[attr="class","spiral"] Fernando recognizes the number and puts little importance on the contact name listed. Freya Morningstar is irrelevant, a relic of the past that's left behind by the constant ebb and flow of current events. The Tentacruel mission may have only been a few months ago, crisp on the tail end of summer, but politically it's been forever. With Stone out of the picture and kim cole-essam on vacation, Fernando's position has been solidified on the merit of outlasting his colleagues. Freya's position as the council's wild card and potential disruption against dahlia goode is no longer needed.

Freya is no longer needed.

Still, Fernando answers because the megalomaniac can always use another piece on the chessboard. There are never enough resources to sate his appetite and for her to reach out to him shows a pressing need tfor him that he'd be foolish to ignore. Exploitation comes from vulnerability and Fernando smiles to himself when he hears her voice.

"Of course, Freya. I'll be there immediately."

Immediately isn't soon enough and Fernando takes his time finishing up his current meeting. He reminds lenora gray to clear out the remainder of his schedule before making the venture out to Sootopolis. Between Freya, Olivia Abbiati, and persephone amavi, perhaps it's better to demolish the city and start anew. The women of Sootopolis are either foolhardy or absolutely brilliant. Then again, perhaps Persephone is the exception.

Perhaps.

[attr="class","spiral"] The Morningstar estate is a sight for sore eyes. His qualms are singular and he hones them onto a single focal point. Theodore is spared any expressive remarks and Fernando keeps to himself, gracious but reserved, cautious in waiting. It isn't until he's excused, released onto the battlefield that his expressions breaks. Eyes narrow onto a figure that seems so distant and unfamiliar but he can only assume it to be Freya.

His smile lacks the menace behind his intentions. It's genuine happiness but not out of concern or relief that Freya remains abound. It is because she is insignificant and he has little to fear. Safety is an immeasurable asset and Fernando can be disarmed while disarming.

"You called."

The statement is factual, plain and simple. Time is valuable and he's already over budget.

[nospaces]

[attr="class","spiral"] Circumstance foots the line between practical and nonsense. Months ago, when Freya announced herself to the council and therefore pledged herself to being a driving force, Fernando would've placed some weight onto her request. Now, functionally powerless, there is little reason for him to entertain the thought. He still does but the obligation is gone, currying to the fate of his fickle, cutthroat whim.

"I'm not a veterinarian, Freya. What can I do that you cannot?" His answer is dry because he has a throbbing assumption of where the conversation will go. The end point annoys him but he wants to hear it from her mouth, to slap her with a cold splash of reality to rouse her from her misguided ideals. Among the many character flaws that plague trainers, sentimentality is the one he loathes the most.

[attr="class","spiral"] "Fund his recovery."

Fernando repeats the statement aloud to register the audacity of the request. Half of him is impressed by her gall but to hear something so shameless catches him off guard. This cannot be the same Freya who would mention coup and dahlia goode in a single implication. This is someone desperate or weak enough to vy on some misguided notion of Fernando's sympathy.

"Are you implying you have an army, Freya? An army requires sustenance — mouths to feed, bodies that need shelter, a desire for attention and time sunk into training. To sustain an army requires resources, resources that could be reallocated for other purposes."

His eyebrows knot and the request is neither denied nor accepted. Freya is not doing him any favors here, only edging around the one statement she doesn't want to confess. Fernando presses harder because he wants to hear it, to have her grovel at her own selfishness.

[attr="class","spiral"] "That sounds like a personal problem."

Fernando drops the smile, the masquerade that they're more than anything but acquaintances. Without her explicit ties to the League, to the chair that grants her words power under the reign of authority, Freya, like everyone else in the region, is nothing to him. His face is as placid as his sentiments, empty, void of concern nor care.

"And what use are you to me? I have the Elite Four and Gym Leaders under me. I alone put a halt on Team Rocket and brought peace to the region. What do you have to offer me that I can acquire with my own two hands."

Despite his ego and fantastical claims — which ignore the difficulty of acting upon them — there are some merit to his words. Only those who know Fernando, who were there through the happenstance of his fortune, understand how true or false his credentials are. Aside from kyle lopez, who he already has measures for to keep right under his thumb, there is no one who can challenge his word on ending SILAS BLACKWELL. That alone make him untouchable.

[attr="class","spiral"] Her answer pricks at a sensitive spot that Fernando cannot outright dismiss. His eyes narrow in and it takes a conscious effort to resist grinding his teeth. The mention of Ultra Beast is a blemish on his reputation as well as his ego. Rocket, while a pest, was considered a manufactured tool, a deliberate force used to further his own agenda. Ultra Beasts are a foreign, enigmatic concept that he cannot comprehend and therefore cannot abuse. Humans can be manipulated and toyed with to adjust to his plans. These monsters though? They're something he cannot tame and prove the biggest threat to the status quo.

However, these Ultra Beast materialize as spontaneous as their behavior. There's no promise that they'll attack nor that they'll retreat. They are the anti-thesis to everything Fernando stands for and that's why they must be handled. But can Freya be the one to do it? Her claims to power are true and Fernando knows the Mossdeep incident well but between persephone amavi and Lucas Lane, neither have been able to replicate that instance of their Primal Mega Evolution.

"Is it stronger than my own?"

MISTY TERRAIN starts to seep from his body, prespirating through his pores and clothes to congregate into a mild haze that curls around him.