"The Pokemon Association urges all travelers to exercise caution and vigilance at night."

One year ago, a strange virus struck the Kohaku region's pokemon. At first, no one noticed, and any shocking incidents were quickly hushed up, but the ignorance was short lived. It didn't take long for wild pokemon with pitch black eyes and a taste for human flesh to begin appearing in the heart of Kohaku. It seemed like they originated from the lake, and sure enough, the Pax Institute of Research was nothing but a ruin, all tell-tale signs of a disaster evident to anyone that could see.

"The hades virus is contagious, and hadean pokemon cannot be tamed. Please do not make any attempt to capture one--we repeat, do not attempt to capture any of these pokemon."

The hadean pokemon were more than just angry, violent variations of their breed. They fed on other pokemon, and they attack any and all humans. Far stronger and faster, their anatomy had significant internal developments to improve their capability for battle, and their chemical balance was altered so they thought of nothing but violence. Within a month of Lake Pax's disaster, trainers were found devoured, their pokemon dead. People now call them the Scourge.

"We do not know how the virus spreads, but if you suspect your pokemon may be contaminated, bring them to the Pokemon Association immediately."

In the end, the citizens of Kohaku reacted too slowly to the growing number of scourge pokemon. The scourge became a horde, sweeping over the likes of Decima Town, and now they're a grave and present danger over nearby Nerio City and Hespera City. Many of the region's best trainers and rangers have already lost their pokemon to the virus. Breeding farms have closed down, and the vast majority of Kohaku's brightest minds died at Pax.

"There is no cure, but a vaccine is already in testing. We are now looking for aspiring trainers, breeders, rangers, and researchers to join the Eos Program."

Your character has been, for one reason or another, entrusted with free access to the rare vaccine against the hades virus. While these pokemon are no stronger than usual, their appearance is strikingly different, with shiny bodies that glitter even when there's no light. The Pokemon Association hopes that this new force of vaccinated pokemon and their masters will be able to defeat the scourge threat.

"All admitted Eos Program applicants will have full access to the vaccine. If accepted, please report to Juno City as soon as possible."

Kohaku used to be a peaceful region where 10-year-olds could go on pokemon adventures. That's changed now. While some cities are mostly untouched by the scourge, other cities are experiencing what might very well be the end of times.

Traditionally, Kohaku is a very modern region that applauds ambition and discipline. Here, breeders hatched pokemon with the pedigree of champions, trainers battled day in and day out to become the best, and researchers focused on improving a pokemon's combat capabilities.

Many of the region's ace trainers and veterans immediately took to the frontlines to battle the scourge. Most of their pokemon are now infected. Likewise, famed breeders have lost their prize studs to the scourge. All the region's most experienced scientists died at Lake Pax.

Kohaku has no history of rangers, but with the loss of their best battlers, they have invited the Rangers Union to their region to help preserve nature as Arceus intended.

The vaccine for the hades virus is both new and expensive, not to mention still undergoing testing, so it's very rare. Besides the player characters, only the Elite Four, some Gym Leaders, and a handful of NPCs have access to it.

Vaccinated pokemon are typically shiny. Some vaccinated pokemon don't change appearance at all, or only turn shiny later after they evolve, but most are easily identified as shiny pokemon. Besides for vaccinated pokemon, there are no shiny pokemon in Kohaku.

Several hundred years ago, Kohaku had two dominant human civilizations: the Proserpines and the Aureans. The Proserpines were a sea-faring people that favored strength, hard work, and discipline. The Aureans of the mountain valued beauty, wealth, and winning.

Kohaku region in the ancient era was home to a mighty pokemon civilization, called Somnus. Most of its history is lost to time, but ruins are a frequent sight. No one knows what destroyed them. Spoilers: it was the Scourge.

The Dream World is the only true connection the region still has with the ancient Somnites. It's unknown what purpose the Dream World had with Somnus, but it's still used by people today for commerce, communication, and productivity.

