walter delmar's ship was comforting, even if its guise was a lie.

The way it rocked, the way the waves crashed against it as it cut through the night, the sounds of distant shouts and barked orders ringing through the ship's hull. The captain ran a tight ship, and that included the many grunts sequestered within her gut. They were coils rolled tightly, and soon they would snap.

Dewford would not be ready. The night would be their cover.

"Rookie." Howard echoed as he looked through a porthole. The scenic windows would be high above, where Walter sailed the ship. Down here, a passing glimpse of ocean spray was a break from the tedium of sea travel. "That's me."

Admin Fox and Howard Slayte were two different people, after all. He didn't know how Hitoshi hadn't figured out who he was, yet, but he didn't particularly care. Being a grunt again was fun. It reminded him of a time where he had freedom from Rocket, before he became an admin stuck in a shitpit of nonsense.

Besides, Black Dog was a cool name. Between him and Fox, there was a menagerie onboard this ship.

"Navy's tough. I don't even think our Rocket Beast is gonna be able to beat him." Shred was here as a formality, as a man Howard could trust. His rank inspired fear, even if it was fear cast by a far larger shadow. It would do, though. Think you can beat the sheriff, Hitoshi?"

---

Hitoshi Inoue

The whole world exists in the turn of the cards. Every fortune of every man exists within these patterns. Men and animals thinking they are men gather around the table, play their games in solitude or with others of their kin. Hearts align with hearts, red with black, black with red. Time passes, and a hungering, malevolent blade floats out, looking at sea.[break]
"The trick with good men is ya don't fight 'em." He offers a simple explanation, the sort of thing only an evil creature, or at least something that understands, could say. "The guy likes the folks in this town. Hold one of 'em at Kartana point, get the jump on him, and ya won't even have to fight him."[break]
But, he thinks as he draws another card from the deck, that doesn't answer the question.[break]
"But if he pulled out his Urshifu, he might give me a little trouble."

"You're a heartless man, Hitoshi." For a man whose intelligence meandered between two and three digits, Hitoshi could be awfully cruel. A black soul for a Black Dog. This was the average soldier in Rocket. This was what the bulk of their forces consisted of. "Fox's orders were clear: no civilian casualties."

Hitoshi wouldn't listen to Howard, but Admin Fox seemed to hold more appeal to the grunt. Why? Was Howard really that different when he represented the title?

Of course he was. It had changed him.

"Putting civvies into the line of fire isn't the plan." Not that anyone knew the plan, besides causing chaos in the small island town while Howard did his work. "We're just..."

His eye twitched.

"...stalling for time."

---

Hitoshi Inoue

"Wouldn't kill people without cause, Rookie." Only that rouses him to look fully from his cars, up to the man with whom he shares the deck. Something approaching offense plays at the corner of his lips, in the amber glint of his mutt eyes. "It ain't professional." And, too late, he learned the value of lives. His dreams are still haunted in some dark corners by the ghost of a little girl, in the wrong place and time, slain by a Kartana's keen edge.[break]
"But if I had t'take out yer sheriff, that's how I'd do it. Only an idjit would hear 'bout a guy who goes 'round callin' himself a fightin' master and say 'oh yeah, that guy, I'm gonna fight him!" He chides the man as if this should be obvious.[break]
"'Sides. It ain't about whether I kill the civvie or not. What matters is he thinks I'd kill 'em." The dog taps his temple and flashes a toothy grin. "It's all in the head! You should try chess sometime!"

"That so?"" Doubt plagues his voice as he looks out through the porthole. A Gorebyss splashes by in the ocean's inky blackness, only visible due to its vibrant pink color. I suppose you're right."

He's playing with Navy's thoughts even now. The sheriff will see his town burn and struggle to contain the damage. He will be distracted, complacent, even as he descends into the Ultra Deep Sea to confront the admin. Yet he is not buying Navy's complete idiocy.

Instead, he's buying time.

Even now, he's playing chess. They're all playing chess. Regice is simply a piece that has reached the end of the board, on the verge of promotion and ascension. Soon, it will be promoted to queen. If the other Legendary Giants will not rouse themselves to Hoenn's defense, he will simply use what is available.

