After the instance with Shred , Howard hadn't thought about the Light Stone for months. Strange, given it was the only thing that Rocket had gotten from the utter shitshow with Kyurem, besides a slap on the wrist as illeana reyes ascended to the heavens.

He could still hear Shred's Porygon-Z blaring at Kyurem's condensed kidney stone to purchase dick enlargement pills. What a terrible day.

"To our knowledge, no. I haven't seen it respond to her other than the sheer happenstance of her picking it up." The admin puffs a cigarette, content that nobody barring Hitoshi will get in the way of his cancer stick. Even if Hitoshi was blind to Howard's true rank, the others are not. "But it could just be biding its time. A century is a blip to a stone."

Hopefully it roused soon. Howard wanted to watch it clash with Remiel and knock him down to earth.

"Doesn't react to Infinity Energy, Dynergy, or anything else at our disposal. It really is just a rock."

---

Hitoshi Inoue

A grunt of agreement. "You're right. It will rouse soon to fight for its truth."

It should be a momentous occasion, but in an era of gods and men and heroes, another deity throwing its lot into the ring doesn't impress the archaeologist as much as it would've a year ago, or even five years ago. He'd seen much, studied much, learned much.

When this age ended and humanity sat at the pinnacle, when all gods returned to their abodes, what would they say in a millennia? Would this era of history be considered myth, too fantastical to have ever existed? If Howard had his way, no. The glory of this era would never end.

It would remain unchanging.

"Rocket will want the candidate to be on our side, naturally. I suspect that it will rouse in our defense merely because of Zekrom." The word felt like dust in his mouth. In another world, Howard would have grasped that stone and begged it to awaken for him. The chance to fight Remiel Calcifet was too desirable. Now, he didn't want that at all.

He did not want to be equal with Remiel.

He wanted to surpass him.

"I have a proposition." Smoke fell from his lips as the cigarette spewed it like a dragon. "You're S.P.E.C.T.R.A, yeah?"

---

Hitoshi Inoue

"Yesn't." There was likely someone in the world that would react to the stone's desire for truth. The chances of them being in S.P.E.C.T.R.A were slim to none. "Avatars tend to have a scent. Something that draws a patron towards them."

A thoughtful shuffle. The Light Stone reflected in Howard's gaze as he regarded Hitoshi.

"A force of will."

No wonder so many of the higher ups in Rocket and the League were avatars. Only the truly determined were able to claw their way to the pinnacle. It certainly explained why Howard wasn't one.

"Find someone who understands truth."

---

Hitoshi Inoue

A deep exhale. It's a question that had vexed the admin for years, before he had come up with an answer that satisfies him.

"When your belief is so ironclad that nobody can doubt it. Ideals are how the world should be, while the truth is how it is. I've always found myself more inclined to the latter, if you want my opinion."

There was a world where he roused the Light Stone for the sole purpose of killing Remiel Calcifet. It was a distant one, though, and Howard hardly cared for it now. It was too late. The truth alone could not overwhelm the prince, even if it was scathing.

More than truth, Howard needed the ability to bend it and ideals to his will.

"If they don't suit our ends, ensure that the Light Stone naps for a little while longer."

---

Hitoshi Inoue

"Burning."

It was a lazy answer, full of mockery and was obvious in nature. The world was in constant flux, and everyone was vying to enforce their own beliefs over Hoenn's charred husk. Yet the truth was absolute in its flexibility. There was one truth to the world, but everyone held a small shard of it in their beating heart.

As long as nobody averted their eyes, the truth would evenly clash with the ideals until the end of time.

"So we'll have to put out the flames and build something better in its place."

A perfect one, where the truth was absolute and ideals existed only to improve upon it.

---

Hitoshi Inoue

"It was usurped by one that needed their own truth. We could all learn something from Kyurem." If that wasn't the truth, Howard didn't know what was. Nobody in Rocket knew what their true purpose was, beyond simply marching forward and shaking the earth under the thunder of their boots. "Admin Fox and Beast Zeppelin..."

A flash of rage caused Howard's eye to twitch. That wound was still raw, and it had been eight months ago. Eight months. Shred had been a corpse for eight months.

He'd kill those responsible.

"They tried their best to reach the truth they desired: that the world is a fair place."

---

Hitoshi Inoue

In his heart, he doubted it. Truth was absolute, but it was ultimately a human concept facing off against a fundamental aspect of the universe. Without space, there was no reality. No physical being. Howard and Hitoshi would just vanish.

It was unfair that such a power had been bestowed onto a human, even if that human had an obligation to save the world.

"Maybe." He finally said, not wanting to infringe upon Hitoshi's truth with his own. "Maybe."

Without saying a word, he turned and walked out of the room, pulling his phone out of his pocket to make a call. The antiquated flip phone was about as old as Reshiram.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

---

Hitoshi Inoue