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.

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[ Minato looks up at Joonghyuk now, missing the staring but doing some staring of his own out of surprise that Joonghyuk also isn't familiar with chewy boba balls. So many people are really missing out. Minato had never drank much before either, sticking with his coffees and energy drinks, but you gotta support the town you live in, right?

He tries to unstick one of the boba balls, but they're fused so well together that he's forced to dig at it with his fingers and tear out a misshapen chunk of three and a quarter balls, holding it out to Joonghyuk. ]

It's tapioca flavored with honey. Try it?

... I've had tapioca pearls, just not "Jiro's leftovers."

[ In case that's a specific dish or something. Either way, he has had bubble tea before, though he prefers regular tea. Being offered a wad of boba has him frown even more.

Why. Minato. Please. ]

I'm full.

[ And he's going to start rowing so he can escape Minato staring at him while holding sizable balls of honeyed tapioca (except he can't cause Minato is in the same boat). ]

But you brought so much food...

[ There's just going to be more staring, but at least Minato eats the boba wad in his hand and spares shoving it into Joonghyuk's face while his hands are occupied. There's still some water Pokemon near the lake's shore, and he picks off little pieces of boba to plop down into the water— some of the Pokemon eat it, but others ignore it. Seems like personal preference. ]

I guess it's true that the Gyarados can't exactly go out and hunt like if it were living in the ocean. So you're feeding it?

It's not that much.

[ Seeing a couple of water Pokemon eat some of the boba reminds him that maybe he should catch something soon... His Eevee with a knife is nice (she's waiting on shore and watching them with the knife in her mouth) and all, but a variety is what gets you to places. ]

With its size, I'm surprised it hasn't expended all resources in this lake... [ He arches his eyebrows as he keeps rowing ] Are Gyarados supposed to be in the ocean?

[ Speaking of Gyarados, the water's surface has a very visible ripple. It has Sensed Them. You guys are talking shit. ]

I dunno.

[ They weren't talking shit!!! They were speaking very respectfully, don't kill them, please, Gyarados. ]

I figure it'd be happier somewhere with more space. 'sides, it's only been a month since it lived here. As a Gyarados, anyways. Either it evolved or somebody dropped it off, but...

It does look like something that should live in the ocean.

[ Even if they aren't talking shit, it rises up from the waters and watches them carefully. It recognizes Joonghyuk as the one passing it berries every once in a while, but... Keep your distance, humans.

But also give the goods. Joonghyuk gestures to Minato to pick and choose, though... Boba will make the Pokemon angry. ]

Have you seen anyone try to catch it? It would make it easier to relocate it.

[ He is currently gnawing on the boba cylinder so that's safe for now; Minato picks up the entire basket so he can throw the entire contents into the water at once. ]

I've tried. Facehugger isn't strong enough, and I don't have my other... [ ... ] soul monsters. Other trainers have tried too with stronger Pokemon, but Gyarados has always beaten them. ...I think that's how it got so strong.

[ It's scarred up from many Pokemon battles, very old to relatively recent, and it maybe gained like fifty levels just sitting in the lake killing everything that comes up to challenge it. ]

[ ... Soul monsters. He didn't know too much about the other Minato's life, aside from how he treasured his friends, but soul monsters. Okay. ]

That's annoying. [ Failure only means their opponent gets stronger? And people kept feeding it exp?? ] Was it always this aggressive at the begin—

[ But before he can finish his question, the Gyarados' shadow can be seen under their boat. Joonghyuk goes quiet... As he remembers that Minato kind of scattered all the berried out at once in a certain spot.

He squints... Uhm. ]

It should swim back.

[ Yeah? ]

[ Minato takes the cue to go still and quiet too, slowly leaning over the edge of the boat and seeing the way the water becomes dark underneath them.

Do they have time to abandon ship and swim back? They don't have time to do anything, as the water level drops beneath them and large jaws open up from either side of their boat. ]

[ ... The shadow is getting closer? Joonghyuk's expression becomes darker and darker as the same thought sinks in. There's little time for both of them to jump off the boat and escape now that they're seeing jaws emerge. There might be a chance for him, but he thinks back to the Minato he remembers.

Joonghyuk grabs him by the collar and throws him quite far towards shore. ]

[ He doesn't even have time to protest, let along process what happened, before he's already airborne and staring in horror at the emerging Gyarados' head and Joonghyuk still on the boat. He can't get back there in time, but he snatches the Pokeball off his belt and flings it as far and as hard as he can—

his Yamask appears in a shower of sparks and bridges the distance, slamming into the side of Gyarados' face with a ear-splitting screech. Astonish causing Gyarados to flinch, jaws locking before they can snap close around the boat. ]

[ Joonghyuk is about to try something with the oar to keep its mouth from closing, maybe forcing it to recoil if only for a second for him to escape, but the screech works better. Even if it makes his ears ring, he doesn't wait to escape.

He swims quite fast and catches up to Minato which seems to be at an okay distance away from the Gyarados. ]

Is that Facehugger?

[ He wants to ask if the Pokemon will be able to return, but... Gyarados, when it shakes itself back to normal, smacks the Yamask back at them. ]

[ Minato is quick to get his Pokeball out and recall his Pokemon before she can slam into the water or smack him in the face, but immediately releases her again to hover above their heads, a shimmering veil of Protect falling before their faces in case Gyarados decides to pursue them, but while it narrows its eyes at them, tail lashing behind it, it seems to respect the fact that they're leaving. ]

...Yeah.

[ Minato answers with a sigh, only relaxing after two seconds pass without them being Hyper Beamed in the face. ]

This is Facehugger. She's the first Pokemon I became friends with here.

