this reading is optional, but provides insight on important occurrences in lyeant's past.
When settlers first stumbled onto the white, sandy beaches of Lyeant's western shores, it is safe to assume that many did not envision the warm land would become a sprawling region to rival that of Kanto, John, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova, and Kalos. However, despite its humble beginnings, the secluded island's rate of population growth from it's very start was startling, at the very least. Soon, the island far, far off from the mainland earned its name, and that name grew to become a common household term. It's been scores since humans staked their first claims on it, and yet it still proves to surprise at every corner: the Lyeant Region.
The popularity of the region cannot be credited solely to the landscape and the old civilians, of course. Why, if it isn't a desert, than it's a thick, winding jungle, and if it isn't a jungle, then it's a dark labyrinth through the mountain sides. And, however nice or mean people were, they were so spread apart and packed into such small groups, it would have hardly even mattered. No, the first population boom was a result of a tragedy in their closest neighboring region, the region of Unova. As Nuvema Town's own child prodigy took down Team Plasma's strange leader – N – before proceeding to unearth Ghetsis' heinous plot and put an end to it in a single, decisive Pokemon battle, ideas of how to deal with the recent crime syndicate's members began to bubble within the minds of the League and the regions' civilians. In the end, it became a bloody slaughter to form a bitter precedent for any organized crime that might have tried to spring up in the future: if you try to harm a region for any reason under the name of another crime syndicate,
you will likely die. Hundreds of people were hunted down and killed on spot; many more were imprisoned and executed for all to see. The ideas that “we weren't punishing them enough, is all” and “they got what they deserved” were used to justify these unjust punishment and any former-Plasma member knew it was the best idea to get off the radar and get off
fast.
For a fugitive trying to escape the eyes of the laws, the newly blossoming Lyeant was the best place to start over.
As many survivors as could escape Unova's Pokemon League piled high onto boats and planes headed for the fresh, new region out across the ocean. Few suspected that they were any more than immigrants – after all, with the watchful eyes back in Unova, it would be incredibly difficult to slip out from under their noses. And so, for nearly a decade, the ideals of a trainer-free world took root in the most dark, most secret corners of the new region, never to be seen by the innocents who took residency there. Never to be seen, that is, until someone with a little power and a lot of ideas came along.
Team Imum – at the time known as Neo Team Plasma – had been around since the escapees first landed on Lyeant's shores. More like a tiny band of thieves and bullies than the genocidal organization they would become in time, Neo Team Plasma was about as widely known as the Plasma members that made it up. Nymah Valkyrie – young, skilled, and filled with more hate than any child should ever be exposed to – had hunted them down upon knowledge of her runaway father's position in the group. Doing away with him after climbing her own way up the ranks and replacing him, she wasted no time in whipping the ragtag group of mischief-makers into shape. More former Plasmas joined into the ranks, seeing hope for a trainer-free world once more under Nymah's rule. Plasma sympathizers and common thugs started to hop on the bandwagon, as well. In time, Nymah renamed them Imum: a word that would become widely known worldwide, and as feared as Giratina himself. The goal was revived. But, this time, peace talks weren't their default weapon. They were going to pay back their tolls to the world ten fold.
Any human who did not submit to Imum's will would be killed and their Pokemon set free.
Time ran its course under Nymah's rule, but a surprising lack of action occurred under her rule. Much of the time spent with the brilliant blonde at the head of operations was spent setting the stage and making sure everything would be perfect for their complete domination over the region. However, for reasons still unknown by anyone but the woman herself, she disappeared into the night never to return, leaving the organization in the once-thought capable hands of a young lass by the name of Lorelei Ackermann. Lorelei, much like the leader she so looked up to, was not the most old or experienced candidates, but Nymah's word was given and the responsibility of the entire group feel as a heavy weight onto her shoulders.
