His hobbies didn't suck. They were enlightening and unique ways to learn about the world. Aurelie Lefevre enjoyed discussing forging techniques, jayden cross loved talking about swords, and fern delaney enjoyed attempting to outwit the admin with his imitations.

No, his hobbies were cool as shit. It was Hitoshi Inoue, the guy who couldn't figure out that Howard was Admin Fox, who was the problem.

"Keep polishing, Hitoshi. These fossils and gems won't shine themselves, and Fox doesn't have to pay you for your time." Technically, Howard didn't have to pay anyone. Most of Rocket's salaries were his to disperse as the man in charge of logistics. Normally he paid grunts extra for their trouble, but Hitoshi had annoyed him. "Hop to it."

Hitoshi Inoue, ever the service dog.

"Oh, now that is marvelous." Howard's eye sparkled. The sheathe, the cloth...! Is that a Honedge's cloth I see? Where'd you find this one, Hitoshi?"

---

Hitoshi Inoue

"Huh...talkin' like that..." He cocks his head but obeys the given order. Neither hands cease their course around and around the fossil, which grins up at him in reflected lamplight. It is carefully set down and replaced by quartz. Some might wonder whether quartz is a mineral or a rock, but the dog would sooner die than be baited into asking that question.[break]
"Makes me wonder if you've had chocolate cake, or if Admin Fox had Paldea. Take it from me, man. Our bosses ain't goin' nowhere. Promotion in Rocket's hard as hell t'get. Dak Barcode had t'carry a man under each arm through a minefield for his." Which isn't true. "Bear Del Rose obliterated an Elite Four's ace with one punch." Also not true. "Blondie singlehandidly took over the city. And Admin Fox...uh..."[break]
What did Admin Fox do?[break]
"Er. Anyway. Let's not talk shit t'each other. Yer a cool guy. The Hasegawa had this sword in a storehouse. Dates back to the Sengoku Jidai, accordin' to every expert I asked. Dunno anything 'bout Honedges, but..." He stands up and inspects his own sword. "Yeah, yeah...y'know...that would explain why they say all his swords are cursed. That'd make this one old Honedge.

Most Honedge were old, but for one to imbue itself within a blade of this quality without being excised by a spiritualist or some shogun's retainer made this blade remarkably special. Muramasa's blades were notorious, but the admin chalked much of that up to historical hysteria and the delusions of foes cut down on the battlefield.

How quickly history became fantasy. How quickly truth became lies when distorted under the lens of delusion.

"Hasegawa? The same as the executive that runs the 'world's best casino', hm?" He did not believe that, but Yumi had hosted many events under the roof of her inherited casino, so who was Howard to judge?

Not that he was a gambling man, anyway.

"Do you believe that items can hold stories?"

---

Hitoshi Inoue

"Her name is Yumi." Even as he struggles to stand up, walk upright, and see eye to eye with her, the dog still adores her. Yumi, and for so long Yumi alone, was the only one who ever thanked him for speaking his vicious love language. "But yeah. I do. Why can't an object have a story? Samurai have their souls in their swords."[break]
He picks up the blade, holding it with reverence. In his hand, he holds a blade that can change fate itself. Muramasa's masterpiece, his to wield. It could sever karma itself, if only he can deliver it to the moment where he can make that stroke.[break]
"I wonder what kinda story my soul will have to tell when it's in this sword.

"I know her name. I've worked with her before." Although Howard had worked with her to organize the winter party, Howard did not feel comfortable calling her 'Yumi'. It was the same reason he also fumbled with Nomi's title of 'Head Scientist'.

Formality and station was a sturdy armor, after all. If Howard compromised it, it'd burn his hands. Unfortunately, Hitoshi was blind to his station. The admin couldn't help but wonder if this was all some sort of guise.

Yet dogs were innocent.

"If we don't chronicle them, that story might as well not exist. It exists as hearsay until it is penned onto paper, carved into stone, or cast into steel." A sword stuck in a warehouse was only as valuable as one who wielded it. It was only as relevant as those willing to follow its bloodstained track through history. "I don't think of souls being imbued into blades. I care more of the physical history, and yet..."

"...there are many things in this world that are fueled by the souls of things long gone."

---

Hitoshi Inoue

“Just ‘cause nobody saw somethin’ happen don’t mean it didn’t happen.” The dog thinks that countless unremarkable decisions lead them to the present. The choice to buy some fossils over others, to focus on some over another, is incidental. It was a choice made, he thinks, that no one will care about. He polishes his rock and focuses on the now. [break][break]
“What, gonna tell me ‘bout ghost Pokémon and how scary they are? This sword’s alright enough when ya get to know him. He drinks my blood like it’s goin’ outta style.”

"Not necessarily, but bearing witness to the act gives the act meaning beyond its original intention. It can inspire people. We can learn from it. Hard to do that if nobody can verify that the action even happened."

His eye did not leave the sword. Stored in a warehouse for decades and generations, it had likely killed many. Superstitions were not born of nothingness. Likely some poor official had met their end by this blade and a trail of karma had followed.

One the Honedge within had feasted on.

"Your blood." Howard blinked once, slowly. "Seriously?"

---

Hitoshi Inoue

"Yeah. Blood." He cocks his head, before grinning ear to ear. "Only thing that sucks 'bout havin' this guy on my side is that I gotta be real careful 'bout when I bust out my z-move. It uses every last drop it can to fuel the fires. Painful as all hell."[break][break]
Once again, he examines the sword. It looks up at him, malevolent red eye apathetic.[break][break]
"...don't think they had z-moves back when Muramasa made this. Kinda weird."

Z-Move?

"I don't pretend to understand Pokémon battling. I'm mediocre on the battlefield." He raised his hands in mock surrender, as callused from working with stone as they were, they had not seen a moment of combat. In that sense, they were as soft as a child's. "But I don't think a Z-Move is required to unlock a Pokémon's true nature.

Perhaps the Z-Crystal brought back an appetite within the sword that had long ago been sated. It was an interesting thought.

"Put it away, Hitoshi. Get back to work!"

---

Hitoshi Inoue