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POWER IS TAKEN, NEVER GIVEN—SO TAKE WHAT YOU ARE OWED

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POSTED ON Oct 21, 2018 16:39:03 GMT

zeke rainey likes this

"are you a gambling man?"

the question is genuine, one of good faith, and offers the promise of a prize should luck turn in his favor. mauville's casino brings all the neon glamour of the night life into one compact building. the absence of a clock allows for the patrons to lose track of time. anything to keep them there. the longer they stay the higher statistical chance that the casino will profit. after all, all these games statistically rigged in the house's favor. but, that doesn't mean the players have to leave empty handed.

today fernando is accompanied by a man he recognizes not just from the desert ruins but kanto as well. he's an officer of the law and one of the few people to have tried and combat rocket's besieging of silph co. that's why fernando extends an offer to him, to meet at the casino for a chance to catch up.

they don't find themselves at a table. no, instead, fernando sits them in front of a pachinko machine. something about watching the balls fall, requiring no action until they win, proves soothing. once one of the metal balls finally lands in the designated win zone they're awarded their jackpot: a random pokemon. the chances are low and the entry price is high, much too high for someone on a league salary to stay for more than a few rounds. that's why fernando has a spare card ready, loaded with credits and ready to play. my treat, he insists, a small token of appreciation for zeke's efforts all those years ago.

zeke rainey

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yuko

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twenty-seven

january 3

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POSTED ON Oct 21, 2018 22:13:53 GMT

FERNANDO SILPH likes this

i'm here with you, aren't i?

the words float around in zeke's head but materialize as a small chuckle followed by a shrug of the shoulders. "every once in a while." the answer doesn't matter, of course -- they're already sitting in the casino in front of the pachinko machine, its clinging and clanging ringing incessantly but amusingly in their ears. fernando stares into the machine, watching its deceptive nature play out; zeke finds himself enthralled by the blue-haired millionaire before him. he is almost sure that fernando did not notice his interest in him during the debrief, thankfully.

silence hangs in the air for a moment before the realization that he is staring hits him. a cough clears his throat, "and you? i guess you have to be, right? as a businessman?" zeke knows nothing about business and will not pretend to if pressed on the topic. his eyes fall back to his own machine and then down to the card in his hand. the money on it is silph's: a gift, supposedly, for his action in kanto. with all that happened in kanto, it would be no surprise that silph or zeke had forgotten about the officer's efforts for silph co.

however, history remembers that event, and so does zeke. everything surrounding silph in kanto tumbles around in the back of his head and comes to the forefront with the visions that regirock had imparted on him.

he spends his share and allows for his own pachinko to initiate. "thanks again, by the way. you really didn't have to do this. a drink would have been just as good." nothing at all would have been fine, too.

FERNANDO SILPH

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SHIV

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shiv

POSTED ON Oct 21, 2018 23:56:01 GMT

[nospaces]

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A WILD ALOLAN RATICATE APPEARED

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what will you do?

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male / thick fat[break]
scary face / pursuit / double-edge / swords dance

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A WILD WATCHOG APPEARED

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what will you do?

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[break]
female / keen eye[break]
hyper fang / mean look / crunch / hypnosis

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[googlefont=Montserrat]

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spiral

silph

SIR

twenty-nine

august 12th

saffron

oppressive

silph co. ceo

council member

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POSTED ON Oct 22, 2018 1:58:16 GMT

shiv and zeke rainey like this

"hardly." fernando watches each ball move, each one failing to net him anything worthwhile. that's fine. he can be patient. victory comes to those who wait. "gambling is playing against the odds. in business, every risk you take effects more than you. your employees, their families, their livelihoods. you should only risk what you're willing to lose." he turns the knob and another set of balls fire off, each one fluttering across the screen. one finally decides to do its part and fernando sees his prize flash across the screen.

"i don't like to lose. that's why i don't take chances on anything important."

fernando decides to pass on the raticate. denying the jackpot has its uses. rejecting a prize applies a modifier on the next roll, all the lure players into thinking their next prize will be that much better. it's addicting and operates in the same vein as a gachapon. anything to delay paying out. fortunately, fernando can afford it. and, apparently, zeke can too.

