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

A bathroom?

[That certainly is an unconventional place, but no.]

Let's not look in other people's bathrooms for now... But alleyways are a good idea!

[Not really, when the children have been lured into the woods, but maybe something will come up.]

We can start right around here and check a few streets.

[He probably shouldn't, but he tears the missing poster off the wall, for an easy reference to information and to show anyone lurking around in the alleyways what this kid looks like.]

Okay!

[ Efi nods enthusiastically, and goes to look outside--it's still raining. But it's not so bad, considering umbrellas and such are all sold out. She walks off to where the alleyways would be--oh wait. She returns to Atsushi. ]

What's his name?

Um... Billy.

[Whether that's a weird name for this town, he doesn't know.]

Wait a second...

[He coaxes Lucy out from his shirt and then attempts to have a conversation with the Senret through some hand movements and flappy gestures. She spreads her arms out, allowing enough covering for the rain. He can hold her over Efi's head. Lucy's fur will get drenched and she won't like it, but he can't let a child go out in the rain, even if it's not that much, and get sick and then be responsible for her illness.]

[ That's so cute, oh my god. Deino is just going to have to get used to being soaked in the rain all the time, so he doesn't mind, but he looks pleased that Atsushi seems to be taking care of Efi.

Efi looks up at Lucy and... huh. ]

But then it'll get sick!

[ Referring to Lucy there. ]

I'll be okay, because I can handle it.

Are you sure?

[Lucy shivers and she doesn't like being wet at all.]

Because I don't want you to have to go back to that hospital. It doesn't seem safe.

[ Efina takes Lucy down and tries to dry her before giving her back to Atsushi. ]

It's okay! I won't go to the hospital. Let's go!

[ Looks like she won't take no for an answer, so she walks off again. ]

Billy, where are you...?!

[Lucy scrambles back under his shirt, fur still slightly damp.]

O-okay...

[He trails behind Efina as she shouts for Billy. Atsushi stops anyone near the alleyways to show them the picture; either getting vague answers about 'that poor boy' or people brushing him off. A couple mention the hospital and whisper the word 'haunted' as if it's so bad it can't be spoken of.]

[ As expected, Efi doesn't find anyone in the alleyway. When she's had enough of searching, she asks the adults around for a boy named Billy. Walking around the boba store gets some interesting info... hm.

She goes to find Atsushi again. ]

I wanna go to the beach.

[ In this weather. ]

The beach?

[He unfortunately hasn't run into anyone who mentioned that as a potential kidnapping point yet, and doesn't immediately think it's a bad idea to go there.]

I guess there would... be some people there to talk to.

[People who like rain.]

Do you know where it is from here? I should have found a map or something...

[ Efina points to a direction. ]

There!

[ At least that's what she heard. ]

And if we keep going, we'll find a beach anyway, right?

Well...

[It is an island, so Atsushi suspects that yes, they can find the beach in that direction. Or any direction. If they just walk far enough. No map needed.]

Yes! We'll have to come right out to the beach!

[And they'll head off in that direction, asking more people along the way about Billy and the other children, but getting no further specific information. At the beach, the storms rage over the ocean, the choppy grey water laps against the sand, and there's an eerie feeling all around. Whether it's the atmosphere, or something supernaturally evil afoot, the beach is just... wrong somehow.]

[ The eerie atmosphere isn't completely lost on Efi, but it's not exactly new to her. She looks around and shouts Billy's name once more. ]

Maybe he's hiding under the sand.

D-don't say things like that!

[Now every lump in the sand looks like a child-size grave and Atsushi can imagine them buried under the sand. He wants to throw up.]

I'm sure Billy's... somewhere else.

[And alive. Lucy emerges to hop down to the sand and start digging. She thinks she's helping. Hopefully, she won't uncover any bodies.]

[ Good thing Efi doesn't see it like that. She genuinely thinks he could be hiding under the sand... if he wasn't kidnapped anyway. ]

But there's something weird about this place though...

There is. It's... hard to pinpoint what exactly.

