"My tastes are destitute. They'd ruin your poor taste buds with the reeking stench of poverty." Howard sighed as he murmured a request to the passing waitress, who nodded and smiled faintly, before departing with their order. "Comfee. With a lot sugar and milk."

At that point, it was hardly a beverage anymore. It didn't matter how cheap coffee brewed with Comfey flowers was, if the admin diluted it with milk and sugar he was hardly paying for the cup anymore.

Broke bastard.

"I'll pay. Consider me won over by your charms." Howard smiled lightly as he turned to face the sprawling Petalburg City. Kids laughed in the park and people went on their shopping trips. Summer was ending, and fall was threatening to begin. "This city..."

A deep sigh. A transition into melancholy.

"It will be gone soon."

---

ceres

"Yesn't." There was likely someone in the world that would react to the stone's desire for truth. The chances of them being in S.P.E.C.T.R.A were slim to none. "Avatars tend to have a scent. Something that draws a patron towards them."

A thoughtful shuffle. The Light Stone reflected in Howard's gaze as he regarded Hitoshi.

"A force of will."

No wonder so many of the higher ups in Rocket and the League were avatars. Only the truly determined were able to claw their way to the pinnacle. It certainly explained why Howard wasn't one.

"Find someone who understands truth."

---

Hitoshi Inoue

THE SPLASHING NEVER ENDS. BECOME MAGIKARP AND SWIM UP THE STREAM LIKE A MALIGNANT FISH DENYING THE FATE AND CIRCUMSTANCES OF ONE'S BIRTH.

SWIM.

SPLASH.

MAGIKARP.

---

MAGIKARP SPLASH
LR3S2DpU

An explosion rocked the Stakataka mech, sending numerous bricks falling into the water, many of which would wash up on the beach in the coming minutes. They blinked once, before switching from red to blue as they rolled towards Howard's Aerodactyl towel.

Andrew and Gaius found themselves in a compact crawl space. Bricks parted to allow the duo through, before the explosions send them bashing against the walls.

In the depths of the vent, a cry rang out.

Woo....

Eventually, the vents would split and separate, winding around and around. In the depths of the mecha, more and more Woopers cried out.

Outside, the mech through a massive punch at Wooper, sending the great beast flying backwards.

---

8/1 - Pokeball
8/2 - Tera Bug (Aerodactyl)
8/3 - Big Pearl
8/4 - Incense
8/5 - Incense
8/6 - pokeball
8/7 - pokeball
8/8 - big pearl
8/9 - Incense
8/11 - pokeball
8/12 - egg tutor
8/13 - pokeball
8/14 - pokeball
8/17 - pokeball
8/19 - dynamax candy
39Weo4Rq

"Good." Howard said in approval as he threw another Pokeball. "It means she's not an idiot. When the ship sinks, it's best to not be too deep in."

And that ship would sink, and the people who threw everything into it, those who slaved at the bottom would drown while those with little commitment fled to lifeboats to sail away from the great experiment that was Team Rocket.

Hitoshi would run. Howard would try, but the admin suspected that he would be grabbed by the ankle.

"She'll run. The brave will stay and fight, but I'd rather they not fight in some pointless war. When the real enemy comes..." Howard looked up and exhaled through his nose. "I only want the best."

---

Hitoshi Inoue
CATCHING LUDICOLO

"They always give me the shitty jobs, I swear..."

A trail of cigarette smoke curled from Howard's mouth as he leaned over the computer tower, incapable of making heads or tails of the arcane device. The last time he had used a computer was to print out his thesis for the professor of his capstone, and that had included large amounts of screaming, hair pulling, and crying.

Howard didn't use computers. He had underpaid interns and secretaries for that. Instead, Aisling got to bear witness to her direct superior wrestling with a ten year old computer tower. The tower was winning, as sad as it was to say.

"Fuck it." Howard rose to his feet and tossed Aisling a flash drive attached to an Aerodactyl keychain. "You pull the files out while I keep watch at the door."

Breaking into Petalburg's police department with Claydol's Teleports had been a clever move, but cleverness was the ability to adapt to new situations. The admin suspected that, eventually, someone would come and check why the server room's camera had been taken out by a Claydol crashing into it.

Tick tock.

---

AISLING O'CONNOR

The stone titan lost its chance as its focus was broken. Whether it had any to begin with was up in the air.

Regirock is defective. Its mind and body have been reunited, and the mind's original holder stands before it. Its soul remained locked away in some League strongbox in Ever Grande. Yet there's a whisper of familiarity to Regirock as it regards Adrian, its pattern flashing at the Gyarados and its master.

