We were greeted by cool evening air as Gardevoir Teleported us out of the cavern, a stark contrast to the hot, humid air that we had been walking around in down there.
"Sir!" One of the assistants exclaimed as we appeared in the middle of the camp.
"Champion Red, and Gym Leader Koga are waiting for all of you!" He exclaimed hurriedly while pointing towards the command tent.
"Red AND Koga?" one of Brock's assistants asked incredulosuly.
"Well this IS Koga's territory. We even needed his permission just to come and dig here." Brock replied as he led the way to the command tent.
I felt Red's aura greeting mine even before we entered the tent, and found him sitting at the table inside along with Koga, a few scientists, and a news reporter. Raichu was standing on the table beside Red, a notepad and pencil in it's paws as it scribbled something down with complete focus. A quick look showed me though that ALL there was on the notepad were meaningless scribbles.
"Ace Ketchum! Please, can you give me a word about what it is like to have complete control over a Legendary pokemon?!" The news reporter immediately asked.
"No." I stated with a deadpan, before directing a look at Red.
"You're here to cover their discovery, not just my son." Red told the reporter firmly.
"B-but sir!"
"No buts."
Under the firm glare that Red gave the man, he quickly backed down as he lowered himself back into his chair.
"Thanks." I said while taking a seat myself.
"No problem. I know you hate the media." Red responded as everyone else sat down as well.
"So what did you find down there?" He asked once we were all settled.
"What we were expecting and more." I replied while pulling out Rotom. "Can you show us the footage you took today?"
"You got it boss!"
Before I could tell Rotom not to call me boss, it flew up and attached itself to the large screen as it flickered to life while showing the footage we recorded earlier.
"What the-?!"
"How can this be?!"
"Its impossible!"
Those comments and exclamations greeted the images of a literal underground world, one that perfectly mimicked the surface aside from the fact that the sky down there was rock instead.
"Now I know everyone has questions regarding these images." Professor Oak said as he moved to stand beside the screen, and everyone quieted as they all listened to him. "Before you all ask them though, let me go over some of the things we witnessed down there to try and cover the largest talking points.
"No, we do not know how this place came to be. No, we do not know what the light source in this lost world is, nor what powers it. Yes, there are numerous Flora and Fauna living in this realm that have long been considered to be extinct. The confirmed species living down here are Kabuto/Kabutops, Omanyte/Omastar, Anorith/Armaldo, Lileep/Cradily, Shieldon/Bastiodon, Cranidos/Rampardos, Aerodactyl, and Relicanth. There may be more, but as of now these are the only ones we have confirmed sightings of. Now then, I shall take your questions."
What followed was a tedious question/answer session as the scientists Red brought meticulously picked apart anything and everything they could think of regarding the world below our feet. To be honest, I would have fallen asleep a long time ago if I wasn't regularly being asked questions myself.
"Have any samples of the pokemon living down there been captured?" One finally asked, and the professor gave me a look that I recognized to mean that I had the floor.
"Before we ventured down into this lost world, I already captured the alpha Aerodactyl that was terrorizing the people up here when they made their initial appearance. After that, I captured one Kabuto, Omanyte, Anorith, Lileep, a Rampardos, and acquired a Shieldon egg due to how protective the herd was being of their young. We only witnessed one Relicanth during our brief foray into the lost world, so I did not catch it on the off chance that it may be a rarity, even down there. Additionally, though we sighted none of them down there from this line, I also accidentally acquired a Togepi egg when getting the Shieldon egg."
As I said that I pulled said egg out of my bag for them all to see, earning me numerous looks of envy since finding a Togepi egg was exceptionally rare. Plus there was the part of me capturing the prehistoric pokemon too.
"As many of you may know, I am sponsoring Ace during his journey. As such, when they are not traveling with him I am the main one caring for his pokemon. This will allow me the chance to study these living fossils at my leisure while Ace is traveling, and with most of them being in their first stage of evolution, we can study them throughout the majority of their lives." Professor Oak said, which I took to be him trying to curb these scientists from going down and capturing more of the pokemon for their own studies.
