Chapter 27: Knowledge, part III
Help needed! We are looking for people willing to help investigate mysterious Pokémon that have been sighted around Paldea. If you have information about strange, cristal-looking Pokémon, contact Alba Sada or Romero Turo from class 1-C of Uvanja Academy
« Does this look right?» Sada asked as she thrust the piece of paper under Turo's nose as he worked on one of the machines that he called "computers".
It took him a moment to look away from the screen, and he blinked as he read her words.
« I think "crystalline" works better here.» he said pointing out a word.
Sada frowned. Writing was so complicated. As long as people got the general idea, why did it matter what exact word sounded better? Why were there so many words that pretty much meant the same thing? It was so complicated.
« Do you really think people will come?» she asked as she crossed out the word and corrected it, then took another blank sheet of paper to copy the message over again. Turo had offered to teach her how to write faster at the computer, but while it looked simple enough, she just didn't like it. She had pretty much just learned to write by hand! She liked it! She liked how everyone had their own different handwriting.
Computers may be faster, but they made everything look the same.
« If they don't, we'll just do it alone. And we know that Clavell at least is interested.» he answered, turning back towards the computer. They were inside the empty laboratory that Clavell also often used, and had pretty much become their little office. Clavell was busy with teaching a more advanced class at the moment, while they had both finished their lessons for the day, so it was just the two of them. What Turo spent hours doing at the computer puzzled her: he had explained the basics of it, he was basically writing commands so it would perform specific actions, but it all seemed so... vague to her. So that thing could pretty much do anything? That was weird.
She focused her attention back on the table, where a great map of Paldea laid open. Together with Raifort and using the information collected slowly by students and themselves alike, she was mapping the various places where the mysterious crystal Pokémon were appearing.
« So let's see... Someone caught a Flying type Meowth in the South Province-» she said, circling the general area it had been reported.
The clacking coming from Turo's keyboard abruptly stopped.
« ... how does that work? Does it get wings? » he asked, bewildered, « Does it just start to float like a Gyarados?»
Sada shrugged as she marked another spot on the map.
« No idea. After they caught it it turned to a normal Meowth, like that Flamigo. I wish I had seen it...» she muttered, disappointed. That had to be a funny sight, at the very least.
Turo leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms to his chest as he stared at the map.
« There has to be something that triggers this change... Something we are missing. They stay transformed until you break that crystal shell... And then never do it again. Why?» he asked.
« I've been looking for something in common to all the places where they have been spotted, but... It's no use. It's just all over Paldea...» Sada shook her head, then stopped, eyes transfixed on the map.
Maybe... maybe there was something...
« There's so many little caves and tunnels in Paldea... what if they come from there? What if what's making them transform is deep underground?» she said, slowly, raising her eyes towards Turo, who took a deep breath as he realized what she meant.
« You think there's some cave that leads to Area Zero and they are actually coming out from there...?» he asked.
« I'm not sure. But we know it's definitely something from Area Zero. You... You know how the air was under there. How it felt. Let's look for these Pokémon that have appeared near caves and mountains...» she looked back to the map, before pointing out a spot right near Artazon.
« Here. Someone said they saw a strange Sudowoodo here. They didn't catch it, so it should still be there!»
Turo nodded, slowly stroking his chin.
« All right. Let's put up that message around the city and see if we can find a couple more people interested in checking the place out this weekend.»
---
A couple of days later, they got contacted by two people who had shown quite some interest in seeing these strange Pokémon. They had decided on one of Artazon's picturesque windmills as a meeting spot, and now Turo was waiting for the two of them to join them.
Sada was right next to him, her enormous yellow backbag packed with supplies.
His back hurt just looking at it.
« Are you two Sada and Turo?»
Both turned towards the voice that had spoken up: a young man with wavy green hair, arranged in short strands that partially fell in front of his face.
He had a stern, somewhat exhausted look on his face and deep bags under his eyes. Honestly, Turo was impressed; he finally met someone that looked like they slept worse than him. Near him was another man with longer, blond hair and broad shoulders.
Turo nodded.
« Are you here for the Sudowoodo?»
They both nodded, the blond man stepping forward.
« Yes, we were both quite curious about it. I'm Hassel and he is Brassius.» he said, putting one hand on the other man's shoulder, who simply narrowed his eyes and nodded stiffly.
