Before the smog cleared, the Raging Bolt's long neck rippled out as it lunged for Amor's Archaludon.

Metal Burst was a potent move, but this was a primal beast with not a rational thought in its mind. If Amor thought it would simply fold in on itself like a set of dominoes, he would be sorely mistaken. It would fight with every ounce of power in its soul to remain in this unmarred paradise.

They were in the intruders, not it.

Archaludon was grasped in its jaws, bleeding gums showing from the effect of the Metal Burst, before throwing it into the air. A long, thin neck became a muscular cord as it found the physical strength to throw his Pokémon like a toy.

"Fuck!" Preston's voice snarled as he dodged the remnants of the electrical strike. Meanwhile, his Koffing flew up and launched a remarkably precise Sludge Bomb into the dragon's maw. The poison slid off the Archaludon's metal sheen and down its throat.

Its neck constricted as it prepared to vomit.

---

Amor Rose

It began.

The Raging Bolt let out a loud screech that sounded halfway between a thunderclap and a dinosaur as it let out a swarm of lightning bolts towards the Head Scientist. Its electrical output was spectacular, capable of powering many of Amor's machines for weeks at a time. Good for him if he managed to capture it, bad for him as it attempted to shock him to death.

In the smog, Preston Fugu and his Koffing danced between the legs of the giant with remarkable speed and awareness. The chef was fast, experienced, and capable. The smog tasted like Kanto and Johto and blood and warfare that he just wanted to leave behind.

Why was he in Area Zero? What had inspired him to take up his sword again?

A Sludge Bomb detonated near the Raging Bolt's leg, causing it to buckle slightly. It was small, barely noticeable, but it caused the Raging Bolt to adjust its posture slightly, and that change in posture would have to be enough.

"Seraphim!" Preston barked out from the smog.

---

Amor Rose

"And so it begins." Preston's eyes reflected the prehistoric yellow beast at the bottom of the ridge. He had heard rumors of Raikou and its struggles against Rocket in Johto. He had never met the genuine article, which was good. He would've never lived to tell the tale. "Let's glass that fucker."

Immediately, Preston's Koffing exuded a thick Smog that filled the valley like a cup of wine filled a glass.

"Hopefully that suit has a gas mask." Preston glanced at Amor as he picked his way through the dirt as he descended into the toxic smog. "Seraphim."

Despite lacking a gas mask, Preston vanished into the smog until nothing remained. Despite the toxic gas, the Raging Bolt's long neck craned over the battlefield. It looked at Amor with primal contempt as it let out a ferocious roar.

"I'll attack from behind."

---

Amor Rose

EXCURSION SIGN-UP

ADVENTURE IS OUT THERE!

WHICH EXCURSION?: GC Excursion C
PARTICIPATING CHARACTERS: Amor Rose @preston

"Top Scientist? You've got a high opinion of yourself if you think you can take a beast on your own."

That, or the average beast meant little nowadays. The ones who had waged war in Kanto had been weapons of war. They didn't have crazy powers or the patronage of Legendary Pokémon, but they were cruel and vindictive and capable of malice beyond the capabilities of the average human being.

Rocket scientists were similar. They acted out of their own personal interest for their respective fields. In Kanto, the biggest scientists were those who figured out how to kill as many people with as little effort. War. Battle. Carnage. An eternal cycle.

"Murderer." The word was simple, marred by scorn. It was a definition. "We're both killers now, eh?"

Silence.

"Right over this ridge. Are you ready?" Preston returned his Zubat to his Pokeball. "Soon, this will be over. Vengeance."

---

Amor Rose

"Bigger fish? I know plenty about grilling bigger fish." Preston frowned at Seraphim. "I know more about Rocket, though."

He seemed to be frowning more and more as the adventure went on. Being near the Rocket was disgusting, but Preston was also aware of the fact that you needed to cooperate with your foes in order to succeed in life. Dealing with the unbearable was what separated men from meat, humankind from beasts, League from Rocket.

"So you're a beast. A Rocket Beast." Preston spat into the dirt as they hiked up the ridge. His Zubat flew in the sky above them, before screeching as it returned to Preston's shoulder. "You lot have improved since Kanto. Now that you have resistance here in Hoenn, you have to improve or die."

Beast. Head Scientist. Admin. It didn't matter in the end.

"So you've never murdered someone? Ever? Not for Rocket? For yourself? You're completely clean?"

---

The chef knelt near the footprint and peered at it. He knew little about tracking creatures, but he could tell that this track was moderately fresh. Preston frowned as he looked at his hand. It trembled slightly as the chef got back to his feet and turned towards Amor.

"It's close, but not too close. Be on your guard, Seraphim." Preston's eyes narrowed as he led Amor to track after track. "Cheri Berries grow in these climates. I've seen a few bushes, but not since the rock slide."

