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!
They were going to do this. Together, or not at all. This was the day they embarked on their journey across Kohaku. It could end badly, or maybe they'd succeed. They were two different classes, a ranger and a researcher. But both began in Cypress Laboratories. So who was to say they couldn't show up together? Someone had to do the talking, and Zachary was known to be a little more than timid.
Cameron was pulling the friend behind him, fingers curled around his wrists as he lead him through the large front doors and into the building. "Professor Cypress?" the man called out, his voice loud, but a little curious. Should he say they were here for their Pokemon? No. What else would they be here for? He had dropped Zach's hands to rub his palms on his jeans. Too warm.
Cameron had glanced over his shoulder at his partner, giving him a sincere smile, hoping it would calm him down. He could only imagine how scared the kid was. They'd just been forced out of their home of Decima. And now they were here. "You doing okay, kid?"
((note: you don't need to give us ten pokemon each. you can just give us ten to save you the work. their pokemon preferences are so different, there's little chance we'll fight over the same one.))
He was going to have a bloody heart attack. Not a single word was heard the entire way here. Just silence and the shuffling of their feet. Zach fought him at the start - saying it was too soon, maybe they wouldn't even have anyone, could they even go together, what if they were all infected. Cam shut him up fast with a single look and since that look, Zach had silently been following. Okay. Silently been dragged.
When he was finally released, a small voice said 'run', but there was no chance. He got one look at this lab, and all thoughts of running were gone. Because he was almost in shock. This place was huge. Clean. Been a while since he saw something like that. Noticing the smile, Zach smiled back a bit, but then frowned again. "They are busy.. told you"
There was a crash, then a silence. Then a yell, muffled, but it sounded suspiciously like, "There!"
Ms. Sybil made it to the foyer of the building first. She entered quietly, hands folded neatly in front of her. She was elegant, stoic, and poised. Behind her, both Professor Cypress and Mr. Krauss the Alakazam followed, crashing into furniture, walls, and each other as they chased a flying rattata across the laboratory.
Next time they wanted to test the effects of magnet rise, they were conducting that experiment in a cage.
Ignoring the chaos behind her, the gothitelle's voice echoed telepathically, saying, <Welcome to Cypress Laboratories. I am Ms. Sybil. Please don't mind the ruckus. How may I help you?>
Cameron winced, standing upright and looking over his shoulder toward the noise. "... The hell?" he muttered, his hands behind his back as he waited for someone to come out. It was a Pokemon, then a second Pokemon, and a third... then the human. The Professor? A part of Cameron surely hoped not. This wasn't very professor-like to chase a rat around a room.
The man had cleared his throat, one of the hands behind his back waving Zachary forward, wanting him to come stand beside him rather than in his shadow. "Ms. Sybil, I'm Cameron Frost. This is my partner, Zachary Black. We're participating in the Eos Program and we were informed that we would be receiving our Pokemon here...?" Cameron's voice trailed off in a question, hoping he hadn't heard wrong.
A loud crash was all it took for the smaller male to take a much needed step behind his friend. Screw that, Cameron could take a flying rat to the chest. He'll stay behind him and just peek out cautiously to make sure they weren't going to die any time soon. Such a good friend, letting the other take all the hits.
Oh. A voice. Now he peered out, then stepped from his hiding place to face the other. Finally, a smile appeared on the young man's face, looking at the pokemon curiously. He loved how they could speak without truly speaking. A lovely thing. "Hi!" A much chipper reply than he could give to the professor - whom he was rather fearful of and for. Was he going to be okay?
The rattata skidded by, supported in midair by sparks of static electricity, and the gothitelle snatched it out of the air with her hands. Coolly, she applied pressure to its neck until it turned a strange shade of indigo and fell still.
The gothitelle nodded. <You heard quite right, and we're happy to receive you. The Eos Program is honored by your willing contribution to the region's defense. Professor Cypress? We have trainers.>
"Ah--yes, of course," the Professor said as he leaned against a counter, panting for breath after chasing a rattata around. "Cameron… Hook, Hook, yes, I remember. A very strong application, we thought. And Zachary B-Black? Um, yes, I t-think you will go far. Nice to meet you!"
