I made plans with Suneo and Gian, then headed out on my own. If this were a video game, a "Quest Accepted" notification would've popped up for sure. I chuckled at the thought.
In the anime, I'd probably run back home yelling for Doraemon right about now. But I didn't need to follow the script that closely. As long as the overall outcome was good and didn't mess with my future knowledge, I could tweak things however I wanted. After all, I was here to enjoy myself, not suffer needlessly.
With that in mind, I sprinted straight for the mountain behind our neighborhood. I remembered from the original story that the egg was buried in someone's backyard at the base of a cliff.
"There it is!" I spotted the house I was looking for.
I marched right up to the owner and boldly asked if I could dig for a dinosaur egg fossil in his yard. I sweetened the deal by offering to help bury his trash in the hole afterward. The guy seemed skeptical at first, but the idea of a free garbage pit won him over.
Armed with a shovel, I got to work. Suddenly, I hit something hard! Clearing away the dirt revealed an oval-shaped object, black as coal.
"This is it!" I exclaimed triumphantly.
The owner glanced at my find, probably hoping it was something valuable. When he saw what looked like a lump of coal, he just shook his head at my childish excitement. He had me fill in the hole with trash, then sent me on my way.
I hurried home, clutching my precious cargo.
This was the advantage of knowing the story - I could take the most direct path to my goal.
It's why I preferred not to mess with the original plot too much. I wanted to avoid any unforeseen complications.
Back home, I immediately asked Doraemon, "Hey, can I borrow the Time Cloth?"
"What for, Nobita?" he asked, puzzled.
I explained about my bet with Suneo and Gian.
Doraemon burst out laughing.
"Oh Nobita, why would you make a bet like that?" he scolded playfully. "How can you be sure it's even a dinosaur egg? It could just be a regular rock. Even if it is a fossil, it might be some kind of fruit... or maybe even woolly mammoth poop!"
Still chuckling, he pulled the Time Cloth from his 4D Pocket. I ignored his teasing and wrapped the egg in the clock-patterned cloth. As I listened to the ticking sound of the Time Cloth activating, I marveled at how amazing Doraemon's gadgets were.
After about 15 minutes, a soft chime signaled that the egg had been transported back 100 million years to the Cretaceous period. I unwrapped it to reveal a brown-speckled dinosaur egg. Doraemon's eyes went wide with shock. He clearly hadn't expected me to actually find one!
Next, I asked Doraemon for an incubator.
There was no way I was going to try hatching it under my blankets like in the original story. That seemed way too risky - what if I accidentally broke it? Besides, I wasn't about to lose sleep over this egg.
I carefully placed the egg in the incubator and left it alone. By tomorrow, a baby dinosaur would emerge. I could hardly wait to see the looks on Suneo and Gian's faces!
…
…
…
As the morning sun's rays gradually filtered into the room, I heard faint cracking sounds coming from the incubator. My eyes flew open and I bolted upright. "Doraemon! Doraemon, come quick and look!"
Doraemon startled awake, but there was no time to worry about that now. We both stared intently at the brown-speckled dinosaur egg in the incubator. The golden sunlight played across its surface, highlighting the growing network of cracks. With each passing moment, the shell fractured further, heralding the arrival of new life.
Finally, the egg split open and a long-necked creature poked its head out, letting out soft "pii pii pii" sounds.
"Wow!"
Doraemon exclaimed in wonder. He explained, "This is a type of sauropod called Futabasaurus. It lived near the coast of Japan during the Cretaceous period."
I grinned. "Let's name him Piisuke!"
Doraemon suggested we show him off to Suneo and the others to scare them, but I had more pressing concerns - namely, the dinosaur poaching syndicate that could be lurking anywhere. They were the real threat, potentially endangering my life.
I needed to lure them out and deal with them permanently. Until then, I wouldn't feel safe.
So I told Doraemon, "Not yet - he's too small. They'd just laugh and say he's a lizard. Let's raise him to at least 10 meters first."
"What? You want to raise him that big?" Doraemon asked incredulously.
…
From that day on, in addition to sword practice and honing my psychic abilities, I devoted myself to caring for the dinosaur. Unlike in the original story, I didn't have to hide Pisuke from Mom anymore. She was completely under my control now, obeying my every word without question. I was the undisputed head of the household.
As Pisuke grew too large for even the closet, I moved him to the park lake like in the original timeline. But he soon became difficult to conceal, with lucky park-goers catching glimpses of him. I was getting impatient waiting for the villains to show up.
Finally, one day a giant black eye like a balloon appeared in my room. I knew the antagonists had arrived at last. I braced myself, on high alert. Even though this encounter hadn't been dangerous in the original story, these poachers were ruthless criminals with deadly weapons. Who knew if they might actually open fire this time?
A thin black line appeared in my room, widening into a doorway. Out crawled a figure in a black cowboy outfit with a bat-like mask, wearing an emblem of a bound dinosaur.
"Who are you?" I asked coldly, secretly ready to teleport at any moment.
"Heh heh heh. Who I am and where I'm from doesn't matter," the Black Mask sneered. "I'll cut to the chase - you've raised a dinosaur, right?"
"You mean Pisuke?" I replied.
"Exactly. I've never seen a dinosaur so close to humans before. I want it. Name your price - I'll pay anything."
"He's not for sale," I said icily.
"Don't underestimate me, kid," the Black Mask growled, twirling a revolver menacingly. "I could take him by force anytime. I'm trying to be nice here."
Suddenly, an alarm blared from somewhere. The Black Mask cursed about someone interfering, then turned to flee back through the portal. Before vanishing, he snarled, "I won't give up on Pisuke!"
As the doorway faded away, I breathed a sigh of relief. But I knew it was time to move to the next phase - sending Pisuke back to the Cretaceous period.
…
That night, while a search party investigated rumors of a lake monster in the park, Doraemon and I snuck out. Using the Small Light, we shrank Pisuke down and brought him home. Without further ado, we boarded the Time Machine, ready to journey to the Cretaceous era.
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# Support with Power Stones!
# Every 400 Power Stones = Bonus Chapter