Pokemon: Arceus' Champion

Brock and I shook hands in greetings when we saw one another, before he also greeted the girls and Lucario. Then he laid eyes on Absol.

"Not to criticize you or anything Ace, but should you really have one of THOSE here right now?" He asked with furrowed brows.

"Wow... Never thought I'd see the day that YOU of all people would be a hater Brock." I told him with undisguised disbelief.

"I'm not." Brock said defensively, before giving Absol another look. "But you can't deny that Absol are known for appearing ONLY when disaster strikes. I can't risk one being here when Grampa Canyon has the reputation it does."

I SUPPOSE that I can't blame Brock for thinking the way he does when he's in charge of an expedition like this in a place like this. At least he was trying to be courteous about it as well, while I know that other people would have just gone right to screaming about how stupid I was.

"Listen Brock, the only reason people believe that Absol bring disaster is because they ONLY appear before humans before disaster strikes. They sense them with their horn, and then try to warn them beforehand. But since people think they cause the disasters themselves, they tend to ignore the warnings and blame Absol when it happens.

"As it happens, Absol warned us on the way here about a rockslide. If she hadn't, then it would have completely taken us out."

"!!!"

Brock's brows shot up when he heard all that, while I'm pretty sure I even saw his eyes widen just ever so slightly. But then again I probably just imagined it.

"Are you sure about this?" Brock asked me hesitantly.

"If you don't believe me, then just give professor Oak a call." I told him, and Brock only sighed in response.

"Fine. I guess I can see the point of having one around while we're here. I just needed to be sure since I KNOW that the rest of the camp will throw a fit when they see it here."

"Sounds like a 'them' problem to me. But just wait until we leave and there's no more warnings for any possible situations." I said with a smirk, and Brock's grin appeared more forced.

"Just try not to start anything. In the meantime, follow me and I'll give you a quick tour."

Saying so, Brock led the way into the interior of the camp while we all followed him. Though Lucario and Absol went their own way so as not to cause trouble.

"This canopy in the middle is where we set up the mess-hall, that trailer is where the most valuable equipment is kept, and that one is where a couple Nurses Joy have set up in case there's any case of heatstroke and such. That trailer is where Lucy and I are set up, and that one is where my siblings are staying."

As we approached said trailer, the door to the first one opened to reveal Lucy, Brock's girlfriend, holding a steaming pot in her hands.

"Dinner~!" She called out, and the door to the other trailer slammed open as a herd of kids poured out at her.

"I've been teaching Lucy how to cook!" Brock told us proudly as Lucy served up bowls of chili to the children.

"Preparing her for when its your own children she needs to feed, huh?" I said slyly while poking Brock in the side with my elbow. Apparently Lucy heard me too, as BOTH of them turned Cheri berry red from my comment before Brock hurriedly tried to steer us away.

Brock showed us a few more places of import around the campsite before bringing us to an empty spot amongst the tents and trailers.

"I had this spot left open for you and your Capsules. Feel free to set up as many as you can fit." He said while gesturing to the open space.

"Thanks. I've also gotten my own arena as a Capsule as well recently. So if any of trainers want to battle while we're here then we have a place to. Perhaps we can also have ourselves a rematch?"

I had a sly smile as I mentioned that last part to Brock, who also smiled wryly as he replied,

"Well, I AM supposed to be training my team in preparation for Red in a year... Sure, we can battle before you leave. Not tomorrow though, since its the day we'll be officially opening the dig now that all of the equipment is here."

"Nice. I'm sure my team will appreciate the rematch." I told him, already thinking of Blastoise and how he had lost to Brock's Golem before. Too bad Pidgeot was still laid up though...

Brock then left us to set up as I tossed out our Capsules, but only the house and Pokemon Center. This area was still dangerous, and I did NOT want to risk damaging them all if an Earthquake or something happened.

Almost immediately after setting them up Joy and Chloe went inside to take a quick shower and crash, leaving me alone with Janine.

"Can't say I blame them. The trip today was pretty hard." I commented to her.

"I'll go and scout the perimeter." She said in a low voice.

"I don't think that's.... And you're gone." I said wryly as the space beside me was suddenly empty. I had barely even felt her leave....

