the reluctant hero.

"MY NOSE CLEAN?!" it's the strangest guffaw-chortle that busts out of archie, but it rocks him, the side of his fist pounding into his thigh.

it had taken him a moment to recognize the young man, realize that he was one and the very same that had quashed maxie's plans. magma was the machine, sure, but maxie was the engineer, the only one in that scheme that archie felt could rival him. and besides, what was it that they said? the enemy of my enemy is my friend?

well, he wasn't sure about friends, but he could make do with 'a kid i won't squash under my thumb'. if he even could do that anymore. arceus, the kid had sprouted while archie had been offshore.

In his few brief encounters, though? Archie definitely had more charisma. Maxie could get by on speaking what he viewed as common sense. Archie had never had that, near as Brendan could see. Its hard to get people onboard with drowning the world without the charisma to sell it. Expanding the land? Anyone could have done that.

No, Archie was a special kind of dangerous over Maxie. He had the smile of a Sharpedo, as stereotypical as it was.

"Only if you make it our business again." Brendan replies with a shrug. There's no threat there - just honesty, and a promise. He didn't hate the man. He didn't hate either of them. But he knew that, like his Ace, Archie would always keep trying to swim. He'd never be satisfied with anything small. No; everything about him was larger than life.

Anytime soon wasn't never.

"No. Don't get me wrong; it is amazing to see Fossil Pokemon when they're revived. It can help advance our understanding of evolution and what our own past might have been like as a species. Hell, I have a Cradily of my own that I've had since I was on my journey."

"But it has to be said; these creatures went extinct for a reason. As amazing as they are, this isn't their world anymore. Taking care of a Fossil Pokemon is so much work - everything from getting them used to battling, to humans, to the modern world, making sure they can eat what they're given without gastric upset or illness, keeping them vaccinated and health and enriched... its a lot. Its a lot even for those who know what they're doing. You should see just how much of her free time Roxanne spends taking care of those she has."

"And even in the best case you end up with examples like Omanyte being invasive when they escape from labs and manage to breed, or whatever the hell you'd call Galar's Crown Tundra."

"But! There are examples of Fossil Pokemon living into the present day, so its not like my statement is entirely true. Natural populations of Kabuto still exist in remote places of the world, Relicanth was presumed extinct and rediscovered - and it hasn't changed in millenia - and you've got Pokemon like Piloswine, Yanma and Tangela who can evolve into their prehistoric evolutions through certain circumstances, none of which disrupt the ecosystems of today."

Despite being such a basal Pokemon - one of the earliest species besides Anorith that can be revived in fact - Mary is smart enough that when she's bored, she'll make it everyone elses problem.