He shuffled over to the pokemon PC, still quite winded. He turned a rather small PC screen to face Zachary and Cameron. The screen showed a storage box display of fifteen pokemon. "We just did a round with the vaccine last weekend--a very successful round, I'm p-proud to say! All these pokemon are freshly immune, and quite healthy."
arcadeboone note: I decided to generate fifteen rather than twenty for two.
Such a wide selection. Cameron had gone up close to the screen, his fingers inches away from touching it as it hovered over each Pokemon and he thought to himself. Which ones looked as though they might be powerful? Bagon, Elekid, Ponyta, Trapinch, Larvesta. But it wasn't any of those that caught his eye. It was a feathery little creature.
Cameron hoped that he wasn't about to decide on the Pokemon that his partner had been hoping for. His finger touched the screen where the Rufflet's image was. "The bird." It had been a quick decision, but Cameron was sure of himself. Despite its size, it was a bird and it could learn Fly. He was thinking ahead. How he would fly on such a tiny animal, he'd worry about that when he got his hands on the TM.
The man had straightened his posture again, casting Zachary a smile as he waved the boy over. He mouthed the words 'your turn' and let him pick.
Well. The professor tried. Yet, Zach still gave him a strange look. The man didn't seem very.. mh. Pushing away the nervousness that built up, he just followed behind Cameron, slowly nodding tot he older man. He didn't say anything yet though. Worried his words would betray him.
There were so many. Staring, with rather wide eyes, Zach wasn't sure what the heck to pick. He knew these pokemon, and quite a bit about them. Some he was a bit rough with, so he looked away from them. His eyes were set on two. One of which he knew grew to be quite aggressive - not the best idea for the timid seeming boy. So, he made up his mind - while peering over Cam's shoulder. As soon as the man moved, Zach tapped the snivy, then yanked his hnd back fast, as if the machine would bite him.
Uncertain eyes look to Cam, then the professor, before a weak smile appeared a moment, then looked back to the screen. "Is.. is that all? That seemed pretty easy!" Much easier than he had expected. Now, fingers crossed the animals didn't, well, hate them.
Professor Cypress punched some buttons, and the machine rattled as a pokeball--and then a second--deposited into his hands. He presented the pokeballs, one in each hand, to trainer and researcher.
"T-they're yours now. Take care of them, alright? Rufflets are carnivorous--red meat preferred--and snivy enjoys sunbathing. Um, and they'll take care of you too."
Professor smiled, and it was probably about as nervous as Zach had been a few seconds prior. "T-this is the easy part, yeah. It's dangerous out there, so… be careful. I'm rooting for you!"
Red meat? It seemed as though Cameron and this bird already have everything in common, excluding the feathers and beak. He'd held the ball tight on his hand, a rather smug smirk on his fast as he lifted up the hem of his shirt to snap it on to the belt he was wearing. "Thank you, Professor. It has been a pleasure. I'll remember your words." Cameron nodded, itching to get out of the lab. He had a Pokemon to train now.
The man shuffled over to Zachary's side, leaning in close enough that he could whisper and be heard. "Ready to leave when you are. No last questions for the Professor before we skeddadle out of here?"
It felt so.. small. To think, this small object held a creature that, when sick, was tearing apart the world. When well, were protecting the lives of their trainers. He smiled softly, staring at the red and white orb a few moments before looking at his friend. "Oh! uh- yeah. ..Yeah! Let's go" They had a long journey ahead. He gave the man a smile, and one to the trio that helped them.
"Good luck with your.. flying rat thing! We will treat them kindly" And with that, he followed Cameron from the large building. He had no questions - Zach had confidence that he could care for the other well enough. He was quite fond of both grass and water types. He tended to do better with them than any others. So this should be easy. ..Just had to make sure Cameron kept his in check and he wouldn't wake up with that bird eating his hand.
He was going to have a bloody heart attack. Not a single word was heard the entire way here. Just silence and the shuffling of their feet. Zach fought him at the start - saying it was too soon, maybe they wouldn't even have anyone, could they even go together, what if they were all infected. Cam shut him up fast with a single look and since that look, Zach had silently been following. Okay. Silently been dragged.
