"I'm clearing my mind for what needs to come." He popped a piece of ice into his mouth without blinking. "New Mauville is more important than you know."

As Josh Devlin was going to find out when Mauville finally burned. The power plant was a ticking time bomb with a deactivated Power Spot that threatened to rouse itself to activity. When it did, Dynamax would sever the Pokémon League's jugular and offer the city to Team Rocket on a silver platter.

Especially with Regieleki now in Rocket's custody thanks to june sleigh's breakdown.

"There's a ruin under the power plant that I aim to discover, but that's neither here nor there. I wish you the best in the RKS Simulation." He waggled a finger. "I asked you here to talk, since it's convenient."

He popped another piece of ice into his mouth.

"Are you aware that Lulu Flint is going to the moon, soon?"

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ameena abadi

He smiled, pleased at her reaction. It was easy to draw out the blood of academia with the blood of the divine with whispers of knowledge. Dreams were tantalizing, indeed.

"You already know." He raised an eyebrow at her from underneath his hat. He brushed a strand of white hair behind his ear. It was a redundant question, but Ameena would prefer an answer to a theory or a hypothesis. "Cresselia."

The word was spoken casually, as was the nature of a barside chat. Murmurs of legends were common from those who blabbered from empty cups from which the liquor flowed like water.

"We go to fulfill the dream of our Head Scientist." He chuckled and adjusted his hat, hiding his eyes from view. "We will rewrite the laws of fate for her."

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ameena abadi

Truthfully, Howard had little clue how powerful Cresselia actually was. He had never actually seen the creature in action. It had always struck him as the perfect myth: elusive, yet wholly tempting. It existed on the fringe of rationality and hid in the corners of legends.

"You research dreams. You toe the line between sleeping and wakefulness more than anyone I know, barring the Head Scientist. You get along well with her, I presume? Teamwork will be imperative." He raised an eyebrow. "And the more hands on deck, the better. Find a way to trap it. Work with the Head Scientist."

He spread his hands, shrugging, before putting a hand on his chin and looking at Ameena with a wry grin.

"That is all I ask." He swirled the empty glass, as if needing his hands to do something while he spoke. The hands of an archaeology were never still. "Also, I'm here to extend you an invitation that our former Head Scientist never offered you."

Amor Rose.

"What's your dream, Ameena? What do you want?"

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ameena abadi

"Nebula." Whose idea had it been to name Amor's little group that? He had forgotten. Compared to many of Rocket's oldest divisions, Nebula was new. It was more of a microscopic group direccted towards a single goal than an overarching directive.

If anything, their directives often danced alongside SPECTRA, but Howard hardly focused on that organization anymore. That was Admin Cross's territory. It was a military arm that did its best with the resources it was given, and Howard knew that there were plans in place.

There was more than one moon in the sky that Team Rocket had their gaze on.

"It's mine, now. Damn Amor for leaving me with the scraps of his dream, but I think he knew that I wouldn't let it die when he left us behind. Thus Nebula remains. It needs a new member. It needs another academic who understands the mechanics of this world." His eye flashed, whether in remembrance of Amor Rose or in annoyance at his departure, it didn't matter. "It needs you."

He steepled his fingers and put a hand on his chin as he regarded her answer.

"Arceus above, you're just like Lulu." He rubbed his temple. "Other worlds. I ask you this: why? What can other worlds offer to you that this one cannot?"

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ameena abadi

Eternatus was the only wart that mattered. It had been his long before it had been Amor's. Howard had given everything and would continue to give everything to fight Eternatus on every battlefield. If that required the construction of weapons of war, then he would raise them up and seize them all.

"Her." He repeated, before nodding. He knew nothing of Ameena's mother. It was not his story. "If you have a purpose, I can't fault you. That is what Rocket was designed for. There are things that you can't do alone, but Team Rocket can conceive."

He steepled his fingers.

"There is enough room in the sky for another star." Howard closed his eye thoughtfully, silently musing on his plans for New Mauville before tapping his finger against the countertop. He did not deride her for using other multiverses to supplement their own. He agreed with the premise. "Which is why there's room for you in Nebula."

There was no decorum to the proclamation. He simply willed it into existence, and it became true. That was the power he had been instilled with.

"You need one thing. I need five." Three now, actually. He did not elaborate beyond that. "Is your lab prepared for what I requested?"

The dream.

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ameena abadi

"She'll come." Howard stood and straightened his hat. "She's why I'm here, after all."

He does not elaborate on June's purpose in his grand war. He does not explain that June's fate is one of tragedy, now that she holds Regieleki. Violet is one thing, but that golem was more important than anything in this world. It dictated the whims of gods, and it was designed to kill one.

If she would listen, she could be a hero. Otherwise...

Well, Regieleki was his. She was simply keeping it warm.

"Just be ready. As for the five things, they're superweapons. Machines before Pokémon. They were not designed to be the latter, even if they ended up becoming them." He spoke nonsense, before sliding past Ameena and adjusting his hat in a similar way to a certain deputy. "Regirock. Regice. There are three others."

His hand clasped the door handle, before turning back to Ameena.

"Nebula's purpose is to find them." He blinked. "Our purpose is to save the world."

Even if Makoto Kurumi and Tempest Quinn didn't believe it, that was the truth. That was his direction for Amor's dream.

"Foot the bill for me, would you?" He slipped out of the bar, leaving Ameena alone.

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ameena abadi