What You Get
Ch. 1
The time was mid-afternoon. For some, mid-afternoon was a time to leave from work or school and return home, relaxing for the rest of the day and evening. However, for Twilight Sparkle and her five friends, it was the beginning for preparation.
The six mares were on there way to a dig sight that Maud Pie had invited them to. Maud Pie has been working on a research project: Pokemon fossils. She would have lost interest in the project if the fossils were not related to rock type Pokemon. The reason Maud decided to invite Twilight and the others was to speed up the progress of the dig sight. Nearly all of the workers were scientists, looking to further study the lost history of a group of stone-like creatures. Only Maud and a few other ponies were on the dig sight doing the excavating. Because of this, the project is close to becoming a flop.
Maud had asked the scientists if she could request some help from a group of friends and rent a few Pokemon to speed up the progress of the project. The scientists immediately accepted Maud's suggestion and quickly went to go and rent several Pokemon for the dig. Maud did request one particular Pokemon to be rented: an Onix. She desired to work with such a large and massive Pokemon because of its size, strength, speed, ability to drill through the dirt with ease, and because it looked like a giant rock snake.
“Alright, here is our stop,” the bus driver said to his passengers. The large vehicle made a loud hiss as it came to a complete stop.
Rarity sighed in relief, “Oh, thank heavens we arrived. I cannot stand a single minute sitting in this rickety old vehicle any longer.” With haste, the unicorn got up from her seat and strutted out of the bus.
Applejack nudged Fluttershy's shoulder and said, “To be honest with ya, ah am glad we got here just as much as she is. Ah couldn't stand another second of her complaining about how bumpy the ride was.”
“But that's what makes it so much fun,” Pinkie Pie exclaimed with excitement. “Especially the rocky road we had to drive over for the last hour. It was so bumpity!”
Fluttershy looked at Rainbow Dash and said, “I am excited that we will be working with Pokemon.”
“Eh, work isn't really my style,” Rainbow Dash shrugged. “I just hope that there will be some fast Pokemon there that I can race.”
“Well,” Twilight Sparkle interjected. “Maud was generous enough to give us a list of Pokemon that we will be working with, and one of them was a Skarmory.”
“So what?” Rainbow Dash didn't seem to care and placed her arms behind her head.
“I heard that Skarmory can reach speed up to 200 miles per hour,” Fluttershy spoke with a smile. The rainbow maned pony stared blankly at the yellow pegasus for a brief moment before bolting out of the bus.
Rarity was a good distance away from the bus, cooling herself with a fancy fan she had just pulled out of her luggage. Suddenly, a dash of rainbow streaked by the unicorn, following a gust of wind and dust.
“Be careful!” Rarity coughed as she yelled at her friend. “Goodness! Can't a lady have some time on her own without being bothered?!” Lost in the thick cloud of orange-red, the pony waved her hooves in front of her face, trying to keep the dust out of her eyes. “I can't see a thing in this cloud of dirt.”
“I see you have arrived,” a shady figure spoke blandly as it suddenly appeared in front of Rarity. The unicorn shrieked and stumbled backwards into the dirt. Quickly, the dust subsided and quickly reveled that the figure was Maud Pie.
“Maud!” Pinkie Pie cried out from a distance. In an instant, the pink pony clung onto her sister like a magnet.
“Hello Pinkie Pie,” Maud replied without a smile, still looking at Rarity. “Are you having fun?”
“Why yeeeees!” Rarity said sarcastically. “I always love to sit in the dirt!”
“Me too. The dirt is like a bunch of rocks... but lighter.”
“Hello Maud,” Twilight said as she approached Rarity and the two sisters. Fluttershy and Applejack followed in suit of Twilight.
“Thank you for inviting us to the excavation sight,” Fluttershy said with the softest amount of enthusiasm.
“Your welcome...”
Twilight, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Applejack turned and looked at one other, hoping to ease the awkward tention that hung in the air.
“SOOOOOO?” Pinkie Pie said suddenly as she looked at her sister. “Are you... SUPER EXCITED?!” the pink mare exclaimed as she flung her arms out.
