SEPTEMBER INTRO LOG

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→ 09/01 The Arrival

「 Welcome to the world of POKEMON 」

"It will come to be. And in exchange..."
You wake up with a start. Thunder rolls across the sky, steamrolling the voices and the fog out of your head and replacing them with mottled grey on white— greyer in some spots than others, and if you're one of the unlucky ones, the greyest leaks cold water right down on your face. Drip... drip... drip... the intervals in between getting shorter and shorter until

SPLOOSH!!

The entire ceiling caves in and water and soggy drywall collapses onto your head, and those of several dozen others sharing this very open, very wet room. Rain pours down from overhead through the large hole in the middle of the ceiling, but the perimeter of the room is a little drier: about a dozen cots line the walls, not enough for the number of people here and so most must pick themselves off the ground. Other than a few curtained dividers now scattered across the flooding floor, the room is otherwise bare. White, grey, and very wet.

"Uh..." The only dry people in the room stand in the doorway: a girl who pulls her hood further over her head to keep the water off her face as she steps in to help the person nearest her up, and a boy who hangs back behind her, hesitant, staring at his feet a little guiltily until he looks up and catches somebody's eye, and he too steps forward to help people onto their feet. They introduce themselves as Chiaki Nanami and Minato Arisato, explain that they've arrived here a while ago in the exact same way as everybody here, and show off the purple and grey bands around their right and left ankles respectively, as if that is proof enough. Your unconscious bodies may or may not have been investigated while you were unconscious, but every person here will find some sort of band tattooed around a part of their body, some with a single pattern and some with two, some matching somebody else's and some unique to their own.

For those who want to hang back and ask questions, Nanami and Minato stick around and do their best to answer them, otherwise, you're free to go out in the rain and get soaked and wonder why this is your life.

→ 09/01 The Surroundings

"Ichi help me think of headings. I am so bad at writing headings" - Card

It's actually not that bad, all things considering. Sure, it's raining all day nonstop, but the rain varies between pouring and sprinkling and is weirdly lukewarm, like a shower that doesn't have enough water pressure and can't get hot enough. Strange creatures called Pokemon roam about the town of Toran, many hiding from the rain and liable to attack when people unexpectedly stumble upon them trying to find shelter themselves, especially the arm-hungry bears who just want to nap under trees, but others are friendly and eager to help people sweep water out of buildings and patch up roofs.

Whether you woke up with one or stumbled across them later, you have your own strange creature too. Be friends. If you don't know anything about Pokemon, there are plenty of elementary schoolers eager to laugh at your ignorance and teach you everything you need to know about catching and training Pokemon, little four-year-old escorts around Toran to show you where to find them in the lake at the center of the island, the surrounding ocean, the patches of grass throughout the town. The ground is perpetually marshy, thick mud and tall grass slowing foot traffic and the spiderwebs of pavement connecting the other structures around town are covered with half squashed, wiggling worms(egments) that are almost unavoidable to step on unless it's during a lighter drizzle when the bird Pokemon are free to swoop down to pick the roads clean. Want to get some experience in Pokemon battling? These literal children will gladly pulverize you to the point of blacking out and take your money or whatever fun little trinkets you have in your pockets.

The building everybody arrived in turns out to be a hospital, with an adjacent building being a hospital for Pokemon- a Pokemon Center- which offers free shelter for travellers but is currently overflowing with people who are stranded on this island, even with so many visitors forced to resort to long term lodging in the town's small inn. Both the hospital and Pokemon Center stand right along the lakeside, water overflowing and nearly lapping against the front steps, which is home to an abnormally large 30-foot long Gyarados. It thrashes about in the middle of the lake and has been scaring all the other wild water Pokemon to the outskirts of the lake, blasting the nearby buildings and berry trees with torrents of water, and lashing out at anybody who tries to approach. Several fishing boats that have gotten too close have been smashed, but a few are left tied to the docks around the lake for braver trainers to use.

