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 avernus lake was a pleasant, peaceful place to stay the night at the di manes caverns. while it wasn't the best possible spot, it was the best spot in the caves to rest in. J was never one to carry many items along as he traveled; a cave chamber he found linked through a particularly tricky corner had allowed him passage. he was certain that had he been lugging around a large bag of items, he would have had to backtrack.
sitting by the lake's side, J unfolded the old rod brett had gave him during his last chat with the fisherman. it appeared that brett, despite being a professional at it, had never caught anything other than magikarp and the occasional feebas. amused at the thought, J lowered the rod into the waters, and wondered if he could catch something for dinner.
probably a barboach. at the thought of it, kazfiel turned to look at the trainer, as if able to read his mind. the charmeleon was sitting by him, the flames on its tail providing a needed source of light, and of course, heat.
lost was never a word that rome would use to describe his predicament. there were marks, subtle clues that he could use to find his way back to the entrance, but it was difficult to maneuver between his flashlight and the map, especially with a hissing cat on his shoulder.
lucky for him, he found a perfect spot to rest. but, oh? was there someone already there? hah. he'd spot those dark locks anywhere. it was j again, wasn't it? his steps were a little lighter, a little quicker, as he made his way to the younger male. the light lit by charmeleon fire made them feel like a moth to a flame.
he moved his flashlight away, purposely pointed at the waters to scare away any fish. "finally caught up with you." rome said, taking a seat next to him. the light still pointed at the waters was now more refined to directly where the line was going. "i see you've caught a charmeleon."
the lake surface bubbled indignantly as the fish swam away, and J glanced from the source of the light to the one holding the flashlight. rome. he should have expected that to happen, he thought to himself as he retracted the old rod from the water and folded it. the charmelon seemed slightly bothered; what was going to happen to the fish it was promised? (but it couldn't jump into the water and catch one for itself.)
"yeah?" J said, finding room to place the old rod in his backpack. ever since he moved away from the city, he had to carry everything he had along with him. it wasn't a lot, granted, but it was still cumbersome. the fact that this was a cavern made it doubly hard to find some sort of safe place (even though he had a roof above his head at all times). "you're quick," he said to rome as he finally shut his pack and turned back to the water's surface.
kazfiel glanced at the cat on rome's shoulder, and recoiled slightly. a cat pokémon; they were known for their claws and ferocity. "kazfiel?" the charmeleon was torn away from its thoughts as J spoke its name. the charmeleon's gaze fell on the nodding trainer before it turned back to the now-calm waters, the fish gone from the bright lights.
"only because i want to see the virus in action." rome said. though normally j was right. he would have taken his time examining as much pokemon as he could in each area. had he ever gone on a pokemon journey there was no doubt in his mind that he would have not made it past the first route until he saw all there was to see, recorded and noted down somewhere. the pokedex sure made things quicker.
his purrloin noticed the lizard's reaction to her but did nothing towards him. instead they took their to their trainer's lap. it was far more comfortable with its light padding that the rough bone of his shoulders. rome gave her a scratch behind the ears and received a content mewl in return.
"so i have." he pulled out his pokedex, meaning to scan his charmeleon. "kazfiel, huh?" he gave a small smile as he pointed at the fire type. it didn't take long for the letters to appear on the screen: charmeleon. fire type. it flipped through the physiology, habitat and other sorts of things. some of the attacks were obvious. powerful claws and the ability to breathe fire. fire types tend to do the latter. "it's unfortunate that i didn't see them as a charmander." rome commented, a small pout tugging on his lips.
J smiled to himself. rome would always be rome, as researchers would always be researchers. a good number of new ones wanted to see the virus in action to grab rare specimens and samples. nothing beat the exhilaration of a new discovery, but rome always seemed to be on that high when given a carcass he'd never examined before. J turned to the researcher and his cat, who had looked back at kazfiel.
the charmeleon was now lurking by the water, dipping a scaly hand into the lake and swirling it around gingerly. it was as if it was hoping for a fish to bite, but the odds were incredibly unfavorable. J let it do as it pleased though. "unfortunately. it evolved in ceres," said J; they had previously agreed to meet up in the forest, but circumstances and happenchance did not occur as humans would like them to. they had not the control to modify such odds, but as long as they encountered each other again, the trainer was content.
"but check this out." J retrieved dust's pokéball and threw it on the ground. dust appeared, tossing its head and turning to look at the new face. "dust's on the brink of evolving. don't say i didn't give you anything in return," J said as dust scuttled over to him, dribbling the pokéball along with its movement like a soccer ball. "a lairon's pretty hard to see since it's a mid-stage pokémon.
"most of the time you'd see full evolutions or pre-evolutions." at least, that was what he had seen up until now.
there was still a pout fixed on rome's features, even after the legitimate response. he needed stronger pokemon to be here, so it was only natural that they had evolved. and the eos program would have never allowed the other male to join the program if he wasn't a capable trainer, so he actually had expected j to carry a few evolved pokemon my now, if not many.
