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!
karimi sits at the pokemon center and enjoys a nice cup of hot cocoa. with no bitter powder whatsoever because she wasn't feeling masochistic.
a full team of pokemon sit beside her. well, it wasn't really a full team. the sixth member was still conspicuously absent and recovering from a particularly nasty scourge attack elsewhere. a replacement was called to join the party for the purposes of dex-scanning.
she wishes that pokemon could have been sitting here with her, but the company of her eelektross, braviary, arcanine, gardevoir, swampert, and musharna will have to do. few researchers pass by to scan them, which karimi attributes to the low recruitment rate moreso than a lack of interest. those were probably the same thing at this point, however. she doesn't give up hope, but she's not completely immune to the gravity of their situation. keeping a brave face for other people was much easier than keeping a brave face for herself.
masochism was an appreciated trait when it came to kohaku, posting and doing battles. ignatius, unfortunately, had experienced neither of the latter two -- he was about to experience the phenomenon known as posting, however.
he entered the pokémon center, flygon by his side. the creature was still shaken from fighting, even if it was something that had happened many years ago. "zalitz," he called for the flygon, and its eyes flickered to him, "go take a nap." the dual-type curled up on the pokémon center floor, by an armchair, near a vending machine. no one seemed to mind -- any sort of vaccinated pokémon was a good pokémon in these turbulent times.
"do you mind?"
ignatius had more tact than most researchers when it came to asking for scans. his pokédex was in hand, and ready to be used upon these new species of pokémon.
in her eagerness to reply, karimi nearly slops hot chocolate all over her shirt. thankfully, mary's psychic powers manage a close save. the gardevoir sets down the cup for her trainer as karimi engages in conversation with the researcher.
"of course! i'm really glad that you asked at all, actually. there's been so few who were interested, i was starting to think that eos would have to start paying the few people that we have to scan for entries. i don't think i've ever seen your face before. are you new?"
as karimi speaks, her pokemon continue to sip hot cocoa at the table. only the gardevoir and eelektross seem to be following the dialogue. vertigo
he made no fuss about the misunderstanding. he was not an eos member, but he could damn well pretend to be one. cypress had thought he was one of them, too. there was nothing wrong about this at all.
at the same time, he wasn't new, but considering the state he was in -- he might as well be. ignatius nodded, settling down near karimi. "how many researchers are there in eos now?" he asked, "and yes, i suppose i can be considered new at this game."
he pointed his pokédex at each of karimi's pokémon in turn. the device beeped as it took down the data. "thank you," he said, "i assume you're a researcher yourself?"
karimi's misunderstanding can partially be explained by the fact that pokedexes were hardly a dime a dozen at the local poke-mart. that, and she had wanted to believe that there were still scientists who believed enough in themselves to fight the scourge.
"...not...too many" karimi tries not to look too disappointed by the fact. "a lot of prominent families of researchers lost members at pax institute, you know? fighting the scourge as trainers also seems like a rather immediate solution for most people." karimi thinks that maybe she would have been one too, if she had not been exposed to the field in high school. "it's a lot of work, i'll admit, but it's plenty rewarding. i mean, science is cool, even if we're using it to fight...infected pokemon."
"sorry, should've introduced myself!" she looks sheepish. "i'm alia karimi, but everyone calls me karimi. i...guess i could call myself a veteran from decima town? i mean, i've been fighting the scourge for almost a year now. that's probably long enough, yeah. honestly, it's a little hard to keep track of time sometimes when i'm always on the move."
"i'm in this because it's in my blood. my family is quite prominent in this field -- like you have said, most of them have passed away due to extenuating circumstances.
"but it's a pleasure to meet you, alia. it's good to know you've been actively resisting the scourge. most people in the university is content to sit back and research on a cure they haven't yet found instead of curbing the scourge nipping at nearby cities. but i digress.
