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the fiery crown member remained silent, instead choosing to produce a small sudoko book as the staryu went about its business. the pokemon continued to analyze the situation, and as the cackling energy of the zap canon went flying through the air, it did little to nothing to stop it. a glint of its gemstone was the only response as electricity coursed through its body.

however, all was not lost. the paralysis stopped its first attempt but following that staryu unleashed a powerful psychic attack at the slowed polygon.

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a friend. how sweet and kind this girl was to a woman she had only heard rumors of. it was a stark difference in how her brother had first greeted olivia, with suspicion and doubt of the foreign queen. perhaps he was right to do so. olivia's smile warmed at the comment and she listened intently as daphne spoke and only until she mentioned silph did olivia finally speak. "oh, well, that is unfortunate." she noted, her smile twisting into pursed lips.

"i know from experience how.." olivia searched for the word, treading carefully on the territory that was the impression she wished to make with the devon ceo. "... frank, silph can be. yet, as a council member and major financial player in hoenn's economy it is understandable why he was the first to get in contact with you." meara padded her way towards daphne and gave a healthy sniff before nudging her head into the woman's leg, desperate for attention. the vaporeon gave off a purr akin to a gentle stream and olivia could only laugh at the scene. "ah, do forgive her, she is always searching for the spotlight."

"from woman to woman, i sincerely wish you the best as your journey in hoenn begins anew as the devon head - and as i once offered alexander i do to you as well: do not hesitate to ask for my aide, advice, or simply a friendly face to talk to."

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with his hands folded over his chest, the crown member simply watched fernando spout his nonsense. this was a councilman? one of the leaders of hoenn? head of one of the biggest tech companies? another disappointed sigh followed after fernando finished his turn. "analyze." was the one word command the strawberry blonde gave.

forced to the ground, the staryu straightened itself up and its gem glinted as it used its analytic ability to calculate the best course of action. it first released a steady stream of bubble beam at its foe before its gem caught some non existent light and glowed briefly. staryu had used reflect type and changed into a normal type pokemon.

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the crown member sighed, moving away from fernando and back through the exit. "follow me." he said, his boots echoing down the stone corridor. they followed the same path as before, the only difference now was the silence had been broken by the fella's voice. "you will battle against myself, councilman, for your second trial before facing off against the gym leader." he noted as they made a sharp turn after walking through the atrium.

they would shortly find themselves in an open area, a huge forge radiating heat on a wall opposite fernando. "this is where ser balder takes his battles, yet as he is busy, i will take his stead. this will be a simple one versus one pokemon battle, limited to two moves per turn." he said after producing a pokeball from his belt. his sharp gaze fell over fernando as he casually commented, "and while you may be thinking this through as a 'fifteen year old trainer from littleroot' in some attempt to undermine or belittle the lady abbiati's challenges,"

he tossed the pokeball forward, releasing a staryu in a bath of light before continuing with his fiery loyalty, "i doubt that you will be using the same pokemon or tactics someone green with experience would use. neither myself, the challenge, or even the lady abbiati will treat you as one. if you had wanted to gauge such, you should have sent forth a challenger fresh from the training academy." the staryu rose from the ground, hovering in the air. without much room for argument, he said, "you may make the first move."

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the crown member watched with patient eyes as fernando chose, before rising himself and approaching one of the bookshelves. he scanned it for a few minutes before pulling forth a tome coarse from wear and peeling from age. he cracked it open and read, "from the darkness of the heavens came that with many forms; yet no soul. it sought another of its kind, of its form. in the emptiness of space, rocketing past stars and planets alike, it found none." he closed the book with a thump. "you may answer now, councilman. the lady abbiati, in her grace, has seen fit to give you a hint. i believe she mentioned something of you having a grasp of power but little regard to knowledge." he mentioned offhandedly.

the blonde shrugged before closing the distance between the two. his gloved hands gently pushed on the onyx like tablet, so the the garnet caught the light. it would shift from red, blue, and then back to that royal purple. "she ask that you remember the myths of yore and what this gym stands for. recall the history of this land and its lore."

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as olivia bent down to pick up the captured scraggy, meara yelped. she turned her head to catch the tail end of the attack: a nasty bomb of purple sludge being launched from a living pile of trash at her azumarill. "attack." she ordered immediately, while calypso enwrapped herself in a healing aqua ring. meara shot forward with a quick attack and a hydro pump at the assualtant.

the powerful water attack launched the trubbish skyward and olivia waited a couple of seconds until it crashed back to the surface. she tossed a pokeball at it, noting, "perhaps we can learn of the pollution problem plaguing hoenn by studying this... filth."