She has a remarkably kickable face. Annalise's temper is remarkably similar to June's, now that the admin thinks about it. No wonder June ended up in Ultra Plant, with someone like this driving her forward. It's a perfect recipe to bring out the best and worst in a person when their time is spent looking into a mirror.

Annalise spoke. He listened. The restraint she tried to keep in check is quickly capered out as he grabbed her wrist with a hand as cold as ice.

"Back off, bitch. His voice is low and flinty. "She's mine."

The last time he had heard those words, June had spoken them as she ripped into a cop. There was a small part of his soul that was immensely pleased at the prospect of doing it for her. The notion of something coming full circle greatly appealed to the archaeologist.

History was a cycle, after all.

"Do it right now. Kill me. Do it here. Prove my colleague right and bash my head against the table. Turn Eva's message into ash." His words are taunting, goading. The prospect of this becoming a regionwide incident was one that Mint and Barnaby would love to sink their teeth into. "Regieleki is mine. Do you know why it's with her instead of me?"

His breath steamed, as if the air around him was freezing.

"Because I don't need it yet."

---

annalise henderson

"Agggghhhhhhhhh..."

The admin moaned as he disappeared into the foliage like a ghost. Despite the callousness of Andrea, the bear seemed to agree with her actions. Whatever the archaeologist's goals were for the statues and for the world at large, they had been stopped by a mighty kick to the Regirocks, as it were.

For now, anyway.

"Auguhhhhhhhhh..."

---

Andrea Vaneau

Why me?

There was no particular reason. If she was too blind to see that, then the ranger was a fool. She had been a ranger of rank and had survived the falling rubble, thus she had been clapped in irons until a trade could be made with the Pokémon League.

Her second question was one worth answering.

"Because it was easy and exposed. If we took Dewford, the Elite Four's town would've been ridiculously easy to crack. If we took Rustboro, we would have to contend with Cian. Petalburg has no Gym Leader. Its forces were scattered, to the point where its defenders were children and untested civilians."

And because the admin had been ordered to.

"There was you, but I did not see you on the field. You fought well, I've heard." He gestured around the cell. "Not well enough."

He put a hand on his hip.

"Is that all? I conquered the city, but there's no particular reason for it. I would've done the same to Rustboro or Dewford or Slateport, if ordered. I wasn't. Thus I'm here. You should be thanking me, given what emerged from underneath the city during the battle."

---

Shalin Nariya

"It'd be easier if it was. If every evil in the world could be put at my feet, I think the world would be a happier place." That wasn't a hard bar to cross, amusingly. The bar was deep underground. "Maybe Team Rocket and the Pokémon League could put their differences aside of they could find someone they hated more than each other."

The DRK Triad existed, but they were too distant to be of much use. For all the contempt held for them, the otherworldly force may as well have been on the moon. They were too hard to reach and too hard to defeat, only appearing rarely to remind both sides that there was another thread.

Her logic was bad. He wanted to laugh at it, but she'd kick him and it'd hurt like hell.

"But I don't think that'll ever happen. I can't even bring myself to hate you properly, and you can't even bring yourself to do the opposite. People are fucked, June." He let that thought hold in the air for a long moment, before he turned to look at her. Her belt of Pokeballs shined in the faint light. "But I can think of someone with plenty of reason to hate me. More than you, actually."

A thought came into his head.

"Can I see her?" His voice was soft. "Matchstick?"

---

june sleigh

By the time Erebus snatched Howard's flask away, it had already been halfway drained. Regardless of Nebula's opinion on their second leader, the universal truth was hard to deny. Howard Slayte drank like a fish. Still, as his flask was taken, the admin let out a low groan and rose from his lawn chair.

"Security is good. Me and Oscar keep a few Pokémon on standby. It's a big farm!" The admin gestured off into the distance, where berry trees rustled in the hot wind. Plumbing and irrigation pumped water from an underground oasis that the admin had found while spelunking, thus this section of the desert was green and verdant. "Can I have my flask back now?"

