Deeply respected and deeply hated, Howard thought to himself. Yet he'd keep that secret from Alina. There was no reason to explain the tale of a dead man, lost to Yveltal's clutches as he slowly became something more.

"A few ships got wrecked when Kyogre threatened to flood the region a few months ago. One crashed near a Corsola colony, and they're not particularly fond of it. I'm worried they might leave the reef behind to die." He leaned against a nearby railing, pointing out towards the mainland. "Corsola are his favorite Pokemon, so I figured this would be a good way to send him off with a smile."

And he does smile, though it's a sad thing. He peered at Dynergy-marred fingernails as his cowboy hat fluttered in the wind. A streak of white hair from a fictional Galar was tucked behind his ear as he turned to face the former lighthouse keeper.

"Diving alone is dangerous, and I'd appreciate a buddy. I've heard that people from Olivine are good swimmers. The tides there are pretty rough due to the Whirl Islands, right?" He scratched his chin thoughtfully. Deeming Alina as the perfect fit based on a stereotype was a foolish thing to do, but Howard Slayte was often as foolish as he was clever.

Besides, this seemed like a good opportunity to get this poor woman to turn around and head back to Johto. Hoenn was not a place to confront a crisis of identity and purpose.

Or maybe it was.

"What say you, Alina?" He gave her a grin as he whistled, causing Shirley to return to his side for head scratches. Those, he gave plenty of. "Fancy a bit of diving?"

---

Alina Hamako

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

"We did, actually. Me and two others."

He lets her stare daggers at him as they march forward. It was better than her kicking him in the shins. Even in a world where fiction took priority, he suspected that taking a kick to the shins would hurt like hell. Still, it doesn't change the fact that as her fingers slip away, he silently wished they were still there, bloody and broken as they were.

Frankly, reaching the end of this ruin was something that terrified him. Knowing what was at the end, Howard wanted nothing less than to turn back. Yet this was yesterday. Yesterday had already happened.

Sometimes, the best way to feel a sense of normalcy was to go through the motions and pray that everything was fine.

"I was about to graduate. In my gut, I knew that as soon as I got my degree, there weren't many job prospects waiting for me, y'know? So I figured it'd be best to find something. Find proof of anything to give my education meaning."

He stopped for a moment to feel the wall, its etchings and engravings awakening memories long since buried under a mountain of sand.

"So I found a tablet carved in a language I don't remember, made from a type of stone I can't be assed to recall. Led me and a postgrad here. He needed a research paper topic, and I needed something to jumpstart my career. As for our third..."

Another heavy sigh.

"My fiancée."

The word was a curse.

---

june sleigh ameena abadi

"You're right." He nodded, lip trembling as he did so. "I should."

This was how it was meant to be. Another sacrifice piled on top of the mountain that he had already made. He had given much, and he had little left to give. Yet if he could make Clover smile at the memory of Temp in exchange for sneering at the Rocket Admin, Howard would take that trade.

Why? He didn't even like Temp. He hated him. Temp had left him to die.

"I'll see you at headquarters, Clover. Enjoy yourself." Howard turned and left, his suit an anomaly in a sea of mourning.

And eventually, he would meet a woman named Alina Hamako who would help him honor Tempest Quinn's memory in his own way.

---

clover matamata

"Good question." Howard closed his eye. "I don't really know."

Deep in his soul, he knew the reason, but that reason would be forced to curl up and die until the admin could finally admit the reason aloud. He had originally come to pay his respects, but as soon as he had stepped foot in this small town, fear had bubbled to the surface.

He was afraid.

Yet he was still here.

Whatever that meant, Howard didn't want to know. All he knew was that it wouldn't change the fact that he couldn't go in and see another hint of Tempest Quinn.

"To show my support, I suppose. To prove that, in the end, Team Rocket cared about him. He deserves that much."

---

clover matamata

"Because I'm incapable of lying."

His heart broke in half as he said it. It would, if the hollow vessel baptized in Dynergy had any iota of one to begin with. Yet even without that important piece, the admin still remembered the Ultra Deep Sea and how Tempest Quinn and Cillian Quinn had damned him to drown in a sea of shadows and monsters.

He never forgot Temp's face as he told Howard that he'd do it again for Cillian.

