The admin made a point to not roll his eye at Barnaby and Jayden's lack of pickle knowledge.

"Calyrex did a lot of listening, not much talking. I taught it about Galarian royal policy for four hours. Said nothing the whole time."

The admin blinked once, as if the sentence he just uttered was perfectly reasonable. It was, to an extent. He had lectured Calyrex for hours upon hours. With Howard's predecessor comfortably sitting with the League, there were few in Rocket who knew Galar's history as well as Howard.

Unfortunately, that meant that Howard's successor was probably teaching Calyrex all sorts of delightful things.

Joy.

"Eternatus. The king has outlawed Dynamax within Sootopolis. I suspect it has done the same for Ever Grande." The admin wasn't in the Galarian dream, but he had derived its purpose from hazy accounts and the ancient runes that were etched into the Island Cave. "Regice has activated. We should assume the worst, that Eternatus is rousing."

An eerie thought. Necrozma was responsible for much devastation, and Eternatus was far worse. At least Rocket had a leash on Necrozma, for now.

"I've heard that Calyrex issued a royal proclamation for us. It will likely help in the war against Eternatus. The future is fucked, anyway. All we can do is prepare."

The admin made a face.

"Dynamax will likely prove unreliable. Everytime we get involved with it, we get burned."

---

fern delaney jayden cross BARNABY FINCH

The admin unceremoniously scratched his chin, his hat slightly askew. He looked unsurprised at the responses of his colleagues regarding the crisis of Dynergy. The issue would not become apparent to them until it threatened to drown them like a dark tide.

All but him experienced the poisoned sky from Galar. It seemed that none remembered.

Maybe they simply didn't care.

"I am simply advising caution. A well-positioned Dynamaxed Pokémon can level an entire city block with ease. Use it if you must, but know that the technique is a hammer." Howard lounged about with frivolous casualness, his eye gleaming with an inner light. "You can build a house..."

Howard leaned forward, interlocking his fingers.

"...or crack a skull." He focused in on the list of grunts. When Grigori was mentioned, Howard's lip twitched. "We should teach the other grunts to replicate those you listed. We will never be able to outpace the League in terms of manpower. Therefore, we must be better."

Quality over quantity.

---

fern delaney jayden cross BARNABY FINCH

Tera Crystals were a cancer, and cancers were unfortunately difficult to excise. Yet they were a problem, and as they grew beneath their feet, the land shifted to compensate. Islands sprung up, ruins shifted, and the land continued to bend.

All of Hoenn's problems had begun once otherworldly threats had gotten involved. The war between Rocket and its foes was human nature, but the Three Days War had been an anomaly, Land and Sea Hoenn had been consigned to history's scrap heap, and Meteno was a farce.

It was all so draining. Of course Fern's first response to it was to flip the board. All Barnaby cared about was the net gain and how to bring power to heel. Being burned by fire hadn't lessened humanity's appetite to tame it.

Can't destroy it, sure, but we can drag down its source and hack it apart. If Dynergy has a source, then so does the Terastal phenomenon. It's a shame we can't excise it now, but..." The admin shrugged. "Our time will come."

And if the promised time was too far away, they'd simply force it into their near future.

"Right, Jayden?"

---

jayden cross BARNABY FINCH fern delaney