4.0 Dedicated to its Members and Fans of Pokemon A Pokemon Sandbox RP
Pokémon Dubstep (ft. Lindsey Stirling)
W
elcome Adventurer to EPOCH! A Pokemon Sandbox Rp set in the original region of Nue. Everything you need to know will be in the Guidebook and PokeDex 101!
EPOCH uses the Manga and is built on the Original ideas suggested by our members.
We are more than just a Pokemon RP, we're a friendly community with a goal on being a memorable experience for those that look in.
Golden Rule: Treat others as you wish to be treated. If you find yourself content with being an asshole EPOCH and its members will not tolerate you.
RULES
Understand We're All Human. Respect the staffers as well as your fellow members and guests. We all have flaws, tempers and quirks. Be patient with one another, but if issues involving other members come up please don’t just grin and bear it. Contact a staff member, informing them of what's going on so they can address and resolve the situation. The staff won't know what's bothering you unless you tell them.
EPOCH is PG-13. Proboards’ Terms of Service:
Sex; When you get under the clothes, fade to black.
Violence; Do not go into extreme nauseating detail.
Cursing; This is so fucking allowed, but don't go overboard.
Suggestive Content; In avatars, signatures and templates can attract the wrong kind of attention. So be careful.
Post by Zernebog Romanov on Jul 20, 2013 6:15:43 GMT -5
Golden light, tunnel white. If I run to you, would you stay? I might be a prototype, but we’re both real inside.
Caves were a familiar sight for Zernebog. He had lived most of his life exploring and playing inside the caverns of Mt. Coronet and the mountains of other regions. To him, the stale air and the rough, dark, and dirty surroundings were like a second home. In fact, even after all these years he still felt more at home in the quiet, comforting darkness of a cave than in the many bright and noisy cities and towns that he’s been to.
”Haunter~” Zernebog wasn’t the only one who enjoyed the darkness of these caves. His Haunter was very much at home in places like this, as evidenced with his cheerful –almost manic really- grin as he floated alongside his trainer.
”Enjoying yourself, Erebus?” Zernebog’s lips quirked upwards as he glanced at his grinning Haunter.
His question was met with an even wider grin and a clap. ”Haunter~! Haunt!”
”That’s good.” Zernebog chuckled as he continued to walk along the path. ”I’m glad you like the sound of all that water. Makes for good entertainment, right?” He remarked dryly.
Indeed, the cave was rife with the sounds of a cacophony of dripping water. If he listened closely, he would hear the sounds form a steady, catchy rhythm as they fell to the ground. In fact, he was to do just that and compare it to the music that he knew to see if he could recognize it, when something far louder suddenly overcame the droplets.
Rumbbbbbllleeeee…. In unison, both pokemon and trainer turned towards the direction of the sound. Not a moment later, a flash of red appeared just around the corner, brightening up the world and turning everything red for a moment.
”Interesting… let’s check it out.” With a curious spark in his eyes, Zernebog walked towards the source of both phenomena. Meanwhile, his Haunter floated behind him, still grinning like always.
Gold never particularly cared for caves and the like. If he were completely honest, he would say he probably like the city a lot more; though Johto was a very rural region, the Pokedex Holder never quite found himself to like the secluded caves. Naturally, he was planning to do this chore that Elm had forced him into (AGAIN) as quickly as possible. Naturally, he was riding on Explotaro’s back through Union Cave, ready to catch a Pokemon at any given time.
(Thankfully for him, that stupid Professor hadn’t given him any details as to what sort of Pokemon to catch, simply yelling at him to actually catch a Pokemon before he took the ‘Dex back from him. He had sounded serious, so Gold grudgingly obliged)
“Hold up, Explotaro,” the young man said, patting the Typhlosion to signal him to stop. “You feel that?” the fire-type turned his head and nodded. Gold looked down; there was something beneath them. And apparently it wasn’t happy with their presence. “The moment it shows up, hit it with a Flamethrower, alright?” the young man commanded, looking down at his partner, who nodded.
And the moment that large silver head poked its way out of the ground, it was roasted. They weren’t afraid of no steel-types.
Post by Zernebog Romanov on Jul 21, 2013 23:53:59 GMT -5
Golden light, tunnel white. If I run to you, would you stay? I might be a prototype, but we’re both real inside.
”Haunt?”
