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 trek from ceres hadn't been tough on the trainer and neo. the trek from proserpina to ceres had seemed longer, though, perhaps due to the lack of a companion. they hadn't talked much on their way back, but J had made a few stops to ensure his pokémon were of decent level and skill. he'd taught his mawile a new move, and everything considered, he felt pretty decent.
barring any sort of horrible luck, J was pretty confident of riding the battle through to victory. he still had neo to consult if he couldn't figure something out, he thought, what with her being a researcher and all. (they had pokédexes, which should count for something.)
She followed him into the gym, carrying her riolu in her arms as if she herself were a trainer here to battle. Turns out she just liked carrying the riolu around. Atalanta was young, and she liked to see/do things. That was fine by Neo as long as she didn't cause a fuss, which seemed to be a stage she'd grown out of already.
Atalanta held her pokedex in her hands, jabbing the buttons with a great deal of enthusiasm while pointing it at random targets. Unsurprisingly, J's back yielded no pokedex entry. Nor did the floor. Or the ceiling.
Neo was only here for the show, but she was still genuinely rooting for J to win the upcoming challenge. "You've got this," she deadpanned.
It was true that gym leaders were somewhat idle with the outbreak of Scourge. Jasper rubbed his hands together, the bandages wrapped around his fingers creating a warm friction against his palms. "Man oh man," he muttered to himself, partially wishing that he was out in Bellona Hills combating Scourge. Now, that would be a sight to see. But instead, he was confined to his gym. It wasn't all bad. After all, Jasper liked to think that his role as a gym leader was just as important as a soldier. It was his job to ensure that trainers who passed through were skilled enough to combat Scourge.
Jasper prodded another fossil with the handle of his magnifying glass. At first glance, it looked like a Cradily fossil, what with all its swirls, but upon a second observation, Jasper discovered that it was, in fact, an Omanyte. Our of all the fossils he'd studied, he'd only seen eight different types of fossil Pokémon. Surely, somewhere out there in the world, there were more? It was difficult for him to believe that during prehistoric times, only a handful of diverse Pokémon existed.
But with one eye, the man kept it trained upon the lone elevator.
"i hope so," J said grimly as the elevator trundled to a halt, and they stepped out to face jasper. the trainer heard that jasper had a fascination for fossil pokémon previously, and knowing that neo wanted scans, it wouldn't be too far-fetched to assume that he would get to see some of the fossils as well. the trainer had a liking for them too, but had not mentioned it to anyone before. it was something best kept in the dark.
"sup," he greeted jasper in his usual manner, a hand raised in greeting, head giving a solitary nod of acknowledgement. "challenge."
<Challenge!> the riolu repeated cheerfully. Neo frowned and shushed the baby pokemon.
"Just him," she clarified. "Not me. I'm moral support."
Actually, she was here to fill up her pokedex with Jasper's reputed fossil pokemon, and J probably didn't need that much moral support either, not unless he lost, and even then, he could always just try again.
Jasper had enough energy and enthusiasm to split three ways. He beamed at J and gave a thumbs-up to the man. "Challenge accepted!" he exclaimed, before glancing at Neo. "And looks like we've got an audience too! Looks like it's my lucky day!" He gave Neo a peppy wave before gathering up the fossil he was examining in his arms. "No worries, I can get back to this later." The man gave the fossil an affectionate pet before sliding it back into a drawer within the shelf.
"So, er, did Chuck-of-the-front-desk update you on the rules of the gym? If not, it's a two-on-two match. I hope you've got your Pokémon ready because I'm ready to roll!"
With that said, he reached for his belt, and tossed a single Pokéball from it into the air. The gym flooded with red light, and a four-legged reptilian Pokémon appeared. The Shieldon bellowed and tossed his head, pawing at the rocky floor. "Peridot, you ready?" he said, to which the Pokémon let out a noise that was a cross between a squeak and a roar.
J nodded wordlessly. yes, chuck had indeed said something about the battles, but it didn't really matter to J. he could adapt to sudden changes, or so he hoped. "dust," he summoned, and the aron emerged from a burst of red light. it stared around for a bit, before proceeding to set up a stealth rock without being ordered to.
the trainer stared, and decided to not bring anything up about dust. the aron had a penchant for doing the unexpected. "earth power," he told the aron, which immediately started moving to create bursts of energy that would strike from underfoot.
