An empty body gradually filled; agonizing pain faded away, as if returning to the warmth of its eggshell before birth. Terapagos felt at peace, deeply asleep.
It felt like Terapagos had dreamed for ages.
In the dream, after that unprecedented disaster, it had stumbled into a bizarre world—moving stones, metal flying high in the sky, no more cold weather, only warmth.
Everything exceeded its understanding, leaving it nervous, bewildered, and lost.
Terapagos wished it could sleep forever—no predators to chase it, no cold to huddle against, no worry about finding tomorrow's food.
But dreams always end.
As the warmth increased, Terapagos' consciousness grew sharper. Eventually, as all emptiness was filled, it could no longer maintain the survival transformation activated at death's door.
Layers of crystallization melted into glimmering Tera light. Terapagos returned to its real form.
As if waking from a long nap, Terapagos yawned and opened those big, pale blue eyes outlined with bright magenta.
Its dazed gaze wandered until some order returned to its mind. Suddenly, Terapagos snapped its head up, realizing the environment had changed.
"Tagos?"
Its gaze met Lucas's, who was still startled.
"...Terapagos?"
Lucas tentatively called out, surprised the fabled Pokémon looked so tiny—barely 20 cm long, more like a mascot or mythical than a legendary of each generation.
With Zygarde Core as precedent, Lucas couldn't rule out other forms or transformations for Terapagos.
A stranger's voice entered its mind; combined with the strange surroundings and unfamiliar Pokémon crowding around, plus trauma from its recent disaster, fear and helplessness set in.
So, as Victini watched, baffled, Terapagos—despite looking like a land tortoise with no wings—floated mysteriously in midair, its glimmering eyes welling up.
In the next instant, it shrunk its head, limbs, and tail inside its enlarged hexagonal jewel shell.
Total shutdown.
With a crisp "clack," its shell hit the floor.
That spot hadn't yet been carpeted, so it echoed loudly, snapping Lucas and the Pokémon out of their shock.
Staring at the now-still shell, Lucas's first reflex wasn't to check on Terapagos' condition, but a question sprang to mind—
How could its shell, seemingly smaller than Terapagos' head, contain its head, limbs, and tail?
Some kind of extra-dimensional storage? Totally unscientific!
Lucas knelt down and gently prodded the shell.
No reaction.
"Vimi~"
Victini helpfully knocked on the shell (like knocking a door) and tried calling a few times—no response.
Ogerpon, the Eevee sisters, and Larvesta tried too, but it was futile.
Lucas could only look helplessly at Oranguru and Calyrex.
They exchanged glances, made way, and silently indicated for someone else to step forward.
Audino, who'd been preparing dinner, came over quickly.
"Tabunne~"
Audino called softly, assuring Lucas to let it handle Terapagos.
Noticing Audino's beige antennae at the tip of its ear twitching, Lucas quickly gave it space, making sure Ogerpon and the others backed off to improve airflow, lest this ancient Pokémon have issues adjusting to modern air.
Lucas wasn't sure if a two-million-year-old Pokémon might have trouble adapting to present conditions. He vaguely remembered reading or seeing somewhere that the oxygen content of ancient Earth was different from today.
Who knows if the same applied in the Pokémon world?
To be safe, after all, he'd have to get it checked for any ancient viruses, too.
According to Professors Sada and Turo, Terapagos nearly went extinct due to ancient tectonic disaster. Who knew if it could adapt, unlike Koraidon or Miraidon?
To be on the safe side, he'd have to call the Professors for a checkup.
Audino hadn't the faintest clue about the wild ideas popping up in Lucas's mind.
It just stared at the pretty shell. Even if it didn't know the species, it could assess it.
Audino unfolded its beige antennae at the ear tip, placing them against the shell like stethoscopes.
They enhanced Audino's hearing and had bonus functions.
Through these, Audino could sense Terapagos' heartbeat, frequency, physical status—even emotional fluctuations.
It could even tell this Terapagos had hatched from an egg less than a year ago.
A true baby Pokémon—like Arcanine, just even younger.
(Even if Arcanine could probably kick Terapagos around like a ball.)
Feeling Terapagos's emotions, Audino understood why it had retreated into its shell.
Organizing its findings, Audino relayed everything to Oranguru and Calyrex.
This time, the two stepped forward to interpret for Lucas.