Erebus grinned and lolled out his tongue at the sight of the blackened creature that met his eyes. His grin became a tiny bit wider at the fact that the few parts that weren’t blackened on the creature’s body was still glowing dull red in places.
Unlike Erebus, Zernebog looked completely unimpressed –maybe even a little bored- by the sight of what appeared to be an enormous lump of glowing coal. Of course, the foul smell of oxidized metal might have had something to do with lack of approval. Besides, he was slightly more interested in the other ones in the area.
A short guy dressed in what Zernebog supposed was the norm for kids in this region. However, he wasn’t what held his interest. That honoured belonged to the pokemon he was riding on top of- something that resembled a Linoone with solid blue and cream fur and was on an ungodly amount of steroids. Not just any steroids mind you, but ones that set the consumer ablaze without burning themselves up. He wasn’t sure if they existed or not, but he wouldn’t put anything past those scientist types to make a drug like that for rich kids looking for a short-cut or for power-hungry gang bosses like some of the ones he used to work for.
He was curious to know just what that pokemon was, because frankly he thought it looked cool. Better than a Linoone by a long shot, at least. If he was lucky, maybe he would even get to test its capabilities in a fight. But first things first.
”Hey kid, is that your handiwork over there?” Zernebog gave a lazy wave over to the burnt lump he was facing and waited for an answer. He probably did it, but the white haired man wanted to hear the words out of the boy’s own mouth and confirm a couple of his suspicions about his pokemon.
“Way to go, Explotaro!” Gold cheered, patting the Typhlosion on the back as they looked upon the burnt head of the Steelix lying motionless just above the ground. “…Though I think we may have overdone it a bit,” he said after a small, rather awkward silence, scratching his head.. The Typhlosion simply nodded.
…
Gold’s attention was grabbed by a voice behind him, thankfully. Turning his head a bit, the young man found himself faced with an older male with silver hair who was dressed like someone straight out of an anime. Behind him floated a weird ghost-like Pokemon. “Yeah, that was all me and Explotaro here, old guy,“ the Johto-native answered, a bit sassy, pulling out his Pokedex and pointing it at the strange Pokemon behind the newcomer (looks like he didn’t need to catch a Pokemon, now!).
“I was actually supposed to catch a Pokemon for old man Elm, but…” the young man trailed off. “So, that thing’s called a Haunter, huh?” Gold muttered, reading the description his Pokedex provided for him. “…Lurks in total darkness, stalking its next victim? Sounds like a swell Pokemon,” he noted, dryly.
“Anyway, what’re you doing in a place like this, Old Guy? You plannin’ to catch a Pokemon or somethin’?”
Post by Zernebog Romanov on Jul 23, 2013 22:18:47 GMT -5
Golden light, tunnel white. If I run to you, would you stay? I might be a prototype, but we’re both real inside.
Old guy?! I’m only twenty, damn it!
Zernebog’s eyebrow twitched underneath his bandana. If he didn’t need to know just what that pokemon that punk was riding on was, then he would have smacked him upside the head or insult his lineage. Instead, he just counted to five in his head.
After counting to five, Zernebog relaxed and let a smirk appear on his face. ”Yes, quite. He just loves places like these, where’s it’s all dark and damp. Right Erebus?”
”Haunter~!” Erebus giggled maniacally as he floated over to take a closer look at the pokemon and his trainer. A hungry gleam could be seen in his eyes as he looked at the flaming pokemon in particular.
Had Zernebog noticed that, he would have immediately put Erebus back in his pokeball before something went horribly awry. Since he was busy looking at the duo though, he didn’t notice and kept on talking.
”If I find something interesting, why not?” Zernebog shrugged. ”But I’m headed to the Ruins of Alph.”
”Say, what’s a kid like you doing with… whatever that is in your hands and that big guy ‘round here anyway?” Zernebog raised an eyebrow, though it can’t be seen under his bandana. ”Roasting Steelix for shits and giggles?”
Gold really didn’t like the look in that Haunter’s eyes as it approached him and Explotaro. Explotaro noticed the look in its eyes, too, and bristled, growling warningly. The old man didn’t appear to notice, however, and simply explained why he was here. “Ruins of Alph, huh?” the young man repeated, letting a nostalgic expression make its way onto his face. “There’s a place I haven’t heard about in a while. “ Funnily enough, he was the one that had effectively opened the ruins up for exploration, all those years ago. Bugsy had been none too pleased with him for effectively breaking open the remains of ancient civilization. Idly, he recalled his first experience with the Unknown.