[ What an interesting Pokemon... Very useful. However, ]

She doesn't come with a knife.

[ Just an observation, not really a criticism or anything. Why did his Eevee have one? The tension in his shoulders disappear when the Gyarados also returns underwater, shadow visibly heading back to the center of the lake. ]

Let's head back.

[ Time to swim to land... Where Minji the Eevee with a knife greets them with little hops, glad that they made it alive because wowee she witnessed all of that. ]

Unfortunately not.

[ Why doesn't he get Pokemon who comes with knives /: Facehugger's held item was a partially eaten berry which she then proceeded to smear into Minato's face, nothing as cool or useful as a knife. But she does well in battles anyways, a Pokemon with a good defense and is very protective of him, though he does miss having an arsenal to choose from.

The swim back is uneventful and Minato wants to pet Minji but his hands are gross and wet so he just crouches down in front of her. ]

What do you think? Any chance we could double up and take it down, or is it a lost cause?

[ Oh, she saw you board the boat earlier, but now you're close up? Minji's ears perk up while her tail whips up a whirlwind in excitement. Even if Minato is a drenched rat, she approaches him and tries to sniff him.

Except she can only smell lake water. She can at least check his sturdiness by tapping the hilt of her knife against his shin. ]

... Without abilities, it would be difficult to take it down with unconventional means. In terms of Pokemon, [ looks at Facehugger and Minji ] we would need a different approach. Overwhelming it with numbers might work if we can inflict it with ailments, either paralysis or putting it into a deep sleep.

[ Hmm. ]

A lot of preparation, much like a raid.

[ You have to test sturdiness with the edge, not the hilt; Minato angles his hand so the blade touches his skin instead, not hard enough to cut but enough that Minji can continue doing whatever the heck she was trying to do. ]

...Paralysis or sleep would work. Facehugger has an attack that's a lot more powerful when the opponent is compromised like that, but she can't inflict ailments herself, just protect from them.

[ He looks at Minaji- maybe she could fill in that gap? Though he's not sure what moves she has. ]

[ Joonghyuk told her not to stab anyone and she must keep master's promise. From the sound and vibrations from her knife, she can tell that... Minato is okay. Not the beefiest, but not the twiggiest.

When he brings his hand closer to her blade, she pulls it away. No. Bad. ]

Minji has some skills that can lower its defense and attack, then a skill that can boost an ally's attack... However, no ailments. We would need to find those who have Pokemon that can or use items with similar effects. It might be difficult to land blows on the Gyarados, but it seems to like Persim berries... Maybe lacing it would work.

[ ... ]

Do you want to rehome the Gyarados?

[ Are they strategizing? Or fantasizing? ]

[ Minji is a good girl... If Facehugger had come with a knife, Jiro would be missing both eyes right now. ]

Uh...

[ It doesn't look like he's done much thinking about what to do with the Gyarados past just making it stop, which is a feat it itself where there was not much point of considering the aftermath if they can't get to that point. But if there's any time to think about it, now might as well be the time.

Either way, he doesn't think poisoning it with berries is the answer. ]

That depends on if this is its home. If it is, it shouldn't be driven away.

[ He could never do that, forcing anybody out of their home, the place where they've always belonged, and make them feel unwelcome. ]

But I don't think it is... It appeared a month ago. Wild Magikarp don't typically evolve since it's so hard to train them... I think that Gyarados used to have a trainer.

... Sometimes you'll be at odds with another, in a position where one will lose everything while the other gains everything. In those cases, you have to consider whether your happiness is more important than theirs.

[ Even though Minato has concluded that the Gyarados doesn't belong here, Joonghyuk ushers this statement like a reminder. There might be someone who loses when someone wins. If they can't figure out something else, they will need to resort to unsavory means. ]

... But we want an approach that is efficient.

[ Poisoning is a hard call, considering the Gyarados will probably have enough stamina and endurance to take them on. Joonghyuk can imagine there would be several casualties. He ponders. ]

Is this a shift in behavior? Or was it always this temperamental when it appeared...

[ It never is, his happiness. It's the last thing he considers— but the happiness of others versus the happiness of this great beast, he has trouble sorting that out too without wanting to make both sides happy. He would take happiness over efficiency, even if he has to put that much more effort into it, so poison gets shoved down the list of options. ]

When I first got here, I was more focused on the rain... It must've been a couple days before I focused more on the Gyarados. Compared to then... it seems angrier. It acts out more often. When all you guys arrived that day, it was thrashing around a lot...

[ He frowns, reconsidering something. ]

Nanami and I were dragged out from the lake when we arrived. But we weren't attacked by it at all, before they took us to the hospital to wait for us to wake up.

[ Joonghyuk's eyebrows furrow a bit, considering that this may help them understand the Gyarados. It's not like it's confused, so there's more to its story. ]

Then something happened to it. [ Hm. ] I would investigate more, but I don't want to destroy whatever progress I've made.

[ Gyarados trusts him to get closer to it to an extent?? It may be useful in the future, he's not sure. ]

We should find somebody it already hates and hire them...

[ Minato is pretty neutral towards it; he's battled the Gyarados many times, but nearly all in context of trying to keep it from killing other things, and he's always kept his distance since learning how large a personal bubble it likes to keep. ]

Do you have anyone in mind?

[ Since Joonghyuk doesn't sit around and watch people get destroyed by the Gyarados, so... ]

Jiro.

[ Minato sure has just sat around watching people get destroyed by the Gyarados, and if there's anybody on the top of its shit list, it's Jiro. ]

He also hates me, though, so it might be better you talk to him...

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regression - 2020-09-16 06:01 (UTC) - Expand

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