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!
but that was all he said before he drew a sign in the air, so quick it was almost unrecognizable. from her place on the morgue shelves, the ninetales spasmed for a moment, legs twitching helplessly as if in a dream, and then the snarl on her face was alive, hot breath pouring from between her teeth..
hieronymous was gentle as he helped the pokemon off the slab to her feet. the ninetales wobbled and shivered in the cold dark, trying to wrap her tails around herself. the ranger slid off his coat and draped it over her.
he looked his age now, the paranoid vitality that had fueled his earlier actions leeched.
“death comes for everyone, ranger. sometimes you can make sure it doesn't stick.”
the next thing ikram knew, the ninetails was twitching and ... returned to life, for lack of more eloquent phrasing. the ranger stared for a moment. she wasn't sure what he had done -- he had lifted his hand and did something (a sign, she figured, but what sign?), which led to the ninetales' miraculous resurrection.
she bit back her confusion.
"so whatever you did -- it revives the target," she said, seeking some form of clarification from him. "did you draw a sign?"
and then she braced herself just in case he decided to speak a little too loudly again.
he looked at the nintales, still hunched in on herself and faintly shivering.
"there's a mild handicap," he said. "the shock of being brought back is often traumatic for the pokemon in question. they should be sent back to battle at once; give them time to grow back into their body and recover their strength. in time, they will return to their fullest selves."
so it was like waking up from being comatose? that was the gist that ikram had gotten from the explanation.
"could i resurrect any one pokémon here, and turn it into my partner? or are they supposed to remain here, for all of eternity -- unless you wish to resurrect them at will?"
hieronymous looked thoughtfully at ikram for a moment, silent for once. then he stepped back, posture ramrod straight, and boomed down at her: "you may, ranger."
behind him, the row of corpses waited in the dark.
"awesome!" said ikram, grinning a little too brightly for the gloominess of the crypt. even hieronymous's loud, booming voice didn't seem to deter her from giving the creatures a further look.
ikram stopped by the last one in a row. the croconaw was half-sealed in stone where it laid. she pointed to it, then turned to the old ranger.
"this one," she said, as if she had been picking out a pet at the pet shop.
whatever confusion she had bit back came surging back into her.
ikram mechanically drew her styler, and held it in position for a while. its tip gleamed in the darkness.
how did this go again ...
ikram attempted the rebirth sign. she honestly didn't know if it'd even work. this was her trying to revive the dead, not finding out who she was deep inside.
"is that why you're teaching the sign now?" ikram said, smiling as she raised her styler again, "because you got it on your first try? we're not all perfect human beings."
she drew the rebirth sign again, focusing on the croconaw once again.
if only she could will it back to life -- but she supposed this was what the sign was for.
"thank you!" ikram said, grinning as the croconaw blinked.
it was very much alive, actually. no one could have guessed it had been very dead moments ago.
and now it was snapping its jaws in the air and miraculously looked a few years younger than it had been. (which meant that it was probably one-hundred-and-five or something along those lines. she hadn't asked how old they were.)
"... well, it looks a lot more healthier than the ninetales had been. is there a reason why?"
