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!
Paying no attention to her surroundings, Imogen stared regretfully at the half empty coffee cup in her hands. She originally hoped that her drink would be finished by the time she got to her destination, but (as usual) ended up being periodically distracted by the fluffy clouds over her head. By the time Imogen arrived on the gorgeous marble doorsteps of the guild, her latte was woefully cold and ignored.
She sighed as she swished the leftover liquid at the bottom, silently wondering whether she could finish it all in one shot or risk taking the cup inside. She always detested wasting food, but judging by how fancy the guild exterior was, 'Gen doubted food or drinks were allowed inside. A softly cleared throat startled her thoughts; a well-dressed butler standing patiently with one hand holding the door and the other holding a trash can. Imogen quirked an eyebrow.
"Thank you, sir," she murmured slowly with a lazy grin, chucking her cup into the outstretched can and leisurely strolling inside. "I guess Lady Mercedes doesn't like stains on her carpets." Understandable, considering how beautiful the interior was -- Imogen was having a very hard time not drooling over the marble floors. But eventually she made her way to where the butler silently gestured at, stopping at the fanciest door she had ever seen in her life. The brunette hesitated, subtly checking her clothes for any coffee stains, before knocking twice.
The knocks were dull upon the solid oaken door. Its tympanum had been engraved with a relief of twisting vines. Little grass Pokémon clutched the plants while other Pokémon huddled together in different clusters. It did not appear to matter whether a Pokémon was confined to the water, for even those were featured upon Lady Mercedes' office door.
The woman clapped her hands twice, and a Mr. Mime sipping tea in her office rose from his seat to hustle to the door. The Pokémon turned the knob, ushering Imogen with a slight bow of the head, the other hand making a sweeping gesture to urge the woman to enter. Meanwhile, Lady Mercedes gazed up from her papers through her lashes to take a look at the newcomer. "I presume Eos has sent you, no?" she said, shuffling through her papers.
If there was one thing the woman despised the most, it was people who were tardy and unorganized. Unfortunately, she was filling both roles today.
Imogen shouldn't have been surprised to see a Mr. Mime answer the door instead of an actual human, but she was. She blinked slowly before smiling slightly and nodding in thanks. The brunette was ushered into an office that was just as fancy as the lobby, if not more, and once again she tried her damndest to keep her jaw from dropping.
Sitting before her was the Lady Mercedes herself, breeder extraordinaire and the woman whom Imogen was supposed to impress today. The girl cringed lightly at that thought. Arriving late isn't exactly a good first impression... Normally she wasn't bothered by her tardiness, as most people knew that she lacked any real concept of time and showed up anywhere either ridiculously late or unfashionably early. But since this was a... special occasion, Imogen made an effort to make her response sound apologetic as possible. "Yes, Lady Mercedes, I was sent here by Eos. My name is Imogen and I do apologize for arriving late -- hopefully it wasn't too long of a wait..."
Pausing, she fiddled with her shirt hem and struggled to find something else to say. "...It's an honour to meet you!" eventually she blurted out the first thought that came to mind, inwardly glad that it was at least something sincere.
Lady Mercedes lifted her head to gaze upon Imogen. She tapped at her chin, twice, a lacquered fingernail glinting in the artificial light. "Yes, you are late," the woman said, scrutinizing the prospective Pokémon breeder. "My schedule is very tight. I have much business to attend to." Secretly, she quite enjoyed meeting new breeders, but she felt there was a pretense to keep if she was to garner the R-E-S-P-E-C-T that she felt she deserved.
"Now now, I'm no monster," the woman said, rising from her desk. "I'm quite happy to meet you as well. As you can see, I'm a little unorganized, myself." She waved in the direction of the papers sprawled in front of her. "Please, do take a seat. I haven't got all day. These papers shouldn't be very difficult to fill out. All that Eos requires from here is your final signature. Everything else, I have already submitted."
If anything, Lady Mercedes was very good at her work.
"Tell me, what is it that attracted you to Pokémon breeding?"
Imogen raised one eyebrow at the mess that the other woman referred to, stacks upon stacks of paperwork. She admittedly couldn't help but exhale in relief when the Lady mentioned that there was only one sheet left to sign. The last thing Imogen wanted to do was spend her day signing paperwork when she could be doing something more appealing, like watching paint dry.
She sat down tentatively in the chair before taking out one of the pens in her bag, quickly scribbling on her hand to test if the ink worked. "I won't keep you waiting from your other duties then," Imogen smiled briefly, signing her final signature on the offered paper with a flourish. When asked about her reasons for becoming a breeder, the young woman went silent, wondering how to answer without sounding like a lazy piece of shit.
"...I'm from Bacchus, so seeing the scourge take over my hometown was... troublesome, to say the least. I figured I should help out any way that I could and since breeding was the most interesting of options, I chose it," she elaborated. "There's something about grooming a pokemon to perfection and then watching it pass those genes down that strikes my fancy."
