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!
Ceres is her turf, her home. She knows the ins and outs of the forest, the pokemon and most if not all of the people living in it personally. Ranger Isaac, though, is someone that she's never met herself, having only rumors and gossip and hear-says to go by. But it's not that hard to find Juturna Tavern - it's always been one of the loud places, the kind that's famous for at least something - and soon enough Ahuda is outside the building, Madonna at her side as they both gaze up through the windows, lingering a good few feet outside the door. She's never been inside, nor has been a customer here, but that doesn't stop her from taking a deep breath and plunging in, stepping through the threshold with confidence in her steps.
She asks for Isaac, her question directed at any who will hear.
vertigo for heart sign js i have no idea what to do lol
sonata was at the door, sweeping the front with a broom too tall for it. the blissey wobbled over to where the new ranger was, and smiled in greeting.
'isaac's in there, so come in and have a drink! i'll go get him!'
and the chansey waddled off after showing ahuda to a booth that overlooked the other side of the village where a pond was. it wandered into the back of the tavern, calling for its partner that was presumably busy in the kitchens.
A blissey shows to a booth that faced a pond, and Ahuda found herself freezing for a moment before continuing on like nothing happened. Some of the other patrons in the tavern gave her curious looks at both her reaction and her styler, but Ahuda had enough presence of mind left to greet the ones she knew, or were at least friend-of-friends of, and order a glass of moomoo milk before sitting down on a stool with Madonna next to her, drinking pecha berry juice.
No alcohol for her today; she'd need a clear head for this.
isaac emerged from the back of the tavern, apron wrapped around his waist. he was rather busy, it seemed, but he always made time for rangers who wished to learn the heart sign. as he was busy, he couldn't let this new one fight some scourge -- yes, he had one or two trapped in the back, but if he couldn't personally be there, fighting them was out of the question.
"hi," he greeted, "sorry, i'm a little busy at the moment -- but if you're here for the heart sign, i'm sure sonata will be happy to show you to your assigned task." he nodded at the blissey, who beamed at both rangers. "the drinks are on the house, by the way," smiled the teenager, "once you've finished your task, sonata will bring you back here for the sign. does that sound alright? we're kind of tied up right now; got a feast of sorts to host in a few hours."
sonata stepped up to ahuda and her partner, still beaming happily. its hands were clasped together.
Isaac himself came out, an apron on and seemingly disheveled. "No, it's fine," Ahuda says as she rises to greet him. She understands those who are always busy, always having something to do, somewhere to rush off to. The drinks are a nice gift, though, and Ahuda decides not to insult the other ranger by refusing it. "Thanks. Good luck on your work, too."
By this time Madonna had finished off her juice and with her and Ahuda's cups on the counter for the bartender to clean, the duo turned to the blissey. "Yup," she says, and hauls on her pack again from where she'd dropped it to the floor. "Lead the way."
the blissey nodded and hopped down the stairs. it was a pink ball of happiness as it wandered to the outskirts of the village, where a watchtower stood. it was the same thing as it had done with iker, and sonata knew just what to do.
'you'll be stationed here for the night! once you've passed your test, isaac will teach you the heart sign!' sonata announced, before waddling up the stairs to the watchtower. it was rather clumsy, but at the same time, remarkably steady, if that made any sense at all.
Oddly enough, it's the blissey that guides them to wherever they're going. Well, odd by normal standards, but this is Ceres, and this is a ranger's pokemon - perhaps it's to be expected. Nevertheless, Ahuda looks up when they reach the watchtower, interested in the architecture. She hasn't seen much of these in her younger days here, and she took the moment to observe them before following the blissey up.
Madonna follows wordlessy behind, having disappeared for a minute to fetch the politoed pokeassist. Ahuda glances at them both. "There you are. Where've you been?"
The politoed only grunts and continues up the stairs.
they reached the top of the watchtower without much fanfare. if anything, there was likely little more than treetops and spiralling wisps of smoke that rose up from the ground below. over there was prosepina city, and then the caverns and nerio beyond. it wasn't much of an introduction, but the sights were something nice -- for once.
sonata settled itself into making them all some fruit tea and sandwiches. the watchtower was surprisingly well-equipped. it trotted up to the trio with a tray in hand, and set it upon a nearby stand.
'something to keep you going while you keep watch for the night!' sonata beamed, 'can't have you falling asleep! ... so, why did you become a ranger?'
