This world is inhabited by creatures that we call pokemon. People and pokemon live together by supporting each other, but now the scourge threatens the safety of the entire region. Kohaku has become a dangerous place, where children stay at home and only brave souls go adventuring.
Welcome to KOHAKU. Come for the nightmares. Stay for the tea and crumpets.
The season is SUMMER. It is easy for survivors to forage for food from the land, as there are entire abandoned farms ready for harvest. On the downside, you can smell the corpses.
swarms
GRAND OPENING !
Welcome to KOHAKU REGION's grand opening! If you're interested in joining, come check out our grand opening giveaway!
she needs power, power to stand against the ancients. karimi splashes another bottle of water over her head and offers the remaining half to her gardevoir. the mors desert's heat is almost unbearable, but so is the bitterness of defeat.
as she wanders the ruins, the researcher wonders when she had become so dependent on the gardevoir's psychic powers. she decides that it can only be a good thing.
It sits in the center of the room, raising its paws in front of it to point at the stone tablet. After a second, the atmosphere in the small room changes and the writing tints pink, but only briefly. Sounds of footsteps breaks its concentration, and with an irritated huff to itself, the pokemon turns around, strolls toward the visitor with small, purposeful strides.
...Hi. The Ralts tilts its hat up and casts a lingering gaze at the Gardevoir, then proceeds to stare at Karimi with a piercing red eye. Can I help you with something?
karimi almost jumps a little when the ralts shows up. not that she wasn't always a little fidgety, but it became much worse after everything that had happened over the past few weeks. the land of nightmares, the red skies - she needs to be able to fight them all, she needs to be constantly vigilant. she thought that she knew something about caution after the disasters that had occured last year.
the scourge always found a way to make her a little more afraid, and she hated it.
karimi stoops down to talk to the ralts at a little closer to eye level. "hi. i'm an eos researcher and i've heard that this is the place for certain pokemon to get stronger." strong enough to protect those who matter.
<your assistance would be appreciated, little one> came the gardevoir's telepathic voice.
The Ralts's hat has fallen back down by the time Karimi finishes. It hums, putting a white paw up to its chin and seems to think for a few beats of silence. Finally, it speaks. Come with me., then shuffles over to Karimi and tugs at the the fabric of her clothes, insistent.
They come to a stop in front of the stone tablet - the Ralts lifts up a paw and the characters on it glow bright with psychic energy before fading away. When the last of this energy has faded the room's atmosphere has changed again. Not that this human would know, Ralts thinks privately to itself, making a sweeping gesture as it stands to one side and out of Karimi's way.
Can you tell me what you see here?
A8k38V3e 1-33 Karimi's worst fears 34-66 memories of the past 67-99 pokemon language, only gardevoir can read it 100 nothing
they follow, albeit with slowed footsteps. the ralts is a tiny psychic pokemon, after all. it's only karimi's steady feet and the pokemon's graceful glides, but the sounds seem to echo a little too loudly for the three of them.
they stand with silent ignorance. or at least, both of them do at first. the gardevoir's expression clears a little as letters begin to reveal themselves. karimi might have had a clue if it was written in something like the unknown language, but this isn't it. she squints. still nothing.
<those who desire power...cannot be the ones to fear it.> she reads to her trainer. karimi looks at mary in confusion.
"is this...some sort of puzzle?"
the gardevoir attempts to read more, but the ground begins to tremble.
Beneath its mask, the Ralts's eyes glint with unknown emotion. It touches both paws to its chest and begins to glow, brighter and brighter and brighter as the trembling grows in intensity. At its peak, the Ralts opens its mouth, lets out a piercing screech that plunges the room into darkness. No light bleeds in from the outside or adjacent rooms - the chamber is sealed off, in the place of wind, there is only silence. Visibility is two inches, at best. At worst, they cannot feel what's approaching until it's far too late.
Sight comes back in flickers of the blood red sky. Black clouds roll across it in steady streams - in the distance, there's a faint outline of some building(a castle, perhaps?). Other colors are non-existent, useless, unnecessary.
The Ralts in front of Karimi is flickering in and out of reality like a faulty hologram. It blackens into shadows, then morphs to a distinctively familiar shape that has the smile of a predator.