"I wonder how long she's been working on that trick?" I asked myself, before following Joy and Chloe into the house.

As could be expected, neither of the girls were in the mood for any fooling around after the tiring day. Even our dinner was just instant noodles that I quickly made while the girls showered.

Soon we were all crashed out once I had washed off as well, and I was only awake long to vaugley recall Janine joining us in bed as well before sleep completely overtook me.

...

I must have been more tired than I thought, because I didn't wake up until well after the sun had risen when everyone else was up and preparing to get started on the dig.

"Is that a HOUSE?!"

"Forget the house! How'd a Pokemon Center get here?!"

"Are these those Capsule things I've heard about?"

I was greeted by a literal crowd of people when I stepped outside my front door this morning, who apparently had never seen a Capsule before. Doing so however created a whole new wave of muttering, due to the fact that apparently the people here didn't know I was going to be here.

Ah, the pains of being a celebrity...

"Morning Ace!" Brock called out cheerily as he walked up to the house as well.

"Morning Brock. People look pretty lively considering this is supposed to be a dig site." I greeted him back, before pointing out the crowd in front of my house.

"Sorry about that. We'll officially start the dig in a couple hours, so people are just killing time until then. In the meantime, you mind if we talk shop?"

Knowing immediately what he was referring to, I nodded and followed Brock's lead as he led me to the trailer he and Lucy were sharing.

On the inside half of the trailer was set up for a living quarters, while the other half was arranged as a workstation for Brock.

"So here they are." Brock stated, before tossing out two pokeballs that opened to reveal the pokemon within.

"Maura~!"

"Arch!"

The recently born Amaura and Archen both looked up at me curiously as they appeared, the former trilling happily while the latter made a noise more akin to a hiss as it looked at me with suspicion.

"And they're both perfectly fine?" I asked Brock while kneeling down to examine them, Amaura immediately approaching me while Archen darted around me cautiously.

"Yep! I keep them in special pokeballs that monitor their conditions on my computers and personal devices. So not only are they not registered, but I can keep an eye on them all the time. However, from every single test and perspective, they are nothing more than an ordinary Amaura and Archen! No hybrid qualities in any ways!"

"I see..." I said to Brock's declaration, not that I expected any different.

Normally pokemon that result from breeding with a different species are either born as one or the other, but they could inherit qualities from BOTH parents as a result. The most notable cases are the offspring quickly learning moves they would never have been able to learn otherwise, or possessing abilities that were not typical of their species. So Amaura and Archen both being genetically pure despite being born from two different species of pokemon was a big deal.

"I already made a copy of the data I've gathered and sent it to professor Oak, who stated that he'll be working with professor Ivy to study the applications of Ditto further." Brock told me eagerly.

"That's good. What about the Ditto I gave you?" I asked him.

"Take a look for yourself." Brock stated as he tossed out a third pokeball, which opened to reveal the very same Ditto I had sent him when I got Tyrunt.

"Ditto~!" It cried out happily when it saw me, though I noticed both Amaura and Archen approach it with familiarity.

"Do they know that Ditto is their parent?" I asked Brock curiously.

"I think so. They show the same level of comfort with it that they do with their other parents. They're also fairly comfortable with one another, which could be because they were hatched together, or because they somehow know that they're siblings. There's still so much we can look into regarding any future breeding programs with Ditto." Brock explained.

"And we have plenty of time to research them." I told him in response.

Brock and I discussed a bit more about the possible future applications of Ditto in breeding programs, and a few possible questions that should be posed to Ivy and professor Oak when they started their research. We probably would have gone on a bit longer, except...

*Grrrrrrr!*

"!!!"

"Sorry... I haven't had anything to eat yet today." I told him Mareepishly as my stomach demanded sustenance.

"Haha! Its ok, we should probably be getting ready to start the dig anyways. The opening ceremony will be in the ravine downhill of the camp. Still fairly close, but also far enough away that we don't need to worry about dust and noise."

"Nice. I'll grab something to eat and then head down there." I told him while standing up, much to Amaura's displeasure while Archen was clinging to the back of my shirt until Brock recalled it to it's pokeball.

Though I intended to stop by the mess-hall tent to get some food, since Joy and Chloe were probably still in bed, I was surprised when I opened the door to Brock's trailer and found his sister standing outside.

