Third Person's POV

"Brother?" Ash raises an eyebrow.

"You could say that we're from opposite sides of the moon," He chuckles. "Call me Eilmer by the way."

"If you're opposites that means he isn't here right?" Dawn frowns.

"I find comfort in lab papers and experiments," Eilmer leads them around display cases of various minerals, subconsciously making hand gestures around them. "Roark prefers a more down to Earth style of coping. Literally."

"Mining," Dawn mumbles and Eilmer turns his head to nod.

"That's where you'll find him," The slender and cleaned up man states. "But I suggest you let me explain a bit further."

The group continues through the museum until coming to a higher level. They enter a futuristic looking science lab with fancy machines and lots of white lab coats. "I've lived here with my family ever since I was born," Eilmer starts.

"My mom was a scientist before—"

Ash and Dawn share a somber look as they notice him freeze up.

"Now I run this lab," Eilmer smiles and leads them to a machine. "And with the help of countless years of research, we achieved the ultimate dream of connecting my family's two worlds."

"My dad was the gym leader of Oreburgh before my brother took over," Eilmer starts up the machine. "There was a definite split in our family. The two tough living miners and battlers, and my mother and I who to most people in this town were merely researchers."

"But then we took their work and used our research to create something monumental out of it," Eilmer declares with a prouder voice than before. "A fossil restoration machine."

"That's amazing!" Ash awes the machine. "I'm sure everyone was really proud of your work."

"They were," He sighs and opens the latch on the machine. "There was that sense that I was actually doing meaningful things for the town. But slowly things have been falling apart."

"When Roark took over the Oreburgh Mine, fossil production dropped for no apparent reason."

"They also haven't uncovered any new species. Oreburgh City isn't making the news everyday like it was and that hurts everybody because we get a lot more visitors when we do."

"We are situated in a weird and easily avoidable place so all of our town's businesses relied on us bringing people in."

The machine suddenly flares up in a bright light and a depressurization sound is heard. A brief smile appears on Eilmer's face before continuing with the story and working the machine.

"Spirits are at an all time low right now and my dad didn't exactly help the situation..."

"I think I get it," Dawn gives him a sympathetic look. "All Oreburgh needs is a little pick me up. What do you say Ash?"

"I can't have a gym battle without a gym leader," Ash smiles. "And I'm sure this will be fun anyways."

"You guys don't have to do this," Eilmer states. "I can just give you a gym badge."

Dawn and Ash look at each other quickly before nodding in agreement. "No," Ash says. "I want to earn my gym badges the right way and helping out your town is going to be an added bonus."

"I'm with Ash all the way," Dawn winks with a cheerful smile. "Better yet, I have an idea."

"Thank you guys," Eilmer looks relieved even though he doesn't know if they can really do this. "I put this fossil in earlier today and you probably heard it finishing the restoration process. Sadly I only have one but I really want you two to have it."

Dawn giggles, "That won't be a problem."

Eilmer gives Ash a perplexed look but he's starting to laugh too. "I don't know what's going on but I can tell that you two are fit to raise this Pokémon."

He opens a door and sitting there is a small blue and grey Pokémon...

Its rounded head pokes out first curiously, taking in a world centuries ahead of its previous one. The Pokémon was simply a rock for a long time, but now it has a chance at life again.

"Crr," It growls softly while looking around restlessly at the humans.

"Here," Eilmer hands him a berry. "This is an ancient berry not found in your average berry batch."

Cranidos eats it up quickly, not wasting a second. "These will help you gain his trust," Eilmer motions to the basket of the green and yellow fist sized berries.

Ash and Dawn take turns giving the Pokémon a meal fit for someone who has been sleeping for a long time. Eventually the feeding becomes more of a game and the head butt Pokémon is all smiles.

"Let's see what the Pokedex has on Cranidos," Dawn says and brings out the device.

"Cranidos, a rock type," It starts. "It lived in jungles around 100 million years ago. Its skull is as hard as iron and can be resurrected from an iron ball-like fossil. It downs prey with its head butts."

"Now would probably be a good time to catch it," Eilmer smiles. "Then we can see my brother."

"You do the honours Dawn," Ash nudges her.

"No it's your turn," The blunette winks.

"I don't know what's going on," The scientist chuckles. "But I have a feeling it doesn't matter who catches him."

Ash and Dawn look at each other with goofy smiles before bursting into laughter. "We've fought over every Pokémon capture so far," Dawn chuckles. "Now we're doing the opposite."

Eilmer admires their youthful energy... and love. Eventually they settle and catch Cranidos together who happily obliged.

Now it's time to see if Roark is going to have the same amount of enthusiasm on seeing the group...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Stupid father," A chunk of rock flies off the wall.

"Stupid town," Another large chunk turns to dust around the miner.

"Stupid gym," The male grunts as he continues swinging his pickaxe endlessly at the cave wall.

Another piece of rock flies by his dusty pale face and spiky maroon hair. Roark has lost track of how long he's been underground. There's no problems he has to deal with when it's just his Pokémon, his tools, and the mysteries hidden beneath the rock.

"You can't hide down here forever," A familiar voice echoes through the cave.

"Go away Eilmer," Roark grunts and tries to hit the rock hard enough to drown out his brother's voice.

