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 forest was so…nice. Courtney hadn’t planned to stay long but it was not the creeping essence of bug territory she had expected, it was peaceful, quiet yet not awkwardly so. She found herself turning, almost dancing in an opening surrounded by the safety of a thicket, a small pond towards one end.
Upon it there was only to be seen what could be expected, another curious Courtney staring back, blue eyes glimmering in contrast to a grey water surface. Something was odd about the reflection. It was the same as it always had been yet it was just off; there was no other way to describe it.
It was the same hairstyle she had always kept since the age of fourteen or so, yet that was ten years ago now and she still hadn’t change. Courtney always convinced herself that she was changing, becoming better, more beautiful – most of which was a lie; she was still the same, just as shallow and hiding her centre.
Within seconds her head was under the surface, much to the screaming surprise of the Pichu and Chansey watching from behind. Whipping it out she clawed at the hair than was volumised to make it thicker and shorter than it actually was; Courtney tore at the many hair products, their sticky contents congealing under her nails. A sickening mix of chemicals and hair came out in her hands and fell into the pond, some sinking, but most simply tainting a once calm surface.
Next were her clothes, tearing like gift-wrapping they ended at the bottom of the pond; their owner left panting in skin and undergarments. Her hair dripping onto the only remnants of cloth on her, as well as the suitcase that she had lugged everywhere since getting off the train.
With the last remaining minutes of their batteries the portable straighteners curled her hair into cones, it hadn’t been planned but it was the first thing that came to mind.
She would get her new start, no matter what. Soon her entire suitcase was in a watery grave with the two Pokemon traumatized at the sudden excess of their trainer.
The three of them were alone, all possessions gone in a small patch in Ceres Forest – Courtney looking back down into the pond, wearing nothing but a matching set of pink underwear.
It wasn't every day that Mordecai saw a woman traipsing through Ceres Forest in nothing more than her undergarments. Then again, it wasn't really every day that Mordecai saw anyone traipsing about in public without anything much to wear. The blond woman wasn't necessarily romping through the forest, rather, she stood quietly by the pond. Ventus tilted his head from Mordecai's shoulder, a quizzical look on his face as he examined the Pichu and Chansey from his post.
Perhaps the woman was in hysterics. "Excuse me," Mordecai began, speaking softly in case he had caught the woman unexpectedly. There was something wrong with this picture, what with a suitcase drowning like an Ophelia into watery depths. "Are you all right?" The obvious answer was no, this woman was not okay, but the man felt that it was only polite to ask. He shrugged his jacket off, which left him in his black v-neck shirt. He offered it to Courtney before saying, "Here, I think you should hold onto this for a bit." It was sunny, but the trees of Ceres Forest cast shadows on the floor, and there was a brisk breeze filtering through the forest. It was probably cold for Courtney.
Briefly, Mordecai wondered if it had been best to keep walking, but his conscience made the impossible to ignore. Who knew what other people would pass by?
She found herself wrapped in a jacket, too cold to realise whether it was leather or simply dark cloth; every breeze each every shiver that much more bitter on damp skin. It was rare that strangers were so kind; looking up at the unknown face she found a pair of gentle eyes, gentle yet there was something apathetic about them and Courtney was left unsure whether the offer was out of genuine concern or a sense of duty.
Her trembling face and wincing eyes carried on looking up for a half-minute or so before the kneeling siren beckoned with a weak arm:
“Would you like to sit next to me?”
Voice quivering almost as greatly as mortal body, she carried on holding the beckon as if to suggest a wish that this man, this stranger, to hold her hand; maybe partly so, but more that the pain of moving such a frozen limb would be too great.
Mordecai would never have denied Courtney's invitation, clothed or not, shaking with emotion or with a stern expression. So he gave the woman a small nod and settled down beside her. The Umbreon at the man's side also steps forward, sitting down silently. Neither of the two understood what this woman was doing, but they were willing to wait for whenever Courtney was feeling a little more emotionally stable.
Together, he watches Courtney's suitcase sink to the bottom of the pond. At least, he can only assume that it is hers. The case is splayed open, hair products and clothes sinking with it. Mordecai's single, uninjured eye is busy observing Courtney's face, though he drops his gaze down to the surface of the water again. They sit in silence, but he doesn't really mind. The quiet says far more between the two of them than any words could.
"I can stay for as long as you'd like," he says to her.
She was insistent on changing, although more in the form of ambition and progression rather than altering her personality itself; the temptation of a warm man almost oozing as if melded from cocoa and sugar. With a rather prime example now placed beside her, it was almost torture not to touch.
Courtney shuffled a few inches towards him, holding one of his arms and nestling into his neck with her head. He was so warm; despite the breeze he was so very warm. As if all a dream she ran a finger through his hair and playfully kissed his lips.
The fingers in his hands felt intimate, and Mordecai wondered if he should have pulled away when Courtney planted a kiss upon his lips. He did not move because he was confused, for he could not recall the last time anyone had ever touched him like that. "I barely know you," he said to her. "This may be a little hasty." Holding his arm was fine, and he didn't really mind if the woman nuzzled his neck, but he began to wonder if she was intoxicated or under the influence of some substance.
And if she was going to treat him this way, he wondered if they should at least introduce themselves to each other. "I'm Mordecai," he says to the blond woman. "You have a name too, don't you? Can I ask what it is?"
He feels Courtney's on his bare skin. It's warm too, despite the water that has yet to dry. Human contact was the best cure for loneliness anyways, and Mordecai doesn't mind spending a bit of time with an attractive woman even if she was in hysterics. He's mostly concerned for her sanity.
"If you closed the jacket, it wouldn't be as cold."
How bizarre. Confused she retracted herself, yet continued to lay her eyes on him, and per his suggestion closed the jacket by holding the two sides together with her other hand while withdrawing the other. Still perplexed she uttered a rather thoughtful response:
“Mordecai? ...I’m Courtney.”
Due to the new company her previous hysterics had been near forgotten, the Ophelia now deep within a watery grave as Courtney’s two Pokemon stared worriedly into the pond.
By now nearly all men would be tearing off the boundaries imposed by clothing and would most joyfully grab at their newfound source of pleasure. Not this man however. How curious.
Mordecai nodded a bit at Courtney. "Courtney? That's a nice name," he said to her before falling into silence once again. He was unsure whether there was a necessity for words. Still, he could not help but wonder what had created this beautiful disaster of a woman.
He was not sure if he should press, either, but he did so anyways.
"Courtney?" he asked her softly. He spoke gently, as if she were a frightened Pokémon.
It wasn't every day that Mordecai saw a woman traipsing through Ceres Forest in nothing more than her undergarments. Then again, it wasn't really every day that Mordecai saw anyone traipsing about in public without anything much to wear. The blond woman wasn't necessarily romping through the forest, rather, she stood quietly by the pond. Ventus tilted his head from Mordecai's shoulder, a quizzical look on his face as he examined the Pichu and Chansey from his post.
