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olivia had been meaning to pay odale town a visit, or more specifically, petalburg and the gym that lay within. word was getting around of an industrious and ambitious new lay leader so, naturally, olivia wished to meet them. unfortunately, that would not be the case. she flew in gracefully atop the back of her mantine, the flying sea beast flapping its wings. the fire was raging, and at the behest of the stranger, olivia began to bark orders. "meara join in with the other." two flashes of light followed along with a snap of her fingers pointing up. her pokemon acted accordingly, with her vopreon blasting a hydro pump while the omastar summoned heavy clouds with a rain dance.

the water witch landed nearby the woman requesting aide, and continued to take command. "menippe, a tri hydro pump should snuff this out quickly and i want some walls up." the mantine bleated in understanding and started its own hydro pump while the omastar raised its tentacles to summon two huge rock slides to put a path between civilians and the raging fire. her pokemon busy at work, olivia turned to the woman who was trying to keep the crowd quelled. "don't worry, we will quench this wildfire." olivia said to both DAPHNE STONE and the worried citizens. some in the crowd may even recognize the infamous 'queen of the seas'.

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a dive ball? this time olivia's brow did arch, if only for the brief moment before a beam of red light shot forth from the blue sphere - in that blink of an eye olivia had one thought only: what was this man of wind and wings doing in the depths of the sea? the answer was shocking and forthcoming immediately. it was the maiden. olivia gasped and was visibly shaken, taking a few steps back from an actual goddess. for the first time in years, the smoothing talking witch of the sea was speechless.

the maiden was so kind and gentle, innocent and naïve; pure and free from the pollution and toxicity of humanity and that above the waves. this was an omen in its most unfiltered way. for olivia to bask in the glory of she, a Phione... left the mere mortal that she was humbled before the virgin goddess. "i sing of phione," olivia began, gracefully stepping into a curtsy of sorts and her melodic. it was an ancient ritual other clan which instructed the faithful what to do should they ever be fated to meet their Ladies of the Sea. all olivia could do was recite what had been drilled into her for nearly two decades. "the pure maiden, watcher of evil, who delights in safeguarding the righteous." she continued in her singsong voice. the hymn was ancient, and hadn't been heard in centuries since the high priestess of yore in this subterranean cavern.

she continued, voice shaken at first but olivia continued nonetheless, “innocences incarnate, the child of the sea; of you first i sing and with you i begin; now that i have begun with you, i will end this song.” olivia dipped her hands into the arcane well spring of seawater that had been hidden away long before the first construction of silver spire had began centuries ago. her head dipped, meara the vaporeon bowing in a sense, both gym leader and pokemon offered their respects and gifts of saltwater to the maiden goddess the sea.

at last olivia's ocean eyes rose to meet those of the phione and welcomed, "oh miraculous one, maiden of the sea, i am blessed to be in your aura." she was bowing, neck exposed as one does to show respect.

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olivia kept her visage neutral at alexei’s questioning; internally however, she was arching brows as high as the towers silver spire was named for. she had never been quiet or discreet about her worship of water legendary pokémon nor was her status as professor of myth of a secret, in fact it was something she boasted of often. so why the fortree leader was tiptoeing around the subject was intriguing. what secrets did this master of flying types possess?

“yes, of course.” she answered immediately, the curiosity that had always driven her peeking through the stern faced persona of a professor. with the secerecy came a concern of her own for privacy. she walked past him and towards a hallway hidden away in shadows. from the waters of the fountain her vaporeon rose as she recomposed herself from her liquid to physical self, and the eeveeloution trailed behind her mistress. olivia called to alexei as she approached an archway descending into damp darkness, "perhaps somewhere more private."

she didn't wait for an answer. there was something calling her, and olivia could feel it in her bones. she needed to be by the sea, the true sea. the dark depths where the rays of sunlight cannot penetrate; where her gods called home. meara patted along behind her as the stairs shifted from freshly polished to ancient crumbling steps. the silent darkness was sliced through by her voice as she alerted her guest, "careful now, the footing here can be slippery." the air around them grew cooler the further down they went and the only light that guided them was the aurora beam that glittered in meara's mouth, the rainbow light gently spilling out around them.

finally they reached the bottom: an underground cave where a spring of salt water pooled in the center, presumably connecting to the salty sea beyond the walls of silver spire. runes and carvings were etched into the white stone walls, depicting various legendary pokemon. olivia moved towards a silver brazier that stood alone in the room, and nodded to meara. the vaporeon shot the aurora beam at the brazier and the rainbow light filled the cavern. at last, olivia faced alexei, "what is it you wish to show me?"