Turo's eyes widened slightly. H-Hassel...? Like the one they named the art gallery in Mesagoza after...? That couldn't be... maybe it wasn't that uncommon of a name...?
« Pleasure to meet you both... »
« So what are we supposed to do? Just find it and catch it?» Brassius spoke up.
Sada looked up from the map she had been holding, folded it, and nodded.
« Yes. But I'm interested in following it back to its den. Most wild Pokémon will try to escape or retreat back to their nest when they feel... cornered.» she said after a slight hesitation, and Turo knew she had just barely stopped herself from saying "hunted". She had learned so much of the language in such a short time... He was proud of her.
« And who is going to do that? You?» Brassius asked, as the other man sighed lightly.
« Brassie... »
Sada simply narrowed her eyes at the man, tightening the straps of her backpack on her shoulders.
« Yes. I'm good at tracking Pokémon...» she said, only for the man to huff in contempt.
« Sudowoodo is famous for not moving, don't you know that?» he chuckled. Sada bit her lip for a short moment, irritation clear on her face. If Turo had to guess, she wasn't used to not being taken seriously or having her skill doubted.
« ... If you don't think I can do it, you can lead the way.» she said in the end, before turning her back on them and marching off.
Brassius didn't look convinced; he scowled as they started walking out of the city.
As always, Turo found himself trailing behind everyone else. He tried to pretend it was perfectly intentional, and focused on not falling too much behind.
« Brassie... I know you're in a bit of a low point right now, but there's no need to snap at strangers like that...» the man, Hassel, was saying.
« A grass-type Sudowoodo... I'll believe it when I see it.» Brassius simply muttered in response.
Turo let Miguel out, the Murkrow settling on his right shoulder, still half-asleep.
« Can you help look for more shards?» he asked, stroking the Pokémon's beak with one finger. The bird cawed and hopped off, taking a moment to start flapping his wings as he started flying around.
With his penchant for finding shiny objects, he was quite adept at tracking the crystal Pokémon. Sada's Litleo had similarly gotten better and better at it, stalking them quietly from the ground. Together, they covered pretty much any direction.
And they really needed to find another name instead of "crystal Pokémon"...
They followed the two Pokémon for a while, until Sada raised one hand, palm down, and crouched low to the ground behind some tall grass. Brassius muttered something but followed her, and so did Hassel and Turo. He threw a glance over the grass, raising one eyebrow at what he saw. He had tried to study the most common Pokémon that made up the fauna of Paldea in this era so that he wouldn't look that out of place, but most Pokémon he had still only seen briefly in a picture or during battle lessons.
He wasn't familiar with Sudowoodo at all, so he didn't know if what he was looking at was strange or completely normal, but judging by Brassius's gasped breath, it was probably the former.
The Pokémon was standing completely still in a small clearing. It had a narrow and long brown body that looked like a tree trunk, and reminded Turo of the crystallized trees he had seen in Area Zero. Two of what were probably its upper limbs were held out in front of him, partially shielding its face. On each of its two limbs and on its head were clusters of orange and red leaves, similar to the ones found in the trees all around. The leaves fell arranged in extremely long, thin branches all the way to the ground, and made the Pokémon look a bit like a weeping willow... or like it had extremely long hair.
« This... this is incredible! It really looks like a tree! This Sudowoodo has truly mastered the art of mimicry!» Brassius was now excitedly muttering.
« So it's supposedly a grass type now?» Hassel asked, looking at them both.
Turo had to think for a moment.
« Well, that's what people who saw it told us it looked like... » he said.
« There is one sure way to find out.» Sada said, before jumping out of the bush and approaching the Pokémon. It didn't budge an inch, but Turo thought he saw one piece of the bark move to follow her movements, and realized it was probably one eye, camouflaged on its tree-like skin.
Sada grabbed the water bottle she carried strapped to her backpack, unscrewed the lid, and dumped some of the water on the Pokémon.
It didn't seem to mind, actually slightly moving one leg to better absorb water, and that got another gasp out of Brassius.
« I can't believe it!»
While Sada turned back towards them with what could only be described as a "supremely smug grin", Turo looked back at the Pokémon.
« So, if it really is a Grass-type now instead of Rock-type...» his eyes trailed over to Miguel, who had been resting perched on another tree. He gave a little nod to the Pokémon, and the Murkrow fluttered on one of the Pokémon's arms with a small "krow".
