Inside Professor Oak's Laboratory in Pallet Town, Delia and Professor Oak stood in front of the television, staring anxiously at the screen.
The news channel was still running breaking coverage of Fossil Canyon, the footage filled with rubble from the collapse and rescue workers.
"Why isn't there any news yet?"
Delia clasped her hands so tightly that her knuckles turned white.
"Don't worry. Lu Chen is stronger than you think. Ash will definitely be all right."
Professor Oak comforted Delia from beside her, but he was pacing nervously himself.
He had watched Ash grow up, and the boy was also Gary's good friend. Professor Oak was deeply worried, too.
Then Delia and Professor Oak heard wings flapping outside.
They both turned.
Lu Chen jumped off Aerodactyl's back, dusted himself off, and walked toward them.
"Ash is fine. He's safe now."
That was all he said.
Delia's whole body went limp, and she nearly sank to the ground. Her eyes reddened instantly.
She took several deep breaths before managing to hold back the tears welling up, her voice trembling slightly.
"Th-thank you. Thank you so much, Mr. Lu Chen..."
Professor Oak also let out a long breath. He looked as though an enormous weight had lifted from his shoulders, and even his back straightened a little.
"Wonderful, wonderful... As long as Ash is all right."
Once Delia recovered, she hurriedly wiped the corners of her eyes and gave Lu Chen a tearful smile.
"Mr. Lu Chen, just you wait. I'll cook a whole feast and bring it over tomorrow. Tell me whatever you'd like to eat, and don't be shy!"
"There's no need to go to so much trouble. We're all neighbors. Helping each other is only natural."
Lu Chen waved a hand, indicating that there was no need to make such a fuss.
But Delia wouldn't listen. She was already counting on her fingers, planning what to cook tomorrow, a happy smile spreading across her face.
Just then, Professor Oak edged closer.
The old man rubbed his hands together and spoke with a somewhat nervous expression.
"Well... Lu Chen..."
Professor Oak gave an awkward chuckle, lowering his voice as though afraid someone might overhear.
"I'm just asking out of curiosity, but when you went to the canyon this time, did you... really encounter any fossil Pokémon?"
Lu Chen glanced at Professor Oak.
Professor Oak's eyes were filled with longing, even though he was already an old man with graying hair.
That cautious yet barely restrained look made him seem just like a child who wanted candy but was too embarrassed to ask.
Lu Chen smiled faintly.
Then he took a Poké Ball from his waist and casually tossed it over.
Professor Oak scrambled to catch it, nearly losing his grip and dropping it.
He cradled the Poké Ball and leaned closer to look.
Inside the transparent shell, a small Kabuto lay quietly, its blue shell gleaming under the lights as its two little eyes watched the outside warily.
Professor Oak stopped breathing.
Three seconds later.
"KA-BU-TO!!"
He let out a shriek completely at odds with his age, raised the Poké Ball over his head with both hands, and spun around twice, nearly jumping into the air.
"It's really a fossil Pokémon! A living fossil Pokémon! Good heavens! This is so precious! So rare!"
Professor Oak was so excited that even his beard trembled. He held the Poké Ball and examined it from every angle, itching to rush into the laboratory right away.
Lu Chen said calmly,
"Consider it repayment for that plot of land."
"Thank you! Thank you! If you ever need anything, just come to me! Anything at all! Even if you need me to get up in the middle of the night to fix your plumbing!"
Holding the Poké Ball, Professor Oak thanked Lu Chen over and over, then turned and sprinted toward the laboratory.
He moved far too fast for an old man, his white coat flapping loudly behind him.
"A Kabuto! A living specimen! How many years has it been since anyone discovered a living fossil Pokémon in the Kanto Region?"
His voice carried back from afar, growing fainter until it finally vanished into the night.
Lu Chen watched Professor Oak disappear at the end of the path, then looked away.
In fact, when he caught these fossil Pokémon, Lu Chen had already asked Kabuto about it.
According to that Kabuto, it had still seen large populations of its kind just over a decade ago.
Kabuto were extraordinarily resilient Pokémon. In ancient times, they had been as common as stray dogs along the roadside. Wherever one existed, there were probably others nearby.
