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Entry 1: Introduction and Background.

Dad said I should keep a personal journal in addition to my field notes one to give me something to do when I'm not out doing field work. Said it might do me some good so that I don't become too "consumed" in my work or something like that. He even threatened to leave me at camp on our next expedition if I didn't write in this stupid thing. I mean really?! He makes it seem like I'm some mental case that needs to write out my feelings and experiences in order to feel better about myself. I'm a scientist for Arceus' sake! I don't have time for this...and yet here I am still writing. Honestly I don't really see what the problem is with taking your work seriously, especially if it's what you love doing. Which is exactly the case here. There is absolutely nothing I love doing more than paleontological and geological research. Whether its out in the field or in the lab, I love it all!

Yet he treats my obsession with these things as problems that needs to be fixed. Whatever happened to knowledge is power and all that? One would think that a paleontologist of his renown would be happy that his son was interested as much as I am in his line of work and to pursue it as a career as well. Sometimes I feel I understand the rocks I dig up more than I do people, even when it comes to my own father.

.....

Well its been about 10 min now and I still fail see what the point is in writing this. It certainly doesn't seem to be benefiting me in any way. However, in addition to being my father he is also my mentor for my post graduate studies, so I think it's best to just do as he says, he sometimes looks through my notes when I'm not looking so just in case he checks up on this I'll add in a bit more just to keep him off my back about this. Just for the record, I'd like to think of this more as an assignment from my professor and less as a suggestion from my dad.

I also don't like having unfinished notebooks so I might as well write in this thing until it's out of pages, then I'm never writing another one of these again.

So where to start with this silly thing? Well I suppose I should explain a little bit about myself right? Isn't that the kind of thing people write in these things? Well My name is Vince Petric and no Vince is not short for "Vincent", as people often assume. In my case it's just Vince. I was born on Cinnabar Island in the Kanto region and lived there for about 10 years before my family started moving around more. I'm an assistant paleontologist working under my father who is a one of the lead faculty at Cinnabar Island University specializing in poke'mon paleontology. I earned my bachelors degree there in paleontology as well as a minor in geology and have recently received my masters and am currently working towards a doctorate like my old man.

My mother, Jayna Petric is a pokemon breeder, a darn good one at that, and used to run her own business on the island, looking after peoples' pokemon. In addition to being a breeder though, she's also a fantastic trainer and occasionally has battles with people who want to see how strong their pokemon are. She usually wins without much effort,but even the opponents she loses to though often mention that battling her felt like taking on a league gym. She's way better than dad too, beats him every time, although he'd always mention something about not having time to train his pokemon with because of his research. He's a sore loser that way, not that I'm sure it isn't true. I asked her once why she didn't go around earning badges at gyms and challenge the leagues, but she'd always laugh at the idea and mention something about not liking to travel around a lot. I highly doubt this however as she married a paleontologist.

This brings me to my father, Dr. Jansen Petric. My father is a respected paleontologist and specializes in studying the evolutionary comparisons between modern pokemon and prehistoric ones.Much of his work nowadays focuses on how pokemon can evolve by using ancient power and in doing so, aquire identical traits and characterstics to their predecessors. Although he's well known for a variety of things, he's perhaps most famous for his highly controversial theory that some of the first Cubones actually used Aerodactyl skulls for their skull masks. He had first noted the similarities in morphology between the fossilized skulls of Aerodactlys and the bone skulls of Cubones. Both are somewhat similar in shape, have two horn-like protrusions in the back, and have a similar hooked snout. He even speculated that Cubone and Aerodactyl are actually closely related to one another or at the very least that Aerodactyls may have played a part in Cubone's evolution in a sort of evolutionary dependency much as in the same way with Shellder and Slowpoke, how a Slowpoke requires the combination of a Shelder on it's tail to evolve into a Slobro, so might early Cubones have required the skull of Aerodactyl's to evolve into Marowaks. Of course, after his ideas were published, it caused quite a stir within the Pokemon paleontological community and he has faced intense critisism by experts everywhere especially due to the lack of definitive evidence that supports his idea. Still he hasn't given up on it and continues to find more definitive evidence to satisfy his critics.