It still didn't move, but Turo noticed that its eyes were carefully observing the bird Pokémon. Miguel pecked at its head. It visibly flinched, but still kept rooted to its hiding spot. Now Kim had joined the Murkrow in approaching the Pokémon, meowing as it breathed out a little puff of smoke.
The Sudowoodo kept watching them both nervously, until the Litleo growled and threw an Ember at its legs.
Turo had expected the Pokémon to attack, but instead it suddenly took off with a cry, bolting and running away from them with the silliest run he had ever seen a Pokémon do. It wasn't the only thing running though, because Brassius started chasing it immediately after.
« AVANT-GARDE! Such masterful deceit! Such composure! What a magnificent dedication to its camouflage! Let us chase this beautiful Pokémon, it has to become my companion!» he said, running ahead of them all with surprising speed.
They chased it as fast as they could, Turo sending Miguel and Hassle a Flapple to fly after it. In the end, they arrived to what looked like a small cave, a tunnel leading into the dark. As soon as they stepped inside, Turo could almost feel it, and from the way Sada flinched slightly, she had probably noticed the same. The air felt heavy like it did in Area Zero.
Brassius had already ran inside, and they followed. The more they walked, the more he saw crystal formations cover the walls, until they emerged into an enormous, completely crystallized cave. The Sudowoodo had escaped inside, and looked at the four of them with fury. The tunnel was a dead end, the Pokémon having nowhere else to escape.
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« Did it crystallize because it made this place its den...?» Turo wondered out loud. So staying near these crystal formations was the key to changing types...?
He was distracted from his thoughts by the Pokémon throwing a rock at both Miguel and Kim. Caught by surprise, neither Pokémon could dodge and fell back with a cry of pain, before staggering back to their feet.
Right, he could think about that later. He had to focus.
« It can still use normal Sudowoodo moves even as a grass-type... Miguel, don't get hit by them again.» he encouraged his Pokémon, and it nodded before flapping his wings and flying up again. Brassius threw a Ball, summoning what looked like a... Turo balked, eyes starting to water and immediately feeling a sneeze build up.
« Are you kidding me... a Smoliv?» he growled. Of all Pokémon he could have used...
« Use Growth, then Razor Leaf!» Brassius ordered, throwing him an irritated glance.
« Yes, so what? I mostly train grass types. I thought we would fight a rock-type!»
The terrified-looking Pokémon glowed briefly gathering energy, and the olive on its head grew slightly bigger. Oh great. Didn't that mean it had even more oil now?
« I'm... allergic to Smoliv-» he tried to say, getting interrupted by a sneeze as the Pokémon sent a barrage of olive leaves flying towards their opponent.
This was going to be just great.
---
« We have to break off those crystals completely! It will be impossible to catch otherwise!» Sada called out, as Hassel ordered his Pokémon to strike the Sudowoodo with its wings. She found it quite adorable: a little dragon that lived in an apple! Chalo would have loved it...
Turo's loud sneeze distracted her from that thought, and she threw a little worried look to her side.
« I'm fine... let's focus on the battle.» he sniffled, grabbing in his jacket for some tissues. At least Murkrow seemed capable of dodging more rocks the wild Pokémon was throwing even as his trainer was distracted.
She focused her attention back on Kim; they were in a weird stalemate. The Sudowoodo was weak to almost all of their Pokémon's attacks, but since it could still use rock type attacks, it could also really hurt them in return. But if it needed a bit of space to throw those rocks, maybe getting close would be effective...
« Kim, use Fire Fang and stick close to it!» she ordered, choosing to use one of the newest things she had learned to do.
The Litleo let out a little roar and started sprinting toward her opponent; instead of simply spitting a ball of fire, she let it burn at the back of her throat and cover her fangs in flames, before leaping and trying to sink her teeth into one of the Sudowoodo's arms. Some of its leaves caught fire and the Pokémon wailed, swinging its arms trying to get the Fire type to let go; after a moment, its other arm glowed and it punched the little Pokémon right in the stomach, sending the Litleo flying again with a yowl of pain.
Sada flinched, caught unprepared.
« Kim! »
That looked like it had hurt; the Pokémon took a moment to stand up again. She hated just having to watch as their Pokémon did all the work. It felt completely unnatural to her; was there really nothing she could do...?
