FSE

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formerly SoFurry search engine

YAY, NO SEX!! Suck it! Er, don't suck it since that would make the entire statement pointless. Um, moving on

Chapter Twelve

Mt. Fossil

"I hate caves," Tyler growled.

The trio stood outside a gaping hole in the side of a mountain leading into a cave that they couldn't see three feet past the entrance into.

"Anyone know flash?" the trainer asked

"I can learn it" Shadow answered proudly

"Too bad I don't have a TM," Tyler pointed out

"It can't be that hard" she dismissed

"Then go ahead," Tyler said, gesturing forward

Shadow pranced up to the cave mouth and peered inside. Her eyes, bright blue rather than the usual ruby red of her species, allowed her to see every minute detail in the cave better than she could in daylight, at least at first. After several feet, the ambient light that fueled her night vision died away, reducing it to blurry, but still recognizable, shapes

She walked into the cave until neither Tyler nor Lava could make out anything other than the faint bioluminescence of her yellow rings reminding Tyler of glow sticks.

"Ok," Shadow said to herself, looking around the black cave and taking a deep, focusing inhale then releasing it slowly

Shadow focused on making her rings glow brighter to illuminate the cave enough that her not so nocturnal companions could see past their own noses. She recalled how it was the she had first learned shadow ball, reaching into her own mind to try and find the technique locked inside her instincts somewhere.

And sure enough, after a moment she felt a familiar sensation, like an old memory was suddenly being remembered. Using that as a focal point, she put all of her attention on it until the thought completely filled her mind and her body started to tingle like a thunder wave had just hit it. After just afew seconds an orb of light started to spread out from her, slowly increasing in brightness as it grew

Once it was at full strength there was sphere of light for several feet around her that lit up the cave. The light was bright enough for the group to see by, but didn't bother Shadow's eyes nearly as much as full sunlight would

"Not bad," Tyler commented, walking up beside her and running his hand through her black fur, making her purr, "you ok Lava?"

"Fi-fine." Lava, despite her usual nervousness, was perfectly content. Granted she didn't like the dark, she wasn't really afraid of it since anything that attacked her would just get a blast of light creating fire. Those dozens of bat pokémon hanging from the ceiling did worry her alittle though. At least they didn't seem bothered too much by Shadow's use of flash.

"If we can, let's try to get through here without getting our blood sucked out," Tyler commented quietly, looking up

"Ya, it's gonna be hard to get it up without blood," Shadow added

"Do you ever stop thinking about sex?"

"Wouldn't you already know?"

Tyler accepted her come back and the trio continued with Shadow taking the lead.

For the most part, aside from afew grouchy zubat, territorial geodude, and the odd lost or waiting trainer, they passed through with little difficulty. Other than each of them taking the lead in turn and getting the group lost at least three times each.

After what was probably afew hours and low-level problem solving skills, the group found their way to the other side of the network, just two or three tunnels separating them from the exit.

That was when they met a man in a lab coat surrounded by mining equipment and portable light sources and examination tools, some of which had been knocked over. At the moment, he was sprawled out on the ground looking like he'd just been punched in the jaw.

"Are you ok?" Tyler asked, helping the man to his feet

"I'll be fine," he answered, dusting himself off

"What happened?"

"Oh, I was just excavating some evolutionary stone deposits and a few fossils," he explained, indicating his equipment "when this man came and challenged me to a battle," he pointed to an unconscious magnemite and geodude, "and when he won, he just punched me and grabbed all of my samples. Then he ran down there towards the exit"

"We can find him if you want," Tyler offered

"Please do, the lab I work for needs those samples for study"

"What'll you give us?" Shadow asked, already trying to find a scent to follow

"Shadow," Tyler reprimanded her

"I can't give you money, but I could give you one of the stones"

"You can understand her?" Tyler asked

"Not very well, but yes"

"Alright, we'll see what we can do"

"Thank you"

____________________

"Shadow, quick attack"

Shadow streaked forward and slammed head first into the enemy raticate, knocking it out in one attack.

"Go golbat!" the thief shouted, tossing out a pokéball

"Shadow, shadow ball"

A ball of black energy slammed into golbat and the explosion sent it flailing through the air until it passed out next to its master.

The thief took a step back, both his pokémon defeated easily.

"Give us the bag," Tyler commanded

The man tightened his grip on the sack slung over his shoulder, the thought of running for it passed briefly though his mind, but he abandoned it, no way he could outrun that umbreon. Even if he did give the bag to them, there was no guarantee he would be let free. Then he remembered what his boss had given him if just this event happened.He pulled a palm sized box out of his pack and a dome fossil out of the sack.