So in Lu Chen's view, Kabuto weren't really all that rare.
But that was Professor Oak's business.
Lu Chen returned to the farm.
The farm was very quiet at night, with only chirping insects and the occasional Pokémon cry in the distance.
Moonlight spilled over the freshly tilled earth, and the thirty Starf Berry sprouts swayed gently in the breeze.
Lu Chen took out the remaining Poké Balls.
Omastar, Omanyte, Kabutops, and another Kabuto-four in total.
They appeared on the ground, huddling together somewhat awkwardly, unsure where to put their tentacles and claws.
Lu Chen looked at them and thought for a moment.
Earlier, while digging up the farm, he had dug a small river beside it specifically to make watering the Starf Berries easier.
The water came from a nearby source. It was crystal clear, with lush aquatic plants and a riverbed covered in fine sand and pebbles.
"You can live here for now."
Lu Chen pointed at the little river.
The four fossil Pokémon froze for a moment.
Then they crawled toward the river. Looking at the clear water before them, they gently dipped their tentacles into it.
Flowing water.
No layers of rock pressing down overhead, no dark tunnels, no days of killing each other for food.
The Omanyte were the first to slip into the water. Their tentacles unfurled and swayed gently, their whole bodies visibly relaxing.
Omastar looked back at Lu Chen.
Only half of the tentacle Aerodactyl had severed remained, but the wound had stopped bleeding.
It lowered its head deeply, curling its tentacles slightly in front of itself as though bowing.
Kabutops and Kabuto also turned around and lowered their heads toward Lu Chen.
They thanked Lu Chen for bringing them out of that damned underground canyon.
In that place that never saw daylight, they had survived only by hunting wild Pokémon that wandered into the tunnels, living like beasts trapped in a cage.
Now, they finally had a home of their own.
Just then, Lu Chen's Aerodactyl leaned his head closer and looked at Omastar and the others, drool spilling from the corner of his mouth.
Omastar and the others shuddered. Although they had finally escaped that lightless prison, their current situation didn't seem much better.
Just as Omastar and the others felt their hearts tremble, Lu Chen walked over.
Lu Chen looked at Aerodactyl and began to think.
At first, Lu Chen hadn't cared at all whether Aerodactyl treated Omastar and the others as food.
After all, in ancient times, Berries of every kind and forests had been scarce resources. Vast stretches of barren land had been the norm.
Different Pokémon killing and devouring one another had simply been natural selection, the survival of the fittest.
But now, times had changed!
This era was undoubtedly one in which humans and Pokémon, and Pokémon with one another, could all coexist in harmony.
Huge quantities of Berries could be found everywhere, vast forests covered the land, and rivers and oceans were rich in resources.
Even Pokémon had largely given up killing one another. The bloody days of ancient times, when Pokémon ate each other, were mostly over.
"Aerodactyl, times have changed. Some of your habits need to change, too."
Lu Chen gently stroked Aerodactyl's head and explained in a quiet voice.
"Roar!"
Aerodactyl looked utterly baffled. Eating was perfectly natural. How could there be anything he wasn't allowed to eat?
"But you don't want this era to leave you behind, do you? Every era has its own way of surviving."
"Roar..."
Aerodactyl shook his head, indicating that what Lu Chen said was too profound for him to fully understand.
"To put it simply, you don't want other humans, including Delia, to look at you like you're a monster, do you?"
"Roar."
Aerodactyl lowered his head and thought for quite a while, then raised it to indicate that he would restrain his urge to kill from now on.
Lu Chen stroked Aerodactyl's head.
"What a good boy."
Still, Lu Chen knew some things had to be taken one step at a time.
"Of course, the occasional snack is fine. If I remember correctly, Omastar's tentacles can grow back."
"Roar!"
Aerodactyl's eyes instantly lit up!
Nearby, Omastar couldn't understand everything, but once it heard that it wouldn't have to be eaten and only needed to offer up its tentacles occasionally, it relaxed.
Omastar hurriedly nodded as well, indicating that it was willing.
For Omastar, this deal was an absolute steal!