Hideo was technically healthy enough to go out into the field; his arm fracture was healed enough that it didn't need to be in a cast, and his head healed enough that he was cleared to have Psychic Pokemon communicate with him.

And his tests with his Zoroarks had gone very well. He could rely on them if need-be - but he was itching to do some work himself.

Though it didn't take long for trouble to find him. He didn't recognize the masked voice, but it certainly recognized him. Any doubt that this guy was a Rocket was dashed away with their words, and Hideo readied himself for a fight, a Pokeball in his hand.

And yet, the "Ralts" on his shoulder tapped his head - mentally telling him to stop.

He hesitated for a moment, before lowering his hand - yet still holding on to the ball.

"Obviously not," he answered, the displeasure clear in his tone. "Oldale isn't even mine to give. I'm over in Littleroot."

And he sure as hell wasn't giving Littleroot to Rocket.

"And we didn't give you Petalburg. You invaded it with an army, and you killed DEREK HOFFMAN when you did it."

Hardly the only person Rocket killed that day. And he knew they were gonna kill more if he let them walk all over Oldale.

"...did you really think I'd just give it if you asked?"

howard slayte

A long moment passed where the admin regarded the Gym Leader. Then, Howard snorted in amusement.

"No." He shook his head, eye boring into the Ralts like a drill marring stone. "But I had to ask. In the chance that you had agreed, lives would've been spared. If I can spare a life with but a sentence, I'd do it. Since you declined, we'll have to seize Oldale by force."

He had negotiated with PENELOPE LIVY behind closed doors under a masquerade of the concept known as 'truth'. The admin believed in it. An iota of him believed that the Coveted did as well, back when her profession had been reporting on the news.

Now? She was rotting. What sliver of integrity was collapsing in on itself like a sandcastle build on mud.

"The moment that the Pokemon League had decided to seize Sootopolis, they gave away Petalburg. Your future was decided by a government that prioritized one city over the other. That's not their fault. They stopped the apocalypse, but they traded a group of lives for another. Regirock appearing only sealed our victory."

It was somewhere nearby. The admin hadn't placed it into a Pokeball yet, so it typically wandered the warfront, relying on the Odd Regi Statue within its breast to prevent the League from capturing it.

"Why do you treat the death of DEREK HOFFMAN like some abhorrent crime?"

---

Hideo Kino

A snort was soon followed by another, higher-pitched, unmasked snort.

"If you think I'd believe that for a second, then you're delusional." Peaceful takeovers was not how Rocket did things. "If you really cared about people's lives, you wouldn't invade in the first place. You wouldn't send someone to kill me. And you wouldn't sabotage League when they're actually safeguarding lives."

Rocket's invasion of Littleroot was still strong in his mind - and their efforts to stop the League from stopping the meteor.

A meteor that would've decimated the region.

And the man's words didn't change his resolve. "You assholes can't even hide how little you care. You're saying we stopped another apocalypse, and that's why you're saying we gave up Petalburg?"

His grip on his Pokeball tightened. Oh, how he wanted to beat some sense into this Rocket nutjob.

The only reason he wasn't letting his Pokemon out was because Uxie was insisting he talk instead.

"...how the fuck isn't killing him a crime? How isn't invading when the League is trying to protect the region reprehensible?"

howard slayte

The admin's fist clenched with rage.

"Because Derek Hoffman is one person. When Regirock's attack fell from the sky and leveled Petalburg, how many people do you think it killed? How many corpses did Team Rocket make when we stormed your city and put it to the torch?" More than nineteen, to be sure. That was the admin's count after sacking Dewford. Now, he couldn't even begin to count. "Forget everyone else that died on that battlefield. All I've seen are dirges for him and your precious Composed."

A spark of Dynergy erupted from his forefinger, and the admin grunted in a mixture of annoyance and frustration. He had worded his statement wrong, but it hardly mattered.

"Derek's death is a crime, but if I hear another word about how he was gone too soon while ignoring everyone else, I will rip down Oldale's defenses and put the city to the torch. Both sides have forgotten the mountain of corpses we've stacked while remembering the few." The admin stood, cape fluttering slightly as he did so. "So."

He looked down at the Gym Leader and his Ralts, eye twinkling with malignance. Hideo had done nothing wrong. He was on the right side. The League was faulty, but it was a government during wartime.

And yet...

"This war is not your fault. You are not to blame. I charge you, instead, with the sin of caring. I charge you with the sin of turning a dead man into a symbol while trampling on the sins of the slain." The ground began to shake, and chips of stone began to rattle across the earth as the vibrations increased. "Are you guilty?"

---

Hideo Kino

As Hideo listened to the man speak, he knew he was right - this guy was a Rocket nutjob.

Hideo knew that there were more deaths than DEREK HOFFMAN 's.

