SHEPHERD'S CRUX

WITH A WOLF IN SHEEP'S CLOTHING

“THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME.”

and just like that, he turns ‘it’ on.

lights, camera, action. rows upon rows of eyes descend upon them. they stare with high expectations, hungry for a performance they’ve come to expect from hoenn’s hottest talk show host.

for someone of his standing, a tenure in both front facing business, as well as hoenn’s politics, regressing into a public persona is as easy as wearing a mask. the man who was sparse more than one worded replies and grimaces at their speed date is gone. tucked beneath a layer of makeup and practiced lines.

under the spotlight, fernando silph is born anew. the public image he curated during his campaign for the council surfaces once more: someone who’s sharp but not without a tenderness to do good.

the smile seems natural, authentic.

not because it is. not because he cares. but because he means it. means to lie and deceive. to convince the world to fall for him, like one giant game waiting for him to pull out his ace.

“believe it or not, mr. finch, but i am more likely to watch your show than i am to get breakfast in the morning.”

a small chuckle, inwardly, and then eyes at the camera before floating back to their host.

“i’ve always wanted a chance to be on but i never expected a whole guest appearance.”

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BARNABY FINCH

SHEPHERD'S CRUX

WITH A WOLF IN SHEEP'S CLOTHING

THAT HITS A SORE SPOT. not in the emotional sense—fernando has long laid his parent’s remains to rest. but to expand upon that topic defers from his main intention.

he has an agenda to broadcast. it's just a matter of getting there naturally.

“haha, i don’t know about that.”

fernando tilts his head to point back at barnaby as they enter their exchange. his reactions, while more expressive than usual, are still muted compared to societal standards.

“but i’m sure that i’m older than oscar clayton.”

he crosses his legs, hands clasped into his lap.

“he never understands what i mean when i talk about knee pain.”

another chuckle. soft, not too entrenched into his own joke, but a good cue for the audience to chime in.

when the crowd cheers, fernando waves to them as a whole. he can’t blush on command but the way something resembling a dimple starts to form on the right side of his mouth.

a secret technique that’s between sucking his cheek in and biting the inside of his mouth.

“well, lately mr. finch, everything has been quite stable in the business world.” he bows his head again, smile adjusted. “which i’m sure isn’t an interesting story for everyone here but that bodes well for our future.”

[attr="class","spiralpee"]
BARNABY FINCH

SHEPHERD'S CRUX

WITH A WOLF IN SHEEP'S CLOTHING

THE MENTION OF RECENT EVENTS does not come as a surprise. it would be foolish not the cycle through them when presented with such a quest. deep down, fernando is thankful that it is barnaby that has to transition the topic, sparing him the tonal structure that follows.

hook. link. speaker.

a deep inhale answers his first question, accompanied with the tilt of his head that puts the camera on between their gaze. the floor is his and he accepts it willingly, unfazed.

“now that, mr. finch, is a doozy of a question.”

he hands remain in his lap, calm and collected. his answer is the same as it’s always been: above and beyond.

“i suppose we should start from the top. last august, during the hoenn star tournament, hoenn hosted a SCIENCE FAIR that invited participants from across the world. it was there that silph co. published a scientific entry we call the HOLLOWED EARTH THEORY.”

he nods along but gives a moment’s breath for everyone to catch their own.

“based on my experiences, i believe it to be correct.”

which leaves barnaby ample room to ask the obvious question.

[attr="class","spiralpee"]
BARNABY FINCH

SHEPHERD'S CRUX

WITH A WOLF IN SHEEP'S CLOTHING

“EXPANDING?”

the humble laughter that follows highlights the absurdity of such a statement. the general public may not understand silph co.’s dichotomy but to laud it as an obvious fact pincushions the narrative he can smell brewing well ahead of time. it’s the same drabble that had forced him to wait until after GMH was done chewing on DEVON CORP to pick up the scraps.

“the goods that silph co. has built its brand on started as questions in a lab. ha ha, i suppose sometimes we forget that with how common place they are. very few people wonder about how x attack or x defense is made or how it works.”

it’s not a perfect comparison and there’s a few holes in his argument that can be punched through with vigorous debate. but to dissect his statement on the air goes against format of the program. this is a good morning show meant to glaze through topics at the surface. to truly dent fernando would require the nuance of prime time television. a sit down session that’s prepared well ahead of time.

“but yes! the HOLLOWED EARTH THEORY—”

fernando’s hands come unlatched, moving with purpose as instruments to emphasize his explanation. they carry along with his words, creating an image, engaged and interactive.