“Actually, I’m supposed to be catching Pokemon around here,” Gold replied, casually taking a RageCandyBar from his pocket and snapping a part of it off. “Old man Elm wants me to fill this thing up with data sometime in the next decade, and won’t stop hounding me about it. That Steelix was just… unlucky, I guess. It was going to attack us. Probably. But unlucky for it, Explotaro here’s a toughie,” he smirked, patting the Typlosion on the back.
“That Steelix didn’t even know what hit ‘im… Oh, almost forgot!” He pointed the Pokedex at the defeated Steelix, letting the device do its thing. “Huh. Harder than diamond, huh?” Gold read, sounding rather impressed. “Guess Jasmine was right; Steel-types are crazy tough.” Not that he had doubted her; she was a great Gym Leader (and an even greater girl, as pretty as she was strong).
“Hey, Old Guy,” he said, looking back up at the silver-haired man, “what’re headed to the Ruins for, anyway?”
Post by Zernebog Romanov on Jul 26, 2013 1:18:38 GMT -5
Golden light, tunnel white. If I run to you, would you stay? I might be a prototype, but we’re both real inside.
It was a bit alarming to see something as large and imposing as that blue Linoone on steroids suddenly bristle and growl, not to mention confusing. He wasn’t doing anything threatening right now, so what could have set it off?
It was then that Zernebog realized that it was looking at him, but at something else. Puzzled, he followed its line of vision until he spotted Erebus looking at the pair with a hungry look in his eyes. Oh. That was what all the fuss was about. Figures. Looks like he had to nip this in the bud before it turned ugly.
”Erebus, no.” Zernebog’s tone was clipped and sharp. ”You can’t have them. Ease up on the creeper vibes a little, okay? I’ll feed you something else later.”
Erebus pouted and sulked, but obeyed. He just had to hunt for some other prey later, after his trainer finished whatever it was he wanted to do.
While Zernebog was reasonably sure that Erebus will obeyed him, it didn’t stop him from keeping a wary eye on him for a few more moments before turning his attention back to the punk and his giant mutant Linoone thing, just in time to hear the former answer his question.
”Catch pokemon and collect data, huh? Sounds boring for a kid like you.” Zernebog chuckled. ”How’d this Elm guy convince you to do his dirty work for him anyway?”
Of course, by then he had expected the punk to ask him why he was in the cave. Lies were already pooling on his tongue before he remembered that he had no reason to hide what he was doing anymore. He was past most of that shady business now.
”Study and collect data on it.” Zernebog shrugged. ”I want to see why these ruins are so special. Seems interesting enough anyway.”
Gold narrowed his eyes, squinting at the man across from him; how old did this old man think he was? Though he was grateful for the man calling off his Haunter before things got violent between it and Explotaro. Sure, he was young by an old guy’s standards, but he had grown quite a bit, dammit!
“Heh, it’s a long story,” the Pokedex holder smirked, looking quite smug as he placed the Pokedex back into its holding place, “but after seeing my skills, he and Oak practically begged for me to help them. Heck, they pretty much threw the thing at me, they were so eager for my help.” A lie, of course, to make himself look better. The reality was quite the opposite, in fact; he had pretty much begged Professor Oak for the thing so he could even the playing field with Silver, who he had only known as ‘that-thief-who-stole-Elm’s-Totodile-and-Pokedex-slash-newfound-rival’ at the time.
“It ain’t that bad, though,” he continued, shrugging slightly. After all, that was how he had met Crystal, and look at them now. “Anyway, the ruins ain’t that great,” he added, recalling his experience. “If you wanna see what’s in there, go nuts. It’s been a few years since I’ve visited, but I don’t remember it being that big of a deal.” He had to wonder if the Unknown were still there, and he was a smidge curious what the place looked like when not infested with those tools from Team Rocket.
Post by Zernebog Romanov on Jul 30, 2013 21:22:05 GMT -5
Golden light, tunnel white. If I run to you, would you stay? I might be a prototype, but we’re both real inside.
If there was one thing that Zernebog learned over the years, it was how to spot the telltale signs of tall-tale blustering. He did it enough in the past and as a trainer, he’d encountered countless people who kept doing the same thing. He was very tempted to call him out on it, but he still hadn’t asked him about the blue Linnone on steroids and he was trying to act like a normal and civilized person for once, so he can’t start teasing the kid much yet.
