They waited too long.

It was his fault, really. He shouldn't have expected Clover to know when the storm would become unbearable. This was their first time in this dimension. Knowing when to run was an acquired skill, which unfortunately meant that few lived long enough to learn it. The charred skeletons on the ground attested to that.

Yet still, the admin felt cautiously confident that they could make it out of this. If push came to shove, they could hunker down in a Stakataka for a day until it abided. It'd be in complete darkness and their minds would fray, but they'd still come out okay.

That stopped when he saw it in the distance.

"No, that's impossible." The admin's voice was a whisper over the storm, before turning into a roar that matched the crackling of lightning. "You can't be here. She caught you. SHE CAUGHT YOU."

Was june sleigh here? She had no reason to be. Her journey in this plane had ended when she had captured it. Howard's had too.

"This isn't real. This can't be real." He ground his teeth and fumbled with his Pokeball, throwing out a Stakataka. "CLOVER!"

An electrical cannon fired from the Regieleki, causing the admin to duck behind his Ultra Beast, dragging Clover with him.

---

clover matamata
O FUCK ITS MR ELEKI

His mind didn't work. This was an anomaly. Was she here? Watching? Tormenting? Punishing him?

"I... You can't... This isn't..." Synapses jumped and flashed, beacons lighting the way between beacons of pure thought. He had never been so caught unprepared in his life. This was a fundamentally impossible encounter. "No..."

His eye found the youth. This wasn't the time to crumble. He could do it on his own, but he had lead Clover here. He would not lead them to an early grave because he was caught on the wrong foot.

Even if his heart demanded he run.

"We can't beat it, but we can stall it." Howard fumbled with his belt again, producing another Pokeball. He hadn't used this one in a hot minute, but it would suffice. The ball flew through the air as the Regieleki Dynamaxed and another Stakataka emerged. "Damn."

It was too big for this trick to work. He fingered a third Pokeball absentmindedly.

"Call for help!"

A low rumble rang out from the Stakatakas, echoing over the wasteland. In the distance, two more shapes rose to the call of their comrades.

---

clover matamata

REGIELEKI HAS DYNAMAXED

How'd the kid know about this giant's story?

The admin thought about Tempest Quinn . It was a Hoyeon story that the Rocket Beast had murmured once at a Nebula meeting. It had been passed down for epochs eternal. The only whispers of legacy were inherited by Hoenn's original caretakers, and had been forgotten by most.

"It's already gone. Someone caught it." The words tasted like ash in Howard's mouth, but there was nothing to be done. All they could do was deal with this cursory illusion. The admin could have produced Regice, but it was currently back at Rocket's HQ recharging. "Don't bother."

The Stakatakas lumbered to their defense in the name of their colleagues, further trapped by the Regieleki's Thunder Cage.

The admin threw another Pokeball, lending his third and final Stakataka to the cause. All of the bricks collapsed into one giant pile, before fusing with the other nearby Stakatakas, forming a wall built from five Ultra Beasts, capable of surrounding the battlefield. The stage was set, and all it had taken was help from a woman who had almost shot him.

"And now..." The admin snapped his finger. "Trick Room."

The arcs of lightning slowed to a crawl.

---

clover matamata

"This is the part where we run. I'm just gonna..." He lifted them up in a carry. "Borrow you."

Clover weighed the archaeologist down, slowing Howard even further as they danced through the Trick Room, dodging increasingly slower bolts of lighting. Paradoxically, as they slowed, they sped up due to the Stakatakas' Trick Room. It was one of the largest that the admin had ever seen, but Regieleki was a big guy.

"Hold on tight!" Bricks emerged under the admin's feet, his caught Stakatakas knowing what to do as he used them to climb the sides of the box made to contain the Legendary Giant. "Hup. Hup. Hup."

Under the Trick Room, the Ultra Beasts were as fast as lightning.

They'd need to catch these while they were here, but first...

"Wait." He said at the top of the wall. "I want to check something."

He turned to face the Regieleki, its pattern blank and dead. He was used to that expression, but even Regice expressed more individuality than whatever this was.

It couldn't be here.

She caught it.

So why...?

"That's weird."

---

clover matamata

"That's not it. The real one is long gone, or she released it. Either way, it'll be here when it gets back. It went a year without being caught, it can wait a spell." His suspicions were confirmed when he let the kid down. "You're Hoyeon. Yep."

He seemed proud to distinguish that fact, as if hanging out with Temp for a year hadn't verified that fact for the archaeologist and made him wise to the ways of Hoenn's native defenders.

At least they had been, before industry had pushed them to the brink.

"We'll be back. This world has more to offer." A Pokeball flew through the air, catching one of the Stakatakas that his trio had manifested. After a moment, he picked up the Pokeball and pocketed it. "In the name of our world, at least."

He waited for Clover to get clear before releasing the Trick Room and returning to the rift.

---

clover matamata