"don't be ridiculous. drinks last a night. pokemon lasts forever."

for a moment, fernando forgets about zeke's circumstances in the cave. hopefully, he didn't lose any pokemon of his own. not that fernando meant any harm, he had lost one of his own too. the image of his kirlia still lingers at the back of his mind, slowly becoming replaced by the army he's collecting.

zeke rainey

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january 3

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POSTED ON Oct 23, 2018 0:55:41 GMT

zeke rainey finds himself learning the rules of the pachinko rather quickly, passing over the watchog under the promise of a better role soon. the game's set up entices him to swipe his card once again, this time without excessive gratitude toward fernando. the businessman is busy talking anyways, explaining his modus operandi in words easy enough for zeke to comprehend fully. it isn't the answer he expects -- aren't businessmen known for taking risks?

perhaps silph is in a league of his own.

the ball begins to plunk down again and again, another prize waiting at the end. pokemon are forever. air escapes his nostrils at the notion followed by a sideways look at silph. regirock's hyper beam replays. "if you're lucky...i guess i am a gambler." the moment during which Marin nearly disintegrated makes him realize he risks his pokemon, and he laughs softly.

"why am i more willing to gamble my life than my money?" the question is mostly rhetorical, its tone meant to be humorous as he watches the glow of the pachinko screen in front of him.

FERNANDO SILPH

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shiv

POSTED ON Oct 23, 2018 1:08:18 GMT

[nospaces]

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A WILD ALOLAN GRAVELER APPEARED

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what will you do?

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male / magnet pull[break]
discharge / rock throw / thunder punch / rollout

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A WILD LUXIO APPEARED

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what will you do?

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[break]
female / intimidate[break]
thunder fang / wild charge / swagger / night slash

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[googlefont=Montserrat]

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silph

SIR

twenty-nine

august 12th

saffron

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silph co. ceo

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TAG WITH @silph

POSTED ON Oct 23, 2018 21:29:32 GMT

persephone amavi and zeke rainey like this

fernando quickly realizes that there's an itch that only gambling can scratch. it makes him restless, leg thumping in place as he waits for the next results. it's always the same, another loss and a new ball to take its place. the monotone repetitiveness starts to take its toll. they're given a immediate, mild stimuli that never resolves into something greater. it's addicting. it makes him want a cigarette.

considering the amount they're spending, it shouldn't be too hard to get it comped. he considers it for a moment.

"tch. it's a bad habit."

he denies the bad habit for now. but, fernando's not impervious. the longer they play the stronger the urge gets. he'll break, eventually.

"because what you gamble money on doesn't have the same value." finally, a win. fernando weighs his options, ultimately deciding to cop his prize. another alohan pokemon. odd. "i wouldn't pay half of this for a pokemon of this caliber. i take it you feel the same?"

another turn of the wheel welcomes another set of balls. it's just a matter of time until the next one.

"usually, when you gamble your life, you do so because you think what you're gambling it on is worth saving."

his thoughts turn to persephone amavi . it reminds him there are always exceptions. stupid, stupid exceptions.

"or you have some hero complex that makes you want to die a martyr."

zeke rainey

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twenty-seven

january 3

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POSTED ON Oct 24, 2018 2:36:18 GMT

zeke does not ask for it, but fernando offers his wisdom. he finds himself wondering if fernando has thoughts and opinions on everything as he watches the screen light up with another win: a luxio. the electric-type reminds him of scott, and he cannot keep himself from cashing in on this one. with a press of his thumb he is dispensed another pokemon for his use. an incredulous chuckle breathes from his barely parted lips at the ease of the acquisition.

he rolls again.

somehow, silph's words are resonate with him. his head shakes back and forth at the thought of paying for the watchog, and suddenly he's wondering why they're playing at all as the wheel spins again, sucking him in further, deeper. "i guess that makes sense." it doesn't, but he nods tentatively. zeke finds the strength to break his gaze from the machine as it goes round and round to look at silph.

"definitely don't have a hero complex. but i'll be honest, i would have let your company go down in flames to save my life if it came to that." he refers to kanto, the thing that seemingly brought them here today. the unusual nature of their meeting sticks in his mind but drifts further to the back as time passes.

silph seems more human today than he did yesterday, or at the debrief. "though obviously i thought it was worth the gamble to save back then, so i don't know." he'd seen a few guys die on one particular day in kanto. was it to save silph co.?

he can't remember quite clearly enough, but the idea of them dying so he could get this free luxio today in a casino churns his stomach the wrong way.

FERNANDO SILPH

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ADMIN

POSTED ON Oct 24, 2018 4:23:54 GMT

[nospaces]

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A WILD GROTLE APPEARED

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what will you do?

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male / overgrow[break]
giga drain / leaf storm / synthesis / leech seed

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A WILD DONPHAN APPEARED

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what will you do?

