Route 109 sprawled out over the Equestrian landscape. Standing at the top of the hill just outside Ponyville, next to the sign indicating the official start of the route, you could see it winding through the countryside, running alongside a river and into the foothills surrounding Foal Mountain.
Bidoof's pokéball wriggled, and popped open, allowing the plump mouse pokémon to jump onto the ground and take a deep breath of fresh air as he surveyed the journey ahead.
"This is fucking weak," he declared bluntly. "Why can't we take the train?" he asked, pointing to the right, where they could both clearly see the monorail line standing high above the ground, running around the edge of the Everfree.
"Because that defeats the purpose of going to Manehattan," Fluttershy pointed out. "By taking the road less travelled, we have more time to practice and prepare for the pokémon gym there."
Bidoof rolled his eyes. "You mean you have to practice and prepare."
"We're a team," Fluttershy pointed out.
"And right now, I think I'm carrying it," Bidoof fired back. "I was a god, remember? Lemme know when Chico mega evolves."
"I'd like you to be a little more agreeable," Fluttershy said tersely.
"Or what?" Bidoof challenged.
The ground rumbled between them, and they looked down to see a familiar eye patched head poke itself out of the ground and look at Fluttershy.
"Look, Angel!" Fluttershy reached inside her jacket and pulled out her trainer card. "I'm a pokémon trainer now!"
Angel clapped enthusiastically, before jumping out of his hole and onto Fluttershy's back.
"Is everyone at home going to be okay while I'm away?" Fluttershy asked.
Angel nodded.
"So, uh, like I was saying," Bidoof backtracked, eyeing Angel warily, "I was thinking maybe we could start training now. Make sure we're prepared for the gym. Team effort and all. Gotta get Chico ready for the big leagues."
"Hmm, yes," Fluttershy nodded, noting Bidoof's sudden change of heart. "How do we do this? Do we walk and deal with fights as they arise, or...?"
"Well, we could spend a little bit of time drawing 'em out," Bidoof suggested. "Up to you, I guess. You in a hurry, toots?"
"I think we should walk and battle as we go," Fluttershy said.
* * *
The heavy music throbbed through the air of the countryside cottage, a sound system cranked up to maximum responsible for the tunes. It was being managed by an Exploud, who had a set of headphones clamped half around his head, and was bobbing his head up and down as he rifled through Fluttershy's surprisingly extensive collection of fresh beats.
Dodrio stood behind the breakfast bar, squawking excitedly at Hitmonchan with one head as the other two manipulated a drinks shaker with expert skill, decanting fresh martinis into two waiting glasses.
Outside, in the pool, Floatzel lounged with his paws around the shoulders of a Jinx and a Froslass, a set of sunglasses firmly affixed to his face.
There was a squawking sound from the main gate, and he raised them as he sat up to look; standing outside, a Delibird was waiting, with a large wagon full of cargo such as bags of ice, and a sizable metal keg complete with pump.
Floatzel chittered and waved at a nearby Machoke, who nodded and approached the wagon, wallet in hand and ready to unload the delivery.
These next few days were gonna be off the chain.
* * *
"Do yourself a favour – stay down," Bidoof suggested, grinding his paw into the stunned Ratatta's chest as the purple mouse passed out. He looked back at Fluttershy, who was gently feeding Chico a potion. "He alright?"
"Chico's fine," Fluttershy said, as Chico got to his feet and nodded ashamedly.
"Can't let them just fuckin' charge into you like that, Chico," Bidoof pointed out. "You ain't a Skarmory, deal with it."
Chico nodded, and turned his attention to Angel, who chittered as he bounced left and right and started jabbing the air furiously, waiting to see if Chico was getting it.
"He's a grass type, dumbass," Bidoof chipped in. "Doesn't work like that."
"You seem very knowledgeable," Fluttershy pointed out.
"I got around, alright?" Bidoof said. "Anyway, how far now?"
"We're fairly close to Foal Mountain," Fluttershy said, using her height advantage to see more of the land ahead.
"Great," Bidoof said. "Well, Chico, I hope you're ready, here comes trouble."
The grass nearest the party rustled, and right on cue, a rocky ball rolled out, uncurling two arms to reveal a granite, stern face.
"A Geodude, this should be easy," Bidoof remarked.
