she demands action and John Sullivan suggests a coffee break. her fingers curl. her jaw tightens. Remiel Calcifet has nothing to say in the face of her snapping. dahlia goode reassumes the helm in an attempt to correct their course and when she confirms she knew of Melody Miro 's avatarship, freya retakes her seat. 

she settles carefully, almost meticulously, and withdraws her tablet so she can start taking notes. the pen shakes with every scratch; she listens, because speaking would open the floodgates to her frustration, but it is Eva Morales 's voice that is the cool balm to her anger. 

her expression when she looks at the professor is a grateful one, a tenderness that hardens when her gaze turns to Navy .

apology?

PENELOPE LIVY 's words return to her. higher-ups speaking of dissident, twisting the truth around kyogre's attack. she recalls the battle in crystal adrenaline clarity - zacian turned away from the harbinger, raising her sword against a leviathan their intelligence had hypothesized she would never be able to overcome.

she does not comment, but she does scribble in her tablet. so too does she note illeana reyes 's lack of commentary on sootopolis, and on declan walsh . the rocket boss's warning still rings in her head. 

PENELOPE LIVY makes her stylus pause. she sets it down and drums her fingertips on the table. 

"FERNANDO SILPH is right. the nature of the league, our role in this, is to staunch the bleeding as our enemy cuts us. we do not have the luxury of ignoring our wounds, lest our own people turn against us. if we take the fight to kanto's soil, we spread ourselves too thin, and leave ourselves open to further takeover. 

"perhaps Remiel Calcifet 's unique position in our government can help persuade his region to send their military to kanto. we do not have the numbers, or the power, to do this on our own.

"the solgaleo project is in the works to combat the likes of necrozma. Greyson Connors and illeana reyes can speak more to that." her words falter. she looks at illie, and thinks of her promise, remembering the ache of the woman's manic fingers tangled in her own, nails biting into skin. 

suspicion has already cracked the foundation they all stand upon. she will not invite it here.

the moment passes, a heartbeat and nothing more, but noticeable with the way she swallows her words. she flicks her stylus over her screen and presses onward.

"our gym leaders are not supplements to war generals. i will not put a target on someone's head by instating a sootopolis gym leader. we have some level of freedom given the nature of our accords, but a grab for power can and will incite violence. sootopolis needs league security and aid. i have a relief plan in the works.

"per amnesty, i've made note to tighten the vetting process and rearrange the distribution of our applicants."

"and regarding our new elite four, i suggest we take the time outside of this meeting to narrow down our top three picks and have a discussion with each. we need not make this decision with haste. we waste precious time discussing the details when we should be focusing on this."

she waves a hand towards the map of hoenn, and of rocket's spread. 

"i believe Eva Morales 's right. we make monroe a priority. we need information. and we need a bargaining chip." she blinks. "and we need to better understand kyurem's prophecy."

AQUA ASSEMBLY

freya withdraws
must play defensively
suggests reaching out to galar to attack kanto
mentions solgaleo project
no to sootopolis gym leader
notes amnesty
notes illeana's lack of reaction to sootopolis/walsh (eyebrowraise)
suggests finalizing e4 outside of aqua
monroe is a priority & the kyurem prophecy is now a priority

☉

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inevitably, the ropes of loyalty and trust and tested. sea-logged and fraying, they sway above the dark abyss as they hold each figure here together. yet, she hopes those ropes hold strong. but hope can only get you so far.[break][break]

"everyone here at this table can be trusted. all of you are here in good faith. if we can not play well with each other, then we'll fall right into rocket's playbook."[break][break]

she fights a sigh and tightens her expression into one of serious, pointed determination.[break][break]

"if we can ally ourselves with galar with Elise Calcifet and in part, Remiel Calcifet's assistance, then a kanto warfront may be more possible... sinnoh may very well be another willing ally. their commissioner has been in touch ever since the hoenn star tournament. although johto's history and close proximity to kanto may render them as potent allies, i believe they may be hesitant to restoke the flames of war."[break][break]

the commissioner looks to the screen which FERNANDO SILPH had manipulated. their forces are spread out, indeed. diluted, even.[break][break]

"delving further into kyurem's prophecy and digging deeper into draconid knowledge may provide integral insights... but speaking of kyurem, i am reminded of hoopa. kim cole once courted the djinn," she pauses and hopes she said that right, "and if we can find and convince the hoopa to our side, we can mitigate the weakness of our troops being at the wrong place at the wrong time."[break][break]

of course, a search for hoopa implies a hunt across the spatial realms, and as the spectral season looms, she wonders if the djinn will make its appearance once more.[break][break]

"regardless, i am open to expanding our initiative's parameters slightly, and i mean slightly! for membership, including finding a suitable candidate for the elite four seat. the trainers you have named will be taken into serious consideration and i thank you for your insights."