A lot of people think that our research and work in the field of Paleontology is becoming obsolete, especially after several facilities around the globe such as in Cinnabar in Kanto, Oreburgh in Sinnoh, and I'm sure a variety of other places in different regions that I haven't even heard of have been able to successfully revive some of these extinct pokemon. People think that since we are now able to study living members of formerly extinct species that there is little to no need to study their fossilized remains anymore. This is absolute nonesense however. After all, these revived pokemon are in an entirely new environment than the one they're used to. I believe that by studying their remains and reconstructing their paleoecologies that we can better understand how they live and as a result, better accomodate the wants and needs of these majestic creatures to make them feel more at home in this new world. I can tell you that many of the extremely lucky trainers who have been able to revive ancient pokemon couldn't even tell you the original time period that the pokemon was originally from. Most of the time, they don't even care! To them, it's just another pokemon, like any other, to be captured, trained, and battled with. It's insulting, even disgusting the way that these ancient pokemon are being treated. There's no respect! People forget that these creatures were once the dominant life forms and ruled over this planet long before humans ever even existed as a concept in nature. Yet they're being treated as little more than tools for sport, pets even! It's absolutely absurd! Even the league champion of Kanto, Lance has an Aerodactyl and I doubt that even he has a proper understanding of the importance that their species played in the prehistoric ecosystem. I'm getting off track now though. Basically though I am a firm believer that the past is the key to the future, and it has been my lifelong goal to revive one of these formerly extinct species and to understand how they are able to adapt to this new world. The very thought of such a thing coming to pass is getting me excited. I've been keeping some of my best preserved specimens just in case I ever get the opportunity to submit them for revival at a facility.

Speaking of pokemon, I should write about my own pokemon. Thankfully this section won't be very long since I only have one (my hand is starting to cramp up): Laramide, the Aron. I named him after my favorite orogenic event in Earth's history. He is my only pokemon companion, and the only one I really need, or can really handle (I don't know how trainers can manage taking care of six of these guys at a time). I met him on my first trip visiting Dad during one of his field studies. He was surveying an outcrop in Oreburgh during one of his research studies and found the little guy wandering the cave by himself. He didn't seem to dislike people and even helped Dad dig up a few Hard stones in the area for research in how they affect rock type pokemon. When dad brought him back to the campsite he told me I could use a partner out in the field and gave him to me. I really wasn't sure what to make of it at first but we get along relatively well. Sometimes its nice to have him around when I'm working on my notes late at night. He doesn't seem to be very good at battling, not that we really train that often. I never was interested in the whole trainer thing, so I don't really waste my time on battles and avoid it whenever I can. Despite his lack of battle experience though he's a really fast digger, and I mean really I don't think I've ever seen another Aron dig as fast as him, not that I take the time so study other Arons, gotta stay focused on my own work and all. Still his digging prowess certainly comes in handy during excavations.

He isn't without his share of faults though, and in fact I almost always seem to be needing to chase him down for some reason or the other. I swear he always seems to be messing with my research in some way or another. It's almost as if he does it on purpose, and it's not just my notes which can be easily replaced since I have them backed up on my laptop, nope. What does this menace of a companion do? He (I'm sure intentionally) destroys my fossilized specimens. One time, I could've sworn he actually ate one of my most important specimens. A nearly perfect carbonized impression of an Archeops feathers that I had been studying for MONTHS! Needless to say I was furious with him even though I can't exactly prove that he ate it since the evidence is, more or less, in his stomach. Mom says she thinks he does these kinds of things because I don't pay enough attention to him. Although she's an expert when it comes to understanding pokemon behavior, I find this difficult to believe since I take him with me everywhere I go, particularly out to field sites. He loves it out there, at least I think he does...I know I certainly do. What's not to like?

Still despite all the mischeif he causes, It's hard to stay mad at him for long. After all, he is the primary reason why I'm able to find my fossil specimens in the first place by using dig. The guy has a knack for it. Still I have been trying to find a way to keep my collected specimens away from him. Nowadays I often have to carefully hide them in high up places that he can't see or reach. It's a good thing he hasn't evolved yet since I don't know how I'd be able to keep things away from him if he ever got to be a Lairon, or worse, an Aggron.

Well it's time to head out to the field. I suppose I'll write more in this...if I have to.