"How many.....samples do you think will be needed for this study of yours, professor?" One of them asked, his eyes gleaming with greed as he eyed the pokemon on the screen.
"I believe that the pokemon Ace captured will be enough for the immediate future. The pokemon he acquired will do little to nothing to upset the delicate balance that these creatures have created down there. However, if we allow more people to go down there and capture pokemon without restraint, then it will only result in the destruction of what could very well be the last bastion of prehistoric pokemon on this planet. And I will personally do everything in my power to protect them."
As he made his declaration, professor Oak eyed every single one of the scientists present with such intensity that they all avoided any prolonged eye contact with him. And I knew they all knew that he wasn't just making empty promises.
"That brings us to the crux of the situation." Red said as he directed everyone to look back at him. "How do we handle them from here on out?"
"""..."""
The tent was silent as we all debated on how to answer that question.
"Unfortunately, this discovery is impossible for any of us to cover it up." Koga stated with a regrettable voice.
"Had there only been a small group here to make this discovery, then it could have been covered up to allow these pokemon to continue living in peace as they have been until now. The amount of people here though makes that impossible. Even if we placed a gag order, the news would still leak and collectors from all over the world will make their way here to verify any potential rumors."
"Unfortunately..." Professor Oak said sadly in agreement.
"Giana should be on her way with Arceus Aegis, and I can have them protect this place for a while. But we can't put a guard here forever." I stated.
"I conquer. Which is why I propose that we possibly turn this place into another Safari Zone, similar to the one in Fuchsia city, after the various investigations are complete." Koga said with complete seriousness.
"That might actually be our best shot..." Red said slowly as he adopted a look of contemplation.
"If we turn this place into another Safari Zone, then we can at least regulate the amount of people going in and out, and what they catch. Of course we would still need to install security measures to prevent trespassers and the like." Professor Oak added thoughtfully.
"I can't think of a better idea. Like the professor said, then at least we can monitor and control what people are doing when they go down there." I put in my two cents after thinking for a moment.
"Its decided then." Red said before he turned to the scientists. "You'll have the next six months to a year to study everything you can about these pokemon and the world they belong to, and then we'll be opening this place to the public. Again, the idea is to impact them as moderately as possible so that they gradually become aware of humans and our presence. If we discover that someone has been acting with a lack of respect, I will PERSONALLY see to it. Are we understood?"
"Gulp."
At the threat of him dealing with them personally if they stepped out of line, the scientists all gulped nervously as they nodded in agreement.
"Excellent! Now then, to kickstart the research, I want all of you who were down there to report to the Nurses Joy who have come here with Brock for a quick examination. We have no idea what is down there in possible germs or diseases, so I want all of you be checked up in case you brought something back. Ace especially since he was swimming in the water down there."
At Red's command, all of us from the expedition team marched our way to the Pokemon Center to be examined and wash up.
The Nurses Joy who had accompanied Brock out here were apparently already execting us, and they worked with surprising efficiency to collect 'samples' from us via spit, skin swabs, and blood draws. Afterwards, I was rushed into the showers once they were set to scalding hot, where two of the Nurses Joy joined me to scrub me head to toe with rough loofas while they wore nothing but a pair of tiny pink and white bikinis.
Somehow, they ended up losing those bikinis by the time we stepped out of the shower. And when he saw each of us coming out wearing nothing but a thin robe, Brock looked as if he were fighting what appeared to be an intense internal battle. One that he ended up winning as he walked away without saying anything.
While waiting for our results I took the time to check up on Lucario, who was still being forced to stay in bed after battling Regirock earlier. Even if we technically won, he still took a severe beating. Thankfully it didn't take long for us to get our test results back, which were all negative for any potential contaminants and diseases.
Once that was all over, we said our goodbyes, as professor Oak would be staying in the Pokemon Center, and returned to the house after what had undoubtedly been a LOOOOOOOOONG day.
"Welcome home~!" Joy called out from the kitchen as we walked in, where she was wearing an apron as she made us all dinner. And nothing else.
