Pokemon Learning League

An Excavation of Discovery (Fossilization)

Written By
Timothy Whitfield
(Episodes begins with a wide overview shot of Hoenn Route 112
on a clear sunny afternoon without a single cloud in the sky,
and a few where we see Brock, Clemont, Tracey, Zinnia, Aster,
Iris and Axew walking along the path, then they stop to observe
a harras of wild Ponyta & two Rapidash grazing on some grass
and the two feed some to the younger foals. Tracey whips out
his sketchbook and starts sketching.)
Tracey: Now, this is a very tender moment.
Clemont: You said it, Tracey.
Iris: How old do you think some of them are?
Brock: Probably over a year old, judging from their size.
Iris: Yeah, I see it now.
(Tracey finishes up his sketch on the heard.)
Tracey: All right, that should do it.
Zinnia: Wow, that was fast, Tracey. Mind if we looked at it?
Tracey: Not at all. Here.
(He shows them the completed sketch.)
Iris: Wow! It looks amazing.
Axew (agreeing): Axew.
Zinnia (complementing): Yeah. You’re really talented.
Aster: Whis-mur.
Tracey (flattered): Aww, thank you, guys.
Clemont: All right, let’s get moving.
(They resume along the path. Two minutes later, as they
continue along, they spot a heard of Numel and two Camerupt
resting in a shady spot, letting off steam from their humps.)
Brock: Wow! Now, there’s a sight you don’t see often.
Zinnia (agreeing): Yeah.
Aster (agreeing): Whis-mur.
(Just then, they hear a nearby rustling in the tall grass.)
Iris: Who’s in there?
Tracey: I have no idea, Iris. Let’s just wait and see.
(They watch the grass carefully, and then… Siara emerges from
out of the grass.)
Siara: Hey, there everyone.
Zinnia: Hi, Siara. What are you doing here?
Siara: Well, right now, obviously the same thing you’re doing.
Brock: Yeah, we could tell.
Siara: (chuckles.) But in all seriousness, I’m actually here on a
fossil excavation.
Clemont (interested): Really?
Siara: That’s right. Up in the mountains outside of the desert,
there are fossilized extinct Pokemon just waiting to be
unearthed.
Zinnia: Oh, sounds cool. Could we come with you?
Siara: I was hoping you’d ask that. Now, let’s get going.
All (excited): YEAH!!
Axew (excited): Axew!!
Aster (excited): Whis!!
(They go along the path to the mountains. Cross-fade to eleven
minutes later, and they arrive to the foot entrance to the desert.
Just then, a guy named Warren, who has red hair, amber eyes,
and is wearing protective goggles, a fedora, a light brown short-
sleeved shirt & short, black shoes and covered in sand, walking
up towards them.)
Warren: Hello, there. I take it you’re about to go through the
desert, correct?
Clemont: Yep. We’re going for a fossil excavation up in the
mountains.
Warren: Ahh, cool. Well, you’d better be careful getting there.
There’s a raging sandstorm in the desert just outside.
Siara: Okay, thanks for the warning.
Warren: No problem.
(He walks away down to Mauville City.)
Siara: You know, I thought something like this would occur.
(She takes off her backpack, goes through it and pulls out a
special pair of weather-resistant goggles.)
Zinnia: Those are cool, Siara
Siara: Thanks, but unfortunately, I only have one pair with me.
Sorry, guys.
Iris: That’s okay. Clemont has some we can use. (She turns
over to Clemont.) Hey, Clemont. Do you have them?
Clemont: I sure do.
(He goes into his backpack and gets five weather-resistant
goggles and hands them out.)
Tracey: Thanks, Clemont.
Clemont: You’re welcome.
(All of them put their goggles on.)
Brock: Okay, let’s do this.
(They head up north into the desert. Moments later, as they
trek through and the sandstorm rages on, they stop in their
tracks.)
Brock: Man, this storm’s getting heavier by the second.
Zinnia: You said it, Brock. (To Siara.) How much further away
are the mountains?
Siara: Let me check.
(Siara opens up her map and carefully looks through it. She
finds a path leading to the northern exit.)
Siara: Ah-ha. We’re not much further now.
Zinnia: Great. Then lead the way.
Siara: You got it.
(They resume trekking through the sand. Cross-dissolve to nine
and a half minutes later, where they’ve reached the end of the
desert and exit the sandstorm. They remove their goggles and
brush the sand off their clothing.)
Iris: Whew, that was a rough one.
Axew (concurring): Ax-ew.