Derek was the one he knew, the person he talked to before Rocket invaded.

So even as the ground shook, as he held the Pokeball tightly, he'd give his answer.

"All those lives were taken too soon," Hideo said, pointing straight towards the man with his free hand. "They were taken because of you. Don't ever say I don't care about them when you didn't even know they existed until you trampled them under your boot."

"And don't even pretend you cared when you're saying you'll do it again."

Furious as he was, he wasn't oblivious to the rumbling growing closer. Even if he didn't get all the details of that day when it happened, he knew that Rocket had two Regis under their control now - both which were seen at Dynamax heights.

"The only thing I'm guilty of is stopping Rocket from turning Oldale and Littleroot into another graveyard."

He tapped the Pokeball, a Medicham emerging by his side - the Medichamite on its neck clear to see.

"So were you just trying to kill time 'til reinforcements get here? 'Cause you're not making much sense to me."

howard slayte

"Yes, I took them. Yes, I'll likely take them again. I'll likely kill a thousand people by the time this war is over, even if I'd rather not. It's not like I have a choice. If I defect, I die. And I won't kill myself and let my Pokémon fall into the wrong hands."

Getting morally hounded by Hideo felt personal. There was nothing more depressing than being demeaned by someone underage in an ethical conversation, especially when the young man had a point.

"But I do care." Howard jumped off the boulder to face Hideo and his Medicham. "It's why I fight. If you have a problem, then beat me. That's the only thing I can offer that would even begin to placate you."

The boulder shook and rattled, before raising up to its full height. A stone giant as tall as a building looked down at Hideo. Its pattern flashed as it regarded the Ralts, as if attempting to discern the Pokémon's true nature. Regice had been attacked by a reflected Dynamax Cannon, but Regirock had no experience with Hideo Kino.

Nothing but scant memories of conflict in Area Zero.

"No reinforcements. Only it." He gestured at Regirock, which immediately began to throw rocks the size of busses towards the Gym Leader in the form of a Rock Slide.

---

Hideo Kino

There was always the possibility this guy was just trying to gaslight him into thinking he was actually responsible for those deaths - but it didn't stand for long after the guy admitted to being prepared to kill - if only to keep his own life intact.

"You always have a choice. Rocket has to use that fear to control people, and if they lose it, they got nothing."

But it was too late to stop this with words; the massive Regirock finally arrived, and there was an uncomfortable moment as it…seemingly did nothing.

The Ralt's on Hideo's shoulder tilted its head, the two Pokemon merely observing each other.

And Hideo didn't have an answer for the man; as much as he wanted to try and convince the guy to just leave Rocket, he did want to kick his ass for Petalburg.

Though the first move went to the Regirock - but a quick warning from Uxie gave Hideo a chance to play his own card, light flowing from his Mega Bracelet to the Medicham. By the time the Rock Slides were tossed, the Mega Medicham was ready for it, intercepting each thrown rock with a Force Palm.

And once the assault ended, it would leap towards the Regirock, an Ice Punch aimed straight for it.

All the while, Uxie mentally communicated with the Regirock, asking it a simple question:

DO YOU THINK?

howard slayte

Words were wind. Hideo's conviction was validated by years of experience. Howard's conviction was cemented in a life of fear.

Yet while the words of humans were nothing more than whispers that disappeared in the howling storm, those spoken by Pokemon were far more significant. They weren't words of utterance, but were instead words of thought and knowledge. Uxie's query was parsed by Regirock, which responded with the speed of stone shifting over epochs.

⠝⠕
⠊⠞ ⠊⠎ ⠁⠃⠕⠧⠑ ⠍⠑

Ancient programming denied change. That did not change the fact that Regirock had come to a conclusion with its response. There was a form of logic to its 'thoughts', even if it could not 'think'.

The Ice Punch connected, though it was blocked by the golem's massive arm. Rock chipped and shattered, sending splinters of stone flying across the battlefield. With Hideo's Medicham in close proximity, Regirock quickly capitalized with a Fire Punch.

---

Hideo Kino

The time for talking between humans had reached an end as the battle began in earnest, neither side budging on their convictions.

The indecipherable words of Pokemon carried through the silence. Uxie's had been silent thoughts, carried to a mind that could comprehend and answer them - but the disguised pixie tilted its head at the answer it received.

Spoken braille wasn't something Hideo would understand, but Uxie could put it together - and give an answer.

NONE ARE BELOW THOUGHT

All had a right to learn. All had a right to think. To think one was below that much was inconceivable - if one had the capacity for it.

Ice was soon followed by Fire, and the Mega Medicham was quick to act; he had expected retaliation, Detecting the incoming punch. Kicking off the colossus's body, it managed to avoid the punch, once more upon the ground.