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[break]
female / sturdy[break]
scary face / earthquake / slam / giga impact

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[googlefont=Montserrat]

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spiral

silph

SIR

twenty-nine

august 12th

saffron

oppressive

silph co. ceo

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POWER IS TAKEN, NEVER GIVEN—SO TAKE WHAT YOU ARE OWED

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TAG WITH @silph

POSTED ON Oct 24, 2018 17:04:19 GMT

zeke rainey likes this

"good. don't throw your life away for something like that. while i appreciate the thought-- and your service, you're better off saving it for something worth more." another win. this time it's quicker. or maybe it just seems that way since the conversation flows so effortlessly. only when he takes a break to pocket the ball, to juggle the ones already on his belt to make room, does he realize zeke's stare.

eye contact is always a task. their pupils meet and fernando's left searching, probing, looking for just the right glimmer, before breaking it with heavy sigh. he sounds tired. "life is a number's game. the longer you live the more good you can do." it's only now that he slouches, uncaring. they've been shooting the shit long enough for him to feel comfortable. it's a new view and one fernando expects to pay off. this is what normal seems like, normal for someone grizzled by war and impartial to the outcomes of the past.

there is no future in the past. he dwells on improvements not regrets. burdens only grow heavier with contemplation.

a cocktail waitress passes by and fernando gives her a wave. "malburo, hon, thanks." after she shows the courtesy to free the box from its plastic wrap, fernando passes her a few chips. they're green, denoted as on the higher end of chip values as evident by the ecstatic smile plastered on her face. fernando takes care of the rest, popping open the box and relishing the smell of a fresh carton. it's a vice he's long denied but today is an exception, he's here with an old friend. he tilts the box forward, a loose one already tucked between his lips. all it needs it is a light. a single smoke sticks out of the corner, prime for the picking.

"smoke?"

++dolphan

zeke rainey

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yuko

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twenty-seven

january 3

saffron, kanto

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TAG WITH @zeke

POSTED ON Oct 24, 2018 20:30:35 GMT

persephone amavi and FERNANDO SILPH like this

they lock eyes for a moment -- only a moment -- before zeke has to break his gaze. silph's eyes are too much to handle; they look almost inhuman and lack any warmth as zeke searches them. where he expects warmth he finds only power, and then realizes that perhaps silph is analyzing him, too. zeke is much simpler, he knows, but wonders what the man thinks of him.

silph's humanity seems to reappear with a tired sigh. for silph to justify life's length with the ability to do more good seems unexpected, especially for a business tycoon like him. but here they were, sitting together at a casino after the mauville ruins rescue, the debrief which silph hosted, playing a game that will only benefit zeke on silph's dollar. to see him as slimy is unfair, and zeke feels like he owes the man an apology.

"i guess that makes sense." passing on the apology, the noncommittal quip is all he manages to come up with as he passes on his prize from the previous play. without much thought, he plays again, watching the cocktail waitress appear out of the corner of his eye. she produces cigarettes for silph, and when the man subsequently offers him one, zeke shakes his head in polite refusal.

"i don't. where i grew up in saffron, people puffed on cigarettes all day long talking shit about their kids and local government, or passed a threat from one gang to the next. makes me hate them. the cigarettes, i mean." his eyes are back on the machine by the end of the rant, waiting for his next win.
FERNANDO SILPH

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GONGAGER

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shiv

POSTED ON Oct 25, 2018 3:30:30 GMT

[nospaces]

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[attr="class","ihead"]

A WILD NOSEPASS APPEARED

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what will you do?

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[break]
male / magnet pull[break]
rock blast / power gem / rest / spark

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A WILD TOGEDEMARU APPEARED

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what will you do?

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[break]
female / iron barbs[break]
spiky shield / wild charge / rollout / zing zap

[break][break]

[break][break]

FERNANDO SILPH successfully caught the donphan!

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spiral

silph

SIR

twenty-nine

august 12th

saffron

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POWER IS TAKEN, NEVER GIVEN—SO TAKE WHAT YOU ARE OWED

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TAG WITH @silph

POSTED ON Oct 26, 2018 2:39:41 GMT

persephone amavi and LILLIAN GLASS like this

"good." he pockets the rest knowing he'll need it. in its stead is a zippo lighter, pulled upwards and toward his mouth. he stops before ignition, a coy smile showing. "they're bad for you, y'know?" crude sarcasm. a sign that fernando truly has let go. what's a little casual talk between friends? that's what they were, right? or at least that's what he's edging for, draping the image of a man loosening up to someone far below his pay grade.

"haha, i don't blame you though. saffron was a different beast." fernando returns to watching his machine. he peers at the other's, curious onto his prize. another shit pokemon. or at least he thinks so. "but i do miss it." thoughts flash back to a town made of bad decisions and the grit of the poor. his time there may not have been extensive, divided between living with persephone amavi and being badgered by the ever persistent LILLIAN GLASS , but it was still home. until he orchestrated its razing. funny how that works, two citizens musing together, one unaware of the terror of the other. it's almost ironic.

"nothing beats home."

almost.

zeke rainey

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yuko

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twenty-seven

january 3

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TAG WITH @zeke