Zinnia: Yeah, but at least we made it.
Aster: Whis.
(They brush off their goggles and Siara puts hers away, while
the others hand theirs back to Clemont, and he puts them back
in his bag. Now, they march along the path and arrive at the
base of the mountains.)
Siara: Here we are, guys.
(The gang look up at the site of the mountains.)
Brock: Boy, there must be some special ones buried up there.
Siara: Yep. You’d be surprised where you’ll uncover some of
the most unique ones, and I think we’ll find some.
Tracey: So, where are we going to dig?
Siara: There’s a great site up that way not too far from here.
(She points in the northeastern direction.)
Brock: All right. Then, let’s get moving.
(They start up a path weaving through the mountains. Fade in
to seven minutes later, where the six arrive at the digging site.
Many people are digging in the ground or on the side of the
mountains, some of the uncovered fossilized bones are
embedded in the rocks or are covered in tarps and cloths.)
Zinnia: Wow, everyone here’s really getting into this.
Brock: Well, that’s no surprise there.
Siara: Okay, guys. There’s a good section we can dig at right
over there.
(She points to one at the far-right end of the site.)
Tracey: Well, let’s get this thing started.
(The group walks over to the designated section. Fade in to
twelves and a half minutes later, where we see everyone split
off, digging at different sections. Just then, as Tracey breaks
away more rock, he uncovers what appears to be a piece of
bone.)
Tracey (curiously): What’s this?
(He breaks at it some more, and them clears away the
remaining rock & dirt and uncovers a piece of a Pokemon’s
mouth.)
Tracey (calling over): Hey, guys! Come over here and look at
this!
(Iris, Zinnia, Brock, Clemont and Siara rush over to him.)
Tracey: What sort of Pokemon do you think it was?
Siara: Let me have a look.
(She carefully examines it through her magnifying glass.)
Siara: Yep, I’d have to say it’s the mouth of a primitive Wailord.
Zinnia: Oh? How can you tell?
Siara: Look here. You can tell this here is the snout & part of its
palate and look at the incisors & the back teeth here. Judging
from them, this tell us that these Wailord were far from the
modern ones we know today. They were huge predators that
used their front teeth to latch on to prey, and then use their
back teeth to chew them up.
Tracey: Wow! That’s incredible.
Siara: Mmm-hmm, and while we’re still on them, if you’d like,
would you like to know how fossils are formed?
Clemont: Okay. It sounds intriguing.
Siara: Well, okay then.
(Siara gets the Pokepilot from her pocket, switches it on, scan
through and pulls up a detailed piece on fossilization.)
Siara: Now, as you all know, fossils form when certain plants or
Pokemon die and are preserved in the right conditions, but
what you may not know is that there are multiple processes
this can occur. One of which, though very rare, is through
freezing, drying and encasement, in which whole-body fossils
are formed that preserve the Pokemon’s bodily tissues, like in
ice or tar, just to name a couple.
(The pictures animate in sync with Siara’s words.)
Iris (intrigued): Oh, that sounds interesting.
Siara: Yep. Now, another process that can occur is called
distillation, or carbonization. Essentially, what happens is that
all the heat & pressure from being buried in sediment can
cause the tissue of an organism to release hydrogen & oxygen,
thus leaving behind a residue of carbon, and this can give a
detailed carbon impression of what it was in the sedimentary
rocks.
Tracey: Ah-ha. So, what’s the most familiar process?
Siara: Ahh, that would be permineralization, a.k.a. petrification,
and this is the most common process that occurs. Once the
soft tissues of the organism decays in the sediment, the hard
parts, usually the bones, are left behind. Then, water seeps
into them, causing the minerals to dissolve in said water, which
then seeps into the spaces within, thus the minerals become
crystallized and cause the remains to harden along with the
rock.
Brock: Ahh, that’s how some get trapped in the rocks.
Siara: That’s right, but there’s one more process to mention,
that being replacement, and what happens is the minerals
found in groundwater substitute the ones making up the bodily
remains after it completely break downs the original hard parts
of the organism.
Zinnia: Okay, that one sounds much simpler.
Siara: Mmm-hmm, but it still takes just as long as the others.
Oh, and lest I forget, fossils can be formed from molds & casts,
as well. If an organism is completely breaks down in the
sedimentary, it’ll leave an impression of its exterior in the rock,
also called an external mold, and if said mold gets filled with
other minerals, it turns into a cast. Also, when sediments or
minerals fill the internal cavity, like for a shell or a skull, as the
remains dissolve, it forms an internal mold.
