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EARLY APRIL. reconstruction efforts and aid grace the soot-singed towns of lavaridge and fallarbor. MATIAS SILPH recovers during his suspension, while Melody Miro has risen to a top champion's seat. kyle lopez has died.[break][break]

the council meets again beneath this somber fallout. however, fate allows little rest and the enemy does not sleep.[break][break]

although the aforementioned are available topics to commiserate, the commissioner opens with one ominous note:[break][break]

"intel from the hbic suggests that team rocket's next incursion is imminent. we expect it to be violent, the precursor to true war."[break][break]

and another:[break][break]

"project sapphire has also been able to detect kyogre's latest movements. when it resurges from the deep sea, it appears to swim toward sootopolis before diving back down again. as for the reason why, we do not know."

their worst fears have been realized and those consequences lay thick in the air like a heavy smog. the wrong person died in the fire and now all of hoenn's people are at risk because of it. it is the cruelest injustice in the world that the man who deserves least rests at home, visited by friends he's wronged dozens of times over. 

her jaw tightens. 

"all of Eva Morales's efforts to quell primordial kyogre have been in vain." she glances at penelope. "and we're bleeding. we try to take sootopolis now and we leave ourselves open to siege at other important cities."

port cities. trade routes and shipping waters. nautica, another asset gone.

"but if they're preparing to strike, we must do so as well. they'll expect us to be on the defense with kyle gone and groudon's avatar out of commission."

dahlia goode FERNANDO SILPH PENELOPE LIVY

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"the inland cities will be the most difficult to contest for rocket." [break][break]

the commissioner taps several keys on her open laptop. above, the holographic screen wakes up. after a flash of the league's symbol, a map of hoenn loads in.

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"i fear for pacifidlog town and its neighboring islands. we can not afford to lose mossdeep, should they attempt to pincer evergrande."[break][break]

on the screen, she zooms in on sootopolis.[break][break]

"sootopolis was once your home, councilwoman morningstar." the commissioner says. there is an idea she holds underwater and she wonders whether it is appropriate to draw. "will your heart be sound as we seek to take it back?"

"i'd imagine port cities will be their largest targets, on par with those on islands. we'll need to assign our elite four members accordingly and i don't want to leave ever grande undefended."

she zooms into sootopolis and freya's eyes burn with hunger, jaw tightening. 

"with all due respect, commissioner, i've waited years for this moment." a muscle in her cheek flicks. "my heart? it will be wrathful, but have we not, after all this time, earned a little wrath?"

a pause as she considers, fingers stroking the choker bearing her family's crest. "and yet it will be sound, i assure you. i am not vengeful. not spiteful. we need our city back, but i won't have it in ruins. sootopolis is my heart and home, but hoenn has my loyalty, and that will never change."

dahlia goode FERNANDO SILPH PENELOPE LIVY

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the reminder lays a somber blanket over their shoulders. one champion dead, an elite four member out of commission, and of the two that remain after melody's ascension, one is unraveling. he'll be different than matias was, she thinks, if only to stave off more anxieties. 

her chair scrapes unpleasantly. she reaches over the table to zoom the map back out. 

"we may not have as many chosen, but we have legendaries that are under league command."

her gaze flicks to penelope. "necrozma's avatar has the same weaknesses they all do - solgaleo. if powerspots, illeana, and the beast can't contain him, then we've already lost."

she gestures back down to the map. "kyogre will make the waters just as dangerous for us as it will for them. neighboring cities to sootopolis - pacifidlog, ever grande, and mossdeep - should have our strongest. both for defense and if we need a quick dispatch.

"lilycove has access to the mainland, but i would argue slateport is a higher priority as our top trade city. we can have defenses set up on the waters surrounding it to discourage movement to pacifidlog."

she curls her knuckles against the table, leaning in thought.

dahlia goode FERNANDO SILPH PENELOPE LIVY

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rocket must not be allowed to progress with impunity. indeed, wrath has been earned. has been warranted, but morality's code constrains some at the table. oaths temper the flames—just barely.[break][break]

"the shoulder of lilycove, mossdeep and ever grande." [break][break]

the commissioner traces the map with her finger, the whole graphic gliding from island to island to coast.[break][break]

"dewford and its access the ultra deep sea. to be frank, every coastline is in danger, but we've reseized assets from nautica to strengthen our navy."[break][break]

but how can these resources contend against threats largely impossible to prepare for? little protocol exists in hoenn's history for matters such as these. there has been no playbook; the table has been writing it with no publication date in sight.[break][break]

as dahlia knits her brows together, necrozma haunts her thoughts.

she keeps her gaze trained on the map at hand while she listens, deploying units and thinking through scenarios as they weigh all of their options. her stubbornness has her wanting to defend her first statement, but they're a council of three for a reason.

her mouth sets in a firm line. sootopolis flickers before her and she tells herself that she cannot be selfish. not here, not now.

but - "yes," she cuts sharply, "we unseat their stronghold. we hit them at their foundations. that does not change."

she dips her fingers in the hologram, readjusting. "then per your recommendations, we spread our troops thinner, encompassing the mainland. lilycove. mauville for the electricity it provides to the rest of the region. petalburg as another entrance inland, if we think dewford can't stop them from getting through."

their resources continue to dwindle as she shifts numbers around and she looks exasperatedly at the rest of the council. 

"eva may not be able to quell kyogre, but i'm confident we can use her and rayquaza to use its rampaging to our advantage against sootopolis."

PENELOPE LIVY dahlia goode FERNANDO SILPH

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