The Land of Nightmares is accessible through the Dream World (and also the physical world at Lemures Circle). Few ever end up there, and unlike the normal Dream World, physical injuries from the Land of Nightmares are mirrored in the real world.

Legendary pokemon exist in their full power in a different plane. If they choose to manifest in the physical world--or are forced to by a summoning or cloning--it is in the limited form that has the moveset and other qualities as seen in the games.

BEHAVIOR. No godmodding, powerplaying, or otherwise being the last person on Earth that anyone wants to RP with. Characters can become very powerful at Kohaku, but anything that makes the roleplaying experience unfun for other members is not acceptable.

ACTIVITY. Census updates are done monthly, but if you’re too busy, that’s fine. We won’t delete your account, and you’re welcome to return whenever you wish. We may archive your trackers and profiles, but we are always happy to retrieve them for you.

LITERACY. Know English and try to write well. Give people some action to reply to! Build your character into someone everyone loves! The suggested word count minimum is 100 words. Posts with fewer words are fine, but note that they will not receive any money.

FACE-CLAIMS. Animanga face-claims only, please. We accept videogame and other face-claims only if the icons used are at least somewhat animanga in style. Korra is acceptable; Homer Simpson is not.

ACCOUNTS. One account per member. Please register with a name that’s somewhat obvious for tagging. If you want to be called Ash Ketchum, don’t register as Broccoli. Note that we have a plugin to change your avatar each time you post, but using it is optional.

PG-13. Both mature humor and thematics are allowed. In general, violence and gore are allowed, but post a trigger warning if you think it’s necessary. However, keep all sex off-screen. Don’t get us shut down!

MODS. We are a gamemaster site, where staff play wild pokemon, scourge pokemon, legendaries, and NPCs. While it’s fine to mention wild pokemon or scourge in your posts in passing, it is not acceptable to actually interact or affect anything.

DICE. Dice can be used to simulate random chance elements. However, dice cannot be used to justify the impossible and/or exceedingly unlikely. This does not apply to the Dream World, which is not subject to the same limitations as reality.

CHARACTERS. Characters should be at least 16-years-old, because this is not a region for children. We only accept humans; gijinkas do not exist. Mary-Sues are not considered human and will be rejected.

TRACKERS. Please keep a your characters’ PCs and thread trackers in one thread. We will link this thread in your mini-profile for easy reference. Please keep your PC regularly updated, and please do not cheat. We will be checking to make sure everything adds up.

MOD THREADS. Modded threads are limited. Tag a thread [mod] to get a mod’s attention. Tag a thread [event] if it pertains to an event. You only get one of each at a time to preserve the mods' sanity.

MINI-MODS. You, dear returning member, are a mini-mod--forever. You don't get a choice in the matter. New members are welcome to take up mini-mod status whenever they feel ready. Mini-mods help handle [mod] threads.

STARTING POKEMON. You may choose any non-rare pokemon as a starter. Alternatively, you may elect to do a starter thread in Juno City, where you may choose from ten semi-randomly generated pokemon. We guarantee at least one rare option and a variety of types.

TRAVERSING. All characters start in Proserpina City. Characters cannot proceed to the next board until they have EITHER a single thread that is over 10 posts long OR have a total of 15 posts over several threads on that board.

RESTING. Damage does not heal after a battle. Damage will not heal until the character starts or joins a new thread in a location that is safe from the scourge. Pokemon centers are also an option. Successive fights in scourge territory are not advised.

RARES. Refer to our rare/banned list. Pokemon are only banned when they’re deemed overpopulated. Rare pokemon do not appear in the wild except in specific areas except through breeder eggs or as a randomly generated starter option.

DEATH. A KO’d pokemon is not KO’d. A KO’d pokemon is dead, barring immediate use of a revival item. Do not draw out a battle too long or else staff might pop in and declare your pokemon a corpse. Friends don’t let friends battle their pokemon to death!

WOUNDS. A pokemon does not heal back their health unless given restorative items or brought to a pokemon center or some other place of healing. Places of healing are clearly indicated as such in their board descriptions.