"Temp was strong. He loved everyone on this side and hated everyone on the other side. He loved you Clover." Howard blinked once. "That doesn't mean that he loved me."

He does not lie, but that doesn't mean that the admin couldn't misdirect. Clover didn't need to know that Tempest Quinn was a monster, nor did he need to know about Yveltal or the Ultra Deep Sea. Those experiences would paint a different picture of Tempest Quinn.

Rather than defile Clover's hero, he'd take that blame onto himself.

"It's a long story."

---

clover matamata

Temp had mentioned the seawater rite to him, once. That only made the admin feel worse. In the folds of his suit pocket, Howard's hands had clenched into fists as the memories flashed in his mind.

Hoyeon culture had been forgotten by most. Pacifidlog Town's history was not as exalted as the Draconids of the same time, but that did not change the fact that Howard strove to incorporate as much of the world's dying memories into himself as possible. It was the only way to ensure that it was never forgotten.

"I'm not that hungry, Clover. You should get some for yourself, though." He squeezed the young Hoyeon's shoulders, his hands emerging from his suit pockets like a den of buried snakes. "And as for the ceremony..."

Howard shrugged and removed his hands.

"Temp and I were never really that close."

---

clover matamata

The suit made him stand out like a sore thumb. Howard didn't even know why he had bothered to wear it. Tempest Quinn hated wearing suits. He was the definition of 'business casual'. It was an ironic twist, given his husband's constant need for attire due to his position.

Yet everything felt wrong, as he looked in on a ceremony he had no right to partake in. The death of a Hoyeon was an ancient affair, with traditions so steepled in repetition that to break from them was to forget the purpose entirely.

Howard didn't get close. He stayed on the outside. This was where he belonged, after all.

"No need. I've already seen Underboss Quinn." Howard looked down at Clover, his hair blowing past his sole remaining eye. "I know a few of these people, actually. Temp introduced me."

A lie.

"I'm about to leave, actually."

---

clover matamata

Eva Morales speaks. He listens.

When the drink is offered, he cautiously accepts. The champagne reflected a diluted visage of the woman who offered it. With a deft hand, he accepted the gesture and looked down at the fluke.

"There are many people in this world that are defined by the titles bestowed onto them. Harbinger. Devourer. Volatile." Howard fingered the glass absentmindedly, his touch chilling the glass as onyx gloves flickered faintly with light from the flesh underneath. "But I do not count the Peacemaker among them. With or without Rayquaza, Eva, that is your title."

"Wear it with pride, Peacemaker."

This does not change much. It does not shake his resolve, because no matter what happens, Eva Morales's dream is a thousand miles from reaching its conclusion. Hoenn had not been built in a day, and it had not been destroyed in one. It had taken six years to reach this state of collapse, with no end in sight.

Yet still, the march continues. The march to save the world.

"You ask much of a mere admin. This is a symbol of camaraderie that the boss or his three underbosses should commemorate, and yet..." Howard chuckled once, and shook his head. From the deep shadows of his mask, the faintest outline of a human body could be seen. "...it does not matter. Sootopolis is your sin. Petalburg is mine. We will continue to labor until we've cleansed them both."

He tapped his fluke against hers, producing a ding.

"Cheers, doctor."

---

Cheers!

Rocket was family, but they were a large family. Full of cousins who loved to snitch and siblings who wanted to gain the appeal of their parents. They were a family, but Howard and Naia were essentially strangers, sharing a contract sealed with blood and a vow to never betray one another.

It was a vow thinner than blood, certainly. Whether it was also stronger than iron remained to be seen.

"Dynergy rots the mind. It kills the cells, rends the soul, and a bunch of other nasty things. Indulge in Dynamax too much, tap that well of power too greedily, and it destroys you. It saturates your body. What else do you call that, other than poison?"

Jayden had demanded he get tested. Lulu had, as well. Wherever Jayden had sent his blood, the admin hadn't been able to track his colleague's movements. Jayden Cross was a remarkably clever man. Even thinking of him now made the admin want to grind his teeth.

