"Your pa seems like a smart man, little lady."

Somewhere far away, Chu-e Choi stirred from his vice-filled slumber. Howard tried to avoid cursing, but it was getting harder and harder with the constantly increasing workload as a member of Rocket. Between overseeing supplies and working at the museum in Slateport, Howard's free time was vanishing.

"In the director's commentary, they apparently got a special pass to go to a reserve full of Pokémon restored from fossils." Howard munched on his popcorn, a mantra that aided in his criticism of the film. "They probably focused more on the art direction than the accuracy."

Shirley's eye opened as she peered at Reiner. Was this furry foe trying to upstage her in loving their trainer?

Unacceptable.

"Little lady! It's just a movie!" Howard shouted.

---

Eris Halla

"Ah, see. Another rookie mistake from the director. Cranidos can only run down straight hallways. They handle corners notoriously poorly."

Eris was right. Howard placed himself as the highest authority in the Aerodactyl community. Shirley was the best Aerodactyl in the world, and no others compared to her sheen, her intellect, and her ferocity. She was at the top percentage of Aerodactyl, and Howard had all the factoids to prove it. Nobody in Rocket could prove him wrong, at least. The only other archaeologist was too busy running the organization to contest him.

On the screen, someone with Howard's hat appeared, only to whisper 'clever girl' and get devoured by Tyrunts.

Shirley snorted, before moving up to lick Howard's face, as if showing how much better of a Pokémon she was to Reiner. Howard scratched her head affectionately, and she returned to his lap, satisfied.

"Look! We're coming up on the Tyrantrum scene."

---

Eris Halla

Very rarely did he get to flex his knowledge on Tyrantrum diets.

"Nah, they lived in vastly different climates. Tyrantrum feasted on Bastiodons and other quadrupedal species. It's too cold where Amaura live for them to thrive."

Before the war, it was hard to imagine where an Amaura might live for the average Hoennian. It was always temperate and mild in the tropical region. Only recently had snowstorms and other obscene weather conditions caused widespread disaster across the region and introduce Hoenn to the meaning of the word 'cold'.

"The ancient world was rough, kiddo. Eris Hallas would've gotten devoured by an Armaldo or a Cradily. I'll be honest, though. it's probably safer several million years ago compared to modern Hoenn."

Another character tried to stand still as a Tyrantrum prowled through its container, sniffing them out. Without movement, the dinosaur couldn't see the character.

---

Eris Halla

"Yep! I know a lot about archaeology! I'm the foremost Aerodactyl expert in the whole wide world!"

He seemed oddly proud of this one vague fact, as if he hadn't spent tens of thousands of PD to get an education, only to get into an extraordinarily high amount of debt. It was vaguely sad that he now used that expensive education to nitpick Jurassic Pokepark, one of the finest movies of its generation.

Well, besides using it to bond with Shirley, of course. He scratched her ear.

"What kind of question is that? The Elite Four has a Groudon, and that scares me way more than an Armaldo. They're fearsome predators, but I'm more scared of land."

A pack of Armaldo were more likely to hunt Howard down, though. There was a high chance that Groudon would simply ignore Howard, deeming him too small and irrelevant to fight. Primal hunting instinct triumphed over primordial divinity.

---

Eris Halla