Thomas' wailing on the punching bag was once again interrupted. But rather than the punching bag being sent flying again, the man of the hour, Councilman Silph, walked in on him. Thomas would stop what he was doing, and turn to face the Councilman. He had been doing this sort of thing for years, truth be told. But then, to say that he was above injuring himself training was false, and foolish. No matter how careful, or experienced one was, they would slip up.

"Duly noted.", Thomas replied to the Councilman respectfully.

As Fernando asked, Thomas would take a seat on the bench, grabbing his water bottle once again. "Not at all. Makes things easier for me, actually.", he'd tell Fernando, before taking a squirt of fresh water.

"So what would you like to hear about first?", Thomas inquired, getting straight to the point. He assumed the Councilman had already read the reports from Mauville and Lilycove. He knew that Fernando was present at Meteor Falls during the third day. That was the only site where they had managed to capture a General alive. The fact that Philomera died on them, and that Cotillard disappeared on them made Thomas angry, and no doubt Fernando did not care for such news. The fact that Velmos also disappeared without a trace didn't help matters in the slightest.

---

tags: FERNANDO SILPH
notes: tl;dr

When Fernando offered to treat them to some drinks, the Kalosian shrugged. "Sounds good to me. I'm pretty much done anyway.", he told the Councilman, as his eye once more darted towards the punching bag. "If you'd like to go on ahead, I'll meet you there. I gotta get cleaned up. Shouldn't take me long.", Thomas would tell the Councilman.

While he did keep up with his hygiene, it was clear that Thomas had been in the gym for a long time, and that he reeked of it. If not for the sake of the other patrons at the bar, he felt he was doing Fernando a favor by not stinking up his presence at the bar.

---

After getting his shower in, Thomas would arrive at the Rascal's location. As promised, Thomas didn't take too long getting cleaned up. Thomas was garbed in a green button-up shirt, a pair of khaki slacks, and a pair of boots worn under his pants. Thomas would seek out the Concilman, before finding him, and taking a seat next to him. With him was a briefcase containing all the pertinent intel he had to present to the Councilman.

"Want to get started, or you wanna get a couple of shots in first?", Thomas inquired.

---

tags: FERNANDO SILPH
notes: DRINK DRINK DRINK!

"Of course. Admittedly, there is much to go through.", he would tell the Councilman. He would rest the briefcase onto the bar, keeping it in his sight, and at the ready to open.

"Of course I can. I do it all the time.", Thomas tells him flippantly. In truth, Thomas was buzzed the majority of the time. It had become a well known fact that at this point, Thomas kept a hip flask on him at all times. The Kalosian would drink periodically through the day. While the prospect was worrying, Thomas was very deliberate about how much he drank, and how much of a buzz he was on, and maintained. It was his secret weapon, what allowed him to stay sociable, and cooperate with people more effectively.

When the first round of shots were brought to them, Thomas would wait to see whether Fernando got straight into it, or was the sort to bump glasses against each other. However Fernando preferred to do it, Thomas would humor him, and would down his shot rather quickly. It would be explicitly clear that Thomas was used to the bite of the liquor, and took to it well. And it was clear that the liquor was not slowing him down in the slightest, the Kalosian's genes, size, and experience working to his advantage.

Once all was said and done, and the Councilman was ready, Thomas would open the briefcase. The insides were very well organized, containing not only photos and documents pertaining to Mauville, but a digital map of the area. What Fernando would notice was that the map had started out as Mauville as it was when they arrived.

"So where would you like me to start?", he inquired.

---

tags: FERNANDO SILPH
notes: Here we go

"Third day of the war, the Megalopolans attacked Mauville City, rather than Slateport, as was anticipated. We were called over as backup, as the Mauville defense forces were getting destroyed by the Megalopolan forces.", he'd begin. The digital map would provide known locations of enemy forces, including the two Guzzlord, the enemy forces positioned around the supply truck, as well as Philomera, who was near New Mauville.

"As you know, Andy Blackadder was among those joining us as reinforcements. I was not aware of his presence, until we were en route. I'm not sure what compelled him to join us, but I intend to ask him myself. Either way, the kid handled himself, and optics aside, he did apparently join the fighting on his own volition.", he'd mention to Fernando, given the spin certain elements were trying to put on his involvement.