Peer pressure lead to her first major action while large and in charge, and would later lead her down the path of one of the most dangerous people Pokéarth would ever know. The brunette acted too quickly upon instruction by her two most trusted admins below her, but by the time Lyeant's largest dance hall had been blown to smithereens during the region's largest celebration, it was too late for take backs. Imum had become a known threat, and a dangerous threat at that. For the next year or so, the team destroyed towns and cities, purged entire country sides, detonated bombs and spilled acid all over the region. The desolation only came to end at the hands of the region's rebellion, exploiting a careless mistake by the madwoman and tearing the group down from there. Imum was gone and – while trying not to spill any more blood, as the mistakes of Unova had shown them – they were successful in cpaturing many members and putting an end to the threat once and for all. Lorelei, herself, as well as her admins, Hataro and Felix, disappeared off the radar and would not be seen whatsoever for many years.
Peacetime ensued. Foreigners, all intrigued by the regions ability to gather together and defeat a seemingly unfathomable enemy flocked to the sprouting region, whether it be on vacation or with the mindset of making it home. After Professor Pine, the region professor's, death, her nephew took over for her under the name of Professor Hazel. Sinnoh prodigy Platinum Berlitz moved oversees and began work with a man by the name of Ulixies Hurshman. Amateur professor Elena Dahlberg set out on a quest to discover an Eevee evolution of every type. The population boomed. The economy boomed. However, most of all,
political views boomed. While Lyeant was not under direct threat of attack from another crime syndicate, there was always the aching worry that Imum might come back, or Team Rocket might come back, or any other group under the sun come back to torment them once more. Besser – mainly lead by tough skinned, but charismatic and charming Nicole Hurshman, older sister of Ulixies Hurshman – grew under the belief that, using certain methods, they could prevent organized crime altogether. And, for a while, it seemed that these methods were incredibly successful. Anything from petty thieves to large street gangs started to disappear off the map, and people finally started to feel safe again. Or, at least some people did. Others? Not so much.
As Besser took down more and more crime, the more they were accepted by society. This included the Pokemon League itself, the main form of government in the region. In fact, the point at which they were accepted by the League went so far that Besser began to highly influence important decisions. Many higher ups in the league sided with Besser. Others were high ups because they were Besser members to begin with. Skeptics began to worry about the power they'd accumulated. After all, who was to say they wouldn't go crazy with it and become the very thing they were swearing to fight against? They looked fine to the public eye, yes, but things can be very different behind closed doors. It was these ideas that lead to the creation of the Minder party, something more akin to a rag tag rebellion that the political party in which they opposed. Lead by the highly respected and well kept Leo Minucci, their influence spread like wild fire, and before anyone knew what was going on, it was as though the region was split in half.
But, at the end of the day, neither team could steal the title of the “good guy”.
After all, when one was a murderer and the other, someone who stole Pokéarth's own major diety, it'd be a little difficult.
Nicole Hurshman was a fine woman. Smart. Ambitious. But
sensitive. She was a peoples' person, no doubt. However, despite having a bit of trust issues from a rocky past, she still managed to put her faith in a woman who did not deserve it in the slightest: Lark Szczepanski. Smarter. More ambitious.
Deadly. With a sniper under her command, she did away with Besser's old leader and wasted no time claiming the position for herself. From there, she ordered the creation of the greatest machine mankind had ever bore witness to and what she believed would have been the perfect solution to their little Minder problem. Robotyranitar. War between the groups was declared and battles were fought. When the massive mechanical monster rolled onto the battlefield, victory for Besser was to be assured.
This was not the case. For, as one could easily see, Mr. Leo Minucci had something even more devastating in his arsenal:
Arceus itself. Imprisoned by a PokéBall and at the mercy of its trainer, the deity Pokemon wrecked havoc across the battlefield, not only laying waste to many members of Besser, but also those of Minder, as well. Despite the fact that he mourned the deaths of his men and women, he believed it to be all for the greater good and moved on to try and defeat the remainder of the Besser party. Robotyranitar was destroyed in a single blast. The Pokemon's god had been stolen right from under their noses. All seemed lost.