Entry 3: The Sagetown Cave Fossil Fiasco

((This entry is written in a much more chaotic and exaggerated way than the entries before it which were small, neat, and easily legible. Some splotches of ink dot the pages which are lightly covered in dust and dirt.))

So I come back from a particularly exhausting field survey a few miles out from Sagetown and I hear about this location not too far away that was discovered and had shown signs of fossils. Naturally my heart skips a beat and I listen more carefully to see if I can find out more specifically where it is, I was already close by so why not get a few initial observations before heading back to my hotel? It doesn’t even occur to me at the time that the information about such a supposedly important site is being broadcasted publicly! THEN imagine my surprise when they announce that it is open to any trainers who want to hunt for fossils. I about fainted on the spot! WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE!? Was this some kind of sick joke to the league?! Allowing common, everyday trainers to just waltz right into a place as important as that? Don’t they know how vital places like that are to further scientific understanding?!

So they find this great new location of potentially vest paleontological significance and what their first thought is: “Hey! I got a swell idea. Let’s open it up to the public and let them take whatever they want! We can make it like a major tourist attraction! I mean what the hell?! Does science mean nothing to them?! Us paleontologists spend our entire lives trying to find bone beds and fossil sites as rich in fossils as this site supposedly has, and we get shoved aside to let some tourists come in and steal what could be some of the greatest discoveries of our time?! The public has no idea how to properly handle a site of this significance, let alone appreciate it! Why do they think locations of other major fossil sites are not revealed to the public or are in areas where you need a permit?!

The area should be sanctioned as a restricted area and given only access to those who have the proper training and permits to be allowed to excavate there. Mainly other scientists, people who actually cared about the true value that such a place contained. What was the concentration of the fossils, what condition were they in? Was this the original area in which the organisms lived and died or were they transported here from elsewhere? Was there any nearby evidence indicating how they died? These were all questions that could potentially be answered if the area was under more careful and thorough study.

And yet here it was, perhaps the greatest paleontological site in all of Kodo, being used as a tourist destination for the general public to not only freely explore with the risk of disrupting (as if that wasn’t bad enough), but to actually take samples from the precious site?! And the league was allowing this?! I can’t seem get over that! How could they do something so unfathomably moronic?! Not that I ever had much faith in the league anyway. After all, their focus always seems to be on trainers and their interests, not science. This is made even more clear to me now after hearing that they are allowing trainers access to not only a very, VERY promising paleontological site with permission to take specimens but also giving them access to revival technology! Frickin REVIVAL tech?! For a moment there I didn’t think the situation could get any worse but, of course, the league proves me wrong! Shocker!

DO they have any idea how many permits and procedures I had to go through back in Cinnabar island just to be able to enter the room where the revival took place in?! I didn’t even get to SEEE the revived pokemon! Granted this was several years ago when the technology was still developing, but still this is not fair at ALL! Technology that I have spent my whole life trying to understand, but never getting the opportunity to actually use or see it in action, and yet once again here it was, some of the most-ground breaking technology the world has ever seen being able to be freely used by idiot 10 year olds who probably couldn’t even spell Aerodactyl! The sheer injustice of the situation is enough to make me physically ill. Ugh I’m getting noxious even thinking about it. Anyway I’m heading to the site now, hopefully I can talk to some people about this to get the area closed off before too many people come in and ruin it. I hope I’m not too late.

….

Ok so I’m at the site now and it is as magnificent as I imagined. It all appears to be limestone but I’ll have to do a more in-depth analysis later to confirm this. Of course it would be even more beautiful had it not been marred by the sight of trainers eagerly entering its sacred halls. I tried talking to a guide about the scientific significance of the area and to urge them to stop people from coming in. They said something about them just being there to help the trainers and that if I had a problem with the league’s decision to take it up with them. Typical! Of course a guide sent for league business would side with those idiots! So I guess that means no one will listen to reason. I don’t even want to bother talking to the trainers, the last thing I need right now is to have my worst fears confirmed that they are even more idiotic than they appear to be. For now I suppose I’ll conduct some initial observations of the outside and keep an eye on the idiots going in.

…

THOSE BASTARDS!

Ugh the more I have to stand here and watch these morons the more I realize just how right I was that these idiots don’t know what they’re doing! I thought maybe I might have been being too critical but it seems it’s the opposite. Someone needs to stop these people from ruining everything!

