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!
This was a once in a lifetime chance. She'd have to be ready for it. Gently putting on her white tee and taking her Darkrai pendant out of her teeth, she prepared for the first step of the rest of her life. After tugging her black skirt over her leggings, she decided on going barefoot, her insanity and taste for nudism showing through it. A gentle skwak! from her Archen brought her to the shattered glass that marked her makeshift room, where the sparkling bird was sitting patiently on a windowsill. She let the multi-colored bird rest on her shoulder for now, but she knew his tendency to 'scout ahead', and he seemed a bit impatient to get out the door.
She knew that he was the best thing that had happened to her next to her acquiring of the silver Darkrai pendant (which she didn't fully remember getting), but she feared for him. What if she harmed her precious friend when she was gone? What if he never forgave her? She was sure that the Archen knew that she was a danger to society, and yet he loyally stayed by her side and guarded her from the dangers that she didn't supply herself. And she was thankful for that.
The Archen in question looked at her with concern. He was right to do so; she was staring blankly at the doorknob, her hand refusing to turn it. With an encouraging "Arr!" from him, she slowly turned it, opened it, and greeted the usual company of three men in white. They examined her, giving her the insanity test, in which she had memorized the answers, and asked her where she was going. "To get my starter Pokemon from the Professor." came her shy, yet audible reply, and with cautious glances, they let her pass.
As she left the apartment, the first thought she had was I'm free! Finally free! and she fought the urge to dance, as it would seem quite insane, and she wouldn't want to ruin this for herself. She knew that she was expected, as her captors, as she had made a habit of calling them that, had likely informed the Professor that she was arriving, and that he was probably supposed to keep a tranquilizer dart gun on hand. She didn't mind the sedative, as it lulled her into a gentle sleep that she couldn't quite get naturally, and of course, obliterated her insanity for the moment.
She approached the lab where the Professor made his living. Another door faced her, and her Archen gave another gentle, yet slightly muffled cry. She glanced at the bird, who had a cracker in its mouth and was hurriedly munching it. It swallowed, and she heard a faraway complaint from a fairly young child that their cracker was gone and that they needed a new one to munch on. Her companion looked slightly embarrassed, but she gave him a nice smile and petted his feathers, murmuring something about how crazy they both were.
After this, she turned back towards the door, took a deep breath, and pushed open the door, half expecting to see her captors once again. She looked around nervously. "Um...I'm here for a Pokemon, Mister Professor, sir!" She speedily squeaked. Some called it just more insanity when she called people by all three names. What could she say? That's what she called people when she was ten and even before then, and during all those years in asylum after asylum, she had never gotten the chance to learn anything else.
So, when she uttered the phrase, her avian friend Kane gave a quick, yet almost warning-like "Chen! Arrr, arrr, Arr-chen!" towards the Professor. It meant something along the lines of {Don't you dare hurt Addie! Or I'll...I'll...I will make you regret it!}, but Addie herself doubted that anyone around here would understand a word of what he had said. But he was trying to protect her, and how could she not appreciate that?
After all, she, and everyone who was within ten feet of her, needed protection.
Professor Cypress received a phone call earlier this morning telling him to expect a prospective trainer, and to be on guard for any irrational behavior from her. The suggestion that he keep his tranq shots handy was enough to convince Professor Cypress to bury himself in the labs with the most important, sensitive work he had, rendering him completely inable to get the door. Distractions at this stage of the vaccine developing process were, quite frankly, unacceptable. He couldn't leave the labrooms now, not unless he wanted to waste thousands of dollars.
If Mr. and Mrs. Brown thought he had an ulterior motive for hiding away in the laboratories, they made no mention of it. Professor Cypress was sure they knew though.
<Alakazza kazzam?> Mr. Brown said when the girl entered through the door, nonplussed at the archen's fierce words. He paused, and telepathic works soon leaked into her mind. <The professor is busy with his work at the moment. I am Mr. Brown, and that is Mrs. Brown behind you. Please don't mind the syringe she holds in her hand. It is merely a rabies shot. It is not, in fact, a sedative made for human beings, I assure you of this.> To her credit, Mrs. Brown remained as impassive as always despite the syringe in her hand.