Maud blinked and stared at her sister. “Yes... I can't hardly contain myself...” Maud then lightly rocked her shoulders and Pinkie Pie removed herself from her sister. “Come, let's head to the dig sight.” Without consent of the others, the gray pony turned and began to walk away from them and Pinkie Pie bounced along side her.
***
It was not before long when the six ponies made their way to the dig sight. The location was at the bottom of a cliff, reaching upwards of about one-hundred feet. On the ground, the earth looked cracked and dry with a few weeds here and there, grasping upwards from in between the cracks. Despite it being a research location, it didn't look anywhere near professional as there were holes crudely scattered about the landscape, some big, but most of them were small. There were a few shovels stabbed into the earth here and there, and three tractors with large scoops were spread out from each other. Near the center of the dig sight were three trailer offices that were lined up neatly with each other, showing that there is at least something organized in the dried up valley.
Twilight Sparkle was talking to Maud as the mares came toward the trailers. “So what have you and the others found here at the dig site?”
“Rocks.”
“Anything... interesting?”
“Rocks.”
“Well...” Twilight said, speaking through her teeth, “What kind of rocks?”
“Big rocks... small rocks... dirt...”
The purple unicorn scowled at Maud because of her bland responses with ears folded back.
“What I think Twilight is trying to say,” Rarity said with a cheery tone as she walked aside the purple mare, “Is where there any minerals or gemstones that you found?”
“Surprisingly, not that much,” Maud said without looking at the white unicorn. “Sure a rock with some gold here and an emerald shard there, but that's not what the excavation is all about.”
The words “gold” and “emerald” grabbed Rarity's attention. “Do you... happen to keep those rocks?”
“No.” This time, Maud looked at Rarity. “We just threw them back into the holes we dug. They are not important.” Rarity's mouth hung open at what she had just heard. Discarding gold and emeralds like they were cheep imitations of plastic was unheard of.
As Twilight continued her angry gaze and Rarity's jaw dragged on the ground, Fluttershy was hovering from above the others, noticing now was her chance to say something. “Umm, Maud?” `Maud's neck stepped upwards and gazed at Fluttershy. “I was just wondering, umm... what fossils have you found?”
“Why don't you go in and take a look for yourself?”
“Hugh-” DONK! “Oowwwww...” Without noticing it, Fluttershy had collided with the middle trailer using her skull, which is not the best way to come to a complete stop. She slowly rubbed her bruised noggin, hoping the pain would go away.
“Here we are...” Maud said to the group.
Pinkie Pie hopped over the railing of the center trailer and held the door open for the group of ponies. Fluttershy and Maud were the first to enter. Twilight and Rarity were dragging their hooves and Applejack followed in suit. As the earth pony passed the two disgrunttled unicorns, Applejack said, “Look alive you two. We are here for a research science project. And ah think you two of all ponies should look the most professional.”
Realizing that their expressions have not yet changed, Twilight and Rarity shook their heads, removing any amount of negative emotions from their faces. After walking up the ramp, the three of them passed Pinkie Pie who continued to hold the door open.
As they entered, they got a good look of the place. The tiling on the floor had a checkered pattern and a white and gray color pallet that cascaded across the room. Several tables held beakers and test tubes, each with their own chemicals; these tables intrigued Twilight Sparkle and she quickly went over to the one where a scientist occupied the central station. On the left side of the room was a large white board with circles and x's scattered across the surface. There was a title that was at the direct top center of the board, saying, “Digging locations.” Maud was talking to a scientists who was standing at the whiteboard, pointing at several x's.
Realizing nopony was left to enter, Pinkie Pie gently closed the door and went over to her sister. “Hey sis! So what do all these x's and o's mean? Is it a game? How do you play 'Digging Locations?'”
The scientist chuckled, “I presume you are Pinkie Pie.”
“Yup! And you must be Professor Yew! Maud told me you are the hansom pegasus who set up this ordeal.”
Yew blushed. “I-I wouldn't say hansom... A-anyways, I can assume you and your friends know why you are here.” As the stallion finished his sentence, he looked to see what the newest members of the team were doing. He saw Fluttershy looking at several posters about fossils, Applejack and Rarity who were wandering aimlessly, and Twilight Sparkle who was still conversing with the scientist at the center table.
