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!
the eyes of a nation in love, looking down at all their hopes
The locals speak of him, when they speak of him, with half-hushed reverence. Their new gym leader, the enigma. Even if Thalia hadn't had her bright faith shattered and reforged into something brittle and cutting by Atlanta and Irene, she would have brushed aside their cobweb rumors. She knows him, after all, the man who calls himself Mikhail. J had told her the truth.
She knows Stefan is as human as she, nothing mythic.
(She ignores the fact that she isn't human anymore, not really. The thought is comforting.)
Thalia doesn't even bother flashing her trainer card at the entrance like she did to challenge Angelo, pushing her way past a bouncer. He stumbles backwards, looking inordinately confused about how a teenage girl a foot shorter than him shoved him aside. Let him wonder. Eevee bounces about her feet, admiring his reflection in the glimmering mirrors.
She'd had an eevee at her side against Angelo as well. Many things change; just as many remain.
"I'm looking for Stefan," she drawls to the gym at large. "Mikhail. Sexist pig. Whatever he's answering to these days."
stefan doesn't even look up from his writing desk. it's been another week of defaulted loans, and all he seems to see these days are the phantom images of his account books. battles are an occasionally welcome distraction. sometimes, they aren't.
the voice is familiar to him, which is the reason why he looks up at all. except she's not anyone that he's expecting, so he lowers his gaze back to his work. thalia de luca or not, she's expected to clear the gym floor of trainers just like everyone else. besides, her name had already been engraved upon the victor statues for almost a year, since angelo's time. with no formal affiliation to the gym and a badge that is already claimed, she is of the lowest priority.
he has truly evolved to become the highest order of bureacracy hell. stefan tosses a dead pen into a wastebasket and pulls another one from his drawer. there were lives to ruin, and too few hours in the day.
the eyes of a nation in love, looking down at all their hopes
Her eyes glanced about the area and then lighted on Stefan. She beamed. It was nice to see someone who was just a stupid jerk instead of actively evil. It was a refreshing change from most people she ran into.
"Hi Stefan," she said. "We're going scourge hunting. There are three options, and I'll give you them from easiest to hardest. One, you just accept your fate and come with me. Two, you put up a fuss and I thrash you in a pokemon battle until you come with me. Three, I drag you out by the scruff of your neck. Your choice of how it goes down. I'm easygoing like that."
oh, how wrong thalia was. active evil just so happened to be wearing tailored pants with a nice shirt and a conservative tie.
he would have appreciated if thalia would start using the name that was engraved on the sign outside, but stefan has dealt with her for long enough to realize what a futile wish that probably was.
stefan simply continues to ignore her while the gym trainers around thalia circle her like hungry wolves, pokeballs in hand. considering how much stefan has been cutting their paychecks to pay back their debts, the description probably wasn't too far off.
stefan is a trainer with a tyranitar himself. he also happens to be a big fan of earthquake. i mean, who wouldn't be? the floors had absorbed enough of the impact for the damage to be ...manageable.
needless to say, the gym trainers are rather put off by this crazy woman with absolutely no regard for regulation or decorum. at the same time, the power of debt compells them. thalia would have been faced with a three way of krookorok, mightyena, and nuzleaf, except -
stefan's papers go flying everywhere, as thalia had not been considerate enough to give him some warning before setting off the earthquake. a particularly important log goes flying towards a rather deep break in the ground, and stefan looks more scared than he has in a year when he realizes that it's form d-17.
he releases a weavile quickly, and her quick footwork is enough to retrieve the page in time. stefan breathes a sigh of relief, but he still feels as if his life has been shaven off by at least ten years. "guards." he snarls. "escort her out."
the eyes of a nation in love, looking down at all their hopes
The bouncer from earlier came back with a few of his friends. He didn't look enthused to have this task fall to him. He remembered the odd strength she'd had, and her inclination to throw around earthquakes at the drop of a hat wasn't exactly reassuring either. In what might have ended up being the wisest move of his career, he decided to hang back while one of the others reached forward to clasp Thalia's right shoulder with a meaty paw.
She reached across her chest with her left hand and flipped him over her. He hit the floor with an audible crack.
the eyes of a nation in love, looking down at all their hopes
"Must we, really? It's going to be a waste of time. Is J around? Can I complain to your manager."
She sighed again, blowing her bangs out of her face.
"Fine. Go first. You're the host."
She kicked at the man still on the ground. He rolled to his side, groaning, and somehow managed to stagger to his feet and stumble off the floor. At least he didn't seem to have any lasting damage, she hoped.
stefan doesn't look so battle ready as he is ready to rearrange the surface of his desk. papers are stapled, pens are shoved back into their holders, and a lamp is rescued from the bottom of the desk.
"if you simply wanted to see him, then there's no need. he has not made his rounds yet. run along now."
at this rate, he's going to become a grumpy old man before he hits twenty.
the eyes of a nation in love, looking down at all their hopes
"Oh my god," Thalia said. "You're so boring. How do you stand it. I'm not here to see J. If I wanted to see J, I'd just text him on my C-Gear or swing by the casino. I'm here to make you pay your taxes on being a living human who isn't currently being eaten alive by the scourge. Now hop to it and lose to me already so we can get going."
"i've paid my dues." as far as he was concerned, stefan had long since been in the clear after paying off the vaccination fees. which didn't amount to much back then, and he never did keep a particularly large party. not like thalia the wonder hoarder. "i'm not going anywhere. have esme and jasper gotten your memo, or am i simply the thousandth lucky winner?"
stefan had the foresight to clear all his papers away into his desk drawer, but that was a small consolation in the face of his ruined desk. why does thalia de luca exist to make his life miserable? the world may never know.
the eyes of a nation in love, looking down at all their hopes
"Esme and Japser are actually useful against the scourge," Thalia said. "If you were useful as well, I wouldn't be bothering you. Don't worry, I nagged Habiba and Lyanna as well. That useless git of a champion is next after you."
She folded her arms.
"Now come on. Or are you holding out because you want me to drag you? Because that's weird even for you."
jasper and esme, useful against the scourge? that's news to stefan.
"dare i ask where i would be dragged to? the outskirts of bellona, where no threats exist save for the occasional hades agent?" there had been sightings, and stefan has definitely been keeping himself updated on new developments. however, the sightings have been sporadic happenings, and agents tended to appear anywhere before disappearing just as quickly. "such presumption, to assume that i should be like my predecessor. abandoning his own city in the pursuit of some heroic comic book tale."
the eyes of a nation in love, looking down at all their hopes
She flapped a hand in the air.
"Don't be such a diva, you diva. We'll kill some stuff in Bacchus for an hour or two, and then I'll send you home with a gold star and a report card on your progress to give to J. I'm not gonna make you camp out there for a month. Although it might build you some character."
She started walking to his desk, rapidly losing patience with all of this.
stefan doesn't even look up from his writing desk. it's been another week of defaulted loans, and all he seems to see these days are the phantom images of his account books. battles are an occasionally welcome distraction. sometimes, they aren't.
