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!
to be quite honest, finding her way from hespera city all the way to juno was simple, but long. what winnie had anticipated to take less than a day took two, forcing her to sleep on the overnight bus that lagged and had to take detours to avoid scourge infested areas. winnie didn't mind, not too much, but she had to admit that the longer it took to get to juno city, the more doubt she felt pooling at the pit of her stomach. hopefully, this wasn't as dumb as it felt. a lot of others, much younger than she was, had run off to professor cypress to sign up as a trainer and fight the scourge. she was doing exactly the same. still, even though part of her was convinced that this was a stupid idea that would get her killed in less than a week, the other part of her could hardly contain her excitement. this was the first time she had left hespera all alone, much less travel the entire region fighting the scourge-infected pokemon--but she was getting ahead of herself. one step at a time, and right now she had to go to cypress laboratories to obtain a pokemon.
after some meandering and getting lost, winnie finally found herself in front of the laboratory building. now so close, all previous doubts left her mind completely, leaving her with nervous butterflies in her stomach. without thinking, she pushed open the door and stuck her head in, eyes bright as they took everything in. "excuse me, professor cypress? anyone here?" she called out, slowly sliding into the lab and raising her voice. "i'm here for a pokemon?"
Almost there. He was almost at a breakthrough -- all he had to do was keep calm, keep quiet. Cypress slowly approached the wary rattata, his smile reassuring (if not a bit nervous). He didn't fancy any more bite marks on his fingers, thank you very much.
Then he heard the front door opening, and the sound of a girl's voice. "Oh, no." The purple rat pokemon shot off, weaving through Cypress' outstretched hands and between his legs in its mad dash for the freedom. "K-Krauss, s-stop him!" the professor called frantically. The alakazam, with practiced efficiency, teleported beside the human girl and swiftly closed the door behind her, offering a goofy smile. Sorry, there's a wee little troublemaker on the loose. As if on cue, the rattata sprinted into the room -- and was promptly raised into the air by the psychic pokemon. Leaving the pokemon hanging in the air and flailing frantically, the alakazam bowed to Winnie. The professor will be out in a moment. He probably tripped over something on the way here.
True to the pokemon's words, Cypress arrived in the front room with his glasses askew and his lab coat rather rumpled. "S-sorry about that," he panted. "You m-must be Miss Winnie?"
from what seemed like complete peace, the laboratory suddenly burst alive with action, scaring winnie into silence. when the alakazam teleported near her, she let out a small gasp and pulled her arms into her chest, stepping back closer to the now closed door. then the psychic type talked to her, though, on second though, she supposed it was more like he thought into her head, and before she could register what he had said, a rattata flew into the room, only to hover in the air, flailing its limbs in vain. when the professor finally appeared, winnie blinked at him, blank-faced as she tried to understand what had just happened. "oh, no, it's fine," she breathed, relaxing and stepping away from the corner. "that was just startling." with a small smile, she stepped forward, offering a hand to the stuttering professor, heart still pounding, though now she supposed it was less because of the rattata and more from anxiety. she was closer to getting her starter and now all she could think of was the professor telling her that no, she wasn't qualified enough and would have to leave without a pokemon. but there was no sense in letting her imagination get ahead of her. "yes, i'm winona decker, here for my starter," she said, introducing herself as politely as she could.
He took her hand with a nervous smile. "I-I'm terribly s-sorry to have s-startled you," he apologized, shaking quickly before adjusting his glasses on the bridge of his nose. "Y-yes, we've b-been expecting you." Cypress turned around, about to wave her to follow him, before taking into account the mess on the floor -- as a result of both the rattata's antics and his own clumsiness. "Well, we w-were expecting y-you." Now, everything was scattered all over the floor in their room and the next. The man shook his head sadly. "W-would you mind h-helping m-me?" he asked, almost pleading. "Miss Sybil is o-out, and she u-usually helps."
Mister Krauss raised an eyebrow at the professor, who raised an eyebrow in return. (They both knew the Gothitelle did the most housecleaning in the lab.) Cypress ignored his alakazam, turning back to Winnie. "I p-promise you'll get y-your starter, b-but your p-papers ..." Cypress' green eyes looked despairingly at the floor. "P-please?"
