Journey Through Johto |Discontinued|

Chapter 2.23: Oh My Stars, It's An Omastar!

On their way to Ecruteak City, our beloved trio comes across the Ruins of Alph, an important archeological site where fossils of many prehistoric Pokémon have been discovered.

"It's huge." Emmy points out as they walk through the place. It was a giant line dug through the ground by many years of exploration. There were bones being dug out of rock and scaffolding placed everywhere to reach certain places.

"Those are Aerodactyl bones!" Zia exclaimed, seeing a team of archeologists studying it and trying to excavate it. "That's exactly what they're from, Zia." A familiar male voice told her as she spun around to see who it was.

"Oh, Professor Oak!" She said, startled by his sudden appearance. "You can always tell an Aerodactyl fossil because the tail looks like an arrow." He informed them as they saw the pointed triangular end of the tail on the fossil.

~~~

"I hadn't expected to see you here, Zia." Oak stated as he walked them through the digging site. "Well, we're heading towards Ecruteak City and happened upon this place and decided to have a look." She shrugged.

Oak glanced back at her. "This place is not really along the path to your destination. Did you happen to take a wrong turn again?" He asked her knowingly. "Maybe I did." Zia chuckled sheepishly. "No worries, you aren't too far off. Only take you about a day to get back on course. Anyway, since you're here, there's something I want to show you." He told her as they continued walking.

"An old student of mine just made an incredible discovery and invited me to see it." He added.

~~~

"Professor, I'm so glad to see you again." A man in a lab coat with black spiky hair greeted the older man. "It's been a long time, Foster. You're looking well. This is my honorary granddaughter, Zia." Oka introduced, gesturing to the young girl.

"Hello." Zia waved. "Zia, this is Foster. He was one of my top students at Celadon University." The older man told her about the other. "This is a surprise. I thought you'd come alone." Foster stated confused.

Oak just laughed. "So did I until I ran across Zia here on accident. Decided to take her along with me." He explained. "May I have a word with you?" Foster asked, not even waiting for a reply before dragging the Professor to the side.

Zia watched as the two whispered to one another. "Sky, what're they saying?" She asked the Luxray. "Basically that the discovery is extremely important to science and that if a leak got out there'd be cameras and reporters everywhere." Sky summed up.

"Oh? Is that all?" Zia muttered as she walked over. "Excuse me for interrupting. I assure you I won't tell a soul about whatever this newfound discovery is. You have my word as Champion." Zia swore to the man, deciding to exchange secret for secret.

The man gaped at her for a moment at the revelation before turning to Oak, who just nodded in affirmation. "Well, since you're such a reputable figure and Oak says it's okay, fine." Foster relented as Zia smiled to herself in satisfaction.

"Hmm? What's he doing?" She suddenly asked, gesturing to a man who was spraying a fossil with a thin jet of water. "Oh, he's cleaning the fossil of dirt and other small fragments that a brush can't get without damaging the specimen. Once it's clean we run it through an analysis program that figures out where the bone came from and on which Pokémon." The scientist explained.

"Oh no." The man with the water jet complained as his water stopped coming out. "Again? We've been having water flow problems lately. A steady water supply is critical to our research facility." Foster frowned.