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!
He stands near the sea on the docks, a safe distance away but enough to smell the salt on the air that blows in, Elysia lying down on the bench next to him. He taps his fingers on the railing, leaning against it with a loose frame as he studies the water. Proserpina is everything the rumors say it is, and yet the people are closed off, hardened, reserved and unwilling to talk. It could, perhaps, simply be the winter's biting chill - but Raphael doubts it.
With a sigh he turns away from the water and peers at the Absol lounging on the wooden seat. She stares back with equally serious eyes, as poised as ever, and the researcher offers her a smile as he sits down next to her. The pokemon's response is to headbutt his arm before settling down again, and with a smile on his face Raphael strokes her light pink back. The quiet is peaceful, but empty, and unknowingly he is waiting for something to fill it.
Maeve had been walking down the street in an unhurried manner, completely minding her own business, with her very own live Snorunt hat on, when the ground decided in a most impolite manner to trip her. “Waaaaah!” She nearly went head over feet right then, Iggy wobbling about on her head with an equally surprised squeal. After two hops on one foot she somehow managed to wave her arms about enough to reverse her forward motion, and she finally wobbled back into a standing position.
Most put-off by the entire ordeal, she looked over her shoulder at the sidwalk in a very accusatory manner, nose wrinkled, though it sat there as if completely innocent. Well, at least she hadn’t actually fallen! It would have…hurt rather a lot… Iggy then piped up on her head, as he was staring with intrigue at the young man and his Absol, sole witnesses to the entire embarrassing debacle. Maeve stared at him too, and though she was already blushing, it took a long time for it to actually darken her already dark skin. Mortified, she couldn’t think of anything to do to make up for her own act of clumsiness - and so she bowed so abruptly that Iggy ended up dangling from a long curl of her hair. “H-h-h-how do you do???”
The silence is broken, dashed on a stone floor like a piece of glass, utterly shattered. Raph doesn't know why he's spouting poetry, although it might be because of the rather angsty mood he's gotten himself into, so he looks to the disturbance instead - a purple-haired girl with what seems like a Snorunt hat on. It's ridiculous, and as she rights herself, and blushes, staining her dark skin even further, Raph finds himself standing up to help her up. "Are you alright?" he asks, although by the time he gets there she's bowing and asking how he is. "I'm fine, you're the one that almost tripped. Did you sprain anything?"
Elysia, on the bench, settles down to peer at them both with sharp blue eyes.
Maeve popped back up quickly as the stranger spoke, and her poor beleaguered Snorunt finally couldn’t hang on any more. In a surprisingly deft movement, Maeve smoothly caught him into her arms and hugged him to her chest - apparently being clumsy only extended to herself. She lifted up a free hand and waved it back and forth, smiling as she spoke. “Oh no no, I’m alright. This sort of thing happens all the time. Perfectly fine!” She hopped up and down once or twice to illustrate the very not-sprained status of her ankles.
“Oh I didn’t introduce myself! My name’s Maeve, and this is Iggy. I’m terribly sorry for bothering you!” It must be rather annoying to have a nice quiet moment ruined by someone tripping right behind you! She felt really quite bad about it, even if it had been completely out of her control.
Raph raised an eyebrow - tripping over a flat surface was not alright - but let it go. Who was he to say anything about other peoples' problems? But still, he lingered until she showed a surprising amount of dexterity with her pokemon, which was a Snorunt, he noted. The researcher side of him itched to simply reach for his pokedex and record an entry now, but he waited instead, watching the girl first hop up and down to demonstrate a very un-sprained status and smiling when she introduced herself.
"I'm Raph, and the Absol over there is Elysia. And it's fine, it wasn't your fault." Finally, giving in, Raph reached into a pocket for his pokedex. Because pokemon."Do you mind if I see your Snorunt for a bit for a pokedex entry? I haven't met one yet." He waited with his dex in hand, watching for a reaction from the pretty lavender-haired girl who'd been nice so far.
