The man was serious about his exploration of the Chasm, taking what important things they could bring from the lab onto the new rocky and crystalline caverns they traversed. Laurence steadied his feet as he walked, keeping himself a few personal feet away from Howard, but enough to be able to launch into action in case something went awry. This place was teeming with life, much different than what he could only observe through the footage the cameras allowed, rather with them going about their journey on foot, it allowed for them to get up close to what nature had to offer. 

"No need to remind me."

Laurence quietly replied back, his eyes on the lookout for the subject of their trek. An Iron Moth. They'd been solitary creatures from what they had discussed earlier, rather than group up like many native Volcarona had done, these oddities made it their mission to almost separate themselves as much as possible...That was why they had gone out themselves. 

"Got it, judging by the where the rays of sun are hitting, we shouldn't be too far off...I noticed they tended to find themselves always following what I could only think were heat sources, almost as if they used them."

He'd mutter, the notes coming to him as they continued.

---

0N|2OleX
howard slayte

"If you say so. I'm not well versed in machines. It's not my specialty."

He had never been good at machines. Past and future did not mix in that way. Old technology was far more his speed, but even the Legendary Golem Regice was difficult for him to understand. He did not know how it worked, but he understood the basic process behind its design.

How it moved, how it acted, what it wanted. Dynergy was its beating heart that caused it to move.

Iron Moths, though? That was far beyond his comprehension.

"I will try my best to defeat it for you. I'm not very good as a trainer, but an Iron Moth should be easy enough." The admin's voice was casual, as if concealing his mediocrity came second.

"Are you good in a fight, doctor? Do doctors train their Pokémon for battle?"

---

Laurence Whateley
ACQuWN9J

"A machine? Don't tell me you think that you think these things are machines..."

The thought of the Pokémon he'd researched being a machine had crossed his mind only as a sort of cruel joke, a twisted theory that while it had some evidence, the evidence had felt stretched and unreasonable. People couldn't make Pokémon, or well, normal people couldn't...

"That is fine, though I would have guessed that you'd be a lot more adept in battling than some trainer...What, Rocket doesn't give out training sessions? As for me, I have a few Pokémon that may be able to help out, I'll admit that they may not help in the medical aspect of my job, but in a pinch, they'll provide support."

And it was with that, Laurence went and grabbed his Pokéball, preemptively keeping it on hand. 

"Back to what you said, you think they're machines, don't you...It would make sense, but there are still some holes in the idea of that. And what about mankind's collective unconsciousness, you're telling me that we thought of weapons? We made weapons?"

---

O9jTbZoq
howard slayte

"Of course we did." The admin looked at Laurence with a frown. "You didn't think we would? Look at Rocket. Look at League. We're good at making weapons to kill each other, and not much else."

War was mankind's one and only constant that could be consistently relied upon. If someone had something that another wanted, they would kill for it. Only in a relatively peaceful world had this been refuted, and words were used over blades.

Then the war had continued, and weapons were made. Dynamax. Terastalization. Mega Evolution. They were used for battle. Was it surprising that mankind had made weapons from their basest desires?

"You're more optimistic than I thought. Man is good for killing one another, and we're good at self-improvement. It's why I hate these Tera Crystals. They're redundant."

---

Laurence Whateley
6RXvltGU

Of course we did.

Howard had said it so casually as if he were asking such obvious and noteworthy questions. 

Of course we did.

That collective we made Laurence pause, he didn't do anything. He didn't create such a thing, no, that was them. They were making weapons to kill one another, they did this, and Laurence and his child had simply been forced to live in the crossfire of it. 

Of course they did.

Laurence bit his lip, this was war. He was upset, but Howard had been upfront about it when he first opened the position of joining Rocket. He knew what he had gotten into, for living in the crossfire still meant he had to do something. And he was right, mankind was only good for a few things, and self-improvement...Self-sustainment was the part of it they clung to.  

"So, these things are the means of how we plan on going to war then...And while I haven't seen any of them out in Sootopolis, I assume that League has their hands on them too?" 

His question had come out as more something he knew he could answer as if he were just asking whatever part of him still denied the idea of war. Surely League wouldn't have gotten as far as it has had they not already had them. 

Of course they did.

---

howard slayte
|aweYdf7

"They're in Sootopolis, you just don't see them. They've overrun the Cave of Origin. Tera Crystals are unreliable. They are no man's friend. Dynamax, on the other hand..."

The admin let the topic linger. Dynamax was the power bestowed onto Galar and Hoenn by Eternatus during a great battle a thousand years ago. Wishing Stars dotted the land of Galar long ago, and their power had turned Pokemon into giants. That power had almost destroyed the world.