"Okay, Chico, are you ready?" Fluttershy asked. Chico nodded determinedly, and Fluttershy smiled. "Alright, Chico. Use vine whip!"
Chico frowned, and extended two vine-like tentacles from the small nodules on his neck. Waving them threateningly, he proceeded to leap forward and drape them over the top of the Geodude.
There was a moment of silence as everyone tried to find the words to describe the situation. Geodude wasn't so keen on describing it, though, and responded by grabbing the vines, and roughly pulling Chico forward. In itself, not a damaging move, but running into Geodude's other fist going the other way did hurt, and Chico fell over backwards, crying out in pain.
"Oh, come on," Bidoof shouted from the safety of Fluttershy's side. "You're trying to vine whip him, not fucking vine tickle him. Hit him like you mean it!"
Chico looked back at Bidoof and gestured pointedly at Geodude.
"Reason?!" Bidoof exclaimed, stepping away and towards Chico. "Who needs a reason? Your trainer asked you to hit this asshole, so you need to hit this asshole."
Chico chittered and Bidoof facepawed, groaning.
"It's all part of the plan," Bidoof explained. "And at the end, you both learn something; but it's better for you to be on the side that gets to learn things without getting knocked the fuck out, yeah?"
Chico chittered uncertainly.
"Alright, look," Bidoof said, waddling over to Geodude, who looked at him sideways, a little worried. "See this guy?"
Chico nodded.
"This guy is an asshole," Bidoof said flatly. "He's a motherfucker. Look at those eyes. He's out to fuck you, your sister and everyone you ever loved. He's the reason fire types cross the fucking street. He makes level one bug types cry. Get me?"
Chico nodded, slower this time.
"But that's not gonna happen," Bidoof went on, "because you have what we call "the type advantage", and you're going to vine whip this toolbox so hard he's gonna go gay for grass types, got it? He came here looking for a fight, you're gonna give him a fucking thrashing."
Chico nodded more firmly, brow creasing in determination.
"Alright, now let him have it!" Bidoof shouted, running away from a confused Geodude.
Chico roared defiance into the air – such as it was – and much quicker than last time, attempted a second vine whip. The tentacles extended, and with vicious speed, slammed into Geodude. The ground-rock type pokémon was engulfed in a cloud of dirt and dust, and Chico pulled his vines away. The dust cleared, and Geodude wasn't moving, embedded in the dirt and unconscious.
"Good shot, kid," Bidoof said. "Now take a deep breath, let it out. Fight's over. Good sportsmanship and all that shit."
Fluttershy blinked. "Bidoof, I-"
"Sorry, undermining you," Bidoof said. "Sorry, toots. But Chico needs to get his fucking act together."
"I should just start calling you coach," Fluttershy remarked, giggling.
"Hey, no," Bidoof said, turning around and pointing. "No. I ain't getting called "Coach". Not now, not ever."
"Not even if I take you to a name rater?"
"No name rater will convince me that being called "coach" is the best nickname for me." Bidoof snorted. "Anyway, if we're done here, you have a long road to walk."
"You mean "we"," Fluttershy pointed out.
"No, you," Bidoof said. "I'm not walking, I'm riding."
And with a beam of red, Bidoof returned to his pokéball around Fluttershy's neck and vanished. Angel snorted and hopped up on Fluttershy's back, and after adjusting his leaf, Chico followed Bidoof's lead and vanished as well.
"He's not wrong," Fluttershy mused, and picking up her bag, resumed her journey.
* * *
Fluttershy stood in front of the cave entrance, staring up at Foal Mountain, somewhat in awe.
Here was where Route 109 split into two paths towards Manehattan, one road travelling through the foothills, and one travelling through the mountain itself.
Fluttershy checked her map, unfolding it and holding it in what light remained of the day. Looking between the two routes, she saw that the underground route provided a much quicker and somewhat easier path to Hollow Shades. And yet, here she was, still wondering which was the better route.
As if sensing her indecision, Bidoof's pokéball wobbled, and split open, allowing Bidoof to hop out and stretch.
"Ooh. Hey!" Bidoof looked up at Fluttershy and smiled. "Y' made it to Foal Mountain."
"Yeah," Fluttershy nodded. "But which way do we go?"
"Depends," Bidoof said nonchalantly. "Any preference to when you get to Manehattan?"
"As soon as possible would be nice," Fluttershy mumbled.
"Afraid of the dark? Scared of big, mean pokémon that live in the dark?"