Again Maeve bowed, but this one was far less flustered. Problems with flat surfaces aside, she moved with surprising grace and poise. “A pleasure to meet you both! What a gorgeous Absol! So fluffy!” Her cordial speech sort of…died there at the end, for as she said ‘fluffy’ her voice rose and she hugged Iggy a bit tighter. People had said before that she had strange taste. Whatever did they mean?
Tilting her head curiously at the device her new friend produced, and it was lucky Raph said what it was or she might have puzzled over it for awhile. She’d heard of pokedexes, of course, but she’d never known anyone who actually owned one. “Oh, of course! You don’t mind, do you Iggy?” The little snorunt wiggled his feet, and so Maeve held him away from her bosom and out toward the researcher. She had been eager to help, although this wasn’t exactly how she’d anticipated doing so. But, helping was helping! “So, that means you’re a Researcher, right? How long have you been in the EOS program? I’ve only just started myself, so it’s all a bit new!”
..."Fluffy"? Well, Elysia's fur was soft and the Absol didn't seem to mind the description other than a bit of indignation, so... Raph just gave her a smile at Maeve, not minding at all. even though it disturbed him that she'd just go from polite to childish in a moment
The researcher's smile widened when the Snorunt was held out to him. Flipping open his dex, he let the machine work as it whirred. "Yes, I am," he said as he waited, willing to make small talk to the kind girl. "I haven't been in the program for long but my father worked in EOS at Pax, so..." Raph shrugged, taking back his pokedex when chimed happily as it finished recording. "I guess I'm new, too. Thanks for cooperating." The last part he directed toward the Snorunt - it was always good to thank the pokemon involved in a research, he'd found. Raph turned back to Maeve, though, a questioning look on his face as he put away his dex. "What work do you do for EOS?"
Maeve leaned forward a bit, watching the goings on with quite a bit of curious interest. A pokedex in action, how neat! Iggy wiggled his little feet in response, as he had no idea what had just been done to him, but it hadn’t hurt and he’d been thanked for doing it. Easy enough!
All said and done, the ice type was snuggled close to his trainer’s chest once more. It was kind of amazing though, following after his father’s footsteps into the Researcher path. You had to be really smart to do something like that! She already had a lot of respect for the young man. “Oh, I’m just a Trainer! I worked on board the SS Claire. You know, the floating Gym of Sol City? I guess being around the trainers all the time sort of influenced me!” The thought of someone so clumsy working on a ship was probably something of a frightening one. “Still, I’m really impressed Raph! You have to be very intelligent to become a Researcher, regardless of whether your father was or not! That’s truly amazing!”
The SS Claire? He's heard mentions of it, but Raph's never been one for vacations, anyways. He nods politely, although he doubts that anyone on the ship would have been safe if Maeve was right and tripping over things was a common occurrence. But it's not his place to say, so he simply hums and holds his tongue. Although that is getting harder by the minute.
"Thanks," he says with grin, "but I'm sure being a Trainer is hard as well. What do they do, anyway? Don't they just battle with pokemon?" The last part is a question, as Raph has always been the solitary sort and didn't play well with others; but hey, someone was willing to talk to him now, so he'd take what he could get.
Elysia still staring at him from her bench didn't count.
Maeve swayed back and forth at the question, biting her bottom lip. Iggy seemed to enjoy the motion though, making small happy sounds and wiggling his feet some more. To be honest, she had no confidence in her abilities. Watching others battle, and actually battling herself, were two different things. And she didn’t feel she had a mean bone in her body - how was she going to hold up against the gym leaders or scourge pokemon??
Finally she stopped squirming, hugging Iggy tighter. “Um, well, yes…basically. We are supposed to become the best all-round fighters. The…front lines, I guess. Well, right now my first goal is to beat the gym leader. How I do there will probably…determine if I’m really cut out for this, eheh.” She smiled, but it was uncertain at best. She’d been helping the relief efforts since the beginning, but actually being actively involved in the battle…it was a big leap she’d taken, and only now was she beginning to have second thoughts.
Raph smiles back, endeared to this random stranger with a tendency to trip on air. "I'm sure you'll do fine," he says. "You just need to train, and work, and everything will work itself out." That had always been how Raph had done it; studying and preparing for something before going out and doing it. Real life couldn't be that much different, could it?