"As you can see, they managed to carry off a supply truck off to the top of Cycling Road, before we got there. One team was in charge of commandeering the supply truck, and attempting to bring it to Mauville. The other team, which included myself, took to the forest leading up to the first Guzzlord. The two Guzzlord were expelling toxic bile into the waters around the area. As we fought the Guzzlord, we discovered that these Guzzlord were weaker than the one encountered in Mossdeep over a year ago. Taking out its limbs did the trick, though unlike the Mossdeep Guzzlord, these Guzzlord melted into puddles of toxins, thus depriving us of physical samples to retrieve.", he'd tell Fernando.

"The attempt to drive the truck to Mauville failed, being driven off of Cycling Road, into the grass below. From inside the truck, cubes belonging to the Stakataka who were discovered on the Lilycove Warfront emerged from within, carrying Jules Cotillard. Said cubes would escort him to Philomera, where they used the Shiny Machine to reveal his true form, a Megalopolan.", he'd continue.

"After this, Blacephalon, the Ultra Beast that attacked Slateport during the New Year festivities, appeared once again, unleashing a violent explosion in its wake. The generals would be safe in a ball of cords, which turned out to be a giant Xurkitree."

"From New Mauville, the two Generals would unleash the giant Xurkitree on us. Soon after, Tahlia Bosch would arrive, along with a squad of Tropius riders. Despite a difficult battle, we were able to figure out that it could be defeated by destroying the zip ties holding its limbs together, and shattering its head. Unfortunately, as this was going on, Philomera fell to her death. As I tried to catch Cottilard, using my Alakazam to slow his descent in order to allow for him to be safely swept up, a blanket of Haze would cover the area, and someone would manage to sweep up Cotillard. That someone was clearly using a Steelix, as indicated by the marks left in the aftermath.", he would continue on, showing Fernando photo evidence of the aftermath.

"In the aftermath of the battle, we would not only find Philomera's corpse among the dead, but that of Tahlia Bosch. During this time, someone made an attempt on Cooper's life, attempting to have their Pokemon take her out with an Explosion. Thankfully, Groudon's claw shielded her from the blast. Whoever the attacker was, they either retreated in the chaos, or chose to blend in with the others.", he'd finish.

Of course, there was the matter of what happened with Lucas Lane. But then, he had to wonder if Fernando was in the loop about that. Thomas would take a momentary break to down another shot of whiskey.

---

tags: FERNANDO SILPH
notes: Here's to hoping I got everything

Sure, one could not expect the Councilman to remember every single face he had encountered. But then, the fact that Andy's presence on the battlefield caused a ruckus in the media would help things. From what he had heard, Fernando even met with the boy briefly, through the encounter did not go well.

"One of the three generals leading the Megalopolan invasion. Turns out to have been Cotillard's long lost lover.", he would answer in response to the second question, keeping it brief.

"And as you know, those who had received a Type: Null found their partners turning against them. The Megalopolans engineered the beasts to turn against their masters, though they were eventually able to overcome their programming, shattering their helmets in the process.", he would add onto the report. "Compounded with the fact that the Shiny Machine was used to disguise Megalopolans as humans, I think we should take a deep dive into all that Cotillard has developed, all that he's done. Who knows what other functions they might have, what other traps he had ready to spring on us."

Before answering the Councilman's question, Thomas would down another shot of whiskey. "To sound like I'm wearing a tinfoil hat, Rocket.", he would tell him. "I don't believe they ever died with Blackwell. Even with Blackwell dead, their top brass went mostly unaccounted for. To think that Blackwell didn't have a successor waiting in the shadows, or someone waiting to usurp his throne, would be incredibly naïve, don't you think?", he'd ask the Silph rhetorically.

"If it's not Rocket themselves, then it's an organization that's taken in old Rocket brass.", he'd conclude.

"Frankly, it's why you didn't hear about the development of the Antidote. I deliberately kept the circle as small as possible, to prevent, or at least narrow down any leaks. Last thing we needed was a repeat of the loss of our Guzzlord Sample.", he would reveal to him.

---

tags: FERNANDO SILPH
notes: tl;dr

"I've been pouring over the details of the war. As for how I know this, though I didn't get far enough to obtain a Type: Null of my own, I was among those working undercover to take down Cotillard last year. Those who had completed all of his tasks were given the recipe to make their own Type: Null. I was one off. In hindsight, I probably dodged a bullet.", he would tell Fernando. Though he said that, given that most of them were tamed, he had to wonder what could've been.

"You? No. As for those you surround yourself with? I can't say for certain. I couldn't take the chance of any of your staff finding out, and leaking it to our enemies in the shadows.", he would tell Fernando. His tone was matter-of-fact, not knowing how he'd disseminate the information among his personal staff.

---

tags: FERNANDO SILPH
notes: tl;dr