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!
Malik was uneducated in the celebrities and areas of regions that weren't his own. It had taken him a large deal of time to find the laboratories, to meet up with a man he'd never even heard of. But it seemed every Eos trainer and researcher had to meet with this Cypress character before they could start their journey off. And Malik was nothing special.
The young male didn't speak a word and his footsteps were silent. His headcloth was tucked under his arm, rather than on his head. There was no bright sun outside today to shield himself from. In fact, Malik's clothing was drenched and his pale bangs were plastered to his forehead with rain. But he wasn't complaining. He had walked through that rain for a reason- and that was to get here.
Brushing his hair back, Malik wiped his boots clean at the door and entered. He didn't know where he was going and he didn't see anyone to greet him. So, curiously and without permission, the boy started to wander the laboratory. He opened doors and looked around. He just seemed to be making himself at home. It's not like the professor had anything to hide, did he?
Hoho, I wouldn't go in there if I were you. A disembodied voice rang out, and the door that was open seemed to glow slightly, then shut with the energy of some unknown force. The Alakazam that had materialized behind Malik maneuvered so that he was now in front of the boy, both long, yellow whiskers twitching as he laughed slightly, indicated only by the rise and fall of his chest. That's where all the ratatta are kept. Quite the dangerous bunch.
No matter, though, and the psychic type dismissed the subject with a wave of his spoon. You're here to see the professor, correct? Then, on cue, as if rehearsed, there came the noise of cages being shut from the back of the lab. A second later, cypress emerged, lab cost slightly disheveled and a chip in one of his glasses lens. "A-ah, I apologize for the wait. I h-hope you didnt have to wait too l-long." The professor rubbed at the chip, then pocketed a syringe he was holding into his lab coat.
"And y-you are an eos member?" Even as he said this, the professor began moving toward the front desk, where the briefcase and scrolls of paper lay, because by now, the answers were somewhat predictable, seeing as he was left alone most other times.
The hand reaching for the door's handle had stilled. Malik's bangs fell before his eyes as he tried to pinpoint where the voice came from. He realized it must have been in his head. So, he whirled around, suddenly on guard, to face the psychic Pokemon. An Alakazam. An evolution of Abra, he guessed, from the similar colors and build. For a moment, Malik was in awe of the powerful creature. Would he be given an Abra as a starter choice? Did this 'Mr. Krauss' have children?
Malik heard the door creak open behind him and Malik was back on his toes, spinning around to face the man and stumbling back a couple of steps, so not to knock into him when he came through the door. "Cypress?" the boy presumed. He had the look of a researcher.
So, Malik swept an arm out to the side and politely bowed his head to his speaker. The answer he gave was a nod, then an introduction, "Malik Naji."
"Y-Yes, that's right." The professor nodded, one hand clutching the handle of a black briefcase and the other, setting down the scrap of paper he'd been about to pick up to confirm who exactly this eos member was to be addressed by. It was nice when they gave introductions - most waltzed in and demanded a pokemon on the spot, and the professor smiled as he held out a hand to Malik. "It's a pleasure to m-meet you, Mr. Naji." Laughed slightly, like an afterthought.
The other hand worked away at the locks on either side of the briefcase and the container opened with a 'click', swinging back onto the lab table. "Now, here are the pokemon that've been prepared for you t-today, feel free to t-take any one." Labled, tiny holograms giving sufficient visuals.
Cypress glanced over his shoulder, pushing his glasses up by the corner, and wondered when Mr. Krauss would return.
Any one. Malik had squinted a bit, to see the tiny holograms. He hadn't grown up with this sort of technology. He brushed a finger through the image, but it wasn't tangible at all. "Who knew that our enemy's weakness would be a petite specter," he mumbled under his breath, hoping that his real partner would be within one of these balls. False imagery wouldn't win them anything.
Two fingers tugged one of the small orbs from their cushioned spot in the briefcase. He pulled it free, allowing it to expand in his palm, and gave it a light squeeze. He got a good feel for the ball and lifted his head, locking eyes with the researcher- for a short moment.
"Swinub." The ball he lifted to show the man contained a small toupée of a pig. But, also, a mammoth in the making.
Excellent-c-choice!" Was what the professor said, leaving out the part that all of the pokemon in the briefcase were excellent choices, and that he would've said the exact same thing had Malik picked any of the other little spheres that disappeared as the lid was shut. Cypress fingered at the chip in his glasses again, turning around to grab the pokedex that hovered into the room, a small, leather pouch following close behind, also plucked out of the air as his other hand let go of the briefcase handle. Put them on the table, and pushed the small stack toward the boy.
"These are a few of the more u-useful items for the road." No warnings, no words of advice on how to handle the pokemon because swinub, as Cypress recalled, was grouped in the more 'agreeable' cluster of test subjects he'd encountered. "Good l-luck out there!" And, as always, he offered a smile, the faint echoes of a laugh reverberating as a fleeting, yellow whisker near the door left his field of vision, gone.
"I don't need your luck. The Lady Luck has been on my side since square one." Malik assured, a wink and a cocky smirk. Cypress could keep his luck. He'd probably need it of they couldn't push the scourge back and they advanced here toward Juno.
The researcher lifted the hem of his tunic, slipping the Pokedex and given items into the pouch he kept tied to his belt- which was nothing more than a rope that held his pants up. The thank you that Malik gave was only a nod, eyes fixed intently on the professor for a long moment. Finally, he turned on his toes, and fled through the door. He had looked over his shoulder, hoping to catch a last glance of that Alakazam. But he had a journey he needed to hurry and embark on. He didn't have time to waste.
Malik was uneducated in the celebrities and areas of regions that weren't his own. It had taken him a large deal of time to find the laboratories, to meet up with a man he'd never even heard of. But it seemed every Eos trainer and researcher had to meet with this Cypress character before they could start their journey off. And Malik was nothing special.
