"You got it!" Howard puffed out his cheeks with exertion as he threw the Gigaton Ball towards the ground. It made a heavy thud as it struck the terrain. The ball rattled, clearly malfunctioning. It sounded like a car that hadn't been oiled properly in two decades, or a squeaky door, or some equally annoying mechanical sound.

Simply put, it sounded broken. Howard really needed to get that fixed. It had been novel the first few times, but once the Gigaton Ball burst open while he was sleeping, Howard knew the gig was up.

"Grrr?" The Bloodmoon Ursaluna reared its head, sniffing the air. It looked at Howard, who was moving to retrieve the Gigaton Ball, and snorted. It was used to him. Howard wasn't quite on the same level as Doug's original owner, but he would have to do, even if the archaeologist spent way too much time asking Doug question about his bone structure.

Weirdo.

Doug turned to Yuina, and his eyes brightened immediately. "Grr!" Doug licked her face, remembering Yuina from recent events. She even smelled familiar!

"He remembers you. Splendid!" Howard said, appearing next to the bear, brightening as Yuina mentioned her preference for history. "You're a Hisuian historian? That's incredible! I think I've figured out the part I need, but it's not like I can walk into a hardware store and buy it, y'know? I'd appreciate the help."

"Grr." Doug agreed.

---

Yuina Higashi

"I'd be surprised if more than just shards came through. The Gigaton Ball came through that first distortion, as did Pokémon. I'm more interested in what can't come through? What's strong enough to resist the rippling of spacetime?"

What interesting questions. Doug was much more interested in Yuina. After sharing their greetings, the Ursaluna turned to inspect the crystals that had quickly infested Fortree City's surroundings. Route 119's structure had vastly altered since the appearance of the Bloodmoon Beast, but Doug seemed to know his way around the vaguely familiar terrain.

"Grr." Doug wandered deeper into the route.

"Joy. We get to follow the bear. This brings back memories." Howard sighed and threw up his hands, following the Ursaluna. Hopefully this time, there wouldn't be blue people and a giant spaceship. One time had been enough. "I'm not much of a mechanic, but I believe it needs a new steam compressor."

How did he describe this? Maybe one of Team Rocket's engineers could've done a better job, but this was like explaining physics to Yuina, something he had never learned.

"Hisuian Pokeballs do this clicky thing, right? When you catch something in them? The ball pressurizes with steam. Hiss." Howard mimed the hissing sound of steam exiting a valve. "No steam, doesn't compress, ball doesn't stay shut for long. Bear appears."

Howard pointed at the bear.

"Grr." Doug agreed.

---

Yuina Higashi

"The ball? Sure, here you go." Howard prepared to toss it to her, before remembering that the Gigaton Ball was akin to a weapon. Sure, it could capture Pokémon, but it also weighed a bajillion pounds. If he threw it, it'd likely donk Yuina on the head, and that'd be the end of the Higashi Chronicles.

And the start of Howard going to prison.

He walked over and gave her the ball. "Careful, it's heavy." The archaeologist wasn't lying. It must've weighed an extra twenty to thirty pounds! It was like a training weight.

As Kano appeared, Howard immediately flashed to Josh Devlin's Arcanine. Kano was in splendid shape, and Howard instinctively took a step forward. Fluffy... He thought, before turning to Yuina. Probably not the best idea to cuddle her Pokémon without asking her, and Howard had too much dignity to ask for something so childish. For now.

Soon. Howard silently thought towards Kano, before continuing. He frowned at Yuina's specific question. He had found cloth attached to Doug, and had quickly recognized it for what it was. Hisui wasn't his region of specialty, but he knew enough to recognize uniforms.

"I think I might know the text, actually. Tashiro Sanki's Grass and Procedures?" Howard quoted the work. Sanki had been a Hisuian physician way back when. "I was hoping to study them more, but if it's for science... It's on my person, actually. I wanted Doug to get a scent from it." Howard pulled out the uniform scrap, preserved in a plastic sleeve.

---

Yuina Higashi

"Of course, take it. Historians should help one another out. Arceus knows the region barely does." Howard waved his hand, as if it were a nonissue.Fluffy... Howard looked at the Arcanine longingly, before coughing into his fist.

Cocking his head to Yuina's question about his profession, Howard scratched his chin thoughtfully. After a few seconds of watching Doug sniff at Tera Crystals, Howard spoke.

"I'm an archaeologist with interest in civilizations over geological eras. I specialize in ancient languages." Howard said casually. That was true, but it wasn't the whole truth. He simply had a fascination with knowledge that had yet to be uncovered. As long as he could witness history, Howard was satisfied. "It's not as concrete as a lot of historians, but...

It made living nowadays very exciting, but very stressful. They were living through history right now. Where would Yuina be when those books were written. Where would he be?

For that search party, being here had been a place of the wrong place at the wrong time. To an extent, that was true. If you survived, however, you were at the right place at the right time—a witness to what had passed.

It was a tragedy that Doug's owner had passed.

"Wow! You're a museum curator? That's incredible!" Howard's eye sparkled brightly. "Can I visit? What grants does the region give you? Does it focus on Hisui?"

---

Yuina Higashi

"Of course. I have a diagram of the Gigaton Ball, but it's not on me. I'll get you a copy. It'd be really spectacular to see a recreation in a museum." Howard grinned. He had a lot of issues with museums in the past. Lack of employment opportunities, unpaid internships, the whole package. Yuina adding him to the display made him feel like he was in grad school again.

A better time. A time before Team Rocket, and not curating artifacts in a museum in Slateport. Maybe in another life, he'd be like Yuina. Alas.

"Finding pieces for Hisui nowadays is difficult. Sinnoh's industrialization wrecked a lot of potential pieces, and the pieces we have are sequestered in private collections and museums in both Sinnoh and Galar." Howard huffed slightly, annoyed. His rant on the Galarian History Museum would have to wait for another day. "If you need anything for it, let me know. Historians should help one another. More people should know about Hisui."

"I've done an interview on Doug, regarding his bone structure." He said it so naturally, it almost seemed believable that Howard had gotten paleontological evidence from asking an Ursaluna hundreds of questions. "Skeleton is distinct from a traditional Ursaluna, legs are adapted slightly for swimming. Not as stout as its cousins, relies on the environment for protection."

It was funny. Doug had originally been part of a grudge match. The only reason Howard had gone to Route 119 was because of the rumors of a beast, which he planned to disprove his professor with. Now, he actually had the beast. Even moreso, he was writing a piece on it.

That professor could suck it.

"Though I must confess, I'm worried about the distortions and these new crystals."

---

Yuina Higashi

"People will only be concerned if it affects their everyday life. Unfortunately, that realization only happens once the damage has already been done."

With a sorrowful tone, Howard wiped his eye. It was an unfortunate result of humanity and history as a whole. There were an infinite amount of examples of people not heeding warnings and losing things they held dear to disasters and calamities. What was truly tragic was the sheer irrelevance of it all.

It was irrelevant because if people learned from the mistakes of their ancestors, their loss would be minimized. It was simply too tragic.

"You've hit the nail on the head, regarding them. They're crystals that make life miserable, and their mystique makes them appealing." Howard immediately flashed to Head Scientist Naomi Sato , who was doing a substantial amount of research into the field. He'd need to ask her for her opinion on this incident.

It'd give him a chance to see her Unowns again, at least.

"I'm sorry. I'm being negative."

Howard watched Doug sniff another crystal. He smiled faintly. He had to make an effort to be more positive. At least pretend that this wasn't giving him a panic attack. The spreading of Tera Crystals was a massive error, and the strange chain from Route 119 worried him. Much like many events in history, if Hoenn moved to stop these crystals slowly, it could be too late.

Especially when combined with a possible pandemic. That Toxic Chain was no laughing matter.

"It's a good idea, chasing down distortions. It could tell us a lot. Maybe we can predict them?" Howard scratched his chin. Make an effort. "Yeah, I definitely think Doug would make a good model! He'd make a wonderful piece! Especially once we fix his Pokeball!"

"Grrr?" Doug looked up at them.

---

Yuina Higashi