a light voice reiterates her talking point, 'well, you're not wrong.' however, her emboldened stance of professing it aloud has fernando fortify his own thoughts. the women of sootopolis are dauntless if not downright imprudent. it parallels freya morningstar who would confess her own erotic fantasy of a coup, seizing power to sate her need to bate back the encroaching reach of rocket.

it is the third sister of sootopolis who holds a measured hand, often time his own.

fernando bides his time, holds his tongue as olivia lulls him with the siren's call. the longer she monologues the more descriptive her caricature. most characterize fernando as a many of few words but the truth is hidden behind his intent. let her speak so that he can judge.

only when prompted does he take his turn.

"then enlighten me, miss abbiati. what does your gym challenge entail?"

"interesting—debatable but interesting."

fernando holds no qualms with being blunt. his position as councilman is stable, lived long enough to meet the next iteration of the administration with freya morningstar . his time is limited and there's little patience he has for formalities. it's better to give it to her straight.

"worthy of the rune badge, knowledge of their home, sharing research."

fernando repeats her phrasing with his own emphasis. not mocking, nor scolding, just in a monotone drag to help digest the influx of information. his eyes return the gaze and shimmer with an intensity that comes with acknowledgement. "my purpose is singular, no different than the other gyms i visit. at least the first time."

her prompting scours for something more, something that fernando is not yet comfortable enough to divulge. there's only so much they can do at this level of acquaintanceship. and, even then, there's a level of distrust—not out of loyalty but from the aspect of how confrontational olivia has been so far. with dahlia goode back in her seat and NIKOLAI PETROV dead, the paradigm of power shifts, tilted forever in the scale's favor.

"and that is to ensure the gym challenge falls within the bound of what proves beneficial to the league. tell me miss abbiati, what do you think the responsibility of a gym leader is—with the power invested to them by the league?"

fernando's temper is a smoldered flame that requires the most incendiary fuel to ignite. what Stormy Silph sets ablaze is a muddled history of bastardized family ties and a besmirched legacy tainted by outsiders. outside of that specific scenario, it is rare for fernando to exhibit anything more than a mocking condescension. but what olivia does is not only a front to the league—which he cares little about—but the foundation upon which his powers rest. to slander the league is to slander his throne. years of blood and sacrifice will not be disrespected, not by a foreigner, not by a mere stranger.

olivia may paint herself to be queen of sootopolis but before her is the king of hoenn, unimpressed by her arrogance that has little regard for the small portion of the world she now calls home.

"sootopolis? your city?"

fernando does not let the question linger unanswered. his use of rhetoricals are used to taunt the misguided, to shower disdain onto the sea witch and bathe her in a tongue lashing shaped to lecture the professor with a history lesson.

"do not misunderstand, miss abbiati, the people of sootopolis are many and varied."

it is rare for fernando to smile, much less so genuinely, but the fox grin he wears hides a sinister edge that matches the sharpedo that lurk beyond the water's edge. he smells blood in the water and he won't let it escape. not without a bite.

"NIKOLAI PETROV alone had the hearts of many. his death brings grievances that have yet to be fully mourn. his people will fall in line under dahlia goode long before they bow to a foreigner, no matter what their origins trace back to."

he doesn't let up.

"persephone amavi , the head scientist of this region, is adored by many. her reach may be more humbled but that resonates with the locals. her fame is a shining beacon of pride and joy for the city. she too will command a healthy legion of sootopolis with her influence, which align closer to my own than anyone else."

and that's not even considering his colleague, the sole council woman, the same woman who's made it public how she will not falter under olivia's metaphorical claim to the throne.

"and freya morningstar . make no mistake, my interest are my own but should she push i'd have no choice but to align myself with her. kim cole-essam , the other councilman, is no different."

his smile diminishes, feigning a look of curiosity, as if pondering.

"and i don't doubt your knowledge, nor your credentials as an infamous professor—although, admittedly, i am unfamiliar with your work, along with anything else that happens outside of hoenn or kanto—but when you claim to be someone who uproots themselves to come lend us aid, the others won't see that."

fernando speaks from experience. the one common ground they will find is being judged not as a person but as an outsider, a person from a far off land who has yet to prove themselves. over time, he's earned his infamy through numerous exploits and unparalleled accomplishments.

as for olivia? none to speak of, at least to his knowledge, as limited as it is.

"what the people see is a foreigner, someone who doesn't understand their problems, and neglected hoenn for greener pastures. i say this not because this is my viewpoint but because i was subjected to the same scrutiny that you will undoubtedly come to face."

her voice goes cold and his only heats up. he's on fire.

"to claim independence from the league is to claim independence from the shining stars of sootopolis and the biggest players of hoenn. are you truly ready for such a task?"

the smile returns and fernando extends his open hand, palm facing up, as if to present her with exactly what she'll have to face.

"i have over two hundred pokemon at my disposal. a gym leader i hand picked has the same. the rest of the region, as well as many of your citizens, will come down on sootopolis if they're told the league is facing a coup. can you protect against that?"

his hands close into a fist, reeled back and disappearing behind an even wider grin, elastic, confident.

"can your power, your authority, your pokemon, stand against hundreds of trainers and thousands of pokemon who come knocking down your door? i'm sure you heard about slateport."

fernando laughs to himself, silent but jubilant, as if telling a quiet joke between friends.

"can you and a few gym trainers stand up to an entire region?"

he maintains eye contact, if only because the brazen audacity of his words need a confirmation, to read her response before she can act.

"food for thought, miss abbiati, haha. between colleagues, surely."

the tides may turn but the waves only rise as the conversation is turned around. to ask any of the other councilmen the same question would've been considered a mistake. to question fernando silph, a man who's accomplishment are second only to his amount of pokemon and money, is an absolute folly that shows not only her ignorance on the matter but how much leeway he holds over her.

"what does the league benefit from me as councilman? an interesting and valid question."

what could fernando silph, ceo of silph co., have done for the league during his tenure in the region?

"upon coming to the hoenn region, i have only rescued a research team from an enraged regirock the size of your gym while it killed numerous pokemon and people alike, coordinated a rescue operation for the survivors while compiling research on the incidence, saved multiple high ranking politicians during the invasion of slateport, provided security detail for the aurorus winter ball, saved numerous individuals from being kidnapped by team rocket, kidnapped by wild pokemon, attacked by wild pokemon, and entering rocket territory, along with recruiting one of the most infamous gym leaders in the region, and apprehending rockets such as the assassin Queen , convicted murderer @devo1 , numerous grunts, while stopping many of their operations."

fernando pauses, not because he's done, but because he needs to breath.

"naturally, there's less flashy accomplishments but being a man of the people means getting dirty and doing what needs to be done. it's rare for a man of my position to bother himself with small tasks but that's how i benefit the league."

oh, and how could he have forgotten.

"between that, the numerous pokemon i've caught as the head of hoenn's military, and the money i've put into the league through silph co., it's technologies, and resources, i think i do my fair share."

it's almost impossible to wipe that shit eating grin off his face. it almost feels like he's scolding Stormy Silph all over again.

"but that's just my opinion."