PARTY. Trainers, breeders, and researchers are limited to six pokemon in their active party. Rangers are restricted to only one. PC space is unlimited and can be used even by rangers, though rangers still cannot swap partner pokemon (til death do you part!).

MOVES. A pokemon can learn up to six moves from their natural moveset. A pokemon has an additional four moves reserved for egg moves, TM/HM moves, and tutor moves. A pokemon has ten moves maximum.

ABILITIES. Abilities are sort of in play. They are all activated abilities. Using an ability consumes no moves, but they may be used once per battle. If you are unsure what effect your ability has in battle, ask staff. If it is truly weird, then that ability probably doesn’t work at all. Sorry.

SWARMS. Multiple pokemon swarms occur every week. Any pokemon might appear in a swarm. You may only capture one swarming pokemon a week, and some swarms may disperse early. This is to prevent overpopulation of that species.

TECHNICAL MACHINES. TMs are multiple-use. Use the ORAS TM list. If a pokemon with a TM move is traded away to someone that does not own the TM, they lose the TM move.

HIDDEN MACHINES. HMs give access to extra areas. You must have a pokemon that can learn the HM in your active party. You do not need to actually teach the pokemon the HM. Rangers should make use of the Normal sign, Water sign, and friends.

BREEDING. Only breeders can breed pokemon. Each pokemon can only attempt to breed once a week. Non-rare pokemon have a 5/10 success rate; rares have only 2/10. Eggs have a 50/50 chance of hatching into either parents’ species. Egg moves can be inherited from either parent.

EGGS. Eggs hatch immediately. The egg shop always contains mystery eggs. It also sells a limited number of eggs of a specific egg group. These may hatch into rares. Otherwise, the only eggs for sale are produced by our breeders.

CAPTURING POKEMON. Because KO'd pokemon are dead, you may not capture unconscious pokemon (unless you wish to immediately expend a revive). Like in the games, whittle a pokemon down and then throw a pokeball.

TRAINER BATTLES. If you win a trainer battle, all pokemon involved gain TWO levels. If you lose, all pokemon involved gain ONE level. If you draw a battle or the thread dies, all pokemon gain ONE level.

WILD POKEMON. If you win a wild pokemon battle, all pokemon involved gain ONE level. If you lose, NO EXPERIENCE is gained.

SCOURGE BATTLES. If you win a battle against D-rank scourge, all pokemon involved gain TWO levels, win or lose. If you win against higher ranked scourge, you gain THREE levels. If you lose against higher ranked scourge, you gain TWO levels.

LEVEL DISCREPENCY. If you are TEN or more levels higher than your opponent, you gain no experience. If you are TEN or more levels below your opponent, you can double experience.

ABUSE. Gaining experience is simple and generous for your benefit. Do not pull bullshit like swapping all six of your pokemon into a battle for exp gain.

DREAM WORLD. Trainers can use the TRAINING CENTER to gain extra levels each week. Breeders' pokemon will also gain experience when visiting the BREEDING FARMS.

EVOLUTIONS. Evolving by level, location, and item works as it does in the game. Traded pokemon evolve when your character reaches a reclaimed Pal Park. Trade with held item evolutions only require obtaining the held item.

HAPPINESS/AMIE. Happiness and amie work the same here; ten ♥’s are required for evolution. Threading with your pokemon grants +♥. Defeating a scourge pokemon grants +♥♥. Once you’ve collected ten hearts, your pokemon may evolve whenever you wish.

MEGA EVOLUTIONS. Only trainers have access to mega evolutions. Mega evolutions do not require any particular items. Only one mega evolution can be used for your party in a battle.

LOSING. Think of Kohaku as a game on nightmare mode. Sometimes, you have to accept defeat. Let it happen. As long as you recall your pokemon in time and skedaddle, you lose nothing and stand to gain a great storyline.