"Yes, and yes," Fluttershy said. "Does that mean we should travel around the mountain?"
"Hell no," Bidoof said. "That means we need to go through it. The pokémon that come out here at night are pretty hardcore." Bidoof paused. "Well, sorta hardcore. A bit tough for ol' Chico, maybe. Inside the mountain, all you have to deal with is Zubat."
"But it's so dark in there," Fluttershy mumbled.
"You have a flashlight, stop whining," Bidoof said. "I heard on the Bluk-vine that there's kids out there who travel through caves and stuff with only a pokémon that knows flash." Bidoof pointed at Fluttershy. "If they can do it, so can you."
"You're right," Fluttershy said, nodding. "This should be easy. I'll just... step in."
Bidoof waited a moment, and opened his mouth, closing it again slowly and quietly as he waited. A minute passed, and he tried again.
"Toots, you haven't moved. At all."
"I'm trying!" Fluttershy squeaked.
Bidoof rolled his eyes, and looked at Angel, who was starting to wake up from his seat in the small of Fluttershy's back.
"Hey, pint-size," Bidoof said. "Any tips?"
Angel nodded sleepily, stretched, and with a bound, hopped clear over Fluttershy's head, and onto the ground in front of her. Like clockwork, Fluttershy's attention was drawn to Angel, and he began hopping backwards, back flipping as he went, retreating just a few steps every time.
"Angel, you shouldn't do that," Fluttershy warned. "It's dark in there, you might hurt yourself- Angel- Please, stop- You keep- You're not-"
Angel proceeded to ignore Fluttershy, hopping one step further into the darkness at a time. Eventually Fluttershy broke out of her paralysis, and fumbled a flashlight out of her bag, switching it on and trotting into the cave, calling out for Angel who had just vanished.
Bidoof snorted, and followed quickly, lest he be left behind.
* * *
The depths of Foal Mountain were dark and slightly cold, with the odd plack of dripping water somewhere in the cave system echoing past them every once in a while. Fluttershy had acclimatized to the dark eventually, and the party was progressing slowly, but carefully and fending off the Zubat that decided to try and get a piece of them.
Chico was doing better now, getting the hang of beating the flying rodents despite the double type disadvantage; such lessons hadn't come easy, though, and more than once he'd hit himself in the face in confusion.
Bidoof felt like he was being subjected to a Sisyphean task in fighting Zubat, the short pokémon having trouble connecting attacks with the Zubat, who frequently flew out of the way at the last minute, and too high for Bidoof to hit them. Bidoof was pretty sure they were just doing it to piss him off.
Angel, for all his experience, wasn't faring much better. More often than not, his ground-based attacks were simply useless, and the Zubat made just as much a mockery of him as they did of Bidoof.
But the party pressed on with Chico's growing strength to support them, and they fell into an easy rhythm, in sync with the environment around them. Which is how they almost simultaneously noticed the shout of alarm that echoed through the dark in the middle of a soda pop break.
"What the fuck was that?" Bidoof asked, putting the cap back on his soda pop and standing up.
"I hope nopony's in trouble," Fluttershy whispered, listening hard.
"I'm in trouble!" a faint voice shouted back.
"That's what I was afraid of..." Fluttershy mumbled. "We should help."
"How do you even get in trouble in here?" Bidoof muttered.
The party quickly put their things away, and prepared to move on, looking for the distressed voice. As Fluttershy picked up her lamp, Angel tugged on her sleeve, holding a strange disc-shaped item.
"What's this?" Fluttershy asked.
"That's a Technical Machine," Bidoof said. "Teaches old pokémon new tricks. Reusable, too."
"Any pokémon?" Fluttershy asked.
"Well, if they can learn the move, sure," Bidoof said. "Like, I don't think I could learn flamethrower."
"What's that one?"
"Rock throw," Fluttershy said, squinting at the small printed label on the armature in the light of her flashlight. "I think we should-"
"I could really use some help!"
"Um, maybe later," Fluttershy said, quickly hustling down the tunnel, Angel riding on her back.
"Always with the later," Bidoof sighed, and bounded off after the pegasus trainer.
Eventually he caught up with her at the entrance to a vast chasm, standing at the end of some long bridge. She'd turned off her flashlight, but that was fine, because there was enough light to see by thanks to the lanterns dotted about the bridge. Next to one such pool of light, in the middle of the bridge, there were three ponies and a number of pokémon.
