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"oh, i don't mind." the commissioner returns the smile as she takes her seat. "gyms can either be reflective or transformative. yours reflects the reality of our world."[break][break]

from tall walls, portraits of past and current champions, elite four, and past commissioners grant them further audience. there is legacy here. preserved, maintained, continued.[break][break]

but for how long? how much longer?[break][break]

the commissioner fights the urge to cross one leg over the other.[break][break]

"my time in office has granted me with the wisdom that the loudest voices do not represent the majority of opinion."

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"it's nice, isn't it?" the commissioner says. "for the public to be able to access normalcy once in awhile..."[break][break]

she waves her hand. a gentle feather in the air dismissing gloom. rather, dahlia seems to acknowledge its shape, feeling how it clings to her palm.[break][break]

"oh well. same ol, same ol. there is always something to do." dahlia sighs though the breath is not heavy. "but how are you? where do you see yourself in the grand purview of hoenn right now?"

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"then we share a common goal."[break][break]

if navy is steel, then dahlia is the hearth. she endeavors to control heat by fair words. to cradle flame by stone palms. shaping the region requires a gentle yet charred hand.[break][break]

"you were born and raised in hoenn, yes?" the commissioner says. "you have lived through so much in just a few years... what is next for you then, navidson? what do you need so that you can help preserve hoenn's soul?"

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dahlia laughs, each soft flutter of air contains her understanding. her wishes and all of their impossibilities. even should the war end, the commissioner knows no sleep awaits her.[break][break]

perhaps, the most important road is the one traveled after resolution.[break][break]

"you have been helping. very much in fact." she says. "i would love for you to take a seat within the elite four, but... two jobs?"[break][break]

she worries about how far navy's self-sacrifice will go.

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"then we'll process your ascension into the elite four seat as soon as we conclude our meeting." dahlia says. "you'll do the league proud."[break][break]

ever so fleetingly, the commissioner wonders if Melody Miro would be a distraction. it is the softest thought. the thinnest petal of swirlix fur dissolving into the busiest puddle.[break][break]

"do go on." the commissioner says of eternatus.

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impossible would be the word to describe it. the jobs at the top. the summit of the league, where the view is simultaneously sublime and inconcievable. though one may believe the peak to offer the most elucidatory purview, such expectations are folly.[break][break]

hoenn and everything within it is an unfathomable, ever-changing paradox. to attempt to comprehend every moving part of this region is to attempt to comprehend the impossible.[break][break]

and to be in a high seat such as this, whether it be the elite four's or the comissioner's, to grant the absurd audience.[break][break]

"it's an arms race, navidson." dahlia leaves her seat to look out tall windows. "the league has the region's brightest minds, but i am not so naive as to say that rocket isn't already at work to seize any advantage they can get."[break][break]

she peers back at the man.[break][break]

"what do you think will bring about the world's end?" hoennian waves beat and pulse against the island. "eternatus?"

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"the fact of the matter is that the race is already being run." [break][break]

the commissioner scries dust in the light fabric of the curtain. she pats it away the best she can, though it is an exercise in futility. the dust always returns.[break][break]

"rocket will run this world to the ground for us all." dahlia says. "you may be worried about poisoning the land, but i say that the land had already been poisoned."[break][break]

after all, where did mega evolution ultimately come from? [break][break]

with a petite smile, she holds her hands gently by her lap.[break][break]

"but you and i, in our service, are heritors of this arcadia." she says. "you play a role just as important as everyone else."