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POSTED ON Jun 19, 2020 21:34:11 GMT

For someone to ‘take care’ of a distinguished figure, a Gym Leader at that—it was more than enough to make his eyebrows rise. However, he had to keep his cool in front of the Councilman.

There were so many questions, and little answers in front of them.

Well, well… that must have ended badly… he thought to himself as he mused privately for a few moments. After Slateport…?

“If you’re talking about the Tower that collapsed, well… I wouldn’t personally count that as a loss. That would be just me though. But back around that time I was just an ordinary Ranger making ends meet and hoping to change the perception of people towards Rangers in general for the better.”

Well, well.

:OGeyes:

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POSTED ON Jun 19, 2020 21:41:36 GMT

[attr="class","spiral"]You can lead a ranger to water but you can't force them to read context clues. Fernando smiles, faintly, with a tilt of his head.

"Not that, Anderson. You're absolutely correct. Slateport should have been the first and last time. Do you remember what happened immediately after?"

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POSTED ON Jun 19, 2020 22:01:19 GMT

This made him stop and ponder about what the Councilman was implying. There were… a few things that seemed out of place…

“…humor me this. Do you know what happened to the Commissioner after Slateport fell? I’m pretty sure you know that there was a time a small rescue team was sent out to get her back.”

And that Suijin died because of me that night. Right then and there… he thought to himself, lips pursed as he awaited the answer.

returns to the past as he remembered something from back then.

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POSTED ON Jun 19, 2020 22:11:00 GMT

[attr="class","spiral"]He doesn't know where Lars is going with this and it shows on his face. An eyebrow raises and wrinkles crease against the ridge of his forehead. "I read the reports, yes. I don't see how this relates, Anderson."

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POSTED ON Jun 19, 2020 22:19:27 GMT

“Look, at the time Slateport was taken and almost destroyed, I was just an ordinary rank-and-file Ranger. So of course, my mind would correlate a rescue mission for the Commissioner to something else,” he breathed out.

Was it his fault he was so low in the ranks back then he didn’t know most of what was going on and was hyperfixated on his job? Ah, to be ignorant. That was a luxury he’d abandoned ever since he’d stepped into the shoes of being one of the Head Rangers.

“Obviously you wouldn’t humor me if I hypothesized that the Commissioner herself was taken away—no, snatched and hidden somewhere? The question here is,” he went on purely for the rhetoric, as he had his own theories from back then that he decided to revisit just for this moment, “…who took her? Do you know?”

:Monkas:

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POSTED ON Jun 19, 2020 22:26:45 GMT

[attr="class","spiral"]"Okay..."

Fernando waits, patiently, looking for the narrative that Lars' explanation will somehow come full circle. When it doesn't, Fernando finds himself oddly disappointed. He's not sure what he expected.

"Still not sure how this relates but I'll bite, Anderson. Commissioner Goode was kidnapped by Silas Blackwell. Maybe not in person but by people under him, if so. They wanted her because — well that's confidential. My hands are tied."

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POSTED ON Jun 19, 2020 22:33:13 GMT

He blinked.

Typical. I guess there’s red tape there. Guess I would have to dig around further. The question is where the hell do I start? He mused privately. So at least his guess was correct to some point.

But he couldn’t help but feel that there was something else that he was missing. Either that or it had gone over his head.

“So she really was taken somewhere. And you can’t reveal the details behind it—another layer of red tape I guess,” he surmised, falling quiet for a few moments to think about what else he’d missed.

No, it couldn’t possibly be that, he thought as his thoughts dwelled back on the Winter Ball, and then the strange things that started happening afterward.

“Honestly, if you know what went down after Slateport fell, fill me in? At least the cliff notes. As much as you can share, of course.”

that was my best guess. I am officially stumped.

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POSTED ON Jun 19, 2020 22:42:10 GMT

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[attr="class","spiral"]Fernando stifles a fake, mild laugh.

"I guess I wasn't obvious enough?"

There's no tiptoeing around it anymore. Fernando clasps his hands in preparation to educating Lars on Hoenn's modern history.

"Team Rocket invaded Slateport. They killed many people and injured even more. They laid siege to Slateport and claimed it for their own." He clicks his tongue in annoyance. Slateport was always a sore spot. "And you're absolutely correct. That should have been the first and last straw. And it was, Anderson."

"After that, the League cleaned house. The political leaders that survived lost reelection or ended up fired. Every single one. The council was purged. Empty. E-v-e-r-y last one of them."