Large canopies have been set up over the berry gardens dotting the rest of the lakeside to keep the rain (and the occasional Gyarados hydro pump) from washing off the berries. The trees are tended to by gardeners with their grass Pokemon, and at times Minato with his Yamask covering his face, one black arm wrapped around his neck and the other lazily waving an arm to part the cloud of several hundred Combee buzzing protectively around the boy, trying to keep unfamiliar people away from the beehives as Minato makes his rounds checking up on each of the hives and picking up the fruit that has fallen or has ripened enough on the branches, offering berries to any person or Pokemon who's hungry.

Most of the buildings around town are doing well enough, despite the unending gloomy weather and too many people. The Daycare Center is particularly packed with Pokemon whose trainers are stuck outside of the island and unable to pick them up, and volunteers to help feed and care for the Pokemon are needed more than ever, especially the younger Pokemon who are fussy and upset at being away from their trainers for so long. Even the older Pokemon are a bit worried, and some of the daycare workers whisper about rumors of a pack of wild Drifloon seen around town whenever the rain calms down to a drizzle and luring little kids into the thick fog and getting them lost. There are also whispers about the hospital, hushed words about how it's haunted by the spirits of the deceased and that when a group of Murkrows gather around a patient's window, it's to mark that person with misfortune and death. Several posters of missing children are hung up around the Daycare Center, with the promise of a reward for any information or return of the children, and flyers begging for help to calm the residents at the hospital of their worries about the Murkrows or ghostly sightings.

The Game Corner arcade never knows silence with the constant flashing and chiming of the slot machines and roulette wheels, but don't be fooled with the frequent payouts seen at the machines Nanami and her Mimikyu sit at, because the odds are actually pretty low and the tokens can only be traded in for berries, common items, and Pokemon accessories. There are no windows in the Game Corner, and it is very easy to lose track of time inside— one elderly gentleman in a tophat can be seen at the same slot machine in the corner at all hours of the day, never eating or sleeping or doing anything else but mechanically pulling the lever, unresponsive to the rest of the world around him. He's going to hit the jackpot, he knows it. Just one more pull. One more pull...

The newest building in Toran is the boba shop, freshly painted in bright yellows and blues just before the storm hit and the colors remain bold against the grey sky. The "Grand Opening" sign still hangs above the front door despite opening over a month before, inviting customers inside to try their specialty: milk tea with Combee honey boba balls. Boba is half off for first-time customers, and you also get your stamp card stamped with a lavender Bulbasaur face, unique to Toran's shop. There are eight stamps total to be collected- fill up your stamp card for a special prize! But strangely enough, scattered throughout the town, people of various different ages slump against walls and on the ground, barely responsive and with empty cups of boba around them. They're ignored by the townspeople and despite the unnerving sight of these semi-vegetative citizens, lines to the shop are just as long as ever.

The shop is also currently hiring, for those who would like to fill up their days while there's nowhere to go and make a little $$$. How about it? Join Team Boba today! (:

→ 09/02 The First Meeting

"Hahahahaha" - Ichi

After giving people some time to get settled, later in the evening of the second day, Nanami, Minato, and their Pokemon go around finding people with those mysterious bands marking them as isekai'd strangers to the island, and herd them towards the boba shop to Talk. About why they're all here, about that dream, about where to go from here...

As the group waits for the last of them to arrive, with a round of boba provided courtesy of Nanami and her small Game Corner fortune, chatter around the boba shop paints the same story: a storm has been raging for over a month now, with thunder and lightning, hurricane winds, and whirlpools making travel to and from the island too hazardous, trapping visitors on the island way past their expected length of stay. There are talks of strong Pokemon trainers having headed out into the storm to try and get help from other towns, most of them quickly forced to turn back, and others— whether they were lost at sea or managed to break through— never heard from since. Storms are never this bad here, the people say, they never last this long and they don't ever seem to be... sentient... getting a lot worse earlier yesterday when so many new people were found collapsed around the island and were brought to the hospital, intermittently throughout the past month whenever a trainer tries to leave the island, and the largest reaction from the storm over a month ago when a girl with pink hair and a boy with blue hair were found in the lake and dragged half-dead to the hospital.

The island has been isolated for well over a month now with nobody having any idea what's going on outside, but the arrival of so many people at once can't be a coincidence- it must signify the time for change. When something to this scale happens, people tend to look to the gods, the Legendary Pokemon, but if they're really the cause... it'll take effort from everybody in order to break through the storm to catch the attention of the Legendaries and reach the rest of the world.