It was a fair enough response. "Yes, I suppose that Bacchus Town was a rather troublesome incident," the woman said as she clapped her hands. A Vulpix bounded forwards, breathing a light ember over the stick of red wax that Lady Mercedes clutched between her fingers. She dripped it onto an envelope with Imogen's paperwork in it, then stamped a brass seal upon the wet wax. After handing the sealed envelope to the Vulpix, the Pokémon bounded away through the door, opened by the Mr. Mime.
"Well, come along now," the woman said, rising from her desk. "I have a few Pokémon I'd like to show you. They are my Pokémon, so they have already been groomed to perfection." With that, the woman strolled over to another oaken door to the back of her office. She pulled a skeleton key from a dress pocket and unlocked the door, leaving it ajar for Imogen to follow her.
At the end of the hall was a metal door, one which Lady Mercedes was required to stand for a retina scan. The red lights read the woman's eyes, and with a mechanical whirr and click, allowed her to enter. At the center of the expansive room stood a supercomputer with a touch-screen keyboard, of which the woman immediately set to punching in passwords to let her through.
Imogen stared blankly at the obedient Vulpix, furrowing her eyebrows as it seemed to understand and obey its owner without any actual words being spoken. Idly, as the Lady skillfully stamped her envelope, the younger woman wondered if one day she would be just as in-tune with her very own pokemon. As much as she pretended otherwise, the woman was quite excited at the idea of raising pokemon and travelling the world.
...She definitely could have done without the rabid zombie pokemon apocalypse though, but alas. Beggars can't be choosers. Imogen brushed her quickly darkening thoughts aside and followed Lady Mercedes through yet ("another!") fancy, elaborate door. "Ahh, yes, I was told that the selection of pokemon I'd be choosing from is top-notch. Nothing less than what I'd expect from you, of course," Imogen gently remarked, steadily growing giddier with each step into this ~*~secret~*~ lab.
When the duo stopped in front of the supercomputer, Imogen quickly looked away from the touchscreen keyboard. She was about as useful with technology as a Caterpie is at being fearsome, but she figured it’d be a bad idea if she was caught peeking at any passwords. “Before I forget, do you have any tips for a beginner breeder like myself?” Imogen shyly asked, remembering the question her parents urged her to ask before she departed on her adventure.
Lady Mercedes glanced over her shoulder at Imogen as she tapped in the final password. "Any tips? There are not many I can give to you," she said to the new Eos breeder. "Most of what you must learn will be through experience. You see, all Pokémon are different, so there is no true or perfect formula to breeding Pokémon. You must, instead, observe each one of them, understand which Pokémon will enjoy whose company, realize which Pokémon's personalities are compatible with one another."
The supercomputer hummed to life as ten Pokémon were projected holographically. Each one showed a miniature version of the Pokémon, who all gazed at Imogen curiously. "Take your time and observe them all closely," Lady Mercedes said to Imogen, gesturing towards each projected holographic image. "Though I assure you, they are all very well-behaved and understand their role as a Pokémon of Eos. There is no need to worry."
Of course, as Imogen observed each Pokémon, Lady Mercedes would also be quietly evaluating the new breeder.
The young woman listened to the famous breeder's advice, nodding slowly at the end. "I... I'll keep that in mind, then. Though I suppose I'm bound to make a mistake or two along the way," she murmured, turning her attention to the holographic display once again. Ten varied pokemon were shown and Imogen's eyes brightened as she analyzed each one, putting names to their faces. Almost immediately she crossed a couple off of her list of possible choices. No hard feelings, of course, but knowing how indecisive she got (especially in important situations like this) it was best if she narrowed the initial list down as much as possible.
Satisfied with the last four choices she was left with, the woman tilted her head in thought. While the Chikorita stood out to her at once (her grandpa owned a Meganium once upon a time), she soon deduced that in the end Piplup was much more compatible with her tastes. That left Electrike and Numel, and dear lord it was probably the hardest decision of her life. Electrike was what she felt best to choose as a soon-to-be breeder, but Numel’s relaxed, sleepy nature made them perfect companions for girls like Imogen. Eventually logic won out pure laziness. “I’d like to take the Piplup and Electrike if you don’t mind, ma’am,” she said sheepishly, realizing that she took quite a bit of time making up her mind.
"Of course, of course," Lady Mercedes said. As she snapped her fingers, the holographic display of the ten Pokémon faded, save for the Piplup and the Numel. The supercomputer spat out a pair of Pokéballs, of which the Eos breeder plucked from a tray. "These are yours, then," the woman said, placing the two capsules in the center of Imogen's palm. "Take very good care of them. If they are mistreated, I shall hear of it at once."
Suddenly, her facial expression shifted from serious to a smile. "Have a wonderful day!" the woman said, then, "You should not worry about making mistakes. After all, breeding is all about experimentation, is it not?"