RANKS. Scourge pokemon are ranked with a letter grade depending on how compatible they are with the plague. The ranks are, from lowest to highest, D < C < B < A < S. When introducing a scourge pokemon (or horde, such as it may be), the mod will note their rank. Scourge rank is randomized with 50% D, 25% C, 15% B, 9% A, 1% S.

D-ranked scourge should be relatively easy to defeat. You can expect to win this battle after sustaining some wounds, assuming that you are at the appropriate level. These are often mindless hordes, prone to attacking en masse, and not very intelligent at all.

C-ranked scourge are meant to be a 50/50 battle for a character. For scourge, 50/50 are pretty good odds. C-ranked scourge should be able to fight against your entire team, and the cleverest or strongest shall in the end become the victor by a hairs’ breadth.

B-ranked scourge should be tackled by pairs or even groups. They cannot be defeated by a single character, but two or three might provide an even battle. They are often vanguard fighters, both bizarrely resilient and fully capable of going toe-to-toe with vastly uneven numbers.

A-ranked scourge are often named. A-ranked scourge are intelligent, capable of both trickery and deceit, but their greatest threat is their sheer power. They can defeat entire armies, but they’re more often meant to single out and eliminate the strongest threats to the Scourge.

S-ranked scourge are either A-rank scourge in the presence of a hades agent or an infected legendary pokemon. They are not to be trifled with. You should run.

AGENTS. Scourge pokemon in the presence of a hades agent may temporarily increase a rank in power.

RULE-BREAKERS. There are no rules for scourge pokemon. They go above and beyond that normal pokemon can do. Scourge pokemon posts are intended to be dramatic and cinematic. Mods won't bother tallying what attacks hit and missed, instead they will focus on making a scourge battle worthy of a shounen manga.

HEALTH. Scourge pokemon don't have health. Their innate battle lust drives most to fight until death, although some are rational enough to retreat. In practice, this means that scourge pokemon are only defeated when the mod deems the challenge well met.

GUIDELINES. A scourge pokemon will have at least as many attacks as there are enemies they face, sometimes twice as many or even more. Their attacks are fast and preternaturally accurate. Furthermore, they can often ignore or quickly shrug off status ailments and debuffs. Don't expect to see [*roll]s. This is both because scourge pokemon are obscene and because mods can't be bothered with record-keeping in a scourge battle.

SURPRISES. Debuffs and status ailments may not work like as expected on scourge if there’s an alternative that’s more dramatically appropriate. An S-Rank scourge probably won’t care about Charmander’s growl, but if it works, they’re more likely to have their number of attacks reduced, their actions described as less ferocious, and they’re more likely to pick a target that’s not your dear Charmander.

BATTLE? If a scourge encounter that you end up with looks too challenging, there is no shame in running. Perhaps it is meant to be a chase scene and survival thread. Perhaps fighting is folly. Scourge "battles" are meant to be a challenge; we never said it had to be a fight.

STATLESS. We are a tactics- and turn-based system. You don’t need to do math. Instead, we ask that you use common sense and dramatic pacing, avoid dragging out fights, and use damage calculators only as a general guideline.

HEALTH. While we understand one-hit KOs aren’t fun, most pokemon can only take three (3) hits. A tankier pokemon, like a blissey, may take up to five (5). A particularly squishy one may go down in two. Remember that pokemon simply die if pushed too hard.

ATTACKING. A pokemon can use two attacks per turn, sometimes referred to as “moves” or “actions.” They can make one offensive, damage-dealing attack, and they can make another supportive, no damage attack.

ACCURACY. Accuracy from the games is reflected here with dice. Use [*roll] to randomize a number 1-100. Compare this number to the move’s ACC. If the number you get is below the move’s ACC, your attack hits unless it is dodged.

ADDITIONAL EFFECTS. Some damage-dealing attacks with additional effects. If they have a percentage chance of occurring, [*roll] as if determining accuracy. If they are a guaranteed effect, then there is no need to roll.

DODGING. “Dodging” can also include parrying or withstanding; anything that prevents damage counts as a “dodge.” Dodging consumes one of your actions. A pokemon may not dodge two turns in a row. In other words, a pokemon can only dodge every other turn.

