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!
“Well, here we are…I think…” Taryn stepped into the training center and glanced around, though her mind was too preoccupied to actually take anything in. She had heard of this place and had always planned on coming here, but it still felt unreal to even have pokemon to train.
The new trainer released her Swablu, which took to the air immediately and perched on her head. Taryn smiled and sighed – this wasn’t the first time it happened, and it definitely wouldn’t be the last. “All right, Cirrus. Let’s see what you can do. Why not try some of your moves on one of the targets over there?”
Cirrus remained on Taryn’s head for a moment, and then flew to the nearest target. She blinked at it, and then began to sing.
“…Yeah, that…yeah…” Taryn shook her head, still smiling. “Can’t say I know any pokemon that’d be able to attack us after hearing such a beautiful serenade. Good job.”
Taryn entered the Training Center for the second time, this time accompanied by Ripple – her Skrelp. The little mock kelp Pokemon was several levels behind the rest of her party, so Taryn figured her focus should be on catching her up with the others. A good team had equally strong members, right?
“All right.” Taryn knelt down near a small pool and released the Pokemon in the water. “Since you’re a young aquatic Pokemon, I guess the first thing to do is see how well you swim. Care to give it a try?”
Ripple stared at her trainer a moment, and then started moving in the water. She made very little progress, though, and that progress was little more than moving in a small circle. Perhaps it was because of her level, or the uncoordinated movements of a newborn…or perhaps it was the fact that the silly thing was trying to swim backwards.
Last time had been…amusing, among other things, but today was going to be different. At least, that’s what Taryn told herself as she entered the Training Center and made her way to the pool.
“All right, Ripple.” Taryn released the Skrelp in the water. “Let’s see how you swim now. Master this, and we can work on your moves next.”
Ripple stared at her trainer for a moment, and then started to move through the water. This time was different. This time, the Skrelp swam forward…straight into the wall.
“Gah!” Taryn knelt by the pool and reached toward Ripple, but the Skrelp recovered before she could check on her and started swimming alongside the pool walls. Taryn frowned as she watched. It was slow, but at least it was movement, and she hadn’t hurt herself again.
“Okay.” Taryn was almost on autopilot as she walked to the pool and released Ripple from her Pokeball and set up some targets near the water. “I promised you an actual training session if you could master swimming last time, and you did well enough at that, so let’s see what you can do in an actual battle. I want to see each of your moves at least once, on whichever target you like.
An odd Haze enveloped the Skrelp. A moment later, she blasted the nearest target with Water Gun and hit it again with a Feint Attack. She then Tackled the target and retreated to the center of the pool.
“Good, good!” Taryn praised the Skrelp. “But where’s the Smo—” A coughing fit prevented her from finishing her sentence. As she started to speak, a dark cloud of something foul spread over her. She backed off to get some air and waited for the cloud to dissipate before she tried speaking again. “Okay then. Good. Just…you don’t have to make your Smokescreen quite that thick…”
((Regarding investing in more levels - I know I probably should…but there are so many things that want my money. XD))
This was getting to be very familiar. Taryn supposed it had to feel like a normal part of life at some point, though. She walked into the Training Center, making her way past the pool – today wasn’t Ripple’s turn – and toward a series of targets against the far wall. Once she reached the targets, she released Ana.
The Ralts stood there for a moment, looking around at her surroundings, and then stared up at Taryn. It was a little unnerving since she had no visible eyes, but Taryn pushed back the small amount of discomfort she felt. Ana was her friend and there was no need to fear her. Besides that, she was more-or-less a newborn.
“I know this is your first visit and all, but this will be easy.” Taryn smiled at her Pokemon. “I just want to see what you’re capable off. Pick a target and do any of your moves.”
Ana walked toward a target, sat down in front of it, and let out what she probably thought was a ferocious growl. What actually came out was a tiny squeak.
It was that time again! Taryn entered the Training Center and made her way to the targets, just like last time. Also like last time, she released her Ralts. By now, she had another newborn Pokemon to train, but that would come after Ana caught up to Ripple and Firestorm.
“Same deal as last time, Ana.” The trainer smiled at her Pokemon. “Pick a target and practice away.”
Ana sprinted up to a target and stood about a foot away from it. The world seemed to grow unnaturally still for just a moment, and Taryn shivered. Her little one had done…something. Something creepy. Was that Destiny Bond? Did that even work on a lifeless target?
“Err…” Taryn looked between Ana and the target. “Maybe we should just stick with Growl for the rest of this session.”
Ana stared up at her trainer and Growled – a weird noise that sounded like something between a purr and her previous squeak.
Taryn made her way into and across the Trainer Center, heading for the same set of targets she had been using before. She still felt a bit off from the last training session, but she was determined to keep to her schedule. Besides, it’d be Ana that actually did the training, not her. She didn’t need to feel perfect.
Taryn released the Ralts and smiled at her. It wasn’t the Pokemon’s fault the growl affected her trainer. At least, Taryn hoped it hadn’t been on purpose. “One more good session, and you get a break. I know you’ve learned an actual damaging move by now, so let me see it. Uh…on the targets, if you wouldn’t mind.”
Ana chirped indignantly at her trainer and then turned to the targets, focusing on the nearest. The target jerked seemingly on its own. Seeing Confusion in action was both cool and unnerving, especially when repeated uses of the move ended up breaking off a piece of the target. Ana continued to use Confusion on the broken piece, slamming it into the wall as many times as she could before it hit the ground.
Taryn giggled. “All right, now you’re just showing off…”
She knew it was just part of being a new trainer that relied on the egg shop, but Taryn felt as though she was starting over for the third time. She was back in the Training Center with the intent to strengthen up another weak Pokemon.
At least this would be the last time she “started over” for a while, and she hadn’t had to train everyone from level one. She was already trying to catch Pokemon number six up to the others. It would only get more interesting from here. At least, that’s what she hoped.
Taryn stopped near a set of targets and released her Mawile from her Pokeball. “All right, Mithril, let’s start wi—”
A loud crash cut her off mid-sentence. As soon as Mithril had been released, she immediately charged into the nearest target, slamming head-first into it. The target wobbled and sported a noticeable dent, but the Mawile seemed relatively unscathed.
“…with target practice.” Taryn finished her sentence. “Okay, good.”
