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!
ikram stepped cautiously into the empty tavern. she was supposed to meet a ranger named isaac here, in order to learn the heart sign. (next up, she had hieronymous to meet in di manes, followed by the boathouse in pax, and finally some person somewhere in the desert. it was all conveniently located in a handbook that all rangers could skim through at the union.)
she sat quietly at the table. her fingers fiddled with her newly-acquired c-gear, trying out all the functions and settings before customizing them to her liking. it was all rather strange and new to her; she had never intended on getting a c-gear of her own, but it was funny how events in life made her change her opinions.
the ranger occasionally glanced up from the device, waiting to see who was the one in charge of teaching the heart sign.
the tavern was only empty for a few moments more. the ranger formerly known as the-ranger-who-gave-heart-sign, birth name polymnia, burst through the door. she did not exactly look like a deadly weapon against the scourge--whatever that was supposed to look like. she was wearing a faded band t-shirt, jean shorts and combat boots. she had a rather blinding smile affixed to her face.
"hi, hi, hi," she said to ikram. "new blood! it's great that you're here--nothing like some fresh spirit to get the old beast kicking, you know? so many people think EOS is set these days, they can just sit at home on their couch and watch the soaps all day."
as she spoke of those, uh, blissfully ignorant civilians, nothing in her expression seemed to visibly shift, and yet she took on the distinct aura of someone who absolutely despised what they were talking about. her hands rattled almost imperceptibly as she clasped them together over her chest and gazed starry-eyed at ikram.
"so what brings you here? dead family member? razed hometown? a deep and abiding sense of justice?"
as she spoke, a breloom poked his head in the door after her and waddled in slowly.
"hi," said ikram, tucking away the c-gear into her pocket in one swift motion. "yes, i'm new around here." she wasn't sure if she agreed with the phrase 'new blood,' but she supposed that she could get used to it. she was new to the game, after all.
"people don't know what they're talking about until they see them in person," ikram said, just for the sake of saying something herself. she stood up and moved over to where polymnia was. ikram's eyes met the other ranger's, and she couldn't help but note that polymnia was extremely happy to see her.
did they not get many rangers or something? she could have sworn the union was abuzz with activity.
"none of the mentioned," said the girl in response. she didn't exactly qualify as someone who had a dead family member or a razed hometown, and she certainly didn't think of herself as possessing the will to dish out divine justice. "but i've got a job and i think i should do it well."
"and there aren't many jobs that need doing well these days as much as this one," polymnia said. "i'm curious as to what brought you to us though. the trainers are flashier, showier, and the researchers have a certain appeal as well. breeders and rangers tend to fall to the wayside."
breloom waved back at ikram with his tail and then plopped on the ground at polymnia's feet. she rubbed the top of his mushroom cap head. his clawed feet had ripped furrows in the tavern floor. perhaps that was why polymnia had been demoted.
ikram had her answer at the tip of her tongue. "i'm not trainer material, and neither am i researcher by blood." she read things and never forgot them, and knew what each pokémon did, but neither of the two professions interested her.
"i don't know about breeding, but there's something enchanting about strapping a styler to your wrist and conquering the world with only one pokémon by your side. what about you? did you become a ranger because you lost family or your hometown to the scourge and decided that there was no other greater way to conquer the plague?"
the scourge had taken nothing from polymnia. the scourge had given. she remembered the slow, staggered flapping of the distorted pidgeot that had come to her, offering gifts and promises of a new future, a new world. her heart's desire, for a small price.
she wrung her hands over each other as ikram spoke, smile forced and crooked.
"i wanted to find a partner, an equal. someone with whom i could shape the world. my breloom is that match. is your chimchar that for you?"
"i hope so," said ikram, not entirely unaware of the changed expression behind polymnia's smile. she said nothing about it; she had seen many things in her life that would have made a girl flinch. (and she did and she had.) "my chimchar's not strong yet, though. one day it'll be stronger. also part-fighting like your breloom is, though i don't know if that counts for anything, if at all."
breloom chirped, and polymnia smiled down at him, genuine.
"fighting is a good type," she said. "but i'm sorry for getting us onto this subject. i'm sure your chimchar will be rather impressive someday; but today we're here about your strength, aren't we. you want to learn the heart sign."
she perched on the bar top, swinging her legs back and forth like an excited child.
"i don't suppose they told you anything about it at the union?"
ikram wasn't a studious person, but what little she remembered of the signs was what little she knew. eighteen basic signs, a sign for each of the legendaries, and then there were the unique signs, the first of which was the heart sign at juturna. so here she was, but she didn't know what it did.
"yes, i'm here to learn the heart sign, but while i can tell you the signs that exist, i'm afraid i can't give an explanation on what each sign does," ikram said. "since you're teaching the heart sign, i suppose you'd know what it's all about." she smiled at polymnia.
"that's a good start!" polymnia reassured her. "even just knowing that the signs is exist is more than i get usually. you know, i was drinking here a few nights ago and i heard the most awful story about a ranger who'd come out to get his heart sign and just started attacking wild pokemon like some trainer brute. i couldn't believe it. well, i could believe it, but i didn't want to."
"but yes, i do know what the heart sign is about."
polymnia curved an arc in the air with her hands as she spoke.
"it--encompasses," she said. "you, and at the core of yourself, what you believe in and how you believe it. a pacifist isn't going to have a destructive heart sign--but they also shouldn't be a ranger, not these days. so what are you? and why are you what you are?"
there were rangers like that? people who tried attacking wild pokémon for no apparent reason she could understand, but rangers ... well, perhaps sa'di had chosen them for other reasons. it just wasn't exactly clear.
who knew being an optimist was so tiring. ikram stopped trying to think of an explanation for the ranger's actions and returned her attention to polymnia.
"so it manifests like -- a true self?" she said, "who you really are, that sort of thing?"
she wasn't sure if she wanted to answer that question.
"what's your heart sign like? destructive?" she asked, if only to buy herself some form of distraction.
ikram had realized by now that polymnia was really someone she didn't want to trifle with. she was good to talk to, though; made things a whole lot more brighter and optimistic.
"a demonstration sounds nice," said the ranger, nodding at polymnia, "sure. how much does it vary, actually?"
ikram just stared at the aftermath. that ... certainly revealed what the heart sign could do. there was an odd sort of silence in the wake of the psychic attack, and ikram felt that it was inappropriate to ask her question again.