ITEMS. Using an item consumes two actions from the pokemon that receives the item. If the pokemon has more than two actions (through use of buffs, for example), they may still use their remaining actions.

BUFFS/DEBUFFS. A buff/debuff’s duration is determined by how many stages it raises/lowers ingame. One stage means one turn. Two stages means two turns. Buffs and debuffs only take effect upon the turn AFTER they're used. Their effects are below:

	BUFF	DEBUFF
ATK	extra offensive physical move	no offensive physical moves
SPATK	extra offensive special move	no offensive special moves
DEF	extra defensive physical move	no defensive physical moves
SPDEF	extra defensive special move	no defensive special moves
SPD/EVA	can dodge every turn	no dodging
ACC	roll >50 for each move to be undodgeable	roll >50 for each move to hit
CRIT	roll >50 for a critical hit	roll >50 for a move to deal ineffective damage

X-ITEMS. Using an x-item on that pokemon gives them the effect of a particular stat buff for the duration of the entire battle. A pokemon can only benefit from one x-item at a time. An x-item buff does not stack with a regular buff of the same kind.

HEALING. Self-healing moves like Recover do not work. Set up moves and moves that heal others, like Leech Seed or Heal Pulse, work fine. You can also heal pokemon through the ranger's fairy sign and restorative items. Otherwise, go to a pokemon center.

LIMITATIONS. No attack can be used twice per turn. Moves that mess with the system (ex: Lock-On, Protect) should be used sparingly. Moves that are dodge or die (ex: Curse, 1HKOs) should also be used sparingly.

STATUS AILMENTS. Use a [*roll] at the end of a turn to overcome status ailments. A roll higher than 50 ends the ailment. Paralysis and Infatuation cost a pokemon half their actions. Sleep or Frozen costs all their actions. Trapped and Partially Trapped pokemon (ex: Mean Look, Fire Spin) cannot dodge. Other status ailments work as they do in the game.

RECLAIMING. Reclamation begins after the A-rank scourge pokemon in the area is defeated. This opens up a vulnerable phase--about a month OOCly--where the scourge can be pushed out of the area. Some areas have more than one A-rank that must be defeated for reclamation to begin.

SECURING. A reclamation effort is successful if a number of scourge battles are won during the timeframe. This is typically about ten battles but might increase depending on circumstances.

REBUILDING. Rebuilding is essentially pouring money into the zone. It's a kickstarter with reward tiers. When the tier goal is met, the reward must be unlocked by someone completing a corresponding mission.

DONATING. Each major location, once reclaimed, has a thread where you can post to donate money and vaccinated pokemon. Pokemon are worth $50/level. Breeders may also donate vaccinated eggs: $100/common and $500/rare.

MISSIONS. Missions are very small site events, which are designed for only 2-3 characters. They are [event] threads that typically deal with exploring landmarks in the area and/or putting the remaining scourge in the area to rout.

SUBFORUMS. Subforums are treated as their own independent areas. Freeing Nerio City from the scourge would not free its subboards, which would represent pockets of scourge activity that still needs to be stamped out.

SCOURGE. Even when an area is reclaimed, it isn’t safe--nor will it be until the scourge threat is completely eliminated. Powerful scourge will seek to retake the land, and it is only a matter of time before a new A-rank scourge or a hades agent arrives to fight back.

DEFENDING. Through site events, reclaimed territory might be lost to the scourge again, should you fail to defend their hard-earned land. Losing reclaimed territory is unadvised. Besides for IC ramifications, all the collected rebuilding money would be reset to zero.

Kohaku once had many ace trainers. Now it doesn't. While the Elite 4 and Gym Leaders remain, the hordes of talented and experienced ace trainers and veterans are gone, their pokemon lost to the scourge or, worse yet, now a part of the scourge.