KO7DnIPm 1-49 giritina 50-99 deoxys 100 miss magnolia
holy fucking shit, how do these things keep happening to karimi? she hates the darkness, hates the unknown for bringing about an involuntary helplessness.
lfj|bj4J <50 karimi can see the enemy in all this darkness, otherwise only gardevoir can sense a tremendous presence
<...ancient magic is at work here, karimi - vigilance!>
her sight falters. "mary - mary, who are we fighting? what are we fighting?"
fighting, because there's no other way to become stronger. "i...i can't see a thing, but i trust you!" just as her pokemon trusted her to implement various painful regimens on them, she will trust her pokemon to get her out of this experience alive. her psychic powers are much more reliable than karimi's eyes at the moment.
gardevoir uses moonblast gardevoir uses dark void <80 sleep
finally, she sees. karimi wishes that she didn't. her breath nearly leaves her. nearly.
The Deoxys sneers at Karimi - now that it has fully materialized, it lacks a mouth, but everything and anything it could've expressed lay hidden in the depths of its blackened, lifeless eyes.
Power...is absolute. It means everything, wouldn't you agree? It takes a step toward her - the gardevoir is mostly ignored, with the exception of the attacks, which it shakes off with little to no effort. I hope that you can become powerful, like she was. Then you can be mine as well, and we can rule this land together.
"power?" karimi takes a single step back. she's alone, all alone with nothing to protect, nothing that would kill her to lose--
no.
no, that's not true. she has mary, she has all of her pokemon-
all of her pokemon to lose, like she lost her medicham at decima.
how does she stop losing?
<karimi! no, come back - thalia wasn't being strong, she was being manipulated and you know it, we both know it->
she stares into the abyss and - no. she is not staring into an abyss. deoxys is staring into an abyss. she is the abyss, staring back with a want that is beyond her control.
"...i just want power. that's all that i need. if i could become powerful, then i could...i could do it all."
she's not even sure what she's meaning to accomplish, but did it matter? she would be able to accomplish anything, within her imagination or otherwise. she just needs - she needs that one thing-
gardevoir struggles to get through to her trainer, but she also makes an effort to break through on the physical level as well.
That's right. It's not something most humans understand, but you're different. The deoxys's eyes gleam. It takes another step closer to her, watching, waiting for the moment when Karimi stops stepping back and comes forward, instead.
Acceptance is the key to true power. Why manipulate when I can find those who willingly work for me? That is what makes them truly strong, what makes them seek me out. Do you see? The result of such tremendous power. I can do anything I desire.
It flexes its tentacle-like appendages and extends one out to Karimi. I can give you power. Power to protect, power to destroy, the power to do anything you like. Tell me what it is you want to do.
The Gardevoir's attacks explode on its body, and deoxys scowls, twisting its head in the pokemon's direction briefly. And perhaps something in its gaze is purposeful, but it shrugs its shoulder and an attack materializes out of the land itself. After all, its master is not to be disturbed, not now.
deoxys snatches gardevoir's dark void deoxys uses dark void deoxys uses fire punch
something about that last statement jars at her brain. karimi replays the words in her brain like an old recording device, over and over until she can figure out why.
<karimi. you are free. you always have been>
<you. are. free.>
ah. that's right. indignance boils in her like a kettle forgotten upon a stovetop.
"work for you? you got this all wrong, buddy. i'm not here for you." something behind her eyes flare, a fierce need for independence behind her humbled chest. "i'm here for me. me, me, me, me, and don't forget me. i save people because they're important to me. i make scientific progress because they're a part of my dream to be the best that i can be." every word begins to ring more and more true. "and i'll kick your ass because you piss me off."
there. the words that she didn't dare to speak aloud to any other human being over the past year.
she quietly allows her words to ring in the chamber. ring like a bell marking the beginning of a new day. a new dawn. maybe she wouldn't be completely free from the guilt that assuages her since finding out that her entire family is dead. maybe it will take longer than the duration of the war. karimi doesn't care. she stares into the darkness of the legendary pokemon and decides that she does not see herself as a part of it. not now, not ever.
they can still fight. she runs the scenarios in her head. victory is far more possible here than in castle forlorn.