As one of the pokémon turned into red light and retreated to a pokéball, it became clear that it wasn't a fair fight, one of the ponies backing into the railing of the bridge and clinging to it in fear, the voices of his aggressors echoing over to Fluttershy, thanks to the echoes of the chasm.
"Give us the fossils, you nerd," one pony sneered.
"Just give it up," the other said. "You lost, you're lucky we're not bothering with your stupid nerd pokémon."
"Hey," the first thug said. "Somepony's there, at the end of the bridge."
Fluttershy tensed up as she found herself the target of a flashlight, and struggled to not try and hide behind her mane.
"Hey! You!" the second thug shouted, pointing. "Stay out of Team Elysium business if you know what's good for you!"
"I- I-" Fluttershy gritted her teeth and stepped forward, turning her flashlight back on. "No! I won't stay out! You're bullying that poor stallion! Leave him alone!"
"Oh, it's going to be like that, is it?" the first Elysium grunt sneered, turning around and letting Fluttershy get a good look at him.
The orange unicorn was wearing an irritatingly anonymous set of futuristically square silver sunglasses that wrapped around his head like a visor; it matched the silvery-grey jacket he was wearing, with some sort of emblem on the open breast, one Fluttershy couldn't identify from this distance. Under the jacket, a black bodysuit covered the body from the neck down. Judging from the fact that his forest-green pegasus chum was wearing the same getup, Fluttershy guessed it was some sort of gang uniform.
Aside from making it hard to identify the wearer, the uniform also did a spectacular job of concealing how many pokéballs the thug had on the inside of his jacket, and Fluttershy bit her lip as one was fished out. She'd had the odd battle with some kids earlier on the route, closer to Ponyville, but she'd always known how many pokémon they had (usually one) and therefore, how to pace herself. Here, she had no idea how much she'd bitten off, and it was starting to get to her.
She turned around to look at Angel, who looked puzzled when he noticed.
"Angel," Fluttershy said. "You should hide. I don't think these ponies are very nice, they might be one of those poachers Rarity always warned us about."
Angel stamped a paw up and down on Fluttershy's back, and she shook her head.
"No arguments. Hide until it's over."
Angel sighed, nodded resentfully and bounded away into the dark, digging a hole and vanishing. There was a tug on Fluttershy's sleeve, and she looked down at Bidoof, who was trying to get her attention.
"You can draw Chico, or we can follow Angel's example and run like bitches while we still have the opportunity," Bidoof suggested.
Fluttershy shook her head, and tapped Chico's pokéball release button. "It's time to assert myself."
Chico appeared on the ground in a blaze of red light, and swirled his head around to adjust his leaf gamely as he surveyed the situation.
"Let's teach this filly a lesson!" the Elysium unicorn shouted. "Come on, Ekans!"
With an equal flash of red, an Ekans appeared opposite them on the bridge, and Chico adjusted his footing warily, waiting for a command like they'd practiced.
"Um, Chico..." Fluttershy had a moment of thought. "Try a quick attack."
Chico nodded, and leapt forward, all but vanishing as he sped towards the enemy Ekans, leaving Fluttershy to canter forward to catch up. And as she did, she gasped when the Ekans vanished as well, and there was a small crack of sound to herald the incoming object. Fluttershy spread her wings wide, and jumped up to catch Chico mid-flight, and put him back on the ground, where he stumbled about a bit before shaking his head and bounced about on his feet.
"Son of a bitch is fast," Bidoof remarked.
"Chico, can you still fight?" Fluttershy asked. Chico nodded gamely, and Fluttershy smiled. "Okay, try using leech seed."
"Hello, poison type," Bidoof pointed out. "Not very effective."
"Shh," Fluttershy said. "I have a plan."
A plan? Bidoof found his internal image of Fluttershy gaining another level of complexity. When it came to pokémon battling, she seemed more knowledgeable than you'd expect of a new trainer, even one who was a latecomer to the Pokémon League. So very curious.
Chico leapt forward, and cheeks bulging, spat seeds at Ekans as he flew past. He turned to see them take root and stick to Ekans' side, and grinned triumphantly. A grin that was wiped off his face almost instantly when Ekans' tail swung around and swatted him back across the bridge, landing just shy of Fluttershy. Chico coughed, and tried to sit up. His strength failed him, and he flopped back down, exhausted.
