout like head; two crimson eyes staring out of it like little flashlights, seemingly out of place in the dully colored Pokemon.

Charizard let loose a Fire Blast, and a plume of red and white flame twirled and danced as it left the mouth of the dragon like Pokemon and sped at Regirock. It dodged the flames and picked up a large boulder from the impact of Golem at hurled it at the majestic flying beast. It just hit the shoulder of Charizard, sending it down to the ground, cherry hand clutching the bruised bone.

And now it was Golem’s turn. It picked up two boulders, and hurled one at Regirock. With the reflexes of a cat, Regirock swerved to the side in an orange blur. Golem then pitched the other large rock at Regirock, and then heard a loud thud

Regirock fell to the ground, and then just as quickly got back it; it seemed that run of the mill moves and techniques wouldn’t down this behemoth. Charizard sent another plume of dancing orange fire at Regirock, and in the confusion that ensued the boulder attack and the lethargy followed the impact. Regirock was relatively fine from the attack…but, wait. A small grayish mark appeared several times on Regirock’s body; it had received a burn! Charizard puffed a bit of smoke out of its mouth, seemingly bragging, but was really distracting it so that Golem could slide in a quick attack. It charged for a bit, staying stationary, and then loosed a Focus Punch. It pulled it’s head, arms, and legs, and readied a Rollout. It rolled up against the wall of the dome like structure, rolled up, up, and right above Regirock, and stopped. It then pulled out its limbs and positioned itself for a Focus Punch.

Regirock looked skyward and saw the Golem. It let loose a blast of multicolored energy.. A beam of orange, blue, red, purple, pink, and any other color imaginable all sped towards Golem. They collided with it and Golem was sent upwards, along with the beam of energy. It went right through the ceiling of the underground, causing dull brown rocks, cheery green grass, and flowers of hundreds of bright shades and colors flying downwards.

Of course, gravity brings whatever goes up down, and Golem was no exception. It rocketed towards the Underground again, picking up momentum every second. At that moment, it hit Arnie, this was the last chance for Golem to attack, and it would be spent well. “Golem, use Earthquake once you hit Regirock!” he bellowed, his nasally voice filled with anxiety and haste.

The sound echoed through the empty chamber, and Golem got the message loud and clear. Danny, knowing what he must now do, screamed, “Use Fly and Flare Blitz!”

The dragon like Pokemon fly up as the rock Pokemon sped down. It hit the ground with a loud crash, impacting Regirock, and used Earthquake. The ground in close proximity to Golem shook with great force, Regirock being worn out even further than it already was. It was obvious that it couldn’t take much more of this type of treatment. It had to recover from the Hyper Beam, and fast.

[Galleon]

Golem was now out for the count, and was returned to its Pokeball by Arnie. “Go Jynx,” hollered Arnie, for the second time sending a Pokeball into the air. Out of the following red mist came a Jynx. Jynx had a long, flowing dress, purple skin, and a large metal bra which had cloth holders for the breasts.

It had long, blonde hair, with comedicly large lips, and large bright eyes which never seemed to blink. Regirock stumbled from its rest, playing with its feet for a second, and faced the newcomer. At this moment, Charizard, covered in bright white flame, smashed into Regirock, knocking it onto its back.

“Jynx!” screeched Arnie, “Now’s your chance, use Ice Beam on Regirock!”

Jynx opened it’s mouth and let loose a wave of bright light. It cut through the air at, pardon the pun, light speed, and left a wave of cold in its wake. As it collided with the Regirock, a thin layer of ice formed on Regirock. This layer of ice quickly became thicker and thicker, turning the white and orange Pokemon white, freezing its movements, stopping it in its tracks.

At this Danny pulled a red and white ball out of his pocket. This device was a Pokeball, a peculiar item used to capture Pokemon. He tossed it at the Regirock, hitting it with a hollow sound, and sucking it in in a cloud of red vapor. Arnie’s eyes flew wide.

“Wait you idiot, don’t!” But it was already too late. Immediately, the Pokeball exploded, colored Pokeball scraps flying everywhere. Arnie himself had to duck to avoid being beheaded by a rather large piece of red plastic. “Ugh! What the hell was that!? They aren’t called Legendaries for nothing!” Danny grinned sheepishly.