“to simplify it: many pokemon have an instinct to migrate. sometimes it seasonal in accordance to the weather. other times it’s based off their mating patterns.”

fernando extends his hand, palm flat and upward, as a trail of MISTY TERRAIN surfaces from his sleeve. it expands, slowly shaping into a sphere to represent the world at large.

“we believe that hoenn is where life began. although humans and pokemon have spread throughout the world, when disaster strikes, it is imperative that these pokemon migrate back to their source of origin.”

and it is on that note that the sphere starts to transform into the shape of tapu fini.

“which is why avatars have surfaced, why legendary pokemon associated with other regions are showing up, and why hoenn has become ground zero for events unheard of.”

[attr="class","spiralpee"]
BARNABY FINCH

SHEPHERD'S CRUX

WITH A WOLF IN SHEEP'S CLOTHING

“WE DON’T KNOW,” is the simple and safe answer. and for all his bravado and confidence, there is nothing fernando prefers more than taking the ‘safe’ route.

“there is still a lot we do not know about the magnificent world of pokemon.” the MISTY TERRAIN recoils back into his sleeves and the presentation goes back to just words.

“for instance, some pokemon of the same species exhibit different behaviors. for whatever reason, my kecleon loves to sit in a corner and just stare at the wall.”

fernando taps one of the pokeballs on his belt and the very same kecleon appears once the lights die down. it sits on his lap, blinking, as it adjusts to the strange change of scenery. after a moment passes, it starts to squirm, moving to shove its head into the nook between fernando’s legs and deeper into the cushion.

“but i love him all the same.”

cue a small, measured laugh with a a gentle stroke of the pokemon’s backside.

“as for the meteoroid, that’s something best left to mossdeep space center. i couldn’t think of a reason it would be drawn to a single place but i’m no astronomer.”

[attr="class","spiralpee"]
BARNABY FINCH

SHEPHERD'S CRUX

WITH A WOLF IN SHEEP'S CLOTHING

“INDEED.”

if barnaby is willing to sculpt a narrative for him then who is he to refuse? the implication may point in one direction but without an explicit statement, interpretation is left to the eye of the beholder.

which is why fernando states it outright. spins the wheels in his favor with a decisive statement to squash out any unspoken prodding.

“science takes more than just discovery. it takes patience and perseverance. the moment we stick to a conclusion we must test it and it must always hold true. should it fail, it is back to the whiteboard, so to speak.”

a sage nod ends that topic just in time for a more personal take.

“well, mister finch, what would you prefer to hear? the short and tame version or the long and not so cheery truth?”

[attr="class","spiralpee"]
BARNABY FINCH

SHEPHERD'S CRUX

WITH A WOLF IN SHEEP'S CLOTHING

“VERY WELL THEN.”

fernando turns to what he presumes to be the main camera. truthfully, he has no idea which one serves as their primary but he takes an educated guess based off their positioning. the one that best captures both of them is his main suspect.

“some of what i am about to discuss may be graphic and inappropriate for an underage audience. so, parents, please take this time to switch the channel or move your children at your discretion.”

fernando takes a moment to rest. gives the audience the chance to do their due diligence before delving into this past.

“to be quite honest, i never intended to dabble in politics. in fact, i never wanted to be the head of silph co.”

he paints a smile so wistful it sells a cocktail of regret and missed connections.

“when i was young, i went off on my own. lived in hoenn for several years, actually. the same journey many trainers undergo as they seek out their fortune and try to find out who they really are.”

which is a story rarely told. from all accounts and documentation, it holds true. but the underlying details go unmentioned.

like person who turned fernando into who he is today.

the only one who could tame him. completely and wholly.

“during this time, team rocket rose to power. in the war against kanto, they killed my parents. killed people precious to me, people from my childhood, people who worked for silph co., and anyone that did not conform to their demands.”

he takes a deep breath, eyebrows knotted, eyes narrowed as he recounts the experience. by now, nothing fazes him, but the performance is both necessary and understandable.

“so i came back to help those i could. silph co. relocated our main branch to hoenn and i tried to acclimate those affected by kanto the best i could.”

which leads to the start of his story in hoenn.

“so when i saw the same thing happen in hoenn, i put my best foot forward to stop kanto from happening again. when team rocket invaded slateport, and massacred so many of hoenn’s people, i couldn’t take it any more. and that is when i made a bid for councilman.”

[attr="class","spiralpee"]
BARNABY FINCH