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"of mauville?" olivia managed to say, an arched brow revealing her surprise. "i knew her a follower of the fae, yes, but for her to be chosen as an avatar is news to me." she pursed her lips, thoughts green with envy leaking into her head. why was that girl selected for such an honored role? called upon by her gods of the forest to do... what, exactly, was still the question she was trying to understand. it left a bitter taste in her mouth.

she dismissed such thoughts with the writing of her pen, tentatively adding cait's name to her growing list as she noted, "miss alfric should consent then, as it will be entirely within the parameters of the law, sanctioned by the league. though i am unsure if she will leave her city to fend for itself to fight these beast on the frontlines." olivia tapped her pen against the pad in a slow steady beat as she thought. "it is about time i pay her gym a visit anyhow, so i shall bring up such matters then. thank you for the information, freya."

"whilst i garner support from our peers, are there any citizens that you may know who would be interested in such an initiative?"

[attr="class","wizzcred"]❤ wizz

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olivia nodded along in agreement to balder's words. perhaps a more lax and gentle hand would be needed in dealing with a pokemon from an island of tranquility and relaxation. as she watched her birds dance to their own tune, olivia noted, "you've grown, balder, so much since that fated day on the beach." her ocean eyes turned to the man in question, taking him in for all his might. "well said, balder. your talent as a trainer shines brighter now than it did before, and i am grateful to have you by my side. you have been every loyal not only to me, but sootopolis as well."

and it was true. as a gym trainer he had been taking on more responsibilities as olivia's schedule grew ever busier: battling challengers, aiding with physical labor around the city, signing off on things that would otherwise require olivia's presence. the people of the city had, as they grew to respect olivia, admired the strength of balder. "which is why i want you to take my place as gym leader." olivia said at last, looking up at the mountain of a man.

"it's been approved by the council already - by my hand in fact." she added with a thin smile. "i will be replacing miss morningstar as the sootopolis representative as she is out of commission so to speak." olivia turned to face the sea as the waves lapped up on the shore and remarked, "you will have access to most of silverspire to continue its use as a gym, of course, though my private quarters and a few towers will remain under my control for the crown to work in."

olivia sat in the sand, watching the ocean with her bright blue eyes, before saying cooly, "however, i will retain leadership of the city itself as far as politics and such goes. no need to tilt the populace with change in governance. should you become the gym leader i will, of course, take into consideration your own concerns." she shifted her gaze to look back at balder a warm smile on her face, "i do hope you will accept."

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olivia pocketed the pokeball and whistled, presuming her pokemon would follow. instead there was a loud crash as a scraggy was blasted into a nearby tree by a ferocious hydro pump. she turned on her heel to witness calypso fall from the heavens to smack the yellow beastling with her water infused tail. olivia winced, knowing that had to hurt. in a blue blur, her vapreon had pinned the dazed pokemon - a scraggy, if olivia were to guess - to the ground.

meara bared her teeth and growled, before turning to olivia who had her arms crossed over her chest. "tsk, tsk, what is all this about?" she questioned, looking first at the puppy eyed vaporeon who had since moved from standing over the injured scraggy. calypso, meanwhile, suddenly found the sky very intriguing and refused to make eye contact. with a sigh, she tossed one of her safari balls at the knocked out scraggy. "at least we can get it some medical care since the two of you!" she said, narrowing her eyes at both of her pokemon before adding, "decided to take matters in your own hands. or paws."

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that went better than expected. no uproar, no discourse. "very well then, she may train with the rest but at least find a wig or dye her hair. this is for her protection. who knows what enemies she may have made whilst working for rocket. who may be searching for her now." olivia warned before jotting down 'emma wolfe' to her growing list. this, at least, would not be something council need vote on. olivia had the authority now to pardon her and with a well worded legal document and there was nothing any of others could do to stop her from granting this woman immunity. she only prayed it was the right choice.

"you and i may be able to go toe to toe with silph," olivia retorted, her icy gaze meeting freya's. "but that does not mean miss wolfe can. she will be at a severe disadvantage in the eyes of the law should anything go awry." olivia glanced back down at her list, lips pursed. "moving forward, i want one of these 'avatars' to be trained as well. we do not know the full extent of their abilities and what exactly their connection to the legendary pokemon are, but i do not doubt their power if it was bestowed by the gods. they will be an invaluable resources in the battles to come."

she tapped her pen agains the pad of paper, the thumping slow and steady. "who, however, is the true question. i wish for balder to remain in sootopolis to defend the city, of course, and i would like to keep fernando as far from this project as possible." olivia noted, her eyes scanning over the names she had. "of what other avatars there are... i am unsure. there will be researchers who are a part of this team dedicated to investigating these legendary sightings and those who have been marked by them."

olivia looked up to freya, a brow raised, "that is unless you know of any others?"

