"No. Other worlds are irrelevant in the context of our own. Can you even comprehend the scope of an entirely separate universe? Should you? Should we care about people in entirely separate multiverses when we have our own to deal with?"

His eye flickered with a thrum of magenta. He extended a hand and let a small flickering iota of energy touch his hand and dissipate. When it vanished, he looked at his hand, thoughtful.

What was that?

"That didn't stop us when we snapped Meteno away to another world. That doesn't stop us from waging war with the DRK Triad. They want our universe to collapse so theirs can survive. Should we kill our world to allow countless others to survive?"

He met her gaze through the haze of magenta. For a moment, it reminded Howard of Dynergy. He shelved the thought to focus at the matter at hand.

"If the scenario you describe is true, and they are incompatible, we shouldn't use them. If they are compatible, we should. It is morally correct from our perspective."

---

Lulu Flint

He looked away and huffed, annoyed at her grin. Lulu smiling invoked feelings of wanting to run away and hide under a rock. Presumably a large, sapient rock capable of smashing its opponents into paste.

"You're not wrong. First, we observe. Then, we repair." He scratched the back of his neck as he sorted through his thoughts. "I just want this world to survive, same as you. Comprehending entirely other universes? That's beyond the scope of the average human."

He met Lulu's gaze.

"This one? Definitely possible."

He took a deep breath, before coughing into his fist in surprise. He took a deep breath to compose himself, thoughtful. He tried to gauge what Lulu's aim was.

"...seriously?" He frowned. "To what purpose?"

---

Lulu Flint

"I see." Howard closed his eye to muse on her words. For a horrible moment, it seemed like he would refuse. "Lulu."

The Legendary Giants were Hoenn's protectors. To leave the region behind, they would lose their greatest asset in the Power Spots dotted across the region, as well as the inherited will of Hoenn's populace. They were platforms of planetary defense, meant to stand on the ground and wage a war against otherworldly threats.

To reach across the veil into the inky darkness to seize the moon? It was ambitious.

"Is meeting Cresselia, seizing it, and understanding how it relates to the mist your dream?" He opened his eye. "If not, what is?"

---

Lulu Flint

He wondered what Lulu's life would be like if it weren't for Team Rocket. Her knowledge was vast, her desire for more unquenchable. Had she been born into a time where war hadn't rotted the foundations of morality, Lulu Flint could have pushed the world forward by leaps and bounds.

Alternatively, she could have become another Howard. Someone who had fallen into a rut that only Team Rocket could have provided an escape from. Had Team Rocket's war killed a great academic, or had it given birth to one?

Saoirse Quinn Lulu Flint was an anomaly, in that case. Maybe that was why he opened his mouth to speak the truth.

"Peace. A world with no Eternatus, no Tera Crystals, and no war with forces from beyond the sky." Not the whole truth. He wanted a world where nothing ever truly changed, where human beings could ascend and reach past the limitations placed on them by strife. "Where I can go back to studying archaeology. Where I can wake up every morning to my alarm instead of a nightmare."

Truthfully, he didn't even know if it was possible for him to normally function anymore. When was the last time that he had just gone into a store with a bunch of coupons to not die of starvation?

Months? A year?

"I think you could explore out universe for millennia, and still find that you know little about it. Still..." He turned to face her and nodded. "But I won't mock your dream. If that's truly what you believe, and if Cresselia will help you reach it..."

His eye softened by a fraction of a degree.

"...then yes. I'll help. Let's go to the moon, Head Scientist."

---

Lulu Flint

"I will never mock your dream." Howard raised an eyebrow, bemused. "I'll steal your lunch from the breakroom, deride your handwriting, and sleep through half of the reports I get from you and Nomi."

He crossed his arms, thoughtful.

"But I'll never mock what drives you. Otherwise I'd throw myself off of Meteor Falls' highest cliff."

It'd be a long way down. He wished it was easier to poke around the mountain, but unfortunately Rustboro stood in the way. Team Rocket would have to take Howard's hometown before he could rip Meteor Falls apart in an attempt to chase yesterday.

"But you're right. Knowledge is imperative." He chewed the inside of his cheek. "How're we getting to space? We failed to take Mossdeep."

---

Lulu Flint

'Vaguely displeased' was Lulu's default expression, as far as the admin was concerned.

"Joy. I wish you and the God General good fortune on that matter. If you need funds, let me know." When the name fell from her lips, the admin immediately censored it so that it was nothing more than a buzz of static. Infuriating. Frustrating, even. Processing his name was impossible. "I wonder what he's looking for?"

Likely more ways to increase his own power while masking it under the cover of aiding Team Rocket. Not that the admin could blame him when Team Rocket had enabled his seizure of Regice and Regirock.

"See if you can find a way to Land Hoenn, will you? I left something there." He popped a joint in his neck, releasing a spark of Dynergy. "Regidrago."

The mist receded, leaving them alone in the cavern.

"Give me a heads up before we depart, will you? I'll throw all my paperwork onto someone's desk while we're gone."

---

Lulu Flint

Training? For a moment, a hint of the old Howard emerged. He slumped his shoulders and groaned.

"Damn. I hate training. There's a reason I avoid practicing for combat, you know." Still, he'd rather face Hoenn's Elite Four than get on Lulu's bad side. At least with the Elite Four, he had a good chance of survival. "Very well."

He checked the broken watch, a moment frozen in time several years ago.

"Let's return." They turned and left the mist behind, returning to where Regirock stood. "As always, this has been a unique pleasure."

---

Lulu Flint