He laughed at her malignance, at the pestilence overflowing from cracks in the world. Insects scurried across stone and tried to find purchase, but there was no life to sap, no flesh to infest and swell into gangrenous flesh.

"You're right about words. When spoken, they're nothing but wind. Uttered one moment, gone the next. Transient. Ephemeral. The written word will persist, and I assure you, stone and ice last far longer than your precious tablets."

His eye twitched.

"I know which one will suit your grave."

Beetles gnawed at him, trying to find their way inside his Sygna Suit and devour his flesh. Yet there was not enough time. No matter how hard the scorned widow pushes, she cannot defy the will of a machine. Pure in purpose, in design, in craft, as long as its master did not throw away such a tool, it would continue to march.

After Dewford, Howard would never disregard such a pure purpose again.

"There is only one cycle that matters to me. History!" Howard reached for his helmet, the mechanism hissing as it unfused from his armor. An older face stared back at Elisabeth with a mix of tenderness and disgust. "And our victory. We won the Three Days War. We won against Eternatus. We won against Necrozma. And we will continue to win! That is our right as a species!"

Regirock reassembled, growing taller and taller as Dynergy coursed through its mechanism. It did not Dynamax, but it eventually overwhelmed the fragile flesh. It towered over the underboss.

"I will save the world. Not you. Hoenn will save itself, and I will break this cycle of suffering and place one of paradise in its place. Then, it will be up to our species to preserve it. I don't know if I'll be the one to see it done..."

Flicker. A flame sparked in a trembling hand and lit a cigarette in the admin's mouth. A plume of smoke rose up into the sky.

"But someone bearing my name will."

A colossal fist fell on Elisabeth Fiorelli, one of Rocket's three underbosses. A sickening crunch rang over the battlefield as bone cracked and shattered and flesh snapped under the uncaring weight of the world.

"Your purpose."

SMASH. A squelch reached the admin's ears.

"Your legacy."

SMASH. He saw something vaguely similar to a hand dangling from the boulder as it rose.

"They are mine. Your story is mine. Your purpose is mine. I will carry them on for you." Howard stared down at the makeshift tomb. "Because that is the duty of a historian."

---

Elisabeth Fiorelli
The last flower leaves the garden.

Oscar had expected a battle between Rocket and the League, but to his utter dismay an entirely different battle took place. Elisabeth Fiorelli had requested Regirock's demise, and Howard's acquisition of the titan along with Monroe's approval did not hinder that desire. Naturally the two clashed, and Oscar could do nothing else but watch with confused alarm.

Oscar just stood there--watching--and he hated every second of it. He wanted to do something, but he was frozen with anxiety. Which side was he to aid? One one hand was howard slayte, a frequent collaborator and trusted friend. On the other was underboss Fiorelli, who has more than once nearly gotten Oscar killed as collateral for her senseless actions.

Hmm--maybe this was not as hard of a choice as Oscar had thought.

Yet he could still do nothing! The TYPE:Null was taking its sweet time to accept the drive, its armor cracking yet failing to break. Oscar knelt at its side, his fists clenched with anxious rage. "Hurry damn you! Give in already!" The TYPE:Null writhed in anguish, screaming as the Shadow Miasma intensified. Any moment its resistance would falter, and Oscar would at last have a weapon that could sway the direction of this battle!

Fate was a fickle thing, and more often than not what Oscar wanted did not align with what destiny ordained. Oscar was ignorant to the machinations of Mespirit, blinded by his nervous provocations.

"This isn't what you want, Oscar."

Were those his thoughts? Or were these words spoken to him? Either way it was a lie! Oscar wanted this power, he needed it! How else would he protect those he cared about? How else would he protect himself!? He not only wanted this, he surely wanted nothing more!

"Bring me glory! Give in!"

Oscar's prodding resonated with the struggling TYPE:Null, but not as much as another voice that silenced all others. It was soft, forged by a love it never knew. It embraced its struggling heart with a comforting glow, easing its incredible pain.

"Give in..."

It heard those words over and over, and at last it would listen. The TYPE:Null ended its resistance, accepting the warmth as its new self. Its anguish, its pain, its hatred--were replaced with tranquility.

At last the helmet burst, sending shards of metal in every direction. Oscar raised his arms as shrapnel sliced into his armor, yet such wounds would not hinder him. He quickly lowered his bleeding arms to appreciate his handiwork.