“Um… my bad?” The Regirock then fell to the floor, landing with a thud, and started to steam. White smoke whispered secrets in their own hissing language, dancing towards the ceiling all the while.

Then the rocks started shooting. Bits of colored stone flew in all directions, getting bigger by the second. Before long, Regirock was reduced to a pile of rubble, albeit a pile of large rocked rubble, spread across the stone floor of the cavern. Finally, the last rock was sent flying into the air, and hit a stalactite. This fell, and whisked through the air as a nasally voice screeched, “GET THE HELL OUT!”

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The pair gasped for breath, collapsing on the ground outside of the entry hole. One of the three team members who had escaped with the looked back down, pointing a flashlight into the hole in an attempt to find someone else while the one who helped them up was making sure they were okay. A few yards away, another small group of miners from the same area sat, panting, a few of them gulping down water from canteens to clear the dust from their mouths. The serenity of the small forest they had climbed into, the same one they left when they first began the expedition, seemed to have evaporated in the chaos that had just occurred.

“… are we alive?” Danny gasped. His hands were still shaking slightly from terror, and his pale skin had turned an even paler shade, save his cheeks, which were bright red from the incident and the sudden sprint.

“I… I think so.” Arnie panted, collapsed on his hands and knees, his greasy hair swinging slightly, brushing his face. “What about the rest of the team, did they all get out safe?” Danny pulled his walkie-talkie from his pocket and flipped it on.

“Everyone, are you all right?” Nothing but static. “Come on guys, I know you’re out there.” Still no sound came in other than the grainy hiss. The entire group’s heads drooped, knowing what it probably meant.

“Arnie, Danny, are you there?” The group jumped and Danny slammed his thumb down onto the output.

“Tony! Is that you?” He squealed, his normally deep voice jumping around an octave. The prospector at the other end laughed, a noise that was both harsh and warm at the same time.

“It’s good to hear your voice Dan. Arn, there with you?” Danny smiled, and was about to respond when another voice, this time feminine.

“I read you guys loud and clear.. Sonya reporting a-okay, same for a headcount of around twelve. We all made it out with a few others from the area, through their entry hole.” The honey-suckle voice of the only woman on the prospecting team was even sweeter to everyone’s ears at the news. Tony also spoke up then.

“I can account for five more, and man oh man I never thought I’d be so happy to hear you Sonya.” The group smiled even wider, and even Arnie had to break a grin.

“Hold,” Arn started, breaking the cheerful mood. “We had twenty-four men on this expedition. That leaves us four short.” The smiles fell, and the change in atmosphere on the other ends of the walkies could be felt even from where they sat.

Silence passed for a good ten minutes longer. The three prospectors with Danny and Arnie were beginning to get together what belongings were left, as well as the twelve or so fossils the entire group had managed to obtain. The only sound was the constant static, only occasionally broken for status reports. It was clear that the other four members of the dig team were-
“Hey, who’s out there? This is Mike calling out to all members of the dig team requesting back-up, me and three other men have been wandering around down here since the explosion. Can anyone hear me?” No one could hear him at that point though; they were too busy cheering.

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Sadly, that was the last cheering and celebrating Danny and Arnie did. Although no one had gotten hurt, their tunneling had awoken a Regirock, and their battle caused it to Explode, which in turn caused the collapse of a good portion of the Underground. As a result (and partially due to Mike, who told the press about the whole incident for a large payment. It was going to be his only payment for a long time too), they awoke in the hotel room they had rented out to blinding flashes outside of the windows, signs of the press photographers attempting to snap pictures of them. This was followed at breakfast, when, after having left the room, they were immediately assaulted by reporters demanding interviews, explanations, and confessions to domestic terrorism.

This was only the beginning though. They were all but forced into interviews on news programs, never being alone, and never having a moment’s peace. Danny refused to explain the reasons behind the expedition, and he gave a very good reason any time anyone asked him to..