The Eos Program is looking for aspiring pokemon trainers to replace them, and to provide reinforcements to the battle-weary trainers that are still giving their all on the frontlines. The Eos Program's selection process is highly competitive, and only the best and brightest (or those canny enough to cheat the system) join their ranks.

Trainers are meant for combat. They level up the fastest, and they hit the hardest, fastest, strongest, bestest. They advance by gaining badges; each badge comes with a benefit that enhances their leveling potential or their capabilities in battle. In these hard times, most gym leaders are not inclined to battle over a badge. They prefer rewarding badges as a medal of valor against the scourge.

Trainers have access to the TRAINING CENTER. A training session there rewards +3 levels. Alternatively, you may teach a move tutor move. A pokemon may only go to the training center once per week.

FOSSIL BADGE - Whenever you gain exp from winning a battle, all pokemon not involved in the battle gain +1 level.

DUST BADGE - Dodging does not consume an action.

EBON BADGE - The trainer may roll twice and take the better roll for ACC rolls on missable attacks.

BOUQUET BADGE - Your pokemon's buffs and debuffs have an extra +1 post in duration.

VENOM BADGE - Once per thread (per page, for long threads), your pokemon can remove the effect of a status effect or debuff.

CLEAR BADGE - You may use the training center to bring a lower level pokemon up to the same level as your highest level pokemon.

FOCUS BADGE - Multi-target attacks can be focused onto one target, roughly doubling its power.

ZENITH BADGE - You may use mega evolutions, limited to one mega per battle.

Once a trainer holds all the badges of the region, they may challenge the Elite Four, who reward seals instead of badges.

AMBER SEAL - Whenever a pokemon is KO'd or killed, roll a die. Over 50, then the pokemon fights on for another post. Roll again every post until the pokemon is healed, withdrawn, or dead.

SWORD SEAL - Your pokemon gain an extra offensive attack per turn.

STAR SEAL - Your pokemon gain an extra defensive attack per turn.

DREAM SEAL - Your pokemon can take a dodge action every turn.

The hades virus struck Kohaku's breeders hard. With many of their finest pokemon turned into flesh-eating zombies, their breeding farms were nearly entirely wiped out. Worse yet, with rocketing death tallies, there was more pressure than ever to hatch battle-ready pokemon.

The Eos Program is looking for aspiring breeders to train new studs and breed a new generation of vaccinated pokemon for the war. Kohaku's breeders always been reputed for their fine pedigrees of battling pokemon. It is up to the Eos Program's breeders to continue the tradition of pokemon ready for the fight.

Breeders, unsurprisingly, are meant to breed strong pokemon. The more eggs they've successfully bred, the better they get at their schtick. Their battle capabilities reflect having happy pokemon in tip-top shape. The eos breeders are looked down upon by the existing breeder societies of the region. It's up to the eos breeders to prove they are worthy.

Breeders have access to the BREEDING FARMS, where they can breed pokemon. Every time a pokemon breeds, they gain +3 levels. You may send three breeding pairs per week to the farms, but each pokemon can only breed once per week.

0 Eggs - Every time one of your pokemon breeds, they gain +♥♥ happiness.

5 Eggs - Your chances of successful mating increases but a bonus of +1/10 for every 2 ♥'s the parent has. Use the less happy parent to calculate the bonus.

10 Eggs - Only one pokemon out of your mating pairs needs to belong to you. The other pokemon may belong to someone else, as long as you have their permission to use their pokemon for breeding.

15 Eggs - You may attempt to improve the condition of virus infected pokemon. For every ♥ they have, you have a 1/10 chance of stopping the infection from taking root, to a maximum of 5/10.

25 Eggs - You may tutor a pokemon in egg moves. You must have a pokemon that knows the egg move. That pokemon can tutor any pokemon in the same egg group, provided that the tutored pokemon can learn the egg move.

50 Eggs - For every ♥ of happiness, a breeder's pokemon learns a future level-up move of your choice.

75 Eggs - Pokemon hatched from your eggs begin with up to FOUR egg moves. You may choose what those egg moves are.

100 Eggs - Pokemon hatched from your eggs begin at lv15 with TWO stat boosts. They gain no further stat boosts through leveling up.