"... hm?" the researcher looked at j expectantly, then to the pokeball he threw. his gaze focused on the aron that came from within and his expression changed to one of glee. more of j's pokemon to see. he quickly pulled out his pokedex and scanned him. aron, the iron armor pokemon, steel and rock type. they feed on metal.
once it was done, he looked up from his pokedex. "on the brink of evolving?" he said. no one wanted to keep mid-evos. they always wanted them to grow quickly, or they had just obtained them. the cat tumbled from his lap as he sat up to watch the steel type.
purrloin gave a small hiss before stumbling off to the charmeleon. she watched with a slowly swaying tale how the lizard stared into the waters for a meal. actually, she could use one herself, she'd thought as she licked her paw.
"dust," J called out to the aron, who turned to him. "c'mere." the aron toddled over, bumping against J playfully with its metal skull. "you can let go now." it looked at J, as if seeking confirmation. J noded firmly, and the aron returned his nod.
gradually, it became engulfed in a layer of bright light and started to grow larger. the aron was slowly evolving into a lairon. the light eventually subsided and dust was significantly larger, and had a louder sort of cry. a rumbling, low one that shook the ceilings. it was still as clumsy and slow as ever, though.
"there you go. a lairon," J said, but he showed no hints of pride at the evolution. it was a normal thing to the trainer; the process was not important, but the final form was. an aggron would be an asset against the scourge, J felt, and thus set on the task of raising a newborn aron into a brute capable of taking out towns.
the lairon stomped around and growled, bumping into J again playfully. it was stronger now, though, and it took effort from the trainer to not fall over at the light, playful shove.
kazfiel sat by the purrloin's side patiently, and continued to swirl the water. something leapt out, and it breathed a large blast of fire at it. fish fell on the ground, and it grinned before going back to swirling the water. it would seem that it wasn't hungry, but instead wanted the thrill of catching something.
rome watched closely as j interacted with his pokemon. he was right. aron was close to evolving and was he holding back for him? now this was a treat indeed. he kept the scanner on aron as he evolved, wondering if it also filmed the pokemon's evolution. it probably didn't.
he chuckled at the lairon's movements as the light subsided. the new armor was shining, as expected of any new evolution. as were its movements. a new form was something they would have to adjust to, especially when the change was so significant in size as this. from a toddling aron to a large lairon.
the lack of enthusiasm would have bothered another man, but he expected it from j. for him, this was a mundane thing. for rome on the other hand, it wasn't. rarely had he got the chance to watch things grow to their peak as he did towards their end stage of life. he gave a laugh at their interactions. "seems like he hasn't changed even after evolving."
purrloin watched the roasted fish go back into the water, floating. she gave a mournful mewl. it was a waste of food.
as rome had expected, the pokédex filmed none of it. it did tell rome that the pokémon was evolving, though. dust was still toddling around happily, its footsteps significantly louder and its tripping, ground-shaking, albeit minimally. J didn't want to think about it tripping about clumsily as an aggron. he didn't want to know what dust could potentially do when it fell over in its usual silly manner.
"nope," J said as dust tripped again, this time over a scuttling paras. (poor bug.) the trainer decided to recall dust into its pokéball and spare the di manes denizens a loud, annoying awakening at the hands of a lairon. "evolution changes the form, not the personality. just like humans growing up." the sphere shrunk into its smaller, more compact state before J returned it to the safety of his pockets.
kazfiel swirled its hand around again, but nothing jumped out. it leaned back, frowning slightly.
if he still had his camera (which leone regretfully destroyed) he would have filmed it with an actual camera. ah, but the sight of a toddling lairon was amusement enough. he could mentally record this moment to relive as long as he wished. now, training the pokemon to be used to his new body would be amusing to watch. even better when it would evolve further. then it would have to learn to walk on two feet with ease.
"what an eloquent way of putting it." rome said with a clap of his hands as the fumbling pokemon returned to his pokeball. "but you're exactly right." he pressed his hand to his forehead dramatically. "it's been so long since i've even been around little pokemon." then he made an odd, awkward sound, something that would sound strange to anyone who had just met him.
then the moment was gone, and he looked the same as ever, showing that it had all just been a dramatic play. "now can i play with wing? or do you have any other friends to show me?" he tried his best to sound innocent (not really) as he looked over to j.
purrloin decided this time she could try her luck. sticking a paw in the water she attempted to catch her own fish. her paw twirled around, much to her distaste, but eventually, she found nothing and was left with a soggy paw. she huffed at the water, only for a fist to jump up into her jaw before struggling down back into the lake. another food wasted.
"you can wait," J deadpanned. rome's acting had no effect on him. even when he asked for more pokémon (greedy bastard), J remained as he always was and took his time. when he had things to offer rome, he could count on the older man waiting for his turn like a child at the playground. he held authority here, and rome could not simply brute-force his way into J's personal space without losing several teeth or an ear. it'd happened once, wouldn't happen again.