“I’m not having anyone steal my theories.” He replied shortly to the platinum blonde talk show host Lara Ingirm, sitting comfortably on the long white sofa next to his partner, in a set made to look like a large room, with oak paneling and a large window looking out on Goldenrod City. The blonde was seated behind an oak desk and looking very uncomfortable with her legs crossed and her brow furrowed, made even more unnerved by Danny’s refusal to cooperate. Despite his cool and haughty exterior, the scientist was truly terrified of his research being poached, in addition to the anxiousness to get back to his lab. Arnie, on the other hand, shrugged.

“It’s true. He’s not even telling me what the project involves, only that it has something to do with f-fmmbmbmm.” The last word came out as nothing more than a mumble, as a pale hand covered an equally pale mouth to prevent Arnie from giving anything away. Danny closed his eyes and sighed, blessing God for his quick reaction.

“Look, if you people would just leave me alone long enough to get back to my laboratory and conduct my experiments, I’d be more than happy to share when I prove my theory corre-OW!” Danny pulled his hand back from Arnie’s mouth. The other scientists had grabbed it with his own, now clean ones, and bitten hard on the palm, forcing him to release the pressure. “Not cool man!” he exclaimed, examining a bit of blood from Arnie’s left bicuspid.

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With the promise of an explanation to come later, the press willingly agreed to back down, and the pair was able to finally retreat to Danny’s new labs on the outskirts of Viridian City. The compound sat nestled amongst a few hills, and consisted of five main buildings, all built out of pleasant yellow bricks. The main one, in which all active experiments would take place, sat at the very center, and was far larger than the others, with a bright red dome sitting looking completely out of place for a square building. To any side were the other four, all the same, smaller size and placed in a symmetric diamond shape. One for research, one for sleeping in when staying overnight, one for storage (as only an idiot would keep acetone in the same general area as nitromethane), and one with a pool, a billiards table, a large screen television, and a ten thousand dollar supercomputer. Needless to say, Arnie was to say the least, amused
Arnie mockingly poked, “And you afford this…how? Last time I checked you were the nutjob scientist down the corner and just around the bend.”
Danny took his sweet time answering the question, smiling and laughing a bit before finally opening his mouth.

“After the accident we split the leftovers from our expedition funding, right? Well, I took mine and gave it to my brother Sam. He’s a stock broker, and a really good one. In just the two months that we were being dragged around he turned the measly five hundred dollars I had into around twenty thousand, and it’s still growing. So I took out a mortgage and had this complex built. Trust me, Sam’s never lost any money on the market, he’s got a nose for this stuff.” Danny smirked as he pulled open the bright red door to the main building, revealing a massive room, around half the length of a football field in both dimensions. Sorted around was the team, having gone back from paleontology to their proper places as biologists, all scurrying around and performing tests. Unfortunately, due to the lack of their funding, they had no test subjects, and as such were only able to study via computer simulations.

Danny grinned as he walked over to the center of the room, beckoning and letting out a call of “everyone gather round!”. At the dead center was a workstation with three computers all set up, as well as centrifuges, several hypodermic needles with large syringes, and hyper-microscopes used to view cells at close range..

“Alright, so I’m sure you’re all been wondering what all of the digging and secrecy has been about.” Danny started, and then paused to allow the rabbling of his annoyed employees. When they finally quieted down, he continued. “The reason is because I am seeking to perfect the reintroduction of extinct Pokemon to the world..” Any remaining rabble from the group of sixteen was lost in the stares. Reintroduction had been proven impossible due to the tendency of cloned Pokemon to be unstable in the genetic structure of clones. “As you know, cloned Pokemon don’t tend to live very long. Chemical imprints on a gene would normally signal which parent an unborn child will gain a trait from at a greater level. Intelligence, for instance, mostly comes from the mother, although the father will also have some level of influence. The marker only indicates which gene is turned on, so to speak. However, because a typical embryonic clone will have one set of genes from one parent, a perfect match, the proteins that mark the genes will become confused, and mark the wrong gene, or worse, both, in multiple places. The result is the clone producing the wrong kinds of proteins, which in turn leads to abnormalities, and more often than not, death before the subject has developed enough to reproduce and give birth to healthy offspring.