Marley Elena Wallace – more commonly known as
Mew – had something to say about that, though. As did the rest of the legendary Pokemon behind her. Having overthrown human soles to use their bodies as vessels to hide in plain site, they had been hunting down their lost leader since the moment it disappeared. To see it enslaved to a man whose ambitions were far too great was sickening, and for the first time in a long time, they succumbed to the need to work alongside the humans opposing Mr. Minucci. Many more lives were lost before the deity was set free and both Besser and Minder brought down to the group. Political power was returned to the League and the League alone once more, the legendaries returned to their original forms and returned to their allusive titles, and before the dust had even settled, a certain young miss made a last ditch effort to pursue a dead dream one last time.
Lyeant took none too kindly to Lorelei Ackermann's reappearance. None too kindly at all. The first bombing was the last bombing, this time, and the population finally got their fingers on the hated woman long enough to beat her into an unrecognizable state. It's rumored that she managed to get away, however, and only died when left at the mercy of her own violent Tyranitar, unable to recognize its own trainer and eating her whole. Of course, who can say?
With the witch they so feared dead and gone, sleeping at night became exceptionally easier for the remaining residents in Lyeant. Once again, peace descended on them. There was no indication of any organized crime that could pose as a major threat, nor any political warfare going on amongst the people. For the first time in a long time, most everyone was at ease and content. It was in the wake of Besser and Minder's final battles that PH Genetics, a mostly unknown company during the aforementioned struggles, came into the spotlight and threw a wrench into the scheme of things that would slowly but surely burn away at the region and life as they knew it. The company itself seemed like bad news from the get go: they were trying to play god, essentially. By taking the DNA of any Pokemon they so chose – as well as a multitude of ingredients that would never be released as common knowledge for safety purposes – they found a way to change normal humans into what came to be known as a “gijinka”.
While early candidates tended to be the wealthy, curious and high paid scientists or extremists, for example, who had the money to pay for the pricey operation, as the company became more well known and funds were easier to come by, these operations became highly affordable to anyone who was daring enough to have their DNA swapped with a few base pairs from a Pokemon. In the beginning, it seemed like some sort of trend that would be started, that these gijinkas would be the “next big thing”. However, creatures running around looking like humans with pasty skin and horns jutting out of their skulls wasn't exactly the most appealing thing to look at. In the end, the number of people who went through with these operations stayed relatively small.
There were a variety of factors that caused this, but one could be held accountable above all others: the fact that gijinkas were not well liked by society as a whole. Humans are a race who tends to reject that which is different. They view themselves as the dominant race, and anything that differs from them – however slight – is something beneath them. While gijinkas should have obviously been the superior beings, what with having all the power of a Pokemon, and all the brains of a human, they were still kicked below even the most unwanted humans. Left out. Verbally abused. Beaten. Despite the small minority of these gijinkas, most all buildings and places in towns would make it a clear point that gijinkas were not welcome in certain areas, if not the place at all. Beyond that, even, it's possible to infer that the humans were
scared of the creatures they lived with. Scared of the power that they held and scared that humans may not have been the superior race within the years to come.
They had a right to be.
With the fuss going on at PH Genetics, what with their CEO getting over Ulixes' sudden betrayal and departure and trying to put the company back together before it crumbled for good, it was hard to pin the blame on any one person when the formula for their “miracle serum” got into the hands of a civilian. A
gijinka civilian, no less. While their goal was unknown for a while, statistics showing that the formula wasn't being sold or being used to create gijinkas, it was finally discovered what, exactly, was being planned to do with that serum: they were recreating it in hoards to turn the entirety of the Lyeant region into gijinkas.
This plot has not been set into motion yet, and very few gijinkas even know about this. However, those that do have started a group known as Berund, also extending their welcome to any gijinka who wants to fight for their rights. In the meanwhile, those who particularly hate gijinkas or think that the balance of power should remain as is have formed Mirod, an especially anti-gijinka group that hopes to put a halt to all pro-gijinka movements and whatever plans the opposing group may try to carry out in the future.
Is the Lyeant region set on the path to yet another turbulent war?
