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 door opened when she touched it. Not slam knocked over, but creaked, slowly moving to allow passage, like one of those horror movies. Lacey looked at the paper that was folded in her hand, unwravled it, and stared at the description of professor cypress's laboratory with narrowed eyes. A dozen bolted locks, the flyer claimed, under heavy surveillance 24-7 and guarded by two ferocious beasts.
She wondered if she was in the wrong place. Briefly, she considered leaving.
Inside, things looked much more normal than she'd expected, without robots everywhere and chrome-plated desks, chairs and walls. Looking around, she couldn't see the two 'ferocious beasts', but somewhere in the flyer, it'd said they were invisible, so she wasn't sure. Stepping outside, she searched for a doorbell, but there wasn't one, so she cupped her hands around her mouth and called, in her normal voice (so it wasn't too loud).
"Is the Professor in?"
"into the darkness they go, the wise and the lovely."
The Professor was in, but so were the Rattata. The darted through the laboratory, sailing in the direction of the door. Only a little more, and they'd be free from this putrid, antiseptic-reeking area! This was the only thing that kept the Rattata running. At the moment, three of them had managed to get free. Professor Cypress hadn't gotten the hint that the cages needed better locks. After all, these were special Rattata, the lot of them, all smarter than the average mouse Pokémon. In fact, their IQ was equivalent to that of an adolescent human.
Professor Cypress thought that had been a good experiment to conduct.
The Rattata came dashing through the lab, one of them sailing straight for Lacey's feet. The Rattata had no rules and knew no bounds. They would prance about as they very well pleased. This little blond girl with a nervous expression was nowhere near enough to stop them from getting an extra hour of fresh outdoor air!
A variety of noises reached her, all at once, and she dropped both arms to her side, craning her neck forward in hopes that it wasn't those 'ferocious beasts' everybody was so afraid of. A moment's silence, and she thought she heard the steady rhythm of a thump, thump thump and - was that the professor, she wondered? -, then shook her head. The professor wasn't that quiet, so it must've been a kitty cat.
After hespera stopped trusting, there were patrols every day, with their houndooms and mighteyena to attack the scourge hard, and without warning. Alleyways became infested with rats - mangy, yellow-beige fur and long teeth, but these rats were cute, even though she'd been expecting something along the lines of a glameow to appear. And she was so fascinated by them that she scooped down to grab the one by her feet, dangling it by its tail to the creature couldn't bite her or something. The other two were equally interesting, with their purple-tinged fur, but this one must've liked her or something, so she chose it.
"Professor!" Lacey tried again, louder this time. "I'll take this one, do I have to fill out any paperwork?"
"into the darkness they go, the wise and the lovely."
The Professor turned a corner, zooming into the room. "S-stop that Rattata!" he shouted, only to see that Lacey was holding the rodent Pokémon by its tail. The Rattata squirmed in its captive's grip, skreeing angrily. The Pokémon flailed its little legs, but when it realized that this was a losing battle, it went limp and sulked. The creature crossed its arms over its chest, an amusingly human gesture.
"Th-that one?" the Professor asked, rubbing the back of his neck. "U-um, he's a bit of a trouble maker but... l-lots of energy!" He tilted his head at Lacey and readjusted his glasses upon the bridge of his nose. "It won't be a problem, b-but, are you sure? I, er, I have other Pokémon too if you'd like to take a look but..." He poked the nose of the Rattata, and it tried to bite his finger off. "... I-I think it would be best for this Rattata to go out on its own. Oh, he's very adventurous, a-aren't you?"
The Professor scurried off, returning with a few Eos papers and a pen for Lacey.
"Of course!" Lacey beamed, nodding her head with pupils flickering between Cypress and the rattata. "The other two looked very nice, but I think I've decided on this one." Not only that, but in a way, she reasoned, the creature, arms crossed over its chest, made the decision easy for her this time around, which she was glad for. Best not to keep the professor waiting for too long, she had told herself on the way - yet she still felt a small prickle of hesitance that passed itself for a laugh as rattata snapped its teeth, meeting thin air.
"...It's really okay, right?" Bit her lip a she scanned through the papers, shuffling through with her fingers and twirling the pen in her free hand. "I mean-" She waved her hand. "-what I meant was if you need him for something, I'm sure I could come to a decision between the others!"
But secretly, she told herself that she was still rather fond of the rattata (even if it was only because it was very cute).
"Y-yes, of course, of course!" the Professor said as he took the Eos papers back from Lacey. "I had a feeling, y-you see, that he would do best with a human partner. This little one, always trying to, um, break out of his cage to see the outside world." The man let out a nervous laugh, hoping that this adventurous trait the Rattata possessed wouldn't discourage the girl from taking the Rattata.
The Pokémon, by now, had stopped squirming, and gazed at Lacey with his big eyes. He tilted his head, twitching his nose as he memorized the girl's scent. The Pokémon had a feeling that something very important was occurring, and that this significant event was centered around him.
"Um, I-I do wish you luck on your journey," the man stated, handing a Pokéball to Lacey. "O-oh, and please visit! If you can, that is!"
:srattata: LVL10 tackle, tail whip, quick attack, focus energy, bite + flame wheel + 1 stat boost of your choice
She smiled, eyes shining, lips curving up more and more as the professor continued to speak. When he was finished, she clapped her hands together, resting one palm on the other in a way she hoped wouldn't hurt the tail between thumb and index finger. "That's wonderful! I'll be sure to show him lots of different places, promise!" Feeling eyes on her, she broke off, catching rattata's gaze, then reached out a finger and gave its head a slight ruffle.
With the papers resting on her arm, pen cap in her mouth and free fingers turning the pages over one last time, she scribbled things, here and there, signing on the black lines and checking boxes without really reading them over. Paperwork wasn't really important, and the basic idea of the papers was there, so it was okay. Lacey handed the papers to the Professor, then took the pokeball, like some sort of strange trade exchange. She tucked it in one of the folds of her dress.
"Thank you so much, professor! I'll visit whenever I get the chance to!" And saying so, she gave a slight, half-curtsey to him, then walked out the door, still waving, still smiling, still holding that rattata by the tail. Then, leaving, she got to pondering the question of whether or not pokemon could really fly or not, and if that was the way she was going to have to take to ever see Cypress again.
The Professor was in, but so were the Rattata. The darted through the laboratory, sailing in the direction of the door. Only a little more, and they'd be free from this putrid, antiseptic-reeking area! This was the only thing that kept the Rattata running. At the moment, three of them had managed to get free. Professor Cypress hadn't gotten the hint that the cages needed better locks. After all, these were special Rattata, the lot of them, all smarter than the average mouse Pokémon. In fact, their IQ was equivalent to that of an adolescent human.