"!!!"

"Ah! I uh.... Brought you some food!" She declared hurriedly, holding out a plate that was piled high with muffins, eggs, bacon, and sausage links.

"Thank you." I told her seriously, making her entire face turn red before she turned and fled without another word.

"With how much you've been on the news recently, Yolanda has developed a genuine crush on you." Brock stated as he exited the trailer behind me.

"Ya don't say." I replied, even as I ate the food she brought me. As much as I didn't want to be mean, I also wasn't going to take the crush of a literal kid seriously.

Brock left to join the men setting up a series of canopies and the equipment down below while I ate, at which point Lucario came to join me.

"Any excitement last night?" I asked him.

"Nothing we couldn't handle. Absol showed her worth to the other pokemon standing guard when she sensed a a wave of stone shooting up from the ground a few hours ago."

"Nice. Though the people here would probably just blame it on her if they knew she was here." I said sadly.

"Mh." Lucario hummed in agreement, before I gave him some of the sausage links and bacon from my plate. "They're ok, but they would be better with some chocolate syrup."

"Don't make me throw you into the ravine." I told him irritably.

Once we were done eating, Lucario and I headed down to the actual digsite to join the growing crowd of people down there.

"I don't envy those who are actually going to be doing the digging... Its already REALLY hot." I complained as the sun beat down on us, heating the air and rock around us to incredible temperatures despite the fact that it wasn't even noon yet.

"And you don't even have fur." Lucario commented irritably, which did actually make me feel a bit better.

"Hello everyone! And thank you all for coming all the way out here!" Brock suddenly called out to the crowd, while I saw several people pointing cameras at him. Whether or not this was broadcasting live, I didn't know. But it did make sense that they wanted to record it.

"Before we begin digging, I just wanted to lay down a few ground rules!" Brock continued despite the eagerness coming from the trainers around us.

"Firstly, respect the environment! The main reason I'm heading this project is to ensure that we are not destroying the area of Grampa Canyon during the dig, or that we do not displace any pokemon through our efforts! If anyone is being particularly destructive, then they WILL be kicked off the dig!

"Secondly, report your findings! We are not just here to pillage the canyon of the fossils, but to also learn of the types of pokemon that made their home here, and the ecosystem that existed back in the prehistoric days of Kanto! Rest assured, once our scientists are finished doing their research, you WILL get your fossils back to either take home or revive with the equipment we have brought with us!

"Finally, respect your fellow diggers! I will NOT tolerate anyone attempting to steal or ruin another's work or fossils! Anyone found to be doing so, will be kicked off the site!

"So to recap, respect the envireonment, report your findings, and respect your fellow diggers! Now if no one has a question, then lets get this dig started!"

Cheeres answered Brock's declaration as he grabbed a pickaxe offered by one of the assistants, and raised it up in the air to break ground first.

"..."

Suddenly, I felt alarm coming from Absol right as a wave of aura filled the ground around us, exactly like what I had felt yesterday.

"Wait Brock!" I cried out, but it was too late as Brock's pickaxe struck the ground.

*RUMBLE!*

The second Brock's pickaxe tore into the rocky soil, the entire area around us began to shake and rumble.

"Earthquake!" Someone cried out, and panic began to spread amongst the people.

"No its not..." I uttered, as an aura underground rapidly rushed towards the surface that was aiming directly for...

"Look out Brock!" I roared while darting forward, and tackling Brock right as the aura reached the surface, tearing open the ground itself in an explosion of soil and rock right where Brock had been standing.

"What is THAT?!" Someone cried out as people began to flee, courtesy of the large humanoid figure that towered over Brock and I.

But they weren't getting away unmolested.

"SCREEEEYAAAAAAAA!"

A terrible screech filled the air as a massive figure shot out of the newly formed hole in the ground, one with a wingspan that had to be well over twenty feet. And following it were dozens more identical figures that were roughly half it's size, all of which began to target the people while a few trainers sent out their pokemon to fight back.

"By the gods..." Brock uttered beside me in disbelief.

"Correction." I said while looking up at the figure towering over us.

"That IS a god."

"Beep boop bop beep!"