Before him stood a Silvally, as noble and radiant as any other. Oscar felt a brief burst of joy as he observed this scientific achievement--until he saw what was hanging in its beak. The creature opened its mouth, dropping the Shadow Drive on the ground. With the help of that mysterious glow, it managed to reject the power of Shadow. It was able to be its own being.

It leered at Oscar, its would-be master, and shook its head. Oscar watched with dumbfounded shock as the Silvally turned away from him and jumped into the sand storm. He stuttered, falling to his knees as his Silvally abandoned him--disappearing among the chaos of battle.

Oscar slowly looked down to the Shadow Drive, its use once again rejected. He could not help but feel--slighted by this development. Did he not deserve a reward for his efforts? Had he not earned a moment of triumph?

"This isn't what you want, Oscar."

Oscar picked up the Shadow Drive, turning it around in his hands as the day's events replayed in a loop within his ailing mind. This--thing was another incarnation of his own weakness. His lust for power was a symptom of his fear--the fear of loss and death and defeat. Were he not governed by such petty notions, Prime would still be at his side. If he wished to truly become strong--to mark his own path in this failing world--he would need to reject his fears.

Oscar snapped the drive in his hands, letting the shards of his creation fall to the ground between his shaking fingertips. He looked up, and for the first time today he felt sweet relief.

Which immediately faded as he looked over to discover Regirock pounding Underboss Fiorelli into a jelly.

"Oh...oh fuck."

tl;dr
--Mespirt plays a little prank on Oscar and causes his TYPE:Null to finish its evolution while rejecting the power of the Shadow Drive. The Silvally then frolics away, abandoning Oscar. Finally realizing that short cuts aren't the answer, Oscar snaps the drive and resolves to overcome his fear of death.
--Also Elisabeth is mush and that's distressing.

Howard Slayte was nothing. A sack of meat and flesh that marched towards a world that would be pure and just.

He was alive.

Elisabeth was not.

His will was stronger. His purpose was clearer. The path forward could not be obfuscated. This was just the beginning. jayden cross would have to die. Chien-pao had ruined him. His easel had been soaked in water before the paint could set, and now hatred moved him. That was sad. He liked Jayden.

I like Jayden?

No. He didn't like anyone in Rocket. He did not.

PENELOPE LIVY would have to die. That was overdue. She deserved it more than most, and their time in prison had done little to soften his heart for the Coveted.

"Ruination will not come to pass. We can save this world without relying on..." He gestured towards the enraged Wo-chien, its tablets glowing with vindication. "...this."

As he gestured, the grudge hit him.

FAILURE. FAILURE. FAILURE.

STONE WILL CRUMBLE. ICE WILL MELT. STEEL WILL RUST.

YOUR MONUMENTS ARE FALSE. YOUR BELIEFS ARE FALSE. YOUR POWER IS NOT YOUR OWN.

TRAITOR.

DEFECTOR.

MURDERER.

Flowers wilted and died. A Tapu Lele in the corner of his vision withered and died and turned into ash. Cillian Quinn and THEO BECKETT hung him from the rafters for the crime of killing their colleague. She had betrayed him. When had that mattered? Rocket did not care for truth. If they did, the Light Stone would have awakened.

Grudges. He couldn't deal with this right now. It was too much. A faint whisper of pink filled his vision, a lasting memory of when Mesprit had guided his hand against Regirock.

It dissipated into mist.

Howard opened his eye. He put his helmet back on and breathed heavily.

"Bury her in flowers." Howard turned from Wo-chien, lazily. Killing a Legendary Pokemon was a hassle, and finishing the job in the Border simply wasn't possible right now. Killing Elisabeth had ruined a seamless victory. "She deserves that."

As if Wo-chien knew or cared. Worthless creature, that.

His radio clicked to a private communicator to Hoenn and Kanto's Rocket Bosses.

"Underboss Fiorelli has died. Regirock killed her after she continued attacking it. It branded her as a traitor." The admin paused for a moment, contemplative. "Petalburg is ours. Glory to Rocket."

Bzzzt.

With Elisabeth dead, who did that leave? Monroe, himself, and Priam. Hoenn's branch only held two members of command while the others waged war across the region.

It was a humbling thought that accompanied him as he crossed the toxic sands, his suit billowing slightly as Regirock marched alongside him, blood staining its long arms. Regice towered overhead, awaiting new orders from its trainer. As the sand parted, revealing the ensuing skirmish between remnants of the League and Rocket, Howard coughed into his fist.

"Apologies." His eye met Oscar from behind the mask. It met priam conrad 's for a long moment, before turning to face Isaac Merlo and Hyakkaryōran Tsubaki . "Where were we?"