... she was going to bring her bow with her from the next battle onward, she decided, no matter what Clavell said or how weird it looked.
« That was Hammer Arm, so it can use Fighting type moves too.» Hassel intervened. He was carefully watching the battle, arms crossed to his chest as his Flapple took a moment to rest by closing itself inside his apple.
« Oh, great... is there anything it can't do?» she heard Turo grumble between one sneeze and the other.
Sada forced herself to stay focused. They were throwing attacks at it as if they were each fighting it alone. But that wasn't how she had approached fights until know. During a hunt, each person had their role and knew exactly what to do. This was how they had to act if they wanted to defeat it, or they would just keep hurting their Pokémon.
They all had attacks that were effective on it, so... If they could use them in a smart way to break off those crystals...
Kim stood back up and roared again, the little tuft of fur on her head growing hotter as she did while her voice echoed off the walls of the cave. She looked a bit unstable on her legs, having been hit by various especially effective attacks.
« Can you still fight?» she asked, and the Litleo meowed.
« We need to weaken it first... and someone else needs to distract it.» Sada commented.
« Oh, Miguel is a master at annoying people- use Taunt!» Turo chuckled by her side, having apparently recovered enough to give an order.
The Murkrow flew near the Sudowoodo and started loudly cawing towards his opponent, hovering frustratingly just out of reach to avoid the rocks the Pokémon started throwing in response.
« I can weaken it... Flapple, Acid Spray!» Hassel commanded, his little dragon peeking out from his shell to spit a purple liquid at it. She vaguely knew what an "acid" was from Clavell's biology lessons on Poison types, so it should probably hurt it quite a lot now... It actually started to eat away at some more of the leaves on its arms with a sizzling sound, little pieces of crystal flaking off them. Good, they needed to keep that up...
The Sudowoodo let out another high-pitched screech, and suddenly its whole body started to almost shine. Sada blinked, covering her eyes; it was like the light refracting from the crystal walls all around was converging all around the Pokémon as it hardened its skin...
Sada gasped.
« It knows we want to break it off! It's protecting itself!»
How did it do that? Was it something special crystal Pokémon could do? Or had it just used some kind of move?
« I think... I think it used Harden, but covered in crystals like that, of course those would harden too...» Hassel said.
« Wonderfull! How the light refracts all around its head! I can't blame this creature for wanting to stay in its most magnificent form as long as it can! Be mine!» Brassius seemed to have gone back to his most... enthusiastic way of talking. Sada wasn't exactly sure what to think of the man: the fact that he hadn't trusted her irritated her and had resulted in him not even coming prepared for the fight, but the enthusiasm he was showing for this Pokémon was kind of... contagious, in a way.
« Smoliv, it's time to summon your most dazzling display of power! Sunny Day!»
The light in the cave only grew as the little Grass-type conjured a fiery ball of light that made Kim roar, feeling invigorated. Oh! Wait, she had seen something like this back home... warmth made fire types grow stronger.
And with the Acid Spray of before...
« Kim, use Ember! Breath fire as hard as you can!» she encouraged the Litleo, who took a deep breath and started to breathe little balls of flame towards the Sudowoodo, one after the other, pausing to breathe less and less, until almost a single stream of fire was flowing through the air.
It engulfed the Sudowoodo, who in a desperate counter-attack sprinted towards Kim again, both arms with its almost completely burned off leaves glowing as it charged one Hammer Arm in each...
Sada flinched, resisting the urge to throw herself in front of her Pokémon; but if both of those hit... what if it...
« Dragon Breath!»
« Gust!»
Hassel's and Turo's orders came at the same time, their two Pokémon coming up from behind Sudowoodo; their attacks blew the Pokémon backwards and to the ground. The crystal shattered, and the Sudowoodo collapsed, exhausted. She didn't even have time to blink before Brassius threw a Poké Ball at it with a triumphant shout.
Silence fell in the cave... or it would have, if it wasn't for Turo's enormous sneeze that broke it.
« Urgh... I hate this... » he complained.
---
Turo heaved a deep sigh of relief as soon as Brassius finally called back his Smoliv into his Poké Ball. His eyes stung and his nose had been running non stop for the whole battle, making it kind of difficult for him to focus. Thankfully his Pokémon had been more than able to take care of himself; he had never quite understood the tendency of trainers in the past - or, well... now- to yell things like "Dodge!!".