"We're home." I called back before giving her a quick kiss. "Is that Magikarp nuggets I smell?" I asked while looking to where she had been setting out dinner, which consisted of fried Magikarp nuggets, pasta, and some rolls.
"Yep~! I just finished everything before you all walked in! There's also a Bluk berry pie baking in the oven!"
"..."
"Have I ever told you how much I love you?" I asked her seriously.
"Yes, but you can always say it more!" Joy stated happily, before going to check on the pie. And knowingly or not, she was pointing her butt right at me and wiggling it enticingly the entire time.
Haaa... I remember when her attempts at seducing me were so clumsy that she was more cute and awkward than sexy...
Or maybe she's just corrupted me too much since then...
Either way, dinner was enjoyable since Chloe and Janine decided to join Joy in her nakedness as we ate, and then I gave Misty, May and Dawn a video call afterwards while the three girls went up to take a quick bath.
"Hey Ace!" May greeted me almost immediately after the phone started ringing, her face appearing on the screen of our video phone.
"Hey May! How's the Safari Zone?" I asked while taking in her surroundings.
From the look of it, the three girls were currently in their shared tent in the Sarfi Zone itself, meaning that they had all already acquired their Soul Badges from Koga.
"Its great! We've all caught some pokemon, and tomorrow we plan to go deeper into the the territory to try and find more!"
"What have you caught?" I asked her curiously.
"Well, I got a Doduo, Smeargle, and Shuckle. Misty got-"
"HEY! I'll tell Ace myself!" Came Misty's irritable voice, before the ginger in question appeared in the frame as well.
"Hey Ace! Guess what! I caught myself a Wooper, Wingull, and Azurill!" Misty exclaimed happily while holding up three pokeballs.
"Awesome. Wooper and Wingull especially." I replied, knowing that those two pokemon would be a massive help to Misty in future battles to come. Wooper was a water/ground type, which meant it would be immune to electric type attacks that other water types were weak to, while Wingull's flying typing would make it an asset against grass types in the future. Plus, once it evolved into Pelipper, Misty should be able to fly with it as well.
"Yep! And tomorrow I'm going to look for a Slowpoke as well! Wish me luck!"
"Good luck with that." I told her, and Misty disappeared from the screen as Dawn came this time. Except she had been busy changing in the background earlier, and was still only barely dressed. From what I saw, the only thing she had on was a pair of panties.
"Me too Ace! I caught a Venonat, Swinub, and Teddiursa!" Dawn declared as she held up the last of the three, which she was cuddling like it was an actual teddy bear.
"Nice. Swinub and Teddiursa, both are pretty powerful once they evolve. And I can see you dazzling audiences with Venonat's toxic spores." I told her truthfully.
That was the benefit of visiting the Safari Zone, one could find both pokemon from their own region along with those from OTHER regions as well. Some were provided by pokemon breeding farms, while others would be rescues from pokemon smugglers and other criminals. From what I understand, the vast majority of pokemon rescued from Team Rocket were sent to the Fuchsia city Safari Zone.
I actually felt a little bummed out now that I didn't go after hearing how the girls were doing.
"What about you, Ace?" May asked as she nudged her way back onto the screen.
"Hm?"
"How has your day been?"
"Pretty basic. I caught a few pokemon....seven of them, and got my hands on a couple more eggs to hatch."
"Really? I thought you weren't going to catch any pokemon for a while?" Misty asked as she scrunched back onto the screen as well.
"Yeah, well some things happened. We got attacked by a Regirock, and some wild Aerodactyl, and then went underground to find a whole world of prehistoric pokemon that are still alive. So I caught some of them before we returned to the surface. Oh yeah, I also caught the Regirock."
"""..."""
***
Gary Oak was feeling pretty good about himself right about now.
Currently he was having breakfast in the Fuchsia city Pokemon Center after spending the last couple weeks out in the Safari Zone.
The SS. Anne had been a wake up call for him. Even more so than learning the truth about Ace at Bill's lighthouse.
So upon reaching Celadon city and hearing that Ace's condition was stable, he along with the rest of the guys set out to become stronger for the next battle. And they all KNEW there would be a next time.
