When Clover had pestered Howard into taking them into a field trip across dimensions, the archaeologist's first reaction wasn't 'no' or even 'yes'. It was the poor kid's age.

Rocket was recruiting child soldiers again?

Fuuuuuuuuuuuck. That would be a blow to the admin's conscious. Maybe he'd get a few sleepless nights of wondering if he was a terrible person for endorsing Clover's actions, or if he was going straight to hell for being part of a group that used child soldiers.

Eris Halla was going to love him for this.

"How'd you even know this place existed?" Howard frowned, confused. Whoever was telling kids about the hellish electrical death dimension deserved to be shot. What placated his mood, however, was their Archen. He smiled at it and clicked his tongue in a very Archen-esque manner. "Not like it matters. Nothing's a secret anymore."

When asked of photography, the admin wilted slightly, before sighing. Behind him, his Claydol floated, flashing in odd colors as it floated around ignoring gravity.

"Sure, but keep 'em close. If my identity gets leaked because of a scrapbook, I'll never hear the end of it."

---

clover matamata

Arceus above, was thirty old? Howard took a peek at his rough and calloused hands, bruised from years of archaeological digs.

Was Howard old?

No. He was twenty-eight and in the prime of his life. He hadn't looked or felt this good since before he had lost his eye. He had a spring in his step. He was young! He was not a decrepit fossil. Those thoughts followed him into the power plant with Clover. By the time they had asked Howard a question, the admin had been in an age doom spiral for a hot minute.

"Hard, but luckily most people aren't particularly smart. A haircut. A pair of sunglasses. A change in clothing. That tends to be enough." For Cillian Quinn, anyway. Then again, the underboss didn't seem to care much. He had already been outed, there was no need to hide. "It's mostly just not pissing where you eat."

Don't be followed. Don't leak information. Don't reveal your identity. Don't lose on the battlefield and be put in a database.

Avoid causing a mess and stopping the heavens from groaning.

"You're pretty good into geology, huh?" The admin flipped a switch in the power plant, which immediately killed all the lights in the building and all others within a mile. Wonderful. "Damn. Gimme a sec..."

Instinctively, Howard's Claydol's eyes lit up, lighting the way forward.

"Huh. Crumble likes you."

---

clover matamata

Clover's struggle to flatten Howard's hair was a noble one, but unfortunately a lost cause. His hair was a disaster most of the time anyway, lest he pull it into a ponytail. Yet doing so was an expression of practicality over fashion, and if he was bringing a cowboy hat into another dimension, he was definitely dying in style.

It was why the shaved head idea died as soon as it left Clover's lips.

A deep sigh followed as the two and their Pokemon traversed the alien power plant. It was a question that the admin had heard a dozen times, primarily from Hyakkaryōran Tsubaki and Eris Halla.

"If I don't take you, you'll just break the rules and go anyway. That, or you'll go with someone less suited. Better that you come with me and come out in one piece. Letting a kid get hurt out here..." It weighed heavily on the soul, knowing that a piece of the next generation had been extinguished by the follies of this one. "...feels terrible."

He had his own mission, too. A shard of a golem that had been seized by a close friend and enemy. Clover need not know about that, though.

"Odd that Crumble likes you, though. He only likes one other, really." Tempest Quinn was a million miles away, both physically and emotionally. "This Hoyeon guy I kno-"

Tap. Tap. Tap. Crumble's mud arms tapped against an innocuous wall, which opened several eyes across its brick surface.

"Shit."

---

clover matamata

Not Unown, but something similar. Naomi Sato loved these things, Howard suspected. Her fascination with Unowns and Regice probably translated into liking sentient walls with chips on their shoulders.

Still, Howard had gone on wonderful adventures that had resulted in being attacked by sentient walls. Despite their massive egos, they were an engineer's delight. Each brick was its own organism, and when combined into a proper structure, their utility was unparalleled. It was a shame they always wanted to kill people.

Thus was the struggle of Ultra Beasts. Still, of the alien lifeforms, this was his favorite.

"Stupid... Stakatakas!" Howard grunted as he shielded Clover from the rubble that fell as a result of the Rock Slide. Crumble retaliated a Rapid Spin to prevent the debris from hitting them, before bowling into the wall and sending each brick scattering. "Stay close."

He fumbled for a Pokeball at his belt, weighing it slighty. He hadn't tried to or seen anyone catch a Pokemon since june sleigh had come here.

The admin swallowed. This was not the same.

The ball flew through the air in a graceful arc.

---

clover matamata

Another good question. Likely because Arceus was mocking them.

"Ultra Beasts. They can be anything and everything. The only fact we know is that they don't belong to this world. They're anomalies to our way of life." And killing machines. The Three Days War had not vanished from the archaeologist's mind. "This world isn't meant for you or me, so the life left behind is a mockery."

His eye narrowed as he twirled a strand of hair between his fingers absentmindedly. Lightning crackled outside.

"Sit. I'll tell you a story."

---

clover matamata