Pokémon reflexes were usually a lot faster than humans, barring some exceptions like Slowpoke.
... surely the Pokémon was perfectly able to do it by themselves?
He didn't get it.
Miguel's happy cry got his attention, and he found the crow Pokémon flying in circles around the spot where the Sudowoodo had stood. He walked over to him, and he landed on his shoulder, showing him a little pile of crystal shards. The whole cave was pretty much made of the same material... this place could prove invaluable for their research.
« Let's gather as much of these fragments as we can... these all seem of the same color... » he mused out-loud, petting the Murkrow with one hand as he thought. Maybe it was a bit like light, being made of different colors in a spectrum. Maybe different "frequencies" in the energy emitted by these crystals resulted in different types... maybe it was something in the soil? Different rock compositions and different minerals lead to different "frequencies" being absorbed by these crystals and led to different types... Or maybe it was the opposite, and the Pokemon that ended up living here influenced the crystals somehow?
He would have to run some tests back at the Academy. He finished gathering all the fragments he could get from the ground and stood back up, turning towards the rest of the group.
« Kim fought well. » he complimented Sada as she finished giving the Litleo a couple of Potion to heal her injuries. Miguel pecked him on the shoulder, and he sighed.
«... yes, of course you also fought well.» he added, petting the bird again, and Miguel cawed with satisfaction.
Sada slung the heavy backpack on her shoulders again, before frowning a little.
« I don't like... Not doing anything.» she said after a moment, and his smile dimmed a bit. It must have felt pretty unnatural for her to just give orders to her Pokémon.
« You help her by paying attention to her...» he tried to comfort her, but he didn't sound particularly convinced himself. After all, Miguel had done pretty well by himself right now while he had been busy sneezing-
« What?!»
They both turned around at Brassius's sudden outburst to find the man slumped to the ground in a dramatic fashion. He had let the Sudowoodo out of his Pokéball, and looked dismayed at it.
« You're just a normal Sudowoodo now?!»
Oh. Right. They had failed to mention that.
« That's what has happened with other Pokémon like this we've tried to study. There's something unique to these caves that allows them to change type. If a Pokémon spends enough time living here, it probably affects them in some way, but it goes away once the crystal gets shattered.» Turo explained, putting all the gathered shards in Sada's bag.
« We want to study this, um... "phe-no-me-na" and find a way to recreate it anywhere, at any time.» Sada added.
Brassius's head snapped back up, and he pretty much crawled towards them for a couple of steps before rising back up to his feet, a manic glint in his eye.
« ... So you two... could make it possible to see that beautiful form any time I want... ?»
« Err.... Maybe...?»
« ... Really?» Hassel interjected, eyes wide.
« The possibly to make any Pokémon of any type... That would be incredible. As long as it doesn't have any negative effects...» he added after a moment.
« Well... That Sudowoodo looked more than fine to me. It seemed pretty used to being a Grass type. » Turo replied with a little shrug.
« That is... true. The possibilities are... Quite inspiring! Imagine a Pokémon of a type that's the complete opposite of what it usually is... » Hassel mused, his somewhat stoic expression having opened up a little bit.
« You said you two are students at the Academy? I will gladly look forward to seeing what you do after you graduate.» he added, and Brassius fervently nodded.
« Yes! It doesn't matter how much time it will take you ... if I can see that wonderful form again... I need to sketch it before I forget the smallest detail about that wonderful shape-» he said, looking around almost feverishly.
That sure was a ... sudden change from the sullen look he had shown at first.
They gathered their supplies and headed for the exit of the cave as they exchanged contacts; for once, he couldn't wait to climb inside a Flying Taxi.
---
"Preliminary tests have found that great quantities of these crystals seem to emit a yet unknown kind of energy. This energy-"
« You know, we really need to find another name than just "crystals"» Turo sighed some days later as he stopped writing the report, turning towards Sada by swiveling the chair around, back in their laboratory.
Sada hummed thoughtfully, looking around the room.
On the table was a big multicolored pile of all the shards they had gathered until now, be it by battling the mysterious Pokémon, found on the ground, or that Kim and Miguel had found while wandering around. The two Pokémon were busy examining the various pieces of lab equipment, with the bird peering into the glass dome that held a couple of empty Poké Ball -some device to analyze the Pokémon that was put inside it, not that different from the system Pokémon Centers used to rapidly heal them - while the Litleo was cautiosly pawing at it from below. They both seemed to be intrigued by the little beeps and flashing lights of all the machinery around them.