“Therefore, it is theoretically impossible to place clones of extinct Pokemon species such as Omanyte or Lileep in the wild and allow the species to grow naturally. Some have suggested that we just clone a ton of them, and let the ones who survive pass on the stronger genes, but the affected markers would still be passed down, and destroy the new offspring before birth. I’ve pondered over this question for a long time, and come up with the answer.” Danny paused and grinned, scanning the room quickly. All around faces were staring back, begging him to go on, and only Arnie looked uninterested, his head hunched over, examining his fingernails,“… we breed them.” Everyone (save Arnie, who kept his cool composure) face-vaulted, falling forward and landing almost perfectly upside down with their faces on the floor..

“You’re an idiot, you know that?” breathed Arnie, looking up from his hands, “You see, there is only way to breed. When a male and a female love each other, or in the real world, want to have a freaking blast, they breed, or have sex. That is how you breed,”

“And you said yourself Danny,” added the blue eyed blond with short cropped hair and a voice like honey, “we can’t just clone two Pokemon and let them go at it, all we would get is a baby Pokemon in even worse condition.” Sonya adjusted her glasses nervously as she said this, shifting uncomfortably in the blue sundress under her coat. She wasn’t used to needing to correct her boss like this. Danny just grinned slightly.

“Hate to tell you boss man,” Tony put in, his raspy voice clashing with his flawless light-tanned skin, bright green eyes behind expensive aviator sunglasses, and spiked golden locks, “but if this is the reason we destroyed half the Underground then I think you might be losing your touch.” At this, Danny chuckled..

“Guys, come on, I’m not stupid. Now tell me, what’s the problem with cloning?” He glanced around the room, looking for an answer. Tony supplied it.

“Well since the DNA only comes from one source, the proteins don’t know which genes to mark.” Danny nodded.

“And how does breeding work?” This time Arnie chipped in.

“Well you see Daniel, when a man and a woman love each other very much-“

“Stop.” Danny cut him off and held up a hand. “I meant on a cellular level, and Arnie already taught us about the birds and the bees”

“The male gamete enters the female egg, and the DNA merges and the egg develops into either a fetus or a Pokemon Egg.” Sonya spoke. “That’s basic fifth grade Health Danny, what does that have to do with anything.” He nodded again.

“Simple, my dear Sonya. The only things required in the breeding process are the gametes. Contained within are two different half-sets of DNA. When they combine, certain gene sets have one marked as more important than another . The only part the parents have in the process is insemination and the female acting as a carrier, and with modern technology even the latter isn’t true. So, what do you think I wanted the fossils for?” The crowd of scientists collectively either scratched their heads, stared at the floor, rubbed their chins, or glared at their partner of seven years (that only pertained to Arnie). A few seconds passed before Sonya snapped her fingers.

“You want to take genetic material from them and try to create gametes!” She exclaimed. Danny smiled.

“Bingo.” There was a slight uproar of objections to the idea, reasons why it was completely impossible, and some applause at the young biologist’s brilliance. Arnie stood quietly, thinking about something.

“Daniel, please, enlighten us, how would this briiiiliant plan of your’s work, exactly?”

“Same process as embryonic cloning really,” Danny replied. “We take the genetic material and essentially split in half using nucleotidal enzymes and separate them, the replicate it. Then we take the nuclei of any given male and female gametes and extract all genetic material, then replace it with the new ones. As long as we make sure an X chromosome gets into the egg, there should be no problem.” Arnie pondered for a second longer.

“… I’m in. This is the kind of thing my name can go on.” The rabble stopped. “Just as long as you realize that this borders on a lot of ethical boundaries for a lot of people.” Danny’s eyes closed and he nodded.

“I know. That’s why I’m not telling anyone. I didn’t just not want to have it stolen, I didn’t want angry protestors outside of my door while conducting the experiments. If all goes well, though, the ability to revive extinct species will undoubtedly get us a government grant, meaning government protection.” Everyone grew quiet. A grant also meant money, a lot of money. None of them would have to go back and do dangerous things anymore, people would come to them and bring them fossils to create new Pokemon from. And then there was the money. And the fame of having brought the Fossil Pokemon back into the wild. And the money!

“I want in too.” Tony shouted over the sudden chorus of similar cries for involvement. Danny smiled, it had worked like a charm.