→ MOD NOTES

⬥ Welcome to Pokespe! All characters wake up at the hospital by the lakeside and can explore the rest of the island. Players are free to play out Pokemon battles or wild Pokemon encounters, but please let a mod know when catching a new Pokemon so we can approve or decline the capture.
⬥ On the second day, Nanami and Minato will be available to answer questions about what they've found out in the month before everybody else arrived. They will each have an NPC toplevel for those who wish to speak with them, and characters present at the meeting are free to learn about the information shared without needing to thread with an NPC.
⬥To proceed to the next area for next month's log, characters must find a way to travel across the stormy ocean filled with whirlpools and choppy waves. Make sure to mention your efforts on the permanent AC page at the end of the month!
⬥ There are several other oddities and problems around town that characters may choose to help with or investigate, which may or may not help with escaping the island or have ties to the plot as a whole. To investigate one of these areas, please comment to the questions toplevel with a link to your thread so the mods can direct you appropriately.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Yeah, if it comes to that. [That is, he can stay afloat if the water is still and not being perturbed by thrashing lake monsters. Same difference.] Hope not.

[Having to stick to his indoor voice makes him sound a shade more doubtful than he intends. He can't fault the plan on principle. On the amount of food they brought... well, whatever. Hard to raise a complaint before he's even contributed anything.

Oh, speaking of which, they've stopped. Sagi peers further out into the lake through the grey curtain of rain, but can't see so much as a silhouette.]

You think we can bait it from here? Okay. What should I do?

[ Being able to swim is what makes it or breaks it even with a thrashing sea monster in the lake and Joonghyuk prefers not to have to save someone while he escapes. It's all good. Before Joonghyuk causes a ruckus, he thinks a bit more on what Sagi can do.

It will be good for one of them to man the boat as the waves start rocking, so that means— ]

How well can you pitch?

[ Got a buff throwing arm? ]

I'll give it a shot. [In fact, he sounds downright enthusiastic. Accuracy may be another story, but he's confident he can lob something berry-sized pretty far.] Just point me where.

[To be as ready as possible, he reaches down for the Definitely Not Drugs Basket, which he'd been holding steady with his foot while the man rowed the boat. Soon, he assumes, it can fulfil its destiny. Must be nice to have one of those.]

[ Definitely not going to feed it drugs. Joonghyuk looks... Dubious, but failing a pitch is better than failing to keep them afloat. His shoulders drop as he starts smacking the water's surface. ]

It shouldn't be difficult. The Gyarados has a gaping mouth.

[ And as they expected, the beast appears and roars. With some maneuvering, Joonghyuk is able to keep their boat upright despite the waves. It's now or never? Yeet the berries (a number of oran berries, maybe 1 persim berry) and boba in, Sagi?? ]

Here it comes... May my aim be true!

[Is it necessary for him to raise his voice again as soon as the Gyarados surfaces? Yes. No question about it.

An Oran berry is already in his hand, since those had the roundest shape and felt relatively solid. He narrows his eyes, imagines he's just trying to knock something out of a tree with a rock like he's done many times before, takes aim, and - yeet! The berry sails through the drizzle, bonks the Gyarados on the nose, then half-rolls, half-drops into the cavernous maw below. Thank goodness it has such a big mouth. ...That isn't a thought Sagi has often had about monsters this size.

Emboldened by this first hole-in-one, he lobs a few more of the berries in quick succession: a couple Orans, and a Persim when his hand happened to land there. All of them land in Gyarados' mouth too, although it's a close thing. In the face of such expert (lucky) pitching, the beast looks... puzzled? Or just hesitant. Not mollified, not with its tail still lashing in the water and rocking the boat. Still, it might be a result.]

So far, so good! Next... [Sagi looks down at the basket.] Oh.

[Next up is the boba. The cup isn't an aerodynamic design or anything, but that's not why Sagi is now the one hesitating. It's just... what if it is drugs, but only enough of them to make the monster mad...?]

[ ...................

