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POSTED ON May 13, 2022 5:20:53 GMT

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As twilight descended upon the Petalburg Woods, twinkling motes of starlight drifted through the foliage like mist to speckle the forest in silvery light. Basking in its glow, the countless crystalline blossoms flowering throughout the forest shivered on their stems with glittering illumination.

Here, Elisabeth knelt on the ground, one such flower cupped gently in her hands. This one shone a pale blue, its core of crystal almost like a heart of ice that flickered absently in her palm.

"What do you think of them?" she asked her sole companion, a Sunkern that stared up at her from the satchel that had been left on the ground. "Peculiar, no?"

The little seed Pokemon merely smiled up at her obliviously as Elisabeth's hand left the flower on its stem. Her fingers hovered over a pair of pruning shears, ultimately moving instead to select a field notebook and pencil that she drew into her lap.

"Some light, if you wouldn't mind," she asked politely, and the Sunkern obediently performed SUNNY DAY, drawing a singular spotlight on their small clearing to offer increased visibility. The florist began to sketch the flower in earnest, her head bowed and lip bit in concentration as she made botanical notes on the specimen's location and appearance.

Shadows of passing Ledian and Ledyba briefly dappled the petals and paper alike in darkness as they vanished into the undergrowth, the beat of their wings the only thing that could be heard on the evening breeze.

The hushed night air was enough to convince anyone of their own solitude.

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POSTED ON May 16, 2022 19:45:28 GMT

TRANSPARENT

SEEING THROUGH THE ILLUMINA

NIGHTS IN PETALBURG WOODS used to promise some semblance of solace. being swallowed in the darkness leaves one to their imagination, or lack thereof. but these crystalline blossoms invade that tranquility, parting the natural umbrage with their brilliant spectacles.

the soft whistle of someone cutting through the air offsets the constant buzzing of nearby ledian. the shaymin lacks the poise for any attempt at silence or stealth.

in congregates around the source of the SUNNY DAY, curious and ultimately surprised by the momentary change in brightness.

“good evening.”

fernando is several paces behind, far from keeping up with his rambunctious flyer.

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Elisabeth Fiorelli

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POSTED ON May 16, 2022 21:11:17 GMT

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The next shadow that fell over Elisabeth's sketch lingered longer, the approach of the flying Shaymin differing from that of the disinterested Bug-types from earlier. When she glanced up, the sight of the rare Pokemon hovering mid-air momentarily surprised her, eliciting the faintest raise of her eyebrows.

"Hello there," she said, both amused and bemused. "What are you doing here?"

The familiar voice of the Shaymin's trainer came from not far behind, one that Elisabeth was far more accustomed to hearing at this hour whispered through a phone's speaker.

Well. This was unexpected.

Elisabeth rose to her feet, bringing the notebook and pencil with her as she held both close against her chest. "Mr. Silph. This is a surprise. What brings you into my part of the woods?"

Admittedly, the Sunkern's SUNNY DAY was a blinding beacon that could have drawn anyone here. The more surprising matter was that someone else was in the woods at all, particularly someone like the CEO of Silph Co. Random strolls through the forest seemed a far cry from his usually preferred choice of pastime.

Her gaze turned towards the crystalline flowers that had attracted her attention for the past hour or so, then back to his as she ventured a guess. "Are you perhaps also interested in the 'crystabloom' phenomena?"

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POSTED ON May 23, 2022 22:07:49 GMT

TRANSPARENT

SEEING THROUGH THE ILLUMINA

TO ANSWER HER QUESTION, the shaymin catapults itself into a cluster of flowers. loose petals plume like loose feathers, raining in a slow descent of glass like refractions.

“indeed.”

fernando keeps his words quaint as his eyes fix on his personal gardener. what she’s raised from his seed has yet to be seen. and here he finds himself surrounded by another bunch of mysterious flowers.

“i heard their quite a sight to see.”

his eyes never leave hers despite the subject matter.

“and it seems that was quite true, miss fiorelli.”

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POSTED ON May 23, 2022 23:43:04 GMT

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A hand strayed to a strand of blonde hair, tucking it behind her ear as Elisabeth met Fernando's gaze. Suddenly the light of SUNNY DAY felt too illuminating, banishing all shadows in its searing brightness; in the darkness, you could remain obscured and insignificant.