Her latest catch, the Golett, was moving some hesitant steps around the room. The little clay golem had taken a while to recover from the shock of finding itself alone after it had woken up in those ruins after so much time. She still had to find a name for it.
But it looked like being around other Pokémon was putting it at ease.
She focuses her attention back to Turo as he tapped slightly on the keyboard.
« I... don't know how people name things here... In math class when people discovered something, didn't they give it their name...? We could do the same...? The... "Turo-Sada phenomena"» she offered after a moment, thinking back to her lessons. Turo frowned, writing it down on a blank piece of paper. His Murkrow fluttered down from the lab equipment to watch them curiously, and she could see Kim peer up at them from the other side of the table, disgruntled at not being tall enough to see what was going on.
« I'm not sure that's a good idea... I think I would have found it strange if I saw something with my name in school...» Turo said, throwing a quick glance to the door as he lowered his voice.
« The fact that I didn't notice anything at the time... Must mean that we don't name it that...? » he said, looking uncertain.
Sada stared at him with a little smile on her face, not impressed.
« Or you just didn't pay attention in school.» she replied, to which the man burst out laughing.
« That's possible... History was never my favourite subject. I also have never heard of glowing Pokémon appearing in Paldea, so... Who knows how much got lost in thousands of years between this time and mine.» his face clouded over a little bit, the smile quickly disappearing from his face.
Sada grabbed the piece of paper and stared at it, not wanting to give Turo the time to mull over things too much. He always got pretty quiet when it happened, and she didn't like to see him like that.
« All right, no "Turo-Sada phenomena". Umm... There are other "changes" Pokémon can have, right? Like... That "Mega Evolution" Clavell mentioned in class.»
Thankfully, that seemed to get Turo's attention, because he started to rub at his chin with one hand, like he often did when pondering something.
She has never quite found the courage to say to him how much she liked that little gesture.
« Yes... these Pokémon are pretty much transforming their whole bodies... wait.» he stopped, one eyebrow raised as he looked back to the blank paper.
« "Mega" is a word that means "large", and is used in front of other words - a "prefix"- to mean a certain quantity... With this transformation, there's orders of magnitude more possibilities if each Pokémon can become of ant type...»
She almost wanted to ask what "magnitude" meant, but she had quickly learned to make a mental note of words she didn't know and look them up in a dictionary later if it wasn't the right moment to do so. She didn't want to interrupt him, since she had still got the gist of what he was saying.
« So what about using "Tera" as a prefix?» Turo proposed.
« "Tera"... Tera evolution?» she tried out how it sounded, but it didn't quite ring correctly to her. Kim jumped on the table and started nosing the pile of shards. Nobody but the other two Pokémon paid attention to her, both of them too absorbed by their thoughts.
« Tera Transformation...? » Turo offered, only to be interrupted by a loud squawk as Miguel flew possessively over what he saw as "his" little treasure pile and pecked the fire type on the nose. The Litleo hissed, swiping at the Murkrow with her paw.
« Miguel, no- get down!»
« Kim-»
They both moved to intercept their respective Pokémon, but Golett anticipated them both. Stepping up to the two Pokémon, the golem grabbed the Litleo by the scruff and held her up, while raising one hand to keep the Murkrow away. Both Pokémon protested loudly, but the Ghost type simply shook its head and murmured something that neither of the two humans could make sense of. After a moment, the golem let Kim go, and she scampered off with an offended glare while Miguel went back to Turo's shoulder.
« Thank you for keeping an eye on them.» Sada smiled as she patted the golem on its head, who let out a low whistle and nodded.
Kim was incredibly energetic, so the calm and reassuring presence of the Golett was nice to have around as a contrast.
« I still have to find you a name...» she sighed.
Turo sat back down, absent mindedly petting a disgruntled Murkrow as he thought.
« A name that sounds... ancient, maybe... How about Ötzi?» he offered with a little smile.
« Ötzi?» she repeated, testing how it sounded.
« It's the name of a man from long ago... well, not as long as you... that was found in a glacier. It's... well, it's not actually his name, obviously, we don't know what he was called after all...» his words quickly dissolved into a flustered muttering that made her smile. She looked to the Golett.