⠋⠁⠍⠊⠇⠊⠁⠗

Yet the vague memory of this man and Cillian Quinn and priam conrad were forgotten in favor of annihilation. Emotions are not required for a planetary defender.

The admin by its foot stirred again, before stumbling to his feet.

"No." Half of his face was covered in blood from the fall. His flesh was scraped raw and he walked with a limp, though his expression did not change. "We have orders from Walsh to catch this Pokémon."

His voice slurred slightly as Howard spoke. He tapped at a Pokeball with fervor, his eye alight with frenzied rage. The cave suddenly dropped in temperature as Regice rose from the ground to face its sibling once again. This was not their first fight. It was not their second. It would not be their last.

"We will fulfill them."

A frozen fist sent Regirock flying into a wall.

---

Adrian Malcolm

When the Walking Wake appeared, the admin internally sighed.

Fuuuuuuuuuuuck.

"Not wrong. In the scenario where you can actually strike at the main body, it'll certainly help. If anything, it'll beat whatever the enemy throws at you while you prepare yourself. But also, not completely correct." The distant thrum of Dynergy made the admin's left hand itch. The itching continued up his arm, tracing scars.

His hand twitched.

"The biggest weapon you have, paradoxically, is their size. They're too fucking heavy! Vestivius isn't going anywhere while it's that massive, but if you start blowing off their legs or tripping them up with ropes or chains or powerful blows, they'll fall. And the bigger they are..."

Howard gestured to Diana.

---

Diana Cavendish

"I doubt it. Besides, we can't speak its language." He gestured at the alien pattern flashing on the golem's face. They were random, indescribable, alien. A form of braille communicated through seven static dots beeping in an infinite number of sequences. "I've been working on it for a hot minute. I'm pretty close to figuring it out."

It was an interesting puzzle, to be fair. How long had it been since he struggled with an ancient language? Besides Draconid's strange varieties, the golem's method of communication eluded him.

Oddly, it didn't upset him. It was exciting to struggle over a problem and slowly piece together a solution.

"But you're not wrong. We live in an era of gods and heroes. May as well get the most of it. We're living through history, Absinthe." Howard's eye flashed with excitement. "Sometimes, I feel fortunate that we live in such an age. Other times..."

He shuddered as he walked past her to start climbing back up towards the shrine.

"Less so."

---

Absinthe Blackwood

The Guardian Deities were hardly guardians. He had learned that from the moment that he saw Elisabeth Fiorelli with Tapu Fini. It did not matter how skewed the union was. The only thing they shared was a two-faced nature and a capacity for subterfuge.

How else could Elisabeth have risen so high?

Were Alola's guardians truly reliable? The more the admin thought about it, the deeper his frown grew. Lele had seemed carefree with John Sullivan, but he wasn't sure if that was simply the young man's spirit rubbing off on a protector deity or simply Lele's true nature.

Regice had tried to kill Howard and it had leveled Dewford, but it had served him well upon its defeat and its malfunctioning was his fault.

Thud. Thud. Thud. The sound of Regice crushing Dewford beneath its feet rang in Howard's ears.

As for fern delaney's Tapu Koko... What an annoying menace. Remembering the dark creature, the admin blinked once.

"There are more beyond the veil, hidden in Ultra Space."

---

Tangaroa Emzar

Not even slightly. This woman was a member of Team Rocket. There were few within the organization that he could truly call friends.

Shred, yes. Grigori? Almost certainly, despite their strained relationship. He even enjoyed Jayden's company from time to time, even if Howard had needed to choke the truth from him as they lay fighting in the streets of Littleroot. Everyone in Rocket was scum, and yet...

Howard did not mind that. Rocket was where the dregs of society coalesced into one abhorrent entity. Whether they were rich or poor or adept or inept, there was a place for them in Rocket. The only shared bond that everyone in the organization lacked something. Ceres was no different.

"I could be persuaded." His eye did not leave hers. This woman was pleasant. Despite her badgering, he even almost liked her. Yet she, like everyone else in this organization was broken. Otherwise she would be living a happy normal life. "But I'm also your admin. When I ask you a question, you will answer."

The fox peered from its den, as bitter and jaded as it was. Pessimism and hope swirled within, each threatening to snap out and praise mankind's virtue while denoting its sin. Both could be applied to this woman, even if he did not know her well.

"Let's try it."

His lips curled slightly as his eye sparkled. The menu was placed aside, discarded.

"What would you like to drink?"

---

ceres