When appealing to Erebus didn't work, Howard turned towards its trainer.

"Come on, Makoto! That flask belonged to a Kalosian war general! It's expensive! You trust me, right?" Howard's eye grew wide and pleading as he looked towards them. "Please~? I'm not drunk!"

As if to prove it, he downed the entire water bottle.

"See? It's no problem at all!"

---

Makoto Kurumi ameena abadi
DISAGREEMENT

"I did." Frustratingly, he doesn't deny it. There's a sensation of triumph when a foe rages and denies their defeat with screams and gritted teeth. Howard denied the ranger such an opportunity. Not because he was a social manipulator like many of his colleagues, but because the truth sits at the pinnacle of his dogma. "I lost there. You two wanted that victory more than me, and thus you earned it."

The words tasted like bile in his mouth, yet there was no more rage for him to overflow with. After all, Regieleki was already his. It was already Rocket's. june sleigh was simply an extra step in moving the electric giant from place to place.

Regardless of his position regarding the deliverywoman, there was nothing to be mad about. Yet still, there was a whisper of frustration in the depths of the admin's soul.

"But."

Howard's breath frosted as the word hung in the air.

"Despite everything, despite me failing to come away with that giant and you standing on the winning side, I believe that you were the one who lost in that battle, Annalise Henderson. Not June. Not me." Only then does a hint of pride color his words. "You."

---

OOP

This Dewpider was truly the star of the show. The lighthouse keeper was correct on that front. Like many stars, there was a chance of this star crashing down to earth.

"Yeah, we're just running through some last minute numbers. The risk is calculated, but I'm pretty good at math. We should be fine." Howard stood, refusing to acknowledge his own changing act. He gave Alina a once-over, before nodding in approval. "Looking good. It'll be a breeze. I'm worried about Corsola edges, so we'll probably thicken the bubbles a bit."

Pointy things, Corsola were. Luckily, the ones around Pacifidlog were fairly docile from Howard's experience, barring the time one had stolen his hat when he had went fishing with Temp. It was fortunate that he didn't actually miss the Rocket Beast, which he didn't. Not at all. Not even a little bit.

Oscar or Lulu would've been able to do the bubble math in their minds, but unfortunately the archaeologist's specialty was scraping enough money together for rent. He typically left the rocket science to the actual Rocket scientists.

After another moment of deliberation, the Dewpider nodded twice, before wandering towards the ship to practice the bubble technique to Howard's specifications. Howard followed the small insect, leading Alina and Nova to the ship. After fiddling with the console, rigging, and sails, he nodded again, pleased with himself.

"Wind's good." Howard put a scarred hand on his hip. "Ready to go? Got everything?"

---

Alina Hamako

"So you're an innocent maiden, now?" Howard chuckled and shook his head. Steelheart continued to chirp and chirp. "How uncouth of me."

It didn't matter how amiable Ceres was, she was a member of Team Rocket. Every single one of them was defective, denied, or despised. This was where the dregs of the world ended up. This was a molten boiling pot of self-loathing in the form of an organization named Team Rocket.

Not a single person would weep if they disappeared forever. Thus, they looked out for their own.

"But if you want the truth..." Howard tucked his chin against his chest and crossed his arms, thoughtful. He stared at nothing for several moments before speaking again. "I collect stories. Every person does something to impact history, no matter how small. Consider it my quirk. I like to listen."

He blinked once, slowly.

"Maybe it's meaningless, but I'd like to hear yours."

---

ceres

"I do." The admin whispered, his eye peering into the illuminated space, as if it would magically reveal its secrets to Howard where Montgomery had failed. "Bad start."

A small part of him blamed his missing eye and the lack of depth perception that followed for his misfortune. The fact that half of his vision was simply gone and encased in a shadow that he'd never be able to pierce frustrated him to no end. Not knowing what was there frustrated him heavily.

Alas.

"But it's not there, so we might be okay." The admin cocked his head to the side and sniffed the air. "Something's messing with the air."

His other senses were honed to replace the lack of sight. Behind him, the silhouette of a Sigilyth fluttered.

