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!
cyril lingered near the exit of ceres, right at the crossroads of di manes. well, he's actually closer to di manes at the moment, seeing that none of his pokemon were vaccinated and he'd really rather not risk contamination and put down a lifelong friend.
he flashes a press pass at the passerby with vaccinated pokemon. some gave jovial answers. some blew up from the frustrations of losing their unvaccinated pokemon. cyril still gave out his condolences to those who needed it. a lot of trainers needed it. the pokemon center was going to have a fun, overworked night. arceus bless those poor suckers.
cyril finishes talking to a researcher and watches him leave. the days were grim indeed.
Ahuda's gotten here with blood on her hands and a heavy heart. Her Politoed is fine, just fine, and she's left the poor pokemon back with her family in Ceres, warm and fed and not happy at being left behind, even if it's Ahuda's fault that he almost turned scourge, her fault that he's bedridden in the first place. Madonna, the ever-understanding companion she was, had only silently supported her when she had fled towards Di Manes, away from Ceres, Proserpina, Juno. She didn't think she could face all the friends she'd made, or at least the people she's met back there, anyway.
At the crossroads Ahuda stalls, lingering, Madonna serene at her side while she fidgeted, shivering in the cold winter breeze that blew through the night. She's the only person staying out here, aside from the green-haired man flashing something at anyone allianced with Eos. On an impulse she walks over to him, her Mienfoo following aways behind as the ranger comes to stand next to the man with... a press pass?
"It's a cold night," she says after a moment, because things like that need to be said, before she turns to her impromptu company. "Aren't you going inside?"
he probably needs a cigarette. pity that he kicked the habit years ago.
cyril wonders when the sight of a downtrodden trainer with vaccinated pokemon became so unextraordinary to him. he's seen too many of those sort. they've all seen too much, and all he can really do is smile as he accepts their stories.
"pokemon center is full, and my pokemon aren't the ones that are injured." he doubts that those people would be more excited about seeing him than a nurse joy anyway. he looks at the mienfoo. the woman came from the direction of ceres forest. cyril can put two and two together to get four. "rough week?" nette
Why his pokemon aren't injured, she wants to know, but Ahuda's not in the mood to question everyone that she comes across tonight. Instead, she sighs, her whole body melting and slouching in against itself as she huddles against not the wind, but the world. "Pretty much," she says, a mumble as she closes her eyes to shut out what meager light still lingers tonight. "Just came from Ceres; that place was a nightmare." Her homecoming was supposed to have been a joyful event - instead it was a brush with death. Ahuda wonders at the fact that that was only Ceres, still so far away from the heart of the scourge, and visibly cringes at the fact that still, the scourge had made it so close to home. "You? The days been alright so far?"
"i can imagine." he can, actually. cyril has talked to enough people to get a fair idea. areas had been saved at a considerable casualty. "i've had a busy night. not as busy as the eos folk, of course. do you need to go to the pokemon center? i can walk you there."
walking around di manes was a bit of a safety hazard in itself. she looked like she might need an occasional shoulder. it wasn't the unscathed that cyril was nearly as interested in. "i heard that the ranger union had heavily reinforced the forest. i'm guessing that you didn't come from juturna, then." nette
She smiles at the offer. Usually she'd refuse it, but tonight she's glad for the company. "Thanks; I'd appreciate it if you do." It was when she was pondering on either staying a bit longer, slouched against the cold as she was rather comfortably, oddly enough, when she paused at the observation.
"...yeah. I didn't. I came from the Amberwell." It still hurt to talk about it, and what had happened there; but Ahuda wasn't planning on denying anything to anyone, much less herself. If the man wanted to ask about it, he'd get answers, but she wasn't planning on just giving them out freely. Instead, she straightened, back still curved as she raised her head and opened her dark eyes. "The forest is pretty important; the union marked it as a priority. Juturna, though, is well taken care of. Walk with me to the center?" Madonna remained at her side, ready to do it herself if the reporter wouldn't do it.
"not a problem" he flashes an easy smile. cyril hopes that she will spare her gratitude - he intends to interrogate the crap out of her, after all. the reporter had always been exceptionally good at acting in favor of his own interests.
ahuda has his full attention when she mentions the source of the eos vaccine. "...yeah, i've talked to plenty of rangers who have come through di manes. they told me that juturna came out alright."
cyril looks in the direction of the pokemon center. "feel free to use my shoulder if you need it. seems like you deserve it." he takes out a pad of paper and a pen, uncapping it with his teeth. "i'm a reporter. cyril's the name. you are...?"
they walk to the building with the horrendously long lines outside. nette
A reporter, huh? Ahuda thinks that there were worse people to keep company with. "Ahuda. Nice to meet you - officially." She doesn't turn to offer him a handshake, only looks to the pokemon center overflowing with needy trainers and pokemon - she doesn't mind being interviewed, but she's too tired for manners tonight. "What do you wanna ask?"
