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 room he had ended up in was not batin's room, but it was tastefully decorated, draped with subdued neutrals and rather minimalist furniture for the Land. there was a hint of poison ivy twining over the mantle, and the chairs seemed to be made of bone once you gave them a closer look, but nothing more.
unless you counted the food on the table, which appeared to be a series of plated still-functioning internal organs, conjured somehow from their dreaming owners. batin dragged his knife across someone's liver, watching the door. he had tried to open it once--it hadn't budged. he hadn't tried again. the Land like its game. he would let this one play out.
cPewnZKj <50 J is on the other side of the door <50 J's liver, >50 batin's liver <10 scourge giratina drops by
J filtered into the land of nightmares half-formed and barely sentient. the land with red skies was a place he wasn't adverse to visiting; it was just the inhabitants that made him think twice about appearing. J appeared in the room in some sort of ghostly state, away from the influence of hashr.
the moment he set foot on the floorboards, a raking sort of feeling scraped past his abdomen -- no, within his abdomen. there was something amiss, but J quickly found his answer in the form of batin.
"that might be mine," said J. with little concern for his own wellbeing, J sat down opposite batin, picked up his own fork and stabbed it into the liver.
"not the most advisable of actions," he said. "although given your state, you don't seem to be here in the flesh. in which case the pain will have no lasting effect. i am curious though, if you don't mind--"
batin reached his fork across the table and prodded at one inflating and deflating lung.
UW8D35cB < 50 j's lung > batin's lung
he choked for a moment, and withdrew the fork.
"interesting," he murmured. "as i am here in the flesh, i'd prefer we don't try and puncture that one. i am loathe to throw myself on the land's mercies."
he looked at j through his eyelashes rather coyly.
J winced as he pulled his fork out of his own liver. even if this was a dream, pain was still something he felt as he could in real life. he allowed his breathing to steady for a moment, before he reclined in his seat.
"let's leave the organs alone," said J, "so why are we here?"
"i live here," batin said. "i know exactly what i'm doing here. all the questions are for you, dear. but a little lucario told me the most interesting tale that might resolve a few of them. i am rather curious on how you attracted the attention of that giratina. i didn't think its narcissism allowed it to notice anything past its own nose. and all those chansey as well! you do have a gift."
well, that wasn't odd at all to appear in batin's house -- room -- abode. that was not in the least strange. J tilted his head slightly at the man. "... don't ask," J said. he honestly didn't want to think about it. the encounter with the giratina had been particularly difficult for J. it didn't feel right to not be in control of himself; but perhaps giratina had sensed the thanatos within him and spoke to him as his superior.
"the chansey were interesting, though." that point J had to concede. he had not expected such a reaction from a simple pink pokémon. (it also made him think twice before stepping into a pokémon center.) "what do you know about the giratina?"
"i know what i know, and what i am told. there are reflections of legendaries who dwell in this world, just as in the real world. but like all things here, they are twisted, distorted. the giratina was changed by this place, by the scourge. my personal theory is that the virus accentuates one prevailing characteristic, exalts it above all others. mine was ambition. for another, perhaps violence. for most of those afflicted by the scourge, it is greed. for the giratina, it warped its grandiose sense of importance into something unbelievable. it believes it created the scourge virus now.
"that's the EOS theory, isn't it?" he stabbed at the air with his fork, gesturing about the room. "i find it hard to believe this place just came into existence with the virus though. or did the virus infect it, like pokemon were infected? i dunno. might just be a parasite ridden limb of the dream world. thinking about science isn't my forte. only chemistry i'm good at is baking."
"yeah, i'm not cut out for science either. i assume this used to be like the dream world, because --" he stared into a corner of the room, and it started to barricade itself much like the orb in the library of lost things had. "yea."
J speared a mysteriously grey cut of broccoli and bit into it tentatively.
"you made that look easy," batin said thoughtfully, looking at the corner j had shaped. "the land usually isn't so obliging, even to us. interesting. could you try manipulating something else in here?"
batin had gotten himself into a rather unfortunate situation. he felt like--well he felt like someone had literally ripped open his body and started chewing on his liver. because that was what was happening. but he didn't want to put down his fork and look indecisive.
he kept chewing, swallowed, and gave J a strained grin.
"no need to feel bad about it," batin said. "you did better than most here."
the room he had ended up in was not batin's room, but it was tastefully decorated, draped with subdued neutrals and rather minimalist furniture for the Land. there was a hint of poison ivy twining over the mantle, and the chairs seemed to be made of bone once you gave them a closer look, but nothing more.