"Good work," Fluttershy said, as she pulled Chico back to his ball. "Bidoof, you're up."
"This is gonna suck," Bidoof grunted, waddling forward and taking a stance.
"Bidoof, you need to attack," Fluttershy said.
"And what?" Bidoof asked. "What do you want me to do? Anything? I don't know anything useful, here!"
"Use a bite attack, then. Trust me," Fluttershy implored.
"You're the boss," Bidoof sighed, gallumphing forward. He'd barely closed half the distance when a vile blob of green goop went flying the other way, an acid attack that splashed off of Bidoof's shoulder, causing him to grunt in pain but not stopping him. He pounced, and sank his teeth into Ekans' body tightly. The purple snake coiled and writhed enough to loosen his grip, and flicked him off, back towards Fluttershy.
Bidoof landed on his paws, and felt a refreshing surge of energy flow through him, easing the pain of his acid burn, even as Ekans seemed to sag a little more, and the plan suddenly made sense to him.
"Oh, I see," Bidoof said.
"...Bidoof, defence curl," Fluttershy said.
Bidoof did as he was told, curling tightly into a ball, and not a moment too soon, as Ekans lunged forward and slammed him with its tail. He bounced a little and skidded backwards, but was able to uncurl a moment later, wincing but still standing.
Bidoof felt a surge of energy flow through him, and his bruises hurt less, as Ekans drooped lower, feeling the pain of phantom injuries. By this point, Ekans was aware of what was causing it – the seeds had dug deep into the scales on his neck and were pulsing a virulent green as they filled nodules with glowing energy, preparing to transmit it to Ekans' opponent – Bidoof.
"Okay, Bidoof," Fluttershy said. "You know what to do."
"Time to put you away," Bidoof grunted, rearing up and flexing his stubby arm as he gallumphed forward, and pounced into the air; a glob of acid flew at him again, but this time it missed, unable to hit the airborne Bidoof before he touched down, connecting his flying elbow with Ekans' face with a satisfying thwack.
Ekans went out like a light, leaving Bidoof to skip backwards – as Ekans was pulled back into his pokéball by the Elysium goon, he commenced his victory dance, punching the air.
"Aw yeah, who's bad?" Bidoof bounced back to Fluttershy, who was caring for Chico, who was trying to stand up. "We bad, Chico! Yes!"
"That was disgusting," the other Elysium grunt said, leaving the nerd to face Fluttershy, and shoving his defeated comrade aside. "Let me show you how it's really done."
"Another fight?" Fluttershy bit her lip. Two in a row was not something they'd done before. Chico needed more time to recover. Unless...
"I am not liking our chances," Bidoof confessed, sagging a little from his victory pose. "What do we do, toots?"
"We fight," Fluttershy said, putting items away. "I'm a pokémon trainer, and we're a team. We can't back down from challenges."
"I'm pretty sure the law is with us if we say nay," Bidoof pointed out.
"Aye," Fluttershy agreed. "But I'm not going to let these meanies walk all over me. Or that stallion."
The Elysium pegasus flared his wings, causing a pokéball to fall out. It split open, and disgorged a flurry of wings and squeaking.
"It's a Zubat," Bidoof mused, rolling his neck as he waddled forward. "I fucking hate Zubat."
"What's wrong with Zubat?" Fluttershy asked. "They're kinda cute."
"The charm wears off when you realize they're just screaming their own name all the time and like attacking in swarms," Bidoof said.
"Alright," Fluttershy said. "Bidoof, you're gonna have to use tackle."
"Arceus alive," Bidoof grumbled, running forward towards the Zubat flying figure eights while squeaking madly.
"Zubat!" the Elysium pegasus shouted. "Use confuse ray!"
"Confuse ray?!" Fluttershy gasped.
"Fuckin' confuse ray," Bidoof cursed, just as a peculiar flashing of lights began. He tried to avert his gaze, but the lights shot past and around him, managing to stay in his field of view and persisting even when he shut his eyes. They danced about, wove in and out of each other, and despite his common sense, he found himself trying to track them.
An impossible feat. He opened his eyes, and wobbling about, stumbled left and right as he waddled towards Zubat.
"Bidoof!" Fluttershy shouted. "Are you okay?"