125 Eggs - Every pokemon of the breeder's with maximum happiness gains the permanent effects of one stat buff. This permanent buff effect cannot be stacked with a buff attack for the same stat.

150 Eggs - Every pokemon of the breeder's with maximum happiness can roll twice to resist status effects and debuffs.

200 Eggs - For every ♥ a pokemon has, their effective level is raised by 1. A lv150 pokemon with maximum happiness is treated as lv160.

250 Eggs - You may choose which species (of the two parent pokemon) your eggs will hatch as.

500 Eggs - Every pokemon of the breeder's with maximum happiness gains the permanent effects of a second stat buff. This permanent buff effect cannot be stacked with a buff attack.

Breeders can also gain access to increased capabilities in particular egg groups by interacting and hobnobbing with the appropriate breeder society. These benefits exist in five tiers, and specifics are available on the boards.

Tier I - Receive one random pokemon of the egg group. The pokemon has four random egg moves.

Tier II - When breeding for eggs of the egg group, failure still results on one egg.

Tier III - Receive one pokemon of your choosing of the egg group. The pokemon has ten moves of your choosing (subject to normal natural moveset rules).

Tier IV - +2/10 chance of a successful mating in that egg group.

Tier V - Specific moves can also be added as egg moves for your bred pokemon of the egg group.

Kohaku once had many of the premier pokemon researchers of the world, with a special focus on increasing a pokemon's battle potential. Unfortunately, Pax Institute, the center of scientific development in Kohaku, was the first to fall against the scourge. The vast majority of the region's researchers are dead.

The Eos Program is looking for aspiring researchers to replace those that have fallen. In Kohaku, researching is not a profession for the shy and retiring. Researchers are often excellent battlers with a keen understanding of pokemon strengths and weaknesses, now more than ever.

Researchers have a special pokedex for collecting information on live scourge pokemon. As they accumulate dex entries, they learn how to teach their pokemon to overcome their natural limitations. Furthermore, eos researchers' progress on their collective scourgedex brings them all closer to finding an answer to the virus.

Reearchers have access to the EOS LABORATORIES, which lets you brew one eos vaccine per week. You may also experiment on a pokemon once per week (separately from obtaining the vaccine).

On their own, researchers progress as they add entries to their scourge pokedex, as below:

1 Entry - At the laboratories, a researcher may remove ONE type weakness of a pokemon.

5 Entries - At the laboratories, a researcher may use ONE TM on a pokemon that cannot normally learn that TM.

10 ENTRIES - At the laboratories, a researcher may give ONE additional type resistance to a pokemon.

25 ENTRIES - At the laboratories, a researcher may teach ONE move of the pokemon's type to the pokemon, even if they cannot normally learn it. This move counts as part of their natural move-set.

50 ENTRIES - At the laboratories, a researcher may give ONE type invulnerability to a pokemon.

As a group, researchers can develop the following advancements as they learn more about the scourge:

25 Entries - Researchers have weaponized the eos vaccine. Instead of using it to vaccinate, an eos vaccine may be used on a scourge pokemon, dealing significant damage.

50 Entries - Researchers can clone the dead, if provided with a corpse. Cloned pokemon are identical to the original, including level, but lack memories and accumulated happiness.

100 Entries - In addition to dealing damage, when an eos vaccine is used against a scourge pokemon, it inflicts Confused status.

200 Entries - Researchers have discovered the eos cure. Instead of distilling a vaccine, a researcher can choose to distill a cure. The cure can only be used on scourge pokemon at low health, similar to capturing wild pokemon.

300 Entries - Researchers can clone legendary pokemon, if they have a DNA sample. Legendary clones are subject to the normal rules of raising legendary pokemon.

500 Entries - Researchers have devised a way to spread the eos vaccine. For ten vaccines a day, researchers can set up a device that spreads the vaccine by air, weakening and confusing scourge pokemon in the area.