"talk to me again after i kick you to the curb." she glances at her gardevoir in thanks. "maybe i'll have a nice, comfy pokeball for you."
gardevoir dodges dark void gardevoir uses moonblast
For a long moment, nothing changes. The deoxys's emotions remain static, but something in its eyes twists into an embodiment of fury, smoldering like the pits of hell. Appendages retract, morph, twist into something refined, sleek, new. In this new form it then straightens, steps back from Karimi like the air around her is toxic to touch.
Don't get ahead of yourself, human. The backdrop of this play has started to fade, bleeding out like the colors behind a setting sun. Briefly, a castle in the distance flickers, solidifies, then flickers again, blurring into something incomprehensible. Yet the deoxys remains solid, faint psychic power radiating off of its body in a sickly black glow. Those that don't understand the true meaning of power will become corrupted by it. It will destroy you, eat you from the inside out until you turn against everyone you once knew. The thick mask that covers its face has begun to melt, concentrating on the area where its mouth might've been. Deoxys rips the last strands apart and grins with a fine row of razor sharp teeth as the mask automatically heals, reforming in a matter of seconds. Then, you will join me. We will be one and the same, whether you like it or not.
This land is the closest ancient magic can reach, scourge-wise. In its new form, the deoxys is darker, ominous, border-lining sadistic. It turns and lunges at the gardevoir, the roadblock that has done nothing but interfere with its efforts and therefore, must be eliminated.
(The land shifts quietly. Those that desire power...will eventually be ruled by it. echoes into the endless void.)
"no, i don't understand anything about the meaning of power. i only know how to wield it" she had thought it sufficient for so long. as long as there were people who would bend to her convictions, that was enough. karimi stands her ground as the deoxys makes its grotesque transformation. kohaku was a region in which ability was revered, and she had always taken that for granted. power is important, power defines the individual. that was the maxim that was unspoken, but remained at the forefront of every pupil's mind. "if power has a will by itself, then i haven't seen it." what does one have to fear from an excalibur that rests within its sheath?
whether it's a pokemon or a weapon, it didn't matter. if she's going to make anything powerful, then she's sure as hell going to make sure that it's hers, whether it is through manipulation or camaderie.
she has no desire to make this power hers. karimi is stronger than that. she has no need for some legendary mumbo-jumbo. that's not why she became a doctor of pokemon instead of a doctor of legends. she will choose to believe in herself above all else.
Behind its mask, the deoxys is smiling again. Grinning, giggling that turns into maniacal laughter as it turns on Karimi with something close to insanity brimming in its gaze. Power's will? Foolish! There is no will but mine. I am the epitome of power, I am power itself. It doesn't matter if this human gets it, challenges it, rebuffs it. All it has to do it eliminate this gardevoir, and then it beat that thought into Karimi's head over and over again.
Red lightens to pink - the black clouds have halted and are washing away like a painting under water. And still the deoxys stands, solid, growing darker with each passing moment. It's eyes are black. What was once psychic energy now resonates with shadows. It is not sanity, not the being of power that manipulates and bends others to its will.
There is no wielding power. Its eyes are contorted, narrowed in distaste. The Deoxys's words are a snarl and clogged with static like a faulty radio. There is only submission or acceptance of it as absolute. What else is there after that?
she has none of her usual certainty in this fight. karimi had not fought darwin, and her data is incomplete.
<you don't have to fight alone.>
alone? what else does she have, except for her pokemon?
oh. oh, that's right.
her knowledge. her pokedex. the reason that she had always wanted to set out to journey kohaku in the first place. her dream.
she needs to get this pokedex entry - she can't make the same mistake that she did at castle forlorn. karimi shoves her hand into her bag for her pokedex.
she points the machine at the deoxys. it comes up... with an error messaage? karimi isn't sure how this is even possible - there have been historic instances of legendary pokemon being scanned by the pokedex before. why wouldn't it- surely the power of a scourge deoxys would not be greater than a pokedex? or was it a deoxys at all?
to believe in her own fears or to believe in the ingenuinity of pokemon researchers. which is it?
karimi chooses to believe in the researchers.
"mary. we're gonna win." the look in her eyes change. "we're gonna win against this mirage. tellumo can't fool us."
gardevoir dodges fire punch gardevoir uses moonblast citrus