The forgotten rattata gave an indignant squawk from its place in the air.
arceus, this man seemed like a wreck. he was nervous and stuttering and winnie couldn't imagine how he managed to do any work at all. though, she supposed the alakazam contributed a lot of help. still, she wondered if he worked all alone. that would explain a lot of the, ah, clutter. there were papers strewn all about the floor, though she thought she remembered the rattata kicking up a lot of them when he raced into the room. at the professor's wilting figure, winnie felt a little pity. this poor man had it pretty rough, she figured. "of course i'll help," she said, kneeling down on the ground and starting to gather some of the papers together, shuffling through them as she tried to keep them straight and neat. "i'd feel awful just watching you clean up and not helping at all." with winnie's help, it seemed the clean up went rather quickly. as she shuffled the pages into neat stacks, she tried to keep an eye out for her name, though after a while, all the names and letters began to blur together. rubbing dust from her eyes, she straightened up and set a stack of papers on a desk. "is that all?" she asked, just as she saw a loose corner of something sticking out from under the desk. as she pulled it from its hiding spot, she saw her full name typed across the top in official looking letters. "i think this is what we're looking for," she said, offering the sheet to the nervous man.
He bent down and began to tidy up as best as possible, shoving a few of the more battered-looking papers aside for later perusal. The man gave a grateful smile to the girl when she joined in as he picked up fallen documents and pens (that's where it went), waving at Mister Krauss to put the poor rattata down back where it had come from. The alakazam walked out of the room, gently lowering the small pokemon to the ground, before swiftly shutting the door. After a short while of working in silence, the professor stood and nodded to Winnie. "Y-yes, I believe s-so. Th-thank you s-so much!"
Cypress took the paper she offered him, scanning it quickly. He nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, i-it is." That saved him the trouble of hunting through the piles of somewhat-neat papers to find the poor girl's. "I-I'll be right b-back." Carefully making his way through the lab lest he knock something over again, the professor left and quickly returned with some papers and a cart of pokeballs. "H-here are the pokemon," he explained, holding out the papers with information on them, "a-and f-feel free to a-ask questions if you w-want!"
when the professor took her paper, winnie felt her stomach twist in anticipation. crossing her fingers, she intently watched the professor as he scanned her sheet, half expecting him to shove the paper back at her and tell her she wasn't qualified enough and would have to please leave now as she wouldn't be getting a starter. then he disappeared into a room and she found herself completely alone with her anxious thoughts. for a moment, she let herself get anxious, before she mentally scolded herself. there was no need to get all worked up like that. thinking so negatively would only make her life more negative. so she crossed her fingers and whispered a small chant, hoping the professor would return soon and with her pokemon. when professor cypress walked back in the room, he showed up with not just one, but ten pokeballs. winnie gasped as she stared at them in awe, gently taking the information cards from the professor. and suddenly, she was poring over the information on each of the pokemon, engrossed in it and suddenly it was as if the professor wasn't even in the room. she read over each card twice, to make sure she wasn't missing anything, because she knew this was an important decision. whatever pokemon she chose was going to be her partner in fighting back the scourge. after a moment of hesitation, she finally placed a hand on the gligar's pokeball. "i think i'll take this one," she said, the corners of her lips starting to tug upwards into a smile.
The man smiled as she read the information. She was an eager trainer, wasn't she? His expression turned slightly sad as he thought about what was waiting for her out there, as an Eos trainer -- but he couldn't bring himself to tell her. It was painful, at times, to see so many fresh-faced young recruits come in innocent and come out of the ordeal changed (and not always for the better). Cypress nodded at her decision. "O-of course." The man handed her the pokeball, along with a bag. "H-here are some th-things to k-keep you s-safe."
:sgligar: LV 10 poison sting sand-attack harden knock off agility night slash
holding the metal sphere in her hand felt nothing short of perfect to winnie. the smooth surface felt just right and something in her just knew that she had made the right choice. whether it was wishful thinking or not, winnie would never know, but it was too late to back out now. the professor handed her a bag as well, probably filled with items to help her along with the journey. whatever it was, she took it gratefully. she knew that the world outside was rather harsh and dangerous--she would gladly take any help she could get. "thank you so much, for everything," she said, giving the professor a warm smile before skipping out of the laboratory. "goodbye! and wish me luck!"
Almost there. He was almost at a breakthrough -- all he had to do was keep calm, keep quiet. Cypress slowly approached the wary rattata, his smile reassuring (if not a bit nervous). He didn't fancy any more bite marks on his fingers, thank you very much.
:sralts: 