"In short, Terapagos's heart rate is elevated. It may have experienced threats to its life, and now—thanks to unfamiliar surroundings, creatures, and stimuli—is in a condition resembling what's called an 'acute stress reaction.' It's chosen to avoid everything by hiding in what it feels is 'familiar'—its shell, refusing to come out."
"Worst case, external pressure may worsen its fear, causing the situation to deteriorate."
Oranguru and Calyrex looked concerned—rightfully so.
If it were physical or traumatic injuries, they had a hundred solutions.
But something like being "scared witless"? That, they truly couldn't cure.
Both powerfully psychic Pokémon could only show helpless looks.
Calyrex said quietly, "All I can do is tend its mind using my 'Healing Heart' power, to help it slowly adapt to the environment."
Healing hearts wasn't like healing wounds; there's no quick fix—it wasn't mind control, after all.
What Calyrex could do was ease the impact of fear, bring comfort and safety, and wait for Terapagos to take the first step on its own.
"I understand. I'll have to trouble you then."
Lucas nodded quietly, accepting Calyrex's offer.
Just as Zygarde Core returned, face blissful after basking in the sun for hours—having split off several cells like a person celebrating after finally going to the bathroom after three days constipation—it was met with a crowd solemnly gathering around the table.
"You all aren't having dinner?" it asked, puzzled, then suddenly suspicious, "Wait, you didn't have dinner without me, did you?!"
Just as Zygarde Core was about to throw a tantrum, Cubone-like at the injustice...
"Slaw."
Ceruledge pointed at the table with its sword, signaling Zygarde Core to hush.
This time, Zygarde Core noticed Calyrex hovering over something on the table.
It couldn't see what from its height, but riding on Larvesta's back changed that.
It saw Calyrex using power on... a literal crystal?
What sort of performance art was this?
But then—
Zygarde Core squinted and studied the crystal carefully. It realized it pulsed with unfamiliar, almost out-of-place energy—like it didn't belong to this era!
Soon, Zygarde Core identified the answer: an almost-extinct Pokémon species with mysterious abilities. Some survivors, like certain fossil Pokémon mistakenly assumed extinct by foolish humans, were actually slumbering or active underground.
But this one felt odd, almost as if it had literally just traveled from that ancient era—some kind of time traveler?
No big deal, as long as Lucas didn't poke around in the region managed by "that guy," who might be interested in temporal anomalies, this wouldn't create problems.
After a month on the farm, Zygarde Core had learned that Lucas was basically a homebody—never left for long.
No worries.
Zygarde Core cheerfully directed Larvesta to climb atop the table and offered Calyrex, "Need help?"
Having watched for a bit, Zygarde Core had already guessed what Calyrex was doing.
With Zygarde Core's power, suffused with peaceful Order, it felt it could soothe wounded hearts, too.
"Thank you, then," Calyrex nodded.
With their joint efforts, the first healing session finished quickly.
Terapagos still refused to stick out its head, but after another check, Audino confirmed its heart rate had stabilized, and its terror had eased.
Now, it was time to brace for the long haul.
Since it was late, Lucas decided to contact the professors the next day, rather than risk new stressors by dragging Terapagos to unfamiliar places at night.
Lucas prepared a cozy den for Terapagos just like every other Pokémon on the farm and set it up in his own room, right in front of him. Then he finally fell into a deep sleep.
…
January 2, the 2nd day of the New Year.
At dawn, Lucas contacted the professors, who arrived at the farm by 10 a.m.
They brought portable devices, and even Arven—who seemed far less glum now—tagged along, accompanied by Koraidon and Miraidon, much more familiar with the modern environment.
A month of bathing in familial warmth hadn't softened Arven. Instead, he became more driven, asking Lucas to let his Pokémon spar and train with the farm's roster to raise their strength.
Who knew what new goals Arven had? But Lucas let kids have their secrets.
He led Professors Sada and Turo into the living room.
"Thank you for making this trip."
"It's no problem; we're also very interested in the very first revived Terapagos in the modern era."
The professors dismissed his thanks with a wave, fixing curious eyes on the quietly nestled shell.
Such cases were rare. It confirmed their theory: the Terapagos entrusted to Lucas likely arrived here via time machine during the disaster.
Turo began setting up equipment. Sada, cautious not to startle the shell with herself or her companion Koraidon, conducted a visual exam at a distance.
She soon noticed something interesting and beckoned Lucas over.
"You sure have luck!"
"Compared to the Terapagos in the Great Zero Lab, yours is smaller, with brighter shell patterns—if I'm not mistaken, even more vivid markings."
"That means...this one is female!"