"Is it their beauty that fascinates you?" the florist asked with a somewhat sly smile. The mutual eye contact broke away as the Shaymin joyfully threw itself into the translucent flora, its whimsy at complete odds with its trainer's stoicism. Elisabeth already knew -- in the way that any observed creature knew -- that Fernando's attention had not shifted to the Pokemon in kind.

Somehow this simple reprieve from his scrutiny felt like stepping out of a swift current of water, taking a moment to steady herself upon the shore before fording it once more.

"They aren't just blooming here, of course," she said. "They're everywhere in the region. I took a sample in Littleroot recently to compare."

As if only just now remembering the journal in her hands, Elisabeth flipped it open and turned back to look at him. There was the briefest pause of consideration before she crossed the distance between them, the papers shifting through sketches of flowers as she continued, "I studied botany, what feels like a lifetime ago. I never thought I'd need to document new variations of flora, and yet, here we are."

For a moment, her hand alighted upon several drawings of a Gracidea -- the hibiscus examined from multiple angles both furled and in bloom -- before flipping back to the crystabloom that had occupied her mere minutes prior.

This time when Elisabeth glanced up, there was no comfortable distance to be found between them.

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POSTED ON May 31, 2022 9:35:56 GMT

TRANSPARENT

SEEING THROUGH THE ILLUMINA

“IF IT WAS JUST A FLOWER’S BEAUTY, I WOULD HAVE VISITED YOU INSTEAD.”

there are several possible meanings behind the statement but only after its utterance does fernando realize it can carry just as negative of a connotation as it can a positive. like the subject matter, it’s all in the eyes of the beholder.

“their spread is unprecedent and coincidentally timed.”

he breaks to examine her sketch but only within the window she allows. the moment she glances back up, his gaze is already upon her. like he never left. the only difference is now they’re upon her. truly.

“what’s your verdict, miss fiorelli?”

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POSTED ON Jun 1, 2022 5:43:38 GMT

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It could be a slip of the tongue, perhaps, but Elisabeth caught the implications of the double-sided compliment all the same. Rather than finding herself offended at this unintentional dismissal of her abilities, a strange relief blossomed within her instead.

A florist's expertise had its limits in the realm of science; a pretty face, like a pretty flower, only had so many worthwhile uses; the parts of her that Elisabeth wished to conceal, seemingly, remained concealed and unconsidered by FERNANDO SILPH.

And despite all the reasons it shouldn't, this perceived knowledge relaxed her guard. The tension that held her since their encounter began now visibly released its hold, her tongue loosened by a false sense of security.

"Are you familiar with floral anatomy?" Elisabeth began, before mentally answering herself: Why would he know something like that? A councilman and chairman of one of the largest corporations in Hoenn had better things to fill his mind with than how plants reproduced.

A finger traced the outline of the crystal budding at the heart of the flower as she continued, "The crystalline pistil and stigma of the crystablooms fascinate me. In layman's terms, they serve as the... feminine reproductive part of the flower, so to speak. It's where pollination occurs."

Flipping back to another page for comparison, this one of the Gracidea that had been their topic of conversation not long ago, Elisabeth said excitedly as she flipped back to the crystabloom, "But isn't it curious how this key part of the flower -- the part that you would think would be the most organic and plant-like due to its inherent purpose -- is in fact more mineral than botanic?"

There was a distinct animation in her voice that was absent from their conversations at the flower shop, and one that rang with more open sincerity than her voice on the phone. He had found her here in the throes of private study, not prepared behind a barricade of pleasant niceties or armed for an enjoyable sparring of wit and flirtation by phone.

This part of Elisabeth was an echo of the scientist she had almost become, before life had turned her into something else entirely.

"It makes me think that their method of spreading across the region is based on something different than the standard," she concluded. "An environmental phenomena, perhaps, rather than the typical methods of windborne seeds or some cross-pollination of existing species. Coincidentally timed, as you say. And it would explain why they are so far-reaching."

The first flower like this she had seen had in fact been in the wake of one of the early dimensional rifts. An early bloomer, perhaps?

Only now, as she paused to take a breath, did it occur to her that she had rambled at length about floral reproduction to one of the most powerful men in Hoenn.

Although, he had asked her opinion.