If the chef knew one thing, it was food. Any foodstuff he came across automatically brought a recipeto mind. When Amor's Dragapult slipped from shadow, Preston thought about to best prepare it as a dish. Salt. Pepper. Dash it with spice. Getting a fresh Dragapult was difficult, and he didn't want to try his luck against the dragon.

"Over that ridge. It's probably in that valley up ahead." Preston said as they approached a ridge. "So. Why?"

---

Amor Rose

"I doubt it."

He had never met a geologist that he liked. Most of them loved to blab about some random rock they found on the side of the road. The only rock that Preston was interested in was salt, and only in quantities that improved the taste of the dish.

Sharp eyes inspected the horizon of the Giant Chasm. There was nothing of note, barring the occasional strange bird flying overhead. Green, Tera Crystals, and more green. This place would've been good to settle a thousand years ago. Maybe it still would be, once the war was over. Rocket and League had destroyed thousands of homes over the course of battle.

The chance to rebuild was a blessed one. Not everyone got such an opportunity. The only homes the deceased had to offer were those for the worms.

Ironically, it wasn't the Zubat or a dragon that found the tracks, but the chef himself.

"Got it." Preston pointed at an indent in the ground about seventy yards away. "Over there. Tracks."

He started to run towards the hints of the Raging Bolt.

---

Amor Rose

The Giant Chasm was starkly different from Area Zero. It looked more like a paradise with its verdant greens and swaths of life, rather than Area Zero's glimmering crystals and rocky terrain.

"There's less Tera Crystals up here. I wonder why that is." Preston made the observation as they ascended.

He didn't know much about Tera Crystals. He was a chef first and foremost. He had graduated with a degree in toxicology with high honors, but that had been a lifetime ago. He had done a lot of work with poison back when he worked in Team Rocket, but that was far away and long ago. He used his knowledge for cooking, now.

He also knew that some chefs tried to put dust from Tera Crystals into their food as a seasoning. The results were mixed. Tera Crystals were as unreliable as they were glimmering. if each color was a potential future, there were an infinite number of outcomes to anticipate when working with the foreign crystal substance.

"Do you see footprints?"

---

Amor Rose

EXCURSION SIGN-UP

ADVENTURE IS OUT THERE!

WHICH EXCURSION?: GC Excursion A
PARTICIPATING CHARACTERS: Preston Fugu Amor Rose

"There's no need. When the dead die, you lay them to rest. There's no need to dance among them."

Seraphim's truth was wretched and vile, but it was something that Preston had to accept. When you fought in hell, you took the devil's help. Peace could only be achieved through a firm hand, and that was something that Preston currently lacked. He was capable, but only Fugu was strong enough to contend in this world, and the Tentacruel was crippled.

That Paralysis would bite him soon, but there was little to be done. He was Preston Fugu, a chef who had betrayed Rocket to live a peaceful life.

He wondered where Grigori Sokolov was.

"Very well. Let's go." They began the march up the cliffside, past glimmering Tera Crystals and the occasional corpse. After a moment, Preston found a man's Pokeball. He picked it up and slipped it into his pocket, continuing his wordless march.

"It's a long trek up."

---

Amor Rose

"Because if you don't, the Rangers will. Actions speak louder than words, so act."

Words were wind, actions were not. You could trust someone based on what they put on the line. You could trust the person next to you on the battlefield, because they put their lives on the line with you as you both fought for your survival. The average grunt could be trusted, because they did the same.

"Or the League will step in and deal with it. Either way, the souls of the slain won't rest until we put this thing six feet under."

If this man could not respect the dead, then Rocket had truly fallen since Kanto and Johto. Even for the brief stint that Preston had been with Rocket during Hoenn, they had not stooped to such miserable levels. Rockets protected one another, even from themselves. If a grunt died, revenge had to be repaid.

They were expendable, but Rocket's image was not.

"Capture it. Kill it. I don't care. As long as it's gone."

---

"They're all dead." Preston looked at Amor with a flat stare. A cord jutted out in his neck as he looked away. "Fugu is all I have on me. I'm a chef, not a fighter."

Despite that, he had danced well in his brief exchange with Amor. The chef was talented, but most Rocket veterans tended to be. The war in Kanto had sharpened all involved, and the war in Johto had turned them into immaculate weapons of war. It had not saved Preston's Pokémon, but it had made him strong.

He was still alive in a region that crushed the weak underfoot. There was no place for those desiring peace in this region. No place for safety, only blood.

"We're gonna kill it." Preston gave Amor a glance before picking his way through the stones. "Come on. It killed your men, don't you feel responsible? At all?"

A large swath of footsteps lead up a cliff, towards the Giant Chasm above. It was a long trek back up to the surface, to civilization.

"I won't fight you until this is dealt with. We have bigger problems. Preston." The chef's voice was hard. "My name."

---

Amor Rose