---

Montgomery James

As the redhead climbed up the hill towards the king's court, held under the protective caress of the Dyna Tree, she would find a familiar face teaching Galar's once and future king how to do his taxes.

"Look, not every person can pay as much as everyone else. There's levels of wealth to this. A king that rips and plunders from his poorest folk will not be king for long. It's all about balance. You need to tax enough to maintain that your kingdom is funded, but not so much that everyone looks at your crown and wishes that it sits on another's head. That's how you get a rebellion. Got it?"

At the mention of rebellion, Calyrex shuddered. The man next to him, meanwhile, was allegedly Howard Slayte. The hat and eyepatch were definitely the same, but everything else spoke of a figure that was definitely not him. He tucked a strand of white hair behind his ear before glaring at Calyrex.

"If I have to do it, then you do as well." The admin huffed, before closing the textbook and shaking his head. He and the king were surrounded in various books. "It's only fair. A king should ask nothing of his subjects that he himself wouldn't do. That's enough studying for today, though."

While Calyrex offered the admin a book on fairy tales to read, Howard would look up and see the smith.

"Aurelie?"

---

Aurelie Lefevre

The massive giant towered over Makoto Kurumi, before looking up into the heavens.

⠓⠍. The golem's pattern flashed slowly. ⠏⠑⠗⠓⠁⠏⠎.

There was no genuine heart in the golem's breast like its sibling, thus its words were slow and ponderous. Even despite the forefather's will etched into it, a tin soldier that marches without a heart cannot grow one overnight. It was a worrisome thought, and one that Howard himself had realized in Dewford.

The admin, meanwhile, was arguing with Regice.

"Get down from there! How are you up there in the sky if you were stuck in a cave for thousands of years! Idiot!"

⠊⠞⠎ ⠏⠗⠕⠕⠋ ⠞⠓⠁⠞ ⠞⠓⠑ ⠺⠕⠗⠇⠙ ⠊⠎ ⠑⠝⠙⠊⠝⠛

"You said that when a Brute Bonnet was crossing the street the other day!"

⠍⠥⠎⠓⠗⠕⠕⠍⠎ ⠁⠗⠑ ⠎⠉⠁⠗⠽

"AGH!" The admin turned towards the telescope in a fit of rage, his phone dropping from his pocket as he did so. It buzzed as Naia Kayode texted him something about a Bulbasaur. Regice picked up the phone and stared at it, the Wishing Star in its heart pulsing with power as it did so.

⠞⠓⠊⠎ ⠊⠎ ⠎⠕ ⠞⠑⠗⠗⠊⠃⠇⠑ ⠊⠍ ⠛⠕⠝⠝⠁ ⠉⠗⠽

The admin, meanwhile, felt a chill as he looked through the telescope towards a hand in the heavens. He cocked his head at it.

---

★Nbl

"Your victory." Howard's voice was as dry as a desert. "So you say."

History would not see it that way. Of that, he was sure. Regardless of Elisabeth's capacity to twist the truth, he was in charge of Petalburg's reconstruction. It was a punishment, and it had been deemed as such, but there were far worse fates. Yet what grabbed the admin's attention was the mention of declan walsh.

"I wondered if that was possible, the way you two entered the meeting room together. Our Rocket Boss is as slippery as ever." Silently, the archaeologist fumed. "I haven't had the opportunity to meet with him personally, yet. I was quite busy with the aftermath of the city."

That, and hiding from everyone that wanted to question him. That, and paying his respects here. The admin smiled grimly.

"I'll have to pay him a visit."

And what a delight that would be, the admin was sure. Yet the two were intimately familiar. After all, how many times had Howard been alone in his office with nothing but his shadow?

"You know, this is funny." Howard reached into his pocket and produced a cigarette. "History is a cycle. This is the second time I've buried you, but the first time that you've actually come back from beyond the grave."

Flicker. A lighter ignited.

"You were far more tolerable, up in that tower."

---

Elisabeth Fiorelli