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!
The newly-recruited ranger sat at the edge of the pier, a small pile of stones by his side. He picked up another one, tossing it up and down in his hand a few times before letting it fly. He may not have been doing anything special right now, but he still couldn't stop grinning: after a year of long, hard training, he and had made it into the Ranger corps! He turned to the Krabby by his side, who had taken a few of his pebbles and clumsily scooped them into a tiny pyramid. Ambrose was always so clever and resourceful . . .without him, Dan was sure he'd still be in training.
The two had one hell of a year. Maybe it'd be best for them to just sit back and enjoy themselves for once. They could always go back to training later, so why not enjoy the fresh sea breezes and warmth of the sun while they still lasted? Maybe they'd even luck out and spot a few interesting wild Pokemon, or even a few interesting people. The pier was busy at pretty much every time of day, after all, and he couldn't be the only one with the idea of skipping stones off the docks.
It'd probably take a while to find anyone to talk with, though. For all of Dan's life, he knew little more than open ocean and wooden cabins. Humilau City and Sol City were so much more personal, in a way. The atmosphere was so laid back, and pretty much anyone was available to talk. Here in Proserpina it was towering buildings and busy crowds as far as the eye could see. He wouldn't lie: it was a bit intimidating at first. However, it was the reality of the region. He couldn't live in his little bubble of sand and surf forever. He'd have to open himself to the world eventually. Maybe this'd be his chance to start.
she's just going back and forth these days, leaving most of her things stashed in hespera while she teleports herself and her partners in and out of the field. EOS is antsy these days - ahuda knows that her trainer-friends are waging war on bacchus, trying their damn hardest to win back at least a portion of the town. others, still, are at the amberwell, fighting back what remains of the scourge.
so what is she doing here? ahuda stands at the docks, a mienfoo by her side as the local assist follows her around as well. the axew had evolved into a fraxure while she'd been away, so there is a large dragon-type pokemon hovering over her shoulder while she sits down near a man skipping stones. the krabby with him has a stack of rocks already, and the ranger watches with interest.
the krabby is vaccinated. she glances at the trainer and gives a smile - just because she's (someone you should stay away from) ignorant of their name doesn't mean she shouldn't introduce herself.
Ambrose pulled his pile of stones closer to him, as if guarding them from the new trainer that had walked in and started staring at him. Yeah, sure, she had a dragon, but like hell she'd be taking any of these pebbles! He stopped eyeing her suspiciously once she turned her glance to his trainer, returning to playing with his rocks without a care in the world.
Dan proved more friendly, smiling at the girl as she sat down near him. "Mhm! Me and Ambrose just enlisted," he replied, brushing some intrusive strands of hair out of the way so he could get a better view of the newcomer. She seemed fairly placid and around his age . . . and of course, the oddly colored Fraxure hovering over her shoulder definitely caught his eye. "You too?"[/color]
Oh, right. Manners. Those were important. He metaphorically kicked himself for forgetting, offering a handshake to the newcomer. "My name's Dan. What's yours?"
fresh meat, straight out of enlistment. ahuda sighs and stares at the water. how long has it been since she was one of them?
(one of them, because she is sure as hell she isn't anymore.)
"nah," she says instead. "been doing this gig for a while." she doesn't mind being mistaken for one, though. it means she's still acting normal - at least somewhat.
when he offers her a handshake, she's tempted to refuse it - (your hands are too dirty, you shouldn't be touching someone like him) - but she takes it instead, making sure to give dan a smile. "i'm ahuda. it's nice to meet you." then she lets go of the hand, letting her own fall back to her side.
A senior ranger? That was so cool! He couldn't help but be a little impressed, having grown a hefty appreciation for the corps after his long year of training. He figured he'd be meeting a bunch of rookies here, so having an experienced ranger right in front of him was a very nice surprise.
"Nice to meet you too," he replied, giving Ambrose a slight nudge. The crab sighed a bit and then looked up at Ahuda, waving a claw. The Krabby's partner in crime may have been more of a socialite, but if there wasn't food or a battle Ambrose really couldn't are less.
"What brings you to Proserpina?" he asked, still a little curious as to his new acquaintances' whereabouts.
ahuda waves her fingers back at the krabby, and tilts her head at the question that the other ranger poses. "lots of things. but i'm just checking in, really. eos likes knowing where all of their agents are."
that, and she had been missing the resources here, thank you very much. even hespera as a city really doesn't have the wide variety of resources that proserpina has.
That made sense. As Dan's brief walkaround of the city revealed before, there certainly were a lot of resources here. Hell, compared to Proserpina, Humilau was almost like a ghost town.