Tracey: Wow, fossils sure have various ways of forming.
Siara: Indeed, they do, which is precisely why we’re doing a bit
of trivia before we resume digging.
Iris: Sure thing, Siara.
Axew: Axew.
(Cross-fade to a lower panel, presenting the numerous ways a
fossil can be formed.)
Siara: So, you all set, guys?
Clemont: Mmm-hmm, sure are.
Siara: Okay. First off, how are whole-body fossils formed?
Zinnia: Through freezing, drying and encasement.
Siara: You got it, Zinnia. Next up, what causes carbonization to
occur?
Brock: The heat & pressure built from sediments cause the
Pokemon’s tissue to release hydrogen & oxygen and leave
behind a residue of carbon.
Siara: Very good, Brock. Now, for petrification, what causes the
minerals inside the bones to crystalize?
Iris: Water seeps into them, dissolving the minerals and then it
seeps into the spaces inside them.
Siara: Right on, Iris. Next one, what happens to the minerals
inside the body during the replacement process?
Tracey: They’re substituted with the minerals from the ground
water after the hard parts of a Pokemon have broken down.
Siara: You got it, Tracey, and finally, how are the molds of
fossils formed?
Clemont: When the Pokemon’s body is completely broken
down in the sedimentary and leaves an impression of its
outsides in the rock.
Siara: You got it, Clemont. Man, you guys did amazing there.
Clemont: Why, thank you Siara.
Siara: You’re welcome, Clemont.
(She switches the Pokepilot off and places it back in her pocket.)
Siara: Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s get back to digging.
All (determined): YEAH!!!
Aster (determined): WHIS!!!
Axew (determined): Ax-ew!!!
(They raise their fists into the air. Now, we cross-fade to forty-
five minutes later, where we see the gang hard at work, digging
& picking through the rocks and clearing away the dirt. We pan
over to Iris, who has uncovered the bottom half of a giant
Shellder’s shell. She puts it, along with the top half, together.)
Iris (calling out): Hey, guys! Check this fossil out!
(The others rush over and Iris presents them with the complete
fossil of a giant Shellder.)
Brock: Wow! That is one huge Shellder.
Tracey: Yeah, and just imagine how huge a Cloyster must have
been.
(He does some sketching in his sketchpad. Fade in to a full hour
later, where we find Brock & Clemont digging up more fossils
simultaneously via split screen and breaking them out of the
rocks. They both cover them up with cloth and brings them over
to the others.)
Brock & Clemont: Guys, we found some more.
Siara: All right, calm down you two. Let’s do this one at a time.
Clemont: Very well. (He turns over to Brock.) Brock, how about
you go first?
Brock: Okay, sure. (He takes a calming deep breath and steps
forward.) Here, have a look at these bones.
(He lays out the cloth and gently places them on the ground.)
Brock: I think they’re the bones of a Relicanth.
(Siara gets on her legs and carefully studies them.)
Siara: Hmm. Yep, you’re absolutely right, Brock. They are
indeed from a Relicanth.
Brock (satisfied & happy): Yeah, I knew it. (He turns over to
Clemont.) Your turn, Clemont.
Clemont: All right.
(He pulls out two fossils wrapped up in cloth and unravels them
to reveal… two gigantic razor-sharp teeth bigger than his own
hands.)
All (stunned): Whoa!
Zinnia: Those are some huge teeth!
Iris: You said it. What kind of Pokemon had teeth like this?
Siara: There’s only one Pokemon I know of with teeth like that:
a Sharpedo.
Brock: Really? Then, they must have been super ferocious.
Siara: You better believe it, and being five times bigger than
regular ones, you wouldn’t want to meet one, let alone mess
around with it.
Tracey: (shudders.) Ooh, I definitely wouldn’t.
Zinnia: You know, we’ve been finding a lot of aquatic Pokemon
fossils around here.
Iris (inquisitively): Yeah. It’s kind of odd they managed to get
up here in the first place.
Clemont: Good point there, Iris. (He turns over to Siara.) Say,
Siara. How do you suppose these fossils got up here, anyway?
Siara: It’s complicated, but I can explain it. See, around 30 to 15
million years ago, due to the shifting tectonic plates, global sea
levels dropped dramatically, and as a result, an entire ocean
dried out and many Pokemon became extinct. Then, as some
of the plates collided into each other, entire landmasses were
pushed up, thus forming the mountains. Hence, all the fossils
we’ve found so far.
Brock: Ahh, that makes perfect sense.