Joonghyuk sure makes a face with Sagi says that kind of embarrassing heroic stuff, but he doesn't say anything. Instead, he holds onto the oars and makes sure their boat stays afloat on the incoming crashing waves. It's rocky, but he handles it well enough to watch the other man shoot some hoops.

Gyarados seems to be... Not as mad as it was before. There are fewer waves, though its tail is still creating them. The billows are smaller. A good sign! Joonghyuk takes note of the changes in its behavior, but notices there's still more in the basket. ]

What are you waiting for?

[ If only Sagi knew that he is a fortune-teller because the boba will indeed make the Gyarados not as happy. ]

...Nothing! It's nothing.

[Screw it, they have to throw the boba cups sooner or later if they want to find out. Sagi steels himself and picks up the first cup. Ready, aim, fire -

- crunch -]

Wh-?!

[With another almighty roar and a violent thrash of its tail, Gyarados smacks the cup out of the air, crushing the lid instantly and volleying the cup's remains back at the boat with frightening precision. Sagi raises both arms to shield his face as a matter of habit, but can't stay that way when the little rowboat roils and shudders underneath. Instead, he lurches back to try and grip the side of the boat, barely catching it in time. Milk, bubbles and plastic spatter off the opposite side.]

Do we - throw another one??

[He really hopes the answer is "fuck no", but this isn't his plan!]

[ Joonghyuk looks thoughtful... Maybe he should have taken the contents out of the cup? Should he have just the boba by itself to throw? Well, there's not much he can do now that the Gyarados starts its rampage. The waves once small and tapering to nonexistent now tower their little boat. ]

It'd be a waste. You can keep the cup.

[ His grip on the oars fasten tighter, paddling quickly though the waves catch up to them quickly. With some sharp steering, they avoid the crashing wave. The force is overwhelming, it forces some water Pokemon out of the water.

The Gyarados doesn't seem happy they're still around, looming over the center with its menacing glare. It roars again, warning them!! Even if you gave me some lunch, it doesn't mean anything!! It starts preparing a hydropump their way, which earns a squint from Joonghyuk. ]

Hold on tight.

[Sagi doesn't need telling twice to brace himself. It does mean he's no longer paying much attention to Joonghyuk's basket, which now has a disgruntled Basculin sinking its teeth into the side.]

It's gonna shoot... [Just in case that wasn't obvious.

And right on cue, the Gyarados lets loose its torrent of water, drowning out almost all vision.]

[ It's all right. Joonghyuk has forsaken the basket since he borrowed it, so the Basculin is free to chomp on it as much as it wants. As long as it doesn't try to bite a chunk out of him (to be honest, he would be okay with it taking a piece of Sagi).

The hydropump comes, but Joonghyuk somehow swerves the boat to skirt the attack and tries his best to row them back to shore with the momentum of rushing water. The Gyarados has the same idea, except they're too slow. It casts another hydropump, but this time with more gusto.

The force propels the boat and its passengers out of the lake... Into the air. Where they land, the boat somehow stays intact for a whole second before it unravels like gift box. ]

You can have the fish.

[ It still chompy on the basket. ]

[Oh, to be a little rowboat that disintegrates at the first sign of defeat and doesn't have to deal with the aftermath. It and the muddy lake shore soaked the brunt of their rough landing, but it's not the prettiest wreck Sagi has ever had to disentangle himself and his wings from. Boba, splinters and waterweeds are littered everywhere, including inside his newly repurposed friend, the Fish Basket. Fingers crossed that boat renter has good insurance.]

Great. A fish. Thanks.

[He still takes the basket handle, despite sounding less than enthused, and looks back out over the lake. The Gyarados seems to have lost interest in them specifically once it managed to escort them from the premises, but it's still thrashing around aimlessly in the water. A free basket is the minimum compensation he should accept for having to deal with that.]

That really didn't work. It's gonna be on guard for the next while. [No actual blame, just a situation report.] ...Are you gonna try again?

[ The little rowboat didn't know this adventure would be its last... But it lived well. Whatever small water Pokemon in the basket flop, wanting to be back in the water where they belong. Take me home, country roads, Sagi. Joonghyuk sighs as he looks back to the lake. ]

It seemed passive for a moment.

