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!
She was no predator but she was after a gym badge. She impatiently tapped her foot as she stood inside the elevator wondering why they always felt slower than they were. It was just as well she wore no watch to tempt herself with, otherwise she’d be timing the whole bloody trip – and she was only going down a floor or two. A floor or two was not worthy of impatient foot-tapping.
After what seemed like an exaggerated eternity, the doors opened and once she had stepped outside, Deryn had found herself facing a…
Was this what a gym looked like? What it was supposed to look like? From the stories her Poppa had told her, she was expecting flashing lights and puzzles. This place, on the other hand, was downright plain. And empty. Great. She had to do the shouty thing, didn’t she?
“Hello?” Deryn called out into the plain emptiness. “I’m looking for the Gym Leader.”
Jasper's head popped out from behind a shelf on the far side of the arena. "Yeah?" His eyes scanned his surroundings before landing on Deryn, and his face broke into a wide grin. "Well, you found me!" The leader scratched at his nose with a dirty hand. "Give me a sec, all right?" He ducked back behind the shelf. (clang thump crash -- "Oops!")
A minute later, Jasper walked toward the challenger, covered in dust. "Sorry, I was in the middle of something -- but hey, it can wait!" Another bright grin. "So you're a new trainer, huh? We should get started then!" The man released a shieldon into the arena. "I'm Jasper, but I think you already know that!" He laughed. "What's your name?"
:shieldon: tackle | protect | taunt | metal sound | stealth rock | rock slide
That was another weird thing; were gym leaders supposed to grin like that? Contrary to her Poppa’s stories, Deryn had always pictured them as a serious kind of people – but there was always time for that later when the battle actually started.
“One.” Deryn counted the second she gave him, saying the word just as a crash happened. What followed was a roll of the eyes and some foot tapping. She couldn’t believe she was being made to wait some more.
Once Jasper appeared, Deryn found that she had a lot less things to say to him. The Pokemon he released was of more interest – Deryn was trying to figure out if she had seen a grown up and evolved version of it somewhere before. “Of course. Everything waits for a gym challenge,” she said, releasing her Poliwag. “I’m Deryn. Do I get the first move?”
water sport | bubble | hypnosis | water gun | double slap | rain dance | bubblebeam | mist | mind reader
More grinning. (People always asked if his face ever hurt because he smiled too much -- all he responded with was 'There's never too much smiling!') "Of course!" He rolled his shoulders. "Gym battles are fun, y'know?" He got to see cool new trainers all the time! It couldn't really get more awesome.
"Well, Deryn, it's up to you!" Jasper laughed. "Most trainers won't wait, but hey -- whatever floats your sea vessel!" The man folded his arms across his chest, his expression eager. "Feel free to start!"
tackle | protect | taunt | metal sound | stealth rock | rock slide
Heh. More grinning? If Jasper had been a woman, Deryn would have guessed that the constant grinning was the result of some kind of plastic surgery. Maybe botox. No grins were returned at all – and even if Deryn did enjoy battling, she still wouldn’t have grinned.
But that was okay. Jasper was doing enough for the both of them.
“I’ll start then,” she said, turning to her Poliwag. Her Nidorina liked to be instructed, so she assumed that’s what all her Pokemon were like. “Use Mist, and…” Crap, what was that other move called? Did she have some battle nerves after all? “Spit water at it.”
The Poliwag still easily understood the command and launched its attacks.
water sport | bubble | hypnosis | water gun | double slap | rain dance | bubblebeam | mist | mind reader
Poliwag used Mist. Poliwag used Water Gun.
(because it’s you and you’re really good at battles >>; ((that, and i'm expecting delilah to pop out at any moment)))
He shrugged. "Feel free!" Her unamused expression wasn't lost on him, of course -- just because he was enthusiastic didn't mean he was stupid (his gym was in a library, for Arceus' sake) -- but actually caring was an entirely different matter. "That's a water gun," he offered helpfully.
"Let's go, Peridot! How about a stealth rock and a rock slide?" The shieldon scattered a large amount of stones on the opposite side of the arena, which rose into the air as a pseudo-obstacle course. Then, with a cry, the pokemon brought down slew of rocks aimed at the poliwag.
tackle | protect | taunt | metal sound | stealth rock | rock slide
OOPS was hit by water gun used rock slide used stealth rock
“I know what it is,” Deryn snapped defensively, as if snapping would hide the fact that she was embarrassed. “It’s also practically spit—well don’t just stand there!” Her attention had quickly switched to the Poliwag who had been watching the Shieldon’s first attack carefully and was being a bit slow to realise the rocks being hurled at it.
