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!
"I've been wrong before. It doesn't drive me to violence."
Neo took her hand away from his. "Why suffer for someone else's sake?"
The machine beeped. Neo took her hand away from his.
She checked the results. They hadn't changed. She hadn't really expected them to.
She handed him the results, an arcane sheet of numbers and and diagrams that only a researcher could understand.
"You're clear--clean. Congratulations." She didn't know how she felt about that. On one hand, relieved. She didn't mind fraternizing with the enemy; she was fairly certain this went beyond fraternizing. On the other hand, he was less interesting this way, less important, just a civilian she'd become fond of. She shouldn't have wasted her time.
Maybe if she hadn't, she would've found the cure sooner.
iskander took the results from neo, and scanned the diagrams and numbers. nothing made sense to him, but he stored the information on the graphs away in his mind. one day, these were going to come in handy if he could illustrate them.
"alright," said iskander, glancing up from the paper. he didn't know if it was something worth celebrating about if he was indeed clear of the virus. he said nothing else about it. "that's good to know." the situation called for a more subtle response instead of a happier one. the atmosphere in the cold room was solemn and somewhat gloomy, after all. he wasn't unable to sense the awkward pauses and notches in their conversation.
"but you're a part of people. but you're still human. sometimes it's fine to give in." iskander took a step back, and moved away from her and towards the doorway. "i don't want to stay alone in that house either. it gets boring, and sometimes there's really nothing to do. there's only so many times you can play chess against yourself." he stared at the ground.
iskander caught neo for the second time in an hour. "you never did," he said, as he watched her fade out of consciousness. he held her for a while, before lifting her up with ease. "i'm not going anywhere," iskander whispered, before laying her down on the chair again as he worked to clean up the laboratory.
pjEtu4tf <50 healed mantine starts showing signs of scourge coloration
neo had somehow seemed to synthesize a cure. this was interesting, but -- swiftly, iskander deposited it into the incinerator alongside the blood results. what he kept was only neo, ismael's and his results on the desk, pinned under a paperweight.
the incinerator crackled as it burnt fat and flesh.
he spied neo's journal and some notes on the desk and contemplated the idea of burning them as well. no, it wouldn't work. what if they weren't burnt completely?
iskander made his decision. he placed it atop the test results, and returned to the incinerator.
<50 everything is completely burnt
there was nothing but ash and dust left within.
iskander picked neo up, and went out into the front of the laboratory. there, mr krauss was brewing tea -- the alakazam glanced at him, and quirked an eyebrow.
"suddenly, she fainted -- could you call an ambulance, please?"
he was fully aware that athena was outside, presumably still humoring the old alakazam.
...Also, Neo would genuinely stab him twenty times in his sleep if he burned her journal. I wouldn't even roll.
ZNmUJDa1 < 50 neo's stable
Her skin was losing color, turning deathly pale, and her breathing came in sharp gasps. Her body shivered, and there was a light sheen of sweat on her forehead as a fever started taking its toll.
<Oh, dear,> the alakazam said, spoons clattering to the ground. Immediately, he pulled an alarm, punching in a code into a numberpad (911) to call the hospital.
<Whoa,> Athena said, promptly stopping the incessant triangle play. <Carrying out an unconscious lady? I didn't take you for a big damn hero.>
"i'm sorry," was iskander's first instinct, "but she brought me here to catch her when she fell." he laid her down on a nearby couch, and gently wiped the sweat away from her forehead. he stood up again and glanced at athena.
"if i'm a bother, i'll return home now. i'll visit her in the hospital later on."
<You're fine,> Athena said, aura not picking up anything particularly untrustworthy. Didn't seem like he was lying anyway.
<Besides, last I checked, she'd want you around anyway. You can go if you want though. I can talk to nurses and stuff at the hospital. Can't do paperwork though. Paws aren't good for writing.>
"does she have her eos cards on her? i feel like we might need it for some hospital procedures -- and i suppose i'm checking her in as friend. it'd help if you could tell me if she has any allergies or medical conditions. hospitals need that kind of stuff filled out on paper."
<What, you think I lost it? I got her purse. Everything she owns ought to be in there. Doesn't own much. Journal, pokedoll, wallet, ye olde dex. That's about it.>
Athena, who had left Neo's bag and sword (at this point, it was more like Athena's bag and Athena's sword) in the corner, retrieved their stuff. <Well, does she have the scourge shit or not? Because that's a condition.>
"the results are in that room. i can't read them, but she said i was clear. she didn't say too much about her own condition, though -- she looks ill, feels ill. i think she might have caught something. but yes, pass me the wallet."
Athena looked at Delta. For a moment, she didn't look like she'd do anything, but eventually she threw Neo's entire bag at him. She raised her paws into the air. <No opposable thumbs. Good for power-up punches. Not so good for taking stuff out of a bag.>
"I've been wrong before. It doesn't drive me to violence."
<You're fine,> Athena said, aura not picking up anything particularly untrustworthy. Didn't seem like he was lying anyway.
