SEPTEMBER INTRO LOG

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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.

Comments

[regression]

... I don't believe so. We found them separately and they don't seem to be familiar with each other.

[ Speaking of, Deino is an interesting Pokemon? Joonghyuk looks over to it. Minji is just a fox, but Deino is. A dinosaur. Not that Joonghyuk hasn't seen strange things, but there weren't any dinosaurs in Vella. ]

How did you find him?

[ Is it a him??? ]

[nyom]

[ Aw. Well, that's okay. Efi's attention span is rather diverted pretty quickly and she looks at Deino, who is still deadcatting with Minji on him. She doesn't seem to mind it.

The most distinguishable feature of the Deino is his emo cut. ]

He tried to eat my cookie and almost ate my face when I woke up!

[ Yeah. Why does she say it so cheerfully? Who knows. ]

[regression]

... You don't seem concerned for your well-being.

[ He knows kids can be like this, but also kids also know fear? Right? Children get scared easily. ]

He could have eaten it.

[nyom]

Huh? I'm healthy!

[ She doesn't really look like she understands, or maybe she doesn't know how to word things well. Maybe it's both.

Anyway, she takes another sip of the boba drink, despite seeing vegetable people with empty drink cups next to them. ]

[regression]

[ This is where he would ask her what kind of world she's from, but he doesn't see how helpful that would be. ]

What is your name?

[nyom]

[ People are always curious about these things, and Efi is one of the curious people. She liked to poke and prod to know things, because the more she knows, the more she can learn! And the more she learns, the better she can be--but of what? Strength? Helping her dad gather info? Usefulness?

She brushes that aside when Joonghyuk asks for her name. ]

I'm Efina, but you can call me Efi, mister! What about you?

[regression]

Yoo Joonghyuk.

[ And he wonders if she can pronounce it, but he doesn't mind teaching her. His next question: ]

Do you have a guardian?

[nyom]

Yoo... Yoo Joon...

[ As expected, Efi is struggling with his name. ]

Mister Yoojoo?

[ Please. ]

Oh, Papa is around! Just not here.

[ Is she implying she has a guardian angel in the form of her deceased dad that's watching over her, or does she mean literally? Who knows. ]

[regression]

.. Joonghyuk.

[ He says it a little slower for her. Hopefully this helps? Blinking, he wonders if he should press, but instead moves onto a different figure. ]

Is there anyone you recognize?

[nyom]

[ Unfortunately, it doesn't work even if he says it slower. She thought about giving it another try, but then she's distracted by the question. She looks around from where she stands. ]

Nope!

[ Not around her anyway. ]

Why?

[regression]

... It's difficult to be on your own.

[ He doesn't mention her age or anything. Instead, he's talking from a general perspective. ]

[nyom]

I play with everyone, so it's fun!

[ Yeah, it doesn't look like she has any problems with it. It doesn't seem related to any rebellious attitudes either. ]

Will you play with me another time too, Mister Yoojoo?

[ It's stuck now. ]

[regression]

... Joonghyuk.

[ It makes him wonder about her upbringing, what's normal in her world, but it is better if she gets used to being independent. ]

If you behave yourself.

[nyom]

I'll be good!

[ At least she seems to mean it, even if she's a little misguided on what's good or bad. Dealing with lies on a daily basis ever since you're born tends to do that to you. Though, she tries once more, with all that she has, in an attempt to say his name correctly. Anything that isn't a common word and has two or three syllables or more, is a little tough for her. ]

Joo... Joon...

[ Her face scrunches up with some frustration. At least she's doing her best. ]

The second part is hard...

[regression]

[ Let him try to sound out the syllables slowly: ]

Joonghyuk.

[ Piece by piece. ]

[nyom]

Joong... hyoo... hee...

[ It's always the second part that gets her. Efi's so used to her dad shortening the names so that she doesn't have problems saying it correctly, so she wonders why doesn't this man do the same? It's not a matter of entitlement of having him do it for her because she's like... literally a baby, but people don't usually do this? It's odd. ]

Can I call you something else, mister?

[regression]

Don't you want to learn how to properly say someone's name?

[ Joonghyuk isn't be malicious, but maybe being a bit too tough. However, he tries this again since he doesn't have any other name he wants to go by. If she chooses to call him something else, that isn't his choice. ]

Names are important.

[nyom]

[ Ironic, because Efina was named on the spot after a book character her dad happened to be reading when she hatched. Though it's not like Efi knows that, and she likes her name. That's why she gives it some thought. ]

It's important, but you'll know I'm calling you! Right, mister? It's hard to say...

[ She tries one more time and says the second syllable right this time on its own! But she can't seem to say his name correctly when strung together, having trouble stringing the "ng" with "hy" without feeling like she'll bite her own tongue. ]

[regression]

You can call me something else as long as you keep practicing.

[ Is that better? ]

[nyom]

Okay, Mister Yoojoo!

[ It's stuck now. rip. ]

But I should get going. Bye, Mister Yoojoo!

[ And off she goes... Deino toddles after her. ]