"I brought something we, no the whole town needs!" Eilmer yells over the banging of metal and stone.

"What's that?" Roark yells back, not looking away from his work.

"Hope!" Eilmer yells and Roark stops to roll his eyes and laugh at his brother.

"Really?" Roark scoffs. "No wonder dad thought you were too soft to run the gym."

"Yet you have completely ignored all duties as a gym leader," Eilmer fires back.

"Dad had me get my gym license to be his backup," Roark states. "Him leaving to run a stronger gym that doesn't take in the flow of Jubilife newbie trainers and leaving me in charge of this gym wasn't part of the deal."

"It was all part of his plan," Eilmer states. "You were too busy shutting out everyone to realize it."

"Don't act like mom's de-"

Ash and Dawn step into view and the fighting stops. "Here's our hope," Eilmer glares at his brother.

Roark studies the two teenagers. The two brothers aren't much older but every year's difference at their age seems like a decade apart. "You think they can help us," Roark shakes his head and folds his arms. "You think they can solve a rock slide of problems."

"Roark you grew up living and breathing in the gym and mine," Eilmer states. "Much like I did in the lab."

"We both know what they can be like. The filled bleachers in the rugged gym, the flood of cameras waiting to see what the mine uncovered that day."

"I just want to bring that all back."

"I do too," Roark agrees. "But how are two kids I've never seen around here going to solve our problems?"

"We like to leave our mark," Ash chuckles. "And Dawn here thinks she can do just that."

"I don't trust them," Roark turns away.

"Roark listen to me," Eilmer demands. "You may not trust them and you really haven't trusted anyone in 8 years. But there's something about them."

"Something?" Roark rolls his eyes. "I'll believe it when they pull out an ancient fossil. Something I was trying to do since they've all seemed to runaway."

"If that's what we gotta do," Ash smirks and grabs a pickaxe that was laid against the wall. Ash takes in a breath of the dusty, earthy air before smiling, "Time to find us some fossils."

"You can't be serious," Roark almost shakes his hard hat right off his head.

"Ash he's right," Dawn says seriously, before smiling herself and pulling out a few pokeballs. "We're going to need our Pokémon to help out."

The tunnel soon becomes filled with a majority of their Pokémon. "Okay everybody, we need your help finding a fossil that will put Oreburgh City back on the map!" Ash cheers and the Pokémon join in.

Soon enough the stronger Pokémon are pounding at the rock while the others clean up the rubble in neat piles. Even Zubat was making himself useful by using echolocation to find a potential fossil site.

No later Ash and Dawn were with them, mining through rock to find the jewels hidden within. The two brothers watch in awe while the family of Pokémon and their trainers efficiently dig out the cave.

Even Roark's Machop joined in on the action. "No use standing here," Eilmer smiles and grabs a stray pickaxe of his own.

Roark, still in disbelief of the turn of events, sits down against the cave wall. Thinking about everything that's happened the past few years, trying to remember the happy things. Only to realize there's a very small handful of happy memories there.

Maybe it's because he has wanted everyone to be as miserable as him. In a world where nothing would go their way. In a world very every downfall would lead to an even bigger downfall.

Is that what he tried to do to these kids?

Yet they rose right past him. Roark doesn't want to admit it but his brother was right. There's definitely something these two carry around with them.

After an hour or two of mining they've discovered coal, and a lot of it. But they couldn't find a thing that isn't the deep black colour people see leave the mine daily.

Not yet at least...

"Guys!" Ash yells throughout the tunnels. Everyone, including the Pokémon run towards his voice to see a discoloured piece of stone sticking out of the place he was mining.

"I can't believe it," Roark blinks a few times to make sure he isn't dreaming. He runs his hand along the round surface of the rock and feels the odd ridge across it. "Eilmer help me out."

Ash steps back to watch the brothers work together and pull the slate of rock out of the rugged wall. They quickly work together to dust off the fossil and chisel off any remnants of the useless cave wall.

"Come on!" Eilmer almost squeaks in excitement before running towards the exit. Roark chases him out, both feeling something they haven't gotten the chance to in a long time.

Ash and Dawn return all their Pokémon and run after them. Shinx and Piplup managed to stay out and hitch a ride on their trainer's heads.

People were surprised to see Roark aboveground for once, but also running in the same direction as his brother. Then they saw the piece of stone in Eilmer's arms.

People slowly drifted towards the museum and luckily Ash and Dawn got ahead so they wouldn't have to push through anyone. And news spreads like wildfire in small towns like Oreburgh.

The fossil restoration machine was already warmed up so the wait won't be as long as usual. The crowd of people hovered in the lower levels, waiting for them to come down.

Eilmer paces around nervously while Roark stares at the growing crowd bulging out of the museum and through the front doors. Dawn is busy trying to figure out what Pokémon it may be and Ash is watching over her shoulder...

The hydraulic pressure sound released and it is only a matter of minutes before the door will open to new life.

Eilmer runs over and unlocks the door to reveal a...

__________________________

Cliffhangers.

What a beautiful thing.

Chapters should pick up now so expect more updates from now on. Thanks for reading and I realize I missed a picture last chapter so here's a few extra...