Waiting for the Regirock's next move.

howard slayte

The colossus groaned when it heard the response. A dull, low sound that caused gravel to rattle on the ground and knock people to their feet. It was a sound made by something inhuman, without even an iota of biological life beating in an artificial form. When it responded to Uxie, it was slow and labored.

⠊ ⠁⠍ ⠗⠕⠽⠁⠇
⠊ ⠅⠊⠇⠇ ⠞⠕ ⠎⠑⠗⠧⠑

It thought of little. It dreamed of little. It was a machine that fought solely because that had been its way for thousands of years. When the war between Team Rocket and the Pokemon League began, Regirock's ruins were revealed. There, it killed many to serve its directive.

Two years later, it killed again.

Three years later, and it was here.

Those directives have not changed. With a flash, it cut communication with the pixie so that it could begin its attack in earnest. With its attack dodged again, the golem switched tactics with the help of its trainer. Howard looked up at the golem, then fingered the band on his wrist.

"That's what you want?" Howard asked it, before chuckling. "If you insist."

The band glowed a cruel magenta as the admin prepared to shoulder the sin of Eternatus's power. His lips parted into a weary sigh as Regirock Dynamaxed, rapidly swelling in size until it was comparable to a massive, moving mountain. Each limb was an interstate, each contusion of stone was a building.

And as it Dynamaxed, a wave of raw Dynergy knocked everyone backwards.

---

Hideo Kino

Hideo had no idea what Regirock was saying; he knew braille by touch, not by sound - so the words were just inhuman noises to him.

But he caught on that Uxie might know, judging by the pixie's grumbling.

Uxie did try one more time to communicate - to tell Regirock it wasn't bound to just killing - but it was a closed-off mind now.

So the pixie accepted there was no more room for talking.

The wave of Dynergy came for all, big or small. The Mega Medicham stood against the wave, holding its ground - but unable to do anything to help Hideo or his "Ralts".

And yet, a pink barrier enveloped the two - one that could easily be mistook for a Protect. It ensured that both could stay in place as well, and it wasn't until the wave was finished that the Mystical Power dissipated, Uxie still had its Illusion up.

And it was quick to inform Hideo just how large Regirock was now. The boy hadn't been in the part of Littleroot where Dynamax Regice and Regirock had been fighting…now he had an idea what it would've been like were he there.

He would've gotten out of here if he didn't have a Mega Pokemon with him.

"Snooper - we gotta stop that giant! Show'em that Dynamax isn't any worse than a Mega!"

The Medicham nodded, rushing towards what could truly now be called a Colossus, aiming a Force Palm for its center.

howard slayte

Dynamax transcended all when it came to raw power. There was no need to bond with a Pokémon to create a Mega Evolution, nor did it require surveying alternate universes in order to find the optimal formula. No, Dynamax was simply the leavings of a god that had long since died. From its tomb in Dewford, Eternatus gnawed at the bones of the world.

Even worse, Regirock was optimized for the phenomenon. It had been built to wage war with a god, and it was not limited in movement like other Dynamaxed Pokémon.

Thus, as the Mega Medicham jumped upwards to give a definitive blow, Regirock simply stepped backwards. The ground shook and Pokemon ran and screamed as acres of land were crushed by the simple motion. The Force Palm sailed through the air, and Regirock responded with a Max Knuckle the size of a building.

Howard, meanwhile, was blasted back by his own Dynamaxed explosion. As his eye adjusted, he saw that Hideo hadn't moved an inch. The Gym Leader's own barrier protected him, and it was coming from... a Ralts?

"That's impossible." Howard staggered to his feet, begrudgingly impressed with the Gym Leader's display. "How'd you block that?"

In the faintest recesses of his memory, the barrier felt familiar.

"Regirock's Dynamaxing leveled Petalburg."

---

Hideo Kino

Hideo hadn't known that a Dynamax evolution could produce such force. He'd been out of it during the battle of Petalburg - and preoccupied battling Okidogi, so everything he'd learned was secondhand, and his only experience utilizing Dynamax was with his Ribombee.

Uxie had the best defenses of the Lake Trio; a blast that could level a city, it could shield against, with Hideo unaware it was anything more than just a shockwave.

Which left him fairly confused by the Rocket's response.

"...cause my Ralts used Protect?" he answered, as if he were simply stating the obvious.

He wouldn't elaborate further.

Meanwhile, the Mega Medicham realized it had its hands full with this foe. The Dynamax Regirock was much faster than expected for its size. Mega Palm met Dynamax Knuckle, and the shockwave could be felt from afar.

Hideo could feel it, doing his best to keep his balance - Uxie helping him keep it.

But physics had to be taken into account - and it was a human-sized Pokemon punching against a mountain. The Mega Medicham was hit to the ground, skidding across the dirt.

Still on its feet, and still raring to go. It was still a tough one, even if it were outmatched in terms of scale.

howard slayte