Kohaku has always been a modernized region with respect but no huge dedication to nature. With the scourge, that has changed. The people now revere the natural state of things--i.e., without the scourge. The Rangers Union was invited into Kohaku's region to help save the day.

The Eos Program is recruiting aspiring rangers to sign up with the Rangers' Union and help preserve Kohaku against the scourge. While rangers are most known for their concern for the environment, Kohaku rangers are equally concerned with preserving all civilization for hope of a peaceful future.

Rangers start with one pokemon partner and can support others by drawing ranger signs, which have unique effects. In their travels, they can befriend wild pokemon that join them in battle. They gain versatility through collecting different ranger signs.

Type-based ranger signs are acquired by befriending wild pokemon of that type. Other signs, such as those that reflect your own nature or that of legendary pokemon, cannot be acquired in any predictable way. A ranger may draw one sign per post. This assumes that the post is one turn in battle. For posts that cover a more significant span of time, multiple signs are allowed. Use common sense.

NORMAL - Replicates the effects of Cut or Strength.

FIGHTING - If target has already dodged and cannot dodge this post, grants a dodge action.

FLYING - Grants the target Levitate for the next five turns.

POISON - Remove buffs on target.

GROUND - Replicates the effect of any Terrain move.

ROCK - Plants Stealth Rocks or Spikes across the field of battle.

BUG - Buffs any one stat of the target for the next pot.

GHOST - Makes the target invulnerable to normal- and fighting-type attacks for the next three posts.

STEEL - Grants target an extra defensive attack.

FIRE - Remove debuffs on target.

WATER - Replicates the effect of Surf, Whirlpool, Waterfall, or Dive.

GRASS - Removes status effects from the target.

ELECTRIC - Debuffs any one stat of the target for the next post.

PSYCHIC - Creates a forcefield with the effect of Light Screen and Barrier, lasting three posts.

ICE - Replicates the effect of Mist or Haze.

DRAGON - Replicates the effect of any weather move.

DARK - Grants target an extra offensive attack.

FAIRY - Heals the target.

Hi, I'm back. What's changed?
1. Fuck self-healing. You don't get shit like Recover.
2. Rangers nerfed(?) into a support class.
3. Stat boosts are gone.
4. Only trainers get megas.
5. Mt. Aurae is Aurae City. Sol City is only a college town.
6. Big NPC revamp, go stalk the boards yourself.

Hi, I'm new. What do I need to know?
Site Rules, then skim the rest. As long as you're not an asshole, you're never going to get banned or even side-eyed for messing up combat rules. Those you learn by doing moreso than by reading anyway.

Well, what should I keep in mind as I go in blind then?
Natural movesets are king (less so if you're a researcher). Early on, when access to good TMs is unrealistic, pokemon that have access to a variety of strong moves at low levels will make life a lot easier. Reisst the urge to choose beldum as a starter.

What about combat tips?
Type coverage is less important than in the games. Your pokemon get ten moves, and at least half of them should be dedicated to buffs, debuffs, and status ailments. If you're choosing between thunderwave and thunderbolt, you should go thunderwave unless you have another reliable status ailment move.

Which class is best? For combat, trainer has the most raw power, but researchers can come close or outdo them if you like fussing with perfect movesets. Rangers might be the simplest since there's only one pokemon, but they're designed more as support. Don't go with breeder unless you actually want to breed pokemon, because while they're surprisingly strong and consistent in battle, their schtick is obviously not combat.

What if I want to play a character not with Eos?
The site's not really meant for non-Eos characters. We'd probably try to accommodate them as a NPC-esque character that can help the other characters on the site rather.

What happened to hades agents?
I had three weeks to get ready for opening. Hades agents aren't ready yet. As before, they'll probably only unlock once people get to Nerio City or even Pax Lake, so stay tuned.

What happened to civilians?
If this site stays as small as I hope it will, a system for non-Eos characters is unnecessary. We can deal with them on a case-by-case basis since I hope to high heaven you all aren't bringing oodles of them.