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6-25-09

Today we started work on the artificial insemination process. The idea is a rather ingenious, but there’s one major flaw. No one has the slightest idea of how the Hell to pull it off. Honestly, Daniel, think of a decent theory before getting some of the guys excited. You really are an idiot, aren’t you?

7-01-09

Ugh, still no progress. It’s been almost over a week now and the idiot still doesn’t have any idea how.. I’m working on an incubation chamber that replicates a female Cranidos and Shieldon. It’s coming along rather well; better than Daniel’s project at any rate. The idiot.

7-15-09

It’s been a rather long time since I’ve written in this thing, hasn’t it? Yes, I’ve been working overtime getting the chamber finished. Daniel’s just starting to have an idea. That this is rather uncharted territory is his excuse…I just think he isn’t working hard enough.

7-19-09

I finished my chamber yesterday. I pulled an all-nighter last night and finished it all up. Then I had some other guy send it in to be made. Daniel’s thing is coming along quite smoothly as well. I hope that he finishes it up soon. I’m growing rather impatient.

8-04-09

Well, Daniel’s finished his hypothesis. All we need to do is take half the DNA from a cell of a Shieldon or Cranidos fossil and put it in a sperm. If it doesn’t work…he better pray it does.

8-15-09
I got a letter back from the company I sent the blueprints to today. Apparently, it’s really complicated and will take a few months to make. So they’re charging me a quarter million dollars. I hate them.
8-19-09
Dan’s finished his hypothesis, and I got back my bill today. Ugh, I’ll be paying it soon.

10-10-09
Paid the bill. Cost a shitload, better be worth it.

12-24-09
Christmas Eve. We had a big feast today, just like Thanksgiving. It was wonderful, to say the least. Kudos to the cook.
2-20-10
Got back my machine today. It’s beautiful.
4-19-2010
And here comes the fun.
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[Galleon]

The date was April 19, 2010. Seven long months ago, the experiment had come to the point of no return, as the creation of new life had begun. Two sperm cells had been fused with two egg cells, the sperm from Danny’s Charizard and the eggs from Sonya’s Grovyle. The type of Pokemon they came from didn’t matter, only that they were lizardlike in structure. The gamete cells did not, however, contain any Grovyle or Charizard DNA. Instead, they contained the haploid copies of DNA from one Cranidos and one Shieldon, an egg and sperm for each. Upon joining, they formed a pair of zygotes, two perfect copies of the original cells from which they were created (save for the mitochondria, which, having their own set of DNA passed down from the mother, was identical to that of a Grovyle) that soon multiplied, creating two cells, then three, then four. They were immediately placed in the tanks Arnie had had commissioned, and left to grow. Within a month, they had formed into two small blobs, and developed a membrane around them. By the next month, the blobs were larger, and were beginning to form actual shapes, being oval. One was more in tune with its membrane, having elongated vertically, and had the start of a head, a rounding off where the neck would be. The other had elongated horizontally, on the other hand, and its head was not only beginning to be rounded off at the neck, but was also starting to thin out and stretch upwards. Both were curled up slightly, into a natural and comfortable position.

The third month marked the end of monitoring the unborn Pokemons’ progress as the filmy membrane around them had lost its translucency, and the pair was no longer viewable. The fourth and fifth months saw very little change, and the group was beginning to wonder if they had failed, and the eggs would never fully form. Danny spent the better part of the last month drifting around the lab, wondering where he went wrong, why he was never successful. Ordinarily the egg would not only have formed by now, it would have hatched.

Then came the sixth month. Karen, a plain brunette with a shiny white smile and bright gray eyes, had been walking through the lab to get some of the paperwork needed for her latest personal endeavor (making cybernetic wings for flightless Pokemon, she was hardly the normal one of the bunch) when a glance at the incubators made her gasp, then scream for everyone within earshot to come quickly. Inside the tanks, almost overnight hard shells had formed around the two membranes.

Several days passed, filled with tapping, feeling, and knuckle rapping of the Eggs (during which time Danny was somewhat freaking out, as if the Eggs broke they would have to start all over) before the Eggs were finally deemed complete, and removed from incubation. After being dried, they were laid out on cushions and examined frequently, although as with all eggs ultrasound did not reveal anything about their conditions.

