Even if she didn't expect him to answer, he did all the same. It was an answer that she needed to hear.

"You will walk this path because you have been chosen, and because it must be done." It was not a path that Howard would walk. He did not walk the path of heroism, because it was not meant for him. Howard didn't walk the path of reconciliation because he was a coward. Nomi was not. This was her journey. "Each generation must face their own trial. This is ours, and it is one you must shoulder. Alone, if necessary."

She would shoulder it without the aid of the Pokémon League. She had offered a ceasefire, and it had been blown up in her face. The pink haired woman that Howard had worked with was gone, and the woman before him was what remained of Naomi Sato.

"I'm sorry, Nomi."

What apology could he offer her that would lighten the load she carried? There was little that the admin could do but walk that path alongside her, but he couldn't.

He just couldn't.

"Hm." He peered at the HBIC article with a frown, his eye scanning the page. It couldn't be... There was only one member of the HBIC that interested Howard. "Of course."

He threw down the paper in disgust. His voice reeked of contempt and scorn.

"Her."

---

Naomi Sato

PENELOPE LIVY.

PENELOPE LIVY. PENELOPE LIVY. PENELOPE LIVY. PENELOPE LIVY. PENELOPE LIVY. PENELOPE LIVY. PENELOPE LIVY. PENELOPE LIVY. PENELOPE LIVY. PENELOPE LIVY. PENELOPE LIVY. PENELOPE LIVY.

The corpse of Shred struck the ground, a charred corpse at the hands of his own Pokémon. A golem that never missed a shot in its entire life erred at the perfect moment. Her. She interfered with them both. The corpse of Shred struck the ground, flesh black and bubbling.

Hate. Hate. Hate.

The only envy he felt for the Coveted was the fact that she still drew breath. He was envious that she lived.

"She's not just touched by Ruination. She's also a massive bitch." The admin's tea trembled in his hand. It shook and vibrated with a barely constrained wroth. A Hyper Beam flashed before his eye. Screaming. His eye flicked to the blue Unown. "Sorry, Kallistatus. You didn't hear that."

He apologized to a messenger of a god for cursing. The region was truly falling apart.

"Met her down there too. Didn't go particularly well. I've come to the conclusion that cooperating with her is impossible." He had never sat down to talk with Penelope, but he knew that the councilwoman did not want for cunning. "You were outplayed."

In an oddly Rocket way, no less.

---

Naomi Sato

The Treasures of Ruin were hardly treasures, moreso curses in the shapes of treasure. They were demons in the guise of the artifacts that Howard coveted; windows into a future that he would never grasp without burning his hands on stains of karma.

"They were all chosen for a reason. They have an inflection to their souls." Elisabeth Fiorelli and jayden cross made Howard want to scream. It did not matter how vile Wo-Chien and Chien-Pao were, there had to be proper soil for vindication to blossom forth. Jayden and Elisabeth were marred. "It was not for their winning personalities."

It was easy to point at the Treasures of Ruin and call them devils on the shoulder, whispering and demanding more and more from their unknowing associates.

Still, when Howard saw Penelope Livy emerge from the bubbling pit of her battlefield in the Silent Icelands. Sitting here now, he came to a conclusion:

Chi-Yu hadn't soiled Penelope Livy.

Penelope Livy had soiled Chi-Yu.

Both were equally rotten.

"Funny. Your transformation reminds me of something I've heard." The admin regarded his colleague with a thoughtful stare. His fingers danced upon the table in an informal waltz. "Life is full if equivalent exchanges. The rage you felt towards her—the contempt in your soul—is much like equivalent exchange. You suffered, and through that suffering you changed."

The admin smiled.

"Be honest, Nomi." His look grew in intensity. "Is your collaboration with the League at an end?"

He suspected that he knew what she would say, even if he personally disagreed.

---

Naomi Sato

Not yet.

"Interesting. I disagree." For a multitude of reasons, but namely due to the interference of Penelope. Her existence was an obstacle, but she was a noxious node that would poison her colleagues and the government she represented. "But do not give up on your dream. See it through until the end. Until it's realized."

It would be difficult.

Impossible, even.

But Naomi Sato would have to chase that dream, lest she fall into despair.

Despite her abilities to bend reality, the Head Scientist could not change the hearts of anyone. If it was Penelope's dream to rip collaboration apart, then it would be a clash to see who was stronger.

"I believe in you, Nomi."

Collaboration was impossible. Rocket and League could not be reconciled. Years of war had poisoned that chalice, and now it overflowed with old grudges and curses that could never be rectified. Kanto hadn't forgotten, and neither had Johto. Why would Hoenn be any different?

If Nomi could not do it, then neither could Howard.

"One request." The admin held up a finger. "PENELOPE LIVY."

"Leave some justice for me."

---

Naomi Sato

"Thank you." Howard stood and clenched his fist. "You're right. What I'm asking for is cruel and unfair. We should be better than them, and yet..."

He began to shake, not with rage, but with sorrow. His eye immediately began to water, and from beneath his eyepatch tears flowed, welling around the Key Stone embedded in his eye socket. Every once in a while, he felt a phantom pain. A flash, as if his eye should be working.

This was one of those times.

"She almost killed my friend, Nomi. She tried to bury him with my own Pokémon. Then she mocked me. She mocked him."

League and Rocket would never ally while she held power. The only thing to do was to put her in the ground, and let the land whisper of her legacy. Penelope had to die. Justice would be fulfilled. In order to do that, he needed power. Might.

He would not lose their next confrontation.

"Her and Eternatus are my two enemies. They'll fall."

Nomi had proven his point. Collaboration was impossible. If she was willing to give him his pound of flesh, than Rocket and League's cycle of grudges would never conclude. It was time to flip the chess board. Restart. Start anew.

---

Naomi Sato

His hand recoiled slightly at the touch, but only for a moment.

Contact was good. Connections were good. In a perfect world, where Rocket was not thousands of people pulling in their own directions, bonds would be what tied them together. Instead, it was an ironclad hierarchy. To question the decisions of Walsh when he could be behind every shadow as akin to suicide.

Still, moments like this made it tolerable.

"Of course. You know me, Nomi. Can't do much alone." He lied to her as he wiped the tears from his face with one hand. "The moment will come. All we have to do is wait."

The Visionary could see the grander scale of this war, but that great sight came at a consequence. Smaller actions were difficult to perceive. Nomi was the Visionary because she saw the right path to take.

In this moment, he couldn't help but feel that Naomi Sato was cripplingly blind.

"I should go."

---

Naomi Sato

The letter H. The choice in Unown was not lost on Howard. He smiled wryly as he inspected it. Not blue, like the black prevalent in the many thousands that existed within this world. Nowadays, the species was a commodity.

A gift wrapped in a shroud. It was an honor to be within the Visionary's sight, but it was also a curse. Howard would never have a free moment again. Anything he did would be under the watchful eye of Naomi Sato. It was through the gaze of the Unown that Rocket had learned of Kyle's fall.

Hopefully Howard would not repeat the Top Champion's mistake.

"I'm glad. Thanks, Nomi." Howard tapped his Unown with a forefinger. "Come along, little one. I have a file cabinet that you might fit in."

In protest, the Unown poofed out of existence and into hiding, though Howard suspected that it was still watching. Instead, he turned to Nomi as he grasped at the door handle.

"Keep moving forward. Don't look back." The door creaked open. "We'll win, no matter what. Against the DRK Triad, against the Pokémon League, against Eternatus. We will have our moment to walk in the sun."

Howard Slayte walked off to die, leaving the Head Scientist behind.

---

Naomi Sato