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!
since mordecai was wondering, vertigo felt the need to enlighten him. the sandslash and sandshrew were brother and sister, respectively. you are a sick fuck if you want them to breed with each other, okay? okay.
the two pokémon continued to watch the trio, trepidation in their gazes. the sandslash wasn't above attacking, as its stance revealed. the sandshrew seemed more keen on fleeing at the hint of aggression.
The way to a Pokémon's heart tended to be food. Mordecai wondered how well the Sandslash and Sandshrew would respond to the honey that T-Rex had given him not too long ago. So he reached into his pack and withdrew the jar, producing a small slice of bread as well. He unscrewed the jar's lid and dipped the bread in, holding it out to offer to the Sandshrew and Sandslash.
"I was saving it for later, but maybe you'd like to have some too?" he asked the two Pokémon.
Ventus did not like honey. Duco didn't eat food at all.
pretty sure t-rex would sadface at the missing honey, but it probably didn't matter to you, right? but anyway, moving on --
"slash?" the spikier one of the duo stared curiously at the bread dipped in honey. it sniffed the air; sure enough, the scent of the sweet food was there, mixed in with the sandy atmosphere of the desert.
the sandshrew, however, was less cautious. its stomach growled at the scent of food, and soon, it was pawing at the jar instead of the bread. it was more interested in the liquid.
Mordecai is pretty confident that he could find some more honey, and the cardboard boxes and garbage can lids, another sign of T-Rex's friendship, were still in the man's backpack.
Mordecai held the jar out to the Sandshrew. "Is it this you'd prefer?" he asked the little Pokémon. "It's sticky though, so you may have to clean your paws after taking it." He wasn't sure if the Sandshrew could understand what he said, but he spoke to the Pokémon anyways. He held the honey at an incline, allowing the viscous liquid to slide towards the Pokémon. It would make it easier for the ground shrew creature to dip her paw into it.
He glanced at the Sandslash, who looked curious about the food, but didn't appear to be ready to trust Mordecai fully. "It's safe, I promise," he said to the creature. "Have you had honey before?" He wondered if the cactus juice out in Mors Desert was anything similar to the sweet honey. Bread was, on the other hand, something that he suspected the Sandslash hadn't tried (unless the brother and sister Pokémon were well-accustomed to pilfering goods off of unfortunate travelers).
well, was he still walking around with the trash can? it was only up to one's imagination how he looked traversing the sandy grounds, those items clanging around in his backpack ...
the sandshrew dipped its paw into the sticky liquid and licked it, caution finally sinking in after it had taken a lick. it blinked, before glancing at mordecai. this was indeed honey. it smiled softly, cleaning off its paw before raising a paw again, as if asking whether it was fine to have another lick.
its brother, however, was more well-versed in the ways of humans. they tried to feed whatever was cute, in general, but they also wanted to catch them at times. it continued to watch the breeder with a wary eye, ready to grab its sister and make a run for it at the slightest hint of danger. "sand," it commented.
honey was abundant in the desert, if one knew where to look. the ancient tombs of pokémon long gone were filled with jars of honey, perfectly sealed and ready to be consumed -- as long as they managed to find a jar, anyway. the sandslash crossed its arms and frowned at the bread. the bread in the tombs had been hard as fossils, and the texture left the sandslash wondering if it had eaten a mouthful of sand.
slowly, it took the bread, but offered it to its sibling instead. the sandshrew took the bread and nibbled slowly, its snout twitching at the new flavor.
There aren't many people wandering about Mors Desert, so Mordecai had never worried particularly about how he looked toting the garbage can lid with him. T-Rex had refused to part with it, so he had little choice but to bring it with him. He figured, some day, it would have its use. For now, the Ursaring enjoyed wearing it as a hat at times.
"Is it good?" Mordecai asked the Sandshrew. He had half the mind to throw a blanket out before the two ground-type Pokémon and enjoy a picnic with them. Fortuna Oasis was only a hop-skip away. He could make it there before nightfall. The man felt something nudging his side as Duco hovered in the air, prodding the pocket that Mordecai had slid dried berries into. The man never seemed to run out of them.
He handed the Chesto Berry to Duco, who took the berry eagerly, balancing it atop his beak. The Porygon2 floated over to the Sandshrew, lowering its body closer to the floor. The Pokémon chirped, offering the berry to both the Pokémon.
the sandshrew and sandslash duo seemed to be afraid of the porygon2. it was rather odd-looking in the desert, and hardly like the claydol and baltoy they were used to seeing. the sandslash bravely stepped up, brandishing its claws at the glitch to protect its sister.
At the sight of the Sandslash's claws, Duco made a complete u-turn, handing the berry back to Mordecai. The creature dove behind the Pokémon breeder, trembling a bit. Ever since debugging the Porygon2, Mordecai had seen more and more of the Pokémon's true personality. Duco was, by nature, a very timid Pokémon, and although the Porygon2 was incredibly friendly, this did not seem to change the fact that it was terrified by its own shadow.