Clearing his throat, Yew spoke, “Excuse me everypony!” Everypony looked to him, including the scientist. “Not you, Pine. You need to continue cleaning that root fossil. Will the rest of you come over here? There are some things we need to discuss.” At their own pace, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Twilight came to the scientist. “I can see you are all excited for what is to come.”
All the girls, except for Applejack and Rarity, gave a reassuring nod. “Are you two not as excited to help discover an exctinct race of Pokemon?” Yew asked Rarity and Applejack.
“Umm... Digging isn't really my specialty,” Rarity admitted. “But!” The unicorn held her head up. “I am here to help a friend. And as such, I will give any amount of effort to assist a noble cause.”
“That's good to here,” Yew smiled. He then looked at Applejack. “What about you? Are you not interested in the project?”
“Well, ah am one for workin', but ah can't say ah am thrilled about what's going on...”
Randomly, Twilight Sparkle said to the orange mare, “Did you know you can clean fossils with alcohol?”
“On second thought,” Applejack said with a scratch on her chin. “Maybe this whole science thing may be more interesting than I thought.”
Yew looked at Twilight and gave a sincere nod. “Well then, let's get down to business.”
***
“I get it,” Twilight said aloud. “So the circles are where others have dug and the x's are where we need to dig.”
“Correct. Also, don't forget, you and your Pokemon need to dig carefully. We want to get a full sample of a fossil in order to resurrect any of the lost Pokemon. The only valuable piece we have found was a large chunk of the root Pokemon, Lileep. Even though we cannot revive the it, we are still cleaning it to study the DNA from it.”
“So, the more fossils we find,” Fluttershy said with glee, “The more cute little Omanytes we can have?!”
“That is if you find any helix fossils. The goal of this entire expedition is to find one of each, a dome, helix, root, and claw fossil. Once we do that, we revive them and then we can send them to breeding day cares, where we can then repopulate the lost race of Pokemon.”
“I can't wait to get started,” Fluttershy smiled.
“Ah must admit,” Applejack said. “This whole diggin' project sounds a lot more interestin' now that ah think about it.”
“It is,” Maud spoke with the most bland amount of enthusiasm. “These Pokemon were like living rocks... now they are dead rocks. Nonetheless, they are still interesting.”
As Maud finished her thoughts, everypony began to talk amongst themselves, discussing what they want to do, what they needed to do, and what they were going to do if they found a fossil.
Among the conversations, Twilight Sparkle asked Yew, “So, this area must be a dry lake bed.”
“That is correct. We are trying to figure out how the lake dried up, but that is another mystery.”
Suddenly, the door to the trailer flung open and all conversations came to a halt. It was Rainbow Dash with a very irritated look on her face. “There you are!” she exclaimed. “What are you guys doing here?”
“Talking about rock fossils,” Maud replied.
Rainbow Dash sighed. “Well, I have been waiting in the trailer next door so we can have a look at the Pokemon we will be using.”
“I was beginning to wonder where you went,” Fluttershy spoke without acknowledging Rainbow Dash's request. “I was going to ask the professor here if he had seen you, but I didn't want to be a bother.”
“Nonsense,” Yew smiled. “I preferred to be bothered.”
“Okay!” Pinkie Pie explained. She then began to poke at Yew's face, saying “bother” over and over again.
“I don't mean it like that...,” the professor corrected.
***
The sound of two clicks rang in the small trailer as seven ponies stood behind Professor Yew as he opened a silver colored briefcase. Wrinkling his nose, Yew caught a cent of the spongy foam casing that was inside the case. Inside were seven pokeballs that rested in their own indentation.
“Which one is the Skarmory?!” Rainbow Dash said with excitement as she reached for a pokeball.
Quickly, the scientist swatted the pegasus' hoof aside. “Patience,” he said calmly. Slowly, Yew grabbed a pokeball and turned toward the group behind him. Looking at Rainbow Dash, he said, “Here is the Skarmory you desperitly want.”
“Sweet!” Without asking, the sky-blue pegasus snatched the capsule from the stallion and bolted out the door in a display of bright colors.
Yew was quite irritated. “Quite the impatient one she is...”