It was a pretty business-based reason, but once you joined the Corps it seemed like business would always be on the mind. Heck, even as a breeder's assistant Dan usually had to put things in terms of work first, relaxation second.
"I get what you mean. Seems like it just hasn't been safe outside . . ." He trailed off, his usual smile dropping slightly. Were his parents going to be okay? Sol City had usually been safe, but who knows when the Scourge might surge into the area? They were never much for battling, and even good old Kingler was getting too long in the tooth to do much in a fight. If the infection got any closer . . .
He shook his head. He didn't even want to think about it.
ahuda snorts. kohaku hasn't been 'safe' for over a year now. some of the luckier and better-defended cities like hespera, mors, and onward had come out of this relatively unscathed; but there are still plenty of dangerous places still out there that would spell death for the unprepared. "no kidding."
"i've been getting run off my feet, but pretty much, yeah. time off when you can get it is valuable." and honestly, not feeling like all she's doing these days is killing scourge is a good feeling, too. "how about you? how've you been finding proserpina?"
"I've never seen anything like it before," Dan admitted. "I've only lived in small towns like Humilau, so being in the big city for once has been a big change of pace! It's really cool, but also a bit overwhelming. Still not even sure what kind of places I should check out while I'm here.
Any suggestions?"
A whole day spent exploring, and Dan was pretty sure all he accomplished was going in circles. Eventually he and Ambrose just gave up and wandered over to the docks, figuring that the sea would at least be a familiar sight. Maybe a few more days in the city and they'd finally have an idea of where they were going.
"humilau? the city in unova? you must be from out of the region, then." unova is pretty far out, and the other regions haven't really been forthcoming in help for the scourge. to her knowledge, only the ranger corps region had really reached out - but the kohaku people are not completely innocent either, ahuda supposes. arceus knows that they're a stubborn people in general.
she has to lean back and think, though, for his question. "here in proserpina? there are some places, yeah. there's the gym, which is really a library and what's probably kohaku's greatest museum of natural history. the docks are pretty much the city's livelihood, though the warehouse has a lot of pokemon if you want some wild battles before you head out as well. egerian sea is claimed by many as the most beautiful in the world, and a lot of kohaku loyalists around here will tell you that. but that's enough of me bragging. where have you been so far?"
"Yeah, my family and I moved to Sol City a few years back," he admitted. "They've been under a lot of stress, and I thought having some close access to the Dream World would be good for them." He sighed, smile dropping once more. This was all his fault, wasn't it? The move was his idea in the first place after all. At first it was perfect, but soon . . .
He didn't vocalize his thoughts, but there was one thing on his mind: he led them into a nightmare.
At least Ahuda had some interesting ideas for places to go! He hadn't even seen the museum: that'd definitely be something to check on later.
"As for where we've been? Mostly we've just taken a few walks around the city to try and get to know the area. It's . . . a bit confusing sometimes, with all these roads. Eventually we stumbled upon the docks and decided to take a break for a bit. Think Ambrose is starting to miss the ocean a bit." The crab huffed slightly, as if indignant at his "gives-no-fucks" appearance being shattered.
"sol is probably your best bet for that, then. it's the best protected so far, as far as i know." everywhere else in general has at least some type of risk for scourge, either current or as a possible invasion.
"proserpina can be confusing, yes," ahuda chuckles. she has first-hand experience with its confusing roads - ceres had nothing like it. "and hey, it's fine to miss the ocean. it's natural." hopefully that'd soothe the krabby a bit.
That was a relief. At least he hadn't screwed that up for his family. "I guess you're right," he commented, a bit of worry still in his eyes. "I just . . . if they're ambushed, I'm so far away . . ."
Ambrose scuttled a bit forward, hesitantly reaching out and giving an odd hybrid between a pat on the back and a "get your head in the game" slap. Dan looked down, smiling at the rare act of kindness from the crab.
she has to resist putting a hand on the young ranger's shoulder. really, she does. but ahuda doesn't really have a right to be a comforter.
(not anymore, you lost that privilege)
"they'll be fine, i'm sure," is all she gets out before she's raising an eyebrow at the krabby. huh. "you're ambrose, i'm guessing?" she asks to it - him? - directly.
"Yeah . . . yeah, you're right." She did say Sol City was the most guarded place in the region, after all. He may have still been worried, but his new friend's words at least helped reassure him.
"Where are you from?"
The Krabby perked up when he heard his name referred to. He turned to Ahuda, nodding and pointing to himself. He then pointed to the Fraxure, curious as to what his name was.