"one more. be patient." he retrieved roth's pokéball and dropped it on the ground. appearing a few feet away was the ralts; it had been trained to use teleport the moment it was released from its pokéball. J had his reasons for teaching the ralts such a skill, but up until now, rome was the first person to see roth perform this feat. "have at it."
kazfiel glanced at the purrloin and dipped its hand into the water. it stared at the bubbles, before withdrawing its hand; within its grasp was a goldeen, which it tossed to the cat. it was dead by the time it reached the surface, such was the sharpness of the charmeleon's claws. it glanced at the feline and waited to see what it would do, as it had seemed hungry.
he pouted like a petulant child eager for the newest toy around. (and, in a way, he was.) it was only around j that he waited impatiently. he couldn't care less about the others. most of the time, it was his own fault that others were behind. he tend to have a sort of different pace from others, working whichever way he liked.
"hmmm." he hummed as he watched j pull another pokeball. the pout returned to its eager expression as he watched the ralts appear from the ball. oh, but it hadn't appeared where it should be. it was far from there, having teleported elsewhere. and that grin grew even wider as he realized that fact. "ohoho ~" he laughed. "now that's an excellent trick." compliment given, now was time to scan them. and he did with a maniacal grin.
seeing the fish flop on the ground before him, the purrloin looked up to kazfiel. she gave a mewl of thanks, rubbing against the fire type's side before returning her attention to the fish. she gave the dead fish a lick before biting into it. the damn thing was larger than she was.
J allowed himself a hint of amusement at rome's actions. the researcher was excited to see a new pokémon -- he probably had seen it before, on second thought, but he wouldn't have had his pokédex yet. J allowed him to scan roth before returning it to its pokéball. it was good to have the teleportation trick go off well in rome's books; the researcher usually had good sense in what worked and what didn't. (he was a scientist, and scientists were by default, gifted with some sort of intelligence.)
"patience is a virtue, rome," J started off his next sentence as he reached for another pokéball. no way in hell was he going to let him see wing just yet. it'd be too easy, and he would be giving up his trump card too quickly. (he'd have to let rome see wing sooner or later, but he'd rather the latter.) "rome's pokédex wasn't built in one day, alas." he was referring to the fact that trainers could only carry six pokémon at a time. J had on him roth, kazfiel, dust and three other mystery pokémon -- the first was revealed as a munchlax.
it stared at rome before conjuring a metronome. it wiggled its stained finger, then stared off into the distance. (it had used future sight, but no one knew what it had done.) the trainer turned to rome, waiting for the pokédex to be pointed and the creature, scanned.
kazfiel allowed the purrloin to brush against the side of its warm body before it consumed the goldeen. it didn't mind sharing its prey; it preferred a different sort of flesh. fishes tasted weird and it didn't really like the oily aftertaste.
"no, it was not." rome reluctantly agreed as the psychic type disappeared back into its pokeball. he didn't tuck away his pokedex just yet. oh, now there was three more to find and j would let him see them. he just needed to be 'patient.' heh, even he rolled his eyes at the thought. oh, he could be patient. he could wait years, but not when it was something that was so close as it was now.
again the light of the pokeball temporarily blinded him as the pokemon was released. it faded away to a little fat fellow. munchlax. his pokedex was already pointed, scanning it. the normal type would evolve to that large snorlax he'd heard could block entire pathways. it wouldn't be too surprising considering how much the dex (and his own memory) recalled how much they ate.
he let out a laugh as the pokemon used an attack, not at all afraid of what could happen. (j wouldn't let his pokemon attack him after all, would he? they were far closer than that.)
only after the cat had taken a fair amount of the fish had she bothered to look up and check if the other would like a bite. she nudged the fish towards them, wanting them to have a bite. though, it didn't mean she'd stop nibbling on the fallen fish.
J recalled the munchlax before it used another metronome. he wasn't sure what the munchlax had did previously, but the silence after its metronome had been deafening. no sign of an attack, no glow to indicate that something had happened. it was just complete silence without anything. trying not to think much of it, he pocketed the red-and-where sphere and hoped for the best. a wish technique would be nice; it'd heal the health of everyone present, but if it wasn't ...
the trainer then glanced at the ceiling to judge if it was high enough to launch his next pokéball. a tropius was large, and he wasn't sure if it'd fit. maybe if it laid down, it would, but J couldn't care less. he clicked the button and released the creature.
at once, the ceiling rumbled and shook as the tropius crashed its head against it in an attempt to stand upright. "down," J told the creature, tapping it on his large, bark-covered torso. "lie down, and you'll fit." its leafy wings continued to beat against its back, even after it settled down. the caves were indeed a tad too small for it to stay in comfortably. "just grit your teeth for a bit." (J almost had to wonder what it was like to live in a pokéball so small and cramped. did it adjust to fit the pokémon's physique and natural habitats?
kazfiel tried hissing some embers onto the fish and taking what was slightly roasted to eat. it nearly spat the tiny piece out; the taste was bad. the charmeleon shook its head and nudged it back. it preferred nice, bloody meat over fish any day. a tauros would have been nice, but they hadn't seen one in a long time. mareep got a little bad depending on the weather and their wool, but it was what kazfiel usually had.