"Injured? I climbed a Dynamaxed Pokemon, almost fell to my death, and barely survived through sheer luck. I feel like shit, more often than not." As he spoke, Howard rolled up his left sleeve, where his arm was cut with thousands of small, symmetrical scars from reaching into Regice's core to pull out its Wishing Star. The wounds flickered red like divine circuitry. "I'm dying, Naia. Don't know how, don't know when. All I know is that it's going to happen."

A Torracat, then. Except it was more apt to describe Howard Slayte as ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■.

He used her name flippantly, silently shuffling through a thousand names in his mind's mausoleum to be used in situations like this. As he spoke, he produced a folder from his suit and handed it to her. Information an earlier doctor had provided before vanishing off the face of the earth.

"I'm just... hm. Changing the oil to make sure everything still runs properly." He chuckled once, regarding her with a haunted eye as Naia allowed her voice to indulge in human emotion. "Keep things moving properly up until the end."

---

Naia Kayode

When Alina apologized, Howard put up a hand, waving off her concerns.

"Not your fault. It was a moment of misfortune, and he wasn't the nicest person anyways. He was the Gym Leader here, way back when. One of the strongest trainers I've ever known." Temp's smile could brighten up a whole room, and Howard knew from experience that it was one of the reasons that Cillian kept moving forward. "Big fan of Corsola."

He left out the fact that he had been too cowardly to actually enter Temp's procession. He had simply watched from the sidelines as his people had mourned for one of the strongest trainers their town had ever known. He had even seen clover matamata in the distance, but had not made contact.

Seeing children cry was rough, especially when Temp had died because Howard had turned away and left him to die.

"I have, actually. There's this Krabby special at the Olivine Café that tastes delicious, and they coat it in butter and Salac berries and-" He cut himself off and coughed into his fist, lest this woman realize he had a tendency to ramble. "Your Ampharos gave it away. Sunnyshore has a similar lighthouse, as well."

He inclined his head with a weary smile. Every second that passed, he regretted wearing this suit.

"Howard." He pointed at himself, then jerked his head towards his Aerodactyl, who continued to sniff after Nova. "Shirley."

After a moment of deliberation, he turned to look off in the direction that held Slateport.

"I can get you to Slateport, if you'd be willing to do me a favor. No name needed."

---

Alina Hamako

"I want to hear it from someone not obligated to lie."

The truth meant everything to him. It was why hiding his identity was the antithesis to Howard's own existence. It made him a paradox, and as June and Shred were like to know, the admin loathed anomalies. It explained his own disparaging nature, and his tendency to drink himself into a stupor.

Self-loathing was a powerful thing.

"I don't want to hear it from Elisabeth's lips. I don't believe in such... delusions. They're not worth my time." Howard put a hand on his hip, his armor shining like a knight from a forgotten iteration of Galar. "I want to hear it from one of his closest friends. His original Elite Four."

Yet when the words fell from her lips, he shuddered. Then he began to speak.

"My name..."

---

Melody Miro

Do it yourself.

Do it yourself.

DO IT YOURSELF.

Regirock's Max Knuckle struck the ground with the force of a warhead. Trees, rubble, and unconscious Pokémon flew by as the place where Howard had been standing disappeared under a metric ton of stone. Dynergy sparked from the attack's location, creating a red haze as Regirock scanned for Kyle.

Yet if he had been there, he had been blown away. As Regirock inspected its fist to confirm any casualties, Howard teleported onto its shoulder with assistance from Crumble. The Claydol floated around weakly, before fainting due to prior injuries.

"I wanted to be a hero." Howard groaned as Kyle's words rang in his ears. "But I'm not. I'm trying, but I'm not."

His head swam, and another moment passed before the admin vomited.

"Ho-oh could've done it. Your Solgaleo. You entrusted Terrakion to Noah, and then to Eddie." Arceus above, did noah faber know about this? What his husband had been reduced to? "This isn't..."

A business card fluttered by in the wind, and the admin instinctively caught it. Drunken eyes inspected the card, and the admin let out a low rasp of amusement.

"It's true, then. Team Rocket, the Pokemon League, and even the universe is against me on this." To be vindicated by reality itself made Howard want to scream at the heavens. "Ah."

He looked up at the sky.

"I attacked my hero."

It did not take Howard Slayte long to begin howling with derisive laughter.

---

kyle lopez