He placed the plot device on top of the fossil and pressed a button. A light shone on top of the device and a glow began radiating from it. But the glow was restricted to the fossil, making it shine with an inner light that illuminated every scratch and crack in its surface as rock changed back into bone and altered shape.

The slightly hoof shaped shell widened and pointed into a more arrow shape. Below it grew a spine that sprouted a rib cage, four limbs, and a tail. The lower two limbs bent back and formed legs while the top ones grew longer and what would have been hands on a human changed into two razor sharp sickles.

For a moment, before them stood the fully formed skeleton of a kabutops, then it grew muscles and sinew, and above that formed a mostly dark brown exoskeleton of bony armor. In a matter of seconds, a lifeless rock had transformed into a fully evolved and extinct pokémon.

"Ha!" the thief yelled, marveling at the sight before him, "you want it so bad, you can have the fossil! Use slash!"

The kabutops remained as motionless as the fossil it had come from, its dark brown eyes fixated on the radiating umbreon before it.

"Hey, I said use slash!"

The kabutops didn't move.

"HEY!" he yelled, throwing a rock at it.

Kabutops moved its head out of the way, eyes never leaving Shadow for a second.

The rock continued to sail through the air, directed now at her. She easily moved an inch to the side for the now slow moving object to pass by harmlessly.

The sight, while mostly ignored by everyone had a pronounced effect on kabutops. In a sudden, fluid movement, it spun around and in the blink of an eye had its scythes around its would be master's neck.

Tyler decided to take advantage of the situation, "I'd suggest dropping that bag"

The man slowly lowered the bag down onto the ground and held up his hands

"Good boy," Shadow mocked him

Kabutops lowered its scythes slowly, allowing the man to flee for his life, and returned its stare to Shadow as if asking if it were a good boy too

"That thing's starting to creep me out," she said, shaking herself for effect

"Well, let's get the fossils and see what the scientist will make of him"

"Is he even going to follow us?"

"Let's see, hey kabutops," Tyler called out

It remained motionless

"You wanna come with us?" Shadow asked sarcastically

Kabutops stepped forward and nodded. The group returned to the scientist with kabutops following silently

____________________

"Holy Arceus!"

"Ya," Tyler said, "it kinda, got revived or whatever"

"The thief used the prototype didn't he?" the scientist asked, looking kabutops over

"Uh...?"

"A device, about this big, brings fossils back to life, like, well, that"

"Ya, he took off with it"

"Damn, we've been after whoever stole it for weeks now. At least you got the stolen deposits right?"

"Right here," Tyler carefully handed the sack over

"Thank you, well I guess I owe you"

"No you don't have to"

"Tyler," Shadow growled

"Please, anything," the scientist offered, "you earned it"

After thinking about it, he made a request, "I guess I'll take a dusk stone if you've got one"

Once he carefully emptied the bag out he handed over the stone, "here you are"

Tyler took the stone from the scientist. Its surface was so dark that it seemed to absorb the light from the portables around it. Carefully, Tyler stowed it away in his pack.

"I suppose I'll have to see what I can do about him, huh?" The scientist said to himself

"Good luck with that," Shadow said, wanting to get away from the thing

"Yes and again thank you, you saved days of work, and probably saved my job."

____________________

"Sunlight! Beautiful sunlight!" Tyler yelled once they exited the cave, splaying his arms open dramatically

Lava blinked through the temporary blindness, but she was excited to be free of the dark and a cave full of pokémon either resistant to her or ready to suck her blood. Now she could burn things all she liked and there wasn't a damn thing any of them could do about it! 'Maybe I'm alittle too excited,' she thought, blushing

Shadow just growled, at least it was afternoon. She might just be in the dark before too long.

"Sorry Shadow," Tyler said, reading her thoughts, "we'll sleep in today ok?"

"And train at night?"

"Ya, you ok with that Lava?"

"As-as long as we don't go back in there," she answered in her usual quiet voice

"Kabutops!"

The trio nearly jumped out of their skin at the sudden intrusion.

As one they turned around to find their kabutops 'friend' standing behind them. Its body was just as still as it before, but its face had changed. It took a moment to realize, but its face had been blank at first, completely emotionless. But now, its eyes were different. It didn't look like a stoic fighter anymore, now it looked like a lost puppy or a child asking its parents if it had done something wrong

"Kab" it said, its voice was gravelly but still somehow sounded too young for its body

"Uh..." the trio responded

"Kabu?" it asked, tilting its head slightly to the right quizzically

"Does anyone else understand it?" Tyler asked

"Nope" Shadow responded

"No" Lava answered

"Top"