She sways, slightly, in the wind. Only willpower is keeping her upright - barely. Madonna looks with alarm to her ranger, than to the reporter, before deciding that supporting Ahuda from where she is, on the ground, is the best option for her at the moment.
"you don't mind working with me, then? that's good." it was really just a formality. cyril submitted whatever he wanted for publication. "just ahuda? do you mind giving me a surname?"
the handshake was professionally obligated, but cyril is a lot more obliging of the mood of his interviewees. when ahuda starts swaying, he attempts to grab her and keep her upright (he didn't really trust a three-foot tall mienfoo to be adequate). at least they weren't at the part of di manes where falling would result in a nasty fall off a ledge.
"...sorry, give me a second." he takes out a pokeball and releases a single unvaccinated wigglytuff. "heal pulse, buding."
the fairy pokemon casts a healing spell on the ranger. "give it a bit to kick in, yeah?" nette
Ahuda shrugs. "Clearglass, but I'd like it for it to be abbreviated, or kept out entirely." There was no telling if hades agents read the newspaper or not, but in case they did she didn't want them going after her family. Safety in anonymity, and all that.
The reporter's attempt to keep her upright steadies her a bit, and the pulse washes over her like a warmth from a blanket. Ahuda shivers, slightly, smiling at Cyril in gratitude. "Thanks. Was getting a bit dizzy there." Madonna nods to the healing pokemon in acknowledgement while the ranger quiets, tilting her head at Cyril in an invitation to ask questions.
"understood." cyril wrote about whatever he damn well wanted, there was some basic human decency to him. it just wouldn't be as a professional of a job if he had never taken a full name from the girl.
"it was no trouble at all. so i'm guessing that you're a ranger." he gestures towards her capture styler. "what happened to you? it doesn't seem like you got the easy fight in juturna, considering that the village was secured."and you look like you've gotten beaten through a grinder, but cyril doesn't say that part. nette
Cyril gestures towards her styler, and unconsciously she moves to put a hand on it before stilling herself. "...yeah. Like I said, I came from the Amberwell. The fighting was pretty evenly spaced out, but..."
A grimace. "I got the short end of the straw. Ran into a couple of hades agents trying to save a friend, got hammered until reinforcements arrived." At least it had been Thalia who had saved her and Kaz, and not some other random Eos trainer. For that, Ahuda was grateful.
his pen almost seems to twirl in his hands, with how fast he's writing.
"hades agents? in ceres forest?" now that is interesting. "i don't suppose that you've got their names or faces? partner pokemon would be...informative as well." it was common practice among the agents to wear masks. not all of them did, but that only made cyril chase them harder.
She sighs as the line begins to move sluggishly forward, a testament to exactly how many people need the center's services tonight. "No faces, but they were using a gengar and a mamoswine. Not sure if they've ditched them yet, though." Because hey, no one ever said that hades agents didn't change partners every time they were spotted, right?
...yeah, Ahuda didn't really believe that. "One of them had blue hair, though. Not sure what you'll get out of that, but hey, everything helps, right?"
cyril takes note of their pokemon. it's important information, but he had hoped for more. they were diverse, and all of them powerful.
still, he just needs one hook. one lead, and maybe he'll be getting somewhere with where they came from and their goals.
"blue hair? is there anything else that you can remember about them?" he twirls his pen. "what were they doing near the amberwell, do you have a clue?" his voice is level, as if it were okay if ahuda did not know.
Ahuda's gotten here with blood on her hands and a heavy heart. Her Politoed is fine, just fine, and she's left the poor pokemon back with her family in Ceres, warm and fed and not happy at being left behind, even if it's Ahuda's fault that he almost turned scourge, her fault that he's bedridden in the first place. Madonna, the ever-understanding companion she was, had only silently supported her when she had fled towards Di Manes, away from Ceres, Proserpina, Juno. She didn't think she could face all the friends she'd made, or at least the people she's met back there, anyway.
Cyril gestures towards her styler, and unconsciously she moves to put a hand on it before stilling herself. "...yeah. Like I said, I came from the Amberwell. The fighting was pretty evenly spaced out, but..."