“Don't worry Professor Yew,” Twilight reasured. “She is a really good friend once you get past that places to go, things to do attitude.”
“I suppose.” Turning back to the briefcase, Yew pulled out another pokeball. “Here we go.” This time, he turned to Rarity. “Take this.”
“Why thank you,” she smiled as the ball levitated from the pegasus' hoof. “May I?” Rarity asked the professor.
“Sure. Show us what pokemon you have.”
“Very well.” At once, everypony moved over to where Yew was and gave Rarity space to throw the capsule.
Rarity then prepared herself. With a light toss of the ball, it traveled in the air briefly before a flash of white light flashed out from the pokeball. The light touched the ground, and very quickly, a figure began to form. It was a small biped creature with short body and small pointed ears. Soon, the white began to fade, and the figure began to show more color and detail. It's hands and feet has three sharp claws with a small red gem at the center of it's chest. The color of the Pokemon was dark purple, with eyes are what look to be two bright diamonds.
“Sableye,” the Pokemon said aloud.
“This is Sableye,” Yew proclaimed. “He will be one of the Pokemon helping us.”
“Sable...” Sableye said as it cocked its head to the side, staring at Rarity.
“Umm... hello,” Rarity said as she slowly backed away from the Pokemon. However, the Sableye moved quickly over to Rarity, observing her. “It's rude to stare at somepony like they are some object you know!” Turning his head, the Sableye saw Rarity's cutie mark and the Pokemon's eye's shimmered and embraced the white unicorn with a hug. “Hey, get off of me! It is also rude to introduce yourself as such when you have just met somepony as well.”
“Saib!” the pokemon spoke as it hopped back a few inches.
“That's better.” Rarity observed the pokemon. It's posture was very creepy as its body was hunched forward and it held its claws in front of it, as if it was ready to spar. “What does this... lovely creature do, professor?”
“Sableye is a pokemon that dwells underground and feeds off of rocks and gems.” Upon hearing the fact that the purple colored creature eats gems made Rarity almost want to faint. “Lucky for us though, this guy here prefers amethyst gems, so we don't have to worry about him eating any fossils.”
“Or any rare gems,” Rarity reassured.
“Y-yes, that is true. There is also something to consider with this pokemon. Sableyes are known to have an obsession with gems. So if anypony here were to work with him, make sure he stays on track with digging, not collecting; unless of course he finds fossils. That he can collect.”
“Alright then you!” the unicorn exclaimed to the Sableye. It jumped at Rarity's words. “I see you and I have a common liking.” The Sableye nodded. “Well then, if I must say, you and I will get quite along... that is, if you work diligently.” Again, the Sableye nodded; however, it couldn't help but feel intimidated by Rarity.
“Ah hope you aren't using Sableye for your own personal gain Rarity,” Applejack said with a look that spoke the truth as much as her words.
“Nonsense! I have worked with ponies who have been easily sidetracked by personal matters and have wiped them into shape by making sure they get work done. I prefer to work with some... thing that needs assistance with staying on course so that we may get the best outcome of work possible.
“And besides, we are all going to be doing some digging. I am sure somepony will find some gems without the use of a pokemon who eats rocks and minerals.”
Applejack was quite impressed to here Rarity's selfless statement. “Ah am shocked to here you say something like that.”
“Well I do own a shop. You of all ponies should know how work should be done effectively, being quite the farmer girl that you are.”
“Fair enough.”
“Come along Sableye, let us get more acquainted outside.” As Rarity made her way to the door, the pokemon followed her. Just as she had opened the door and took a few steps outside, a streak of rainbow dashed by the entrance of the door, kicking up dry dirt into the air. The unicorn shrieked, startled by Rainbow Dash's action. “Rainbow Dash,” Rarity explaimed as she coughed through the orange-red dust. “Could you fly somewhere where you can't crash into somepony?!” she yelled as she saw her cyan colored friend ark into the sky.
Suddenly, a silver figure went past Rarity, making more dry earth scatter though the air. Looking to see what past her, Rarity saw the Skarmory quickly trace Rainbow Dash's movement as it arched the same way she did.
Looking behind her, Rarity told the Sableye, “Let's start with lesson one: not being reckless.”
