Whoever in Rocket thought that Aurelie Lefevre needed interrogation practice deserved to be shot. The smith hardly had a malicious bone in her body. If she accidentally hit someone with one of her many forge hammers, she would probably apologize profusely before offering them some bread as a way to smooth things over.

Forcing her to do this, even as practice, was cruel and degrading to her character. Unfortunately, Howard was in no position to contradict the orders of two of his fellow admins. They were his seniors, and they also had wizard powers.

It made for a deadly combination.

The thud of the history book rang out like a cannon blast. It caused the interrogation table to shudder under its weight, and the admin raised an eyebrow at the prisoner.

The admin looked terrible, almost as bad as the prisoner. His gaze was distant, his voice dry, his lips cracked. Dynergy poisoning was a toxic affair, and dealing with Regice's rampage in Dewford and Registeel's attack in the desert had not given the admin much time to heal.

I know this book from cover to cover. I can read it to you, word for word. Page four hundred and sixty four is about the Unification of Sinnoh. Page six hundred is about the dissolution of the Indigo Kingdom into Kanto and Johto. Page seventy-four is about ancient ironworking techniques."

His eye, looking beyond the room into the unknown, flicked down towards the prisoner.

"And we can make these lectures as riveting or as dull as you wish." He nodded enthusiastically at Aurelie, clearly oblivious to torture and interrogation. He was a scholar and she was a smith, after all. "Choose."

His words echoed hers.

---

Aurelie Lefevre

The blind led the blind. Combined, Howard and Aurelie's two eyepatches made for an excellent blindfold. Maybe that was the secret sauce to torture: sensory deprivation coupled with Galarian Civil War factoids.

It was enough to make the most hardened war criminal weep tears of defeat and beg for the torture to stop.

"Alright, I think he needs some convincing. If I may..." Howard plucked the textbook from the table, before quickly dropping it due to its weight. His arms trembled, the muscles incapable of keeping up with even this minor load. Without as much as blinking, the admin leaned down and peered at the book, letting the table do the work.

"Ahem." He coughed into his fist, lungs rattling about as he did so. "The Galarian Civil War is a subject as historically relevant as it is repetitive. Like many Galarian wars before and after, it can be attributed to the strain between Galar's Crown and the various nobles that made up the Parliament."

Remiel Calcifet was surely watching him right now, smiling.

Of course, to place the blame squarely at the foot of gross mismanagement of the Crown is an incorrect assumption. Consecutive failed harvests, years of harsh sunlight and rain made much farmland unusable as the land was stripped of its vigor..."

---

Aurelie Lefevre
PERSUADE

"While Galar knew much of soil rejuvenation and crop cycling at the time, it was by no means a quick or efficient process. Grass-type Pokémon became scarce over the course of years of drought, and those that remained were hidden away in castles or hidden deep in the forests..."

Howard read on, ignorant of Aurelie's concerns or her attempts to placate and reason with the League officer. A page turned as the admin continued to read from years of Galarian history.

His eye flickered for a moment as his vision dimmed.

"Eventually, one of the many kings from this long and lengthy war had his name scrubbed from history. Many legends blossomed forth from the king's exploits as he waged war on his rivals and contemporaries."

Flip. Flip. Flip. If Howard was the one being tortured, he would've folded in exchange for Aurelie's cooking. Even if he was bound to get a bullet to the head after the interrogation was over, it'd be better than being locked in one of Rocket's notorious cells for several years, before finally being liquidated to make room for the next prisoner of war.

How many former grunts sat in those cells? How many Isaac Merlos and Caleb Harcourts sat forgotten?

"I'd listen to her." The admin hummed as he flipped another page. "Just wait until we get to the Galarian Dark Ages. Everyone has a different account of that time, and they're all wrong. As I was saying, it is fortunate that humans have the capacity to tell stories beyond their own lifespans, lest much of this information would be lost. Perhaps that is the 'distinction' between people and Pokémon."

---

Aurelie Lefevre
PERSUADE

"When faced with pliers or a history lesson, I'd take the lesson every time. I don't blame him for folding, just as I don't blame Rocket for interrogating him. They were lucky you were the one questioning." The door creaked as they prepared to report to Mint. "You probably saved his life."

Cordiality was not a formality. It was a necessity, and it was one the duo abided by when they delivered Beast Frost's report. It was never enjoyable to share a space with the Mercurial.

Mint had inducted Howard into Rocket, after all. It would've been kinder to slip a knife between his ribs. It would've been kinder than letting the archaeologist become... what ever he was now. A war criminal? A monster? A misguided idealist? He wondered how Aurelie handled it, truly.

The destruction of Dewford did not weigh on her conscious. His karma was darker than hers. She was not meant to be here. Whoever had placed her on interrogation duty did not understand the smith. It was her duty to create, not to tear down.

He felt himself get twisted around limply. She was strong. He was not. The strength of a creator versus the weakness of a destroyer. His eye was flat as he regarded her, a streak of white hair tucked behind his ear.

This amount of concern was not warranted. It was undeserved.

"It..." He didn't want to admit that hardly anything stayed down. A month of recovery had barely gotten him back to functioning, and then one scuffle in the desert had brought him back to where he had started. "...doesn't matter. I'm taking care of myself. Promise."

He smiled as he lied, though it quickly slipped from his face. Aurelie's expression demanded answers, but those answers would likely lead to hate. Instead, they danced and played at secondary questions.

Instead, Aurelie mentioned food. It was her bridge with others. It was the one thing that every living being understood, and the blacksmith knew it better than most.

"I... what? What's gotten into you!?" He looked confused. Befuddled, even. Still, Howard said nothing. If anything, Aurelie's tone made the admin shrink slightly. Jayden would've ignored her. Barnaby would've graciously accepted. Fern would have laughed. "I have work to do! We're going to war, if you haven't noticed!"

His protests fell on deaf ears. Could she speak to him like this? Still, that dish sounded good. Better than liquids, at least. Hell, it was solid food. He hadn't had any in months.

"Yes, Aurelie." Howard sighed as she led him off. "I understand."

---

Aurelie Lefevre