[ At least in his opinion. As he picks himself up, he takes both oars into a hand, thinking to at least return them since... The rest of the boat is wooden planks and splintered pieces. ]

I'll come back to feed it another day. [ Despite driven away forcefully. It isn't a hyperbeam at least? ] There are other things to look into.

[Too many other things, in Sagi's opinion. Still, he definitely can't begrudge anyone for having plans instead of just muddling through like he is. They didn't even drown! Fishy though the end result may have been, that makes this operation a success, and that isn't the worst feeling.]

Well, let me know if you need a hand with those too. I'll be... [...trying to figure out where to release these other critters back into the water without getting Gyarados' attention again, first and foremost. There are more soulful stares coming at him from the Fish Basket than his heart can take.] around. Like everyone else.

Yoo Joonghyuk.

[ Might as well introduce himself since they should all work together in this new, strange world. To greet them, Joonghyuk's Eevee scampers over with her knife... In her mouth, happy to see that her trainer is back.

But ah. Who is this? Who is this? She kind of sniffs Sagi as Joonghyuk hovers over the basket. He can see those sad puppy fish eyes. ]

You're going to return them?

Oh, yeah, forgot to introduce myself... Um, I'm Sagi.

[Maybe he'll remember one of these days. It just tends to slip his mind.

He glances down at the little Eevee when she approaches the two of them and gives her a slightly uncertain smile, but it's mostly because he's still distracted by the staring and muffled blubbing noises coming from the Fish Basket, not because he notices anything wrong with what she's holding. Lots of monsters are smart enough to use weapons of some kind, in his experience.]

And, well, yeah, I gotta return them. They didn't do anything wrong, they just live here.

[The Basculin still attached to the basket handle wiggles threateningly at him. He ignores it.]

[ It's fine. Joonghyuk is one to forego introductions most of the time unless it's necessary... However, it's part of everyday life so he goes out to do it.

Minji tilts her head when she hears the blubbing noises. Aw, the poor Pokemon... Bullied by the Gyarados. It seems the Basculin, however, is in high spirits. ]

This one looks like it wants to fight.

[ Just saying. ]

[It certainly is flopping around a lot more vigorously than the rest of them, forcing Sagi to grip the basket with both hands. The way it's thrashing about vaguely reminds him of someone he hasn't encountered in a long time... which only increases his urge to ignore it.]

Probably just mad about not being back in the water already. I can handle it. But we'd best, uh, let the poor man know about his boat.

... I don't mean fight you, but it has the fighting spirit.

[ How does he say it? Joonghyuk looks the Basculin in the beady fish eyes, tilting his head. Minji seems to be nodding? ]

It's expecting something.

[ But since Sagi mentions the boat, Joonghyuk looks to the remnants of what used to be. Guess who also appears? The vendor. They see the boat, then his eyes widen, then return to normal as if they already expected it. Apologetically, they mention to Joonghyuk that they'll need to bill him a fee for it.

Or they can give him that basket. ]

Yeah, of course. [The answer seems pretty obvious to Sagi, despite his initial instinct to put the fish back in the water. If anything, he'd expected to have to jump through more hoops as an accomplice to messing up this person's livelihood. He hands the glubbering basket over without a second thought.] Thanks for being understanding -

[The Basculin, in contrast, is having second, third and fourth thoughts about probably being filleted later. It flings itself away from the basket handle with a damp slapping noise and latches onto one of Sagi's vambraces instead. He said "howdy pardner" in that wiggle earlier, did you not understand him??]

Um. That's - huh.

[To which the answer is no, Sagi still doesn't. After meeting Basculin's fishy gaze with a nonplussed stare, he glances back at Joonghyuk as if Joonghyuk can explain instead. He'd rather not make a big deal of it while the boat renter is still there, but even through light armour, the teethy pressure on his arm isn't exactly comfortable...]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

SEPTEMBER INTRO LOG

premise ⬥ taken ⬥ faq ⬥ navigation

→ 09/01 The Arrival

→ 09/01 The Surroundings

→ 09/02 The First Meeting

→ MOD NOTES

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