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!
iskander studied his own copy of the map, sketched from vague details obtained in the library of lost things. the directions were subtle and often coated in riddles designed to lead the less-educated into the jaws of death. iskander was an artist, but his map seemed more than adequate.
DjW|e6zw >50 his map is the one true map
the time he spent studying ruins and old scriptures in the library had paid off handsomely. with this map, they were never going to lose their way in the ruins. it hadn't said where exactly the treasures were, but it did tell them where the treasure was not. and that was just as good a step as any.
"yours looks a bit lacking," said iskander to batin.
iskander held up two paper bags, his expression very much unreadable. "yveltal dropped this off when i landed," he said. in the bags were the santarina costumes that the legendary had promised them. it also expected the exploration to be conducted in less-than-suitable attire.
"we're supposed to head up an incline," iskander continued as he traced a line along the map, "but there's no apparent road here. we might need to trigger something as we had in the tower."
"Well, if Yveltal says," Batin sighed, holding his costume out in front of him. "I'd ask you not to look and spare my virgin sensibilities, but it would just seem forced."
Batin changed. He looked like himself, but stuffed into a Santarina costume. Even the largest size available ran rather tight. It was a women's size after all. Not many 6'+ women.
"Am I pretty?"
He carried the heels in one hand though.
"I can't be expected to walk here those. I'd break an ankle."
"the prettiest," said iskander, as he slipped on his own pair of ruby shoes. it was like dorothy and toto going to see the wizard of oz, which was living in the tellumo ruins. all in the name of fun and a vacation into the hot, sandy outback.
the heels clicked into a shadowy recess in the tunnel wall. apparently the shape of the heels function as a sort of key. almost at once, the tunnel wall parted to reveal a spiral staircase fashioned out of a cave pillar. it was a steep, difficult climb at best. iskander in his ruby shoes didn't feel like attempting it.
he glanced up into the darkness above.
"when they said incline ... hang on," he said, doing some quick mental calculations. "assuming this place has indeed sunken several feet into the sand plus erosion, this seems about right."
gingerly, he took the first step. and then the second. the santarina costume felt like it was about to burst at the seams. iskander gathered his strength about himself, and quickly ascended the stairs to the chambers above.
the upper chamber was devoid of many things. firstly, it wasn't rocky. it was made out of quartz, a rather similar one to the one the tower of janus was revealed to have been built out of. secondly, a figure were sitting off to the eastern corner of the room, where light filtered in from the quartz and illuminated a platform.
it was apparently a game of chess, where an armored man and his invisible opponent were having their mental faculties challenged by each other.
iskander stopped by the opening to the passage below, before moving aside to make way for batin. "hello," said the agent, as it was only appropriate to greet someone -- even if they weren't expecting anyone.
the man in the suit of armor turned to look at him and his friend.
"hello," said bosch, in a mirror of what iskander had done.
"check!" came a voice, from nowhere in particular. "your move."
behind his mask, bosch clicked his tongue soundlessly.
batin had never been very good at chess. he lacked the patience, and he was always trying to break the rules when he did get roped into sitting down for a game. he studied the board intently, trying to make sense of what was going on.
"what does the winner receive?" he asked.
there was no point to playing a game without a prize, to his mind.
whatever batin was going to say in answer was interrupted by two improbably events that even more improbably managed to be unrelated. 1. yveltal appeared. 2. the roof of the cave at once shored in like a piece of wet paper, and rock and debris piled down.
3ckNn4y6 < 50 yveltal saves them
..a 50. i'm just rolling with that meaning < 50, like the 10 < 10 did.
yveltal seemed as surprised by the cave-in as batin. its reflexes weren't lighting fast, perhaps for that reason, but it saved its chosen nonetheless. its wings wrapped up batin and delta, shielding them from the wreckage. when the (metaphorical?) smoke cleared, it folded its wings back to reveal:
< 50 a new cavern < 50 bosch is still there < 50 weatherfield is still there
as soon as the cave-in happened, bosch set to action. his reflexes were lightning fast for an ancient person clad in armor; but then again, his suit never seemed to rust. he bent over the chess set, protecting it with his body as rocks thundered down from above. when the dust settled, he moved away from it, slightly bruised but still in very good condition.
his phantom friend, on the other hand, was still very much present. nothing could really harm an otherwordly presence.
"you alright?" weatherfield asked bosch, and received a grunt in response. bosch was still very much a material being. "alright then -- who caused it?"
there was silence for a while.
iskander and batin were still within yveltal's wings, and bosch turned to look at them.
"did you?" bosch asked yveltal, "or did the both of you do it? i know you two can draw signs -- so did you draw something to make an earthquake happen?"
"i suppose we could count ourselves lucky that we finished our game of chess before that," weatherfield chimed in.
iskander squinted as the sun beat down upon from above. sand slowly trickled into the chamber from the broken roof. several palm trees swayed in the wind, and a few cacti pokémon were dancing to a samba beat in the distance. two men dressed in santarina costumes stood before a very tall man clad in a suit of armor, accompanied by the dual presences of a legendary pokémon and phantom being. it was all rather picturesque, like something on the back of a postcard.
7BqLQml4 <50 the mastermind behind this entire phenomenon appears <50 a mysterious challenge letter
an envelope floated down from above a little too calmly, its flap sealed with wax and an ancient insignia.
"ominous," bosch commented, and didn't seem bothered by the message at all. "what are they pitting us against -- you two?" the man in armor shifted and glanced towards his phantom friend. "what do you think?"
"it seems likely that we'll play against each other, but that's not to say that our mysterious host will not send in teams of his own."
FzqJR5Zq <50 the other team(s) appear
"well?" bosch tapped his feet.
iskander thought about the situation while bosch and weatherfield had been discussing the idea of rival teams. alleviating boredom, games? it reminded him of fights-to-the-death that he had read about in literature.
"is it signed?" he asked batin, "it doesn't seem like our host is a subtle person for that much fanfare." he gestured around the destroyed chamber.
It had been hot as balls above ground. Thankfully they were in the tunnels now, twisting deep under the blessedly cool rock.
