INTERVIEW

POST GOODBYE GALAR

HIS COMMENT MISSES ITS MARK. if it’s a reference he’s suppose to get, it flies well over his head. but fernando does not let that perturb his expression. it goes unacknowledged, as if it was never audible in the first place.

he stands from his seat.

“evening, sullivan.”

hands are shook. a prompt reseat is had at a table that mostly empty. the exception is a cocktail fernando must have ordered while waiting and the odd movement of a red strip in the seat next to him.

“i went ahead and ordered some items,” he says while motioning to the menu in front of doug. “feel free to add whatever perks your interest. the more the merrier.”

[attr="class","spiralpee"]
John Sullivan

INTERVIEW

Oh boy, a date with FERNANDO SILPH!

He observed the man's rise, his expert's handshake, and his descent back onto his seat.

"Oh! Thank you kindly!" He said with a smile as he sank back into his seat as well, grabbing the motioned menu and paging through its contents slowly.

Two more entrees were added to the list, before he closed the menu, gently pushing it away before turning a smiling face to Fernando.

The Main course could wait.

"It occurs to me: I don't think I ever asked— after our encounter at the hospital, I mean."

The things his brain chose to remember were strange.

Fernando Silph was among Hoenn's first veterans, and a man whom John had 'enjoyed' the displeasure of seeing grievously, horrifically injured more times than he would wish on anyone: Precisely once.

"How is your body feeling, Mr. Silph?" He asked.

His healing back then was —in the most literal sense— amateur work. If there were any side effects— well, treating them several months later wasn't ideal, but later was still better than never.

---

Mission: Post Goodbye Galar

INTERVIEW

POST GOODBYE GALAR

“ADEQUATE,” is the best way to phrase it. lost somewhere in translation is the two differing ideas brewing between one another.

doug refers to the immediate past–ripe from the moment he had been robbed of his eye. but fernando has long seen past that short stint. acclimation is only natural. now, only guttural vengeance brews. short and stout.

the most pressing issue of his body is adjusting to his current state. galar may feel like a week ago but the memories of navigating a much more worn body are still fresh in his mind. his knees are more moldable then they had been before.

“have you had issues with yours?”

[attr="class","spiralpee"]
John Sullivan

INTERVIEW

Oh boy, a date with FERNANDO SILPH!

"Understood." He said. "Do let me know if any complications arise."

He had a snowball's chance in hell of peering beyond the Silph mask, so he would just have trust Fernando on that one.

"Well, I did stumble a bit when I woke up, but in a good way!" He said cheerfully, smiling at the waiter as his drink arrived. He plucked it up, looking through the glass and its contents at his host.

"Sort of like... As if I had taken off a weighted vest." Beat. "... Aaand recovered from spinal stenosis."

Early onset arthritis was a b*tch. He would do his daily morning stretches like a good boy from now on.

"My hands ain't quite as deft as they used to be, but hey!" He said with a laugh, reaching over enthusiastically as the entrees he ordered arrived, plucking some finger foods. "I haven't felt this strong and spry in... well, forever!"

Croquette in hand, he casually slid it over his lips, biting the head and swallowing with an appreciative hum.

"Hmm... Maybe it's the excess energy—" He said. "Could be the fact I recognize almost no one at the base, too. Either way— I couldn't stay put there."

Thus, 3 months of leave.

"I don't remember all that much about Hoenn. I figured I should look around to jog back my memory." Thus, all the biking and traveling.

He gave the other man a smile.

"And you? How's your memory, Sir? Struggling like poor ol' me?"

---

Mission: Post Goodbye Galar

INTERVIEW

POST GOODBYE GALAR

“AH,” is all that doug is able to pry from fernando in response. he listens intently to the other, willing to let him fill in the silence with conversation and observation. it isn’t until the food is served that fernando takes his own silence as an opportunity to snack.

the first bite he takes is slow and methodological. careful to take an appropriate amount of crust and filling but small enough to savor the heat and flavor that comes from a modest bite. his eye even closes, momentarily, as the taste hits all his notes of approval.

“a promising adventure, then,” announces a clear and empty throat. “i find my own memories quite vivid.”

the red stripe between them suddenly fazes out of its COLOR CHANGE. the kecleon’s eyes spin in several circles before its tongue reaches for a serving of food.

“clearer than my early childhood, at least.”

[attr="class","spiralpee"]
John Sullivan

INTERVIEW

Oh boy, a date with FERNANDO SILPH!

Doug almost jumped when Fernando finally offered a morsel of his thoughts on the topic— either that or the Kekleon suddenly phasing into existence gave him a heart attack.

"J-jeez..." He said, glaring playfully at the Kekleon before casually pushing one of his plates closer to the pokemon.

Turning his gaze back over to Fernando, he cocked his head slightly, curiosity rather obvious.

"Huh. What where you doing during all that time, sir?" He asked.

He couldn't imagine Fernando settling down and starting a family in Galar. His mind refused to conjure up the image as if it were a complete impossibility. An anti-canon event.