The conversation takes a turn and many give their two cents on who should be considered for the next Elite Four appointment. Quite frankly, Eva tunes it all out. She has no stake in the matter, that’s not her jurisdiction. Every gym badge she owns is honorary and was hardly earned in the traditional sense. Instead of chime in, she keeps her mind focused on the important topic they were undoubtedly convened to discuss: war.

As the others debate, she fiddles with a map of Kanto on her tablet. Though she knows every nook and cranny by heart, it helps with her visualization however unsettling it may be. She envisions the takeover. How one little R flared up to many across their maps like chicken pox that then expanded and coalesced into an amalgamation of ugly sores until it felt like they were everywhere at once; an incurable, fear mongering, militaristic disease.

As much as Eva dreams of freeing Kanto from Rocket’s clutches, Hoenn takes priority as Remiel Calcifet suggests. She wrinkles her nose and quietly resurrects intel mentioned earlier by Isaac Merlo.

“Is it reasonable to recruit gym leaders and their local forces to weed out those secret bases Isaac mentioned earlier? It’s important that those cells don’t gain traction outside of Petalburg and Sootopolis. That could become overwhelming very quickly. Best to squash them while they're young, no?”

It feels silly advising on war when her priorities should be intellectual. There is still so much to understand, as freya morningstar and dahlia goode pointed out but it is also impossible to ignore the similarities to Kanto’s demise and having to live through that again would not be her fate.

“We have a lot to do at home, here, I agree. Allies would make this much easier because we can keep more resources here while targeting important weak spots in Rocket’s overall anatomy,” she nods along in the wake of Dahlia’s suggestions, “There are people in Kanto that want to fight too,” she reminds the group at large, “And they will likely be our most powerful allies,” they have nothing to lose, know the land, know Rocket, and are angry and ready for change, “They’re just waiting for someone to lead them,” her gaze briefly sweeps over MATIAS SILPH and the tickle of a memory, or a dream, where he did lead them to victory rises to the surface.

Her brows crease with doubt as she peers past FERNANDO SILPH and John Sullivan at dahlia goode. She doesn’t remember their last encounter with Hoopa being pleasant. It tried to kill them and they tried to kill it, “If you really think Hoopa would ally with us, Commissioner, we can find it,” there’s an unmistakable tone of confidence in the otherwise potentially empty promise, “We found Rayquaza - We can find Hoopa,” she did it once, she could do it again, “But I do believe that would involve dimensional travel unless it's come back and my data is outdated," which would be embarrassing, "That could potentially risk unleashing Kyurem into our world again which is undoubtedly very dangerous. Meddling with the stability of our dimensional barriers has proven time and time again to cause more harm than good. Does the reward outweigh the risks?” she poses this question to the table. Playing with dimensions should not be done on the whim of one person’s suggestion - it would affect them all in the end. Especially if that potential reward isn’t a sure win for the League.

---

- Suggests considering Isaac Merlo’s intel and rooting out the secret bases so Rocket can't plant little seeds throughout the region. They could grow quickly and overwhelm them fast.
- Reminds they group there are Kantonians willing to rally and fight with them and they will likely be Hoenn’s most powerful ally
- Comments that they found Rayquaza once so they can find Hoopa but would it be worth it? Hoopa was quite hostile when they last encountered it.

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"if we cut rocket from the root with the kantonian people," the commissioner says, "then that would be a devastating blow to the syndicate as a whole. the hbic can continue to monitor kanto while supporting any rebellions covertly."[break][break]

does the reward outweigh the risks? warfare demands calculated actions, of movements constructed bone by bone, limb by limb with punctilious nature: the public perception, the fragile equilibrium between people and pokemon, and the small stage of their war in the grand scheme of the ever expansive universe make the blood and muscle.[break][break]

"we've all inherited a fragile universe. that is what i believe. even before this war, even before meteno." she looks to eva, to illeana, and then the rest of the table. "we are the only ones holding this universe together and i believe our victory against team rocket is the only thing preventing its collapse."[break][break]

she switches the screen to an ice-scarred dewford, to mt. chimney, where the scarring of the mountainscape from MATIAS SILPH's purification can be seen, blotched stretches of chromatic accompanied by drought.[break][break]

"i would like to bring everyone's attention to an alarming discovery." the commissioner says. "in dewford, there have been reports of brine spilling from granite cave's muddy slopes where there is no water source. in the volcano, prehistoric plants have begun to be found growing amongst our native foliage. i worry for what that may mean."