Mr. Brown continued, <You are here for a pokemon, yes? The Pokemon Association has already told us of you, Ms...> Mr. Brown trailed off as he glanced around for a clipboard of papers that he telekinetically floated over to his hand. He glanced at the information already filled out on the forms, and then handed the clipboard to the girl. <Ms. Addison Oakley. All your forms are prepared, we just need you to sign on the back here. If you look underneath the form, we have a listing of the current vaccinated pokemon available from our lab.>
Wordlessly, Mrs. Brown stood her ground behind the girl and her archen, syringe (which did not contain a rabies immunization) held loosely but readily in her hand.
After her guardian Archen's fierce squawking, he hopped off her shoulder and fluttered around, landing again delicately on a shelf so as not to knock anything over. Her own brown eyes looked up at her companion, half embarrassed and half grateful. He was trying, but a bit too hard for his own good. She felt for him; if the situation was reversed, she'd be doing the same thing that he was doing; but it put others off. It was gonna be hard for him to be a team player when she did finally get another friend.
Her head turned quickly to the side when she heard a voice that appeared to be inside her head. Oh no... she thought, worrying if she'd get back home quickly enough. Is it happening again? She was assured that no, she wasn't, when her eyes fell on an Alakazam, who was staring at her, and must be telepathically talking to her. He continued, saying that the Professor was busy at the time, then introducing himself and another Pokemon; a Gothitelle holding a syringe that looked very much like the sedatives that the men in white used on her in the rare moments when she could see it. Her theory of this was confirmed when the Alakazam named Mr. Brown attempted to assure her that it was a rabies shot, and not a sedative for use on humans. Ms. Brown continued to hold the shot steady, as if she was about to transform into a werehoundoom (like in the movies that she had heard about a select few times) right in front of her.
A sigh escaped her. "It's okay. I know it's a sedative," She assured, slightly disappointed that her earlier assumptions that the Professor held a stock of it, but mostly indifferent. "And I don't mind, really. I don't like hurting people. The sedative stops me from doing so. It should be a good thing." Her Archen, who had been fairly silent up to now, cawed quietly and fluttered back onto her shoulder protectively. Her hand went up to its green feathered head and stroked it soothingly. She really was a nice person when she wasn't going completely insane.
Mr. Brown continued with his words, talking about how she was here for a Pokemon, and saying her name (as if she didn't know it already). He had known this because it was surely written somewhere on that sheet of paper that had floated into his yellowish hands, and he handed them to her along with a pen. She was slightly uncomfortable signing it with her guardian peering over her shoulder to make sure that she was reading the fine print and all that, but with a flourish of cursive (one of the things she had taught herself whilst sane), her name was clearly written on the paper, and she lifted it to see the selection of Pokemon that she could add to her team of companions.
She gently allowed her fingers to fiddle with her Darkrai pendant, as she always did when told to make a decision. There were so many to choose from...she felt like she might spend hours just trying to decide on one. Joltik looked like a nice idea, but realizing that it was a bug-type and that birds tended to eat bugs, she quickly moved on. Finally, her Archen let out a quiet "Arr!" and placed a talon on the Houndour section. She wondered about it, and thought that a canine Pokemon paired with an avian Pokemon couldn't do much harm. She had decided, or rather, her Pokemon had aided her choice.
"Um...can I please see the...uh...um..." She politely began, then continued with a slight, yet encouraging, nudge from Kane. "Houndours that you have?" Before anyone said anything, she finished with a quick, yet still polite "Thank you." She also added a small bow for added effect, and her friend bowed as well, having to adjust his position on her shoulder to avoid falling off. She, meanwhile, had swiftly lost herself in her thoughts. Excitement, thrill, and the usual worried thoughts ran through her, and she smiled hopefully.
When the girl explained that she didn't sedatives if they were necessary, Mr. Brown didn't quite know what to say. <I see.... in that case, Mrs. Brown is in fact holding a mild sedative, although I assure you that such behavior is customary when dealing with pokemon in a laboratory. We believe its usage will have no ill effect on human beings, but we ask that you do not sue if it happens to prove otherwise--but we do hope this will be a pleasant day for us all.>
Mr. Brown waited patiently while the girl looked through the lists of available pokemon. Once, he'd tried to play a game with Mrs. Brown, where between themselves they tried to guess which pokemon trainers would pick while they waited for a decision. The game had rapidly become dull when Mrs. Brown proved right nearly every time, and Mr. Brown still had yet to guess correctly even once. For example, he thought this girl would make a lovely match with a drifloon, so of course she had to go and ask to see the houndours.
