"The Zuneckol Pandemic has become one of the fastest diseases in recorded history." Came the voice of a woman with pink hair and a black top, sitting behind a desk. "Estimates by the top scientists around the world are currently stating that roughly thirty percent of all people worldwide are afflicted, and the death toll is estimated to be several thousand already."

A hand reached out, pale, with clear nail polish and a basic silver bracelet. In that hand was a remote, which paused the broadcast. The channel changed, and instead of the woman's Kalosian accent came the much harsher accent of those native to the Hoenn region. She knew it would be the same information, but maybe something would click if she watched these broadcasts for what had to be the tenth time by now.

"As the Pandemic spreads to nearly three-tenths of all people, here are some facts you need to know about travel in the Hoenn region and what you can do to help." Said the man in a somewhat run-down studio. Hoenn wasn't her first choice for information, but any port in a storm.

"Scientists have determined that the chances of becoming afflicted decrease severely in people who are already trainers with strong connections to their Pokemon. It seems to primarily be seen in new trainers, regardless of age. There is no cure, currently, but areas such as Mt. Chimney and the Granite Cave are currently off-limits to anyone, and…"

The hand reached to switch off the TV. The owner of the hand briefly stared at her reflection in it, and it wasn't pretty. She was very pale, with dark circles under her blue eyes and her black hair was looking a little ratty. How long had it been since she washed it? She was still wearing her white lab coat, which was at least unbuttoned, revealing her black shirt underneath. Right. She went out to try and conduct fieldwork… yesterday? That sounded right. When was the last time she slept?

The woman barely flinched as a light weight landed on top of her head. In the reflection, she could see the black head and long feeler staring back at her, with the wings that looked like stained glass perpendicular to its body. Jileya snapped out of her reverie.

"Hello, Beautifly." She said softly. Beautifly hummed a response. Jileya smiled a bit. She could count on her Pokemon to take care of her, even when she couldn't. "Have Infernape and Bibarel gone to sleep already?"

The Butterfly Pokemon seemed to nod, or at least bobbed up and down on her head. So it was late, that much she knew. Jileya looked to her lap and saw a computer with shockingly little sitting there. So little facts, she thought before she closed it. So little facts, so many lives. So much I have to try and do.

Jileya stood up and recounted what she knew in her head. Pokemon commanded by certain trainers, upon running out of Hit Points, instead of simply fainting entered some form of comatose state from which nothing, not even the most powerful of Pokemon Centres, was capable of reviving them from. Somehow, should an afflicted Trainer "black out", they would simply die. It was common among newer trainers, but startlingly rare for an experienced trainer to suddenly become afflicted. And it already affected many people, leaving paranoia to set in amongst everyone. She'd spent the last few days running checks on trainers and her own Pokemon - she would hardly call herself an experienced trainer. She detested this, but in lieu of actual information she was doing what she could, even if it meant sacrificing a lot of Magikarp needlessly. That part she hated, but science could be cruel, and this disease, whatever it is, was crueler.

Perhaps even more distressing than that was that the few afflicted trainers she had come across watching the path that led to Sandgem Town rarely wanted to be researched. Most were occupied with their journey, not really understanding the danger they were in - they were usually kids, after all - but some of the older ones even seemed to treat it like a challenge. She'd even heard some people discussing it on her way back, who had the least "deaths" racked up so far, like their lives were nothing more than playthings. Jileya privately wondered how many of those people would live to see the next month.

She turned and placed her computer back on the work desk that faced out of the window of her apartment, overlooking the main street of Jubilife City. It had been quite a steal, really, close enough to Professor Rowan's laboratory for her to stop by and help him out when he needed, and not small. In fact, it felt a little big for her at times when it was just her, so she'd taken to keeping her Pokemon out of their Poke Balls for the past few years.

If only someone had bothered to stay here…

She pulled herself back out of her reverie before it started, working mechanically now. Beautifly remained on her head, and hummed in surprise when Jileya went to her bookcase and pulled down a red book from the top shelf. It was a book of in-depth research on concoctions from pokemon status moves, which had remained untouched for several long years now, a leftover from a different time when her dreams were just ever-so-slightly different.

"I doubt there will be anything in here," She mumbled, talking to both herself and the Pokemon perched atop her head, "but I'm at my wit's end right now. There's only so much battling I can take, even if it's just knocking out Magikarp over and over. I need to do something productive."

Several hours of poring through it later, she slammed the book shut in a huff, finding nothing. It wasn't mental, but there didn't appear to be any physical symptoms, did there? And nothing in the book even came close to the level of spread and potency whatever this was had. She, like the rest of the scientific world, was completely stumped. She put her head in her hands and practically felt the hope leave her again.

After a while, she sat up and wiped her eyes, blearily stumbling her way to bed. Tomorrow would be a different day, and she would put on her best face and try again, until she could figure out something that might be of help.

Notes:

Well, this is something completely different. I wasn't sure if I wanted to follow the characters or the plot through, and I ended up choosing to follow the plot, which means a lot of jumping around, sadly. I don't think there's a particularly amazing way to do this, but never fear, Ben will be back soon. He actually gets the most chapters. This might be the last update for a bit, I start school in a few days and I have no idea how chaotic it's going to be. I'm still gonna try to get one out every week-ish, but it might be late.

Enjoy~