it's not as if this is the first time she'd ever been challenged by somebody older than her. she'd been challenged by the elderly before, but there was something about the idea of being challenged by a silph that had her anxious. and, mostly, excited.

once she saw him, she couldn't help how she held up her hands and let her face show a bright grin. "hello hello!"

the gym was decked out as a sort of rock maze. the giant rock formations reaching up to the ceiling, various rock pokémon going in and out of the formations. some eating rubble, others repairing parts of the walls. instead of being at the end of the maze, she was at the beginning, with her new challenger.

"good day to you mr. silph," she couldn't help how she placed her hands behind her back to fiddle with them in an attempt to keep herself from becoming too anxious. "i hope that your travels here weren't terrible and that you've had a comfortable stay thus far in petalburg. it's a small town, but we've got some of the best malasada's this side of the water."

all things considered...

slateport.

and as for stepping up? she supposed it was something she could be thanked for. felt wrong to be thanked for doing what was right, though. because wasn't doing what was right common sense? it was to her, anyway.

"i really love it," francie admitted with a warm smile. everything about her was typical warm, sickened a lot of people. "it's been a blast. i mean, it's had it's bad days, and i understand that the gym itself isn't the only calling here."

that was her small, warm, subtle way of saying she'd definitely fight if she needed to protect the people around her. "i might not be, you know, the most seasoned gym leader but i'm definitely willing to be the last one standing, even if it means making sacrifices."

he spoke like such a politician... but then he'd used a word to describe her gym she hadn't heard before. a giggle came out of seemingly nowhere at the word. prowess! she was flattered and ... well a bit flabberghasted.

"um, i think prowess is a strong word." as she spoke, she moved with him toward the entrance. her last few words were sped through, though the word he'd picked to describe the gym had been prolonged for dramatic effect.

"don't get me wrong, i'm proud to say that my gym has brought many a trainer, young and old, to their knees even in my short time being here." that wasn't a total lie. but out of the contenders during her short time of being there, at least sixty percent of them gave up the first two times going through.

"here's the trick," she decided to explain. "your pokémon are not allowed to use attack moves within the maze. support moves are allowed." even if moves like 'fly' could be used, the rock formations reached the ceiling and would prevent the cheat anyway.

"the goal is to find three hiding rockruffs." with a flick of her wrist, out popped lyonel, lincoln, and louie. they nipped and played at each other but a swift snap of francie's fingers had their attention, she motioned toward the maze and they scattered through it.

"there is no time limit. find all three, then find your way to the end. i'll be accompanying you, since i know the route of the maze." francie smiled her sweet smile. "any questions, mr. silph?"

as the forms began to shape in the light, francie couldn't help how she smiled. mr. silph definitely had this one in the bag with those two. psychic type pokémon were brilliant in their sensories and would be able to tell which led to a dead end or not. they would also be able to sense if a rock was a rockruff in desguise, or if that hole was empty or not, or if the golem at the end of one tunnel was just a golem or a rockruff in hiding.

a smart man making smart choices, no surprise. but she selfishly enjoyed the company she shared while the gym challenge commenced. she was also definitely timing him, clicking the settings on her pokégear on her wrist behind her back. her strides bounced but were long enough that her short frame could keep up with his tall and slender one.


"mm, by using their brains over their brawns." as they passed some walls being repaired, she frowned. "and others failed by elimination due to a lack of patience." her disappointment in that was as clear as her usual sunshine disposition.

"but the real question is, how do you plan on getting through? i can't stop you from completing the task, can't interrupt you. so, if you tell me your plots, i'll just be following along and lending a helpful hint every once in a while, if asked nicely." with that she gave him a playful smile with her eyes closed, focusing forward.

the fact that mr. fernando eliard silph was complimenting her really had francie taking a mental step back to tuck that away for later investigation. men like silph didn't say things like that too lightly. either they wanted something or they were actually impressed. which honestly, she would be less surprised if he wanted something and completely shocked if he'd been impressed at all by her little maze and excuse of brain over brawn.

within the first minute of being in the challenge one rockruff was found. louie. francie couldn't help how she smiled, giving an excited clap, which revealed the stopwatch in her hand. though she didn't realize it would probably seal the other two rockruff's fates.

"well done, that was very quick. very smart thinking. and here you are rattling on about games and simulations. clearly they worked well for you." francie returned the rockruff to his pokéball and kept her smile glued on. if she had to say so, she'd dare say silph might have been enjoying himself.

"you've two more left, and you're only one minute and twenty seconds in, great time."

francie slowly smiled. and there he is. it wasn't like there weren't rumors surrounding mysterious mr. silph, but she barely believed them. she might have even read up on media. he just seemed ... well, he seemed a bit like he was perfect and she didn't believe anything to be perfect, not for too long, anyway.

so the fact that he was beginning to show how efficient he could be was a relief. and honestly, sort of inspiring. she liked how he was cutting to the chase.

"no, not even you." she tilted her head to the side before narrowing her eyes at him. "mr. silph, you have a lot more experience than just computer simulations and games," she glanced down at her stopwatch and continued her smile, eyes no longer narrowed but still holding curiosity. "mm, i think the record might just be five minutes." her tone was teasing, challenging, inviting, but still sweet.

"you're cutting it close, mister." okay that one was definitely a tease, but she was sure to return poor lyonel to his pokéball. she'd definitely be paying the pokécenter a visit.

what a beautiful display. she wasn't a stranger to a future sight and the different timelines that could be provided as an insight. she'd had an espeon once that shared many with her and helped her in avoiding a lot of natural disasters while she had been traveling. she couldn't wait until jack or jill became that for her again.

but, the game at hand was nearly at an end. "no, no. just finding was the qualification. no need to force him out." she gave a small pat to her leg and lincoln came digging out of his hole and yipped all the way over to francie before sniffing around silph and his pokémon with no other intent other than to say hello.

"all within three minutes, very impressive." she looked up at silph, her own brown eyes glued to his blue eyes for a moment. just gauging, looking, learning. this was beyond fun, she should have all the council come to try out her maze, if only for the small talk.

"but!" she extended a finger in the air like a giant exclamation point. "you've gotta find the exit--" she leaned forward toward him a bit, bending at her waist, tilting her head to lift one brow up at him curiously. "but i've a funny feeling you already know where it is."