the acrid taste that had been left in her mouth following gym jam had been washed away with paxton concordas's company and the bottom of a bottle. like all things, her anger surrounding it has mostly subsided. frustrations have fueled decisions and she's been able to take action rather than let them stew. 

part of that action is testing the prowess of the gym leaders from the summit. 

it's nothing personal that she's chosen lam first. honestly, she wanted to go with a middleman for the first runaround and get some idea of how the rest of them might go. she doesn't fear hurting feelings (gods no), but some inkling as to how they'd moved on in the aftermath will be helpful going forward. 

they'd all gotten their forms to Hyakkaryōran Tsubaki on time, at least. 

the training facility is state-of-the-art, but it feels so sterile. she'd learned combat here, in the beginning, when fernando's fingers were still wrapped around her throat. that was before she sought to break her chains. 

she brushes the memory aside with ease and turns her head when lam approaches. 

"gym leader logan. thanks for making the trip out here. i hope you've been well?"

lam logan

☉

he seems just as uncomfortable with small talk as she is, but that doesn't make her relax in the slightest. instead, she nods tersely, offers an awkward smile in return and offers him the same: "freya's fine."

spring challenges sound lovely and for many, maybe they will be, but the gym leaders are their best front for finding recruits. leisure is in low supply these days; the very idea of it is far from her mind, at least. 

"busy. yes, i've been busy, putting together reports following our gym leader summit." her nose wrinkles and she opens the door for him, beckoning him inside. 

the wish-maker, much like the other legendary pokemon under the league's purview, do not live in the stasis of their balls. when she'd learned they're free to roam the grounds, she'd found the idea unsettling. now, it's enticed with what's supposedly, it's favorite serving of fruits - a motley assortment of pinap and mago berries. 

"i'm almost surprised to see it here," she remarks as it looks up from the platter, face and fingers stained with yellow and orange juice. "i set up the food almost two hours ago now and it only just showed a few minutes before you arrived."

lam logan

☉

the presence of the wishmaker seems to relax the lilycove gym leader. a medical professional would tell freya it'd probably help her blood pressure if she kept a wide berth from the star-shaped creature. she's watched the videos on its capture countless times, collections of cell phone footage of the navel rock tower as a hellspawned ho-oh emerged from one of its tags. 

"yes, it is actually," she says. it blinks dolefully up at the two of them and then floats up to offer lam one of its half-eaten berries, strawberry mash smeared by its mouth. 

"while putting together that 'piece of work,' which, it is, and thank you for not being part of the problem, i decided i wanted to test our leaders' mettle for myself. see how they fare against our own legendaries.

jirachi has offered its services for the occasion. i think."

lam logan

☉

freya, on the other hand, is not swayed by its apparent cute charms. her lower lip does not curl and her eyes do not give away the mistrust, but there is a careful mask of dissonance placed upon her face that does not suit the situation. she avoids lam's gaze and examines the fruit dish she'd left out for it instead. 

lam's question is met with an enthusiastic trill and a spinning of its self, ribbons dancing elatedly. 

the lights above them darken, made mute by a purple and pink cosmic power that leaks up from the floor. freya backs up and readies a hand at the belt on her hip. the room is slowly swallowed in darkness by a motley of color and then, all at once, stars explode above them. 

stardust swirls, leaving her skin feeling electrified. a shiny, protective sheen ripples over the jirachi's skin and it floats away from them, still spinning, laughing joyously as though waiting for their response. 

lam logan

☉

a pidove. against the wishmaking pokemon. a pokemon with psychic abilities so far advanced, they've broken the scale of every test the league has put it through. the draconid paces back to better give lam the floor, the hand previously on her ball belt now settled at her hip. 

jirachi finds their new playmate more amusing than freya does, and clasps their star-spun hands together, loosing a windchime sound as they glide through the air. 

the eye on their belly cracks open, blue iris watering with an opaque glow. when the pidove emerges from the shadows, jirachi giggles and pirouettes away; one twirling ribbon teasingly ruffles poppy's feathers. 

"future sight," freya says. after a beat, "this one, of all of them, i've struggled with in the past. brute force is...difficult against it."

lam logan

☉

the entirety of lam's gym is built on teamwork. it's so much more difficult than battling solo, especially for someone like freya, whose expertise in one type makes it difficult to anticipate the reactions of her partner. but it makes you more flexible, and she has to believe that's how lam so easily turns on a dime without blinking an eye. 

an incredible wave of heat radiates from the tiny bird. freya instantly begins to sweat. jirachi squeals uncomfortably and then waves its hand. a weight settles on freya's shoulders as gravity increases. 

the sprite is forced to land as well, but it giggles as it takes away the sprightly bird's main advantage in the heat storm - its maneuverability. 

"i didn't know jirachi could sweat," she observes as the sprite flicks drops from its forehead. 

lam logan

☉

its ribbons trail along the ground, bowed by the weight of gravity. stubby legs step slowly; the wishmaker circles underneath poppy, head tilted back, eyes wide and shining at its quarry in the rafters. it waggles one hand up to the bird as though chastising it. 

the tags on its face glow an ominous silver and a coy smile tilts up at its lips. the air shivers around it and the light in the room wanes, just slightly. 

"steel-types sweat?" she says incredulously. 

it wobbles to the side and then sits down with a harumph, lids fluttering closed in concentration. 

lam logan

☉