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olivia was busy, exceedingly so as the final preparations were being made for Balder Schwartz to take over as gym leader. they had made arrangements as to who would do what, what would stay where, and now things would get done. now, at the moment, olivia was getting her paperwork in order. her secretary was busy with boxing the necessary files to send to olivia's new official office in ever grande at the league headquarters. the more private files, those she felt were safest in silver spire, were to remain here: at home.

yet, olivia was interrupted. "the fortree gym leader, Alexei Ivanov, has arrived." her secretary announced, peeking his head through her office door. she had forgotten. shit. he was to be the last challenger. "ah, of course. have him wait in the atrium, i shall be down soon." she ordered, and the secretary relayed the message to her underlings. alexei would be led through courtyard outside of silver spire, statues and monuments of various legendary pokemon (primarily water types) speckled through out before coming to grand ashen doors. once inside he'd find the main atrium, fully outfitted and decorated. a large indoor fountain was in the center spewing water a couple of feet into the air. etched into its pale stone base were the myths and legends of hoenn, circling the entire thing before ending on itself. more importantly, however, were the life sized statues that lined the fountain. each one was a prior gym leader of sootopolis with the center one being that of the recently fallen NIKOLAI PETROV; curiously a veiled statue was set aside in a corner. that being the main focus for the eyes, it may be easy to miss the other decor. greenery was potted throughout the white marble floors and two artificial streams ran around the perimeter of the room, spilling into a gate that presumably led outside. a grand staircase on either side of a platform led to the second floor opposite of the entrance, multiple hallways jutting out to other parts of the castle could be seen, as well as a grand spiral staircase for each of the towers that were connected to the main hub.

and from the staircase came the mistress of silver spire herself, olivia. she was dressed casually: locks of moonbeams done up in a ponytail, a lab coat over a simple black and blue tank top, and silver training shoes. "welcome to silver spire, leader ivanov." olivia greeted as she descended the marbled steps. she made her way to the fountain, fingers trailing in the clear waters, and asked, "i take it you're here for your a challenge, no?"

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olivia was a woman of her word; or at least always kept her word when there was written, audio, or video proof that she had said what someone thought she said. which was how she found herself readying for two battles in one day. at least it was a battle she was genuinely looking forward to - with persephone amavi. the biggest downer would be FERNANDO SILPH sticking his head around. nonetheless, there was an email floating around the web with her agreeing to his interference. a snap of her fingers had a crown member hurrying towards the waiting area.

the atrium had been completed for quite a while now and gave a view of members of the crown and construction workers alike who were busy sculpting furniture and decor for the huge atrium that they were working in. the bright summer sun shone through the glass dome overhead and gave ample opportunity to marvel at what had been completed in the castle. the secretary, olivia couldn't remember his name, found the two league officials and escorted them both towards the ball room.

it was one in the back of the castle had been left to ruin with massive pillars supporting a cracked dome roof overhead. there was more than enough room for several dragon pokemon to fly freely and the cobbled floor had given way to patches of soil where greenery began to sprout, other places pools of water had collected over the years. olivia waited with a lab coat over a basic blue tank top and black leggings. her feet were covered with silver tennis shoes. "welcome, professor amavi." olivia said warmly a smile on her face. ocean eyes briefly glanced at fernando as she offered him a curt nod and cool greeting, "silph."

it was then that the crown member cleared his throat. "councilman silph, if you would follow me to the first trial." he said, chin held high. the man would wait for the councilman to rise before heading out of the gym area and back towards the atrium. however, they would make a turn along the route that they hadn't earlier. it was a small resting room, books of lore lined the walls and a fire roared by the hearth. the crown member sat down in one of the two leather bound chairs. separating the two was a glass and stone table that had four tablets resting on it.

from left to right there was a white rectangle made of the stone sootopolis was known for and bedazzled with jewels of all types, the second was etched with a star and gilded with gold, the third was embellished with opal, and the last was as dark as night - made of obsidian and a garnet sticking out of the center. "choose a tablet, sir, and a riddle will follow. answer the riddle and you may challenge the gym leader. fail, and you must face a second trial." the strawberry blond said from the chair. he quipped, "feel free to sit if you wish."

[attr="class","wizzcred"]❤ wizz