"Jus' peachy!" Bidoof slurred, a little greener than usual. "Tryin' ter.... tackle!"
Bidoof launched himself through the air, aiming for the Zubat, which easily avoided the attack, providing zero resistance for Bidoof's parabolic arc, which then ended in the stone wall of the bridge. Bidoof hit the stone face-first, and bounced off, cursing loudly as he clutched his face.
"Nice tackle," sneered the Elysium pegasus, before turning to the unicorn. "How did he beat you, again?" He turned back to Fluttershy. "Zubat, go ahead and take that filly's pokéballs and our prize money. I think we're done here."
"What?" Fluttershy protested. "You can't do that!"
"I can do whatever I want," the Elysium pegasus sneered. "Zubat, sometime today."
Zubat began to advance, flying a tighter figure eight than before, and Fluttershy froze, unable to flee, her nerve finally failing her. She braced for the worst, and-
"I'm not done with you yet, asshole!" Bidoof shouted as he hurtled through the air. The plump mouse pokémon still didn't look like he could see straight, but it wasn't affecting his aim this time as he homed in on, and connected with, the Zubat mid-flight.
The Zubat screeched in terror as Bidoof proceeded to put it in a headlock and grapple with it on the ground, rolling about as he punched it in the face.
"Fuck you and your confuse ray," Bidoof snorted, smacking the ground with Zubat's head. The flying/poison type was annoying, but weak, and on the ground, he had no chance of surviving against the Bidoof trying to feed him his own teeth.
"Z-zubat!" the Elysium pegasus stammered, alarmed. "Return!" As Zubat turned into red light and bounced back to his ball, the grunt looked at Fluttershy. "You can't do that, that's against the rules!"
"Why should we play by rules when you won't?" Bidoof grunted, getting up. "I've got a three-knuckle sandwich right here for your stupid face, stand still."
"That's- uh," The grunt looked at his comrade. "Team Elysium! Away!"
The Elysium unicorn dropped a small purple orb, which promptly exploded into thick, billowing smoke, that rushed to fill the bridge, cascading off the edge like water.
Fluttershy held up her pokéballs. "Chico, Bidoof, return!"
They didn't argue, the exhausted pokémon jumping back into their balls as Fluttershy held them close, wary of the Elysium thugs in the smoke. But as the smoke cleared, it seemed that the goons really had decided to run, and there was nopony else left on the bridge apart from the stallion they'd been harassing, who was doing a similar thing with his pokéballs as Fluttershy was.
Fluttershy put her pokéballs back where they normally sat, and walked forward to the waist coated teal earth pony, who was dusting himself off and coughing as he checked himself and his belongings, pushing round spectacles up the bridge of his snout.
"Are you okay, sir?"
"Okay?" the pony asked. "I'm Fantastic!" The stallion stood up. "Thank you so much for intervening, though – I might not be so fantastic right now if it weren't for you."
"What's your name?" Fluttershy asked. "I'm Fluttershy."
"I'm Fantastic."
"Yes, you said," Fluttershy said, missing the point. "But what is your name?"
"My name is Fantastic," the scientist repeated, breaking it down. "Fantastic Fossil. Archaeologist."
"Oh," Fluttershy said, realizing. "I'm sorry."
"It's okay, I get that a lot," Fantastic said. "In any case, you saved me and my work from those thugs – I think you've earned the right to call me whatever you like; just don't call me late for dinner, eh?" Fantastic leaned forward and nudged Fluttershy in the shoulder, grinning at the joke.
"What were you doing down here?" Fluttershy asked.
"Oh, work. Here, come, come," Fantastic began walking towards the other end of the bridge. "My dig site is back this way, those goons chased me off... I hope they didn't break anything."
Fluttershy looked behind her, and nodded. With a rustle of dirt, Angel emerged from his hiding place and bounced forward, landing on Fluttershy's back before she started cantering to catch up with Fantastic.
"What were you looking for?" Fluttershy asked, as she got back within talking range.
"Fossils!" Fantastic said. "Did you know Foal Mountain used to be a volcano, so very long ago? It's true! And it also means that under all this rock, there's all sorts of remains of pokémon! Fossils that can tell us so much about the world!"
Fluttershy nodded. "And why did those Team Elysium ponies attack you?"
"Fossils are kinda rare," Fantastic admitted. "Some can be rather strong. I guess they figured I had the bones to an ancient super pokémon or something."