It was a good thing he kept his mouth shut too, or else he might’ve not heard the fact that the kid actually visited the ruins before. Perhaps he could use the kid as a tour guide of sorts? He seemed annoying, but his mother told him that it was usually better to have a companion on archaeological digs to watch your back. After all, checking out tombs often became dangerous, especially the older ones with Arceus knows what lurking within it.
”You’ve been there before?” His eyes narrowed in interest. ”Why would you go there in the first place? To catch pokemon? No offense kid, but you don’t seem like the type to go into places like that.”
While Zernebog was talking, the Haunter drifted closer to his trainer, acting as though he was interested in the conversation. He was only really doing it to unnerve the duo his trainer was talking to since he couldn’t eat them and he was a bit bored with all the business talk.
Gold’s eyes twitched; what did that old man know about him and his hobbies, anyway? “Don’t worry about it, old man,” the young man retorted, crossing his arms. “Yeah, I’ve been there, but it’s a long story, and I don’t have the time to tell you all about it. Let’s just say it was a favor, and something I felt like I needed to do and leave it at that. And I hate to break it to you, old guy, but you don’t exactly look like the type to be doing this stuff, either. Hell, I’ve seen criminals that look less suspicious than you -and I’ve seen a lot of bad guys.” Seriously, who walks around wearing a trench coat underground of all places? This guy obviously didn’t know the way things worked around here in Johto.
“There’s not a place in Johto that I haven’t been, anyway,” he remarked with a roll of his eyes. “Or a local Johto dish I haven’t tried,” he added wistfully, patting his stomach at the memories of all the delicious food. Explotaro, meanwhile, had yet to let his guard down and continued watching the Haunter cautiously.
Post by Zernebog Romanov on Aug 8, 2013 1:41:34 GMT -5
Golden light, tunnel white. If I run to you, would you stay? I might be a prototype, but we’re both real inside.
If only you knew, kid. Golden eyes twinkled in amusement at all of the stuff that was spewing out from the kid’s mouth. If only you knew.
Zernebog wasn’t about to point out how close the kid had been to hitting the nail on its head. No point in spilling a closed chapter of his life to a virtual stranger.
” I don’t believe that there’s a required dress code for people like me in Johto, so I think I’m within my rights to dress up however I want.” Zernebog dryly remarked as he raised an eyebrow beneath his bandana. ”They would have put that in the brochures or on the internet, don’t you think?”
The corner of his mouth quirked up. ” I didn’t know that even the kids in this region were sticklers for dress code and tradition though. That’s refreshing, if not a bit weird.”
Zernebog’s eyes narrowed ever so slightly as he listened to the boy’s next statement. ”Just Johto? Nowhere else?” He remarked before his eyes flickered towards the giant flaming pokemon he was riding on.
”Have you and the big guy you’re riding on even been to other regions?” He then blinked when he remembered something. ”By the way, Kanto doesn’t count since you can walk there.”
Gold shrugged ostentatiously at the man’s reply, a look of mirth on the young man’s face, “Well, I’m not gonna tell you what to do, but I’m also not gonna help you out when –not if, when- you get pulled over by a police officer for looking a bit suspicious, just remember that I told you so.” He almost rolled his eyes as the old man remarked about how even the kids seemed to stick to Johto’s traditions. Why did he keep calling him a kid? He was eighteen, dammit! “Whatever you say, Old Man. You wanna keep thinking that, I won’t stop you.”
And then his eyes narrowed as the old man asked him if he and Explotaro had been to any other region in their life. What sort of question was that? “First of all, the young man started as he began to tick off the points on his fingers, “Kanto definitely counts, regardless of whether or not it’s connected to Johto, and second of all, yes, I have been to other regions: I’ve been to the Sevii Islands, the Battle Frontier in Hoenn, and Kanto.” He folded his arms, doing an all around fantastic job of making himself look even more immature and infantile that before. “Why ask, Old Man?”
Post by Zernebog Romanov on Aug 17, 2013 22:36:55 GMT -5
Golden light, tunnel white. If I run to you, would you stay? I might be a prototype, but we’re both real inside.
”I’ll keep that in mind.”