"my name is ignatius grimm," he introduced himself and held out a hand to shake. "i'm from sol city myself; i don't suppose you've heard of the grimms, but i am most likely the last man standing in my house." his face was grim, but his tone of voice was not. ignatius had long since accepted fact and fate.
karimi flinches at the address. "sorry, it's just that... nobody's called me anything but 'karimi' in the last six months or so...not since i became the last one. it's probably easier to call me karimi for network reasons, yanno? i'm pretty sure only half of my contacts know me as anything but 'karimi'."
arceus, just look at her. almost a year of staring down hungry scourge pokemon, and she can't even stand to be called 'alia' by a colleague. the pronounciation is correct, yet it sounds alien on his tongue. like it doesn't belong there.
her hands cup around her cocoa mug. "sorry, didn't mean to get all somber to you about myself. but yeah, i'm sorry to hear that, mister. losing the whole family really...sucks hardcore."
whether she said it eloquently or not, the truth remained the same. maybe it's kind of weird that she's sitting here in a pokemon center bonding with an unfamiliar researcher over dead family members, but it's alright. it's almost like swapping secrets at slumber parties. rather public slumber parties, maybe.
"it's my pleasure!" she shakes his hand rather enthusiastically. "and uh. sorry, decima's kind of a small town -- was a small town, so we didn't get a lot of news from the big cities. sol is kinda far." mount aurae had proved to be a problem as well. "...most likely? any chance of survivors?" of what, exactly, she couldn't imagine. not in a safe place such as sol city. "i've met a lot of people during my travels. maybe i've heard something useful"
"i know you as alia karimi," said ignatius, "that was what you said your name was." the very idea of throwing away a name baffled the researcher, but he supposed that it was what happened to many illustrious people in light of the scourge. people feared being known, because what if the scourge was more intelligent than they let on? he had heard of people who wore normal faces but wielded scourge; he wanted to meet one of these people someday, somewhere.
his hand returned to his side after karimi had finished enthusiastically shaking his hand. zalitz wandered back to his side after a while, hovering a few feet off the ground while inspecting karimi curiously. ignatius stroked the creature's neck as he spoke. "i don't imagine you've heard of them," said ignatius after a short pause. "when i left, only my grandmother was alive -- i think she still is, seven years on." a hardy bastard, she was. "i know of one distant relative."
ignatius dreamt of her often. she usually wished to talk to him, but he did not see fit to humor her presence. they called her methuselah, and she lived within the darkness of an obscure library.
"she is alive, i think. i don't think i have anything left to say to any of my family members, even if they are still alive -- but i appreciate the offer, alia."
she'll just...have to get used to it somehow. karimi doesn't think about how awkward it would be if it turns out that ignatius is the only one who calls her by her first name. she's kind of oblivious like that.
"i'm sorry for being of little help, mister grimm..." she sincerely hopes that she will not see his grandmother's name on a casualty list anytime soon. maybe it would have been better for her if she would just quit checking back, but there were always the days when the names of martyrs were the only thing that could get her out of bed in the morning. the war was difficult. giving up on those who struggle is harder. "...i know it's not my place to say anything, but if you think she's alive, then you should go see her! you...you don't always get the time to regret it later." she still regrets that she was never able to see raza or find out what had happened to him. she's not sure if this man will realize, not until everyone is really dead.
"the war's changed a lot of people. maybe you'll get a better welcome than you expected. but..." karimi tenses when she remembers how cold zara had been. now she will never understand if she had always been so cold, or if the war had changed something in her. "...you'll never know if the scourge get there first. the hades agents are all over the land, and i don't think anywhere is safe anymore. especially if they have anything to do with the war effort"
the gardevoir sets down her cocoa to place a gentle hand on her stiffened shoulder. the eelektross looks down at his spiked hands and seems to regret that he cannot do the same.
he expected little to no help the moment he left home without anything but a name -- unlike most protagonists of a story, he was not penniless. he had a small fortune left to his name, and over the years, it grew into something sizeable as more and more relatives passed away, and left things to those who remained. as one of the few who remained standing, he had the debatable luxyry of coming into great amounts of money -- but in light of the scourge, its usability had dwindled.
now, he was a researcher who had nothing but a name -- a family whose contributions to kohaku university had been duly noted throughout the years. it was good news to ignatius that this girl seemed to have not heard of him; a degree of anonymity was what he had come to appreciate after a while. getting away from the other end of the region had been a wise choice, then.