As soon as the Sableye hopped out of the tailor, Rarity closed the door, leaving the ponies who were accompanied her inside.
The ponies laughed at what had just happened to Rarity for a brief moment before returning to business.
“Shall we look at the other pokemon,” Yew said after watching what had unfolded and everypony nodded in agreement.
Taking out another pokeball, the professor said, “This is Hitmontop. This pokemon spins on top of its head, drilling anything that lay beneath it. It is also known to rapidly kick its opponent when battling. So if you encounter any Zubats that may give you any type of trouble, just send this one into the fray and nothing will get near it.”
“Ah call dibs,” Applejack said with her attention grabbed by the mere words “kicking its opponent.”
“Do you want to see it first?”
“I'll give it a good look outside if that is fine.”
“Alright then.” Gingerly, Yew gave the pokeball to the earth pony.
“Now let's see what you are made of,” Applejack said as she looked at the red and white sphere. Just as Rarity left them, so did Applejack; this time, Rainbow Dash didn't fly past the trailer this time.
“What else do you have, professor?” Twilight asked, eager to see the rest of the pokemon in store.
“Do you like psychic pokemon?”
“I do. I heard that their power is unlike other pokemon.”
“Then you may like this one.” Pulling out the fourth pokeball, Yew handed it to the purple unicorn.
Too eager to wait, Twilight tossed the capsule toward the door where nopony was standing, and a flash of white burst from it. Quickly, the light created a tall figure. It was a biped like Sableye. The diffidence was that this one was taller. In fact, there where many differences. It's body was very thin and sleek and the waist was in the shape of an oval. Two large extensions jetted out from its elbows and a thin fin stood upward from the back of the head.
As the white light faded from the taller pokemon, it showed more color to the pokemon. Its legs were white and its upper torso, head, and pointy extensions that looked like blades were in a dark-green shade. The fin on the head created a light-blue stripe that streaked down the middle of what would be the hair of the pokemon. At the center of its torso was a small red triangle that jetted out from the breastbone and another triangle jetted out from the back.
“This is Gallade, the blade pokemon!” Yew exclaimed.
“Gallade...” it said in a calm voice. The Gallade's eyes moved slowly, observing the ponies before it.
“Interesting,” Twlight said as she walked around the pokemon. Observing the arms, the unicorn spoke, “A psychic pokemon with blade like elbows.”
While the Gallade kept an eye on its observer, Yew said, “Those blades are used for cutting. Gallade happens to also be a fighting type. In short, this pokemon has brute strength, is quite intelligent, and contains skillful psychic abilities.”
“This pokemon sounds a lot like you, Twilight,” Fluttershy spoke softly.
Immediately, the unicorn blushed and said, “Oh, I am not all that strong, heh.” Looking up at the tall pokemon, she said, “You are very interesting Gallade.” It nodded with a small smile. Turning back toward the professor, the mare asked, “Do you have any studies on this pokemon?”
“Of course. I have a book about phychic pokemon in the trailer over.”
“Alright.” Looking back at the Gallade, Twilight asked, “If it is alright, I wish to learn more about you.” Giving consent, Gallade gave a slightly wider smile than it did before. Walking to the door, the pokemon opened it for the alicorn. “Why thank you.” As Twilight went toward the Gallade, she said, “I hope for us to become good friends.” Smiling even more, Gallade gestured an arm toward the door and Twilight made her way outside. Once she was out, the pokemon stepped into the world and closed the door.
There were now four.
“What else do you have professor?” Fluttershy asked.
Peering into the case, Yew saw three more pokeballs. Grabbing one, he hooved it to the pegasus. “Give it a toss.”
Doing as she was told, she lobbed the sphere to the middle of the room. A beam of light shot out of it and a mushy form began to morph onto the ground. As the light faded, the pokemon was reveled. It was a pink pokemon that looked to be made of puddy. It had no arms or legs, the eyes were small black spheres, and had a small body.
“This is Ditto,” Yew spoke.
“Ditto!” the pokemon exclaimed happily as it bounced up and down.
“Interesting.” Fluttershy said in awe. “What does this pokemon do?”