"Ah, right."

Red energy swirled around the two giants as they Locked On. Petalburg held its breath, silent in the admin's mind as he tasted the word on his tongue. Nameless Hoennian Rockets that did not indulge in Monroe's cruelty waited. The golems began to shift and move.

"Three."

---

Howard gets tapped by the grudges, gets mindfucked. Lele is still trolling him
Laments Elisabeth
Contacts Walsh/Monroe to declare Elisabeth dead
Returns to finish his countdown
Siege proper begins

Only one dared to try, and escape him in the midst of his berserk rush. A man on a strange pokemon that he didn't recognize, and regardless of how fast they were. They would never escape his Hound.

Lucario sensed his trainers gaze on Eduardo Hisakawa, and realizing that this was what he now wanted began to race across the battlefield towards them. Using Copycat a Sacred Sword formed in the Hounds hands, and it attempted to slice both Trainer, and Pokemon as they tried to run to allies.

They might be able to parry slow moving projectiles, but this was now a contest of the sword, and the Lucario wielded this weapon as if it had been for it.

Meanwhile Gaius's Frustration reached a fever pitch, and Lucario still feeding on that aura glared at the object of his masters ire. The soft blue sword changing into a deadly crimson blade to rend soul from flesh.

Gaius rushed at Eduardo Hisakawa as fast as his legs would carry him despite bleeding out he wouldn't let anything stop him. Someone needed to pay for what Monroe had done, and this man was the only one to move in that timespan. So it would be him.

TLDR
Lucario uses Copycat and yoinks Sacred Sword!
Lucario goes from Jedi to Sith in real time! And tries to slice both Eddie, and Terrakion!
Gaius is rushing towards Eddie to throw hands since Monroe flipped the table like a noob!

Eduardo Hisakawa

His prey was wounded, and so they descended upon one another.

The man went for grapple, and Gaius grabbed the inside of his forearms to counter it bringing them to a stalemate. One with a slice on his leg, and the other with a knife embedded in his side.

Gaius's smile appeared, and crimson eyes of battlelust locked with his new opponent. That man in the hat ruined everything, and this man was attempting to flee.

Malice and rage coursed through him, as he gripped onto his opponent tighter.

"Cowards all of you!" He growled through the blood seeping out of the corners of his mouth.

The Stone Edge came, and it was parried in a similar manner as the Terrakion had done to his own Aura Sphere earlier, but the crimson blade was never dropped.

Distance was not the ideal range for the Hound, and so he used his Extreme Speed to close the distance through the oncoming rocks, and attempting to smash the brunt end of the sword into the Terrakions jaw.

"You will not abandon this battle!" The wants, and desires of others held no meaning to a man driven by battle like Gaius. There was a purity in his own selfish desires, and he would have his proper fight. Them being surrounded was not his issue.

Eduardo Hisakawa

TLDR
Gaius counter grapples! So deadlock!
Lucario parries the Stone Edge with his sword, and then uses Extreme Speed to attempt to smash the blunt end of the blade into Terrakion's face before it vanishes, and close the gap!
Gaius is PISSED!
FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT!

The suddenness of the Terrakion's Close Combat caught the Hound off guard as the horn smashed into it's steel like body, and thrust it across the field painfully.

Pain however was power.

Pain was proof that you were alive.

Pain meant that you could still fight.

An orb of pure blue with tinges of red formed in the Hounds hand, and a ball of blue, and red streaked across to smash into the Terrakion.

The Headbutt came suddenly without warning, and it rocked Gaius's head back, but he grit his teeth, and aimed a swift uppercut to the mans chest in brutal retaliation.

His thirst was so close to being sated, and at the last moment it had been denied.

This wasn't anything personal, it just so happened that Eduardo Hisakawa was simply the nearest to him at this point in time, and thus was the perfect target for him to attempt to vent on.

Blood poured out of his nose, it was either broken, or fractured, but he didn't care. Red eyes stayed trained on his prey.

"You say you're no coward, but at the first sign of a real fight. You run! Perhaps that is why you lose against that man despite outnumbering him." He snarled back.

"I am surprised you were even able to run, with no spine." The malice in his heart all consuming at this point.

TLDR
Lucario gets hit by Close Combat, and knocked back!
Lucario fires off another Aura Sphere!
Gaius retaliates against the headbutt with an uppercut!
Gaius snarls at Eduardo Hisakawa!
FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT!