Man, what he wouldn't do to be a tenured professor.

Historians were good for a few things according to the common masses: podcasts, books, and easy elective credits. Being a historian didn't tend to get you many grand prospects, given the fluctuations in the field. Authors spent time writing books, paleontologists spent time getting bitten by snakes in Johto, and the rest snapped after unpaid internships.

Professors? You got to teach this stuff, and send your students out into the world.

It was like a little Ponzi Scheme.

"Which is why we often look at the war between Kalos and Galar with such bright eyes today." Howard lectured to the hall, hand on his hips as he tapped the board, where Kalos and Galar were drawn. "It's easy to view it as a romantic war with hundreds of books, shows, and movies written about it. It's unappealing to think about the slaughter of people and Pokemon on a scale rarely seen since..."

Howard trailed off. Today. People and Pokemon died in Hoenn on large scales nowadays. Lots of battles waged, and lots of people died. His eye flicked over to Dylan as he arrived.

"Well!" Howard clapped his hands together as he turned to Dylan. "We're using Tactics on the Field today, which is a bibliography of Galarian general Arthur Clarkwell. For a Kalosian view, I recommend Lafayette's Révolution et de l'Empire."

The words rolled off his tongue flawlessly.

---

dylan sayer

"Succession." Howard corrected, nodding as he did so. "The houses that formed Galar and Kalos's royal families were always linked. Years of political marriages made it so the Galarian king actually had a say in Kalos's new ruler. He chose himself. Kalos disagreed."

Of course, the resources were a valuable asset. Galar had traveled the world, colonizing and trading in other regions. Howard wouldn't be surprised if many native Hoenn citizens were partially Galarian. He'd have to ask Tempest Quinn about that, given the man's Hoyeon heritage.

Yet Galar would not complain about swallowing Kalos into the fold. It had not been a glorious war.

"The Pokémon casualties were enormous." Howard coughed into his fist and tapped the board, eye on Dylan. "Mass ceremonial graves dot the Geosenge section of Kalos to this day. A horrible disconnect between people and Pokémon."

"That's why you all must be careful. Times are changing, and Pokemon, despite our companionship with them, are dangerous creatures. We can send them to fight our wars, but they have power far beyond our own."

---

dylan sayer

"There is no difference." Howard put his hands on his hips as he took off his cowboy hat. His eyepatch gleamed slightly as he scratched his chins. "People and Pokémon have always gotten along, but there are always dissenters."

Some people would always mistreat their Pokémon. Some people would treat them well. Some Pokémon would attack people. Some would choose to coexist.

That did not change the power dynamic between the two sides. Pokémon, especially Legendary Pokémon, had the power to warp reality. What could humanity do to fight such a force? Howard checked his watch, and sighed. Had the lecture gone on for that long? He had lost track of time.

Howard looked up to Dylan, and frowned slightly. Why would someone ask something like that? It reminded him of a certain Head Scientist within Team Rocket, and the archaeologist's interest was piqued. Howard put a pointer down on the desk, and stretched.

"Class dismissed." Howard's eye flicked to Dylan. "Come down here, Mister...?"

---

dylan sayer

"Professor?" Howard's eye widened, and he laughed loudly, shaking his head. His laugh echoed through the lecture hall, which had since vacated of students. "No, no. I'm just a speaker for the university sometimes. Never got a teaching credential."

As he spoke, Howard began closing his backpack and zipping up his briefcase. His backpack was monstrous, more akin to a hiker's rather than a student's.

He could've become a professor, admittedly, but Howard couldn't bring new archaeologists into the world. Doing so would be like stoking the passions of those meant to fail. Archaeology degrees were hardly employable, outside GIDEON GRAVES's museum. Doing so would be an act of cruelty. Instead, he taught on the side. It made him feel less... guilty.

"You didn't interrupt anything." Howard said, shaking his head. "I'm glad you asked those questions. You have problems with Pokémon, Dylan?"

Howard said this conversationally, but he had a suspicion. One didn't ask questions about the dynamics of Pokémon with people unless it bothered them in some way.

---

dylan sayer

Click. Click. The briefcase was clicked shut. There was a pause when Dylan mentioned Paradox Pokémon. Click. Click.

Abominations. Especially the ones that originated from the past. They spat on history, on archaeology, on Howard himself. He had spent years studying his field, and the Interdream Mist decided that it could just spit out fictitious creatures, with no right to exist? It reminded Howard of early archaeology, where individuals had simply made up fossils in order to propel themselves up the ladder of notoriety.

Disgusting.

Lulu Flint had asked him to look into the Paradox phenomenon. From Howard's viewpoint, there was no connecting strand, besides the ignorance of humanity. He could understand those Future Paradoxes, born of human's desire to look forward. Anything else was unacceptable.

"Explain."

Howard looked away from his briefcase towards Dylan, eyebrow raised. It was a very teacher-like request. He wanted Dylan to defend his point, lest Howard pollute the conversation with his own argument.

Not that the archaeologist disagreed with the other man.

---

dylan sayer

"The Mechanical Kingdom?" Howard had never been, but he had access to several of Team Rocket's reports regarding the location. If Dylan was just a bored study, then it extended far beyond visiting random lecturers and asking questions. Dylan had traveled dimensions.

Not that it mattered. The League's security for traveling to alternate worlds was essentially just a chain-link fence, given how many holes in security there were. People were able to hop to Ultra Space and beyond with impunity. Explained why Team Rocket was able to invade the dimension from under the League's nose.

Then again, how did you prevent travel to other dimensions?

"They're abominations, admittedly. I agree. Yet they're mutants, incapable of breeding. They're completely sterile." Howard asked the other man. "Are they the threat, or is the mist that produces them the threat?"

A test?

"And machines cannot breed, either. They can't eat, sleep, or do anything at all. Are they even Pokémon if they can't feel? Why not treat anything stemming from the mist or another world as an assault by a foreign power?"

---

dylan sayer

"They're not from the past. I've done a lot of archaeological study in my time, and I've read hundreds of historical accounts. Those things, whatever they are, are not from our time." Howard said grimly. Abominations were abominations. Howard didn't accept them as anything but dogs meant to be put down. "Don't worry. I hardly understand the theories myself."

Paradox Pokémon were not Pokémon. The ones from the future, maybe. The ones from the past? No. Absolutely not. They mocked Howard by virtue of their existence.

The Interdream Mist. Howard knew that there was more information on it than what he knew, but he hadn't bothered to use his position to study the phenomenon. He trusted that scientists like Head Scientist Sato and Lulu Flint would crack the code behind their existence.

Howard stared at his briefcase for a moment, before continuing.

"The only thing stopping you is yourself. Do not enter the mist. You become your own worst enemy. As for other worlds..." The chain-link fence that guarded Ultra Space had plenty of holes. Dylan could sneak in. "You'll find your answer there. I never did, but I've always been more of a Hoenn purist than an otherworldly spelunker."

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dylan sayer