Ahuda gratefully took a sip of the tea before answering, hands on her knees and her cup and untouched sandwich in front of her as she looked out into the forest. She didn't look at the blissey. "A number of things, really, but the rangers helped my family out when they first arrived in Ceres. And the forest and its pokemon were always sort of... mine, I guess, my type of niche, so it just... fit."
She shrugged helplessly, glancing at her own pokemon who were gratefully nibbling on the food provided for them all. "My life's not a tragic soap opera, nothing interesting, but hey, at least it's normal, right? Or as normal as it can get with the scourge running around."
sonata hummed. 'it's not a bad life, what you've got!' the blissey bustled around. 'so you went with it because it felt right? seems real enough!' sonata didn't really mind. whatever the case, a new ranger was still a new ranger and welcome addition to the sparse force.
it waved a hand in the air.
'don't worry too much about it! all you need to do is know why you've become a ranger, and never forget it, even if you question yourself or someone else questions you! i hope the sun always shines for you!'
She shrugged, watching the blissey come to her own conclusions of the information she'd given her. Then she sighed, gave a small laugh, and tilted her head to look at the pokemon out of the side of her eye. "Thanks," she said quietly, before turning back to the treeline.
It was quiet, for a few moments, as Madonna and her politoed pokeassist finished their food and rose to throw away the trash. Their ranger watched them go, looking to Sonata afterwards. "Do we just keep watch for the night, or is there anything else we need to do?"
'you just keep watch for the night! that's really it! maybe there'll be a trial by fire, but i haven't actually seen that happen yet!'
night soon fell over the village. in the distance, the tavern was abuzz with activity.
the forest was similarly active. there was rustling amongst the bushes.
a creature tumbled out of it, yelping in pain and surprise. it was a teddiursa, heckled by a weakened scourge pokémon. unable to hunt stronger prey, the scourge pokémon had turned on the nearest creature it could find.
With the reassurance from the Blissey Ahuda watched as night fell, ignoring the light-illuminated tavern and village and instead focusing on the forest. She wasn't going to be getting herself and her pokemon killed in her own damn home because she was slacking off.
That didn't make the teddiursa stumbling out of the bushes any less startling, and especially not the scourge ursaring right behind him. Curses were left in the air as Ahuda snatched up her styler from where she'd left it, followed by her partner and assist as they abandoned their posts as well.
When she emerged from the tower it was with her two pokemon by her side, both sliding to a stop before the scourge pokemon. Ahuda readied her styler as they paused, waiting to see what the wild and scourge would do.
They'd learned her lesson; they wouldn't go rushing in without seeing first where the sides fell first.
the scourge ursaring hissed, grabbing the teddiursa with ease. the little bear put up even less of a fight in the grasp of the larger creature. soon, even its fur started to grey and its pupils dilated -- being in the presence of a stronger scourge pokémon was enough to convert the weak.
but without regard for its own kin, the ursaring ripped the creature from limb to limb, scarving down the teddiursa until only its head remained. it gripped it by an ear almost victoriously, before tossing it towards ahuda.
....sometimes Ahuda hated being cautious, because it left her with things like this. She left the teddiursa head by her feet, because there wasn't anything she could do with it now - she'd think of something later.
Her two pokemon lunged for the ursaring.
mienfoo used detect mienfoo used vital throw
politoed used hypnosis bCZg9Ui0 <60 asleep politoed used bubble beam
Ceres is her turf, her home. She knows the ins and outs of the forest, the pokemon and most if not all of the people living in it personally. Ranger Isaac, though, is someone that she's never met herself, having only rumors and gossip and hear-says to go by. But it's not that hard to find Juturna Tavern - it's always been one of the loud places, the kind that's famous for at least something - and soon enough Ahuda is outside the building, Madonna at her side as they both gaze up through the windows, lingering a good few feet outside the door. She's never been inside, nor has been a customer here, but that doesn't stop her from taking a deep breath and plunging in, stepping through the threshold with confidence in her steps.
Ahuda gratefully took a sip of the tea before answering, hands on her knees and her cup and untouched sandwich in front of her as she looked out into the forest. She didn't look at the blissey. "A number of things, really, but the rangers helped my family out when they first arrived in Ceres. And the forest and its pokemon were always sort of... mine, I guess, my type of niche, so it just... fit."
