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!
the farther he went from nerio, the safer isaac felt. it was as if he wouldn't be found by anyone he knew; his siblings, especially. isaac didn't know what to feel, or what kind of face to put on in their presence.
wandering through the streets of the city for want of something to do, the ranger and his partner chatted with each other, glad for not needing any more than a few nonverbal cues to match the verbal ones.
their conversation was light but animated, and the sun was bright as they traversed proserpina.
Overhead, a tired pelipper flew over the water, making haste--albeit a very tired haste--for Juno City. It grasped a message in its talons, carried all the way from Nerio City, and it hadn't stopped for food or rest or indeed a little bit of a shelted from the frigid winter weather the entire way.
So exhausted that it was no longer aware what was in front of it, it collided with Isaac and squawked its alarm and then its apologies.
isaac was walking, and then he found himself sitting on his rump on the pavement, a surprised clavier by his side. the ranger took a while to gather his bearings about him; clavier was on the job by the time isaac had processed what was going on.
are you alright? clavier asked, tilting its head in concern for the large pelican.
"is that a letter?" isaac's eyes zoomed on a completely different item altogether, much to clavier's chagrin. their priorities lay in aiding pokémon, not -- "were you delivering it -- oh gosh ... so sorry for being in your way!"
... yeah, how are you doing? clavier attempted again, very much inclined to leave isaac to his own devices.
<oW,> the pelipper said, although it was more of a statement than a complaint. He quickly righted himself, sitting up and flapping his featherbare arms with surprising energy. <I'm absolute splendid, why thank you for asking.>
Awkwardly, the pelipper stood up, teetering uncomfortably on arched talons that were never made to walk on ground. He patted himself down and declared himself in one piece, aka absolutely fine.
<It is alright, good sirs! I am spic and span and as good as new!> the pelipper said with a smart salute to Isaac (of which he was seeing two of).
<I'm off to Juno City! I have a most urgent letter to deliver to-->
isaac wiped sweat off his brow. the pelipper had fainted immediately after saying what it had to say. "um," said the boy, prodding the body of the bird, "are you alright?"
obviously not, clavier muttered, stepping over to the other side of the bird and attempting to prop it up. isaac moved to help his partner.
"and we are doing this because?"
get the note and read it. unethical, but we need to help this guy.
isaac took a while to understand the urgent gaze from the axew, and quickly pried the note from the talons of the bird.
The pelipper made no response, although it was breathing quite fine, and nothing (bones or organs or otherwise) seemed to be broken.
The letter was only a short penned note with some dark red hairs and a sample vial taped onto it. It read:
To Cypress,
Attached is a sample of a hades-infected flareon. We have cause to believe the flareon was previously a trained battle pokemon, as it closely resembles the flareon "Beatrice," once owned by a trainer native to Bacchus. Its trainer is still comatose from last month's scourge attack, so she is unable to comment, but if we are correct, that would date the flareon's infection to roughly one month prior.
cypress? who in the world was cypress? isaac racked his brains, while folding the note and replacing it into its envelope. he kept both the note and the vial safely in his bag, and turned to clavier.
"ever heard of cypress?" he asked, finding the name more and more familiar upon repetition, but had yet to find some sort of recognition from it.
the professor, yes, same the short reply, but not before the ranger and pokémon went through a brief guessing-game (isaac was certain that clavier meant teacher, or some sort of scholar). that would be a scourge pokémon's fur.
lost as to what clavier meant, the boy ignored the axew, and tried to pick the bird up and walk with it. he turned in the general direction of juno and started walking, only for clavier to stop him.
<A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!> the pelipper cried as it came to. Then it startled as it looked around, realizing its surroundings in reality. <Oh, I'm so sorry. I was just dreaming of my stage debut.>
He remembered what happened now, after pursing his bill thoughtfully for a moment. <What happened to your twin, sir?> he inquired, greatly curious where the Isaac doppelganger of his exhausted double vision had gone.
Then he began to panic. <My letter is gone! Woe is me!>
startled, isaac nearly dropped the bird, but managed to hang unto its wing. he gingerly let the bird go as soon as it showed signs of being completely fine and out of its previous daze. "my ... twin?" isaac said, glancing at clavier, then back at the bird.
"there wasn't any to begin with; you must have been mistaken!" cheerfully, the ranger replied, but his expression quickly turned frantic as he dove into his bag's contents to retrieve the letter and vial.
"here it is! i had it in my bag for safekeeping; i didn't know when you were going to come to so -"
- yes, we know. hand it back to him, isaac, sighed clavier.
The pelipper took the letter and clutched it like his life depended on it. Still worried, he asked, <Did I lose the vial? Do you have it?>
Satisfied, the pelipper nodded. He spun about, somehow locating the direction of Juno City through some baser instinct. (It was more or less the direction Isaac was going anyway.) <Onward, then!>
The entire trip, the pelipper sat contentedly in Isaac's arms, moving occasionally to perch on his head. This was probably for the best considering that he still seemed deliriously tired. When they arrived to the outskirts of Juno City, he hopped into flight, bowing in midair to Isaac and Clavier.
<My thanks. I wish you safety and prosperity on your journeys. May you not die a horrible, gruesome death to the scourge.>
+1 LEVEL
...i guess that was a 'quest' huh? eta: You can grab either the water or flying sign from this btw.
on the outskirts of the city, isaac waved good-bye to the pelipper, while clavier watched on. "you stay safe too, and i hope you get a major part in a play!"
the axew sighed, and waved all the same. their first quest ended on a relatively ... happy note? it wasn't sure, but at the very least the bird wasn't dead, and the package was safely on its way to its recipient.