<Challenge!> the riolu said again, for no apparent reason, and jabbed the pokedex in the shieldon's general direction.
The pokedex started its usual rambling. <It habitually polishes its face by rubbing it against tree trunks. It is weak to attacks from behind. It was generated from a fossil dug out of a layer of clay that was older than anyone knows. It has a sturdy face.>
Expressionless, she turned to J to warn him, as if he hadn't heard the pokedex for himself, "It has a study face."
Jasper glanced at each of the hovering rocks that neared the Shieldon. The Pokémon growled at them. "Shake it off, shake it off!" he called from his end of the arena. "Go in with a Rock Slide and -- whoa look out!"
Peridot growled and stomped her feet. The floor of the gym shook as the rocky walls began to crumble from the Rock Slide. Each of the rocks rolled down the walls, falling on top of the energy bursts that Dust had created. Satisfied, Jasper rubbed at his nose with the back of his hand. "Nice work, Peridot! We're going in with our own taste of Stealth Rock now!" The dinosaur Pokémon groaned, stomped her foot again, and the rocks that had fallen from the ledges collapsed in on themselves, creating small rings of sharp rocks for J's own Pokémon.
"okay," mumbled J. it had a sturdy face, whatever that meant. it probably meant that its headbutting would hurt a lot more than dust's did, and the trainer made a mental note to not send his pokémon barrelling headfirst into peridot.
as the opposition set up a stealth rock perimeter, J exchanged glances with dust. "earth power and roar," ordered the trainer, and dust took a step back before sending more bursts of energy through the floor. it then grounded itself to roar, letting out a cry so loud it surprised J. he had no idea dust had that in it; probably was good training before it grew into a massive aggron, though.
The floor burst with pressure from the remaining fragments of rock, sending the shards spraying in every direction. Jasper raised his arms to his eyes to protect his face from everything. A loud roar bounced around the walls, and Peridot squealed, before sailing back to her trainer. She dove behind his legs, stood there, shuddering. Jasper frowned as he returned her to her Pokéball. "All right, you can help later," he said to her. "No worries though! I got another one right here!"
The gym leader tossed the Pokéball forward, and a prehistoric bird appeared from the capsule. The Archen squawked and flapped his flightless wings about, before throwing a huffy expression over his shoulder at his trainer. His eyes read "what, this again?" Jasper could only return the expression with an apologetic one. "Sorry, Agate. I'm going to need a Double Team and a Rock Throw though!"
The Archen squawked again and flailed his wings, illusive copies of himself dividing from his body. Each one of the copies lifted a large rock from the floor and tossed it in the Aron's direction.
the aron blinked as agate separated into several forms and started hurling rocks at it. dust whined as the rocks pelted it, and was about to use earth power when J stopped it.
"it's not going to work, dust. try a metal claw."
J had a sneaking suspicion that the archen was a lot more acrobatic than it let on. "you also might want to get a roar ready in case it does something like that rock throw again."
Jasper rubbed at his nose as the Aron's claws began to glint with metal. "Agate, watch out for those claws!" he exclaimed, and though the Archen tried to side-step away from the Metal Claw, Dust managed to sink them into his side. The Pokémon screeched furiously and flapped about his flightless wings. "Shake it off, Agate! Use a Bite!"
The Archen squawked and lunged forward, giving the Aron his most menacing facial expression possible. Thanks to the amount of concentration he poured into his Scary Face, the Pokémon was relieved of hearing the Aron's angry roar. Instead, the fossil Pokémon opened his jaws wide and clamped his jaws around the Aron's face.
"take the hit, dust," J ordered, and dust remained still, allowing the bird to drive itself into the aron's steely head with a bite. "metal claw," said the trainer, figuring it would give them a decent chance at striking the archen aagin.
dust raised its stubby, but clawed hands, and started swiping them about. it had its eyes shut and couldn't really see; but the pain was real, and the archen definitely had to be as well. ZULF ?
It was true that gym leaders were somewhat idle with the outbreak of Scourge. Jasper rubbed his hands together, the bandages wrapped around his fingers creating a warm friction against his palms. "Man oh man," he muttered to himself, partially wishing that he was out in Bellona Hills combating Scourge. Now, that would be a sight to see. But instead, he was confined to his gym. It wasn't all bad. After all, Jasper liked to think that his role as a gym leader was just as important as a soldier. It was his job to ensure that trainers who passed through were skilled enough to combat Scourge.