"Mr. Lopez founded the adventurer's guild. Dr. Morales became a queen; even Matias became a knight or something." He said with a grin, scratching at his chin as he stared up at the ceiling in remembrance.

"Miss Luka became a Queen too, but she concerned herself mostly with studying the stars."

Only time astrology would ever be taken so seriously.

---

Mission: Post Goodbye Galar

INTERVIEW

POST GOODBYE GALAR

“PREPARING FOR WHEN WE GOT BACK,” he delivers, monotone, and free from a lifetime of resentment he had paved with his conviction. while the others played adventurer, found love, and grew into their roles, who had the foresight to think about once they succeeded? who spent years of dedication to make sure what they suffered there would be of some use once they escaped?

none of them.

“i spent every day reciting and documenting the information i learned so i would not forget it as i aged,” he punctuates with a clean slice of his knife.

“not quite as flashy as everyone else, i suppose.”

[attr="class","spiralpee"]
John Sullivan

INTERVIEW

Oh boy, a date with FERNANDO SILPH!

Doug could only stare at the councilman in stunned silence, slowly cocking his head.

"What made you so sure we would come back?" He asked after a moment.

Had Fernando known the nature of their bondage from the very beginning?

"If you had been wrong... you would've had wasted your life."

Had he stuck to a mission he had self-assigned due to sheer stubbornness and habit?

Or... was it simply FERNANDO SILPH's iron will?

INTERVIEW

POST GOODBYE GALAR

“WE WERE PROMISED AN ESCAPE,” he says, “as long as we could meet the criteria for the realm.”

the exact details are hazy, and grow fuzzier with each passing day, but the premise still bears strong in his memory. that’s the difference between those who lived their life and those who spent it repeating the same stories day after day.

“what would be the point of our struggle if we did not expect to succeed?”

[attr="class","spiralpee"]
John Sullivan

INTERVIEW

Oh boy, a date with FERNANDO SILPH!

"Yeah, and then we killed the pokemon making those promises by turning him into Kebab." He said wryly— perhaps a piece of data Fernando wasn't aware of.

Who was he kidding; by this point, the man probably had a myriad of reports on his desk.

"Point... Hm. I stayed on task for about... two, three years? At about the time I started learning medicine, I stopped thinking about it." He admitted. "I think for those of us who weren't sure about our escape, it just became about adapting and surviving."

People all around the globe struggled to survive; some to continue a meager, barely subsistent life style. Humans didn't need to logic a reason to continue living. More often, they logic'd their way out of it.

"At about the 10 year mark though, when the poison receded, it seemed as though things might actually be progressing." He said, leaning his chin onto his palm. "It got me back on track."

He wondered how closely the events on his world matched his.

"Was the timeline inside the sword similar to the shield?"

From the few things he had read prior to going into leave— they hadn't blown up a statue and killed Calyrex themselves, so— kudos to them.

INTERVIEW

POST GOODBYE GALAR

“INDEED,” he mulls, eyes closed, enthralled by the taste in his mouth. for all their talk of galar, none of it compares the lack of flavor in the realm to the extravagance of this world. even mediocre junk food is jam packed with saturated seasoning.

something as simple as salt goes a long way.

“which opens a question then, sullivan: will you give up your role as champion in as little as two years when things become bleak?”

[attr="class","spiralpee"]
John Sullivan

INTERVIEW

Oh boy, a date with FERNANDO SILPH!

He stared at the other man blankly, mouth slightly open as he processed.

"My what?" He said eloquently, blinking at Fernando owlishly.

L o a d i n g . . .

"Oh!" He said, bopping the side of his head. "Oooh! Right! That's what this meeting was about! I didn't really question it when I saw it on my calendar."

He hadn't seen Fernando in over 20 years— any chance to catch up was a good one, whatever the reason for their meeting might be.

"Hmm... No. I know what I want to do now— nothing can ever make me feel as lost and purposeless as I felt back then." He said confidently... before his face blanked, tongue sticking out.

"I'm not really interested in being Top Champion anymore, though? I'm a doctor now." He said, crossing his arms over his chest with furrowed brows, humming thoughtfully.

"I challenged Katherine Fairburne when I did because I heard she was retiring... I wanted to face the elite 4 at its strongest."

He leveled a hand with his face, waving it.

"Uh, not to disparage Greyson Connors or anything; I didn't know he was her successor at the time. Anyway!"

He pursed his lips, raising a brow.

"Do I need to have some lofty goal or reason to challenge the Elite 4 now? 'Cause, uh. I don't." He said bluntly.

"I'm just here to prove I'm the best."

Like no one ever was. The Kanto-Grindset lived on.

INTERVIEW

POST GOODBYE GALAR

“INDEED,” he says with a slice of his knife, “there need not be a reason more than self satisfaction to measure oneself against the region’s best.”

he stares at his next bite. perfectly cut. a sizable morsel, easy to swallow.

“but that does not require a champion assessment or designation to have such a battle, no? i assume you’re fine with battling them for battle’s sake?”

[attr="class","spiralpee"]
John Sullivan