It's hard to recognize the footsteps at first. Their lightness betrays the coiled power of the man who had not been displaced by one stronger, even as the seats surrounded him were filled by those chosen by gods.

Who even remained unmarred by this point? Lulu? Shred? Himself? The admin did not feel untouched by heaven.

"Underboss Beckett." A misty eye, barely capable of reading text on a screen, found the older man. "You'll forgive me if I don't rise."

A rasping laugh followed.

"Did we agree on Petalburg?"

---

THEO BECKETT

It's a miserable city to take, but a tempting one. Rustboro lies close, and Dewford will struggle to retaliate with much of the city buried in ice.

The west of Hoenn is wide open, begging for Team Rocket to seize it. All they had to do was grab it by the neck and shake it.

"It alters the paradigm of Rocket, somewhat." He admits begrudgingly. "I did not expect Monroe to flip the board at his behalf."

Howard's eye closed for a moment, thoughtful.

"It does not, but titles tend to breed titles."

---

THEO BECKETT

The underboss's words were not expected, but the underboss was human, unmarred by the weight of divinity that all but a few of their colleagues shared.

On the universe's grand stage, the Devourer's ascent was a blip. The universe had burst into existence millions of eons ago and it would die over the course of a trillion more.

Yet the admin had to perceive it when he was already cursed with the inability to perceive ■■■'s name. Even now, it buzzed from his mind whenever it was uttered, as if his brain refused to hear it. Out of sight, out of mind.

Yet the time for avoidance was coming to an end.

"Not with him. You underestimate what he is capable of if you allow him to sit and fester." The admin acts sullen, his youth unbecoming of his rank. "Tell me, did patience win you Kanto?"

""Or did you simply reach out and take victory?"

---

THEO BECKETT

"Throw everything we have at it."

It is as elegant as a sledgehammer.

There is a pause. A flicker of fear crosses a cloudy eye blinded with the power of a god. Even here, the whisper of Necrozma causes the admin to tremble.

"..." He gives Theo a look and frowns, clearly disconcerted. "You can't. Team Rocket cannot contain it without also losing the war and many of our avatars in the process."

They lacked men. They lacked resources. They lacked avatars. The League could mobile an entire region's resources, an entire region's people, an entire region's pantheon of Legendary Pokémon. Necrozma was unfortunately too valuable to purge, a realization that Theo and countless others had likely realized.

Humanity would beat Necrozma, but the path forward was uncertain. Only the ending was clear.

"You have to let it think it's won. Give it the reins until the time is right..." It is the action that Howard has used since day one. It's how he had hid from ■■■'s prying gaze for so long. His eye widened in realization.

"Ah." He looked at Theo. "Clever."

---

THEO BECKETT

Every high-ranking member of Rocket smoked. Maybe they thought that if they got lung cancer and keeled over, they wouldn't be tried when the League cracked open Sootopolis and hung them all.

"Instead of letting him look to greener pastures, he got a new title to keep him distracted. A promotion to keep him complacent?" A rasp escaped the admin's throat, and it took a moment for the sound to register as laughter. It was either that or accept that Monroe was a fool. "Chaining a god with the trappings of a white collar job amuses me."

Necrozma had no right to divinity. This was humanity's era. It was their time in the sun. The had pulled fire from the gods and dictated themselves kings. For millennia, they faced trials and tribulations. For millennia, they had survived crises.

That had not changed now.

"And you, Underboss Beckett?" Formality is a shield. The hierarchy must be respected, lest the house of cards known as Team Rocket comes crashing down. "How would you trap Necrozma in chains?"

---

THEO BECKETT

"Illusory." A scarred hand waves the criticism away with dismissal. "Temporary."

Necrozma was trapped within the human concept of a white collar promotion. An amusing prospect, but hardly a foolproof solution. The admin did not understand Avatarships completely. How could he? How could Theo? They were not bound by the same contracts that dictated the actions of their colleagues.

"We are simply buying time. We will continue to buy time until there is simply no more to purchase."

Team Rocket's gambit in ascending the Devourer was an amusing one, but all things in this world were temporary.

"How would you kill it? I can think of no sure solution."

---

THEO BECKETT