(They get back to their spots and resume digging. Cross-wipe to
moments later, where we see sitting the group on their knees,
breathing with exhaustion. Iris wipes sweat off her forehead
with a rag.)
Iris (exhausted): Phew! That was exhausting.
Axew (exhausted): Ax-ew.
Tracey: Yep. We’ve sure been working hard for a while now.
Siara: Okay, now is as good a time to take a break.
(They get up from their spots, Siara lays out a puffy blanket on
the ground and they all take a seat.)
All (contented): Ahh.
Zinnia: So, Siara, what have you uncovered so far?
Siara: I can’t say yet, since it’s a surprise, but I will say that it’s
something big.
Zinnia: Ahh, got you.
Iris: You know, guys, just think of how these Pokemon must
have lived millions of years ago.
Clemont: Yeah. I’ll bet life was a lot rougher for them at that
time.
Brock: (pondering) Hmm. Perhaps there’s something in the
fossils that can tell us what had happened in their lives.
Siara: Good observation, Brock. You might find some bone
injuries, wounds or even teeth markings on them.
Tracey: Ahh, that’s very cool.
Brock: Say, guys. How about we do a second round of trivia to
kill a little more time?
Tracey: Sounds good, Brock, but let’s see if the audience wants
to do it.
Zinnia: Okay. (She turns over to the audience.) Hey, you guys
up for doing this? (She casually waits for an answer from the
audience for one second.) Oh, all right.
(Side-wipe to an image displaying the four fossilization
processes once again.)
Brock (V.O.): All right. First, what substances can encase
Pokemon and create whole-body fossils? (He waits for an
answer from the audience for one and a half seconds.) Resin,
tar and ice. You got it.
Clemont (V.O.): Next, during carbonization, what causes an
organism to leave behind a carbon residue? (He waits for an
answer from the audience for one and a half seconds.) By
releasing the hydrogen & oxygen. All right.
Iris (V.O.): Now, how do the bones get left behind when
petrification occurs? (She waits for an answer from the
audience for one and a half seconds.) When the soft tissues
decay in the sediments.
Tracey (V.O.): How is an internal mold formed? (He waits for an
answer from the audience for one and a half seconds.) When
other sediments or minerals fill the internal cavity.
Zinnia (V.O.): Finally, what are the minerals in the bodily
remains substituted with? (She waits for an answer from the
audience for one and a half seconds.) The minerals found in the
groundwater. You got it.
(Side wipe back to the six and Clemont speaks.)
Clemont (casually):
(Just then, Tracey’s stomach gurgles.)
Tracey: Oh. (chuckles awkwardly.) I guess it’s time to get
something to eat.
Zinnia: You said it, Tracey. How about we something nice and
cold?
Siara: Good idea, Zinnia. Luckily for us, I brought some fruit
smoothies & parfaits Ada & Quinn made for this trip.
Clemont: Okay, that’s good, and Brock & I can whip us up a
lunch that doesn’t need cooking.
Brock: Yeah, that’s a good plan. I have some new recipes we
can try.
Clemont: So do I.
Iris: Okay, sounds like a plan.
Brock & Clemont: Then, let’s get started.
(Clemont and Brock get out the ingredients they need, while
Siara pulls out her portable fridge and gets out the parfaits and
smoothies. Fade in to six minutes later, where we see the six
enjoying a meal of cold quesadillas, spring rolls, onigiris and
sushi, in addition to the smoothies and parfaits, as well as some
Pokemon food.)
Tracey: Ahh, now this is refreshing.
Iris: Couldn’t have said it better myself, Tracey.
Axew (agreeing): Axew.
(Cut to Siara drinking her smoothie.)
Siara: (sighs with content.) This is really hitting the spot.
Clemont: Brock, you did a great with these spring rolls.
Brock: Thanks, Clemont, and your quesadillas look amazing.
(They continue eating their meals. Fade-in to moments later,
where they back to digging through the rocks. Now, we pan
over to Zinnia and Aster picking through the rocks until they
uncover what appears to be part of a spiky crown and a couple
of dorsal fins.)
Zinnia: Ah-ha. I found one, Aster.
Aster (excited): Whis-Whis.
(She continues to dig & clear out the rocks & dirt. Then, she
backs up to see she’s unveiled… a fragmented skeleton of a
Gyarados preserved on the side of the wall.)
Zinnia (impressed): Now, that’s one well preserved Gyarados.
Aster (impressed): Whis!
(Brock, Iris, Tracey and Clemont rush over to her.)
