Another year, another visit to the shrine, it seemed. Ettie wasn't sure what to make of the effigy that sat beneath the waters - besides that none of her more aquatic packmates could get too close to it, let alone move it... But, it was nonetheless a curious sight.

In the moment though, she was focused on making sure her newer packmates, and more or less those who weren't present before, were able to partake in ringing the bell - the pack enjoying the quiet festivites that came with it as one.

And if yet another of Ettie's packmates ended up touched by the draconic spirit that seemed to fill this cave, well... That would make this trip all the more exciting then, right?

Tempest Quinn ’s phone beeped with a message from Howard Slayte. Something that normally took several days only took a few minutes.

‘Vaguely. Busy. I’ll check it later. Snap some photos of the shrine as well, it’s a cultural site. Thanks for the heads up.’

The Admin wasn’t a particularly good texter, though he was rapidly improving. Virtual glyphs and texts were nothing compared to the physical ones. With dozens of languages under his belt, learning the language of texting wasn’t particularly hard.

Yet that was a story for another time.

…

Leather boots clacked against stone. Clack. Clack. Clack. The sound scraped hollowly against the sacred site of the Draconid people. The Galarian walked towards the shrine, before passing it without sparing it so much as a glance. Howard’s visit was not to celebrate the New Year, though he highly respected the tradition.

His visit was a promise, made to Amor Rose . Months ago, he had made the Head Scientist a promise.

Splish. Splash. Splish. Leather boots splashed against freezing water, which quickly turned to ice. Bagons and Dratinis fled from the extreme cold eminating from the figure behind the archaeologist. Regice, a shard of a primordial era, long gone, silently followed the archaeologist.

It was a glorious artifact, representing an era of history.

Howard Slayte loved Regice as an artifact. He tried to love it as a Pokémon. That was the all there was to say.

“It's here. Temp was right.” His voice was pleasantly surprised, as if he had expected it to be a joke. Tempest Quinn would not betray Howard’s trust, but he hadn’t accepted that yet. It was hard to accept the word of a married murderer.

He still did, though. Why did he trust Temp? Why did he trust Amor? He should’ve hated them both.

“...” The thought was pushed aside for now. His position within Rocket was best left unspoken. He reached for his belt, and took out a Pokeball. Howard threw it. “Alright, let’s get to work.”

In a flash of light, a Claydol emerged. Crumble looked at Howard with several of its eyes, and Howard allowed himself a wry smile. This was not just an artifact, but it was a friend. He remembered using its Rapid Spin to clean the dust off fossils.

This would be a broader application.

“Rapid Spin.” Crumble span on the water’s surface like a top. Faster and faster, it spun, until the water began to part iin front of the shrine. As soon as the ground below was visible, Howard took a step down, dodging the spinning Claydol. Regice followed.

As soon as the Regice grew close to the parted water, it immediately froze, creating a parted path towards the statue.

Boots clicked against ice and frozen stone. Click. Click. Click. Howard adjusted his hat, and smiled as he approached the statue. Regice floated behind him, yet it began to beep in a shrill tone as it approached the statue.

⠃⠗⠕⠞⠓⠑⠗

“Do you recognize this? Excellent! Splendid! Spectacular! This is a major historical discovery! I’ve never seen a statue like this before, but I suppose you’re close enough, Defender of Hoenn?”

⠃⠗⠕⠞⠓⠑⠗

“I don’t know what that means. Understanding you is harder than I thought. Translating specialized braille into a verbal code isn’t easy! Hundreds of postgrad hours, and it’s still impossible.”

Howard sighed and stepped towards the statue with Regice. The Rocket Admin’s outfit was covered in frost. His proximity with the automaton caused his hat and hair to freeze over. He was still getting used to it, but Howard had grown familiar with the artifact known as Regice.

Pokémon. He silently corrected himself. Pokémon.

⠺⠓⠑⠗⠑ ⠁⠗⠑ ⠽⠕⠥

The two touched the statue. Nothing happened. Howard deflated slightly.

“What? C’mon! jayden cross gets a crazy freakout? Elisabeth Fiorelli gets a snail? Where’s the fanfare? I want a crazy artifact to react when I touch it too!” As he complained, Howard felt a slight pull. Regice’s beeps grew frantic as something clicked. A connection that transcended space and time between two distant beings.

Beings that swore to defend Hoenn, long ago.

⠛⠕⠝⠑

Whatever power was within the effigy was gone. To one more experienced in sources of energy and the state of Hoenn and the multiverse, it was as if whatever energy was within the statue now existed in a distant world, in another plane.

To Howard, it made him feel… odd. What was that?

Drip. Drip. Drip. Howard felt frozen water drip down his neck, freezing him to the core. With a yelp, the archaeologist looked up, seeing Regice tower over him. The frozen obelisk stared at the statue like a machine. Yet it dripped water.

“Regice!” Howard stammered, taking a step back and forth, struggling between his need to preserve the artifact and his fear of the primordial shard. “You’re melting!”

Naomi Sato had mentioned this to him, in that laboratory. That Regice was a Pokemon worthy of respect. She had invited him to view it not as a boon from Rocket, but as an entity with feelings. A Pokémon capable of forging connections and bonds. It was one of several defenders, after all.

He had found that impossible to believe. Yet Regice did not melt.

“You’re… crying.” Howard’s voice was hoarse as he looked up at the automaton.

It looked down at him. It blinked at him in a language that he did not know.

⠙⠑⠋⠑⠝⠙ ⠓⠕⠍⠑

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CRUMBLE IS FORGETTING ANCIENT POWER FOR DRAGON HAMMER