Interlude: A Flight at the Museum, part 2

After finally dragging Ash out of the music and dance wing, Misty led him on to the museum's next major section. "I believe this is the natural history wing..." she mused as she admired the diorama of a prehistoric swamp.

Ash looked up in awe at the model of a gray winged reptilian Pokemon hanging above him. After looking for a Poke Ball icon to scan, he read up on the fierce looking Pokemon:

"Aerodactyl, the fossil Pokemon. This vicious Pokémon is said to have flown in ancient skies while shrieking high-pitched cries."

[I'm kinda glad they're extinct...] Tintri gasped, amazed at the model.

"Actually, if you're lucky enough to find a piece of amber that has Aerodactyl DNA inside, we can revive an Aerodactyl for you in our Fossil Research Lab." a museum employee offered. "That's how Brock got his, which is named Petri. But he'll only use Petri against seasoned trainers."

[Whew...] Tintri was just as relieved as Ash was.

"Is there a lot of amber in the area?" Misty asked.

"Yes--in addition to amber, many other jewels and metals are common to Mt. Moon and the surrounding areas, thanks to the natural rivers that flow through the mountains." another scientist explained. "But lately no one's been willing to give us any fossils to revive."

"Why not?" Ash was intrigued.

"Rumors that Team Rocket is inside the mountain, searching for one of this area's greatest natural wonders...the Moon Stone." the scientist replied. "Why those hoodlums want it, I don't know, but knowing Team Rocket, it can't be good."

"Hoodlums, huh? If we see them, we'll be sure to teach them a lesson!" Misty offered.

Ash, however, wasn't so sure. "You sure that two young trainers can even make a scratch against an order of mobsters and criminals? Or if we should even get involved with them?" he asked as he uneasily followed Misty down the hallway, periodically stopping to admire a model or diorama on display.

"The foot soldiers are cake, I'd wager." Misty mused. "It's the bosses we'd have to worry about--once we deal with a lot of the grunts, then the bosses notice. And once the bosses take notice, things usually don't end well for those fighting against them. Or at least that's what I know from all the action movies I've seen that feature them."

"Yeah, they do pop up as the bad guys in the movies a lot." Ash agreed, heaving a sigh of relief that he probably wouldn't have to deal with an organization of gangsters on his journey. "Let's move on--all this talk about criminals is giving me the heebie-jeebies."

The natural history wing gave way to the historical wing, which housed hundreds of items across the ages both ancient and modern. "How beautiful!" Misty gasped as she admired a colorful display of colonial era and 19th century ballgowns.

Ash, meanwhile, was over in the exhibit of warfare, gawking over the many ancient armor and weapons on display. "Wonder how some of these were even supposed to be wielded?" he wondered as he looked over the many ancient swords and spears on display.

A large ancient bow made him smile at the memory of Brock's archery skill a few days before. This bow is huge--you likely had to be really strong to even pull the string back! he mused to himself.

"Whoa...wonder how you would even be able to pull the string back?" Misty gawked as she joined Ash in admiring the huge bow.

"Lots of weight lifting?" Ash suggested as the two of them admired a collection of ancient armor.

"We'll go with that." Misty smiled as the history wing gave way to the space exploration wing.

Tintri smiled as Ash passed by a diorama of a moon landing. [The Braviary has landed.] he proudly announced.

Misty smiled. "The space race was one of my favorite parts of history class--I wanted to be the one that discovered water on Mars, or some other planet."

"Hey, look! An antigravity chamber!" Ash dragged Misty over to a small hallway that lead to a large circular room.

"Oh boy..." was all Misty could say before Ash turning the gravity off, sending both of them and Tintri floating through the air.

[Look at me! I'm swimming in the air!] Tintri cried as he "swam" past Misty through some imagined water. [I feel light as a Pichu! No, a feather even!]

"That looks fun!" Misty smiled before performing some wide strokes, as if she was in the main Gym's pool at home. Forget about bugging Lilly, Violet, and Daisy to use the main pool, this is a lot more fun! she thought as she "swam" through the air.

She stifled a giggle at Ash taking flying leaps into the air, effortlessly performing martial arts moves at the peak of every jump thanks to the reduced gravity. Yet another thing in here we could spend all day doing if we wanted--but according to the map, there's still a lot more to see!