It suddenly occurred to Mordecai that he did have a Pokémon on-hand that was a natural desert-dweller. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a Pokéball, releasing a Cacnea. The cactus-like Pokémon waved a spiky hand at the breeder in greeting. Mordecai crouched to the Pokémon's height, handing the dried Chesto Berry to the Pokémon. "Could you see if they'd like this?" he asked the Pokémon. "I think Duco may have intimidated them a little, but this desert, it's similar to where you came from, isn't it?" The Cacnea rubbed his chin with his free hand, gave the breeder a nod, then bounced towards the Sandshrew and the Sandslash.
The Pokémon uttered a friendly, "Cac! Cac, cacnea!"
the siblings preferred the cacnea over the porygon2, of course. it looked more natural to them, and the sandslash could even pick up faint scents of sand from the cactus pokémon. it did like the plant better.
"shrew!" the little sister chirped, plucking the chesto berry off the cacnea's hand. it was careful to avoid the thorns on its hand, of course. it liked chesto berries, and dry berries in general. it was a mild sandshrew, after all, unlike its brother, who was careful, and loathed dry berries.
it nibbled at the chesto, glancing at its brother. the sandslash frowned. it wasn't fond of it at all, and would have preferred the bread soaked with honey.
There was a reason why Mordecai had broken a piece of the crust from the small loaf of bread he'd wrapped in a napkin. He'd also caught on the way that the Sandslash had immediately handed the food straight to the Sandshrew. It was an admirable trait to sacrifice something, even some honey-soaked bread, for another person they cared for. So Mordecai broke another piece of bread off the crust and dipped it into honey.
At this point, Mordecai felt a little more confident about approaching the two ground-type Pokémon. He made sure that he moved slowly, making his way forward until he was standing beside his Cacnea. The man crouched to the Sandslash's height, offering the honey-soaked bread. "I think you deserve to eat something too," he said. "I have plenty. I'm glad that she's enjoying the berry too."
It was hit or miss at times when Mordecai offered berries to Pokémon. He remembered the last time he'd offered a Figy berry to Nero. That incident was not a very good memory for him.
Meanwhile, the Cacnea rocked from foot to foot, humming to himself.
the sandslash accepted the bread, but gave it to its still-hungry sister. the sandshrew nibbled at the bread, before handing it back to the sandslash. only then did the older pokémon consume the food, still carefully-watching the trainer for any sort of strange movements.
by then, the shrew had already warmed up to mordecai, and was pawing at his robe amusedly.
Mordecai watched as the Sandslash finished off the bread steeped in honey. He decided that any foodstuffs that he gave to the Sandslash, he would hand it straight over to the smaller Sandshrew. There was no need to share anymore food though, now that the Sandslash had taken his share (and it wasn't as if Mordecai had anything left to give to the Pokémon anyways).
"I wonder if the two of you are the same age," Mordecai said to Spina, who had hatched from an egg. The Cacnea only shrugged and pirouetted on a foot, not stopping when the Pokémon breeder slowly crouched to the Sandshrew's height. "I think that's better," he said as the Sandshrew entertained herself by pawing at his clothing. "I suppose it's silly to wear extra layers out in the desert though, isn't it?" On the contrary, the robe was made of a lighter material anyways, and the sun would roast any skin that he exposed.
the sandshrew giggled and rubbed its scaly paw against the smooth texture of the robe. "sand," the little pokémo agreed, and glanced back at its brother. the sandslash finished the bread and walked towards its sister, before holding out a clawed hand. the shrew went back to its brother's side, and the duo glanced at mordecai.
the chasm started to glow brightly, and sands started to rise out from it. a tower rose from the gaping hole, and a massive sand tower stood where it was.
the sandshrew darted towards the breeder, tugged on his robes, urgent. they had to leave before the claydol were royally pissed.
Part of Mordecai had been under the impression that the Claydol would not be bothering them for awhile. He blinked as the sands began to glow with a primeval power. He gave the Sandshrew a quick nod as it tugged on the bottom of his robe, then carefully scooped up the Cacnea into his arms. He held the Pokémon by its torso where it lacked the protective spikes that crowned its head and its arms.
Ventus had already flown ahead, scoping out a safer path to travel by. His vision was ideal for the task. On the other hand, Duco seemed to be content with zipping off after its breeder.
a moment later, there were laser beams and the like as mordecai made his escape with the rest of his pokémon. the sandshrew and sandslash duo quickly tunnelled underground to avoid the wrath of the ancient creatures, before surfacing a safe distance away where the older brother gestured to ventus.
it's safe here, the smaller shrew called out, hands by its mouth.