“This pokemon is a very interesting one. Ditto has the ability to transform into any pokemon.”
“That sounds super duper amazing!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed as she moved her body up and down, trying to mimic the Ditto's bouncy attitude. It smiled at the pony's action and continued to squish its body up and down. “What do you think Maud? Sounds awesome, right?”
“I guess... but it's not the rock pokemon that was brought along...” Upon hearing Maud's reply, the Ditto stopped its movement and looked at her. As their eyes met, the mare gave her slate faced stare at the pokemon. Ditto could only feel intimidated by Maud's stare as she gave no expression toward it.
“But what if it transformed into a rock type pokemon,” Fluttershy asked. “Then it could be any rock type pokemon you like!”
“That is true, but a Ditto is a Ditto. Only mimicking others. Basically, it will never be a rock, even if it pretends to be one. Never will.”
The Ditto squashed in sadness as it heard Maud's statement. Feeling sorry for the blobby pokemon, Fluttershy picked it up and gave it a hug. “Oh, don't be sad. You can be what ever you like no matter what somepony tells you.” Smiling, the Ditto extended two globs from its body, pretending to be arms. They reached around the pony's neck and gave a light embrace.
Giving a glare at Maud, Fluttershy said, “You should be considerate toward others. You could hurt somepony's feelings.”
“But it's not a somepony, its a something,” she replied in monotone.
“Maud,” Yew said as he raised his eyebrows. “You should be nice to the pokemon, regardless of their type.”
Taking in a deep breath, Maud let out a sigh. “Fine.”
Placing the Ditto on her head, Fluttershy asked, “So what other pokemon do you have?”
Taking out a pokeball, Yew hooved it to Maud. “I believe this is the pokemon you've been wanting to see all say, isn't it?”
“Yes it is,” she replied. Maud then lobbed the ball toward the center of the room.
“NO, NOT IN HERE!” the professor yelled.
Outside, Rarity was with her Sableye, giving it instructions. “Now after each time you dig, you brush your hands off. You don't want any dirt getting stuck in those claws of yours now do you?”
Shaking its head, Rarity gave the pokemon a smile. “Good.”
Suddenly, the sound of metal being bent shrieked from behind the unicorn. She jumped a little before turning toward where she heard the sound. To her suprise, Rarity saw the trailer bulged out, as if something from the inside had pushed it out. Running to the door, Rarity opened it. When she did, the mare was greeted with a rock with a mouth and pair of eyes. It had a long, yet dull point on its head.
“GEROOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHH!” it exclaimed.
The shout messed up Rarity's mane and she shrieked when she looked up and saw that her hair was in a tangle.
“How rude! Shouting at a lady for no reason!”
The rock shaped pokemon blinked at Rarity as it continued to stare at her.
Then something began to happen to the stone creature. It began to turn into a slightly transparent red. Soon, its entire body was the same color. In a quick motion, the color was sucked into the room. Peering inside, Rarity saw Maud, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie indented into the wall. Yew was the only one on the ground who held a pokeball in hoof.
“Is everypony alright,” Yew asked as he looked up at the others. Popping off the walls, Maud, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie fell onto the ground, grunting in pain.
“What happened,” Rarity asked as she stepped inside.
“That... was... AWESOME!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed.
“Umm, anypony see Ditto?” Fluttershy asked. As soon as Rarity heard these words, something plopped into her mane. She screamed as she tossed the slimy thing that fell onto her on the floor. It was Ditto, and it did not look too happy.
“What is that nasty looking thing!? Rarity exclaimed.
“A nasty pink excuse for a pokemon,” Maud said as she stood up.
Instinctively, the Ditto slowly moved its way toward Fluttershy, away from those that gave it snide remarks.
Picking it up, Fluttershy leered at both Rarity and Maud. “Can't you two be nice to Ditto?” Looking at the pokemon and gave it a happy smile. “Don't you worry, you are special. Don't you listen to anypony and their mean comments.”
“Ditto!” it exclaimed.
“What happened?” A voice then came from behind Rarity, causing her to look back. It was Twilight. Applejack and Rainbow Dash stood outside behind her, peering into the trailer.
“Woah...” Rainbow Dash commented as she peered into the room. “This place got totaled...”
