Brock gave her a gentle nudge. "Go on. The best way to attract someone isn't to become an accessory, but to bloom in your own way. All the girls who traveled with Ash did exactly that. I believe you can too."
"Gym Leader Brock..." Chloe nodded fiercely, her eyes shimmering with new resolve. "Thank you! I understand!"
Brock watched them run into the expo with a knowing smile. Ash, it's time you start carrying the weight of a girl's heart. As your best friend, this is as much as I can help...
In the Footage—
Inside the expo, the duo marveled at the displays of Kabutops and Omastar. Ash felt a nagging sense of déjà vu, memories of the Grandpa Canyon incident flickering like a half-forgotten dream.
They moved quickly to the excavation site. This was the heart of the event's popularity. The chance to own a prehistoric Pokémon for free had drawn massive crowds.
Hidden among the workers, however, were three very familiar faces. Team Rocket had successfully infiltrated the staff! After hours of digging with no luck, Jessie, James, and Meowth had decided on a new plan: wait for Ash to find something good, let the museum resurrect it, and then snatch it!
The world audience chuckled. As usual, Team Rocket is just making sure Ash gets a new Pokémon.
For hours, Ash and Chloe dug. With the help of the detector, they found plenty of "scraps"—fossilized shells and bone fragments that were interesting but unusable for resurrection.
Other visitors were luckier, unearthing Leaf Stones or Soft Sand.
By dusk, Ash was starting to feel discouraged. Then, Pikachu's ears twitched.
The "Pikachu Radar" was active! He scurried to a seemingly unremarkable corner and began scratching at the earth. Ash and Chloe dug where he pointed, and their shovels hit something hard and translucent.
They pulled out a piece of crystal-clear Orange Amber.
They rushed to the curator, handing over the amber along with a Sail Fossil they had found earlier.
"Well now!" the curator exclaimed, peering through his spectacles. "This amber is magnificent.
We can definitely extract viable DNA from this. As for what it will become... well, that's a surprise. And this Sail Fossil is in excellent condition, too! That's an ancient Pokémon from the Kalos region."
He smiled at the two youngsters. "Stay the night in Pewter. By noon tomorrow, your prehistoric partners will be walking among us once more."
[Lance: Is this just 'Protagonist Luck'? Finding two resurrectable fossils in a single day in a public dig site?]
[Brandon: The Pewter site is unique; they bring in soil from development zones across the globe. But even then, finding a Sail Fossil—an Ice-type dragon ancestor—and high-grade Amber is incredible.]
[Steven Stone: When does this exhibition open? I need to be there! My 'Stone Genes' are vibrating!]
[Cynthia: I'm curious about the Amber. What could be inside? Aerodactyl is the common one, but that glow...]
The world held its breath. Two ancient Pokémon were about to return to the modern era, and the bond between Ash and Chloe was about to grow even stronger.
The night in Pewter City was thick with a stillness that usually signals the coming of a storm. In the local Pokémon Center, Ash and Chloe were settling in for the night.
Despite the excitement buzzing in their veins, the fossils wouldn't be ready until noon the next day. But as the saying goes, "if there are no surprises, the accident is on its way."
During the excavation, three shadows had been trailing Ash—the Team Rocket trio. Having eavesdropped on the discovery of the Orange Amber and the Sail Fossil, they were already moving.
Using their "industry-leading" surveillance technology, which far surpassed the museum's basic security, they bypassed the perimeter.
In the dead of night, the trio infiltrated the exhibit. They weren't content to wait for morning; they wanted to jumpstart the resurrection machine and snatch the Pokémon before Ash even woke up.
Using a mix of stolen codes and sheer luck, they managed to activate the device.
BOOM!
The machine, unable to handle the Rocket's "unauthorized modifications," suffered a catastrophic overload. A massive explosion ripped through the expo hall, sending plumes of acrid black smoke into the night sky.
From the window of the Pokémon Center, Ash—who had been tossing and turning with anticipation—saw the flash. He didn't even stop to change out of his pajamas.
Grabbing Pikachu, he pounded on Chloe's door. In the confusion of the trip, they had been assigned a room with bunk beds, a fact that had kept Chloe blushing for hours earlier that evening. Now, there was no time for embarrassment.
"Chloe! Wake up! Something's happening at the museum!"
Author's Note (PS): In this world, the social structure is more relaxed regarding relationships (referencing Gary's multiple cheerleaders). The competition between the parents isn't about "winning or losing" in a traditional sense, but more like a battle for the "Main Partner" status in Ash's legendary journey!
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