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!
at the crack of dawn, J escaped the confines of the lake alongside thalia and her pokémon. with both of them having less than enough pokémon to combat scourge, moving on was the only option. with the aid of dust, his lairon, J was able to successfully navigate the toxic lands and arrive at the underground.
their first stop was the medicine shop, where J pored over the various labels of medicine and wondered where exactly the shopkeeper was getting materials to even make the powder.
maybe he took them from dead scourge pokémon. yum.
Thalia had decidedly less interest in the medicine than J--she'd put her faith in a good potion, thank you--but her togepi was enthralled with the little packets, eagerly running over them with his tiny hands. She wasn't sure she wanted to know what he found so thrilling about them.
"uh," said J, and reached into his pockets. yes, he had use of them. sometimes he consumed them instead of his pokémon. they were bitter, but good. it was better than trying to eat random stuff off the ground and getting poisoned, he thought. "sometimes."
"Eh, sure," Thalia said, taking the offered packet. "I guess I always just figured they were a crock or a ripoff but--" She ripped it open, sprinkled a little bit of the innocuous seeming gray dust on her palm, then sprinkled a little more and dumped it in her mouth.
And promptly gagged. The togepi giggled happily, eyes lighting up with glee.
J seemed vaguely amused. everyone seemed to have the same reaction -- unlike him. he took some of the powder and swallowed it without much repercussion or facial movement.
the trainer nodded. "definitely," he agreed, "i've ate worse than this." he glanced at the packaging. crushed sawsbuck horns (winter), crushed paras mushrooms -- the rest of the ingredients were blurred out, and he had no idea what else went into the powder. it looked really sketchy, to be honest.
"i don't remember," he said, trying to recall the first time he'd ever tasted the powder. probably had it mixed with water until he could eat the powder neat. "maybe as a kid."
Thalia took another pinch of powder and swallowed, succeeding a tiny bit this time in having less of a grimace on her face. "A long time then, okay, I feel a little less pathetic. So what, you've got super-speed and strength now? Am I gonna be able to fight the scourge head on if I eat enough of this?"
J shrugged. he didn't know, but maybe it played a part in him not gagging at the sight of scourge being cut open for a post-mortem. (actually, the powder did nothing.) "i think it might help ward off scourge. pokémon don't like bitter stuff," he said.
Thalia wrinkled her nose. "Are you sure about that? When we battled them they didn't seem particularly averse to you. Maybe if you wore it in your clothes, or sprinkled it around your camp at night. Wait--you don't do that, do you?"
"uh, no," J said. it was odd enough to use it as clothes padding, even odder to sprinkle it around camp like salt. "it'd be a waste to do so." he jerked his head towards the price tag.
these things were cheap, but more expensive than potions and super potions.
J had to admit that thalia was quickly catching on to his patterns.
"you are correct."
he grabbed a packet off the shelves, as if to prove a point -- when there was none, in the first place. he figured he might as well stock up in case he felt like he needed something to gnaw on in the middle of the night. he placed the packet labelled bitter roots on the counter, and paid the old man sitting there.
"you want anything?" he gestured to the myriad of candies at the impulse shelves, but the only thing he saw that was remotely edible for the layman was ginseng candies.