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POSTED ON Jun 10, 2022 4:25:22 GMT

TRANSPARENT

SEEING THROUGH THE ILLUMINA

THE OBVIOUS ANSWER is no. fernando silph, for all the rumors of always having the right answers, is in fact a simple man. which means his skills are limited to his forte and this fame stems from utilizing what he knows. to be varied and spread out infinitely is something only crystablooms can do.

it is gathering skilled people and turning their strength into his own that makes him so commendable. from a single date, no more than a mere coincidence, to being lectured on the specifics of how flowers carry out late night phone calls, that shows the gulf of reach.

“i see,” he simplifies, stare narrowing in on one of the plants behind her.

“an interesting assessment, miss fiorelli.”

which begs the question, “and should it be an environmental phenomena then what is cause and more importantly, the end result?”

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TAG WITH @elisabeth

POSTED ON Jun 10, 2022 20:07:05 GMT

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"That is a question for greater minds than I, Mr. Silph. I am sure the best and brightest of the League's head scientists are asking themselves much the same thing."

A question specifically that she didn't want to venture answering herself, not until she had spoken to Lulu Flint. And not necessarily to FERNANDO SILPH. The faint unease of wariness returned to her, one amplified by her reminder of their close proximity.

The excitement faded from her voice, replaced by something closer to professional and composed in its politeness. A proverbial step back, after one too many steps forward, too soon.

"At any rate," Elisabeth said, closing the journal as she surveyed the crystablooms flourishing in the woods, "they are distinctly different from other classifications of flora. We are in uncharted territory."

Her Sunkern had hopped closer to the Shaymin, chirping pleasantly as the glassy petals fell around them like so many feathers scattered to the wind. There was a friendliness and relaxed nature to their interaction that seemed absent between their trainers, whose aloofness was almost comical in its contrast to their Pokémon.

"Why do you ask?" she said suddenly, turning to him. "Do you believe they bode ill for the region? Or do you merely dislike the presence of things you don't understand?"

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POSTED ON Jun 20, 2022 23:14:43 GMT

TRANSPARENT

SEEING THROUGH THE ILLUMINA

HE UNDERSTANDS HER ANSWER AS HUMILITY rather than caution. which is why he laughs alongside her, nodding.

“i would certainly hope so but i know their hands are full as is.”

with her notebook closing, a new chapter opens up for fernando’s investigation. his eyes drift back to the many crystablooms, less mesmerized by their beauty and more enthralled with their uniqueness.

“i would hope that such pretty flowers wouldn’t signify something unpleasant—”

his gaze rests onto their pokemon which seem to get along just fine.

“—but this region has a bad track record with the unexplained.”

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POSTED ON Jun 22, 2022 6:08:22 GMT

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"Ah, but Mr. Silph, is it not true that the most beautiful things that nature has to offer are often the most deadly?" she asked, the observation almost singing with laughter.

Foxgloves, oleander, monkshood, amaryllis, calla lily, poinsettia... So many lovely flowers all possessed an innately poisonous essence.

Even some of the very Pokemon that she had seen here tonight while focused on her task whispered of poison stingers and venomous fangs.

"It doesn't hurt to prepare oneself against potential disaster, at any rate. Even from such an innocuous source."

Like a mild-mannered florist with a basement filled with agents of death and torment.

Her words cut off here, the unspoken implication in their utterance one that the man beside her likely did not catch, but that Elisabeth herself had dared too close to speaking aloud in their inherent suggestion.

Better to be an Ariados that stayed in the shadows of her own web, than to venture out where she could be seen for the dark-natured creature she was.

"You are right," Elisabeth said suddenly, as if the pause had been one of heavy contemplation rather than self-reproach. Her emerald eyes met his once more, seeing the crystablooms reflected in his stare. "Hoenn has a long memory in that regard, and has witnessed much darkness."

All at once, the Sunkern's SUNNY DAY abruptly winked out, plunging them both into a jet-black night illuminated only by pinpricks of blossoming light.

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POSTED ON Jun 22, 2022 7:06:44 GMT

TRANSPARENT

SEEING THROUGH THE ILLUMINA

“NO,” he answers with a dry disdain. playing around the matter of life and death go against everything fernando stands for. his whole platform, as both a person, politician, and leader, is to take the safest route possible.

it’s a subject that he rarely jokes about. much less entertain with others.

but that passes when she turns on her own accord. the switch is less jarring than she may perceive herself and he settles into her facade with ease.

