Ahh the wide world of Pokémon. Full of mystery, adventure, and well... you know the rest. That is, unless you lived in the Kaida Region. To the rest of the world, Kaida was the 'wild west'. Situated somewhere West of Unova and East of Alola, the tiny region of Kaida was a vast untamed wilderness. Due to its small size, there wasn't even an established Pokémon League. In addition, many trainers avoided going to the region due to the powerful and dangerous Pokémon that made up the wilds. As a result, many trainers native to the region left early and very few actually came. Travelling the region was especially difficult thanks to the Overseer System; a network of trainers assigned to protect unwary trainers from stumbling into dangerous sections of the map. Typically it was said that only the bravest - or the stupidest - trainers traveled the Kaida Region.
The one thing that made Kaida stand out from the other regions however, were the Calagon Mountains. Rising high above the region, this vast mountain range dominated the landscape. Some even claimed the highest peak - Mt. Calagon - stood even higher than Mt. Coronet in Sinnoh! Once every year however, Dragon-Type Pokémon from all over the planet migrated to the Calagon Mtns. for their annual mating season. During this time, fierce battles between the various dragons were said to break out across the mountain and sometimes even in the skies over the region; making the danger of Kaida only more apparent to outsiders. In an ancient legend passed down through the ages however, it was said that a 'great warrior ascended the slopes of Mt. Calagon and called upon a legendary dragon Pokémon to cease the warring of the dragons and bring peace to the region.
This unique legend had the chance of bringing odd characters into the region. One such individual was Prof. Cypress. A former trainer himself, Cypress had begun his journey many years ago in the Johto Region. He hailed from Blackthorn City and Dragon-Type Pokémon were his chief area of study. He found himself fascinated by their immense power and latent evolutionary patterns. Shortly after losing his bid for the Indigo Plateau, a chance meeting with Professors Oak and Elm helped him find his calling as a Pokémon professor. After earning his PhD in Pokémon Studies, Cypress applied for a research grant to study in the Kaida region. By some miracle, his application was granted and the rest was history.
Cypress' tenure in the region had been... shaky to say the least. Nearly a two years into his research and he'd barely made any progress on his research. Despite having free reign to travel the region, Cypress struggled to keep any of his staff longer than a few weeks. Most of them refused to make the trek out to the main lab at the mountain base, and those that did often were so miserable they could hardly work. The professor soon realized that if he wanted to get something done, he'd need trainers who were native to the region. Trainers who wouldn't panic just because an overzealous Dragonite caused another rock slide.
One morning, Cypress found himself sitting in one of his mobile-labs just outside Plutus Town. One of the smallest towns in the region, it was seated at the base of Mt. Tiamat, the third highest peak in the region. The town had seen its fair share of battle damage meaning the residents - mainly farmers and local artisans - were hardier than most people in Kaida. Looking over his shoulder, he smiled as he saw three baby Dragon-Type Pokémon playing together on the floor: a Dratini, Bagon, and Gible. For the last few months, Cypress had been observing a group of youths in Plutus. They were all around 15 or so; well past the age where they could earn their trainer licenses. He'd managed to recruit them into his work by offering them jobs as research fellows in his lab. They would get the freedom to travel the region (as well as a small paycheck), and Cypress would finally have the staff he was looking for and he'd get some hard research. Taking a sip from his Staryu-bucks coffe, Cypress smiled to himself.
"Let's see those stiffs at the academy complain now," he muttered to no one in particular. Things were about to get VERY interesting.