<An excellent choice. Fire types will keep you warm in the winter, and I've found that they will eat anything, which is mst convenient and practical of them,> said Mr. Brown. As he walked to the pokemon transporter, he was already operating the machine with telekinesis, buttons rising and falling seemingly of their own accordance. When he stepped up to the machine, three pokeballs were already waiting there.
Professor Cypress liked to release all the pokemon a trainer asked to see at once, but as another pokemon, Mr. Brown wasn't quite so certain that he could command all three young, energetic pokemon at once, so he released only one at first, hoping that once all three were out, they wouldn't decide to misbehave.
<This houndour is one of the first pokemon we vaccinated. He may seem rather harmless, but I assure you he is most competent in a battle,> said Mr. Brown. His words might've sounded like a lie--especially because the houndour immediately rolled onto the floor and whined until Mr. Brown grudgingly reached out a hand to scratch his stomach--but if you looked into the houndour's eyes, there was a hint of bloodthirst there despite it's adorable visage.
The second houndour followed, appearing of her pokeball and casting a haughty look at the whining houndour. At first, she sniffed arrogantly at Addie, but when she took in the trainer's scent, she froze, suddenly wary yet curious. <The second is very intelligent--she was to become a guard pokemon before the Association chose her for a vaccination. Her sense of smell makes her a fine judge of character, and I do not think she would ever let a good trainer down.> Mr. Brown did not mention that it would have to be a very, very good trainer that could win the respect of this houndour.
<The third is one has been recently treated with the vaccine, but we fear the recovery might've addled her a bit.> The houndour cheerfully padded up . <She is not always this friendly. We believe she has at least three different personalities now, but the friendly one remains the most dominant. Most of the time, she is very pleasant to be around,> Mr. Brown said, purposefully not making any mention of how unpleasant her other personalities might be.
<Any of these houndours will prove valuable allies. I do not think there is an incorrect choice, but do be warned that we cannot exchange your chosen pokemon for another after you leave the laboratory.>
Another sigh escaped her, but was quickly cut short so as not to be rude towards the Alakazam, Gothitelle, or the Professor. Everyone always expected her to be completely insane all the time, just to find out that she had her moments of being just like everybody else. They just didn't last as long as everybody else's, and she did have that annoying tendency to have scourge-like qualities when insane, and that did tend to put people off. Plus, her captors always told people who lived anywhere near her that she was 'a dangerous human being that can and will kill you', and that didn't really help her reputation. And also that she listened in on her captors conversations to hear said conversations about her insanity. The list went on...
Her rambling thoughts ended abruptly as a slight noise was let out, and she focused her eyes to see a bluish Houndour. As if her gaze itself had done it, the canine Pokemon fell over in a happy motion, and began whining until the Alakazam placed a yellow hand on its underbelly and began scratching. It looked so playful, but the description the Alakazam gave to it was proven when she saw the fiery and intense bloodlust that was plainly visible in its eyes. Her companion Archen stiffened in fear for her, and ruffled his feathers to makes himself look bigger. She shuddered in fear.
As the second Houndour was released, she backed up a half step as it approached, sniffing her bare feet. It froze for a second and she feared that it might attack her, but soon resumed its sniffing with a bit of caution, as if it knew that she was dangerous. Listening to Mr. Brown's description, she stared hard at the Pokemon, wondering if she really needed another guardian in her life. Her sparkling savior was hard enough to deal with. She felt instantly terrible for even thinking of this, and pet her Archen as if to say sorry.
Seconds after the third and what turned out to be the final Houndour was released, she could tell that it wasn't quite right in the head. It cheerfully padded up to her as if in a slight daze, and the Alakazam's description proved it. Three different personalities...she wondered how the little thing could live with it. Though, she herself almost had two split personalities. Except it wasn't like she was two different people; there were times when she felt like she could only see out of her own eyes, but not control herself. As if caged inside her own mind. Those were the times when bitter tears mixed with the blood of those she had hurt. And this was the time when she closed her eyes now, as if to shut out the world.
A full five seconds passed before Kane must have realized that something was amiss, and two sharp talons gripping her shoulder hard sent her back into reality. She reminded herself to thank the Archen later. Looking over the three Houndour, she took Mr. Brown's warning to heart. The multiple-personality one was the one she viewed first. Do I really need more insanity in my life? Can I deal with another just as insane as I am? She wondered. A furrowed brow later, she confirmed that she just couldn't do it, for the sake of the people around her. Her eyes fell on the second Pokemon, the one warily sniffing her naked foot. And I definitely don't need another guardian. Kane's a fine one, and he'll protect me from anything. That left one more. The one that made her shudder in fear. The one with the bloodthirst that it kept hidden beneath a cute exterior.
