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

[ The desperate and somewhat pained look melts when Dokja starts playing with his face. A grimace takes its place as he glares at him, then firmly grabs his wrist. Stop. That.

Eventually, his expression rests on something neutral, though still weary. Again, they're wet to the bone. ]

There is some kind of center nearby for "Pokemon," but they provide limited lodging... They might let us use their services.

[ Though Joonghyuk isn't toooo sure about staying there. ]

[ There we go. No more of that look. Dokja merely smiles in response to the grab of his wrist, making no effort to try and tug it free. His other hand lowers to lightly pat at his chest as though that helps with their damp and cold issues.

It doesn't. He does, however, perk at the information. ] Ah, right. Temporary lodgings. It's better than nothing. After that, we'll probably go back to camping again.

[ He holds his chin with thought. ] Need to do some shopping then.

[ At least for a few nights it should be fine, don't be baby. ]

[ Why would he be a baby about this? He has slept in some harsh places before and in less hours for years. However, it would be a lie to say he prefer that over a comfortable bed.

He lets go of Dokja's wrist, though he keeps leering at him because of that pat, as they consider their choices here. It's not many. ]

What did you want to buy?

[ The obvious supplies shouldn't need to be named, but he's curious if maybe Dokja had something specific in mind. ]

Well, we're probably going to do a lot of traveling, right? So things we'll need for camping. Some clothes to accommodate traveling.. we mostly stayed on that island before.

[ His head tilts as he talks on, arms dropping for the most part but one hand does carefully take one of Joonghyuk's own. Trying to share some of the warmth. Glancing down as he looks to that scarred hand within his own. ]

Despite everything we had before I didn't really bring much with me.

[ So nothing too specific, just that Dokja was thinking about that island again. He sighs as he also recalls how much they've accumulated only to abandon for those that stayed behind.

They could have used some of it for this world. At least they have each other. The sentimentality has him grip onto Dokja's hand once it snakes into his. ]

It's not like we knew we would be plucked right after we were dropped off. We can think about getting supplies once we get money first.

[ ... ]

Are you going to keep wearing your coat?

[ Based on Joonghyuk's expression, he disapproves. It's drenched, therefore heavy. ]

[ There's a weight in his pockets, one that does not belong to his phone which fortunately went mostly undamaged despite how drenched they ended up being. There's another item that he doesn't know what to do about.. it feels heavy every time he looks at Joonghyuk, thinking of the letter it came with.

He pushes it away and decides the better option is to not think about it. Instead, he focuses on the grounding feeling of that grip returning within his hand. ]

Well, even if I decided to have kept the bells, they would be useless here. [ He says it with some amusement. He did it once before, he can stock up on a bunch of money here as well. When the conversation changes he blinks once before looking down at his coat. ]

Ah, right.. [ He starts to shrug it off, seeing the black shirt he wears underneath isn't doing much for him either. Because it's wet it's just sticking to him and he shivers a little with one layer undone. He does eye his companion in turn. ] And your coat?

[ There's probably some place to dry their clothes, if not they can always start a fire somewhere sheltered.. ugh, first he arrived being dumped into the ocean back at the island and now showing up here drenched? What is with arriving in different world lines soaked? ]

[ You go ahead and try to run from your gay thoughts, Dokja. Joonghyuk wouldn't notice considering the other man is generally fidgety when something is troubling him. Their predicament? Troubling. However, he keeps in mind that the other man has been fidgety in a different way lately... Even before they left that island.

For now, he has to brush it off. ]

If they were made of gold, there's a chance they could have had value.

[ But it isn't a complete argument. Currencies are established for a reason. When Dokja asks about his coat, he also takes it off and drapes it over the white coat. Even though he loves you, make yourself useful.

Underneath, his shirt is sleeveless which is probably a surprise to everyone. ]

[ Can't catch him, gay thoughts. ]

We did sell bugs and fish for currency on the island..

[ A sigh, scratching at his head now as he realizes what they really missed out on. He had such a headstart back on that island but here so far? Nothing. Shame. Come on, Kim Dokja, you're better than this.

He raises a brow as his companion adds his own coat onto his. Hello? Why can't you carry it yourself? Lips press together as though holding back a complaint and just folds them in a pile for now. ..Wait, why is his shirt sleeveless? Now he's distracted by that. ] ..Did you change your style?

[ Leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, he cocks an eyebrow when Dokja asks his question. The look on his face spells... Confusion and disbelief.

Him?

Change his style? ]

Why would I do that?

[ He just has shirts that have sleeves and some that don't. ]

Well, it's not as if you always show off your arms.

[ Hello? Dokja watches him plenty, and he knows underneath his black coat is usually a shirt with sleeves. Not... this! ]

Who are you trying to impress? [ lmao ]

[ Joonghyuk continues to leer at Dokja, but it only gets darker and darker.

A silent blankets between them before Joonghyuk decides to walk out on the conversation. He doesn't want to talk about this. ]

[ Meanwhile, Dokja just smiles innocently (?) at him though he laughs when Joonghyuk starts to walk away. Are you embarrassed? No need to be so shy, Joonghyuk-ah.

Dokja will obviously follow after, returning to his side almost as if they never separated on that plane trip back home. ]

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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