And now one more month had come to pass. One final month of development, during which the brains and fine details would be fully formed. The day had finally arrived, although none had known it until the flashing of the Eggs began. On Tony’s watch, the Cranidos egg flashed once, then twice. He hit the “conference all” button on his cell phone, simultaneously calling everyone on his contact list, and called for them to come down to the main lab immediately. Within half an hour, every scientist on the team (and Tony’s mother) was leaning forward, watching the Eggs as they flashed at random intervals.

This staring lasted for around half an hour. People were not amused. Karen eventually left to return to her wing project. However, everyone else was staring with rapt attention when finally they random flashing turned into a glow, the Shieldon egg lighting up like a Christmas tree on December 24th, followed shortly by the Cranidos. They both slowly altered form, the egg shell melding and joining with the full body of the Pokemon.

There, on the table, stood two proud and ancient Pokemon. On the left was a gray lizard creature, with a thin neck and a teardrop body. On its back and the top of its head were large splashes of light blue, and a series of spikes poked out from the back of the head. Its nose was snubbed, like a snout, and sat beneath two slightly squinted red eyes. This was Cranidos, the Head Butt Pokemon, male as judged by the long head spikes. To the right of it, standing shyly, was a Shieldon, its small (yet still very large) flat brown head indicating that it was a female.. The head was plate-like in shape and above and below the eyes was a strip of gray curving away, one outlining her nose and the other forming the bottom of the rim of her plate. Behind the head was a pudgy yellow body on four legs, with a light silver plate covering part of her back, and a short fatty tail stuck out from behind. They both stared up at the small crowd of scientists, and the immediate reaction was a loud chorus of “AWWWW!”

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Work on the Resurrection Project, as it had been newly named, quickly picked up now that there were active specimens to study (although no one thought of them that way, instead they were seen as the team mascots/things to cuddle when one felt sad). Uzume (as the Shieldon had been dubbed) was tested repeatedly for degeneration commonly found in the faceplates of cloned Shieldon, a weakening which left them virtually defenseless and easily killable. None were found, and her faceplate was as solid as steel, as it was supposed to be. Meanwhile, Susanoo, the Cranidos, was put through physical testing, as often Cranidos’ muscles did not develop properly over time and were crippled because of it. But he was found healthy as a Tauros, able to run at speeds faster than even believed of the original Cranidos from millions of years before (though that may have been due in part to the Grovyle mitochondria pumping out energy at a far higher pace).

Numerous times their battling abilities were tested, and Danny and Arnie (who, being the leaders of the project, acted as their guardians) directed them to attack multiple targets, both moving and non-moving. Susanoo was far stronger than any cloned Cranidos, and considering their high level of physical strength even when degenerate that was saying quite a lot. Between his natural Head Smash and Zen Headbutt attacks, both of which could crush walls, he was definitely a Pokemon with amazing strength. Not only that, but his father, the original Cranidos from which he was cloned, passed on the attack Double Edge, allowing him to deal even more physical pain. Meanwhile, Uzume proved herself to be a formidable passive battler, having the inherent ability to harden her faceplate to extreme levels with Iron Defense and release a metallic noise known only as Metal Sound to weaken any opponent. Not to mention the powerful Metal Burst and Ancientpower attacks.

Another three months passed by, and the anniversary of the Underground Explosion was fast approaching. For symbolic reasons, and due to the fact that they had proven that physically Uzume and Susanoo were in every way equal to their true genetic ancestors, Daniel, after agreement from every member of the team, scheduled a press conference. The laboratory compound (as well as his new house deeper into the hills, and his new truck) had long been paid off, and Sam’s brilliant investment strategy had left him with a fortune to spend on organizing it. It wasn’t until a week before the conference, however, that Arnie realized the last possible flaw in their plans.

“Daniel, wait!” He ran in the space between buildings, as Danny was currently on his way to the recreation building with Uzume in his arms, intent on teaching her how to play pool in spite of the fact that she had no arms. He stopped, however, and turned to see his friend chasing after him with Susanoo running closely at his heels. He cocked his head, curious at Arnie’s rush.