The one she was getting. "That one, please, Mr. Brown, sir." She said firmly, her hand pointing to the one who's underbelly was pointing to the skies. The multicolored fossil bird on her shoulder stared at her in disbelief, but she kept staring ahead, trying to be strong for once in her life. Why she chose the one who probably wanted to suck out her blood as much as her insane, scourge side wanted to suck out his, she was unclear. Maybe she needed something to be a sort of an anti-model. Something she would never want to be.
Or, everything could go horribly wrong, and she could end up a scourge-human-monster because of this Houndour. One or the other. But, just once, she was willing to gamble.
The Alakazam watched her patiently as she thought over the choices. Mrs. Brown would surely know exactly what she was thinking as she turned over each Houndour in her mind. He had no idea, really. Instead he would wait patiently as he tried to guess which she would pick again. Perhaps the third. She seemed a little bit off, the two of them could be a good pair. As he waited patiently, she finally made her decision, pointing to the first male who continued to roll about on his back, whinning and waiting for another hand to reach down and comfort him.
He was surprised, she had seemed so startled by the creature at first. But that did not mean that he did not think they could make a good match. Returning the other two to their pokeballs, he then used his psychic abilities to transport them back to the teleportation device. Allowing his powers to again change the knobs and send the balls back to where they came from, he gathered a pack of items and the pokeball that would return the male houndour. Moving them to the girl, he held them mid-air until the girl took them. <Alright then. He is yours and those items are, too. You may now start your journey. Take good care of that pokemon,> He was never really sure how to end this things. Give her the pokemon, then leave. That would be the easiest way.
Congratulations! You recieved a HOUNDOUR Gender: Male Level: Five Moves: Leer, Ember, Howl,+1 EGG MOVE
Her brown eyes blinked for a moment in shock of how easy this had been. Just by walking in, asking for a Pokemon, and choosing which one, she had actually gotten one? But, for some reason, she couldn't be truly happy with the choice she had made. It hadn't been the best for her, but one that was simply better than another insane one and another guardian. But that bloodthirst...it made her shiver and feel so scared. He was the one that liked to fight, and she was absolutely terrified of that. Her Archen rarely fought, and if he did it was usually only for the sake of protecting her. And even then, it was rarely actual moves. More like ruffling feathers to make himself bigger and bigger until the other Pokemon just scampered away. But this, this hidden rage just scared her half to death.
But, she had chosen, and it was her right to do so. So, when Mr. Brown handed her the Pokeballs and other items, she accepted gratefully, reminding herself to get a purse or shoulder bag at some point to store this stuff. But carrying them like this would have to do for now. Until she was allowed outside again, which probably wasn't going to happen for a long, long time. Nodding at the Alakazam's telepathic words seemed just like instinct, as if she was just a rag doll being carried by a child. Start her journey...? What journey? She knew nothing outside of Proserpina, and even then, she knew little outside her carefully watched apartment. Her journey back to there, maybe. Something inside her wanted to believe this.
She wasn't entirely sure how to hold the fire-type canine. Would it follow her home loyally, or would she have to pick it up? It might singe her skin a bit, after all, it was a fire-type. She decided to go for it, realizing that when she did go insane, it would do more damage to her than a slight first-degree burn could do. So, as gently as she possibly could, she lifted the Houndour into her arms. This, of course, was much to the resentment of Kane, but he needed to learn to be a team player for once. His dark bluish fur felt warm, but didn't feel like it was burning her. She marveled at that, then looked back at Mr. Brown with thankfulness in her eyes and smile. "Thank you!" She exclaimed to him, then turned to Ms. Brown, who was still holding the syringe. "And thank you too! Say hi to the Professor for me, okay? 'Bye!" She sang that last 'bye' as she opened the door to go back outside, and slowly began the short trip back.
Her pace quickened as she felt the usual light-headedness that signaled her insanity coming fast. She was soon breaking into a sprint for the door to her apartment room, and upon opening it, she locked both Kane and her unnamed Houndour in the slightly more secure bathroom, locked her own door, and let herself give into the insanity, hoping for the blackness to envelop her vision so that she wouldn't have to see the horrors she was causing. Perhaps her last rational thought before she went was this:
