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!
When Phoebe imagined humans that she'd never seen as children as children, she imagined them as miniaturized, armless versions of themselves in gooby balls of embryonic fluid. It might've been a terrifying image to some, but Phoebe was a solosis once.
<What was he like as a child?>
---
She liked hearing him speak her name. She liked the kiss too, enough that she pulled him down again for a second. It felt right. Pleasing, satisfying. Like finishing a book with a happy ending. Like collecting the results of a long and successful experiment.
It felt like the air was easier to breathe now, even if she was honestly a little short on breath at the moment.
"Me too," she said, content with the closeness.
Eventually, Neo stepped past him through the doorway, taking Delta by the hand to pull him into the hall after her. She didn't let go--didn't intend to. "You should show me around your house. Something to do while Tresillian prepares dinner."
"oh, he was eager to please. he was much different from before, though. he didn't use to talk as much." tresillian's hands were working, but his gaze was faraway. slightly misty, as he remembered things of the past. "i'm happy he's grown up and become a fine young man, but sometimes i miss that little boy who would smile from behind a book and give you a look that reassured you that everything was alright with the world." he exhaled, smiling lightly.
"ah, i'm rambling. please don't mind me, phoebe."
---
iskander was smiling, perhaps with more sincerity than he had ever presented to neo. it was like stepping just a little past the yellow line at a train platform; not enough to die, enough to put one's neck on the line, though. he felt somewhat less safe with that gesture, but at the same time, the show had to go on. (was it still a show? iskander wasn't sure. he rather likened it to a good book.)
he allowed himself to be tugged by the hand into the hallway, and didn't mind that neo wasn't letting go. it seemed natural, like something they had been doing all along. "alright, i shall," he said, guiding her down the hall. he hesitated before a room slightly off to the side, as if debating whether or not to show her its contents, before moving on. "this way."
the room he led her to was one roughly the same size as the library, but not as packed as the former was. "it's not much, but it's a game room. a recreation room -- don't mind the stantler," said iskander, flinching upon making eye contact with it, "or the bouffalant, either." another decapitated pokémon stared down upon them on the other side of the room. "they called it a game room because it originally wasn't meant for recreation, but more for showing off their trophies," a glance at neo, an apologetic smile, "it's now for board games and pool and darts. ways to pass time."
there was a collection of various games in the recreation room, most of them collectibles or rare acquisitions. what was of note was an evolutionary stone chess set and darts fashioned out of honedge steel. the arcanine rug in front of the fireplace was less of a collectible, though; it seemed more like a statement from iskander's relatives with a fondness for hunting.
<Ramble all you want,> Phoebe suggested as she tried to make herself useful about the kitchen. <If you provide the food, I will happily listen to you talk all day.>
---
Neo didn't mind the stantler, or at least she tried not to look at it. Same with the bouffalant, although that one was larger and far more obtrusive. Unlike the heads, the arcanine rug hardly bothered her at all. It was one thing to make use of a pokemon's corpse. It was another to preserve their faces and tack them up on a wall.
Neo wandered the room, still dragging Delta along. "A shame that you have so few visitors to play with these days. Do you play with Tresillian?" she asked.
She peered at the chess set, probably worth more than--well, let's just say that she knew a lot of good uses for evolutionary stones, and none of them involved playing chess. Neo picked one up, the first chance she'd ever had to examine a moon stone closely. She quickly set it back down. She still worried that she might break something priceless. "Someday, we should have a game."
tresillian directed phoebe towards the peas, and encouraged her to shell them. he couldn't risk her spilling gravy or accidentally ruining other things, and shelling peas seemed like a simple enough task for the reuniclus and her plump fingers. "ah, phoebe, people like you aren't all that common nowadays," said tresillian with a sigh, "it's a shame, honestly. everyone does love to be heard and their opinions considered just like the rest."
---
iskander followed neo as she navigated the recreation room; first they went towards the pool table, and iskander stopped there to look at the table. he smiled a wistful smile as neo made her comment; he didn't say anything, except follow her over to the chess set, their hands still holding each other's. iskander watched interestedly as neo examined one of the chess pieces.
"i haven't since i was a child," said iskander, "he's amazing at darts. not so much at chess, he tends to get outsmarted there. i wish i had someone else to play these with; it's not as fun playing these alone." truth be told, until neo came, he had never been in the recreation room much. he preferred the library and seeking company amongst books. "you could ask tresillian for a game of darts -- i'm sure he'll oblige."
iskander smiled. "yes, we should have a game someday," he said, "chess, or anything else? we probably have monopoly, but two people doesn't really make -- oh, how about we invite tresillian and phoebe? that would make four of us. it's ultimately your choice, though."
he found himself content with the smaller things in life.
