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dahlia's pen is busy. its sharp nib scratches league-watermarked paper. though she may not realize, the commissioner tattoos history and glyph onto modest notepads.[break][break]

"the appearance of all these avatars beg the question," dahlia says, tapping her pen, "do they bestow their patronage in preparation for conflicts such as dewford? and when?"[break][break]

and where are new acquisitions for the league? she hides her concern over their bleeding of avatars. her pen bleeds too, ink wasting away on a letter's finial.[break][break]

"why would it be costly?" she frowns. "how dangerous is fiorelli... and the rest we've mentioned?"

she is keenly aware of her staring, the worry folding the creases around her eyes, the slight tightening of her jaw. her fingers stiffen around her tablet pen. dahlia and penelope scratch graphite to paper, a soft chorus to fernando's recounting, and his words brush echoes.

it won't leave her. not as it stands.

but the cost will be too great.

"if its intentions do not lie in the best interest of the league and hoenn's people, then we treat it as an adversary." her gaze finally tears away from him, but still she lingers on the slight twist of his words - too great and more than it's worth.

"tapu fini is not the only one we've lost either." a frown. "while we've gained suicune, we've lost, in less than a year, giratina, kyogre, latios, and now, if the reports are correct - reshiram?"

dahlia goode FERNANDO SILPH PENELOPE LIVY

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"to hear that the unown have allied themselves with someone is concerning. i am assuming... though, i hope i am wrong, that the visionary is affiliated with rocket?"[break][break]

the commissioner cradles worry within the tightly knit bow of her brow. the drk triad utilize the unown uniquely for avatar assassination—but such pokemon, theorized to be stitches of reality, can unravel horrifying possibilities in the hands of a mere mortal.[break][break]

"correct." the commissioner confirms the list of severed bonds. "but we do an unassigned branch of allies: tapu bulu, tapu koko, diancie, mew." [break][break]

the commissioner wonders what knowledge has been gleamed by Eva Morales and illeana reyes from the pink link to the past.[break][break]

"if fiorelli is in possession of both," a bitterness grows coldly within her bones. she wishes she had burned the poinsettias received one year ago. "then would we say that her neutralization is one of our priorities?"

what she can't work around is Elisabeth Fiorelli 's intent. she works for rocket, that much is clear, but how much of her energy has been spent chasing after fernando? there are others, whose loyalties run past blood and are burrowed deep in the marrow. 

those like jayden cross . 

"she doesn't seem entirely in control of her avatarships. there's friction. at least with the wo-chien. i'm not even sure it's with her still." she dimples her temples with her fingers. "tapu fini ferried her away in its shell to keep her safe. wo-chien left, but it had not helped her in the last leg of the fight.

"if we're listing priorities, this unown avatar should be somewhere at the top, especially if her ties to rocket are thinner. maybe we could persuade her to work with us instead."

it's a shot in the dark, but their options are limited.

"we have rayquaza and the peacemaker. whatever has been done to kyogre will be undone," she says firmly. "we can touch base with Eva Morales and prepare an excursion to cull the god's anger."

her smile shows teeth. "and with the production of sygna suits, we're closing the gap. avatars are strong, but they're not unstoppable; with a properly trained team, we'll be able to take them down. we can use the legendaries dahlia mentioned." she nods towards penny. "maybe we consider restructuring project sapphire in full."

PENELOPE LIVY dahlia goode FERNANDO SILPH

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even dross could not control the sea. after all, nautica has fled to calmer waters. [break][break]

she remembers the personal contract the captain and her husband had signed. how the competitory pen tip etched name and oath on the page. how those signatures now look to her as an abandoned bramble of thorns.[break][break]

"i'm all for a restructuring of the division," the commissioner says, "and the utilization of resources we already have. for fiorelli. for kyogre."[break][break]

she frowns.[break][break]

"we do not have reshiram's powers of truth sense anymore." she says. "if the unown avatar is able to be swayed to work with us, there is no definitive procedure to determine her trustworthiness."

"then we cross that bridge when we get there, commissioner," freya says, sticking tongue in cheek. they don't have reshiram and the truth seeker anymore, but having them in the first place hadn't stopped wolves from masquerading among sheep. "i'm not saying we spill league secrets to this visionary; i suggest we just keep an eye open for opportunity."

though she relishes the idea to push the amnesty program, handed a segue just like that, she does not jump on the opportunity. she's thrown her lot in with fernando, but that doesn't mean she trusts him to leave her and her house alone. she promised king she would be careful.

"have a little faith, councilman," freya says with a tight smile. "like you said, calcifet has nothing to lose. as for merlo? i'd trust him with my life. he's as foolhardy as they come, but he's in large part the reason you and i are even sitting here right now.

"and if it's resources you're worried about - " she says and flicks a dossier into the middle of the table " - ollie morales and i discussed folding some volunteer hours from the amnesty program into Melody Miro 's new pokemon HOME project."

to sapphire then.

"more legendaries are making themselves known. we can't help who they choose to champion them, but what we can do is prepare for when they do." she temples her fingers and tucks them under her chin. "PENELOPE LIVY, what would you say to paxton concordas as supervisor of the new sapphire?"

dahlia goode PENELOPE LIVY FERNANDO SILPH

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"both Remiel Calcifet and Isaac Merlo will be subject to rigorous protocol to process their defections." the commissioner says, her sapphire eyes shifting between each of her council. "the former will require a more extensive and lengthy probation to ensure that those bridges remain burned."[break][break]

paxton concordas's name is raised.[break][break]

"concordas is a reliable officer for the league." she says. "he has personally experienced the havoc wreaked by dross' loss of control." briefly, she attempts to match fernando's heavy gaze.[break][break]

"he knows firsthand why we can not have a repeat of november's kyogre incident."