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!
A sigh escaped Josh's lips as he stepped into Prosperina City. He wasn't sure if he was going the right way, but damnit would he try.
He hadn't left Juno City in his life, he'd spent most of his own either studying or helping his parents in their breeding exploits. He still couldn't believe this was real. He really was going on... Well, SOME sort of Pokemon Journey, just as he had dreamed.
But it really wasn't the same, was it?
Ah, the days when 10 year olds could go on adventures with Pokemon and become Champions. Yet here Josh was, over twice that age and just starting out because of some funky zombies. How had this happened? Would this land ever be the safe haven it once was? Or will they forever fear the scourge?
Regardless, the Pokeball holding Charlie, his starter Pokemon, Torchic, bounced on his belt as he walked, exploring this new city, this location that he had never seen in his life. He knew there was a Gym here... He wanted to tackle it, but was he ready?
No. He wasn't. He knew in his heart that wasn't the case. As good as having a Torchic was, it'd be foolish to tackle a gym without even battling with it first. But for now.. He'd explore, hopefully with no scourge around he would be safe to explore to his heart's content. It was a lonely road, but it was one that Josh was confident he could tackle.
He looked back at the road one last time. He could always go back to Juno Town, you know... His parents would think no less of him for giving up this fool quest to avenge their family pokemon. But... Would he ever forgive himself if he did?
No, he wouldn't. This was the time. There was no turning back now.
He took the Pokeball from his belt. He sighed before clicking the button. The ball opened, shooting out a beam of light that materialized into a bird... Or was it a chicken?
"Torchic!" Charlie let out. A smile crossed Josh's face as he knelled down to look at the Torchic for the first time. He patted it's head as he stared up at him. The Torchic didn't seem to trust him just yet, and backed away a bit at his touch.
"Hmm..." he mused aloud, scratching his beard. He had a couple of Poke-Treats or something that his parents had given him... Said Pokemon loved them. He fished one out and held it in his palm toward the Torchic. Charlie sniffed the hand for a moment, obviously distrustful, but cautiously ate the treat.
He loved it, it seemed. "Torchic! Torchic Tor!" it let out happily, looking up at Josh with happy eyes. He had earned it's trust, at least for now. Hopefully it would trust him this much in terms of battle.
iker finds himself wandering proserpina a lot for a guy who's slated to be fighting the scourge at about...now. not for a lack of trying, but he really needed to get a little closer to his new ranger partner.
bellatrix, surprisingly enough, was the no-nonsense sort of blaziken. she had expressed her doubts that a boy who was permanently bound in a wheelchair could become a ranger of any particular repute, but iker didn't care about that. people gave him plenty of shit about it, and he's still here, isn't he? he just knows that a blaziken would provide adequate firepower to his already offense-heavy team. they're gonna be a destructive team either way. all iker has to do is put in the effort.
fighting off a couple waves of scourge pokemon had shifted bella's opinion some. now all he had to do was appeal to her emotions. pokepuffs seemed to be an adequate way to go about it. for now, the blaziken seemed sated. enough to push him on his wheelchair, even.
and that's how they happen to cross paths with a random boy with a vaccinated torchic.
He nods a bit as he eyes the Blaziken. Nope, not a fire chicken. A fire hawk.
"Huh, didn't take you long to get a Blaziken" he mused aloud. "I started like... 5 hours ago" he said, shaking his head. "Not impressive, but... Hopefully with some experience I'll be okay" he said with a shrug.
Charlie stared up at the giant fire hawk, thinking it wanted a staring contest.
"...we all gotta start somewhere." some were just luckier than others. iker doesn't really know where he's going to end up at the end of the line, but it's likely not going to be at where he started off. not when his neighborhood was more or less decimated by the scourge.
it was not a staring contest. the blaziken blinks freely. in her opinion, staring contests were for amateurs.
it's amazing how well behaved jax seems next to the likes of bella and selwyn. iker never thought that he would see the day.
he smiles grimly. "i'd say by the time that the scourge are around, you'd have no choice but to be okay." he'd seen plenty of rangers who weren't. they weren't pretty. josh
The Torchic blinked and just kept staring. What was this giant bird thing? Was it a giant Torchic? Was he going to get this big one day? Dreams filled the head of little Charlie as he chirped happily. "Torchic!"
A chuckle escaped Josh as he watched his Pokemon, before looking back at the man. "That we do" he said. "If you're not okay, you're dead. That's just the gist of what I've seen since before and after I started with this journey. Wish it hadn't taken me so long, but I'd been pushed to a post secondary education instead of this. When some tragedies struck my family thanks to this scourge, I decided it was time to take things into my own hands no matter what they were pushing me towards" he said. "I guess the best way to word it would be to say that... Well, in time we'll be stronger. Strong enough to fight back these blighted things as soon as possible. The sooner we can return the world to normal, the better, right?" he said, with a shrug.
bella finds it in herself to pat the small torchic on his head a bit, but not more than that. same-specie camaderie only extended so far with the blaziken.
"before and...after?" iker gives him a dubious look. "can't imagine that you've seen much if it's only been five hours since you started. unless you came from the direction of ceres forest, i guess." that place was pretty rough. not nearly as overrun as it was in february, but still fairly dangerous for the beginning adventurer. "but yeah, getting stronger is kinda in everyone's best interest right now." josh
"Our family took a little trip and uh... We lost our Raichu to the scourge" he explained. "They're not trainers anymore, they're breeders. But that Raichu was really special to them while they were trainers. It died trying to protect us. So.. Yeah, I've seen how if you're not okay, you're dead. As for since... Well, by the stories I've heard and the things I've been told by people since I started, it's been kind of obvious" he explained. "Either you get stronger, or you get overwhelmed. It's a given"
The Torchic blinked, wondering why it was patting his head. But if he made a friend, that was okay! "Torchic!" he chirped cheerfully.
