"Because they want something." Howard shrugged. "But what can we give a god?"

Patronage. Purpose. Blessings. There were hundreds of religions over millennia and epochs, each dedicated to some Pokémon or person that eventually stripped away what had made the messiah special. In Unova, Volcarona were praised as gods of the sun, and were given blessings in response to saving mankind from swaths of volcanic ash.

When had Volcarona stopped being a Pokémon, and when had it become something more?

"I don't know Xerneas. Kalosian myth isn't my forte. All you can do is be better." The admin raised an eyebrow. "For Rocket. For Xerneas. For yourself. You'll be on the battlefield when war starts, I hope?"

No matter how Bryan improved, he would always be a member of Rocket. Such a notion stunted his growth, but even a frail tree could reach towards the sun.

"Show the League the sanctity of life by displaying how easily you can strip it away."

---

bryan delarosa

"If the League takes Sootopolis, then it will be because of a bold stroke that nobody will expect." Howard waggled a finger, blissfully free with the fact that he was not chosen. His life was his own, and he planned to keep it that way. "Our walls are high. The League is scattered. If they unify, we're fucked. All we can do is hope that the lumbering colossus is too slow to tighten its grip."

The levers of democracy were not easily pushed, but all an adept individual would have to do was put all of their political weight onto one of those levers and simply push.

Humans loved their patterns.

"But I'm glad that you're going to defend Sootopolis. I was thinking about hiding in my office. Not much of a fighter." The admin's eye fell upon the former Lifebringer. "Feel better?"

---

bryan delarosa

"Ha." His voice was as dry as the desert. His eye stared beyond the skyline. "Nah."

He blew a plume of smoke into the air, unblinking. Xerneas, huh? Shred would've appreciated that, probably. He could heal his burns, reforge his body, reap the benefits of the biased nature of life to rid himself of the scars he had earned when he rose from the ashes.

Alas.

"It'd be nice. I could fuck off, spend my time studying fossils and whatnot, studying history. Learning everything about this world we live in, until there are no more secrets, but..." He blinked again. Bryan's drop in strength placed him above much of Rocket, even now.

A memory flashed in his mind.

"I don't deserve it."

---

bryan delarosa

"Yet in the end, you were worthy." His voice was contemplative. Wistful in its thoughtfulness. "You were the Lifebringer. To that title, I say 'farewell and good day'. Keep it if you wish or toss it aside."

When Bryan admits his flaw, all Howard can do is shake his head in bemusement. It was a mocking demeanor, but what else was there to say?

Bryan Delarosa was a selfish man.

"You erred by going after Xerneas, then. Not everything gets to live, but everything dies. Death is indiscriminate, and it doesn't care. When you chased after life, you were fundamentally selfish." Howard frowned and waggled his finger. "That is your biggest flaw."

---

bryan delarosa

The 'Shit on Bryan Bandwagon' had already trampled the Rocket Beast into the ground.

"I don't know. I guess I'm just... judging." Howard let out a soft laugh. "Frankly, I'm trying to figure out where you fit in this act of human history. Whether you were a good Avatar or not, whether you were wise or not. You're an enigma that I'm struggling into weave into the grand tapestry of history."

The admin scratched his head and huffed, irritated at the struggle. Yet there was a quality to the struggle that Howard did not loathe.

"I'm judging you for your failures and praising your victories. Few have more than you." The Rocket Beast's long history with Team Rocket spoke for that in spades. "Regardless of what I say, no matter how foolish your pursuit is, no matter what you've done..."

"...I will never mock you for pursuing what's important to you."

Silence followed. After a moment, Howard rose and yawned.

"You want to be alone? I'll leave the bottle."

---

bryan delarosa