he fixes himself almost immediately as soon as the door opens. he is greeted by the gym leader which, unsurprisingly, looks nothing alike his sister. standing straight, he'd make eye contact as he forces himself to speak up.

"er, i was sent, uh, here to discuss about this."

he flips open the folder to make sure none of the pages were missing, closing it, and then handing it over to the gym leader. the papers should detail everything about the evacuation, along with various documentation that described the current slateport situation and names of those that would be relocated to the city.

"it's about the evacuation of slateport refugees to your city," he summarizes.

he wasn't sure if alex was briefed by the league about this sudden change of plans, but knowing their unpredictable nature, he probably wasn't. even kyle did not know anything about this until his trip to the island earlier. even the day of the evacuation was dated that day.

"i believe this was discussed with you?"

the gym leader looked too worked up. while kyle wanted to say that the mistake was to blame on the other end instead of his, alexander already was into it that kyle could not find himself to interrupt. the only time he found himself able to speak was when he was asked about his name.

"er, it's officer lopez," he introduces himself.

the confusion was warranted. he had guessed that much even before he arrived at dewford. he wasn't as engrossed with the political structure of the league and the happenings within it like the other officials of the league, which meant that he wouldn't have been helpful regardless even if he knew the information beforehand.

he follows closely behind him as the gym leader starts moving. although he was not to be blamed about the impromptu change in the schedule, he was right about not letting the people wait for too long. kyle would not have rushed and let them wait for a bit, but not everyone shared his opinion sometimes.

"everyone's at the docks," he reported. "tents were already set up for a makeshift waiting area while they await relocation, but that's it."

at least it was way past lunchtime and the dewford city gym leader does not have to bother feeding them.

kyle blinks at the gym leader, who apologizes before he could even answer. he scratches his chin with a finger, confused with his words, but nonetheless tries to keep his composure and his straight face.

"y-yeah," was all he could answer.

he follows over him to the docks, where a handful of refugees from slateport awaits. most were weary from the trip, but he supposed it was only natural for him to see them in that state after the venture. everything about the entire operation was rushed, after all.

"there's only me, i'm afraid," he reveals. "there weren't enough officers that did not have any previous assigned engagements. this entire thing happened all of a sudden after all."

he tried to word it without mentioning that he had a lot of free time in his hands, which was the only reason he was forced into this.

"there's a few doctors and nurses on board though. i think they're there to help with everyone else's ptsd or something."

it wasn't enough that the gym leader suddenly receives a bunch of refugees ahead of the date he thought they would be arriving at. he has to deal with mentally unstable people as well. kyle was glad he didn't have the responsibilities that could be likened to the silph's.