"what do i know," said ignatius, "i'm no veteran of the war. though i suppose you could argue that one who has been living in it for a while is one -- we aren't many, after all." he contemplated the current state of affairs. "if my grandmother dies, then it would be more money to my name, and a fate that i cannot avoid. it's not foggy days ahead for me; i'll just have to make the most of what i can.
"and for that, i would hope that a researcher like you could aid me."
to ignatius' probable displeasure, karimi has heard enough to want to look through the kohaku university records later. she never paid too much mind to the records of the past greats, and maybe that was her problem to fix. spend a little less time hounding scourge and a little more time with people. one day, the scourge will be eliminated, and the people will still be here.
"no, you're right. i think we're all veterans for making it this far." karimi looks at him with a little pity, remembering the days when her own family members were little more than an afterthought. is it better for him this way? ignoring the plights of famliy members is a peacetime luxury, but the fact remained that the scourge were a very real threat. this is not peacetime. "no, we're going to make it through this. it's okay if you don't believe it now, but you'll see." everyone sees eventually (unless they bleed out first, but karimi doesn't spend as much time thinking about that part).
"that's what i'm here for!" well, the hot cocoa is pretty good too, but that's not why she's sitting here with her third mug. "i could get another tray of pokemon from my pc, unless there was something else that you wanted to ask?" vertigo
ignatius was always game for conversation, but even the best needed a break once in a while. an extensive discussion on things unrelated to his field of work made it difficult for him to maintain an amiable disposition; karimi's suggestion came at an opportune moment. he nodded.
"go ahead," he said, "i appreciate anything that can help fill out my pokédex. i'm merely starting out."
his collection of pokémon entries was a modest one. it had yet to reach the hundreds and he was already feeling its lag; he didn't want to imagine how much of a climb it would be down the road. he supposed he would just cross that bridge when it came.
"oh god, yeah." karimi winces, remembering her own novice days. "i totally get that. takes a lot of mental energy out of you, doesn't it?"
or maybe it was just karimi and her constant frustration at forgetting to scan pokemon that she had encountered.
a couple of pokemon whine in protest when karimi tells them that their cocoa break is over. nevertheless, all of them end up in their balls. karimi takes out a beautifly, golett, poliwag, bibarel, vespiquen, and nidorino for her new acquaintance.
they stare at her curiously, and karimi can't help but feel a little guilty for stockpiling pokemon for the sake of dex entries. maybe she should let a few of them see the light of day every now and then. vertigo
ignatius took down their entries. the other researcher certainly had a good collection of pokémon -- like one ought to instead of bumming for entries from every person he met. (then again, he never really saw the point in amassing a great amount of pokémon. he couldn't keep track of all of them.)
"thank you all," he said to the pokémon and half to karimi as well. "yes, it's somewhat tiring, but i occasionally come across a breeder, and that helps plenty. researchers like you too, come to think of it." the beginning of a smile rested upon his lips. "i would have more, but raising several of them are already a difficult task for me."
zalitz was gradually adapting to his lifestyle, but it wasn't battle-ready. linna the venusaur was similarly stilted when it came to a fight. he had to wonder how many of these wounded creatures he would encounter and keep during his travels.
"hey it's okay! we all gotta support each other, so you're welcome to my pokemon whenever i get more." the offer is sincere. "i swap information with my colleague all the time, and it's a lot more cost-effective for breeders to come to us for vaccines. nobody has to do their jobs alone." she can imagine all the extra running around she would be doing if she hadn't pestered every breeder she knew, herself. karimi looks at the flygon with a small smile. "hopefully you'll be ready by bacchus."
the poliwag begins to tug at karimi's sleeve with her mouth, and karimi looks at her guiltily. "sorry. one day, you'll all get to play as much as you want. we're just gonna have to rout the scourge first so that it's safe for everyone. you'll wait, won't you?"
karimi puts the pokemon away before opening her pc again. this time, she takes out a ditto, skirskit, gothita, squirtle, diglett, and karrablast. vertigo
karimi sits at the pokemon center and enjoys a nice cup of hot cocoa. with no bitter powder whatsoever because she wasn't feeling masochistic. 
