"I have a colleague who has some theories on why the Tera Crystals appear in the areas that they do, but nothing concrete as of yet....They're a Geologist....You might even get along with them." Came the joke, he doubted these two would ever actually meet, if only because howard slayte was kept busy with a literal mountain of paperwork at all times. There wasn't much in the way for him to get out, and do anything that often.

At some point Amor had promised to help him train in battling so he could properly utilize the golem under his control, and he wanted to use Erebus to get a better grasp of the capabilities of his own legend. Perhaps together they could both find out if they were truly worthy, or just victims of happenstance.

"No footprints yet, but with how large it is, it won't be long." Another pokeball opened up, and a Dragapult appeared. "Scout....Return when you find something." The ghostly dragon sank into the shadows of the earth, vanishing from sight. "Between your Zubat, and my dragon....We should have it's locale sooner rather than later."

Preston Fugu

"I doubt it."

He had never met a geologist that he liked. Most of them loved to blab about some random rock they found on the side of the road. The only rock that Preston was interested in was salt, and only in quantities that improved the taste of the dish.

Sharp eyes inspected the horizon of the Giant Chasm. There was nothing of note, barring the occasional strange bird flying overhead. Green, Tera Crystals, and more green. This place would've been good to settle a thousand years ago. Maybe it still would be, once the war was over. Rocket and League had destroyed thousands of homes over the course of battle.

The chance to rebuild was a blessed one. Not everyone got such an opportunity. The only homes the deceased had to offer were those for the worms.

Ironically, it wasn't the Zubat or a dragon that found the tracks, but the chef himself.

"Got it." Preston pointed at an indent in the ground about seventy yards away. "Over there. Tracks."

He started to run towards the hints of the Raging Bolt.

---

Amor Rose

"Maybe you're right....Regardless...." His thoughts were cut off as he saw the man rush towards tracks, and so he followed him. Comparing the tracks with the brief glimpse he got of the creature within his memory he just looked around. It would appear that the intel he got from Yuina Higashi wasn't all fluff. It seemed that this particular creature did reside in the bottom of the Chasm, and now that he had confirmation of that perhaps he would send her a bouquet of flowers to both thank her, and apologize to her.

"Well if it's nearby....Be on your guard." He said to the man, and soon his Dragapult came back to him lifting up from the shadows like a ghost of the damned, and it pointed it's tail northward of them. "IT would appear our prey is nearby....I would recommend you staying back your Tentacruel won't be much use in it's current state....Maybe we'll find some Cheri Berries on the way to cure it." It was hopeful, but at the same time he didn't know how lucky they would get in there current state of being.

Preston Fugu

The chef knelt near the footprint and peered at it. He knew little about tracking creatures, but he could tell that this track was moderately fresh. Preston frowned as he looked at his hand. It trembled slightly as the chef got back to his feet and turned towards Amor.

"It's close, but not too close. Be on your guard, Seraphim." Preston's eyes narrowed as he led Amor to track after track. "Cheri Berries grow in these climates. I've seen a few bushes, but not since the rock slide."

If the chef knew one thing, it was food. Any foodstuff he came across automatically brought a recipeto mind. When Amor's Dragapult slipped from shadow, Preston thought about to best prepare it as a dish. Salt. Pepper. Dash it with spice. Getting a fresh Dragapult was difficult, and he didn't want to try his luck against the dragon.

"Over that ridge. It's probably in that valley up ahead." Preston said as they approached a ridge. "So. Why?"

---

Amor Rose

At least his companion at this point in time was competent, and he was thankful for it.

"If they grow here, then we are in luck....We'll keep a lookout for them." He agreed with Preston, and with his dragon back at his side he felt a bit more comfortable.

"Why what? Why did I save you?" Amor replied to the other man with a tilt of his head, and he just let out a chuckle, and shrugged. "I'm not a murderer despite what you, and all yours think....It's beneath me to stoop that low, and I have much bigger fish to fry than all of you." He said to him with a shrug as they continued on.

"When you've been in this place as long as I have....You start to realize that Rocket, League....None of it really matters in the grand scheme of things. So as long as the person I'm against doesn't try to kill me I return that kindness that's all." For him it was that simple. Whether it was believed or not was a totally different story.

Preston Fugu

"Bigger fish? I know plenty about grilling bigger fish." Preston frowned at Seraphim. "I know more about Rocket, though."

He seemed to be frowning more and more as the adventure went on. Being near the Rocket was disgusting, but Preston was also aware of the fact that you needed to cooperate with your foes in order to succeed in life. Dealing with the unbearable was what separated men from meat, humankind from beasts, League from Rocket.

"So you're a beast. A Rocket Beast." Preston spat into the dirt as they hiked up the ridge. His Zubat flew in the sky above them, before screeching as it returned to Preston's shoulder. "You lot have improved since Kanto. Now that you have resistance here in Hoenn, you have to improve or die."

Beast. Head Scientist. Admin. It didn't matter in the end.

"So you've never murdered someone? Ever? Not for Rocket? For yourself? You're completely clean?"

---

"Perhaps I'll come to your kitchen one day then....Not dressed like this though...." He said with a laugh, and at the mans question of him being a beast. "No....I'm not a Beast....Though I like to think I'm more than a match for any of them should push come to shove. There are a couple of them who would give me trouble though...." Zev Harcourt came to mind, but he didn't voice that out loud.

"I'm one of Rocket's Top Scientists....I just don't like to be incapable of taking care of myself, and having my life be at the whim of another who may be incompetent." That was the truth, that, and the twenty years of training that he had endured at the hands of Walter. Amor was more capable than he let on, but to show off his hand all at once would defeat the purpose of it all.

"Ah now that is an interesting question....I said I would never kill someone on the battlefield who wasn't trying to kill me....But I've killed one man with my bare hands...." He said to Preston simply. "It was either him or me, and there was no alternative...." That was the unvarnished truth.

"That is my only victim if you even want to call them that."

Preston Fugu

"Top Scientist? You've got a high opinion of yourself if you think you can take a beast on your own."

That, or the average beast meant little nowadays. The ones who had waged war in Kanto had been weapons of war. They didn't have crazy powers or the patronage of Legendary Pokémon, but they were cruel and vindictive and capable of malice beyond the capabilities of the average human being.

Rocket scientists were similar. They acted out of their own personal interest for their respective fields. In Kanto, the biggest scientists were those who figured out how to kill as many people with as little effort. War. Battle. Carnage. An eternal cycle.

"Murderer." The word was simple, marred by scorn. It was a definition. "We're both killers now, eh?"

Silence.

"Right over this ridge. Are you ready?" Preston returned his Zubat to his Pokeball. "Soon, this will be over. Vengeance."

---

Amor Rose

"I suppose we are...." At the other mans announcement he simply nodded this would be the moment where Amor gathered another powerful pawn to his side in order to battle whatever it was that he thought was coming. Little by little he had increased his power, it wasn't as drastic as gaining an avatarship, but with this slow, and steady pace he felt he had closed the gap significantly from when he had first set foot into this region.

It had been a large gap at first, and slowly it had shrank, and with the acquisition of this new beast it would shrink even further. Steadily over the past few years he had done this to great effect. Now everything was starting to bear fruit.

"I am as prepared as I will ever be, just don't get yourself killed." He stated simply to the man. "We have a battle to finish after all...." Though chances of them actually finishing it were slim, Amor wasn't here to defeat some nameless peon. He was here for these newly awakened dragons....

Preston Fugu