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

☉