With a shiver Raph draws his jacket around himself more tightly. The winter's just getting colder, and with the frigid wind today is no exception. On an impulse he turns to the trainer, a questioning look on his face. "Do you want some coffee?" he asks, aware of how this sounds like a date, or how random the offer. But he doesn't care, because it's cold out, and he wants something warm to drink.
Blinking rapidly at his words, she hadn’t expected the vote of confidence from a relative stranger (whom had also seen her nearly trip). But she recovered quickly enough, and smiled brightly at the young man. “Thank you so much! I’ll give it my best shot, don’t worry~!” Spirits lifted, she was in a good mood for receiving his sudden invitation. That didn’t make it any less surprising though. “O-Oh?” She colored slightly (aka you couldn’t see it under her dark skin), fidgeting a bit. He couldn’t really be trying to pick her up, right…? Oh my! That would be quite awkward! Well, er, not that he wasn’t good looking! He was also very nice! But um…well…she didn’t do well with these situations! She got all flustered, and tripped over her words (rather than the floor…or actually along with the floor) and generally made a whole mess of things. Iggy squeaked brightly, snapping out of her mental panic attack, and she knee-jerk responded. “Y-Y-Yes please! I mean, of course! It uh, it is rather cold out, after all?”
Maeve paused, only being shocked out of her thoughts, apparently, by her snorunt. Raph chuckled with chagrin, rubbing a hand over the back of his neck. "Yeah, it is, isn't it? I know a good place not far from here; a block or two at most." Stretching, the researcher grabbed the small pack next to Elysia, who was still on the bench, surprisingly. A motion of his hand had the absol reluctantly leaving it, lightly jumping down to walk next to her trainer.
Raph glanced back at Maeve, his bag over his shoulder. "Shall we?" Taking care to walk slow enough for Maeve to catch up, he started down the street, leading the way to a corner cafe which was, true to his word, not far from the docks. The inside was warm, thanks to the miracle of heaters; and standing at the back of the line, Raph turnd to the trainer. "So, how do you take your coffee? Black, with milk, cream, sugar, what?"
He stands near the sea on the docks, a safe distance away but enough to smell the salt on the air that blows in, Elysia lying down on the bench next to him. He taps his fingers on the railing, leaning against it with a loose frame as he studies the water. Proserpina is everything the rumors say it is, and yet the people are closed off, hardened, reserved and unwilling to talk. It could, perhaps, simply be the winter's biting chill - but Raphael doubts it.
Something to fill it indeed.
Maeve popped back up quickly as the stranger spoke, and her poor beleaguered Snorunt finally couldn’t hang on any more. In a surprisingly deft movement, Maeve smoothly caught him into her arms and hugged him to her chest - apparently being clumsy only extended to herself.
..."Fluffy"? Well, Elysia's fur was soft and the Absol didn't seem to mind the description other than a bit of indignation, so... Raph just gave her a smile at Maeve, not minding at all. 
Maeve leaned forward a bit, watching the goings on with quite a bit of curious interest. A pokedex in action, how neat! Iggy wiggled his little feet in response, as he had no idea what had just been done to him, but it hadn’t hurt and he’d been thanked for doing it. Easy enough!
Maeve swayed back and forth at the question, biting her bottom lip. Iggy seemed to enjoy the motion though, making small happy sounds and wiggling his feet some more. To be honest, she had no confidence in her abilities. Watching others battle, and actually battling herself, were two different things. And she didn’t feel she had a mean bone in her body - how was she going to hold up against the gym leaders or scourge pokemon??
Maeve paused, only being shocked out of her thoughts, apparently, by her snorunt. Raph chuckled with chagrin, rubbing a hand over the back of his neck. "Yeah, it is, isn't it? I know a good place not far from here; a block or two at most." Stretching, the researcher grabbed the small pack next to Elysia, who was still on the bench, surprisingly. A motion of his hand had the absol reluctantly leaving it, lightly jumping down to walk next to her trainer.