[Lucy's digging reveals nothing, and she wipes her muddy hands on Atsushi's pants before he can stop her. It's fine. There doesn't seem to be anyone else around at all, just the rushing of the tide. A few more yards down the beach, there's an odd-looking lump sticking out of the otherwise rather smooth patch of wet sand. It's... a hand.]

Don't look, don't look!

[Atsushi tries to turn Efina away before she can see it.]

[ Efi sees the hand and was about to remark about "oh hey cool it's a hand!", but Atsushi's attempt to turn her away from the sight startles her more than the actual hand itself. She lets out a short shriek of surprise. ]

But I wanna see!

[ Deino wants to see too, and since it barely can, it starts toddling towards where the hand is and starts lightly nipping at the air like a person hard of sight, trying to get a feel of where he is. ]

[He lets go at the shriek and won't try to physically stop her again.]

It's not for children's eyes!

[It's probably Billy, and he assumes that would be traumatic for Efina. Atsushi quickly abandons Efina to address the Deino, because what it if gets to close and destroys evidence or something?]

Wait! Don't disturb the sand too much! We should call the police...

[The last part is said with dejection, because he doesn't know if there are police and he doesn't have a phone anyway. There may not even be phones.]

[ After being let go, Efina doesn't rush towards the hand. Deino also stops where he is, looking over at Atsushi's voice with a tilt of his head. She remembers this sort of scene, except this time, it's a lot less bloody. ]

If... that's a real dead person, then maybe someone at the Center can help?

Yes. The Center.

[But there's no way to contact them, and if they leave, the hand may not be there when they get back. He couldn't leave Efina alone with it, and he wouldn't want to stay here by himself either.]

Uhh...

[He eyes the hand again. It's not really that bad. He's seen worse. These things shouldn't still disturb him, but they do.]

Can you find your way back to the Center alone?

[He'll stay with poor Billy's hand if necessary.]

[ Efi can fight Atsushi about having to stay behind because she thinks he looks really uncomfortable. However, she knows that time is of the essence, so she nods to his question. ]

I'll be really fast!

[ She looks over at Deino. ]

Stay with him so he's not alone!

[ With that, she dashes off back to the town to where the center should be. When she gets there, she'll say that she found someone trapped under the sand and that it's super important to get them out of there as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, Deino stays with Atsushi and sits in a manner that's similar to a dog by his side and whines a little. ]

[When Efi comes back with ranger and his Growlithe, the man immediately asks them to leave while he does his job, cordoning off an area by the hand and giving them a dismissive look like they'll only be a nuisance. Atsushi is somewhat inclined to let him conduct his investigation in peace, but...]

Is it Billy?

[He needs to know.]

We were looking for Billy! Is that him? Is he gonna be okay?

[ Efi looks rather pleading, looking up at the ranger. Let them know, at least?? Damn. ]

[The ranger decides they're not too disruptive and allows them to wait at a safe distance, while he and the Growlithe methodically uncover the body... alive. It's not Billy.

The little girl is pale and breathing shallowly. She could have been recovered a half hour earlier if they hadn't just left her hand sticking out and presumed she was already dead!

The ranger informs them she'll be taken to the hospital. There, she won't awaken for an entire week.]

[ Efi nods and sees the ranger and the little girl off, looking over at Atsushi after. She doesn't look too fazed by the whole thing. ]

So is it okay to touch things here? When you see something like that. Hiding under the sand isn't a good place to hide either.

[ She looks a little thoughtful. ]

Are you gonna see her later, mister?

[Atsushi, in contrast, is clearly distraught. That poor child... It takes a moment for him to answer Efi, because he's not sure how to explain the nuances of these situations to a child.]

Sometimes it's okay to touch things, but not all the time. I-if you think you can help, then... sometimes you should, but if there's nothing you can do, you might make things worse by uh, touching.

[A non-answer, really.]

I should have tried to help her, but I made an assumption and it was wrong and- that's... This time, touching would have been good.

[Sufficiently explained, maybe. At least he's more confident about his next statement.]

You're right, the sand is a very bad hiding spot. It's dangerous. I think right now that hide and seek itself is dangerous and you shouldn't play for a while.

[He looks down at the overturned wet sand, soon to be smoothed out again by the ocean.]

I'll go see her, yes.

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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