“I'll say,” Applejack spoke. “What in the world was that?”
“It was an Onix,” Maud said in the most exited tone she could exclaim. “He is a rock snake. And I want to use him during the excavation.
“Can we see what he looks like,” Rainbow Dash asked.
Looking at the professor who was still on the ground, Maud asked, “I don't think the professor is going to let me have the pokeball right now because of the accident that just happened.”
Now on all four hooves, Yew said, “Yes... I believe we have seen enough of the pokemon today...”
“But what about the last pokemon?” Pinkie Pie asked pointing to the case that was against the wall. It was wide open and revieled one last pokeball.
“Oh, the Ludicolo? That pokemon can wait... I... don't want any other mishaps today please. Would everypony kindly return their pokemon to me at once.” Despise everypony's disappointment, the professor's order was absolute.
It took a few minutes before all the pokemon were retrieved. Mainly because Rainbow Dash wanted to do “one more lap” with the Skarmory. However, Yew threatened the pegasus by telling her that if she didn't listen, she would be excluded from any form of digging and use of any pokemon.
After all of the pokemon were given to the professor, Yew rallied everypony outside, including all the scientists.
“Alright everypony, listen up! We have a long day tomorrow. We are a bit behind on our research so we need to utilize the pokemon at hoof. So, for our excavators...” Yew looked at Twilight Sparkle and her friends. “That means you and Maud. What I need from you is to dig carefully and report any findings of any fossils before removing anything from the ground.” Looking to the scientists, the professor continued, “You need to examine and clean any fossils that is found. If we find a full piece of a fossil, we may be able to revive the pokemon. But! I want to emphisise this: do not revive any pokemon without my permition! We don't want aonother mishap that would repeat what happened with the Onix.” Yew looked at Maud harshly, though she didn't show any sign of caring about what she had done. “Our equipment is very valuable and don't want anything broken.”
Everypony nodded in agreement with the professor. “Good. Now there are some several motor homes outside the dig site.” He pointed to the location of the motor homes. Looking at Twilight, the stallion said, “You and your friends will be staying in those.”
“But what about Maud,” Pinkie Pie asked.
“We have our own motor homes to stay in which are right next to your location,” Maud responded to her sister.
“Yeay!” Pinkie Pie hugged her sister knowing she will be close by, even throughout the evening.
“Now everypony knows what to do right?” Yew said.
“Yes's” were said all around.
“Good! Now one more thing.” Yew looked at the newcomers and Maud. “All of the pokemon are at a first come first serve. SO, if you girls want a particular pokemon, you better show up early to the trailers here.”
“I don't think we will be fighting over who gets what pokemon,” Twilight said with a smile.
“Let's hope so...” The professor looked at Maud with suspicion.
“What?” the gray mare asked.
Yew didn't respond to Maud's comment. He just looked away and said, “Alright everypony, let's all get some rest early today. We got a long day tomorrow!”
***
Sitting alone in her own motor home, Maud was laying on her bed, setting her alarm. It was nice and cool due to the air conditioner that generated cold air into her dwelling.
6 am. That should be a good time for me to get up. Looking outside her window, she saw the moon in the night sky.
The current time was 11pm. As soon as the professor was finished with his announcement, Maud went straight over to her motor home. Pinkie Pie spent several hours with her, talking about her life in Ponyville before heading over to her friends motor home.
Maud was finding it difficult to sleep because she couldn't wait for the next day. The mare had always wanted to work with a rock type pokemon, and now, her dream was about to come true.
Closing her eyes, Maud tried to make herself go to sleep.
Just try to sleep... Just try to sleep... Just try... to-
“WAKE UP!”
In a light flinch, Maud opened her eyes to see her sister smiling in front of her face.
“Good morning Pinkie Pie,” she replied in her usual monotone voice.
“What's up sleepy head?”
Instead of replying to her sister's question, Maud said, “You are up early.”
“And you are up late.”
“Hugh?” Looking at her alarm clock, it read, 9:12 am. “I thought I set it for 6am.” Tapping a few buttons on the clock, Maud did see that it was set for 6. However, it was set during the pm, not am.
Maud grunted, “Great...”