“Sorry Arn, can whatever this is wait? Me and Uzu are going to play pool.” He said.. Uzume copied his head motions, tilting her large head to the side as she stared down at her panting Cranidos brother (she saw him as such anyway) next to his equally panting caretaker.

“First… of… all…” Arnie gasped out, desperately trying to refill his lungs with air after the relatively short (unless you are a true nerd) run, “Uzume… doesn’t have… thumbs… moron. Second of all… there’s a problem.” Danny narrowed his eyes.

“Did the last bone scan show any degeneration?” He asked worriedly. Susa had already been declared medically perfect, but Uzu was still at risk for bone degeneration for another few weeks. Arnie shook his head though.

“No, Uzume is fine for the time being. But I realized something.” Arnie stared his partner in the eye. “What if they can’t be captured?” Danny stared at him for a second, and then a light went on in his head.

“You’re right. No one has ever tried putting a prehistoric Pokemon in a Pokeball before because they’ve never been deemed healthy enough for that kind of testing. If they can’t be captured, then we’d be releasing Legendary class Pokemon into the wild.” Legendary class Pokemon were ones like Regirock, incapable of being captured in any type of Pokeball. They were often feared and hunted as dangerous, being declared untamable and therefore safety hazards. “Since Cranidos and Shieldon went extinct long before Pokeballs were invented, they’re just as likely as a Regirock, who is even older, to be uncapturable.” He glanced down at Uzu. “People would be terrified of what they couldn’t own. They would hurt them out of fear. Or worse, because they can reproduce they would just be called animals instead of Pokemon, and left unprotected by the law. They would be killed for sport or meat.” He stared back up at Arnie. “What are we gonna do Arn?” Arnie just looked back at him seriously.

“We capture them.”

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Danny and Arnie stood on opposite sides of the laboratory. The massive one-room building had been cleared out of all equipment, to act as their battlefield. Between them was a long expanse of empty space. On Danny’s Uzu stood, feeling slightly unsure of herself, while in front of Arnie was Susa, slightly confused about what was going on. But despite their conflicted feelings, there was one mutual one between them, the same one shared by all Pokemon, the one that justified the Pokemon battling leagues. The instinct to fight, for survival, for dominance, for food, it was the need to be in the heat of combat, the lust for blood, whether metaphorically or literally. They would do as their natural desires drove them to do. Such was the way of a Pokemon.

This was not an official battle, nor would there be a proper winner. The purpose of the battle was not for victory, although both sides definitely wanted to win. Like their partners, Danny and Arnie had been looking forward to their eventual battle against each other for a long time. But victory was only the side goal, the ultimate goal was to weaken their partners to the point of knockout, in order to capture them. But for the winner, victory would be oh so sweet.

Neither side made any move, nor any indication of a sound. Both scientists stood straight up, stone still, and their partners mimicked the action, staring each other down in perfect stillness. To the side, a fair distance away the rest of the research team (and Tony’s mom, who had been auto-called again) sat in fold-up chairs, most with some form of snack food as they watched the battle that they had been anticipating for the better part of seven years. It was quiet, silent even, so much so that you could hear the whispers in the background.

“I’ve got twenty bucks on Arnie and Susa,” from Tony.

“You’re on,” from Sonya.

“So why are they fighting?” From Tony’s mom.

“They need to test that the Pokemon can be captured, but they’ve also had this mini-rivalry thing going on for years,” from Karen.

“When are they gonna-,” from a random intern, but he was cut off by a sudden shout.

“CRAN!” Susa cried as he began a sudden charge, deciding to take action into his own hands. The blue splash on his head became translucent with a bluish-white color, and he pointed it down, bringing his body low to the ground for an increase in his already heightened speed as he sprinted. Uzu jumped back slightly, startled at the random charge. Battling may be in the blood of all Pokemon, but certainly not in the brains, and while Uzu was an intelligent Pokemon, she was still a timid fighter at heart.