« Do you like it? "Ötzi"?»
The Golett paused for a moment, then nodded slowly, his eyes glowing brightly.
Sada smiled and patted its head again, before suddenly stopping, eyes widening.
« Umm... You said he was found in a "glacier"... was he... Covered in ice?» she asked, and Turo nodded.
« Yes, that's why it was possible to find it so well preserved...» he answered distractedly. So he had been... Frozen... Encased...
« ... So it means he was... "stopped" in time by the ice, right? "Terastop"? No, it sounds weird... stall! Stall also means to stop something... "Terastal"?» she asked, eyes gleaming.
Turo frowned at first, not quite understanding what she was getting at, before his own eyes widened.
« ... because they stay transformed as long as they are encased in crystal...» he said, a little smile slowly making his way on his face.
« Yes!!»
« "Terastal"... I like it. It's perfect. Let's use it! And we can call the action of these Pokémon transforming "Terastallize"...» he said with a little laugh, resuming his writing.
« And-» Sada added with a little smile « - it still kind of uses our initials.» she said, satisfied.
She turned back towards her own work, which had been sorting all the little shards they had gathered into different groups based on their colour. They were both pretty sure that different colours corresponded to different types now, but some similarly coloured shards were kind of difficult to discern at a glance. Like the green ones they had gotten from Sudowoodo were somewhat darker than the light green bug-typed ones they had gotten from the Flamigo...
She motioned for Ötzi to come near her to her side.
« Here. Can you help? You are the only Pokémon here with hands.» just to make sure it understood her, she showed him how she was moving the shards in little piles.
The Pokémon tilted its head, then nodded again and started gingerly copying her to pick up the Tera shards.
Sada couldn't help but smile a little sadly watching the Pokémon work. It reminded her of how her tribe had slowly changed in the months after her first meeting with Turo and she had come up with the idea of training Pokémon... From their little flock of Spark Tails to a couple of other Pokémon they had hatched from stolen eggs... Even Narjik had started to look interested in the idea of trying to tame a Pokémon.
She quietly wondered if he had managed it in the end... Had Fluffyhead evolved again? Had her mother created new types of clothes with the silk spun from bug types? Had Chalo found someone from another tribe and left, or had someone else come into theirs?
She wished that she could somehow know what had happened to them; she missed them so much...
She sighed and concentrated back on her task. For a while, they worked in silence, until the sound of the lab door opening made her turn towards the door. Clavell peeked inside, a pile of test answer sheets and books under his arm.
« Hard at work, I see.» he commented as he stepped inside, putting the tests down on the opposite side of the table before sitting down himself.
« Have you done any progress?» he asked.
« We've decided on a name to describe this new "transformation". Terastal!» Sada announced, not without a proud smile.
Clavell nodded after a moment.
« I see... It makes sense.»
« We've established that the energy of these Tera crystals triggers the transformation. If we could build a device to trigger it anywhere... This would revolutionalize Pokémon training.» Turo said, raising his head from his computer.
« ... But it's going to take time. We need first to find a way to contain and store this energy... then control it. And then actually how to use it to trigger the change in the Pokémon in a safe way... and it's going to take money» he added, looking down at his notes with a frown.
« Money...? » Sada frowned as well, looking around the lab.
« Can't we just continue working here?» she asked, only for Clavell to shake his head as Turo sighed.
« ... Not after you graduate. Scientists usually need someone to fund their research... And you are probably going to need much more specialized equipment than what you can find here.» he explained, only for Sada to tilt her head to one side, confused.
« "Fund"...?»
« We need to find someone interested in what we want to do that is going to give us money for it. » Turo explained.
Sada scowled. She didn't understand why people couldn't just... do things. If they were interested in what they were trying to do, why not just... Help?
« All right... I'm sure everyone will be interested in it.» she said with a huff.
« I'm sure the League at least will... I'm here for something else though. The Academy has decided the place to send some of their students on a school trip for this year... And you both got chosen.»
It took a moment for his words to register. Sada blinked, while Turo just raised one eyebrow.
« ... Really? »
« I had nothing to do with it, if that is what you are asking.» Clavell fixed his glasses with a slightly offended look.
« I think you are going to find it interesting... the destination is going to be Kalos this year. »