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!
stefan no longer sees the dream world as his refuge. nowhere that is this temporary can ever be one. no, this is only a rest stop before he journeys on to proserpina city. if he belongs anywhere, then it will be a place where history matters.
which means that he needs to be able to get there first. he's not sure whether the news of the scourge's decline near neiro is true or not, but he doesn't intend to be caught unawares.
this time, the usually playful mila does not talk. neither does heidi, for that matter. they're not alexander, but stefan's need for the silence is obvious, even to them. or rather, it's been stifling their usual confidence, their usual sense of purpose.
that doesn't mean that they're any easier on one another. it is a tricky game that they play, the zoroark and houndoom using foul play on each other, always trying to gauge the more powerful one with reverse tactics. in the end, it is the one who is without dark moves who wins. the houndoom howls again, never the one to be without her pride. mila only looks on in worry, knowing that victory will probably never taste the same again.
to be honest, alia wasn't too sure about what she was supposed to do with eos' flying fish at first. back in decima, she didn't encounter anything like the tynamo. it's kind of aggravating and exciting all at once.
she remembers when the science foundation had brought a chinchou in a tank, but camus is hardly a fish, no matter how much he resembles one. he didn't take too kindly to alia attempting to dump him into a tank of water. alia can still feel the numbness in her arm. that was a good enough indication that the tynamo was probably not a water type.
"so you can levitate, but what else can you do?" she puts her hands on her hips and looks doubtfully at the small creature. "we're not exactly going on a picnic, yanno"
he sends a few more sparks, straining to prove his worth. it was quite cute, actually. alia might have actually been charmed if she didn't have any idea what kind of monsters that they would be up against. "okay, that's fine then. just make sure that you do that better than anyone else, alright?"
camus sparks excitedly and blows out one of the lights. that will do.
stefan doesn't talk much anymore. in fact, half the team suspects that the reason why he comes to the training center so often is so that the pokemon who come with him can entertain themselves.
alexander is the one that accompanies him the most often, so he is the one to brawl with heidi today. the honchkrow locks her down with mean look before sending a shadow ball her way. the houndoom snaps at the honchkrow with thunder fang, despite knowing that she will probably miss. she howls for her next chance.
stefan is far better at going through the motions nowadays. for one thing, he actually plans training regimens nowadays. for another, he looks them in the eye every now and then. not very often, but that's okay. none of the party members are eager to catch the hollow look in his eyes.
the tyranitar is a new addition to the party, but a no less welcomed one. not when the scourge are still about and their dangerous human allies afoot.
alexander's featherdance proves to be a problem for bertha at first, but she balances out the problem with scary face and impressive defenses. eventually, the tyranitar finds an opening, but the honchkrow's tailwind ensures that does not happen very often.
stefan watches them impassively, logging their progress in his head. he doesn't like to think too hard about what it means.
alia's voice rings as the projectile flies at her snover. he dodges out of desperation, scrambling back up as more come his way. alia doesn't like that. no one won against the scourge by scrambling. or so she told herself, anyway.
the snover starts a growth, but his expanded body is more easily hit by the second wave. regardless, alia doesn't stop pushing him. "you got this! just follow through!"
the snover combines his icy wind and powder snow, freezing the mechanism.
they are chased out of the training center after that.
by now, training is almost like breathing to them. regardless of whether they like it or not. well, not for all of them.
they bring the new blood in.
the skorupi a young hatchling who is frightened, but determined. regardless, he is still only a child in a den of lions. she tries to itimidate her opponent - a much taller hydreigon - with a hone claws. gunther looks on, as still as a gargoyle, before slamming down with a crunch. the skorupi scrambles away, digging her small fangs into her enemy for a thunder fang. it barely rouses the hydreigon. she squeaks in fright as earth power threatens to shatter her exoskeleton.
stefan looks on for once, all too familiar with this kind of scene. he does nothing when gunther spews a dragon pulse at the child. this is how things are and always will be. he imagines himself in lotti's place and smiles. the fact brings great comfort to him.
the baby skorupi hasn't learned fear yet. it's always the young ones think that they are invincible. stefan grew up watching erik. he should know.
lotti bites down. the tyranitar screeches at the skorupi, and she does her best to cover for the noise. she attempts to dive into the dirt, but that didn't really help when the tyranitar attempts to drive her out with a rock slide. the skorupi goes flying with a small squeak.
stefan wonders if there was a natural way to level down the tyranitar. probably not. the only way to go is up.
training can be a little difficult when all the ralts knew were confuse ray, disable, and growl. of course, they would be excellent offerings later down the road, but they continue to be challenges while alia is only allowed to bring one pokemon to the training center.
"okay, just growl at me" alia doesn't see any other choice. "i'll rate you on it"
mary complies, letting loose a series of small cries. alia is no match for her cuteness.
"...ten out of ten"
b'aww, the ralts is almost as cute as her old meditite. alia kind of wants to squish it. she does. mary uses disable on alia, and she freezes in place.