Brock: Zinnia, what did you find?
Zinnia: Check this skeleton out.
(They look over to the Gyarados skeleton.)
All (impressed): Wow!
Iris (complementing): That’s a good-looking skeleton you found,
Zinnia.
Zinnia: Thank you, Iris.
Tracey: So, how do you suppose it got this way?
Brock: Let’s take a closer look and see.
(They carefully examine some bite marks on some of the bones
and its caudal fin.)
Clemont: Judging from the markings, it probably ran aground
after being wounded by another Gyarados.
Iris: Yeah. I could definitely see that happening.
Tracey: Hang on. Where’s Siara? She should see this.
Clemont: She’s still digging. Like she said earlier, whatever she
found is huge.
Tracey: Oh, yeah. How much longer will it take her?
Brock: Probably not much longer, but let’s go see how’s she
doing.
(Zinnia covers up the skeleton, and they walk over to the spot
where Siara is digging, and find her covering whatever skeleton
she found in a large tarp.)
Siara: Oh, guys. I was just coming to get you. I finally
uncovered all of the remains I’ve found.
Clemont: That’s great.
Siara: Mmm-hmm. All right, guys, you ready to see it?
Zinnia: You bet we are.
Siara: Very well.
(She pulls away the tarp and presents them with… a complete
skeleton of a primitive Wailord.)
All (except Siara, amazed): Wow!
Siara: Yep. After Tracey found the palate earlier, I had a feeling
that there was more of it buried under here, and lo and behold,
there was.
Tracey: Well, Congratulations, Siara.
Siara: Thanks, you guys.
(Brock looks out to the horizon and sees the Sun’s setting.)
Iris: Wow, time’s flown by fast. It’s getting late already.
Brock: Yeah. How about we set up camp down at the base?
Siara: Sounds good, but we better cover up the site before we
go.
Zinnia: All right, got you.
Aster (confirming): Whis.
(They cover up the fossils with tarps & cloths and places rocks
on each corner. Now, the group hike back down the mountain
and we cross-fade to several minutes later, where they’ve set up
their campsite. Everyone sits around a campfire in a circle with
sandwiches in their laps.)
Tracey: Oh, guys. You’ve got to see the rendering I’ve been
doing.
Brock: All right. Let’s see them.
(He flips through his sketch pad, showing them the various
renderings, from a recreation of how the Gyarados ran
aground, the giant Shellder & Sharpedo in scale to their modern
forms, the Relicanth swimming along and the primitive Wailord,
with its long snake-like body and using its tail & flukes to help it
swim.)
Clemont (complementing): Those are good renderings, Tracey.
Tracey: Thanks, Clemont. I always do my best with these
sketches. (He turns over to Zinnia.) Hey, Zinnia. I want to
know: how long have you & Aster been together?
Zinnia: Oh, for a very long time. In fact, we met when I first
explored where the Rusturf Tunnel is now.
Aster: Whis-mur.
Tracey: Ahh, that’s cool.
Zinnia: All right, my turn. Tracey, where did you come from?
Tracey: Oh, I originally from the Orange Islands, but when I first
met Ash & Misty and found out they knew Prof. Oak, I joined
them so I could meet him, which I did, and now I’m working as
his assistant.
Zinnia: That’s great to hear.
Tracey: Yep.
(Zinnia turns over to Clemont.)
Zinnia: So, Clemont, I imagine you’ve made other gadgets
besides those goggles, right?
Clemont: I sure have, though they tend to backfire a lot, I keep
at it until they’re working just right.
Zinnia: Man, that must a lot of hard work.
Clemont: Indeed, it does. (He turns over to Siara.) Hey, Siara.
Where are you heading off to after this tomorrow?
Siara: I’m going over to Lavaridge Town to check out their local
hot sand baths.
Brock (knowing): Oh, then you’ll be in for a good time. They’re
incredibly soothing.
Siara: (chuckles.) I’ll keep that in mind. How about you guys?
Where are you going to?
Iris: We’re heading down to Ever Grande City to see what it’s
like.
Siara: Ahh, sounds great.
Clemont: Who knows, but I’m sure it’ll be interesting.
Brock: Mmm-hmm, but for right now, let’s just kick back &
relax.
Others (agreeing): Yeah.
Axew (agreeing): Axew.
Aster (agreeing): Whis.
(They begin chowing down on their sandwiches. Now, we pan
up to see the Sun setting behind the mountains with the warm
orange-yellow light radiating behind it, and then fade to black,
ending the episode.)