Silly Tresillian. Phoebe does everything telekinetically. She didn't even have hands in her previous two evolutions.
Actually, it's kind of hard to shell peas with telekinesis alone, but Phoebe makes it a self-imposed training exercise. After a while, she became an ace at shelling peas with her mind.
---
Board games were from a time long gone to her. They were for rainy recesses and afternoon playdates. They were for happier days.
"I meant chess, just me and you," Neo replied. She didn't hesitate for a second before adding, "I would win."
Those were words of a challenger, but it'd been a while since she'd last played, and she'd never been as good as people expected. Chess was a game that required patience. Neo could be patient. She generally wasn't for games, but maybe she could be for Delta.
Neo sighted on a twilight sky though the windows crowned by velvet draperies. "Or now, even. Why wait for someday? Someday may never come."
She turned back to face Delta. "I don't think I'll be making that boat."
tresillian marvelled at phoebe's abilities, and wondered if it would be too much to ask iskander to hire one as a domestic helper -- or at least have them over more often. he felt that he would finish his tasks twice as quickly, and phoebe took to new jobs far easier than he had imagined.
"how about the onions, phoebe?"
in the meantime tresillian was heating the oil as he prepared to deep-fry some fillets.
---
"just me and you," iskander repeated after neo, "and you would win?" a quirked eyebrow and a half-laugh. "you would, wouldn't you? researchers, logic and science," he said, "i wouldn't be surprised if you've got human psychology down as well." he didn't want to burst her bubble; he felt like he stood a chance against neo, but it was more than likely that he would allow her to win if they ever played. it had been that way every time he played competitively; he didn't like seeing people lose, so he let them win and shouldered the disappointment himself -- it wasn't what an eltanin did.
eltanins played to win. they locked on to their prey and killed them swiftly. tresillian had had a point when he said that iskander hadn't grown up into the son that they hoped he would be. his brother had been -- he pushed the thought away, a practised motion that he had cultivated over the past few years. (it's in your blood, tresillian had insisted, and iskander stormed off to the library, his breathing heavy and head spinning.)
"someday means you'll come back," iskander explained, "it means i'll see you again, get to play chess with you the next time we meet, or continue the game we're going to start now." he glanced at neo as she turned to him.
"and that's a good thing, right?"
he didn't know if he was talking about chess, or neo missing the boat.
Phoebe took to the onions and within seconds she had tears streaming down her face.
<I don't think I can cut onions,> she said through loud sniffles.
---
The only thing she really knew about human psychology was that men had a tendency to let women they liked win. A part of her was counting on that. The other part thought she could do fine on her own merits.
"Even if not, you can't go into a game thinking you'll lose. Games aren't so different from pokemon battles. Hesitation and doubt will defeat you before your opponent will," Neo said, although she referred to pokemon battling back when every match wasn't a contest of life or death with the scourge. "Lying to yourself is a useful skill."
She let go of him, at last, but only to take a seat by the chess set.
"Yes," she agreed. She didn't know whether they were talking about chess or the boat either, but the answer was the same either way.
She took the two kings in hand, presented them to Delta. "White or black?"
tresillian watched phoebe, chuckling softly under his breath. "here, let me help you," said the butler, taking over from phoebe and still managed to keep up with his multitasking remarkably well. "why don't you rest for a moment until the tears go away?"
---
"perhaps that is why i'm not a trainer," said iskander as he sat opposite neo, "hesitation and doubt will kill me before any scourge pokémon does." at the same time, he silently agreed about lying to himself; it was a useful skill, but one had to keep the threads of reality and fiction separate before it strangled the neck. "what happens if i win?" he asked, more out of curiosity than it being a challenge towards her, "and what if it's a stalemate?"
he plucked the white king out of neo's hand. was neo going to read deeper into his choice, even if there was nothing much to drive it other than the fact that he was sitting on the white side of the board? "white," he said after a while, setting the stone piece down where it belonged, amongst its people.
"and it goes first," he continued, pushing forth a pawn two squares ahead.
Still sniffling, phoebe grabbed a paper towel (she didn't ask, but quite frankly, she had other concerns) and blew her nose on it soundly. She faced away from the onions of death and slowly her tears subsided.
---
"It won't be a stalemate," Neo promised. That was probably true. She favored aggressive play, a constant barrage of gambits, but only because she'd always been impatient. She always had better things to do, a book to read, an experiment to conduct.
Neo knew it wasn't a challenge, but she looked up from the board at him. "What do you want if you win?"
She placed her king in its proper place. Delta's move was fine. She responded in kind. For once, she played for the long haul, taking her time to set up maneuvers if she had to, sacrificing pieces for the greater good. She would've planned many turns ahead, but she didn't know how Delta would play--she couldn't predict him, but that's what kept her blood running.
