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!
"should we trade c-gear numbers?" ignatius asked, glancing at the female researcher. "it would be easier to keep in touch that way, as opposed to chance encounters." he made little to no note of the comment about breeders; instead of signing up for the pax program, he had instead opted for the moneta program. the idea of having more vaccines didn't really appeal to him, he supposed. "probably, most likely," ignatius replied as zalitz glanced over at karimi.
it tilted its head, but didn't smile. instead its gaze was questioning and curious.
ignatius pointed his pokédex at the pokémon he had yet to scan.
"oh, hell yes, you betcha" karimi puts down her pokeball tray to grab her c-gear. "my number is xxx - xx - xxxx. yours?"
it's really kind of nice, standing here at the pokemon center swapping out pc boxes. it felt productive, but didn't involve a lot of mind-numbing lab problems or adrenaline-pumping scourge encounters. there's some monotony in it, certainly, but maybe that's what she needs every once in awhile. besides, ignatius was good company.
the next party of pokemon are abomasnow, magmar, samurott, noibat, yamask, and aipom vertigo
ignatius gave karimi his phone number in return. he noted hers in his own c-gear, before prompting her to smile. "say cheese," he deadpanned, snapped a photo of her to save as a contact picture, and went back to business. the pokédex was pointed at the pokémon, but instead of asking karimi to switch out a new team, he requested that one of them remain for further inspection.
"i'd like a closer look at the yamask, if you don't mind."
"i don't mind, really!" she turns to the yamask. "are you okay with staying out for a little while longer?"
it was kind of an unnecessary question, considering how long her pokemon have been cooped in the pc, but she thought that she'd ask anyway. the yamask floats closer to ignatius, but his nervousness is apparent. he is quite a shy fellow.
in the meantime, karimi swaps the other five pokeballs. a nidoran (m), munna, whismur, vullaby, and horsea come out of the new pokeballs.
the yamask floated closer to him, and ignatius gestured for it to wait. "just a second," he told the pokémon, and scanned the rest that had emerged from captivity. his pokédex whirred almost excitedly as it filled out the newly-obtained data. he turned back to the ghost-type, and inspected it.
the mask bore a face that used to be who it was. ignatius regarded it with a sort of curiosity, before losing all subtlety that he once held when he lightly poked the mask. it was made out of gold, it seemed. interesting. perhaps he could acquire one of these at a later date. picking apart karimi's seemed rather unethical.
"thank you for your time," he said to the yamask, "you have been most interesting."
while ignatius had inspected his mask, the yamask had kept an even tighter grip on it. his relief was visible when the researcher had finally backed off. he seems glad to be let back into his pokeball.
karimi barely even notices as she swaps out the entire party for lapras, ralts, shinx, ghastly, metagross, and carracosta vertigo
he scanned the new party of pokémon. he had entered information a lapras before -- the pokédex did not bother updating it with new information -- but the rest were new to the dex. it was apparent to him that karimi had a collection of pokémon quite unlike breeders.
"i...i can't say that i've really noticed before now. he's been fine with me." karimi's face is guilty. that's how it's always been, isn't it? a quick scan, and off she goes to make a story for herself. at the same time, she's not sure if she'd get anything done if she had to attend to fifty pokemon or so on a regular basis.
then again, she doesn't go around poking a part of the yamask's body either.
she lets out starly, magikarp, wailmer, darumaka, and the houndoom that she had gotten from horace. poor guy, he really looks like he needed some air. karimi gives the houndoom a gentle pat. this one, at least, looks like it needed some attention more than any of her other pokemon. maybe it's time to give it to him. "sorry, i think that's all that i have. unless you'd like to see the wailord, but i'm not sure if that's a good idea in a pokemon center!" vertigo
"well, you're his trainer and i'm a stranger," ignatius chuckled, making little to no comment of karimi's guilty look in her eyes. researchers were apt to neglect some of their pokémon in favor of the more interesting ones. there was nothing wrong with it, after all. "he's bound to be a little hesitant around me. perhaps a few more encounters would warm him up." a smile, practised and kind, etched itself upon ignatius's visage.
ignatius noted the new pokémon amongst the six with his pokédex.
"that's a great collection you have," said ignatius as he tapped the device in his hands, "i've got a lot of data already. we could head out to the sea for the wailord, if that's not a bother to you. alternatively, we meet at an undecided point in the future."
it was a promise to see each other again, at the very least. (death wasn't in his plans.)
"maybe!" she's only too willing to buy his smile, especially considering how they got scarcer as the war dragged on. "if people still need entries, then i guess it's time to start building up my collection again. or tease a few evolutions out of the lower leveled pokemon - i'm working on my doctorate in pokemon battling anyway, so experimenting with new pokemon shouldn't hurt!"
karimi brightens at the idea. she takes a single pokeball out of her pc and grabs his hand with every intention of running out to the seaside. "what are you waiting for, then? let's go!" vertigo
"a doctorate. impressive," said ignatius. "how long have you been working on it?"
he allowed himself to be tugged along to the seaside. outside, the air was significantly colder, but ignatius didn't mind and just followed the girl over to the docks that overlooked the sea. he waited for the wailord to be released; but in any case, standing out in the open air was a change from the pokémon center.
karimi stares into the sky, thinking hard. "...maybe several months now? i'm almost done. just need the higher ups to stamp my stuff. and yeah, i know it should probably have taken me a good couple of years under normal circumstances, but..." she shakes her head. "studying the scourge pokemon really helps, you know? somehow, there's far more to be learned about a pokemon's potential in the scourge than the normal pokemon. i guess...the guys at pax institute weren't complete cracked pots after all. the abilities of the scourge are real." that's about the best that she could really say about them, after what they've done. "we've come so far as a region since last year in terms of discoveries, but i wish...i just wish it could have happened some other way."
she takes a big breath of proserpina air after being cooped in the pokemon center for such a long time. being by the seaside is nice. thankfully, the sea didn't seem to be frozen. she sends out the wailord at a particularly empty spot along the docks.
the wailord splashed into the water from the pokéball mightily, and ignatius raised his pokédex to take the entry. the device didn't have trouble locating a particularly large lifeform like the creature.
"some other way?" ignatius glanced out at the sea. "what other way would you have had it been?" he wasn't asking as a person, but rather as a researcher.
she puffs out her cheeks. "that's what we're supposed to figure out ourselves, isn't it? we're kohaku researchers because we believe in our own innovative abilities, right?"
they didn't need all this war, all this carnage to accomplish what peacetime cannot.
"...i guess now we'll never really know how we would have gotten here without the scourge"
the sight of her wailord is calming, at least. peaceful and without a care.
"the people at pax institute made a virus. the virus was meant to make fighting machines out of pokémon. we wouldn't have made the vaccine if the virus wasn't there, simply because there was no need for a vaccine in the first place. i fail to see a good ending from such experimenting, but i digress. it's all that we researchers are supposed to do in the advent of the scourge."
he slipped his pokédex into his pocket. he wasn't a researcher by choice.
