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!
sometimes, sophia appears in the dream world as an eight year old girl. it's a lot easier to situate pleasant memories in the past. it keeps her from wishing for things to which she has no right.
she walks along the shore until she comes across an abandoned bucket. she looks around before picking it up. sophia sits down on the beach and begins to make a sand castle. she remembers doing this with daniel once, back when he was already too old for such things. sophia also inlays the seashells in the same spiral pattern.
the wave comes in, and sophia also remembers how angry she would get when the water would wash away all of her hard work. daniel had tried to assure her that it was fine, but the waves had such a large reach and she was so helpless to stop them.
she can only watch as the waves become larger and larger. before the water tastes the edges of her castle, sophia flattens the castle with the bottom of her bucket. just like she used to when she was truly eight years old.
she scoops some sand into the bucket and tries again.
It's not often that Raph gets dragged into the Dream World, but today is an exception. Bitterly cold days have led him to the beach for the warmth and the feeling of comfort that it provides.
There are footsteps in the sand, quickly being washed away by the waves incoming from the sea. He follows them, curious, because his curiosity is something that has always been a fault of his, and comes across a child making a sand castle, her work continually being washed away. Raph stays a distance away, because he is an adult now and has no interest in such things.
But that doesn't stop his face from showing that he wants to get down on his knees, jeans getting sandy as he builds a sand castle becuase itsbeensuchalongtime
He stands there, sneakers a safe distance away from both the water and the girl with her efforts instead.
her castles will not be washed away. they won't, because sophia will destroy her own castles, sooner watch them burn than to see the enemy generals situate themselves on the front steps. an act of destruction can also be an act of love.
sophia turns her head to collect another bright white seashell. that's when she notices the stranger. she drops the shell and makes the mistake of thinking that she is eight years old again with sand collecting in her sundress and innocence pooling in her heart. her first reaction is to turn to the place where her parents should be lounging, the place where daniel would be rubbing suntan lotion on their mother's back.
she sees nothing. there is nothing to be done about him.
(you are not here at the beach. you are not innocent. you are not whole)
She turns, hand reaching for something in the sands, before she stops. Raph doesn't know why she's stopping when all he's done is stand there, until he realizes that the girl has spotted him. He watches her turn towards a spot on the beach, looking toward a space filled with nothing, before he takes the initiative - he's always been good at that - and tries to reassure her. The researcher takes a step forward, hands open at his sides and even as he closes the distance between them, he tries to give her space.
"Hey," he says, voice gentle and quiet but sincere and audible. This is an eight-year-old girl, there is no reason to do anything otherwise. "Making a sand castle?" he asks curiously, because of what he's seen of young children they're always eager to talk about themselves and their things.
(he chooses to ignore the fact that he doesn't have any experience in that department himself, as much of a loner as he is)
toska I am just jumping from thought to thought haha lol
what is she afraid of? she is only in a dream. alone, but nothing can touch her here. at the same time, physis is not here to lend her strength. physis does not dream.
she had been a cheerful and energetic child, once. that was..nearly twenty years ago. sophia does not immediately remember who she once was. she looks to the ocean. maybe the warm touch of dream sand and the smell of the salty breeze will help her remember.
"...my brother told me not to talk to strangers." she says earnestly. "except...i guess i just did, huh." sophia makes a guilty face, remembering the early defeat shared by hersef and aaron as she does so.
Raph shrugs. "They're probably right, but hey, I can keep a secret." He understands the importance of not getting in trouble with parents when you're a child - he's seen plenty of that on his own to know. Though, he wonders why she's the only one here, lonely and solitary on the long beach. Surely a girl would have dreamt up companions or other entertainments than building sand castles? But then again, what'd he know about children.
"uh-huh." it was a lot easier pretending to be a child when even her voice had adjusted to fit the role. she makes an appropriate pause. "...i wasn't supposed to tell you that either. who are you, mister?"
He chuckles, still unnerved by the sheer oddness of this world, but pleased with where he'd ended up all the same. "I'm Raph. I study pokemon. Who are you?"
...a researcher. the only ones that sophia can really imagine nowadays were eos affiliated ones. she had been a researcher of sorts once and ended up being pestered endlessly for it. she figures that eos has probably not changed much in a year.
all the same, she gives him a chance.
"i'm nobody, mister." she smiles cheerfully. it's a grin that is missing a single baby tooth. "just a ghost on the beach."
it's probably one of the most honest introductions she has given as of late.
She gives him a toothy grin then, a child's, and appropriately with teeth missing. But it's her next statement that throws him off.
A ghost on the beach. Quickly, Raph takes a closer look up and down the coast. A ghost on the beach? Why would a child think that? Unless... this was the land talking, out to show people what they'd lost for whatever reasons, or this was someone in disguise.
...or it could be just that the girl was messing with him. Raph lightly scowls at that thought, before sighing and sitting down entirely. The sun's nice here, warm compared to the bitter winter cold out in the real world. "A ghost, huh?" he asks rhetorically, half-facing the girl from where he lay. "Why d'you say that?"
she wasn't actually expecting to be taken seriously. daniel had once said that good people were those who took children seriously. except he's dead and buried now, and his words have faded into a realm beyond memory. neither is she a child. his wisdom is null and void.
"i can be anything in this place. i think i would rather be a ghost." if she can't live freely, then she would rather take the next best thing. sophia scoops more sand into her bucket.
Preference, then? Raph hums in response, having lied down by this time - the sand was too warm and nice to do so otherwise. He doesn't mind the sand getting in his hair - this was the Dream World, after all, it didn't matter all that much - and the same goes for his clothes as well, so he relaxes into the sand, letting the sound of crashing waves wash over him. He doesn't try to make conversation again - if the girl is content to continue making her sand castles, then he won't disturb her.
(even lying down, he is a good few feet away from the girl - a safety precaution, for both him and her.)
It's not often that Raph gets dragged into the Dream World, but today is an exception. Bitterly cold days have led him to the beach for the warmth and the feeling of comfort that it provides. 