"I didn't know you played, Hitoshi." Howard's lips twitched upward. "Do you know the history of chess?"

---

Hitoshi Inoue

"Can't say I do, Rookie." The dog returns to his game, seeing with some contentment that he's managed to win. One game of solitaire seems enough for now. Grabbing his shadowed sword from the air, he leaps onto the open deck, practicing his swing. The material he favors for these operations, in the past, were heavy cloth affairs. All it took was one false step and he tripped on his own clothing. Black tactical gear is far more practical, even leaving his veins exposed for the Hasegawa Muramasa's pleasure.[break][break]
"Tell me 'bout it." He swings his blade. Little does the dog suspect the landmine he has stumbled upon. All he thinks he is doing is helping a fellow Rocket grunt out, giving him something, anything to think about besides the battle.

A deep sigh followed, and the admin tucked his chin against his chest.

"In Galar, Copperajah are popular Pokémon to use for construction and labor. They weigh several tons, can lift several more, and have the power to terraform the land. They're as iconic to Galarian culture as Dynamax and mediocre food. They're not from Galar, though. They're imported from a region called..." The admin chuckled to himself and waved off the statement. "You wouldn't have heard of it. Chess comes from there."

Chess. The game with forty-eight pieces on the board that are pitted against each other with the sole purpose of victory. It is a game of skill and mental fortitude, because the game is perfectly balanced. There is an optimal answer to everything.

Finding that optimal answer and thinking far enough ahead was crucial to success.

So many people boasted of their ability to control the region of Hoenn as their chessboard. It was as if they misunderstood the concept of chess from the word go.

Yet still, chess was associated with master plans, even though many plans were forged by rigging the board. Howard had flipped most of Navy's pieces from the board before their game had begun.

That would not stop Howard, though.

It's... not the same game that they played in that region during its inception. It changed." Howard's lip twitched. "Funny."

---

Hitoshi Inoue

"It's a lot like Shogi. Wonder if Johto folks and guys from that region yer talkin' bout ever met up. Exchanged ideas." He paces, looking out across the water. Dewford is close. Admin Fox will soon make his address. The mission will start, and as the kids would say, asses will be kicked. It's good work. Not honest, for little that Rocket does is ever honest, but it's good.[break][break]
"Y'know, I was never much of a Pokemon battler back in Johto. Never really saw the point of it. It feels a lot more like chess than a swordfight. Always tryin' t'figure out what yer Pokemon will do while you just fight from the sideline. Ain't no way to fight, but it's how everyone here fights. I miss just gettin' t'cut people up, but that ain't how the world works..."[break][break]
He says the words with a sigh.[break][break]
"This Redsson guy's yer friend, right? Got this look in yer eye. Same one I see in the mirror when I think 'bout fightin' Senpai."

"He is." That and more. That and less. Still, it was a good enough comparison for what Howard was about to do. He'd stab Navy in the back, and leave him lifeless on the floor as Mandibuzz picked at his warm body. "And I'm going to betray him."

Silence followed.

It was a long minute as Howard sorted through his feelings. Was it really a betrayal? Navy had skirted his duty, shut down when Kyle died, and left Hyakkaryōran Tsubaki in charge of Dewford as its Gym Leader.

What a joke.

He had left the Ultra Deep Sea in the hands of a sympathetic jailor. Soon, the gates to Eternatus's innards would rattle in the wind, open, with all of its inhabitants flooding this world.

He would stop that now while returning Regice to its proper place on the totem pole.

"I don't know much about Pokémon Battles. I tend to just let my Pokémon do whatever they want. Sometimes they win, sometimes they lose." Most of the time, he just threw Regice at his opponent and let the construct turn them into ash and cooked meat. "Can't lose a battle if you chop off their arms, yeah?"

He laughed, as if Navy couldn't beat Howard with one arm, his teeth, and his menagerie of dragons.

"I'll be back. We're almost in Dewford." Howard rose. "See you on the battlefield."

Doubtful.

He left Hitoshi behind.

---

Hitoshi Inoue