“which is why i must remain vigilant.”

the SUNNY DAY fades and the curtain of night shrouds them in its blanket. his gaze remains steady as their only source of light rest on the very crystablooms he doubts.

this is different than speaking into a phone. here, she can stare back.

“to protect those who are precious to me.”

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POSTED ON Jun 22, 2022 7:23:29 GMT

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Something in that answer unmoored Elisabeth: “to protect those who are precious to me.”

Was it that such a statement seemed at odds with a man who purportedly lived in two spartan condos, each indistinguishable from the other? She'd assumed he valued the same approach in his life: tidily free of unnecessary connection and attachment, and all the tangled mess such strings invited into one's life.

No, perhaps it struck such a sour note because it was not an answer that Elisabeth herself would have given. She had arrived in Hoenn connected to nothing and no one; those that might have boasted such ties to her were buried six feet underground, and she'd preferred it that way.

It was harder to read him in the shadows, to make out the sincerity or lack thereof glimmering in his dark eyes. Perhaps her own confusion was as difficult to make out in the gloom.

"What a noble sentiment," she said at last, her surprise neither pleased nor displeased. Simply evident. "You must hold several people in high esteem indeed."

Her mind fought to bring similar names to mind, coming up with nothing of note from the dredging of memory. What connections she had in Hoenn felt faint, likely stronger in her mind than in theirs. It was inconceivable to her, in this moment, that anyone might care for her as deeply as she might for them.

Her own insignificance was too entrenched in her mind for too long to suspect otherwise.

"That is an enviable thing, I think. To have others you hold before your own safety."

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POSTED ON Jun 22, 2022 7:33:24 GMT

TRANSPARENT

SEEING THROUGH THE ILLUMINA

“NOBLE?”

he laughs as the mood swings back into casual conversation. the smile she brings to his face is hidden in the darkness. the cover lets him drop his mask. or perhaps some habits are too hard to kill?

“i like to think of it as selfish. our fondness for others is what drives us to keep them. to continue our engagement and enjoyment of their presence.”

an implication is read from his statement but not one that he necessarily carries. the person most precious to fernando…

is fernando.

to remain vigilant is to protect them. the hoenn people. those he likes. but never at the cost of his own safety. sanity, perhaps, time, undoubtedly, but a world without people is not a world he wants to live in.

a king must have a kingdom in order to rule.

“you think so? i hope you enjoy that privilege then, fiorelli.”

he takes a step back to allow his next confession some space to breath.

“to be hold such an important spot.”

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POSTED ON Jun 22, 2022 7:57:27 GMT

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Ah. When had these gossamer strands bound themselves around her, Elisabeth wondered wryly? She hadn't placed them there, that was for certain. This wasn't the web she had been comfortably weaving on her lonesome.

Though she'd been faintly aware, watching this one spin like a thimble of nigh-invisible silver with each innocent phonecall between them -- made at such a distance as to suggest a false belief of safety.

What to make of FERNANDO SILPH? It was his complexity that simultaneously kept her from drawing too close, and goaded her into seeking to peel back the layers and understand the true nature of the threat this man posed. A task that seemed at once unwise and more dangerous than the man himself might be.

A little black card, with a little phone number that tempted its calling. Plumes of pink smoke coiled about his wrist in her garden, serpentine in its bewitching roseate beauty. Not one, but two Gracidea flowers surrendered into her care.

It was a puzzle, one that her mind delighted in turning over, even as it knew other truths to be self-evident. An older woman's voice, one she hadn't heard in years, sneered into her ear: 'Powerful men don't care for people who aren't useful. That's what I taught you, isn't it? So what makes you useful to this man, Elisabeth? Be a smart girl.'

That was the problem, however. Nothing made her useful to this man, nothing at all, save for a few pretty flowers.

Selfish, hm?

The step between them invited silence. It gave her space to turn these thoughts over, each whispering doubt given a moment to murmur in her ear.

"A privilege shared with many, I imagine," she said at length, the sudden presence of her Sunkern hopping at her ankle drawing her gaze briefly downwards. "You should know, I have a poor record of holding onto things. Fondness most of all," she said, gathering the small creature in her arms. "But even so, I appreciate the kindness of the gesture."

Because that was what it was at its core, wasn't it? A nicety.

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