"I'm glad you picked white. They're the prettier stones, suits you. Funner to claim the pieces too."
tresillian was now plating the dishes. he watched phoebe for a moment, before pressing on. "phoebe, will you be a good girl and set the table? i'll handle everything else myself," he said.
---
iskander's smile was cryptic as he met neo's gaze. "i'll let you know if i do," he responded. "and the reverse applies to you too." there was more fun in not knowing something until it happened; the same worked for a simple game of chess.
his usual playstyle varied depending on who he played against; most of the time, it didn't take long for iskander to make a move. if it did, it was often a poor move, resulting in his pieces being taken off the board by an opposing piece he somehow missed. he was, in general, a good player -- albeit reactive. it was odd that he picked white in the first place, as it was a side that required him to take the initiative. as the game neared its third check on iskander's part, he switched strategies, and tried his best to do whatever he could with his remaining pieces.
"thank you," said iskander, nudging his knight towards claiming one of the black pawns, "i'm not sure if i have anything to say about the black pieces, though." he waited for neo to make her move. "i usually play black, but i figured that i'd try something else while you were around."
6L_LUped <50 iskander is winning >50 neo is winning 50 it's a draw
Once she was done sniffling, she could set plates on a table. Forks and knives too. She wasn't quite sure which one went where, and she asked just to make sure.
---
It was not a good time to be one of Neo's pawns. It was also a bad time to be one of her castles, but she eventually won a single castle back.
Choosing white forces a person to play to win. It's the prerogative of black to not lose, which some people thought was an innate disadvantage, like starting on your back foot. Neo didn't though; black was comfortable sometimes. Playing to win was often a burden. Winning was hard. Not losing was easier.
"You're better than I thought," she said, idly entertained. She was enjoying the match, such as it was. Her pawns marched to their deaths, and something about that was morbidly humorous. "But not as good as I feared."
B|H6_qkn <50 iskander is still winning >50 neo is winning 50 stalemate
funny how the tables could be turned with a simple roll of the dice. iskander wasn't surprised, however. neo was capable; it looked like she had a basic grasp of strategizing, while he did what was best for him at the moment. he lacked a sort of plan for the upcoming turns, and even though that had served him well in the beginning and early-middle parts of the game, it was starting to come back to bite him.
he considered moving his bishop for a moment, but realized that neo's castle was primed to attack him. instead, iskander chose to move a pawn, and promoted it into a knight.
"hardly," said iskander, "i'm not the star player of the family." he had never won a game of chess playing against anyone else in the house, except for tresillian. (he suspected that the butler was letting him win, but other signs seemed to indicate otherwise. until today, iskander didn't know.) "i've always been rather poor at games; it's either i lack skill, or luck simply doesn't favor me no matter how many times i attempt it."
|A5j8NNT <50 iskander is winning >50 neo continues to maintain her lead 50 stalemate
he felt that what laid on the chess board before him was nothing more than false hope.
When Delta took back his knight, Neo sat up, frowned at the board. The question why formed on her mouth, but it went unvoiced as she scowled at the board. He made a good decision, she decided. She just didn't like it.
Neo considered asking him about his family again just to throw him off his game, but that'd be a mean ploy--crass, even. He'd declined the topic the last time she'd brought it up. It'd be in poor taste to bring it back up again. Instead, she moved her queen somewhere safer, one of the few defensive moves she'd taken thus far.
he manoeuvred his pieces around her queen, noting the scowl upon her face. no one liked losing, he supposed, but one could at least accept it with grace. neo removed her queen and placed it into a defensive position, which worked in her favor. it looked like they were neck-to-neck at this point, and neo had eventually triumphed.
"good game," iskander congratulated her, and his voice had nary a sign of bitterness in it. he reclined in his seat, exhaling contentedly. he left the pieces as they were on the board, and stared up at the ceiling. who knew how tiring a game of chess could be?
---
dinner was ready, and after tresillian arranged everything on the dining table to his standards, he turned to phoebe. "it's dinnertime," he said, "i still have some things to clean around here, so please let them know it's time to eat."
She couldn't tell if that was a hard-fought victory or if he'd let her win. She swore Delta had the upper hand for roughly the entire game--up until he lost.
"Thank you," she said, deciding she didn't really care if she won on her own merits or not. "You didn't have to indulge me."
---
Phoebe got a little lost as she tried to find her way back to the library. Upon entering the library, she found no one there. Hm. Suspicious. Sounds like a case for Detective Phoebe!
She put on her imaginary super sleuth deerstalker cap, explored the hallways (bypassing an unopened door), traced psychic remnants, and tracked down Neo and Delta in a room with a lot of dead pokemon. How romantic.