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blessed be to the tides, the girl had a support pokemon. she should really look into getting a healer of her own. olivia pondered all of this while the blissey went about doing its work and it was the girl's words that brought her crashing back to reality. stone. it was like a boulder had been dropped on her back, the weight of that surname was overbearing and a sour reminder of what could have been.

yet the warm smile of olivia's did not falter. she took the girl's - no daphne's - hand in her own soft supple hands and gave a gentle shake. the only thing that had changes was her eyes: those pools of blue were brimming with curiosity. olivia had no idea alexander had a sister. "the pleasure is all mine, miss stone." olivia cooed, releasing her grip and moving a strand of silver hair behind her ear. spoken highly of her? the words almost had olivia snorting, but she stifled it and instead offered a cool and calm chuckle.

"i knew your brother, yes. we were colleagues after all and there was some buzz between the gossiping grapes on the television about some relationship even." olivia added, scoffing at the end. there was nothing romantic between the two of them, but they had played into the media's hands a bit during the summer surfing competition. then there was the proposal, a private matter as far as olivia knew but how quiet alexander had kept it...

she dismissed her own thoughts and the previous comment with the wave of a hand. "bah, my manners must have slipped me. i never introduced myself properly, forgive me." olivia said, adjusting her hair before giving a small yet perfectly executed curtsey. many things could be said about olivia, but none could question her ettiequte. as she rose, she flashed a warm smile to the girl and introduced herself, "olivia abbiati, former gym leader of sootopolis and council woman of the hoenn league." there were other titles and honoraries she could list but there was no need to drone. clearly, the girl knew who she was.

with the fires quelled, a trio of pokemon returned to her side. meara the vaporeon trotted over leaving small puddles in her trail and over head, her mantine flapped about happily in silly circles - it was only opts her omastar who paid daphne any mind. the curious eldritch horror squirmed a bit and curiously extended a tentacle towards stone's feet before a snap of olivia's fingers stopped him in his tracks. "i must admit, miss stone, it is a relief to have someone of your name back in hoenn. there was quite the, ah, commotion when your brother departed. mostly paperwork, legal and fiscal matters... i presume someone has made contact with you about such things?" olivia asked, brow arched and hand scratching behind her vaporeon's ear.

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olivia stopped writing as freya spoke, laying both the paper and pen down on the desk. an ex rocket. a beast, no a wolfe specifically. the name was familiar. the mistress of the ocean pursed her lips as freya continued. it had taken a moment but the name finally clicked: she was one of the few who the league knew had a hand in the kanto-rocket crisis... and multiple charges of murder. those ocean eyes of olivia's seem to glaze over with a cool frost as she looked up at freya and answered swiftly, "done."

"there will, of course, be stipulations. her identity will be kept confidential to all save for the council, commissioner, and should we ever get one another, the champion. she will not train with those who you lead and i want her confined to the morningstar estate during the day." olivia said flatly, her offer chilled with conditions. "she is no dog, though, to be kept on a leash. i will allow her the freedom to roam sootopolis past sunset but under no circumstances is she to use her pokemon in public without your supervision."

there was a brief moment before olivia added, "further, should any of these promises be broken - even once - i cannot save her from what justice the league deems worthy of dishing out." they both knew what olivia meant by justice, it was the twisted and cruel wrath of fernando that this Emma Wolfe would have to face. alone.

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she was right, olivia realized, as she spoke. silph understood only one thing: power. should they focus primarily on an offensive tactic he would be sure to agree. "yes, this could work." she said more so to herself than to freya, blinking away the pleasure she found in cooperation. plus, with freya leading such an undertaking he would be hard pressed to doubt her loyalties to the league. it was all falling in place.

"should the initiative garner votes from silph and cole, you will undoubtedly have any and all available resources at the ready." olivia assured. she pulled forth a pad and pen and began to write. if freya were to train this group of brave individuals surely she had some people in mind? olivia wrote down some people she had in mind and said, "yes, of course, volunteers only - though they would be given a stipend and be covered by league insurance so their families will be taken care of should anything happen. of volunteers, however, are there any you might have in mind?"

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there were pauses as freya spoke, olivia listening intently to even the silence that followed. there was pain in her voice - physically and emotionally this woman had been through it. she nodded along at the other woman's words, her silver hair bobbing back and forth. "our reckoning, as you have put it, shall be halted." olivia said simply, her hands spread out on her desk and those azure eyes looking at freya with crystal clear focus. she reached into the drawer of her desk and produced a slim manilla folder with the letters A.Q.U.A. written across it.

olivia slid it towards freya and began, "now, more than ever, we need to make an initiative to put an end to these natural and unnatural crisis. the league needs to step up if we are to protect hoenn, and I have asked you here now, to help me in this effort. your support could help convince the other councilmen of the importance of this initiative." she paused for a brief moment before explaining, "i aim to put together a league sanctioned team of researchers, trainers, and rangers whose sole purpose is to investigate these out of the ordinary creatures: such as the ultra beast spawning from wormholes and this influx of legendary pokemon."

within the folder were reports on the most recent 'raids', the mossdeep incident, as well as accounts of the recently cited legendary pokemon and their avatars. "what are your thoughts on this?"