First there are those so-called fossil maniacs. The loathesome, vile parasites that covet the sacred treasures without fully understanding what they were. Those “maniac” idiots couldn’t even tell an omastar from a circular rock with a few nodule concretions near it. They don’t care about the stories that the fossils told, the rich history that each grain of sediment could tell. No, they acted as if the fossils were some collector’s item nothing more than a rare and valuable trinket to be kept and hoarded away. They were maniacs alright but they didn’t deserve to even be associated with the word “fossil” let alone actually be able to touch or Arceus-forbid processes such treasures. And yet here they were pouring in from all over by the hundreds (or at least what seemed like hundreds) to try their luck at raiding the land of some of its most sacred pocessions!

The trainers were no better, even worse in some respects.Those disgustingly eager faces entering the cave with shovels and picks in hand. Maybe if they took fossil excavating a bit more seriously I wouldn’t mind as much, but the ones I’ve seen are ridiculous! No dental picks, no toothbrushes, few of them even had paintbrushes for Arceus’ sake! No one seems the least bit prepared for an actual study. These brutes are only interested in getting the fossil out as fast as they could. The amount of care an excavation of this magnitude should take months or years even with regards to a small portion of the cave. So rich is the area in fossils seeing as though people are just finding them left and right. But clearly none of these people intended on staying that long. Nope! I have not seen one person have the decency to make even the most rudimentary plaster jacket over their find. Let alone cart it safely out of the cavern. I even had the horrific experience of seeing one person carelessly drop a specimen! THEY DROPPED IT from almost a full 3.5 feet in the air! And what did they have to say after committing such a grievous crime against nature and science alike?:

“Oops”

Yup. I had merely suspected it before but it has become evident to me now that that a vast majority of the people going into the cave were beyond incompetent and don’t care about the fossils as they should be cared for no. They’re more like common criminals grabbing what they can without any regard for the value of what they’re stealing. It’s like watching thieves enter a royal treasure room and not being able to do a thing about it because those thieves actually have permission to do so!

How would they like it if I cheerily took tours to their grandmother’s graveyard and gave people permission to desecrate her remains and smash her headstone in with a frickin pickaxe?! No this is worse than that, far worse. Since there are any number of dead great, great, great, grandmothers buried here. How is this legal?! Where is the dignity? Where is the respect?!

These people obviously didn’t hope to learn anything from the fossils or the surrounding geology. Clues vital to paleo-reconstruction probably hadn’t even crossed their feeble little minds. Instead, they’re driven by nothing more than their own greed at being able to wield the power of an ancient force they know nothing about. They don’t have even an ounce of the discipline, the respect that someone should have when even holding a fossil let alone seeing it alive and in the flesh.

And the worst of it was that the ones who would suffer the most from these uneducated imbiciles were the very pokemon that were being uncovered and revived. After newly entering a brand new world that they understand nothing about, they needed someone who could understand what their past life was like to better accommodate them and their adjustment to their new world. Yet despite being born as masters of their time, developing the skills to survive in the harsh and unforgiving primeval wilderness, and having endured the past several milenia in stone, they are rewarded by entering a new world being treated as a sort of household pet with that same idiot 10 year old who can’t even spell their name right and would instead nickname them something almost as idiotic as themself like, “rocky” or “spike”….Ugh there’s that noxious feeling again. I'm going to need to take a break from writing.

...

It seems the league does actually shut the place down after sunset. I don’t know what good it does anyone though. What are they worried about late night unauthorized fossil theft. How would that be any different from when they allow it during the day time? Perhaps safety? I say if they’re stupid enough to go into a cave late at night let ‘em run the risk of dying a horrible and hopefully painful death, they’d certainly deserve it. Oh and maybe, if they’re lucky in a few million years some future beings will find their sorry remains and revive them to be used as some household slave/pet.

That’s it! I can’t take this anymore something needs to be done!

I’m back outside the entrance of the cave and am writing this entry so that if anything happens to me, like if I should be taken to jail, or perhaps even if I die, someone will hopefully find this and know that I had a damn good reason for what I’m about to do. All I am guilty of is trying to preserve this area and to try and correct a grave injustice that is being done upon this very Earth.

Well...here goes nothing?