Golden eyes gleamed with faint amusement. It seemed that the kid was doing nothing to dissuade him from thinking that he was really as immature and bratty as his visual age would suggest. If he didn’t think that the idea would make him seem even older than the kid was already making him out to be, then he might’ve even thought that the kid reminded himself when he was his age… only much less rebellious. After all, he didn’t have his awesome Mohawk or his former utter disrespect for authority.
”A homebody, I figured as much.” Zernebog commented when the kid finally finished, shaking his head. ”After all, those aren’t even a fraction of the places that the world’s offering right now. You’re missing out.”
He paused for a moment, remembering one of the boy’s earlier statements. ”And a lot of new kinds of food.” He of all people knew very well that the cuisine tended to vary widely by region, though Johto and Kanto dishes were more similar to each other than the others.
”As for why I asked?” Zernebog actually chuckled. ”To prove a point. Maybe have it sink in as advice or something, but it depends on the person, you know?”
He then smirked. ”So what’s up with the loyalty anyway? Most kids I know want to travel as far from home as possible, and yet you’re sticking to your home region. Does it have anything to do with big, blue, and flaming over there?” He emphasized his last statement with a wave of his hand towards the huge pokemon he was riding on.
Maybe he would finally get an answer to his question without asking it, but only time can tell. Well, time and his owner, but those are just technicalities.
An involuntary twitch of the eye, born purely from annoyance. Who the hell did this old man think he was, trying to tell him what the hell to do, anyway? There was nothing wrong with staying in Johto! That wasn’t advice -that was moving into his personal business. “Yeah, sure, whatever,” the Pokedex Holder remarked, using a finger to clean out his year in disinterest, “so you’re a nosy old weirdo who’s trying too hard to look cool, point proven.” Still, he couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow at the man’s questioning.
“First of all, I’ve got no reason to leave Johto; you’ve obviously been around the most nomadic kids on the planet, because most kids I know stick to their home regions, most of the time. Back at home I’ve got a bed, a radio, and my partners with me, so why would I leave? Johto’s got DJ Mary, the Kimono Girls, and a bunch of other attractions that I still can’t get tired of, even after all these years. Explotaro here’s got nothing to do with it.” He hadn’t changed that much in the past few years, so his mindset was roughly the same as it was as a pre-teen: he liked his home, and saw no reason to leave unless something he valued –like, say, Crystal or one of the other Dex Holders- was in danger, or Professor Oak or Elm spurred him into action.
He was rather reactive, in that sense.
“And where are you from, anyway, Creepy Old Guy?” he asked.
Post by Zernebog Romanov on Sept 5, 2013 19:08:09 GMT -5
Golden light, tunnel white. If I run to you, would you stay? I might be a prototype, but we’re both real inside.
Was this kid trying to get himself and his pokemon beaten up until they were black and blue? Because the way this discussion was going, he might actually just challenge this kid to a pokemon battle and tear his pokemon a new one. He would just beat him up instead, but he looks too short and lanky to actually put up a fight, and that’s just not any fun. He just needed to remember that he vowed to himself that he was supposed to be going on the straight and narrow and renouncing his old criminal ways and that he needed to know just what the heck Explotaro was.
”Don’t need to look cool, because I already am.” He certainly wasn’t going to mention his Mohawk-wearing, shirt-avoiding phase. Nope. Not to this kid. He might regress back to that mentality due to rage.
Zernebog took a deep mental breath and simply continued to listen to the kid once he was done retorting. He used the amusement he gleaned from the homebody’s statement –as well as the striking truths in it since he really did hang out with nomadic people all the time, like Ramona or his entire family- to cool his head down a bit. Homebody indeed. That or just Johto culture in general.
Once he heard the kid’s question, he had to squash the urge to deck the kid for calling him old and creepy. It was so tempting. It was also very tempting to lie about where he was from –in fact, he had started to open his mouth and reflexively form a lie- but then he remembered that he didn’t have to do that anymore. He was relatively free now.
”Sinnoh, land of the Gods.” Zernebog stated matter-of-factly. ”It’s far up north, divided in two by a mountain range, and cold year-round… well, at least when compared to the other regions.”
Not that he could really compare it to Unova or Orre since he’s never been to either of those regions, but the kid didn’t know that.
On another note, maybe now he could ask what Explotaro is. ”Anyways, I got a question for you too kid. What’s your pokemon supposed to be? Never seen one of him before.”