Realizing his own weakness had been...difficult for Gary to accept.
First he lost to Ace in Cerulean, then he lost again at Bill's lighthouse. Then Gary met Ethan, Brendan Lucas and all the others on board the SS. Anne. Trainers the same age as him that were just as good, if not MORE so. So good, that Gary had only placed amongst the lowest of the top eight in the tournament.
The final straw though, had been the battle against Team Rocket. When Gary was nearly killed.
Even now, Gary would dream about seeing the barrel of the gun in his face. Sometimes his dreams had the trigger being pulled, other times he dreamt being helpless as the gun was used to kill his pokemon instead.
Gary REFUSED to feel so helpless ever again!
So his first stop was naturally the Safari Zone, where Gary could find numerous pokemon to add to his roster. Including one pokemon in particular, Chansey.
During his brief travels with Ace, Gary had seen firsthand just how useful and versatile a Chansey could be for both training and taking care of his pokemon. Even before the SS. Anne, Gary had planned to get himself a Chansey as soon as possible.
Aside from Chansey, Gary also acquired pokemon like Scyther, Rhyhorn, Pinsir, Exeggcute, Phanpy, Kangaskhan, Miltank, Heracross, Misdreavus, and a few others. He had even managed to find one of the elusive Dratini that were VERY rare in the Safari Zone.
Of course Gary planned to train and evolve all of those who could be evolved, and acquire Mega Stones for those capable of Mega Evolving. At the moment the only pokemon he was able to Mega Evolve was his Blastoise after receiving the Keystone and Mega Stone from his winnings in the Inter-League Tournament. But after the reveal on the SS. Anne, more and more information was being made public about Mega Evolution and the pokemon capable of undergoing it every day.
And from the information available, Gary was confident that several of his pokemon were either capable of Mega Evolution, or they will be once they evolved.
Gary was so pleased with all of his new pokemon, that he took a picture with them and posted it to the group chat he'd been invited to with the rest of the guys from the SS. Anne.
Since separating there had been a constant stream of messages from Ash, Tracey, Goh, Ethan, Brendan, Lucas, Barry, Hilbert, Nate, Elios, Victor, Hop, and an occasional update from Ace.
They typically updated the others when they caught an impressive pokemon, won a battle, or did something cool or foolish. Such as when Victor found and caught a wild Gyarados, when Brendan beat ten trainers in a row, or when Hilbert accidentally got a hook stuck in his finger while he and Nate were fishing.
Now Gary was watching as they each responded in some way to the picture he posted after returning from the Safari Zone last night, with Ash's response being the most humorous since he'd just lost to Sabrina. From what Tracey had said, they were now heading to Lavender town so Ash can try to catch a ghost type pokemon to counter her.
"Hello and welcome to this very important news report!"
Gary looked up as the tv announced the news, which drew more than a few other people's attention as it opened with a pair of anchors.
"Our top story this morning, a discovery in Grampa Canyon of LEGENDARY proportions! Both a tale and titan out of time!"
Intrigued by the excitment of the news anchor, Gary paid attention and was stunned along with the others watching as they announced that Brock of the Pewter city Gym led an expedition to dig for fossils in Grampa Canyon, only to accidentally awaken the Legendary pokemon Regirock along with a flock of pokemon that were supposed to be extinct, Aerodactyl.
The horror for Brock began when the camera then showed footage that was shot during the incident, in which ACE began to battle the Regirock with his Lucario, before catching the Legendary pokemon. And then proceeding to capture the alpha Aerodactyl as well.
Then they showed footage of the expedition into the earth, where they discovered a massive cavern lit by an artificial sun, where numerous species of prehistoric pokemon still resided. And then of course it showed Ace, catching alpha specimens of several of the prehistoric pokemon, which would allow the world authority on pokemon, professor Oak, to study them at his leisure.
And when the news reporters, both the one on site and the anchors in the studio, began to talk about this was an amazing chance to study prehistoric pokemon in their natural habitat, and learn more about them than they had in the century, there was only a single word that went through Gary's mind.
"FUUUUUUUUUUCK!"