"Well, were they right?"
"Maybe," Fantastic said, as the pair closed in on a well-lit side-tunnel of the cave. "Like any pokémon, it's only as good as the trainer is, really. That said," he went on, "Some fossils are... how would you say..." Fantastic rolled his head as he looked for the word. "Inherently strong? Their strength is more obvious and less subtle. And based on what I can tell of my fossils, I think one of them might be one of the obvious ones."
"I see," Fluttershy said, as they stepped into an obviously-lived-in area; the dead end of the tunnel was fresh, the earth of the walls freshly hewn, and a folding bed sat next to a small desk and a quantity of luggage.
"Here," Fantastic said, leading Fluttershy to the desk, where a book lay open and was lit by the light of a convenient lamp. "I was halfway through cataloguing them."
Fantastic took two lumps of stone out of his waistcoat pockets, and placed them on the table. Fluttershy leaned over and examined them closer, and the book. Fantastic seemed to be comparing the diagram of some gigantic creature to the fossil, and meeting with success, judging by the smile on his face.
"And this would be it," Fantastic said. "Behold, a jaw fossil, a remnant of Tyrantrum." He flipped through some more pages of the book, matching the other fossil with record speed. "And this one was easy," he declared. "It's a helix fossil, which was once an Omastar." Fantastic looked at Fluttershy. "Hey, without you, I wouldn't have either of these, so I think you deserve one."
"Oh no," Fluttershy declined. "I couldn't. I didn't help you for a reward."
"And that's why you're a nice filly and you're getting one," Fantastic said. "Here, pick one. You're going for pokémon badges, right?"
"Yeah," Fluttershy admitted.
"Then you should take the jaw fossil," Fantastic said. "Tyrantrum is a dragon-rock type pokémon, incredibly good at biting things by all accounts. When he's revived, he'll be a Tyrunt, but give him some love and he'll be of great use, I'm sure."
Fluttershy seemed to tense up at the idea, and shook her head. "I'm sorry, I don't think the jaw fossil is for me. I don't need a fossil."
"But I insist," Fantastic said. "Hay, please just take one and give it to somepony who you think would use it, if you want."
"Well..." Fluttershy looked at the other one. "What about that one?"
"The dome fossil was of Omastar, so he'll be an Omanyte when he's revived," Fantastic said. "Rock-water type, so nothing really new there." Fantastic leaned in close. "But if I were you... I'd ditch the fossil ASAP."
"What's wrong with the helix fossil?" Fluttershy asked.
"I dunno," Fantastic said. "I just hear rumours in the archaeology community. Ponies digging up helix fossils and just going nuts. Constantly looking to the fossil for guidance, unable to walk in a straight line..." Fantastic waved a hoof. "The moment you get it away from them, they go back to normal, but... This one hasn't done anything like that yet," Fantastic admitted. "But if you hear a voice whispering advice in your ear, don't listen to it," Fantastic said. "You sure you want the helix fossil?"
"Yes," Fluttershy said. "I would like the helix fossil."
"Alright, then – here you go!" Fantastic placed the helix fossil in Fluttershy's hooves and nodded. "Take that to Manehattan Museum, they have a DNA extractor there and can revive your Omanyte for you."
"Thank you," Fluttershy said. "What are you going to do?"
"I'm going to pack up and get outta here before those Elysium goons come back with buddies," Fantastic said. "Then I'm running home to Baltimare."
"Good luck," Fluttershy said, nodding.
"Thanks," Fantastic said. "And same to you, trainer."
Fluttershy started to turn away, but a thought occurred to her. "Oh, how much further to Hollow Shades?"
"Hollow Shades?" Fantastic asked from under his desk, already dismantling it. "It's just up the tunnel, probably about thirty minutes walk away."
"Okay, thank you," Fluttershy said. "Good bye, Fantastic."
"Good bye, Fluttershy," Fantastic said. "Hey, if you're ever in Baltimare, look me up if you need a helping hoof, okay?"
Fluttershy nodded, waved, and set out once more, leaving Fantastic's dig. She turned her head to look at Angel.
"Do you think there's any truth to that story about the helix fossil?" she asked.
Angel just shrugged, and made a gesture that indicated that maybe Fantastic wasn't quite all there.
Fluttershy shook her head gently, rolled her neck, and kept on walking up the tunnel, and into the moonlight.