Then the story truly begins.

"And I was brought on board to fix Hoenn."

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POSTED ON Jun 19, 2020 22:55:19 GMT

This was why ignorance was bliss.

Once that was shattered and information came in heaps and chunks, there was no way of returning to what one was before everything had come undone.

“Interesting,” is all he says of the matter. In the back of his mind, though, that’s another story altogether.

So asides from Balder being ‘taken care of’, the people from before were also ‘dealt with’… he mused to himself.

“This also included Gym Leaders and other positions of power here?” he confirmed. Hell knows who the Head Rangers were at the time, but whoever they were, they weren’t doing enough visible shit to leave an impact on the region.

“Only you?” he inquired next. “Surely you’re not alone?”

If I don’t watch myself I might get swept up and away as well… that would be bad. Not like this. Not this way, he continued in his mind, gears spinning and turning.

well well.

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POSTED ON Jun 19, 2020 23:24:41 GMT

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[attr="class","spiral"]"Most of the Gym Leaders died in action or resigned. Many of them fled to safer regions. I don't blame them, personally. Our selection of Gym Leaders have never been too impressive, mind you."

Fernando can't help but actually, genuinely, laugh this time. There's a bit of human in realizing that multiple members of the government don't keep up with modern events. It reminds him of @noblesse and he wonders how she's doing. It's been a while since he's ~~stuffed her in a closet to catch up with modern television~~ — seen her.

"You haven't heard of kim cole-essam? We're the longest standing Council Members. I should have him come visit you some day."

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POSTED ON Jun 19, 2020 23:42:09 GMT

His eyebrows knit together in confusion at one of the statements he’d made.

I beg to differ about Cait and Alexei… maybe Stormy? Wait. Stormy… wait, no, stop, focus! Get back on the task at hand! He thought for a few moments.

“Surely you don’t mean that towards the current Gym Leaders, too?” he added in jest. Of course, he was here to be eyes and ears for a friend of his as well, even if they never physically meet but communicated via messages.

At the mention of kim cole-essam, Lars lets out a guffaw. “Last time I saw him he had a baby carrier and had a baby Pokémon with him. Is he really just the so-called ‘poster boy’ of the Council?” he went on, unable to resist.

:OGeyes:

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POSTED ON Jun 20, 2020 6:20:49 GMT

[attr="class","spiral"]"Kim Cole is... particular."

It's hard to put into words. Fernando still doesn't understand it but he knows better than to go against the grain. The region has spoken and there's no denying it. There are only a few things that Fernando submits to — this is one of them. If only Lars could understand.

"I don't understand his appeal but the 'poster boy' moniker wasn't decided by us. Everyone else loves him. Even I've grown to accept him, his quirks included."

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POSTED ON Jun 20, 2020 19:55:43 GMT

So it was public opinion, then? He thought, his face calm on the outside but trying so hard not to laugh on the inside. He… couldn’t understand how the other man had the charisma to gain such a moniker, and decided to leave that for later.

Reaching for another one of the salted caramel squares, he then quietly shredded off the wrapping and popped it into his mouth once more. After what he presumed was an acceptable length of silence had passed between them, he then broke it.

“Would there—is there anything else you would want to speak about while you’re here?” he inquired.

:thinking:

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POSTED ON Jun 20, 2020 21:52:38 GMT

[attr="class","spiral"]Fernando nods in a bid of thanks, shuffling his papers back into his folder. He leaves the request for Iris with Lars. Fernando already has the request pending digitally so there's no issues with giving Lars' a physical copy.

There's something disarming about the way Fernando smiles. It's so uncommon that it seem unnatural. Not creepy, in a sense, but more foreboding, as if shedding light on something people didn't know existed. It's a look he's practiced in the mirror, just to perfect. Not everyone can seem so pleasant on the outside.

"Do you usually eat so much candy, Anderson?"

He hasn't made a conscious effort to count how many salty squares the ranger has popped into his mouth but with how frequent and many that he's had, it's hard not to notice.

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POSTED ON Jun 20, 2020 21:59:25 GMT

“Only when I’m stressed to all hell. This is one of those times,” was all he mentioned. Sure, the candy squares were on the small side but who was he to complain about that? It was still pretty good no matter what.

“I presume you’re aware of her connections. Is that why you were looking for her in particular?” he inquired casually. He had his own copy of @iris’s files somewhere and he had taken interest in the fact that she was previously aligned with an enemy he thought had not existed until after the mess at Slateport.