The League had brought it back by building Power Spots.

"It's partially my fault, but there is nothing to be done. We've escalated the war. We'll finish it."

The admin looked at the footprints on the ground and followed them through the brush, hacking branches from brush and bushes to lead the way through the wilderness. After a moment, the admin stopped and held up a hand to stop the doctor from moving any further.

"Odd. The tracks end."

---

Laurence Whateley
VVmELbqk

So both parties were good at hiding their evidence, just because they were out of sight did not mean they were out of mind. He should have expected that from the group, there were still plenty of things he hadn't known about that somehow, Rocket had seemed to uncover. This shouldn't have come as a surprise. 

"I heard Dynamax was dangerous for Pokémon but I'm sure both you and League know that as well. Death was almost certain of a Pokémon who was not ready for it."

Another statement rather than question. Stating it wouldn't have changed that both of the groups could have done such without a second doubt, especially if their backs were against the wall, and with how the talk of Power Spots becoming ever so popular in the Rocket-Free cities, he could have seen such a thing becoming much more of a problem in the foreseeable future. Howard's confession made little 
of the situation, much like Laurence's questions, whether he was admitting it to get some sort of absolution from it, or to ask for mercy, Laurence couldn't do much for it. 

"It is all of your faults. Partially or not, you've now marked yourselves. If what you said is right, then League would kill anyone indiscriminately... Doesn't matter now anyways, the only thing you can do is fix it like you said."

He quietly let a breath when he said it. Yeah, fixing it. It'd be easier said than done. With the abrupt stop, Laurence went silent, looking at the tracks that they'd been following for the past third of an hour or so...The way that it'd been cut off from the others, as if the pokemon had simply vanished entirely. 

"It does have wings, could it have simply flown off?"

The companion would ask, trying to grasp for a good reason as to why they tracks would have gone cold. 

---

hc6_icM6
howard slayte

"Paradox Pokémon tend to travel in packs. I was assuming that an Iron Moth would be following these tracks here, but they've just ended."

Annoying, but not unheard of. Tracks ended for a slew of reasons, such as an upturning of dirt, the passing of time, or simply stepping onto grass or stone. Tracks were nice to follow, but they were unreliable occasionally. It wasn't like Howard had anything to track the scent. He left his Mabosstiff back at base.

"It's not just dangerous. Dynamax is deadly. I've seen it kill wild Pokemon mid-transformation." Howard thought back to his adventures with Josh Devlin , where a Toxtricity had overloaded with Dynamax energy. "It kills anything that lacks a Dynamax Band, with once exception."

The one exception was at his belt.

Hoenn had lost the ability to weaponize Dynamax years ago, barring the Legendary Giants. Now that they were reactivating, it was as if the region's past was mobilizing in defense of the future.

Ironic.

"These tracks disappearing, though. It's not rocky in the area, so..." The admin's voice trailed off. Tracks could also disappear if the Pokémon disappeared.

Like if something had killed it.

A shadow appeared behind the admin that he didn't see. A long neck stretched above the plant life, towering over the admin. He continued to inspect the ground unknowingly.

---

Laurence Whateley
HzXTTde2

"I guess I can't say that I'm surprised, the articles about Gigantimaxing Pokémon almost seem...unreal, in a way. However, I guess with the technology we have, I would have thought that all could survive such a thing."

Gigantimax had been recently talked about among all of Hoenn, an innovative method of research that scientists both professional and unprofessional alike had wanted to explore, and once those lucky enough had gotten their hands on it, truly boomed...Laurence couldn't remember the last time he'd gone about his workday without someone speaking about the popularity of it.

Howard's comment on the tracks had Laurence baffled too, he had seen that the Iron Moth had glaring wings, each a perfect replica of the other, and while they did seem to fly, it was truly odd that the tracks could come to an end so abruptly. Laurence moved forward, behind Howard to hopefully see if he could get a look at the strange disappearance of the Iron Moth trail as well...

"Well, Pokémon don't just vanish from thin air, so there could only be a few conclusions...Either the thing truly did fly away or--"

He hadn't finished his sentence when the doctor's eyes drew towards something rising, the length of it casting a lithe shadow that seemed to grow with every silent second before the cry sounded out, attempting to deafen the duo. Laurence turned around and stumbled back, almost tripping over his two feet as he had to raise his head to meet the majestic Pokémon that loomed over them both, another anomaly had approached them...One likely causing the strange disappearance of their previous target. Raging Bolt.

"Shit, Howard!" 

---

caKgI8HR
howard slayte