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!
spring had started to come to kohaku, and J was glad for the change in weather. it was still cool, but not as cold as before. he sat at the rooftop café, wing perched precariously atop the large umbrella that covered the table. he wasn't sure if the umbrella would give, but every time it shook, wing would take off and land next to him, before giving it another shot. the other patrons might have found it a nuisance, but J was perfectly at home with wing's antics.
"enough," J said when wing landed for the umpteenth time, and noticed a smirk cutting the bird's beak and eyes. "they're about to splash coffee at you." the skarmory muttered something, before kicking over a chair a little too casually.
"Stay away from the edge, Achilles." The Gible paid the breeder no heed though, and continued peering over the roof of Vesta's Department Store. The breeder rubbed at a temple before finally retrieving the Pokémon in case the Gible decided to do something rash.
Something rash, like wriggling out of Mordecai's arms, and tottering over to the Skarmory. The Gible gazed up at the Pokémon with a wide-eyed expression of wonder. For a moment, the breeder wondered if the Pokémon had found another Pokémon who, even if he barely knew him, may serve as a kind of role model for the young Pokémon. The Gible would benefit from that.
Then Achilles hopped out from under the chair that Wing kicked and connected his jaws with the Skarmory's ankle.
wing had no concern for baby pokémon, or rare pokémon, but it did have an inch in its steel-coated heart for pokémon who decided to bite its ankle. glaring down at the gible, it proceeded to furiously stab its beak downwards until J decided to do damage control by recalling the raging bird of steel.
he glanced up from the gible (hopefully not battered) to see a familiar figure somewhere off to the side, and wondered where he had seen him before. "is this yours?" J called out, deciding that if there was anything to apologize for, it would be him for wing's actions. the skarmory's temper was not that of a buddha, alas.
Achilles shrieked as the angry bird began to peck at the top of his head. The Pokémon sobbed, but did not let go of the Skarmory's ankle until J recalled the bird back to its capsule. Mordecai quickly scooped the teary-eyed Pokémon into his arms. "Sorry about that," he said to J, and gave him a nod. "Achilles seems to have the need to latch onto anything in his sight that moves." Which, really, was quite natural for baby Gible.
Mordecai realized that he recognized this man. He blinked, and as he rubbed the top of the Gible's head, he asked, "Have we met before?" He could have sworn that he'd seen J's face before, not because he was the spitting image of an older Isaac (perhaps part of him hoped that this person actually was the youngest Delacroix), but he could have sworn that he'd definitely seen J somewhere.
Meanwhile, Achilles smeared his tears all over Mordecai's robe.
as it was in the afternoon, J was much more forgiving than he would be shortly after waking up. he finished the rest of his drink and rose from his seat to stand level with mordecai. "have we?" J asked, squinting a little in the sun. he wasn't sure, and so he moved into a less-blinding location.
Which didn't make any sense, because dreams only happened to a single person. It had been Mordecai's dream, not J's. J shouldn't even be able to remember anything. Dreams did not work two ways. With one hand, he shifted Achilles into being cradled into one arm, and rubbed the back of his neck with the other thoughtfully. "... How strange."
And because he couldn't think of anything else to say, he added, "I never got your name."
so there was the reason, then? they had somehow managed to share a dream, then? how odd. "i didn't get yours either," J said, glancing at mordecai, "how about you introduce yourself first." he figured it wasn't too much to ask for, especially after how the gible had bitten wing's ankle and quite possibly caused the skarmory to be in a bad mood for the rest of the week.
Mordecai gave a bit of a light-hearted laugh. "Yes, that would be common courtesy, wouldn't it?" he commented. "I'm Mordecai, and the little one here is Achilles." At the mention of his name. the Gible raised a stubby arm and waved it about. Mordecai dug his knuckle into the Pokémon's head, not too hard, before saying under his breath, "Yes, Achilles, that would be you." The Gible grumbled and shifted around in the breeder's arm, before giving J his most endearing smile. What was that about trying to take a bite out of a Skarmory's ankle? What?
funny name, but J wasn't apt to judge. "J," he said, nodding at the breeder. the gible, he ignored. he never really liked dragon-types; he found them rather brutish and not really his training style. they took effort to grow into a worthwhile thing and J had no patience for them. "nice to meet you."
"J, then," Mordecai responded. "It's nice to meet you as well." With some more petting of Achilles' head, the Pokémon slowly began to calm down again, until he was back to idly smacking his lips together. It made an irritating noise, but as long as the Pokémon was quiet, Mordecai didn't mind. There was another thing that he was busy thinking about. "Did you, by any chance, happen to have a dream about me?"
J glanced at the gible, and willed himself to make no comment. baby pokémon were odd creatures, and after raising chain and dust into below-average combatants, he considered them as a long term investment. the question that mordecai posed just a moment later, however, was far stranger than any baby out there.
"..."
he turned back to his mug; it was empty. damn, there went a possible excuse for stalling time.
J glanced at the empty contents of his mug. Mordecai was regretting even thinking about asking that question. He gave a sheepish laugh and shrugged a bit. "... yeah, that was a strange question. Sorry about that." On the other hand, Achilles was near-oblivious to whatever was happening between his breeder and the rooftop trainer. Mordecai glanced down at the Pokémon, who had grown very absorbed with playing with his feet.
"it's fine," J said, exhaling as he ordered himself another cup of hot chocolate. no point in staring at an empty cup that wouldn't refill on its own.
"i can't." J looked at the trainer. it would be a lie to say that he could forget something like that at once, or over time; it was a strange question, and J got the feeling that he would associate mordecai with that question for a very long time. long enough to never forget.
"are you a delacroix, by any chance? the breeder?"
J took a gander, because this man looked nothing like him -- would this be the other sibling, one whose face he had apparently seen in a dream?
At least J was honest. Mordecai liked to look on the bright side of things. Anyways, J would not be the only one who associated Mordecai with that strange question. Mordecai would associate J's face with the Dream World arena for a very long time (which was still strange in itself).
Or, perhaps J did remember him after all. Mordecai's eye met J's at the new question. "Delacroix the breeder? I've never been addressed like that, but yes, I am a Delacroix." A moment of hope flitted through him, not that he had seen Delilah (if so, he wanted to apologize to J for that experience), but that the man had bumped into Isaac.
"apparently, one of them looks like me," J said grimly. it was good that he'd found the breeder; what remained was the elusive other brother who looked exactly like he did. he found the new mug of hot chocolate a source of respite, and sipped it as he watched mordecai. warmth washed over his throat, but his exterior was still cold from the wind and inevitable questions he would obtain from someone whose younger sibling looked exactly like him.
briefly, J wondered if it was just like staring in a mirror.
