someday I will write a pokemon world building fic about fossil revival and how it relates to things like the mew/mewtwo project because it has fascinated me since i was a small child
topics to explore:
âthe idea that fossil pokemon are REVIVED, not cloned. Â what the hell. Â are they raising the dead? Â the pokemon that come out the other end are not base level babies, what is HAPPENING there
âthe fact that all fossil pokemon are part rock type, apparently because they were revived from stone. Â how is the process of revival altering them?
âfor that matter, pokemon that are rediscovered in the wild like relicanth and kabuto, are they different than revived specimens?
âhow did the expedition that brought back mew relate to the fossil reviving labs? Â are there mew fossils?
âthe whole ditto being derived from mew thing, which is my favorite pokemon theory, being a plot centerpiece. Â possibly a pre-series sort of thing about the creation of ditto.
I would want the protagonist to be a fledgling scientist who is clearly marked as a future pokemon professor by having a plant surname but all the extinct plants are so WORDY.
like Glossopteris is not a great name
REDWOOD his professor name is going to be Professor Redwood.
Except it isnât his last name right now! Â When we meet him heâs living with his boyfriend, whose last name is Redwood. Â Theyâre actually both researchers! Â Malcolm, our protagonist, is a paleontologist, while his as-of-yet unnamed boyfriend works for Sylph Co working out the bugs in early models of the pokemon healing machine we see in pokemon centers. Â His specific project is figuring out why they make psyduck headaches worse, so their place is just FULL of psyducks.
Malcolm, introducing himself at his new job with Cinnabar Labs: Hi, my nameâs Malcolm, I just moved here with my boyfriend and his ungodly hoard of weird duck pokemon. Yes, that was him trying to herd them all out of the pokemon center on Sunday. We also have a Meowth and a Kadabra but theyâre much better behaved, I promise.
The Kadabra speaks some sign language and while heâs technically Malcolmâs boyfriendâs pokemon, heâs so smart they consider him more of a family member. The Meowth is Malcolmâs.
The plot follows the early days of Cinnabar Labsâ success with fossil reviving, with Malcolm starting out enthusiastic and gradually finding more and more things that feel wrong leading up to the Mew experiments, at which point things go downhill FAST.
This process starts when they bring back a ton of Kabuto trying to get one to survive the process, and Malcolm brings one of the struggling specimens home to nurse it through the first days. Â He then promptly gets attached.
Iâm naming his boyfriend Grant because using the last names of Jurassic Park characters is really entertaining me, Iâm deeply sorry
The lab is empty of people, leaving Malcolm alone with the whirring and rumbling of the machines.  The pumps are especially noisy, sucking in fresh seawater to feed into the heater.  Itâs attempt number four at creating survivable conditions for the Kabuto in the tanks, going for a natural environment this time.  Sterile hadnât worked, and neither had trying to artificially recreate ancient seas.
The veteran researchers had already given up on this batch, unwilling to work a second all-nighter just to watch another failure play out. Â Theyâll go over the tank footage tomorrow, take readings, examine the dead, and start over.
Malcolm canât bring himself to follow their example. Â Heâs asleep on his feet and hasnât seen Grant in two days, but he just canât leave while any of their test subjects are clinging to life. Â At least Mitzi is still here to keep him company; his Meowth snores softly from atop the water heater.
Thereâs only one Kabuto left now, subject 26. Â Itâs not the one Malcolm would have pegged as the most hardy of the bunch, given that it was missing a front claw from the moment they revived it. Â Still, itâs hanging in there, scuttling in a lopsided loop around the tank.
Malcolm watches as it carefully balances itself on its back legs to spear a chunk of food left on the tank floor. Â Itâs a much slower movement than even the more sickly Kabuto heâs seen try to eat. Â Malcolm wonders if thatâs why this one died the first time, getting outcompeted for food.
Wait.
All the pokemon theyâre working with are fossil pokemon, which means they died once already. Â Healthy, fit pokemon donât usually just drop dead on the seafloor. Â Of course all the ones theyâre reviving are dying right away, the machines are calibrated to alter them as little as possible for their state at the time of fossilization, a time when they were dying.
He scrambles for the phone, attached to the wall near the door, and calls his home number. Â It rings for a long while before Grant answers, his voice hoarse with sleep.
âHello?â
âBabe, itâs me, I need you toââ
âMalcolm, itâs two in the morningââ
âGrant, itâs important, Iâm bringing a Kabuto home, I need you to start up your prototype right now.â
âWait, what?â
âThey need medical attention, Grant, thatâs why theyâre dying, Iâm not letting this one die too!â
âOkay, okay! Â Iâll wake the pokemon, weâll be ready when you get here.â
âGod, I love you, Iâll be home soon!â
would you guys like it if I posted this on ao3/continued it over there? Â possibly with a prologue to make this make sense without the post lol
Just sent the first chapter of this to my beta, hereâs an excerpt!
Malcolm hangs up without another word, leaving Grant listening to the dial tone. Â He groans and leans his head against the wall for a moment, takes a deep breath.
Okay. Â Heâs got this. Â It isnât like this is the first time Malcolmâs woken him up with an impending disaster. Â âCrisisâ has been Malcolm Garciaâs default setting since they met. Â Sure, there were never any extinct pokemon dying in their living room, but whatever! Â He can handle it.
He hangs up the phone and beelines straight for the nest of blankets his Kadabra made their armchair into. Â Grant keeps offering to get him a real bed, but heâs too territorial about his chair to even consider it.
âK, wake up, weâve gotta work,â Grant says, nudging the pokemonâs shoulder. Â K grumbles in protest and curls further into a ball.
The full first chapter is up! Â Read it here on ao3!
Reminder that this is ongoing!
i made sprites of the two main characters, just for fun!
@prof-peach this sounds like a pokemon story thread youâd probably enjoy reading! Great world-building going on so far!