Deryn started to move her face into her hand as the rocks hit her Pokemon, but stopped halfway. She told herself to keep the disappointment at bay until the battle was over.
Which hopefully wasn’t too soon.
“Rain Dance. Then Bubblebeam.”
water sport | bubble | hypnosis | water gun | double slap | rain dance | bubblebeam | mist | mind reader
Poliwag hit by Rock Slide. Used Rain Dance. Used Bubblebeam.
Jasper laughed. "Of course! I was just reminding you," he said good-naturedly. "Peridot, don't forget to dodge!" The shieldon, like its trainer, thought it best to not take the barrage of bubbles head-on and waddled out of the way.
"Good job!" He glanced at Deryn then chuckled. "How about a protect?"
tackle | protect | taunt | metal sound | stealth rock | rock slide
“Whatever.” A frown set in Deryn's face. She didn’t like the laugh (which she had already decided was a ‘laughing at you’ kind of thing) and she didn’t like how the opponent Pokemon was quick enough to figure out when to dodge. Not only that, but the way the Shieldon had just waddled out of the way, as if it were a duck waddling away from the lemonade stand, was just… infuriating!
The Poliwag thought so too – sort of – and pulled a face at its opponent just as Deryn spoke to it. “Look! It doesn’t take much effort to dodge now, does it?
“Anyway…” She took a moment to think. She knew what protect did and didn’t feel like wasting an offensive move on the Shieldon. Instead, Deryn rummaged through her bag and quickly found what she was looking for. “Here, Poliwag.”
water sport | bubble | hypnosis | water gun | double slap | rain dance | bubblebeam | mist | mind reader
What was this guy? A teacher? Deryn was due to make some sort of snarky comment, but the Gym Leader had already ordered an attack, bringing Deryn’s head out of the game. “Outta the way, Poliwag!” She shouted, not trusting her Pokemon to dodge the attack without being told to.
It if had time, the Poliwag would have been annoyed at that.
“Bubble beam again. And Mind Reader.”
water sport | bubble | hypnosis | water gun | double slap | rain dance | bubblebeam | mist | mind reader
Poliwag dodged. Poliwag used Bubble Beam. Poliwag used Mind Reader.
The bubblebeam hit his pokemon, who promptly passed out, and Jasper clapped. "Good, good! Very well done!" He returned the pokemon to its pokeball, releasing another one into the air. "Let us go, Agate!"
shieldon fainted jasper returned shieldon jasper released archen
quick attack | leer | pluck | rock throw | double team | scary face | bite | rock slide
The Poliwag looked triumphantly at its ko’d opponent, but managed to refrain from jumping up and down in response to the victory. Deryn also managed to stop herself doing the same, and instead tried to look as cool and as uncaring as she could.
When she first saw the Archen, she didn’t bother covering up her first thought. “Ew…”
But there was no time to contemplate how or why a bird made of rocks existed. “Use Hypnosis on… it.”
water sport | bubble | hypnosis | water gun | double slap | rain dance | bubblebeam | mist | mind reader
Poliwag hit by Scary Face and Rock Slide. Poliwag used Hypnosis.
"Hypnosis -- a great strategy!" This girl was promising already! Of course, that didn't mean Agate would take it any less easy. "Don't forget to dodge!" The bird pokemon swooped clear of the hypnotizing gaze, instead lifting and tossing rocks at the poliwag.
quick attack | leer | pluck | rock throw | double team | scary face | bite | rock slide
Damn the ability to dodge! But it served as a reminder for Deryn, and for her Pokemon. “You get ready to dodge their attack too!
“And then hit it with a Bubblebeam.”
The Poliwag was feeling quite fatigued, but there was no way it needed to be told twice – one more hit and it knew it was a goner. Deryn knew it too, but she was more than content to let her Pokemon get run down until it completely fainted.
water sport | bubble | hypnosis | water gun | double slap | rain dance | bubblebeam | mist | mind reader
Poliwag dodged Rock Throw. Poliwag used Bubblebeam