“Uzu, Iron Defense!” Came Danny’s call when he saw that his partner wouldn’t be able to respond on her own in time. Uzu nodded, glad for the assistance, and dug her feet into the ground, bracing herself. Her faceplate flashed once, immediately before the Cranidos crashed into her head on with the Zen Headbutt. The high force attack pushed her back slightly, but the little Shieldon didn’t falter, instead holding her ground. Despite that the energy of his attack had worn off, Susa continued pushing forward, intent on making Uzu stumble. Unfortunately, lacking the momentum and attack power required for even the little push he got, he was unable to force Uzu back any farther.

“Susa, draw back and Focus Energy, and stop charging you idiot!” Arnie shouted, recognizing that the Cranidos was too stubborn to recognize he was only wearing himself down. Susa held for a second, staring Uzu determinedly in the eye, before releasing the pressure of his forehead on hers and spun around, dashing back to where he started. Uzu wasn’t having a retreating opponent, though, her instincts told her that the withdrawl was a cowardly thing to do and she wouldn’t stand for it. Her eyes flashed, and a glowing ball of white energy quickly formed in front of her.

She let out a cry of “SHIEL!” and the Ancientpower was released, flying through the air and striking the retreating Cranidos in the back. Susa fell forward, knocked off balance by the sudden attack from behind. Being the same type, it didn’t hurt him much, but it did throw him to the ground, and to be fair to Uzu it was her only ranged attack. Arnie growled.

“That was a dirty move Daniel, Uzu’s going to Hell,” He spat. Danny just gave a “who, me?” smile.

“You’re the one who’s always preaching to let my Pokemon act for themselves Arn. Did you hear me tell her to use Ancientpower?” He chuckled a little at his own victory while Susa slowly stood and turned. Then he stopped laughing.

Susanoo’s eyes contained bloody murder at the sneak attack. He snorted once, and his body covered itself in a blue glow. The Focus Energy took hold, and he dug his feet into the ground, preparing to charge again, totally infuriated. Danny and Uzu both thought quickly, recognizing his motions for Head Smash and that its intense power would take them out instantly. Danny thought faster.

“Uzu, quick, Swagger!” The little Shieldon got the idea quickly, and grinned a little, sauntering forward, closer to the impending danger with a distinct swagger in her step, the universal sign for “I’m awesome and you can’t touch this”. Susa snorted once more, infuriated by Uzu’s cockiness and blinded by rage, and dashed forward while surrounded by a blinding bluish-white glow, unseeing of anything. Which is why he didn’t notice when, just as he was about to make contact, Uzu jumped only a foot sideways, throwing herself to the ground while Susa just kept running, straight through the full forty yards. Tony, deciding to be an ass, shouted “He’s at the thirty… the twenty… the ten…” CRASH! “TOUCHDOWN!”

“Shut up the **** up, Tony! Do it again and you’re fired,” Arnie shouted. Everyone stared at the opposite wall, and needless to say, Tony shut the **** up. Not really because of any concern for Susa, after they saw he was still standing with ease. Rather, at the extremely large dent he had left in the ten inch thick steel wall. Susa glared in Uzu’s direction, and took off running again with another Zen Headbutt. This time Uzu was prepared, and her faceplate flashed with the telltale signs of Iron Defense though.. As Susanoo approached this time, though, he didn’t just blindly rush Uzume. Instead, on the final approach, he tilted his head down, and then threw it up the moment before he made contact with the Shieldon’s face. Not expecting to receive a high attack, she reared back slightly, and was thrown onto her hind paws. Susa smirked, and surrounded himself with blue again, dashing forward once more. The final Head Smash struck the Shieldon in the unprotected belly, and threw her up into the air, where she hovered for only a fraction of a second, before falling quickly and with a thud back to the ground. The impact of her body sent up a small cloud of dust, and everyone stared at it in anticipation. When it cleared, though…

Both Pokemon were unconscious. Uzume from the Head Smash, which had done heavy, critical damage thanks to the lingering effects of Focus Energy, and Susanoo from the sheer kickback of such a powerful attack. Everyone sighed in exasperation. The few times Danny and Arnie ever battled were always like this. Still, they achieved the purpose of their battle, and the pair of Fossil Pokemon was more than weakened enough for capture. Each scientist shook his head and pulled out a Pokeball, each tossing one at their respective partners, and pondering why the hell they could never end a battle with one winner.